The Crusader

The Crusader started life as a Russian Prototype based upon an American inventors ( Walter Christie) Design. It was first spotted by a British mission whilst visiting the Soviet Army whilst on maneuvers, Upon their return to Britain the Nuffield organization purchased a Christie tank and began work on developing a fast cruiser. By December 1938 the first Variant rolled of the production line and was named the A15 Covenator. Even though the Covenator had 14mm of armour plate and weighed in at 14 tons it was felt that a larger model would not be a bad thing so they went back to the drawing board and by late 1940 the Crusader was born.

The chassis had been lengthened and the weight increased to 18 tons, it was fitted with 30mm thick armour plate and equipped with a 2 pounder main armament. Later variants were upgraded to a 6 pounder gun and wore 51mm thick armour. The Crusader became the standard British Army Tank, However it was ultimately replaced by the Sherman and the Grant.