The main gun (initially a 6-pdr but later upgraded to a 75mm) was complimented by two 7.92mm anti-infantry machine guns (most models), one mounted in the turret and the other in the bow of the hull. The Cromwell's main gun was held in a boxy turret at the center of the hull, this component also with flat armor plates. In contrast, the Sherman featured sloping armor, adding to at least some additional degree of survivability when facing off with the potent German guns. Design was such that it offered a lower profile when compared to the Sherman and armor protection was at least as much as offered on the American tank though the Cromwell's configuration was made up of flat faces - not offering much in the way of blast deflection from enemy rounds. The Cromwell featured five road wheels to a side with no side skirts and some frontal protection. While the Centaur's limitations kept it from fulfilling its true potential, the Cromwell was in many ways more of a success despite its eventual replacement by the American Sherman tanks arriving in the British inventory. While the other submitted design - becoming the Centaur (A27L) - was built around the inadequate Liberty engine, the Cromwell design (A27M) was built with the Rolls-Royce Meteor, this engine being a direct development of the same Rolls-Royce Merlin engine found in the spectacular Spitfire aircraft.
The specification centered on a direct replacement for the army's Crusader series of tanks. The Cromwell (officially known as Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M)) was one of two design proposals submitted to fulfill the British Army specification A27.
0 kommentar(er)
