But the British approached the work in the design of the appearance of their new tank with all due seriousness. On the Christie's tank, the bow was most like a battering ram. This shape was designed to facilitate bullet ricochets, but a very strong front beam was required to install the sloths. Sloth mounts have become vulnerable to impact, which is why their breakage has become quite common among machines based on its design. The disadvantage of the Christie's tank hull was that it was tall and narrow, because of which the diameter of the turret ring was too small and, accordingly, the dimensions of the turret itself were not too large.
Cruiser Tank Mk. III *. An asterisk indicates that additional armor is installed on the tank's turret. Externally, its attachment was similar to the shielded armor of the Cruiser Tank Mk. IV, but it was executed in a slightly different way. The tank is painted with standard English camouflage. Museum in Bovington.
British engineers redesigned the hull, which became 10 centimeters wider than the American model and also half a meter longer. The bow got quite traditional for British tanks of the 30s, but without machine-gun turrets on either side of the driver's "booth". The fact that the driver was located in the center of the tank and had three viewing devices gave a good overview. Another feature of the tank was the presence of a large number of hatches on it, which did not help to increase the armor protection. Well, the armor thickness of 14 mm could not be considered as a serious reservation for a tank.
This tank got it. Even the roller has been torn off the balancer.
The tower was also new, in which the specialists of the Morris Motor Company managed to put three people. Turrets of similar design were installed on Cruiser Tanks Mk. I and II. The armament was also standard for British tanks of those years: a 40 mm (2-pounder) cannon and a coaxial Vickers water-cooled machine gun. The latter was in an armored casing that protected its radiator from bullets and shrapnel damage. It was later replaced by air-cooled BESA machine guns. The tank also had a commander's cupola with a two-piece comfortable hatch. All the duties of the crew members were well thought out, which allowed the crew to act effectively on the battlefield.
Cruiser Mk IV A13, abandoned by the crew in France. The armored box covering the tower is clearly visible. In fact, the experience of the war has shown that most of the hits fall on the tower. But the total armor thickness of 19 mm did not give serious protection against the German 37 mm and Czech 47 mm guns.
Sample A13E2 was ready by October 1937. In tests at maximum speed, it showed 56 km / h, only slightly inferior to the 5-ton Light Tank Mk. VI. Since new tracks were installed on the A13E3 sample, the drive wheels were remade for them. Moreover, the maximum speed of the tank was reduced to 48 km / h.
Cruiser Mk IVA A13 in Egypt in November 1940. The use of these tanks in the sands revealed another unpleasant circumstance - they raised clouds of sand when moving. In order to somehow fight this, the rear of the tracks was covered with anti-dust shields. But they did not succeed in solving the problem to the end with their help.
After testing, the A13E3 was accepted into service under the designation Cruiser Tank Mk. III, and production began at Nuffield Mechanization & Aero. The cost of British tanks at that time was subject to the "£ 1000 per tonne" rule. That is, a 14-ton tank cost about 14 thousand pounds or 150 thousand German Reichsmarks, or 68 thousand US dollars. The tank turned out to be not cheap. For example, the German Pz. Kpfw. III of the same years cost about 110 thousand Reichsmarks, and the American M3 55 thousand dollars.
Another damaged "African tank".
On the production tanks Cruiser Tanks Mk. III, two mortars of smoke grenade launchers were installed on the starboard side of the turret, and the exhaust system was additionally covered with a casing.
It was the Mk. III / IV cruiser tanks that were supposed to defend the island of Cyprus. Photo of 1942.
True, the order was made to the enterprise only 65 tanks. One of the reasons is its thin armor. Work began almost immediately on an improved version of the tank - the Cruiser Tank Mk. IV. However, even this improved version in terms of booking is not far from its predecessor. The tank turned out to be the second tank after the French SA.1 to receive spaced armor, and only on the turret. The armor had rational angles of inclination, although the inclination of the frontal plate of the turret was minimal. The driver's cabin has not undergone any changes either. In some places, the thickness of the armor increased to 19 mm. However, given the thickness of the armor of the Soviet BT-7, equal to 20 mm, and the armor of German tanks, equal to 30 mm, this was clearly not enough. In total, during serial production in 1938-1939. the British were able to produce 655 tanks of this type.
And in this photo you can clearly see the booking of the exhaust manifolds.
Although the Cruiser Tank Mk. III was more of an experimental vehicle, it had to fight from the very beginning of World War II. As of September 1, 1939, the British army had only 79 cruiser tanks of all types, and before June 1, 1940, 322 more tanks were produced, but it took some time until they reached the army units. That is why in May 1940, during the German offensive through Belgium, the British transferred almost everything they had there.
May 1940. France. The crew prepares their tank for battle.
Together with the British Expeditionary Force, the Mk. III, Mk. IVA tanks got to France, where they first entered the battle as part of the 3rd battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment on May 23, 1940, defending the port of Calais, the battles for which took place from May 22 to May 26, 1940 of the year. Then almost all of the available 24 Mk. III and Mk. IVA of this battalion were either destroyed in the battles on the outskirts of Calais, or in the city itself. This was followed by battles at Abbeville and in some other places. Well, the combat career of these tanks in Europe ended on June 19, 1940 in the port of Cherbourg.
This is how they were transported on transporters in France.
Heavy truck transporter "White" with the Mk. IVA tank on the platform.
It was noted that the tank is maneuverable, high-speed, armed with a good cannon. But his armor was pierced by the very first shell of German anti-tank guns or tank guns. That is, the situation with them was even worse than that of the Red Army tanks in the summer of 1941. The capricious engine also caused a lot of trouble, so in some cases the crews left their tanks due to its breakdowns. The disadvantage, and serious, was the absence of a high-explosive projectile for the gun. But the sight was convenient. Novosibirsk tanker V. P. Chibisov, in his book of memoirs, English Tanks at the Cool Log, wrote that when he got on the British Matilda tank, armed with the same 42-mm cannon as the earlier British cruiser tanks, he was struck by the simplicity of its design and the design of its sight compared to the Soviet 45-mm tank gun. To pass the test on the English cannon among the cadets of the tank school where he studied was considered a great success. The shoulder rest was also thoughtful, which made it possible to quickly direct the gun in a vertical plane and keep it on target. But due to the lack of high-explosive shells, it made no sense to shoot from it at many targets.
Padded Cruiser Tank Mark III A13. German soldiers simply loved to be photographed against the backdrop of these wrecked vehicles.
Each tank was supplied with a hot plate for heating food and a large piece of special "sea" tarpaulin, which could easily cover the entire tank or use it as a tent. The only bad thing was that due to its topical impregnation in the conditions of the Russian frosty winter, this tarpaulin froze so that it turned into a sheet of tin, getting out from under which it was very difficult.
And there are really a lot of such photos. Apparently, the war at that time really seemed to them an easy walk.
Several cars (at least 15) were delivered to the Germans in good condition. The captured vehicles received the Kreuzer Panzerkampfwagen Mk. III 743 (e) index. In 1941, the Germans included 9 vehicles in the 100th flamethrower tank battalion, which took part in the attack on the USSR.
But this is the Kreuzer Panzerkampfwagen Mk. III 743 (e) in service in the German army.
