


Cruiser Mk VI Crusader
Country | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | Nuffield Mechanisation and Aero |
Primary Role | Cruiser Tank |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseCruiser Mk VI Crusader (A15) tanks were designed by Nuffield Mechanisation somewhat based on the Mk III Covenanter (A13) design. Some of the major differences between Covenanter and Crusader tanks include Crusader tanks' use of five road wheels on each side for better weight distribution, different engines and engine cooling systems, different steering systems, and hand-traversed machine gun turrets on the left-front side of the Crusader hulls (although these auxiliary turrets were often removed in the field). Against their German counterparts, they were relatively lightly armed and thinly armored, and they lacked high explosive rounds, but their higher speed somewhat made up for the difference. The Crusader tanks first saw combat during Operation Battleaxe in North Africa, where they effectively served as the main cruiser tanks. In 1942, an attempt was made to upgrade Crusader tanks' armament to 6-pounder guns, but the eventual availability of M4 Sherman and Cruiser Mk VIII Centaur/Cromwell tanks relegated the now inadequately-armed Crusader tanks to secondary roles, such as anti-aircraft (with twin Oerlikon 20-mm guns) or artillery towing.
ww2dbaseBetween Nov 1940 and 1945, 5,464 Crusader tanks were built. Production of Crusader tanks, broken down by year, was as follows:
Model | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crusader Mk I | 2 | 248 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 250 |
Crusader Mk II | 0 | 407 | 1405 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1812 |
Crusader Mk III | 0 | 0 | 946 | 771 | 0 | 0 | 1717 |
Oerlikon Crusader | 0 | 0 | 91 | 345 | 299 | 0 | 735 |
Bofors Crusader | 0 | 0 | 0 | 238 | 0 | 0 | 238 |
Crusader OP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 0 | 0 | 112 |
Crusader Tower | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 474 | 126 | 600 |
Total | 2 | 655 | 2442 | 1466 | 773 | 126 | 5464 |
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Aug 2008
SPECIFICATIONS
A15 Mk I (Crusader I)
Machinery | One Nuffield Liberty L-12 V-12 engine rated at 340hp |
Suspension | Christie helical spring |
Armament | 1x40mm QF 2pdr gun (110 rounds), 1x7.92mm Besa machine gun |
Armor | 40mm front, 14mm sides, 14mm rear, 4mm floor, 20mm turret front, 10mm turret sides, 9mm turret top |
Crew | 4 |
Length | 5.97 m |
Width | 2.77 m |
Height | 2.24 m |
Weight | 18.0 t |
Speed | 24 km/h off-road; 42 km/h on-road |
Range | 235 km off-road; 322 km on-road |
A15 Mk II (Crusader II)
Machinery | One Nuffield Liberty L-12 V-12 engine rated at 340hp |
Suspension | Christie helical spring |
Armament | 1x40mm QF 2pdr gun (110 rounds), 1x7.92mm Besa machine gun |
Armor | 49mm front, 14mm sides, 14mm rear, 4mm floor, 30mm turret front, 10mm turret sides, 12mm turret top |
Crew | 4 |
Length | 5.97 m |
Width | 2.77 m |
Height | 2.24 m |
Weight | 19.0 t |
Speed | 24 km/h off-road; 42 km/h on-road |
Range | 235 km off-road; 322 km on-road |
A15 Mk III (Crusader III)
Machinery | One Nuffield Liberty L-12 V-12 engine rated at 340hp |
Suspension | Christie helical spring |
Armament | 1x57mm QF 6pdr gun (65 rounds), 1x7.92mm Besa machine gun |
Armor | 51mm front, 14mm sides, 14mm rear, 4mm floor, 32mm turret front, 10mm turret sides, 12mm turret top |
Crew | 3 |
Length | 5.97 m |
Width | 2.77 m |
Height | 2.24 m |
Weight | 19.0 t |
Speed | 24 km/h off-road; 42 km/h on-road |
Range | 235 km off-road; 322 km on-road |
Photographs
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Visitor Submitted Comments

7 Jul 2019 07:05:49 AM
Thanks for your note, Mike of 7 Jul 2019. I am not certain why the stats were so off, but they have been corrected now. Thanks again for pointing this out to us.
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7 Jul 2019 02:04:22 AM
Where do you took the armour values from? Because other sources say pretty much a 40mm front armour was already on the MK I and went up to 49 and then to 51 from the MK II to the MK III
Where its stated here that its only 14 - 20mm on the hull and 20 -32mm on the turret