Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger
| Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger | |
|---|---|
Challenger in Overloon (Netherlands) |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 5 (commander, gunner, two loaders, driver) |
| length | 8.15 m |
| width | 2.91 m |
| height | 2.77 m |
| Dimensions | 33 tons |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 102 mm |
| Main armament | 1 × 76.2 mm cannon ( QF 17 pounder ) |
| Secondary armament | 1 × 7.92mm Besa machine gun (coaxial) |
| agility | |
| drive |
Rolls-Royce Meteor 448 kW (600 bhp) |
| Top speed | 51.5 km / h |
| Power / weight | 13.6 kW / t (18.2 PS / t) |
| Range | 260 km |
The Challenger (A30) was a British type of tank developed and built towards the end of World War II based on the Cromwell . It was not considered a particularly successful design, was only used in the final phase of the war and then retired.
development
The Challenger was a development that went back to a 1941 request to mount the Ordnance QF 17-pounder (76.2-mm) anti-tank gun on a main battle tank. The bulky weapon could otherwise only be accommodated in open structures like the Archer tank destroyer .
The weight and the strong recoil of the new cannon put too much strain on the existing tank hulls, so it was decided to extend the successful Cromwell tank model and equip it with a larger turret. Despite an additional pair of rollers and a length of more than eight meters, an extremely high tower was still required to accommodate the weapon and the additional loaders required. The weight remained too high for the substructure with its Challenger components, so that armor elements began to be removed. The machine gun in the tub was removed because the crew member was saved in favor of the new loader.
The vehicle was eventually accepted, despite all the problems, and ordered by the British armed forces. Production took place at Birmingham Railway . The influx of units began in 1944.
commitment
Only around 250 Challenger were built, from 1944 British reconnaissance units in Europe received the Challenger, where it was supposed to support the Cromwells. After the end of the war in 1945, the vehicle type was taken out of service.
The Challenger could never build on the success of the other stopgap solution, in which the QF 17-pounder was mounted on the American M4 Sherman - the Sherman Firefly .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Roger Ford: The World's Great Tanks: From 1916 to the Present Day. Barnes and Noble, 1977, ISBN 0760705933 .
- ↑ a b c d Chris Bishop: The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,500 Weapons Systems, Including Tanks, Small Arms, Warplanes, Artillery, Ships, and Submarines. MetroBooks, 2002, ISBN 978-1586637620 , p. 27.
- ^ Benjamin Coombs: British Tank Production and the War Economy, 1934-1945. Bloomsbury Academic, 2015, ISBN 978-1474227902 , p. 1884.
