Charioteer (tank)

Charioteer
Charioteer at Yad La-Shiryon, Latrun.
Type	Tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1952 - 1980
Used by	British Army, Finnish Army, Royal Jordanian Army, Lebanese Army
Wars	1978 South Lebanon conflict Lebanese civil war
Production history
Manufacturer	Robinson and Kershaw Ltd, Dukinfield, Cheshire
No. built	442
Specifications
Weight	28.5 tons
Length	6.4 metres
Width	3.1 metres
Height	2.5 metres
Crew	3 crew (4 with external observer)
Main armament	Ordnance QF 20 pounder
Secondary armament	Co-axial Browning .30
Engine	Rolls-Royce Meteor 600 hp
Suspension	Improved Christie
Speed	32 mph

The Charioteer Tank, or FV4101 Tank, Medium Gun, Charioteer was a post-war British armoured fighting vehicle. The vehicle was produced in the 1950s to up-gun units of the Royal Armoured Corps continuing to use the Cromwell tank during the early phases of the Cold War. The vehicle itself was a modified Cromwell with a more powerful gun installed in a relatively lightly armoured two-man turret.

Charioteer saw limited use with the British army, but saw more extensive use with overseas users in Europe and the Middle East. Charioteers saw action in conflicts in the Middle-East.

In the early 1950s, plans to combat a potential invasion from Soviet forces during the Cold War called for a Royal Armoured Corps formation to be equipped with the Cromwell tank while Centurion tank numbers were still low. This required an up-gunning of Cromwell to incorporate the same 20 pounder (84 mm) gun as used in the Centurion Mk 3.

Mounting the gun required a new two-man turret to be developed. The resulting vehicle was initially named FV4101 Cromwell Heavy AT Gun, but renamed "Charioteer" before entering service.

The new turret used the larger Ordnance QF 20 pounder gun. This was mounted with a co-axial 0.30 in M1919 Browning machine gun. Smoke grenade dischargers were fitted to both sides of the turret. A flap to the turret rear allowed spent shell casings from the gun to be ejected from the vehicle.

Hulls were based on the later Cromwell VII standard, modified with Comet Model B style fishtail exhausts and no hull-mounted machine gun. Most hulls were reworked to Type F standard, and fire extinguisher pulls were re-routed to the two track-side bins. A large armoured telephone box was fitted to the vehicle rear for communication with infantry. Additional defensive armour was welded to the Cromwell hull, but the upgrade focused on offensive capability and the new turret used much lighter armour (20–30 mm).