Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger
| Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30) | |
|---|---|
Cruiser tank Challenger (A30)
|
|
| Type | Cruiser tank |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| Used by |
United Kingdom |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Birmingham Carriage & Wagon Company |
| No. built | 200 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 31.5 long tons (32.0 t) |
| Length | 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m) |
| Width | 9 ft 6.5 in (2.91 m) |
| Height | 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) |
| Crew | 5 (Commander, gunner, loader, co-loader, driver) |
|
|
|
| Armour | 20–102 mm (0.79–4.02 in) |
|
Main
armament |
Ordnance QF 17 pounder (76 mm) 42 rounds |
|
Secondary
armament |
0.30 in Browning machine gun |
| Engine |
Rolls-Royce Meteor V-12 petrol engine 600 hp (450 kW) |
| Power/weight | 18.8 hp (14 kW) / tonne |
| Suspension |
Christie suspension 6 road wheels |
|
Operational
range |
105 mi (169 km) |
| Speed | 32 mph (51 km/h) |
United Kingdom
Czechoslovak government-in-exile
Polish Armed Forces in the West
The Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30) was a British tank of World War II. It mounted the QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun on a chassis derived from the Cromwell tank to add heavier anti-tank firepower to the cruiser tank units.
The design compromises made in fitting the large gun onto the Cromwell chassis resulted in a tank with a powerful weapon, but with less armour. The extemporised Sherman Firefly conversion of the US-supplied Sherman was easier to produce and, combined with delays in production, meant that only 200 Challengers were built. However, it was able to keep up with the fast Cromwell tank and was used alongside them.
The driving force in the development of Challenger was W. A. Robotham. Roy Robotham had been a Rolls-Royce executive in the car division who, with no work to do, had led a team to develop a tank powerplant from the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine. The Rolls-Royce Meteor gave the British a powerful, reliable engine, which would power the A27M Cruiser Mk VIII Cromwell tank. Robotham's contributions gained him a place in the Ministry of Supply and on the Tank Board, despite his lack of experience in tank design.
The General Staff brought forward specification A29 for a 45-ton 17-pounder-armed cruiser tank based on needs identified in the African desert campaign. However, the design weight of this vehicle was too heavy and, prior to manufacture, the specification was passed over in favour of the alternate specification, A30, which was 10 tons lighter.
In 1942, an order for an A30 based tank was placed with Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRC&W) expecting it to be based on the Cromwell components also being manufactured by BRC&W. Turret and gun mounting was in the hands of Stothert & Pitt. Birmingham Carriage had to modify the Cromwell hull to take a bigger turret.
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Wikipedia