A15 Cruiser Tank Mk VI Crusader

A15E1 Cruiser Mark VI Crusader 1, 2, 3, C.S.
Enlarged version of the A13 Cruiser Mk IV designed in parallel with the Covenanter. Its design used a lot of components derived from the A13 series tanks, but the propulsion was provided by a Liberty aero engine. It entered service in 1941 and by the time production ended in 1943, 5,300 had been produced. Production was ordered directly from the "drawing board" and used Christie's chassis damping. Despite this, the tank was still too poorly armoured and mechanically unreliable. It was the main British tank fighting in North Africa against the Germans and Italians. The auxiliary machine gun turrets were later removed. The Crusader 2 gained additional frontal armour. Crusader 3 was already armed with a more powerful 6-pounder (57 mm) gun. Crusader C.S. (Close Support) had a 3" (76.2 mm) howitzer instead of the 2-pounder gun.

Variants:
Crusader I - initial variant, 2 pdr Mk I gun, 26 mm frontal armour; approx. 300 pieces including Mk I CS
Crusader I CS - Close Support, 3-inch Mk I howitzer
Crusader II - Reinforced armour, 32mm frontal armour; approx. 2400 pieces including Mk II CS
Crusader II CS
Crusader III - variant with further revised armour, 6 pdr QF gun; approx. 3000 including conversion chassis
Crusader III OP - Observation Post, conversion to artillery observation machine with radio stations and dummy gun
Crusader III AA Mk ICrusader III AA Mk I - conversion with 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun in large rear-open turret; 215+ conversions for Royal Artillery
Crusader III AA Mk II - conversion with twin 20mm Oerlikon AA guns in small turret
Crusader III AA Mk III - as Mk II, modified turret with radio operator moved to hull, gunnery gun; approx. 600 Mk II / Mk III for Royal Armoured Corps
Crusader III AA - a conversion of perhaps AA Mk I for Royal Artillery with three Bofors or Polsten guns mounted on a common hull, exact designation unknown
Crusader III ARV - prototype engineer machine
Crusader 5.5 in SP - experimental conversion to a self-propelled gun with a 5.5 in gun mounted above the open front of the hull and pointing backwards
Crusader Gun Tractor - open hull variant designed to tow a 17 pdr anti-tank gun, more conversions
Crusader Bulldozer - Crusader without turret equipped with a winch-operated plow, fewer conversions
Crusader Gun Tractor Bulldozer- Gun Tractor with hydraulically operated plow, prototype
Crusader SP Argentine - conversion of Argentine Crusaders to self-propelled anti-tank gun with French 75mm or 105mm cannon

Na prvním snímku je Crusader Gun Tractor, upravený navěšením dozerové radlice s hydraulickým ovládáním. Původní Crusader Dozery byly vybaveny radlicí, ovládanou mechanicky (lany). Kresba je zde:

British War Department WD Registration Numbers, assigned to the Crusader tank variants and special vehicles on its undercarriage:
T3646 prototype vehicle A15E1
T15545 - T15645 Crusader Mk.I (T15545 pilot model/soft steel vehicle, T15637 - unused, not assigned to vehicle)
T15646 - T15745 Crusader Mk.I (93 vehicles) and Crusader Mk.II (7 vehicles)
T16558 - T16657 Crusader Mk.I (90 vehicles) and Crusader Mk.II (9 vehicles), T16638 - unused, vehicle not allocated
T43652 - T43751 Crusader Mk.II
T43752 - T45213 Crusader Mk.II, while T45212 and T45213 converted to Mk.III, T44680 and T44870 - unused, vehicles not assigned
T46162 - T46211 Crusader Mk.II
T46212 - T46261 Crusader Mk.II
T123633 - T126269 Crusader Mk.II (145 vehicles), Crusader Mk.III (823 vehicles), Crusader OP (96 vehicles), Crusader AA (429 vehicles) and Crusader Gun Tractor (381 vehicles)
T126270 - T127269 Crusader Mk.III (421 vehicles), Crusader OP (259 vehicles), Crusader AA (69 vehicles) and Crusader Gun Tractor (209 vehicles)


A final note - or nothing is ever quite simple: this list does not cover "temporary" or "special" registration numbers assigned to vehicles of foreign armies (including, among other things, vehicles of the 1st platoon)

Crusader in German service...

Project from June 1942 on the armed 17 pdr OQF cannon chassis of tanks: A15 Cruiser Tank Mk VI Crusader I to A15 Cruiser Tank Mk VI Crusader III. To implement the not.


Source:
Bronekolekcia 2005/06 Kruseider i drugie britanskie kreiserskie tanks Mk.I - Mk.VI, M. Barjatinskij.