Categories
WW2 British Cruiser Tanks

A.27, Cruiser Mk.VIII, Cromwell

United Kingdom (1942)
Cruiser Tank – 3,066 Built

The most renowned British Cruiser tank

The Cromwell is arguably the best known, most produced and most successful of the cruisers lineage started in 1936, at least until the arrival of the Comet in late 1944. Its genesis goes back to 1941, and the choice of the gun and engine proved to be crucial matters. War priorities spawned three tanks sharing the same design but different engines. The A.24 Cavalier used the Nuffield engine and most components from the Crusader, the A.27L Centaur was a transitional model still fitted with the Nuffield Liberty L12 engine but Cromwell components (only to be replaced by Rolls Royce engine at the end of the production). The Cromwell, propelled with the Rolls-Royce Meteor (painfully adapted from the Merlin, the Spitfire’s engine), was a league forward both in mobility and reliability. It was the only one of the three to see active service in Europe, the two other being used for training and as special purpose tanks, especially with the Royal Artillery.

Hello dear reader! This article is in need of some care and attention and may contain errors or inaccuracies. If you spot anything out of place, please let us know!

Front view of a Cromwell at the Bovington tank museum.
Crowmell, face view, Bovington Tank Museum

Early development

All three tanks originated in the A.24 Cromwell (a name that was approved early on, named after the Parliamentarian and Puritan victor of the Mid-1600s English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell) first drawn from a General Staff specifications to replace the Crusader. The latter was seen as a good tank in 1940 but became rapidly obsolete both in terms of protection and firepower. Designs were submitted in early 1941. In early 1942, Rolls-Royce was chosen to develop the engine, as the Nuffield V12 showed its age, lack of power and reliability. However, development delays meant a first model, the A.24 Cavalier, then known as “Cromwell I”, was produced. It was built by Nuffield and rushed out mostly with Crusader components, although the hull, turret design, drivetrain and general configuration were new. The Cavalier was disappointing because the superior weight of the armor was combined with the same engine as before. In the same timeframe, Leyland and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon (BRC&W) produced an improved version of the Liberty engine, with the intervention of the General Staff.

The A.27 Cruiser

The General Staff A.27 included the Rolls Royce engine and, more importantly, the QF 6 pdr gun (57 mm/2.24 in), which was the best AT gun of the Allies at that time. It was expected to enter service in mid-1942, but delays forced some interim solutions. Firstly, the Crusader was rearmed with this gun (at the expense of one crewman) and, secondly, the Cromwell Mark II built at Leyland Factory with the Nuffield Liberty came out as a stopgap measure. It had better armor, better gun, but most of the mechanical parts of the Crusader and a slightly tweaked engine, but still insufficient in power. The A.27L, or Cromwell II (for “Leyland”), is almost considered a clone of the A.27M, with everything in common but the engine. The cooling system, for example, was way better than on the Cavalier. To avoid confusion, the General Staff decided to rename the A.24 (Cromwell I) “Cavalier”, and the A.27L (Cromwell II) “Centaur”, while the Cromwell III became the A.27M Cromwell.
Cromwell memorial, 7th Armoured Division Desert Rats near Ickburgh, Norfolk.
Cromwell used as a Memorial for the famous 7th Armoured Division (“Desert Rats”) near Ickburgh, Norfolk

From the Merlin to the Meteor

The Merlin engine is a legend. Not only because it propelled the Spitfire, the emblematic fighter that saved Great Britain in the summer of 1940 and soldiered on until the 1950s (more than 20,000 were produced and declined in more than twenty-four variants), but also because of its inherent qualities. This new generation of compact and lightweight aircraft engines was quickly found suitable for the new tanks urgently needed by the Royal Armored Corps in 1941.
Indeed, Rolls-Royce was famous for the legendary quietness of its engines, so carefully hand-built that practically no vibrations were felt, hence the name of its luxury sedans and coupés (Shadow, Ghost, Cloud). These engines were also credited for a very high degree of reliability that contributed to the reputation of the company, which also produced naval engines. The Schneider Cup, the most famous hydroplane race in the 1930s, was a sandbox where aircraft designers and engineers tried out engines and streamlined, aerodynamic fuselages to house them. Macchi and Supermarine were among the best, rivals that would ultimately pass all this experience onto their fighters. The Rolls-Royce Merlin itself was legendary for its raw horsepower that far surpassed other engines in terms of power-to-weight ratio. The Meteor was the version intended to be used on tanks.
The RR Meteor was an V12 water-cooled gasoline engine that was heavily adapted by Chief Engineer W.A. Robotham at the development division in Belper, starting with the Merlin III as a base. Robotham, despite his young age, was made Chief Engineer of Tank Design and joined the Tank board. He also designed the Cruiser VIII (A.30) Challenger in 1943, the first tailored design to use the QF 17-pdr (3 in/76.2 mm) gun.
In order to be adapted, the Merlin III had to loose its supercharger, reduction gear and other equipment removed from its camshaft, to ensure simpler construction. It was provided with cast pistons, and de-rated to around 600 bhp (447 kW), while running on much lower-octane gasoline instead of usual aviation fuel, for more safety and easier fuel supply. The most expensive light-alloy components were replaced with steel components (starting with the Meteor X). By all standards, it seemed as a downgraded version of the Merlin. In 1943, due to part shortages, dismantled surplus old Merlin blocks were used for Meteor engines. Although it occupied as much space and had the same 1,650 in³ (27 litre) displacement as the earlier Liberty, the Meteor was way more reliable and doubled the power available.
Leyland initially got an order for 1,200 Meteor engines, but persisted on their own design and expressed serious doubts about being able to provide the cooling system. Eventually, Meadows was contracted, but by then the manufacturer also declined the order, due to over-capacity. Later the Rover Company, which worked with Rolls Royce, took over the bulk of the production, as did Morris (Coventry). For this reason, it is also sometimes called the Rover Meteor. Originally, the order of 1,000 was given to Rolls-Royce, that asked the government for an open credit of £1 million. But development was slow and Ernest Hives, who took over the project, obtained a trade from Spencer Wilks of Rover, exchanging the W.2B/23 production facility at Barnoldswick for the Rolls-Royce tank engine factory in Nottingham. Final production was officially started on 1st April 1943, although the first trials began in September 1941 at Aldershot, with a roughly modified Merlin in a Crusader (which topped 50 mph/80 km/h on its first test run!). These manufacturing delays explained why active units on the front had to content themselves with Shermans and obsolete Crusaders until early 1944.

Design

Hull

The hull frame consisted of riveted beams, but later production versions resorted to welding. The armor plates were bolted to the frame, particularly on the turret, which left large characteristic bosses on the outside. The chassis stood on five large roadwheels, with front idlers for tension and rear drive sprockets. The suspension was of the Christie type, with long helical springs angled back to keep the hull down and low. Four out of the five road wheels (rubber-clad) had shock absorbers. There were no track return rollers. The hull sides were two spaced plates with the suspension units between them, the outer plate being cut out to allow movement of the roadwheel axles. Side skirts were provided to protect the upper sides, but they were generally omitted and only the fore and aft mudguards were left in practice.
The front armor comprised a three part beak with 50 mm (1.97 in) plates and a flat front armor plate, 76 mm (3 in) thick. From it emerged the driver’s visor, a thick glass block protected by an opening “gate” (right-hand side), and a ball mount for the hull Besa machine-gun on the left-hand side. The driver had a one-piece hatch opening to the right and two built-in day periscopes. He was separated from the hull gunner by a bulkhead. The latter had access to ammunition racks and had his own No.35 telescope and a one-piece hatch. The ball mount gave 45° of traverse and 25° of elevation, connected through a linkage to a handle for firing. A bulkhead with access doors separated the front compartment from the central fighting compartment. On later models, protection was increased, with 3.1 in (79 mm) welded plates (Mark IVw/Vw), then to 4 in (102 mm) on the Mark VII.

Cromwell tank plan

Turret & main armament

The boxy turret sat directly above the central fighting compartment, isolated both from the front and engine compartments. The turret was of hexagonal shape, with a 76 mm (3 in) thick front and 50 mm (1.97 in) flat sides and an internal mantlet. The main gun and coaxial Besa protruded from the front plate opening, mated on the same axis. This opening was around 60 cm (2 ft) large and 40 cm (1 ft 3 in) high, with rounded corners. All six plates were made of cast hardened steel. There was a porthole for spent rounds on the rear faces, that could also be used as a pistol port. The gunner operated both the main gun and the 7.92 mm (0.31 in) Besa machine gun and had his own periscope and main visor. The main gun was, at first, the 6-pounder QF (57 mm/2.24 in), modified to fit inside the turret and fitted with a muzzle brake. This gun was only present on the Mark I and all other Marks had better guns.
Starting with the Mark II, the Cromwell swapped the QF 6-pdr for the ROQF 75 mm (2.95 in) gun, which was an adaptation of the 6-pounder design to fire the ammunition of the US M3 75 mm (2.95 in) gun, including a better HE round for use in infantry support. This adaptation also meant that the 75 mm (2.95 in) used the same mounting as the 6 pounder and the crew and internal management of the turret remained essentially unchanged. There was already a large supply of ammo of this caliber, both of American and French origin, in North Africa. In fact, with the introduction of Shermans in British service in North Africa at the end of 1942, a consensus was reached about the use of guns firing powerful HE shells against infantry. This was something that previous models armed with the 2-pounder couldn’t do, not even the so-called “CS” versions armed with a 95 mm (3.74 in) gun, mostly reserved for smoke rounds. Therefore, it was decided to standardize this caliber and, at the same time, the reliable and cheaper Sherman became the first tank in service by numbers and would remain so until the end of the war. This ROQF 75 mm (2.95 in) gun, though able to fire a useful HE shell, was not as effective against armor as the 6-pounder or the Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun. In addition, a 2 inch (51 mm) “bomb thrower” angled to fire forward was fitted into the turret top, with thirty smoke grenades carried.

Propulsion

A second bulkhead separated the fighting compartment from the engine and transmission compartment. The cooling system drew air in through the top of each side and the roof. Hot gasses were exhausted to the rear louvers. Fording preparation (up to 4 ft/1.2 m deep) imposed the move of a flap to cover the lowermost air outlet. Another air flow to the engine sucked air from the fighting compartment or the exterior, through oil bath cleaners.
The Meteor engine, in its first version, developed 540 hp at 2,250 maximum rpm, limited by a governor built into the magnetos to avoid reaching speeds that the suspensions could no longer manage without damage. It was shown indeed that the pilot tanks could easily reach 75 km/h (47 mph), something unheard of for a British tank, but the Christie suspension (later reinforced by adding more tension) simply could not cope with these speeds. It was therefore decided to govern the engine maximum RPM and, thus, the top speed. But the torque was there, available both for mobility and traction. The gearbox had five forward and one reverse gears. Fuel consumption (on “pool” 67 octane petrol) per gallon ranged from 0.5 (off-road) to 1.5 miles (road) for a total 110 gallons of internal capacity. Off-road speed was 65 km/h (40 mph) with 3.7:1 final reduction drive and around 25 mph (40 km/h) off-road. Later on, armor was added and the engine was re-rated to 600 hp to cope with the additional weight. To face muddy terrain or snow encountered in Northern Europe, later versions were given 14 in wide (36 cm) or even 15.5 in wide (40 cm) tracks. In all cases, ground clearance was 16 inches (40.6 cm).

Production

Several British firms besides Leyland contributed to the production of the Cromwell and Centaur, including LMS Railway, Morris Motors, Metro-Cammell, Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company and English Electric.
The total number of Cromwell A.27M tanks was 2368 (riveted) 126 (welded). This was still way below the total of Shermans used by the British Army and the Commonwealth and, for the sake of standardization, first line regular units were preferably equipped with the Sherman, while the Cromwell was mostly used for special (elite) units and more specific purposes.

Cromwell I

A virtual duplicate of the Centaur I with the early V12 Meteor engine and 6 pdr (57 mm/2.24 in) gun. Only 357 were produced.

Cromwell II

This prototype had increased track width and the hull machine gun was removed to increase storage.

Cromwell III

Centaur Is upgraded with the early Meteor V12 engine. Only 200 were so converted.

Cromwell IV

The first major production version, it also comprised Centaur Is and IIIs upgraded with the latest Meteor engine. Over 1,935 units were produced with several hulls types and the new 6-pdr re-chambered as a 75 mm (2.95 in) gun. By far, it was the most common version of the Cromwell.

Cromwell IVw

A version upgraded with the new Meteor engine, and all welded hull (“w” stands for welded).

Cromwell Vw

A production version using, from the start, a welded construction and 75 mm (2.95 in) gun.

Cromwell VI

Specialized CS (Close Support) version armed with 95 mm (3.74 in) howitzer and carrying with smoke and HE rounds. Only 341 were produced.

Cromwell VII

These were upgraded Cromwell IV/Vs with additional armor (100 mm/3.94 in front flat plate), fitted with the wider 15.5 inch (40 cm) tracks and and some gearbox changes. Around 1,500 were so upgraded and produced relatively late in the war.

Cromwell VIIw

Cromwell Vw upgraded to the Cromwell VII standard or built as such from the start.

Cromwell VIII

Cromwell VI upgraded to the standard of the Mark VII.

Identification issues

It is very hard to visual tell the differences between the Cavalier, Centaur and Cromwell tanks. The Cavalier did not have the large box exhaust at the rear of the tank but the Centaur and Cromwell did. The Centaur’s liberty engine does not need the large rectangular armoured air intake cover on the top of the engine deck behind the turret. The engine deck plates and the large rectangular armoured air intake cover were built for the Cromwell tank’s Meteor engine requirements. Some Centaurs were constructed with a flat engine deck but some were built using the Cromwell tanks engine deck plates and the large rectangular armoured air intake cover. This means if you see a tank that looks like a Cromwell tank and has a large a box exhaust at the rear with a flat engine deck then it is a Centaur and not a Cromwell. But the presence of a large rectangular armoured air intake cover does not mean that you are looking at a Cromwell tank.

There are a number of features that were on both the Centaur and Cromwell that can indicate if they were early or late production vehicles. These range from the type of hull machine gun mount and sight, different types of track tensioner, tracks, cupola and gun mantlet. Unfortunately, they cannot be used to identify if the tank is a Centaur or Cromwell tank as they were used on both.

To add some more confusion, production hulls varied over time and factory adjustments.
Type A hull: Both the driver and hull gunner had lift-up hatches.
Type B and C hulls mostly had a slightly different internal arrangement.
Type D/E hulls: Reworked engine deck panel arrangement.
Type F hull: Swing-out hatches for the hull crewmen, extra stowage bins on the turret sides, fender bin on the driver’s side removed.
Welded hulls (around 100+ built): Applique armor on the front hull and turret sides, “Vauxhall” driver’s hatch.

Variants

Cromwell Command

The main gun was removed and two N°19 (High & Low Power) wireless sets were carried. Used by brigade and divisional headquarters.

Cromwell Observation Post

Cromwell IV, Cromwell VI or Cromwell VIII keeping their main gun but fitted with extra radio equipment (2 x No. 19 and 2 x No. 38 portable radios).

Cromwell Control

These were fitted with two No. 19 Low Power radios and kept their main gun. Used by regimental headquarters.

Excelsior

An experimental design intended to replace the Churchill infantry tank

FV 4101 Charioteer

The Charioteer was a postwar derivative fitted with a new turret housing the QF 20 pounder (84 m/3.3 in) gun.

The Cromwell in action

The A.27Ms were already available in the beginning of 1944, but none left the British soil. They were all kept for training, and the series was refined until D-Day. Since Shermans formed the bulk of British and Commonwealth armored units, Cromwells were used only in the armored brigades of the 7th Armoured Division, as well as the armored reconnaissance regiments of the elite Guards Armoured Division and the 11th Armoured Division, which all served in North-western Europe. In June 1944, the Cromwell saw action for the first time, during Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Normandy campaign, however, especially at the beginning and until the Falaise pocket battles, showed the Cromwell struggling with the narrow lanes and hedgerows of the Normandy countryside. Hedgerow-cutters were hastily welded to the beak of some tanks, but losses were generally high. At Villers Bocage, on June 13, 1944, an entire column was ambushed and wiped out by a few Tigers commanded by Michael Wittmann of the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. Most of the 27 tanks, lost in less than 15 minutes, were Cromwells. However, after August, the terrain once more favored mobility and speed, and the Cromwell showed all its qualities, despite a much less resolute opposition.
The Cromwell was also used by Allied units of the 1st Polish Armoured Division (10th Mounted Rifle Regiment) and 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade, which soldiered in the Netherlands and Germany until V-day in May 1945. Their career did not end in May 1945. Some saw service in the Korean War with the 7th RTR and the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars. Modified Charioteers saw extensive service until the 1960s in Great Britain and much later in other countries like Finland, Austria, Jordan and Lebanon. The A27M was also used by the IDF in the War of Independence (1948–1949). Others were purchased by the Portuguese Army and maintained in service until the 1960s.
Reception of the new tank by the crews was mixed. Being must faster than the Sherman and favored by a lower profile, they also had a thicker frontal armor plate and a good gun. But, at the same time, it was soon discovered that neither the armor nor the firepower was a match for the Tiger and Panther that were already one step further. Like the Shermans, the Cromwell needed to maneuver in order to get a better angle, which was even easier because of their excellent mobility. The Rolls Royce was a wonderfully engineered piece of machinery but needed much more maintenance than the Sherman engines. Reliability was a discovery for British crews, accustomed to previous generations of Cruisers equipped with the Liberty engine. This resulted in a far greater rate of availability for any given operation.
The next step was to install a 17-pdr (76.2 mm/3 in), the only gun that could take on any German tank at the time. But the turret of the Cromwell was never tailored for it, and a small number of Challenger and Firefly tanks were provided instead. By the end of 1944, British engineers upgraded the Cromwell, which was at last given a new turret able to house the 17 pdr. But it was too little too late and the Comet did not change the face of events. The Comet would eventually lead to the Centurion in 1945, the world’s first MBT and one of the most successful tanks ever designed. At least seven Cromwells are on display throughout the world today.

Links on the Cromwell

The Cromwell on Wikipedia
Additional photos on Wikimedia Commons
The story of the Clan Foundry Belper, where the engine trials took place
The sound of a V12 Meteor engine

Cromwell Mk.I specifications

Dimensions 20.1 x 9.6 x 8.2 ft (6.35 x 2.9 x 2.49 m)
Total weight, battle ready 27.6 long tons
Crew 5 (commander, driver, gunner, loader, bow gunner)
Propulsion Rolls Royce Meteor V12 Petrol, 27 l, 600 hp (447 kW)
Suspension Christie system
Top speed 40 mph (64 km/h)
Range (road) 170 mi (270 km)
Armament QF Vickers 6-pdr (57 mm), 64 rounds
2x 0.303 (7.9 mm) Besa LMGs, 2950 rounds
Armor From 15 to 76 mm (0.5 to 6 in)
Total production 2368 (riveted) 126 (welded)

Centaur Mark III
A Centaur Mk.III, for comparison.
Cromwell Mark I, early 1944, Great Britain.
Cromwell Mark I, early 1944, Great Britain. This version was only kept for training, being equipped with the early V12 Meteor and 6-pdr gun.
The Cromwell Mk.III was essentially a re-engineered Centaur with a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine
The Cromwell Mk.III was essentially a re-engineered Centaur with a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. Here is one from Normandy, 1944.
Cromwell Mark IV, unknown unit, Normandy, summer 1944.
Cromwell Mk.IV, unknown unit, Normandy, summer 1944.
Cromwell Mk.IV, Type F hull, 1st Regiment, Czech Independent Armoured Brigade Group, Dunkirk, May 1945.
Cromwell Mk.IV, Type F hull, 1st Regiment, Czech Independent Armoured Brigade Group, Dunkirk, May 1945.
Cromwell Mark IV, 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 7th Armoured Division, Germany, May 1945.
Cromwell Mark IV, 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 7th Armoured Division, Germany, May 1945.
Cromwell Mark IV, 13th Mounted Rifle Regiment, 5th Polish Division, Normandy, August 1944.
Cromwell Mark IV, 13th Mounted Rifle Regiment, 5th Polish Division, Normandy, August 1944.
Cromwell Mark IV with hull Type F, 1st RTR, 7th Armoured Division, Germany, 1945.
Cromwell Mark IV with hull Type F, 1st RTR, 7th Armoured Division, Germany, 1945.
Cromwell Mk.IV Agamemnon with rubber stripes, 3rd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 11th Armoured Division, Normandy, 1944.
Cromwell Mk.IV “Agamemnon” with rubber stripes, 3rd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 11th Armoured Division, Normandy, 1944.
Cromwell Mk.IV, 3rd Welsh Guards Armoured Division, Germany, April 1945
Cromwell Mk.IV, 3rd Welsh Guards Armoured Division, Germany, April 1945
Cromwell Mark V CS. This model was up-armored, with an add-on welded plate raising the front to 101-102 mm (3.98 in).
Cromwell Mark V CS. This model was up-armored, with an add-on welded plate raising the front to 101-102 mm (3.98 in).
Polish Cromwell Mark VI, 3rd Squadron, 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment, France, August 1944.
Polish Cromwell Mark VI, 3rd Squadron, 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment, France, August 1944.
Cromwell Mark VII of the 7th Armoured Division, the
Cromwell Mark VII of the 7th Armoured Division, the “Desert Rats”, Korea, October 1950.


Variants

The A.30 Cruiser Mark VIII Challenger (1943) was a derivative of the Cromwell, and the only one fitted with the massive 17-pdr (3 in/76.2 mm) gun.
The A.30 Cruiser Mark VIII Challenger (1943) was a derivative of the Cromwell, and the only one fitted with the massive 17-pdr (3 in/76.2 mm) gun. Here is a tank from the Czechoslovak Independent Brigade, 1st Armoured Battalion, Prague, May 1945.
The FV4101 Charioteer (1950) was a Cold War recycling of the hull, fitted with a new turret housing the 20-pdr (84 mm/3.3 inch) gun, first intended for the Army Reserve Territorial units.
The FV4101 Charioteer (1950) was a Cold War recycling of the hull, fitted with a new turret housing the 20-pdr (84 mm/3.3 inch) gun, first intended for the Army Reserve Territorial units. Around 400 were built and also exported, seeing service until the late 1980s in Lebanon.

Video documentary about the Cromwell

Gallery

Artist impression of a Cromwell, boxart, Airfix.
Artist impression of a Cromwell, boxart, Airfix.
A Welsh Guards A.27M in a speed display at Pickering, Yorkshire, March 1944.
A Welsh Guards A.27M in a speed display at Pickering, Yorkshire, March 1944.
A Cromwell Mark VI, the close support version equipped with a 95 mm (3.74 in) howitzer.
A Cromwell Mark VI, the close support version equipped with a 95 mm (3.74 in) howitzer.
two Cromwell CS tanks
The vehicles of ‘B’ Squadron, 15th/19th King’s Royal Hussars, included two close support Cromwells with 95 mm howitzers (in foreground). Behind them can be seen a regular Cromwell armed with a 75 mm cannon. The photograph was taken in the low ground between the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the Teutobergerwald.
Cromwell VIIw, the welded hull variant.
Cromwell VIIw, the welded hull variant.
Artist impression of a Cromwell with hedgerow cutters, Revell boxartAnother artist impression of a Cromwell with hedgerow cutters, Revell boxartCromwell Mark VII at the Kubinka MuseumBritish Army Cromwell carrying wounded soldiers, North-West Europe, 1944-45Cromwell of the 15th-19th Kings Royal Hussars, 11th Armoured Division, Uedem, Germany, 28 February 1945.Centaur IV tank of H Troop, 2nd Battery, Royal Marine Armoured Support Group, 13 June 1944.Cromwell IV at the Bovington tank museum.Cromwell Mark I at PuckapunyalCromwell Mark I at PuckapunyalEx-IDF Cromwell at the Latrun Museum, Israel.Ex-IDF Cromwell at the Latrun Museum, Israel.Ex-IDF Cromwell at the Latrun Museum, Israel.Cromwell VI at Gold Beach, June 1944.Cromwell destroyed at Villers Bocage, 13 June 1944 - Credits: Bundesarchiv.Another Cromwell destroyed at Villers Bocage, 13 June 1944 - Credits: Bundesarchiv.English Electric A.33 Excelsior prototype (1944)English Electric A.33 Excelsior prototype (1944).
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Tank Encyclopedia's Creator, webmaster and illustrator since 2010.

28 replies on “A.27, Cruiser Mk.VIII, Cromwell”

There is a mistake in the unit name of the 7th coloured Cromwell above. “13th Mounted Rifle Regiment, 5th Polish Division” – there were no such unit or Division. This was 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment from 1st Polish Armoured Division, the only one Polish unit that was using Cromwells in fight (oh, well – the commander of 3rd Polish Infantry Brigade from the same 1st Armoured Division used also one Cromwell, but this was only because he was a commander of 10th MRR before… 🙂 ).

Is there any more info on that israeli cromwell in the gallery? Like why the main gun looks longer and it has a different mantlet. Is it a dummy gun?

No, that’s not a dummy gun. It’s a 76 mm QF-17 tank gun, capable of firing strong 76 mm APDS rounds and even soviet ammunition of the same calibre, like APHE and HEAT-FS, that were taken from captured PT-76’s. Fan fact: reload time on those Cromwells (with the 76 mm gun) was only 5 seconds, thanks to a better and more comfortable design of the crew compartment in the turret.

Complete doubt on all of those claims. The gun is not long enough to be a 17 pounder, and the muzzle break doesn’t match, the 17-pounder had a double baffle one. I know of no attempts of fitting the 17 pounder in the Cromwell turret directly, which was why they developed Avenger, Challenger and Comet, all of which are bigger and with bigger turrets. Such a turret wasn’t even practical, let alone comfortable.

Also, I have never ever seen any claim or reason why the British 17 pounder would have been compatible with Soviet ammunition (let alone from a far lower-pressure gun like the one on the PT-76).

So, please, do append some sources for your claims.

when you say ‘The RR Meteor was an in-line V12 water-cooled gasoline engine ‘, is this is a mistake? I thought in-line and V12 were different engine configurations.

At the very top of the page, where the number of tanks built is displayed, the word “built” is spelt “builte”.

So hello. I just want to suggest 1 thing: could you add the sherman firefly or the matilda hedgoge?

Hi,

Those articles are in the works. Hopefully they will be published in the next few months.

Thanks
Gareth (TE Editor and Writer)

Can anyone point me to drawings for the Cromwell, i am looking to build one. Other than scaling a 1:36 model up it would be better to work from a drawing.
I normally make locomotives and i would like to do something different.
Cheers in advance.
Boiler Bri

Wasn’t there five crew members I’m seeing differing sources and don’t know what to believe

hey would any of these cromwells have a 75mm vickers HV cannon? it’s in WOT as an upgrade for the cromwell.

There were Cromwells fitted with 75 mm guns. Don’t know what WoT is referring to though.

Remember that WoT is a game – not a history lesson. The short answer is NO, it wouldn’t fit.

“Vickers proposed the 75mm L/50 High Velocity tank gun early in 1942 as a replacement for the 6 pdr (57mm) gun. It was intended to be used in the Cromwell tank and six prototype guns were ordered in April 1943, but it was realised in the following month that it wouldn’t fit in the Cromwell turret. Nonetheless, development was continued for the A34 Comet tank which was designed around the 75mm L/50. In October 1943 it was announced that the gun was to be modified to fire 17 pdr (76.2mm) projectiles, and a month later it was officially dubbed the 77mm. It entered service along with the Comet tank in December 1944 with the 11th Armoured Division in time (barely, only one brigade was equipped by April 1945) to see action in World War 2, and was the best British tank of the war. 1,200 Comets were produced by the end of WW2 and it saw action in the Korean War before leaving British Army service in 1958. (Replaced by the Centurion, elsewhere, it soldiered on in Hong Kong) It saw service with five other countries and finally stopped being used in the 1980s. The Comet tank was the only user of the 77mm gun.

The original 75mm HV used the cartridge case of the 3 inch 20 cwt AA gun (developed in WW1, still in British service in WW2), necked down from 76.2mm to 75mm. The cartridge was intended to use US 75mm tank gun projectiles: the M61 APCBC (14.92 lbs) and the M48 HE (14.6 lbs) as used with a smaller cartridge case in the M2 and M3 tank guns (M3 and M4 tanks) and the M4 and M5 aircraft guns (B-25G/H). Muzzle velocity with the M61 was calculated to be 2,650 fps in a new gun (2,600 fps assumed in comparisons) compared with 2,030 fps in the M3 tank gun, but it was felt that the M48 shell wouldn’t be able to tolerate such a high chamber pressure so it was downloaded to 1,500 fps (35,840 psi rather than 49,280 psi for the APCBC).

Estimated armour penetration figures for the 75mm HV firing an M61 projectile were prepared. These showed a figure of 87mm at 1000 yards/30 degrees compared with c.60mm for the M3 tank gun. The performance of the 75mm HV was therefore calculated to be about the same as the US 76mm tank gun, although the 75mm M48 HE shell was much more effective than the 76mm’s M42.

The only difference between the 75mm HV and the production 77mm was the fractional difference in calibre: the 77mm cartridge case was therefore exactly the same as that for the 3 inch 20 cwt, although the projectiles were different and it was loaded to a much higher performance. The 77mm’s APCBC projectile from the 17 pdr (which did actually weigh 17 lb) delivered far better penetration than the 75mm HV: 108 mm at 1000 yards/30 degrees. With APDS, penetration increased to 165mm. Conversely, the 77mm’s HE shell (15.4 lb) was no better than the 76mm’s (in both cases, they suffered from the thicker shell walls needed to resist the high pressures). Later HE shells for the 17 pdr/77mm were much more effective as they were loaded to a lower velocity and pressure, allowing thinner walled shells to be used.

It is not clear why Vickers decided to neck down the 3 inch 20 cwt”

Though I haven’t read it myself, I’ve been told that in the war memoir “Troop Leader: A Tank Commander’s Story” by Bill Bellamy there is mention of a training version of the Cromwell. This variant allegedly had thinner armor of mild-steel construction (and interestingly, due to the reduced weight, a greater top speed than combat variants). Is there any official record of these training tanks?

On all diagrams on the armour of of the Cromwell that I can find, the flat front plate thickness is listed as 63.5/64mm (2.5in) rather than the 76mm (3in) stated on Wikipedia and Here. Is this a mistake on your part, a discrepancy between the diagrams and the actual armour, or me mistaking the variant shown in the diagram/the front plate armour being changed between variants?
https://i.imgur.com/9ilel2q.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TPB2KDV.png
https://forum.warthunder.com/uploads/monthly_2017_12/5a486d81c7053_CromwellImissingarmour.jpg.78162d7854a750898d2bc6e7787dd11b.jpg

Very good site. Well done. Good to see information on British and allied tanks. Odd question, not really about the Cromwell. I have seen a lot of pictures online and in books with Cromwells and other British tanks without any auxiliary armament. Was there a shortage of BESAs?

can anyone confirm which version of the 6pdr the cromwell i had i.e either mk3 (l43 barrrel) or mk5 ( l50 barrel)
thanks

Well sourced information.
What i was wanting to know, what were the Cromwell serial numbers that were painted on the hulls that entered service in late 1943?

What optics were used on Cromwell’s? I found a CTS No.50x3ML MkII in my dad’s garage when I cleared it out.

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