Crusader tank The Tank , Cruiser , Mk VI or A15 Crusader was one of the primary British cruiser tank s of the early part Second World War and perhaps the most important British tank of the North African Campaign . The Crusader ' s mobility made it a favourite of British tank crews and once upgraded with the Ordnance QF 6 pounder main gun made it more than a match for the early Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks it faced in combat . Retained in service because of delays with its replacement , by late 1942 the lack of armament upgrade combined with the presence of Tiger I Tanks among the Afrika Korps and reliability problems due to the harsh desert conditions , led to the Crusader being replaced in the main line of battle by US - supplied M3 Grant and Sherman medium tanks . The next British cruiser in combat would be the Cromwell heavy cruiser . Design and development . In 1938 , Nuffield Mechanization & Aero Limited produced their A16 design for a heavy cruiser tank based on Christie suspension . Looking for a lighter and cheaper tank to build , the General Staff requested alternatives . To this end the A13 Mk III cruiser tank design which would enter service as the " Tank , Cruiser Mk V " and known in service as " Covenanter " was designed . Nuffield were , in 1939 , offered the opportunity to take part in the production of Covenanter . Nuffield , however , preferred to work on its own version of the A13 — though they still provided design work for the Covenanter ' s turret . This new tank was adopted as " Tank , Cruiser , Mk VI Crusader " , under General Staff specification A15 . Although Crusader is often referred to as an improved version of the Covenanter , in fact it was a parallel design . Both tanks were ordered " off the drawing board " without building prototypes first . Despite a later start , the pilot model of the Crusader was ready six weeks before the first Covenanter . Unlike earlier " Christie cruisers " ( A13 , Marks III and IV and the Mark V Covenanter ) that were built with 4 road wheels , Crusader had five road wheels each side to improve weight distribution in a tank that weighed almost 20 tons instead of the 14 tons of the previous cruisers . The - diameter wheels were of pressed steel with solid rubber tyres . The hull sides were built up of two separated plates with the suspension arms between them . It had a different engine from the Covenanter , different steering system and a conventional cooling system with radiators in the engine compartment . At the left hand side of the front hull — a place occupied by the engine radiator in the Covenanter — was mounted a small hand - traversed auxiliary turret armed with a Besa machine gun . The auxiliary turret was awkward to use and was often removed in the field or remained unoccupied . Both the A13 Mk III and the A15 designs used the same main turret . The turret was polygonal — with sides that sloped out then in again — to give maximum turret space on the limited turret diameter . Early production vehicles had a " semi - internal " cast gun mantlet , which was quickly replaced in production by a better protected big cast mantlet with three vertical slits — for the main gun , for a coaxial Besa machine gun and for the sighting telescope . There was no cupola for the commander who instead had a flat hatch with the periscope mounted through it . The main armament , as in other British tanks of the period , was balanced so the gunner could control its elevation through a padded shaft against his right shoulder rather than using a geared mechanism . This fitted well with the British doctrine of firing accurately on the move . When it was understood that there would be delays in the introduction of successor heavy cruiser tanks — what would become the Cavalier , Centaur and Cromwell — the Crusader was adapted to use the 6 pounder gun . Service history . North Africa . With the Axis forces in North Africa having pushed the British back to the Egyptian border and the remaining British armour being a mixed force of older tanks with a few Matildas , tanks were hurriedly shipped via the Mediterranean arriving on 12 May 1941 . There were sufficient Crusaders to equip the 6th Royal Tank Regiment which with the 2nd RTR ( with older cruiser tanks ) formed the 7th Armoured Brigade . The rest of the tanks were Matildas for the 4th Armoured Brigade giving the 7th Armoured division only four tank regiments . Although there was pressure from London for the reconstituted Desert Rats to go into action , outfitting for the desert and training delayed their first use until Operation Battleaxe , an attempt to relieve the siege of Tobruk in June . As the brigade swept round the flank , the Crusaders were caught by concealed anti - tank guns and lost 11 tanks . The 6th RTR lost more tanks , to action and defects , in the fighting withdrawal of the next two days . The 7th Brigade was re - equipped with further Crusaders , but as the brigade had been expanded by the addition of 7th Hussars there were not sufficient to replace the older cruiser tanks . The 22nd Armoured Brigade , effectively an advance force of the 1st Armoured Division , which was three inexperienced Yeomanry units equipped with Crusaders transferred to North Africa to bring the 7th Armoured up to three - brigade strength . The 8th Hussars was added to the 4th Armoured Brigade but these had to be equipped with M3 Stuart light tanks as there were still insufficient cruisers . The 22nd was able to take part in Operation Crusader of November 1941 which was named after it . In Operation Crusader the two British Corps were disposed such that they could not support each other , but it was expected that as the British outnumbered the German and Italian forces in tanks , the tank against tank battles would be decided in their favour . However in the resulting encounters , Rommel did not put his tanks " en masse " into action against the British ones and the large numbers of German anti - tank guns working offensively with the tanks and infantry proved effective . The Germans had a few 88 mm guns but were mostly equipped with the Pak 38 , a long - barrelled 50 mm gun , with a range of 1 , 000 yards . This superiority in quality and tactical deployment of AT guns was to be a feature of the Afrika Korps throughout the Desert War . The Crusader ' s 2 pdr ( 40 mm ) gun was as effective as the short - barrelled 50 mm of the Panzer III although it was outranged by the short - barrelled 75 mm of the Panzer IV . Although the Crusader was faster than any tanks it opposed , its potential was limited by a relatively light QF 2 - pounder gun , thin armour and mechanical problems . A particular tactical limitation was the lack of a high explosive shell for the main armament — these existed but were never supplied . Axis tank forces developed an extremely effective method of dealing with attacking tank forces by retiring behind a screen of concealed anti - tank gun s . The pursuing tanks could then be engaged by the artillery . With the German anti - tank guns out of range of the tanks ' machine guns and without a high explosive shell to return fire , the tanks were left with the equally unpalatable options of withdrawing under fire or trying to overrun the gun screen . The Crusader proved prone to catch fire when hit , a problem that was identified as due to the ammunition being ignited by hot metal penetrating the unprotected racks . The angled underside of the turret created " shell pockets " that acted as a lever for lifting the turret from its mounting when struck by a shell . The Crusader proved unreliable in the desert . This started with their transport from the UK to North Africa . Poor preparation and handling caused problems that had to be rectified before they could be passed to the regiments , and ate into the supply of spare parts . Once in use the sand caused erosion in the cooling system and the stresses of hard cross - country travel caused oil leaks in the engine blocks . Since there were few tank transporter s or railways in the desert , the tanks had to travel long distances on their tracks causing further wear . By the end of 1941 , there was only one brigade , the 2nd , which was operating only Crusaders . In March 1942 , US - built Grant medium tanks arrived : these replaced one in three Crusader squadrons . While the inclusion of the Grant with its effective 75 mm gun gave better firepower against anti - tank guns and infantry they were slower , limiting the Crusaders when they had to operate together . From May 1942 , the Mark III were delivered . Of the 840 tanks available to the British , 260 were Crusaders . The German tanks they were facing were improved types with improved frontal armour which caused the Crusaders ' 2 - pounder shot to shatter rather than penetrate . As part of British deception operations , Crusaders could be issued with " Sunshade " which was a metal framework with canvas covering that disguised the tank as a lorry to German aerial reconnaissance . Dummy tanks were also deployed . Later in the campaign shipping was improved , Nuffields had put an engineering team in Egypt , and crews were better at preventing problems , but the reputation of the Crusader could not recover . After Montgomery took over command , the imbalance between British armour and German was redressed by better control and the addition of more American - supplied Grant and Sherman tank s . The Crusader was replaced in the main line of battle and used for " light squadrons " trying to flank the enemy when it engaged the heavier units . The Australian 9th Infantry Division operated Crusaders for reconnaissance and liaison . The British 1st Army landed as part of the Allied operations in Tunisia ; some of its units were using the Crusader and these saw action from 24 November . These were not solely Crusader regiments but mixed Crusader and Valentine tank s ; within each squadron two troops were Crusader IIIs and there were Crusader II CS attached to the Squadron HQ . These units of the 26th Armoured Brigade were used as an independent armoured column , " Blade Force " , with the 78th Infantry Division . The operations of Blade Force were on terrain different from the desert of the earlier campaigns and the fighting took place with smaller numbers of vehicles . These actions were similar to what would be seen later in Europe . The 1st Army converted to Shermans during Tunisia , but Crusaders remained in use with the 8th for longer . The last major action for Crusaders was the Battle of Mareth . The North Africa campaign finished shortly after . Other use . After the completion of the North African Campaign , the availability of better tanks such as the Sherman and Cromwell relegated the Crusader to secondary duties such as anti - aircraft mounts or gun tractors . In these roles it served for the remainder of the war . The Crusader , along with the Covenanter , equipped regiments at home particularly those of the 11th Armoured Division . A Crusader bulldozer was developed but not used operationally . One of these bulldozer tanks was converted for removing munitions following a fire at Royal Ordnance Factory Kirkby . The Crusader anti - aircraft guns were designed for use in North West Europe . However with the Allied domination of the air they were largely unneeded and the AA troops were disbanded . The Crusader gun tractors operated with 17 - pounder regiments attached to armoured divisions and with XII Corps . Variants . Crusader I ( Cruiser Mk VI ) . Original production version . The auxiliary turret was often removed in the field , eliminating the hull machine gunner position . Crusader II ( Cruiser Mk VIA ) . The Crusader II had increased armour on hull front and turret front . As with the Mk I , the auxiliary turret was often removed . Crusader III . Due to delays with the Cruiser Mark VII Cavalier and the need for cruiser tanks , the Crusader was up - gunned with the 6 - pounder , the first British tank to mount this gun . Design work for a new turret started in March 1941 but Nuffield was not involved until late in the year when they adapted the existing turret with a new mantlet and hatch . The turret also received an extractor fan to clear fumes from the firing of the gun . The larger gun restricted turret space so the crew was reduced to three , with the commander acting also as gun loader — the loader was already the wireless operator . The auxiliary turret space was given over to ammunition stowage . The Crusader III first saw action , with about 100 participating at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 . Crusader III , AA Mk I . The 6 - pounder was replaced with a Bofors 40 mm anti - aircraft gun with an autoloader and powered mounting in an open - topped turret . The crew numbered four : gun commander , gun layer , loader , and driver . However , those Crusader III , AA Mk I used in NW Europe from D - day on did not have the turret , but a 40 mm Bofors gun mounted directly on the hull top with its standard shield . Crusader III , AA Mk II / Mk III . A Crusader armed with twin Oerlikon 20 mm guns for anti - aircraft use and a single . 303 Vickers GO . Mk III only differed from the Mk II by the position of the radio , which was moved to the hull in order to free some space inside the turret . A variation with triple Oerlikons was produced in very limited quantities . Due to Allied air superiority none of the AA versions saw much action against aircraft but a few - especially with the Polish Armoured Division - were used against ground targets . Crusader II , Gun Tractor Mk I . The Crusader gun tractor came out of a need for a vehicle to tow the heavy QF 17 pounder anti - tank gun . It was a Crusader tank hull with a simple boxy superstructure replacing that of the gun tank . The 14 mm thick structure protected the driver and the gun crew of six . The tractor also carried ammunition on the rear and within the crew area . Although nearly as heavy as the gun tank it was still capable of high speed and was officially limited to . This was still hard on the towed 17 pounder guns . They were used in northwest Europe from the Normandy landings of 1944 to the end of the war in 1945 . One such unit was the 86th Anti - Tank Gun Regiment , Royal Artillery , part of XII Corps . In the 86th the Crusader gun tractor replaced earlier Morris C8 gun tractors in two out of the four batteries . Unit veterans reported that the Crusader was popular with the crews and were often driven by former Armoured Corps drivers seconded to the Royal Artillery because of their driving experience . 86th veterans claimed that they removed the ' governors ' which normally limited tank speeds . Thus adapted , they credited an empty Crusader with speeds up to 55 mph and claimed to be able to outrun Military Police motorcycles which were limited to a wartime speed of just 50 mph due to low grade petrol . Some vehicles were also used by battery commanders as armoured command and reconnaissance vehicles Crusader ARV Mk I . Armoured recovery vehicle based on turretless Crusader hull . One prototype was built in 1942 . Surviving vehicles . Around 21 tanks survive in various degrees of preservation , ranging from running - condition museum vehicles to wrecks . Eight survive in various collections in South Africa . Notable examples include the Crusader III in running condition at the Bovington Tank Museum in the United Kingdom . The Musée des Blindés in France preserves a Mk III anti - aircraft Crusader and the Overloon War Museum in the Netherlands owns a gun - tractor variant .