British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II This article lists British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II . Nomenclature . Tanks were known by one of three identification schemes . Firstly a General Staff specification e . g . A13 . This could apply to more than one vehicle or if the vehicle was privately developed not have a General Staff number at all . Secondly by a descriptive name - e . g . " Tank , Infantry , Mark II " . This scheme was introduced during the war and not always retrospectively applied to earlier designs . The descriptive name could also be modified by the inclusion of " A " denoting an armament change or " * " donoting some other change . Thirdly by a name - e . g . Crusader . Design and production . Cruiser tanks . Crusader and Covenanter were parallel designs for a cheaper cruiser tank than the A16 design proposed to replace the Cruiser Mark IV . Both designs were ordered in 1939 prior to the start of the war . The first tanks were delivered in 1940 . Cavalier was used for training in the UK while Crusader was used in North Africa . When its successors were delayed the Crusader was modified to take the 6 pounder gun . The tanks that received the names Cavalier , Centaur and Cromwell were all designs to meet the same requirement for a cruiser tank to replace the Crusader tank . Design work took place in 1941 and 1942 . The Cavalier and Centaur used the Nuffield Liberty engine while Cromwell used the more powerful Rolls - Royce Meteor . Cromwell was first used in action in June 1944 . Tanks . Tank , Infantry , Mk I , Matilda I ( A11 ) . The Matilda I was a machine gun armed infantry support tank . It had been built down to a price and for quick delivery . Those not lost during the fighting of the battle of France were abandoned at Dunkirk . The few left in the UK were retained for training only . Total production 1937 - 40 : 140 . Tank , Infantry , Mk II , Matilda II ( A12 ) . The Matilda II was produced by Vulcan Foundry , John Fowler & Co . , Ruston & Hornsby , the London , Midland and Scottish Railway , Harland and Wolff , and the North British Locomotive Company As well as Marks I , II , III , IV and V of the Matilda , some were rebuilt with the Canal Defence Light Total production 1937 - 43 : 2 , 987 . Tank , Infantry , Mk III , Valentine . Valentine was a private development by Vickers that was accepted by the War Office . It used the suspension of their pre - war A10 Heavy Cruiser design with heavier armour . There were eleven different Marks of Valentine . Total production 1939 - 45 of Valentine Mks I , II , III and IV : 8 , 275 . Tank , Infantry , Mk IV , Churchill ( A22 ) . Total production 1941 - 45 : 7 , 368 Tank , Light , Mk VII , Tetrarch ( A17 ) . Total production : 177 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk I , ( A9 ) . Total production : 125 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk II , ( A10 ) . Total production 1938 - 40 : 175 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk III , ( A13 ) . Total production 1938 - 39 : 65 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk IV , ( A13 Mk II ) . The initial production of the Mark IV was by adding extra armour to Mark III . Later production included the extra armour at the time of construction . On top of those converted from the Mk III , 665 of the Mk IVA ( with the BESA rather than a Vickers machine gun ) were built . Tank , Cruiser , Mk V , Covenanter ( A13 Mk III ) . The Covenanter was an unsuccessful design suffering from engine cooling problems . Total production : 1 , 700 . Note that no A13 Mk III saw combat as all but one ( which was sent to North Africa ) were stationed in Great Britain during the war and used for training . Tank , Cruiser , Mk VI , Crusader ( A15 ) . The last production Crusaders were produced without turrets as they were to be converted to artillery tractors or self - propelled anti - aircraft guns . Total production 1940 - 43 of Crusader Mks I , II and III : 5 , 300 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk VII , Cavalier ( A24 ) . Total production 1941 - 43 : 500 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk VIII , Centaur ( A27L ) . Total production 1942 - 43 : 950 . Tank , Cruiser , Mk VIII , Cromwell ( A27M ) . Cromwell was produced in several marks : I , III ( II was a design not preceded with ) , IV , IVw , Vw , VI , VII , VIIw , VIII . Some of these were reworks of earlier Cromwells , some of reworked Centaurs . Total Production 1943 - 44 3 , 066 Tank , Cruiser , Mk VIII , Challenger ( A30 ) . Total production 1943 - 44 : 200 . Tank , Cruiser , Comet I ( A34 ) . Total production 1944 - 45 : 1186 . Tank , Cruiser , Centurion I ( A41 ) . Total production 1944 - 45 : 6 .