Cruiser Mk III
| Cruiser Mark III | |
|---|---|
QF 2-pounder gun 87 rounds | |
Secondary armament | .303 Vickers machine gun 3,750 rounds |
| Engine | Nuffield Liberty V12 petrol 340 hp (250 kW) |
| Suspension | Christie |
Operational range | 90 mi (140 km)[1] |
| Maximum speed | 30 mph (48 km/h)[1] |
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III, also known by its General Staff specification number A13 Mark I, was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system, which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance; previous cruiser tank models had used triple wheeled bogie suspension.
Design and development
British cruiser tank design began with the
Later that year, Martel witnessed demonstrations of Soviet tank designs, including the BT tank, which had been influenced by American J. Walter Christie's work. Martel urged the adoption of the Christie suspension and Christie's practice of using a lightweight aircraft engine, such as the Liberty Engine. The government authorized the purchase and licensing of a Christie design via the Nuffield Organization, rather than contact the Soviet authorities.[4][5]
The vehicle obtained seems, on close examination of photographs[
At a meeting of the General Staff, an official specification was determined, which included 30 mm (1.2 in) armour, a 2-pounder gun and a road speed of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). A subsequent review of the specification by Martel and Percy Hobart approved 30 mm armour all round provided cross-country speed could be kept at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). Pending the delivery of the A13, an interim design was approved from the A7, A9 and A10, the A9 being selected.[3][page needed] Orders for the resulting Mk. I's were limited pending the arrival of the A13.[7]
The first prototype (A13E1) was delivered in 1937. Following the testing of two prototypes, the A13 was ordered into production. The original order was for 50 tanks; 43 had been delivered by the start of the war and 22 more in September–December 1939.[8] The Mk III weighed 14 long tons (14 t), had a crew of four, a 340 horsepower (250 kW) engine and a top speed of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) and was armed with a 2 pounder gun and a machine-gun. When it was introduced into service in 1937, the army still lacked a formal tank division.[9]
Combat history
Like most British cruisers, the A13 was fast but under-armoured and mechanically unreliable. As part of the
See also
- Cruiser tank
- Cruiser Mk. IV
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f White, p. 45.
- ^ a b "Great Britain's Cruiser Mk III, A13". World War II Vehicles. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ^ a b Milsom
- ^ Milsom p. 5
- ^ Tucker, pp. 49–51
- ^ Milsom, p. 7
- ^ a b c Doherty, pp. 11–12
- ^ "A9, A10, A13 Cruser Tanks". www.wwiiequipment.com. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ Steele, p. 14
References
- Bingham, James (1971). Crusader–Cruiser Mark VI. AFV Profiles. Windsor: Profile Publications. OCLC 54349416.
- Doherty, Richard (2013). British Armoured Divisions and their Commanders, 1939–1945. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1848848382.
- Fletcher, David (2017). British Battle Tanks: British-Made Tanks of World War II. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-2003-7.
- Milsom, John; Sandars, John; Scarborough, Gerald (1976). Crusader. Classic Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Their History and How to Model Them. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens in association with Airfix. ISBN 0-85059-194-5.
- Steele, Brett D. (2005). Military Re-engineering Between the World Wars. ISBN 0-8330-3721-8.
- Tucker, Spencer (2004). Tanks: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-995-3.
- White, B. T. (1963). British Tanks 1915–1945. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 30214464.
External links
