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The Cromwell tank, officially Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M), was one of the series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second World War. [ b ] Named after the English Civil War –era military leader Oliver Cromwell , the Cromwell was the first tank put into service by the British to combine high speed from a powerful, reliable ...
The A24 Cavalier and A27L Centaur used the Nuffield Liberty engine while the A27M Cromwell used the more powerful Rolls-Royce Meteor. When US tanks entered British use, the Cromwell and Centaur design requirement was changed to move from the 6-pounder to 75mm for commonality of ammunition. This reduced the armour penetration.
The design received additional emphasis when, in May 1943, it was found that the Cromwell could not carry its intended armament. Vickers had been developing a 75 mm (3.0 in) 50-calibre-long high-velocity tank gun. It was realised late in the design process that the Cromwell's turret ring was too small for this gun.
The bright spots of British tank design included the Valentine, Churchill (A22), Cromwell (A27M), and Comet I (A34), which together made up a little over half of total British tank production during WWII. The Valentine was a reliable, heavily armoured infantry-support tank used successfully in the desert and by the Red Army as a light tank.
English Electric built two prototypes on a Cromwell tank hull, the first with the suspension and T1 track of the M6 tank in 1943 but with a 6-pounder gun. The second was built with a widened Cromwell track and suspension by LMS and different armoured skirts. The design included extra armour and an Ordnance QF 75 mm gun.
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The initial designs for the new Cromwell tank evolved into the A24 Mk VII Cavalier tank and the A27L Mk VIII Centaur tank, both powered by the Nuffield Liberty. Design progressed through the Mk VII (A27M) Cromwell, a third parallel development to the Cavalier and Centaur, sharing many of the same characteristics.
All 67 people on board the American Airlines regional jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided midair Wednesday night are presumed dead – a grim tragedy that has left a heartbreaking ...