Cruiser tanks
As a cruiser tank (Engl. Cruiser tanks ) refers to a class of medium tanks , which in the interwar period for the British Army were developed and in World War II were used. The name is derived from the military ship class of cruisers , with which the contrast to the " land battle ships " of the First World War should be expressed. With these tank models, the focus was less on armor and more on mobility.
background
The development of the cruiser tank concept began in the 1930s due to considerations about the correct tactical use of the tank weapon. Cruiser tanks were designed to take advantage of intrusions in a front by making rapid advances and disrupting the enemy's rear connections . This corresponded to the role that the cavalry had taken up until the First World War . During the First World War, so-called cavalry tanks such as the Mark A "Whippet" had been developed on the British side for this task , but unlike the heavy breakthrough tanks such as the Mark I and its successors, they were only armed with machine guns and were lighter armored. These were essentially "mobile machine-gun nests ", which were primarily suitable for fighting against enemy infantry , but not against enemy tanks. Their successors in the 1930s were the so-called tankettes .
In the interwar period, but especially since the early 1930s, the concept of the armored weapon as an independent branch of arms prevailed in many armies. This gave rise to new requirements for future tanks, in particular with regard to the ability to use against enemy tanks, which were primarily reflected in the armament. In addition to the previous requirement for large-caliber artillery and machine guns for use against unarmored targets, there was also the requirement for a primary weapon that was specifically suitable for anti-tank defense . A largely unsuccessful until the beginning of World War II re-checked concept was that the multi-tower tank , which over several towers with specialized on different uses chariot guns possessed.
properties
(the two machine-gun turrets clearly visible)
(abandoned tank after the Battle of Calais 1940)
The first tank called "Kreuzerpanzer" was the Cruiser Tank Mk. I (A9) developed by Vickers in 1934 , which already had all the features of the later models and was produced in series for the British Army from 1937. He was armed with a 40 mm (2 pounder) chariot cannon as main armament, which fired armor-piercing ammunition . The use of HE shells would have been possible in principle, however, due to the low caliber of the weapon, the development of appropriate ammunition was not carried out. Instead, the "Cruiser Mk. I", like some later cruiser tanks, also appeared in a " Close Support " ( "CS") variant with a 94 mm howitzer as the main weapon. However, this only played a subordinate role in the later war deployment. In addition, the "Cruiser Mk. I" had two separately operated machine gun turrets, which were, however, omitted in later models, and a coaxial turret machine gun. The speed on the road was at least 40 km / h, which was only slightly below that of the light tanks used at the time, such as the Light Tank Mk VI (50 km / h) and well above that of the heavy tank "Matilda" Mk I (13 km / h).
The main characteristic of the cruiser tanks was their low weight and the resulting high speed due to the initially poor armor . The ever increasing weight due to the ever increasing demands on armor protection was gradually compensated for by the installation of more powerful engines, for example the original Rolls-Royce Meteor aircraft engine in the " Cromwell " .
The armament should be such that despite the relatively thin armor a battle with enemy tanks could be successfully passed. In the course of the war, the tanks were therefore equipped one after the other with 2-pounder, then 6-pounder - and finally 17-pounder cannons, all of which were also used as anti-tank guns . In addition, a 75 mm cannon was used specifically for the "Cromwell", which was a multi-purpose weapon and corresponded to that of the American M4 Sherman .
Parallel developments and successors
The counterpart to the cruiser tanks in the British Army were the heavily armored and slow infantry tanks , which were to accompany the slower advancing infantry.
A similar development to that of the cruiser tanks was the BT series produced in the Soviet Union from 1932 (abbreviated for Bistrochodny Tank - " high-speed tank "), which strongly influenced the design of the successful T-34 (series production from 1941). A special feature of these Red Army tanks was the Christie drive , which was also introduced for the British cruiser tanks from the "Cruiser Mk. III" onwards.
Cruiser tanks were also developed in the Commonwealth of Nations, as supplying British and US models was initially difficult. In Canada at the end of 1941 the "Ram" was built based on the American M3 Lee / Grant , in Australia in 1942 the AC-1 "Sentinel" . Neither of them was ever used in combat.
On the German side, the early cruiser tanks up to and including the “ Crusader ” can best be compared with the Panzer III , those from the “Cromwell” with the Panzer IV . Later British developments such as the " Challenger " and " Comet " aimed to create a tank on a par with the German Panzer V "Panther" .
Because of the war experience, after which the most important feature of a successful anti-tank design is the balance of factors mobility, armor protection and firepower, the class which was created in the last years of the war and in the postwar era battle tanks ( Main Battle Tanks , MBT). The last British cruiser tank, the “Comet”, was replaced by the “ Centurion ” (A41) battle tank soon after the end of the war .
List of cruiser tanks
| designation | Specification number | Main armament | Weight | Armor | Top speed | Production period | Number produced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruiser Tank Mk I. | A9 | 2 pounder / 40 mm | 12 t | 6-14 mm | 40 km / h | 1936-1940 | 125 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk. II | A10 | 2 pounder | 14 t | 6-30 mm | 26 km / h | 1939-1941 | 170 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk. III | A13 | 2 pounder | 14 t | 6-14 mm | 48 km / h | 1939 | 65 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk. IV | A13 Mk II | 2 pounder | 15 t | 6-30 mm | 48 km / h | 1939-1941 | 270 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk V "Covenanter" | A13 Mk III | 2 pounder | 19 t | 7-40 mm | 50 km / h | 1940-1943 | 1,779 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk VI "Crusader" | A15 | 2-pounder (Mk I and II) 6-pounder / 57 mm (Mk III) |
19-20 t | up to 26/32 mm | 42 km / h | 1940-1943 | 4,917 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk VII "Cavalier" | A24 | 6 pounder | 27 t | up to 76 mm | 38 km / h | 1943-1944 | 497 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk VIII "Centaur" / "Cromwell" | A27 | OQF 75 mm | 28 t | up to 76 mm | 64 km / h | 1942–1944/1945 | 1,774 + 2,547 = 4,321 |
| Cruiser Tank Mk VIII "Challenger" | A30 | 17 pounder / 76.2 mm | 33 t | up to 102 mm | 52 km / h | 1944-1945 | 192 |
| Cruiser tank "Comet" | A34 | 17 pounder / 77 mm HV | 33 t | up to 102 mm | 50 km / h | 1944-1945 | 623 |
Source: Benjamin Coombs: British Tank Production and the War Economy, 1934–1945. A&C Black, 2013, Appendix I.
See also
literature
- Michael Green: Allied Tanks of the Second World War. Pen & Sword, 2017.
- Peter Gudgin: Armored Firepower: The Development of Tank Armament, 1939–45. Sutton, 1997.
- Ian Hogg : Allied Armor of World War Two. Crowood, 2000.
- Kenneth Macksey, A History of the Royal Armored Corps and Its Predecessors, 1914-1975. Newtown Publications, 1983.
- Leland S. Ness: Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles: The Complete Guide. HarperCollins, 2002.
- Spencer Tucker: Tanks: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO, 2004.
