The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 Free
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FREE THE CRUSADER AND COVENANTER CRUISER TANKS 1939-45 PDF David Fletcher | 48 pages | 15 May 1995 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781855325128 | English | United Kingdom Covenanter tank - Wikipedia The cruiser tank also called cavalry tank [ citation needed ] or fast tank [ citation needed ] was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalryas distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were developed after medium tank designs of the s failed to satisfy the Royal Armoured Corps. The cruiser tank concept was conceived by Giffard Le Quesne Martelwho preferred many small light tanks to swarm an opponent, instead of a few expensive and unsatisfactory medium tanks. The Crusader was superseded by the A27 Cromwell in The A34 Cometa better-armed development of Cromwell, began to enter service in late The Centurion tank of became the "Universal tank" of the United Kingdom, transcending the cruiser and infantry tank roles and becoming one of the first main battle tanks MBT. Dissatisfaction with experimental medium tank designs of the mids led to the development of specialised fast cruiser tanks, where armour thickness was sacrificed for speed and infantry tanksin which speed was sacrificed for heavier armour. Financial constraints had made it impossible to produce a vehicle suitable for close support and for exploitation. The thinking was behind several tank designs which saw action during the Second World War. British armoured operations theory flowed from the decision to build two types of tank and equip two types of unit and formation. Cruisers were operated by armoured regiments of the Royal Armoured Corpsestablished on 4 Aprilin armoured divisions, some regiments coming from the Royal Tank Regiment RTR and some from cavalry regiments converted during The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 war. Martel considered that medium tanks were too complicated and expensive for infantry support, where they would be too vulnerable to anti-tank weapons and rejected claims that they could fire accurately when moving, so would gain no benefit from their speed. Martel preferred a large number of smaller and simpler tanks to swamp an opponent, instead of a few comparatively expensive medium tanks. Work should continue on a universal tank in the long term but from toMartel gave much thought to the infantry tank; he did not want medium tank development to be split but saw the logic of it, given the constraints on tank development. Tanks were necessary for mobile operations in armoured divisions and for infantry support in attacks on fortified defensive positions; a vehicle satisfactory for both tasks appeared to be impossible to attain. Two types of vehicle led to two theories and procedures, infantry tank thinking coming from the experience of tank operations from towhen British tanks had been used for infantry support. Armoured division theory emphasised the speed of cruiser tanks and independent action to protect flanks, attack the opponent's flanks and rear, to counter-attack and conduct pursuit operations. The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 naval cruiserscruiser tanks were fast and mobile for operations independent from slower-moving infantry with their heavier infantry tanks and artillery. When gaps had The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 forced through the opponent's front by the infantry tanks, cruisers were to penetrate to the rear and attack lines of supply and communication centres in accordance with the theories of J. FullerPercy Hobart and B. Liddell Hart. The cruiser tank was designed for use The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 a manner similar to cavalrywhich made speed the most important factor and to achieve this, early cruisers were lightly armoured and armed to save weight. The The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 on speed unbalanced the British designs; on limited engine power, the speed was possible only by sacrificing armour protection by comparison infantry tanks operating at soldiers' pace could carry far more armour. The idea that "speed is armour" was considered most important in the Royal Tank Corps. It was not realised [ citation needed ] that the principle of mobility was a liability against the German policy of accepting lower speeds for superior armour and armament, ensuring that even one round from a German medium tank could easily destroy a cruiser. An even bigger problem for most cruiser tanks was the small calibre of their main gun. This gun had adequate armour penetration against early war tanks, but was never issued high explosive ammunition. This made the cruisers less able to deal with towed anti-tank gunswhich became a major issue with the extended combat ranges of the Desert Campaign. III an interim move pending the introduction of the next cruiser tank. Early marques of what would become the Cromwell were also fitted with the 6-pdr but this gun still did not have a satisfactory HE round. The Challenger was an unhappy compromise, though it was popular with its crews the cut in armour protection to allow the mounting of the larger gun meant it was not well suited to closer range engagements and it threw its tracks more often than the Cromwell. As the UK had large numbers of US M4 Sherman tanks, an extemporaneous conversion of the Sherman to take a The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 as the Sherman Firefly proved effective in providing more pounder gun tanks, the Firefly accompanied Churchills, Shermans and Cromwells generally at a ratio of The production of Fireflies greatly outpaced that of the Challenger but in Cromwell-equipped units, the Challenger The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 generally preferred as the Sherman had a slower road speed and inferior cross-country mobility. The Comet was a further development of the Cromwell, a "heavy" cruiser tank, which sought to remove the need for pdr armoured vehicles, such The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 the Challenger or Firefly in tank platoons. The tank had a short service life as design for the Centurion was already well underway, with the first prototype arriving in Despite the emphasis on high mobility, most cruisers were plagued by mechanical unreliability, notably the Crusader tank in the hot and gritty desert of the North Africa Campaign. This problem was usually caused by rushed development and introduction into service. Most of the early cruiser tank designs were ordered "off the drawing board", particularly given the urgent need for tanks following the fall of France. The Liberty engine which also powered early The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 tanks was beginning to show its age and was being pushed to its limit The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 tanks such as the Crusader. Inthe War Office decided on a light tank for the cavalry, a cruiser tank, a medium tank and an infantry or assault tank. Bythe medium tank had stagnated as a research project, in favour of heavier cruiser and infantry tanks and after the outbreak of war, the move towards heavy infantry tanks capable of breaking through the Siegfried Line Westwall on the German border. It was expected to be replaced by a Christie suspension design. From —, A9s were built. It was insufficiently armoured for the role but as a "heavy cruiser", it was put into production in July as another interim design. It had the same gun as the A9, was the first to be The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 with the The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 machine gun and Mk IIs were produced by September Orders for the Mk I and Mk II Cruisers were limited, for an advanced and faster cruiser tank which would incorporate Christie suspension designed by J. Walter Christie and have better armour. InGeneral Giffard LeQuesne Martela pioneer in tank design who had published works on armoured warfare and pioneered the lightly armoured " tankette " concept to enhance infantry mobility, became Assistant Director of Mechanization at the War Office. Later that year, Martel had watched Soviet tanks at the Red Army's autumn manoeuvres including the BT tankwhich they had developed from Christie's work. He urged the adoption of a tank that would use the suspension system and also follow the Christie practice of using a lightweight aircraft engine such as the Liberty L engine or a Napier Lion. The The Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939-45 authorised purchase and licensing of a Christie design via the Nuffield Organization. Following testing of two Nuffield-built prototypes A13E2 and A13E3the A13 was ordered into production and 65 were manufactured by mid When it was introduced inthe army still lacked a formal tank division. The contemporary Covenanter was unreliable and was retained in the UK for training use. The CavalierCentaur and Cromwell tanks were the planned successors to the Covenanter and Crusader. Intended to be in production bythe project was delayed and the Crusader was up-gunned as an interim measure with the Mk. III 6-pounder gun; the Cavalier was a development of Crusader. Centaur and Cromwell tanks were an alternative design using the Cavalier engine and the new Rolls-Royce Meteor respectively - the three vehicles were all similar in appearance. Orders for the Cavalier were cutback while the similarity between Centaur and Cromwell meant some Centaurs were finished as Cromwells. Cavalier was used for training while Centaur and Cromwell went into action at the Invasion of Normandy. During the war, the development of much more powerful engines and better suspension enabled cruiser tanks to increase in size, armour, and firepower while retaining their speed and mobility. With "cruiser" tanks now nearly-equal in armour to the heavier, slower infantry tanks, the concept of cruiser vs.