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Britain
Cruiser Mk VI (Crusader III AA MkI)
Ordnance classification - A15

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The Cruiser Mk VI was designed in 1942, manufactured by Nuffield based on the existing fully tracked A13 III(Covenanter) and was in use from 1942 to 1945.

Flag of World War 2 Britain
Photo of Cruiser Mk VI (Crusader III AA MkI)
Menzies (Cpl) War Office official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

General Details
Specifications
Operational Date(s)1942 - 1945
Ordnance classificationA15
Quantity Produced5300
Weight20 tonne
Crew3
M.G's smalln/a
M.G's large(>10mm)n/a
Length6.05 mtr
Width2.66 mtr
Height2.62 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed28 mph
Max Cross Country Speed15 mph
Range Road112 miles
Range Cross Country44 miles
Fuel TypePetrol
Fuel Capacity120 gal
Horse Power340 hp
Power/Weight17 hp/tonne
General Information
The Cruiser Mk VI was designed in 1942, manufactured by Nuffield based on the existing fully tracked A13 III(Covenanter) and was in use from 1942 to 1945.

The vehicle was powered by Nuffield 'Liberty' petrol powerplant producing 340 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 28 mph with a range of about 112 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 15 mph and a range of about 44 miles.

Its main armament consisted of an Bofors 40 mm L/60 which could penetrate 70 mm of flat plate at 100 metres

The Crusader tank was a redesigned A13 Mk III as a heavy cruiser tank that could rapidly move and provide good A/T performance.

The Mk I AA turret was a plain shape that held the 40mm Bofors AA gun. The auxiliary machine gun turret was removed in the MkIII Crusader.

Armour Details
Turret
Front49mm@(49mm)
Side24mm@45°(34mm)
Rear30mm@32°(35mm)
Top12mm@90°(12mm)
Superstructure
Front20mm@60°(40mm)
Side14mm@(14mm)
Rear14mm@11°(14mm)
Top7mm@90°(7mm)
Hull
Front20mm@45°(28mm)
Side14mm@(14mm)
Rear14mm@11°(14mm)
Top7mm@90°(7mm)
Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)
Effective Armour - Maximum 49 mm - Minimum 7 mm




Weapon Details
Bofors 40 mm L/60
(Anti Aircraft)
Blank
photo of Bofors 40 mm L/60 from Wikipedia
History
Designed in 1930 in Sweden the Bofors had two variants the L/60(really L/56) and the L/70 which didn't reach production till 1948, so the data shown is for the L/60 version.
ManufacturerBofors
Manufactured1932 - Present
Calibre40mm
LengthL/56
Rate of Fire120rpm
 
Ammunition Details
Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content
40 × 311 mm R
(HE High Explosive)
40mm 0.95Kg 850M/Sec ≈0.143Kg explosive
Range(Mtr)10002000300040005000600070008000
Flight Time(Secs) 1.57 4.71 14.18
Direct Fire
Range(Mtr)1002004008001200160020002400
Flight Time(Secs) 0.12 0.25 0.52 1.18 2.02 3.14 4.71 7.06
Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 96 64 25 8 2
Blast/Fragmentation Effects
Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill2 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill5 mtr
Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill13 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr0 mm
An explosion within 2 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal.
An explosion within 5 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's.
An explosion within 13 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties.
The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will not cause any significant armour damage.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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