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State of the art during 1942. And you get them via Lend-Lease.
Rather then worrying about 1942 Britain should be thinking about 1943 when Tiger and Panther tanks make their apearance. Britain needs the Comet tank during 1943.
State of the art during 1942. And you get them via Lend-Lease.
Rather then worrying about 1942 Britain should be thinking about 1943 when Tiger and Panther tanks make their apearance. Britain needs the Comet tank during 1943.
I think Freebird has it taped. Or as an alternative, design the new engine quickly and churn out the Cromwell. With its speed, armour and a 6 pd gun the Cromwell would be more than sufficient for the job.
Thanks for the input, fellas
The only objection is that I've specified 'British bits bolts' in OP.
LL tanks will come in as they did historically.
Britain's lend-lease arrangements with its dominions and colonies is one of the lesser known parts of World War II history.
President Roosevelt allowed Lend-Lease to purchase supplies from Canada, for shipment to Britain, China and Russia.
Canada gave Britain gifts totaling $3.5 billion during the war; Britain used it to buy Canadian food and war supplies
British bits and bolts?
Scrap the Liberty engine from the get-go. Get Rolls-Royce to give/sell Kestrel tooling to a tank engine factory. That solves the engine problem until 1944 or so. Scrap the Meadows flat twelve as soon as possible along with the Covenanter tank. Go with the Crusader but leave the bow MG turret on the first drawing board sketch. Fix drivers position and access for maintenance. Widen hull as much as possible or build a box that over hangs the track to get a bigger turret ring so you can mount the 6 pdr with a 3 man turret.
Meteor - it was developed from the Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine by W. A. Robotham and his chassis design and development division at Belper, as they were not involved in aero-engine work. With the aid of engineers from Leyland, who were engaged in tank work, he considered RR's two V12s. The Kestrel, while having more power than the existing "Liberty" or Meadows engines, did not provide the desirable 20 bhp per ton required, so the Merlin III was used.
What about armament? 6pdr + 25pdr combo, or something else? Is it to late to bother with pre-17pdr 3in gun (ordnance from the AA piece)?
the 25pdr is going to be nothing but headaches as a tank gun. Lots of HE ability but the AP is only better than the 2pdr. Low velocity means short practical range.
The British 3in AA gun wasn't much to write home about either. It is a left over WW I design and is both heavy for it's performance and a bit low powered for it's nominal length.
While still being made in India at a very slow rate production had stopped in England a number of years before WW II.
By the time the British have passed the danger of Sealion, (Nov '40) and become aware that the Desert War with Italy (Compass - Dec 1940) will require large number of tanks to be sent to Egypt, it's really too late to have a proper, superior tank developed shipped to the Desert in any numbers for Oct 1942, even if they could forsee future events at the beginning of '41.
As for "Learning the Lessons of France", they didn't really know that anything was wrong in British tank development, France demonstrated the value of fast mobile tanks operating en masse vs slow British Infantry tanks. It was assumed that the upcoming Crusader tank would fit the bill. (Crusader arrived in Egypt May 1941) There wasn't really a tank crisis until the defeat at Battleaxe (June '41), and the opening of Barbarossa, which required great numbers of tanks to be sent to the Soviets.
The typical British WWII tank took about 2 years to develop.
Cavalier/Cromwell: Design specifications issued late 1940, design submitted early 1941, production begins Nov 1942.
Churchill: Specification summer 1939, production summer 1941
Comet: Specifications A34 1942, revised Jan 1943, production Sept 1944
The exception was the Covenanter (1,771 made) and the Crusader (5,300 made) which were ordered "Off the drawing board" and took about 18 months from acceptance to production, but the rushed process caused an inferior result.
(Covenanter production begins Autumn 1940, Crusader Mar 1941)
So unless the British are getting future events tips from Nostradamusthey can't anticipate the future tank design requirements until July 1941.
At that point I would think that it would be better to modify the Cavalier/Cromwell design to an improved version, even if it would push back the start of production from Nov '42 until mid or even late 1943.
As said in OP, you (me, him, forum member...) 'have' almost 2,5 years to deploy respectable tank force.
I'm not questioning that. Not in this thread
I'm don't state anyone can see future. We're discussing what could've fit the bill better.
As for 'future tank design requirements', thicker armor, greater firepower, better mobility, along with good radios, sights, creature comfort were to be properties of any future tank. No need for Nostradamus to tell you.
Both Cavalier and Cromwell would've fitted nicely in discussion about British tanks deployed in late 1943/ early'44
In mid-1940, the British were considering which tank should follow on from the new cruiser tanks then being developed. A specification was drawn up by the Directorate of Tanks and Transport which included the QF 6 pounder gun. This led to General Staff specification A23
In late 1940, the General Staff set out the specifications for the new tank {A23}, and designs were submitted in early 1941
Production began in November 1942. It would take considerable time for Rover to make ready production lines for the Meteor, and it was not until a few months later, in January 1943, that sufficient Meteor engines were available and the A27M Cromwell began production
No, not actually. the Fall of France was 25 June 1940. Even assuming that you started work in July 1940, you have only two years. Any tank that hasn't been produced by July 1942 isn't going to have enough time to be shipped to Egypt (8 - 10 weeks), unloaded, fitted out for Desert operations, issued to the troops and trained on.
Under your scenario there is just simply not enough time to develop deploy a new tank before El Alamein, nor have you given any plausible reason why the British would scrap the normal tank development cycle.
Can you explain why they would scrap the Crusader design in 1940 and start over?
Even if you were "the man responsible for tank development," you can't just scrap the new tank design on a whim, you would be vetoed booted by Churchill Cabinet PDQ.
Your idea is to "create the armored force that would perform admirably within 2 years."
Indeed, and the Crusader is a brillianttank, fast, well armoured (40mm compared to the 30mm of the Pz III or IV) and with the über 2 pdr which could blow through all German tanks in France 1940. Churchill the Tank commission felt that the 2 pdr was more than adequate for tanks that would be produced in 1941 1942, nor any reason that the Crusader wouldn't perform admirably.
So again, in the second half of 1940 what possible reason can you give that the UK would scrap the Crusader production to rush into a re-design?
Can you explain why the British would even be that concerned about tanks, considering that defence of the UK was the critical need,
and why there would be an urgent need for a fast cruiser tank in the Desert for a war that hadn't even started yet?
...Which is exactly what you are talking about here.
You specified development following the Blitzkrieg of 39/40 (First British tanks in action in the Fall of France)
Again, the General Staff looked at the events in France, (exactly the scenario you specified) the specifications for the A23 (Cavalier/Cromwell) were issued in late 1940, and the first tanks arrived in Jan 1943.