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Crusader Mk III tanks in Tunisia, 31 December 1942. The Crusader proved [citation needed] prone to "brew up" when hit, a problem that was identified as being due to the ammunition being ignited by hot metal penetrating the unprotected racks. The angled underside of the turret created shot traps that deflected rounds downward, through the hull roof.
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III, also known by its General Staff specification number A13 Mark I, was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War.It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system, which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance; previous cruiser tank models had used triple wheeled bogie suspension.
The additional machine gun turret (as mounted on the Crusader) was no substitute for HE rounds. As the armour of German tanks increased British cruisers were up-gunned with the more powerful 57 mm Ordnance QF 6 pounder, starting with the Crusader Mk. III (an interim move pending the introduction of the next cruiser tank).
The Crusader tanks became the main British tank, the A15 Crusader Mark I and II variants had QF 2 pounder (40mm) main gun, but the 'Crusader III' was fitted with an Ordnance QF 6 pounder (57mm) main gun. It used the same main turret as the A13 Mk III Covenanter designs, and over 5,000 tanks were manufactured.
The Mk I was first used in combat in the North African Campaign late in 1942, where a few vehicles were reportedly fitted with a Crusader tank turret mounting a 6 pounder gun. The Mk II and Mk III took part in the fighting in Europe with British and British Indian Army units, often together with the American-supplied Staghound armoured car.
This could have a number associated for the version of this model of tank, e.g. Crusader II is the second variant or Mark to the Crusader I. Some tanks had already picked up names, either nicknames or from project names, but in June 1941 the Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked that all tanks be named.
The first tanks to go into action armed with the 6-pounder gun were the Crusader Mk III and the Churchill Mark III, both initially with the short barrel 6-pounder Mk III. Churchill Mk III saw action in the Dieppe Raid of August 1942. Six Churchills deployed to North Africa, as KingForce, were used in action at El Alamein in October, destroying ...
Crusader tank production line in 1941. Nuffield's first tank was the Cruiser Mk III which came out of studies of a Christie-designed tank which was obtained from the USA in 1930s. The first pilot vehicles were delivered in April 1937 and production vehicles, "A13 Mark I" from December 1938. [7] Sixty-five were built by Nuffield.