CRUSADER. Cruiser Tank Mk.VI

Crusader Cruiser MkVI, A15

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Length: mm, width: 80m. It takes the classic Italeri kit of the Crusader Mk. III, and upgrades it with improved parts fit and more precise assembly. Features improved molding on turret rear stowage box and fender front sections. Belt-type track parts give a realistic depiction, and can be cemented and painted. Turret has new raised weld lines. New separate parts depict turret spotlight casing and lens. Turret hatch underside dampers are recreated using new parts.

A wealth of accessories is included, recreating helmets, Enfield rifles, Bren guns and more.

Comes with 2 figures and 2 marking options depicting 6th Armoured Division vehicles. Vehicle parts are a product of Italeri. Early production vehicles had a "semi-internal" cast gun mantlet , which was quickly replaced in production by a better protected big cast mantlet with three vertical slits—for the main gun, for a coaxial Besa machine gun and for the sighting telescope. There was no cupola for the commander who instead had a flat hatch with the periscope mounted through it.

The main armament, as in other British tanks of the period, was balanced so the gunner could control its elevation through a padded shaft against his right shoulder rather than using a geared mechanism. This fitted well with the British doctrine of firing accurately on the move. When it was understood that there would be delays in the introduction of successor heavy cruiser tanks—what would become the Cavalier , Centaur and Cromwell —the Crusader was adapted to use the 6 pounder gun. Crusader I tanks in Western Desert, 26 November Note "old" gun mantlets and auxiliary Besa MG turret.

With the Axis forces in North Africa having pushed the British back to the Egyptian border and the remaining British armour being a mixed force of older tanks with a few Matildas , tanks were hurriedly shipped via the Mediterranean arriving on 12 May The rest of the tanks were Matildas for the 4th Armoured Brigade giving the 7th Armoured division only four tank regiments. Although there was pressure from London for the reconstituted Desert Rats to go into action, outfitting for the desert and training delayed their first use until Operation Battleaxe , an attempt to relieve the siege of Tobruk in June.

As the brigade swept round the flank, the Crusaders were caught by concealed anti-tank guns and lost 11 tanks. The 6th RTR lost more tanks, to action and defects, in the fighting withdrawal of the next two days. The 7th Brigade was re-equipped with further Crusaders, but as the brigade had been expanded by the addition of 7th Hussars there were not sufficient to replace the older cruiser tanks. The 22nd Armoured Brigade, effectively an advance force of the 1st Armoured Division, which was three inexperienced Yeomanry units [note 4] equipped with Crusaders transferred to North Africa to bring the 7th Armoured up to three-brigade strength.

The 8th Hussars was added to the 4th Armoured Brigade but these had to be equipped with M3 Stuart light tanks as there were still insufficient cruisers. The 22nd was able to take part in Operation Crusader of November which was named after it. In Operation Crusader the two British Corps were disposed such that they could not support each other, but it was expected that as the British outnumbered the German and Italian forces in tanks, the tank against tank battles would be decided in their favour.

However in the resulting encounters, Rommel did not put his tanks en masse into action against the British ones and the large numbers of German anti-tank guns working offensively with the tanks and infantry proved effective. This superiority in quality and tactical deployment of AT guns was to be a feature of the Afrika Korps throughout the Desert War.

Although the Crusader was faster than any tanks it opposed, its potential was limited by a relatively light QF 2-pounder gun, thin armour and mechanical problems. A particular tactical limitation was the lack of a high explosive shell for the main armament—these existed but were never supplied. Axis tank forces developed an extremely effective method of dealing with attacking tank forces by retiring behind a screen of concealed anti-tank guns. The pursuing tanks could then be engaged by the artillery. With the German anti-tank guns out of range of the tanks' machine guns and without a high explosive shell to return fire, the tanks were left with the equally unpalatable options of withdrawing under fire or trying to overrun the gun screen.

The Crusader proved prone to catch fire when hit, a problem that was identified as due to the ammunition being ignited by hot metal penetrating the unprotected racks. The angled underside of the turret created "shell pockets" that acted as a lever for lifting the turret from its mounting when struck by a shell.

The Crusader proved unreliable in the desert. This started with their transport from the UK to North Africa.

Poor preparation and handling caused problems that had to be rectified before they could be passed to the regiments, and ate into the supply of spare parts. Once in use the sand caused erosion in the cooling system [7] and the stresses of hard cross-country travel caused oil leaks in the engine blocks. Since there were few tank transporters or railways in the desert, the tanks had to travel long distances on their tracks causing further wear. By the end of , there was only one brigade, the 2nd, which was operating only Crusaders.

Of the tanks available to the British, were Crusaders. The German tanks they were facing were improved types with improved frontal armour which caused the Crusaders' 2-pounder shot to shatter rather than penetrate. As part of British deception operations, Crusaders could be issued with "Sunshade" which was a metal framework with canvas covering that disguised the tank as a lorry to German aerial reconnaissance. Dummy tanks were also deployed.

Later in the campaign shipping was improved, Nuffields had put an engineering team in Egypt, and crews were better at preventing problems, but the reputation of the Crusader could not recover. After Montgomery took over command, the imbalance between British armour and German was redressed by better control and the addition of more American-supplied Grant and Sherman tanks.

The Crusader was replaced in the main line of battle and used for "light squadrons" trying to flank the enemy when it engaged the heavier units. The British 1st Army landed as part of the Allied operations in Tunisia ; some of its units were using the Crusader and these saw action from 24 November. IV, featuring a new hull, improved Christie style suspensions, a Meadows DAV flat giving bhp and Meadows gearbox with Wilson epicyclic steering. Above all, it had better overall protection, with increased armor thickness and a new turret design, very low, sloped and angular, built by Nuffield, which became a characteristic of the following tanks.

Despite all these improvements, the Covenanter design incorporated a major flaw in engine ventilation. Consequently, it was never deployed in the desert, but served in the British Isles until , as a training tank and in home defense regiments.

The Nuffield Company, which took part in the project, was already working on a modified A13 of its own. The ventilation problems appeared when the production of the Covenanter was already well advanced.

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The Nuffield chief engineer had already devised, on the drawing board, a new, parallel design for the A13, around a home-built V12 engine, the Liberty Mark I. This model, combined with a longer hull and Christie suspensions, was ordered by the General Staff under the specification A Working day and night, the team delivered its first prototype six weeks before the Covenanter.

The outer hull was almost unarmored, housing the large suspension arms. The longer hull could accommodate the usual famous sloped design turret, and a secondary one forward left, equipped with a Besa 7.

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Another coaxial one was mounted on the right side of the gun. The Nuffield V12 Mk. II engine, retained for production, provided adequate torque for the weight it had to carry, providing a 17 bhp per ton ratio. It was supplied by three enormous imperial gallons l fuel tanks and an auxiliary, rear exterior one.

Besides the good speed which could be achieved, the range was also adequate for the huge distances of desert warfare. Transmission was assured by a Nuffield constant mesh 4-speed-and-reverse and steering by a Wilson epicyclic system. The hull was narrow and cramped, with a lot of space taken by ammunition.

British Mk VI/Mk III Crusader Cruiser Tank 1/35 Tamiya

There were a commander and gunner, both in the main turret, a loader, a driver and a secondary gunner manning the forward hand-traversed turret. The Mark I was quickly put in production after the prototype was tested, in mid None were ready for the French campaign, however, but they were quickly shipped to Egypt and took part in the first phase of the war against the invading Italian forces.

The large sloped turret, also designed for maximum internal space, had no cupola, but a flat hatch with the periscope mounted inside. In practice, it was open most of the time. The gun was balanced through a paddle shaft, making pointing easier and more accurate, and allowing efficient fire on the move. On the very flat terrain encountered in the Libyan plains, this feature was of great proficiency.

The 40 mm 1. The frontal glacis was sloped, like the turret, but the rear and sides were flat and more vulnerable.

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