The Crusader Tank (A.15)

A Crusader Mk III with a 6pdr

The original specifications for the Crusader tank called for a tank that had a 40mm frontal armour standard and 30mm elsewhere and a weight or no more than 18 tons, armament was again the 2 Pounder Gun with a Besa 7.92 machine gun, there was also an extra Besa left of the driver. To keep production as simple as possible it was decided the Crusader and Covenanter should share as many components as possible.

The first Crusader tank prototype was delivered around April 1940 and was found to have serious defects, may of which should have been eliminated at the design stage. One of the more serious issues was the drivers head projective above his cabin while opened up "there is a danger of his head being cut off by the rear of the turret or hit by the gun if the turret rotated". Other issues included injury to the driver when going over rough terrain, reliability and cooling. By September 1940 the drivers position had improved but it still remained impossible for service use.

Due to the grave situation at the time every vehicle possible was required and so the Crusader tank was pushed into production, and the first Mk I version of the tank was completed in November of 1940. In December 1940 the production model underwent firing and stowage trials at Lulworth, these trials found the vehicle to be most unsatisfactory. The trials found...

The Mk II Crusader tank was an uparmoured version of the Mk I, frontal armour was increased by up to 10mm and the roof was increased by 3mm. The auxiliary turret was used on both vehicles but some Mk I versions and most Mk II versions did not have this turret due to the major problems listed above. By late 1941 the need to increase the power of the Crusaders gun, for this the 6pdr gun was available, most 6pdr guns produced in 1941 were the tank version but these could also be mounted on the anti-tank carriage. Nuffield's version of the turret with a 6pdr was tested in October 1941 and although it was not an idea solution it was approved. Production was authorised in December and the first Crusader tank Mk III was produced in May 1942.

CS (close support) versions of the Crusader replaced the 2pdr with a 3" howitzer capable of firing both HE and Smoke shells, as the 3" howitzer has been specifically designed to fit in the same mounting as the 2pdr fitting it inside the Crusader was no problem, the main issue was ammunition stowage, the size of the 3" howitzer rounds reduced the capacity from 130 rounds with the 2pdr to 63 with the 3" howitzer.

The Crusaders tank armour arrangement was complex with composite, spaced, cast and single plate armour. Generally the armour was composite consisting a machineable quality plate with carbon manganese steel backing plate, this combination offered slightly less ballistic resistance compared with a single plate but on non penetrating rounds the backing plate stopped fragments from entering the vehicle. In 1942 14mm machineable quality plates were added to the front of the Crusader to improve protection, it had been hoped to add another 6mm to this 14mm but the suspension was not able to handle this additional weight.

The Crusader tank performed well against the Italian tanks but was largely inferior the German vehicles of the time which were better armed and had slightly thicker armour. Reliability was a major throughout and this was not largely solved until 1942. The 6pdr gun improvement was greatly welcomed by crews who at last could deal with any German tank of the period at range, by the end of 1942 the Crusader tank had been declared obsolete and were replaced by Shermans.

The Crusader remained in production well into 1943 and as the vehicles were obsolete it was decided to put the Crusader tanks high power to weight ratio to use as much as possible. The Crusader tank was used for Observation Posts (OP), anti aircraft versions - Bofors and Oerlikon and a Crusader Tower used to pull 17pdr anti-tank guns.

 Production of the Crusader Tank by year (UK Only)

Sources - AVIA 46 188, AVIA 22 456-514, WO 194