page_title: Comet (tank)
section_title: Variants
hierarchical_section_title: Comet (tank) / Variants
caption_attribution_description: English: A Comet Type A at the South African Armour Museum. The split independent cowling covers can be seen at the rear of the tank.
context_page_description: The Comet tank or Tank, Cruiser, Comet I was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World War II during the Invasion of Germany. It was developed from the earlier Cromwell tank and mounted the new 17 pdr High Velocity gun, in a lower profile, partly-cast turret. This gun was effective against late-war German tanks, including the Panther at medium range, and the Tiger. The tank was widely respected as one of the best British tanks of the war, and continued in service afterwards.
  The Comet, which was a development of the Cromwell, rendered the Challenger obsolete, and led to the development of the Centurion tank. When firing APDS rounds, the 77 mm HV was superior in armour penetration capability to the 75 mm KwK 42 gun of the equivalent Axis tank, the Panther.
  The Comet saw action in the closing stages of World War II and remained in British service until 1958. In some cases, Comets sold to other countries continued to operate into the 1980s.
context_section_description: There were two Comet hull versions:
  Type A
  With the exhaust venting through the top rear of the vehicle engine deck similar to Cromwell.  These could be fitted with cowls to redirect exhaust fumes away from the air inlet vents.  Cowls were usually split into two independent covers, as opposed to the single cover fitted to Cromwell.
  Type B
  A post-war update with twin fishtail exhaust pipes exiting through holes in the rear facing armoured plate.  Cowls were no longer required.  Early Type B Comets had armoured covers over the holes through which the fishtail exhaust pipes would protrude, retaining the older Model A setup.
  Other vehicles that were based upon the Comet:
  Comet Crocodile
  One surviving photo shows a Comet Crocodile. This mounted a flamethrower and towed a fuel trailer similar to the Churchill Crocodile. Little is known about it.
  FV4401 Contentious
  The Comet was used as the basis for the experimental FV4401 Contentious, an air-transportable self-propelled anti-tank gun mounting a 105mm L7 gun in an open mounting on the shortened hull of a Comet, and using the vehicle's hydraulic suspension system to adjust elevation, similar to the method used on the Swedish S-Tank. One or two prototypes were built and tested before the entire project was cancelled.
  Armoured Maintenance Vehicle
  The Comet was used South Africa as the bases for a maintenance vehicle for the Olifant Mk1A Main Battle Tank. It had a crew of four and had a mass of 20 metric tons. It was powered by an AVI-1790-8 Continental, V12 90°, air cooled, fuel injection engine producing 615kW (852 hP), through an Allison CD 850 automatic three speed (low, high, reverse) transmission and had a maximum speed of 60 km/h. For its maintenance task it featured a welding machine, a hydrovane (high pressure air and water), a crane (1.5 to 6 metric tons), spare lubricants, 200l water, cutting facilities and carried a spare engine for the Olifant Mk1A. It was also fitted with six smoke grenade launchers (four rearward facing and four forward facing) for self defence.
caption: A Comet Type A at the South African Armour Museum. The split independent cowling covers can be seen at the rear of the tank.
exif: {"Image Make": "Sony", "Image Model": "D6603", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "23.4.A.0.546_6_f1000010", "Image DateTime": "2015:09:05 10:55:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "218", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "S", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[29, 5, 407/500]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[26, 10, 1496/25]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "1397", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[8, 55, 12]", "GPS GPSStatus": "A", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSDate": "2015:09:05", "Image GPSInfo": "11632", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "11976", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6130", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "2", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:09:05 10:55:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:09:05 10:55:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "216/25", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "23/5", "EXIF SubSecTime": "746394", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "746394", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "746394", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3840", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2160", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "11602", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}