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Cruiser Tank Mk II (A10)

1940 SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY WORLD WAR 2

History of Cruiser Tank Mk II (A10)

In 1934, Sir John Carden of Vickers-Armstrong began work on a fast-moving tank at the request of the British War Office. The doctrine of the time specified two different forms of tanks to cover the operations of the British Army - the fast, light and well-armed "cruiser" tanks and the slower, well-protected and well-armed "infantry" tanks. Cruiser tanks will use their speed and mobility to break through enemy defenses and conduct destructive operations in the rear, while infantry tanks will advance to support infantry operations and engage enemy defenses and tanks head-on. For this move, the first cruiser tank to appear was the "Panzer, Kreuzer Mk I (A9)" in 1938.

It was not an absolute success, only 125 were produced until 1941, the same year they were eliminated from obsolete service.

At the same time, Carden began work on a heavier design with slightly better armor protection, intended for an infantry support role in the form of a cruiser tank. The A9 and A10 have a lot in common, including a slender track set around a drivable and sprung chassis. A short hull superstructure mounts a 360-degree rotating tower in the middle. The A9 featured a pair of machine gun positions on either side of the fuselage superstructure, while the A10 dispensed with these rather novel devices.

The main armament remains a turret-mounted QF 2-pounder (40mm) gun. Defense is provided by a coaxial 7.7mm Vickers machine gun and a 7.9mm BESA machine gun mounted on the hull (front right). The A9 armor thickness is up to 14mm, exceeding the A10's maximum 30mm. However, both designs are powered by a 150-horsepower AEC A179-style 6-cylinder petrol engine, which would only limit the heavier A10 design. So a top speed of 16 mph on ideal surfaces and 100 miles on the road.

By comparison, the A9 has a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 150 miles. The A10 is operated by five people in cramped working conditions.

The crew consists of the driver at the front left of the fuselage, the bow gunner at the front right, and the commander, loader and gunner at the center of the turret/fuselage.

A pilot vehicle (prototype) appeared in 1936, called "A10E1" to denote its experimental state. Despite the reduced performance specs compared to the previous A9, the additional armour and powerful weapons are more than enough to justify the type's official inclusion in the British Army.

The vehicle was officially designated "Tank, Cruiser, Heavy Mk I" before this designation gave way to "Panzer, Cruiser, A10 Mk I". The name officially became "Panzer, Kreuzer, Mk II" again, and serial production began in July 1938 amid increasing war in Europe.

The A10 has a conventional design and weighs 15.7 tonnes (short). Her barrel was 18 feet 4 inches long and 8 feet 4 inches wide. Her height to the top of the tower is 8 feet 8 inches, making her a relatively low-range target.

Despite relatively open communications and no compartment bulkheads, multiple crew members were tasked with operating within a very tight confines. The engines were placed in the rear of the fuselage, thereby expanding the forward-facing crew area.

The drive sprocket is at the rear, the chain idler is at the front, and three chain idlers are used to guide the upper part of the chain into place. The landing gear consists of six rubber tire wheels, two of which have a significantly larger diameter than the four inner pairs.

The riveted hull structure is very visible and poses a danger to the crew inside in the event of a direct impact (rivets and shrapnel can bounce anywhere inside). A pair of circular headlamps for low-altitude/night driving are installed at each corner of the front of the fuselage.

The A10 wasn't an impressive sample, but it served the needs of the day.

Late 1939/early 1940, the first production quality vehicles entered service, the sole operator being the British Army (the type was never exported). 175 were eventually ordered and the product was distributed by Birmingham Rail Cars and Wagons (45), Metropolitan-Cammell (45) and Vickers (10).

Subsequent orders for Birmingham Rail Cars brought the final 75 units, which proved to vary widely in terms of increased armor protection - although this had little effect on the type that was effective in modern combat at the time.

The A10 had a short lifespan during World War II, when it took action during the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) defense of France. Although built for speed, these cruiser tanks struggled to navigate France's varied terrain, which included obstacles, rough terrain and mud, in the rigors of combat.

However, they proved reliable in some cases, notably when used to defend Tobruk in the arid African desert in 1941. It is important to note that many of the specimens were actually due to mechanical deficiencies of their own, mainly the lack of landing gear and not actual enemy fire during brief stops abroad at the track junctions that were attempted to be destroyed. Since the A10 was still on sale, the model was also shipped to Greece for combat and performed well overall.

However, their use plummeted after 1941 as basic wartime/mechanical wear and tear and more modern, more powerful models came online in British inventory.

Despite limited production numbers, three main variants of the A10 were produced, replacing the original 31 base model Mk II with the BESA model (same ammunition can now be used for both machine gun installations). The Mk IIA CS dropped its 40mm main gun in favor of a 94mm field howitzer as a close support system (hence the "CS"). The main purpose of the Mk IIA CS model is to provide backup smoke for advancing (or retreating) friendly units.

The A10 chassis influenced another of the more famous British Army tanks, the Valentine Infantry Tank of 1940, of which over 8,200 were produced.

An example of the Cruiser Mk IIA CS is at the Bovington Tank Museum in the UK.