Crusader

Cruising tank Mk.VI “Crusader” ( eng. Tank Cruiser Mk.VI “Crusader” , from the English crusader - “ crusader ”), A15 - British medium cruising tank during the Second World War .

Crusader
Cruiser Mk.VI Crusader
Combat weight, t	19.3
Layout diagram	classic
Crew	five
Story
Manufacturer
Years of development	1939 - 1940
Years of production	1940 - 1943
Years of operation	1941 - 1945
The number of issued, pcs.	5,300
Dimensions
Body length mm	5,994
Width mm	2 642
Height mm	2,235
Clearance mm	406
Reservation
Forehead of the body (top), mm / city.	34
Forehead of the body (bottom), mm / city.	22
Board of the case (top), mm / city.	20
Board of the case (bottom), mm / city.	18
Housing feed (top), mm / city.	sixteen
Housing feed (bottom), mm / city.	17
Bottom mm	sixteen
Housing roof, mm	14
Tower forehead, mm / city.	32
Cutting forehead, mm / city.	12
The mask of the gun , mm / city.	eleven
Board towers, mm / city.	23
Cutting board, mm / city.	13
The feed of the tower, mm / city.	nineteen
Cutting feed, mm / city.	eleven
Armament
Caliber and brand of guns	40 mm QF 2 pounder , or later 57 mm QF 6 pounder
Barrel length, calibres	52
Gun ammunition	130
Machine guns	2 × 7.7 mm BESA , part of machines with Bren
Mobility
Engine type	V-shaped 12- cylinder liquid-cooled carburetor
Engine power, l with.	340
Speed ​​on the highway, km / h	43
Cruising on the highway , km	255
Suspension type	Christie Pendant

Since the late 1930s, British military doctrine provided for the development of two main types of tanks: a heavily armored infantry support tank and a fast cruising tank. Shortly before the Second World War, Nuffield Mechanizations companies offered to participate in the development of the cruising tank Covenanter A13 Mk.III - the company refuses and focuses on the development of its own model - A15 Crusader. A lot of problems with Covenanter cause Crusader to start production instead.

Initially, the tank was armed with a two-pound gun in the main tower and a BESA machine gun in a separate machine-gun turret. The tank weighing 18.8 tons was highly mobile - with its 12-cylinder Liberty L-12 engine and Christie's suspension, it reached a speed of 40 km / h. To achieve this, the developers had to sacrifice reservation - the tank had thin armor of the tower (20 mm) and 26 mm of armor of the forehead of the hull.

Production of the Crusader Mk.I was launched in May 1941, the first batch of tanks was sent to North Africa in the 7th Panzer Division . The tank received baptism of fire during an attempt to lift the siege of Tobruk ( Operation Battleaxe ). Tanks could not resist the well-armored PzKpfw III , in addition, they had problems with reliability. Having learned the lessons, the British released the MkII model. It improved the armor protection and removed the ineffective machine-gun turret. The crown of development was the Mk.III model with a more powerful six-pound gun. The tank was actively used during the battles in North Africa in 1941-1942.

With the advent of more advanced tanks, such as the M4 Sherman and Mk VIII Cromwell , by 1943, the Krusaders were transferred to secondary roles or converted into self-propelled guns . The production of the tank was completed in 1943 . During mass production in 1941 - 1943 , more than 5300 copies of the Cruzeider were produced, which became one of the most numerous British tanks of the Second World War. In the USSR, according to the Lend-Lease program, the Krusader tanks were not supplied.