In 1938, the General Staff of the British Army requested for a cruiser tank that was lighter and more affordable than the heavier A16 cruiser design developed by Nuffield Mechanizations & Aero. One of these designs was the designation Tank, Cruiser Mk.V based off the A13 cruiser tanks, named the "Covenanter", and Nuffield was invited to become part of its development team, but they refused due to interest in developing their own cruiser tank. Their tank was designated the Tank, Cruiser Mk.VI Crusader and fell under the General Staff specification of A15. The Crusader was a parallel design to the Covenanter, but was ready six weeks earlier than the Covenanter despite starting at a later time. The Crusader was adopted into service with the British Army in 1941 and the 5,300 units were manufactured between 1940 to 1943.
Most versions of the crusader are quite similar but in the desert in FHSW the camouflage scheme tells what whether it is the crusader I in the Caunter camouflage scheme with areas with sharp corners that are either in a lighter or darker grey hue. The crusader II have spots of brown and the crusader III have blue ones in a similar fashion. Both the Meteor and the Crusader AA Mk.III lack camouflage patterns.
| Crusader I | Crusader I CS | Experimental "Meteor" Powered Crusader) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crusader II | Crusader II CS | Crusader III | Crusader AA Mk.III |
Crusader I[]
| Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader Mk.I | |
|---|---|
| |
| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Manufacturer | Nuffield Mechanization & Aero Limited |
| Category | Medium tank Cruiser Tank |
| Speed | 42 km/h |
| Main armament | 40 mm 1 x QF 2-pounder |
| Coaxial weapon | 1 x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Used by | Great Britain Australia |
| Crew in‑game | 3 |
| Seat 2 | Commander Seat |
| Seat 3 | 1x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| Historical Picture | |
| [[File:{{{History Picture}}}|300px]] | |
The Mark I was quickly put in production after the prototype was tested, in mid-1940. None were ready for the campaign in France however, but they were quickly shipped in Egypt and took part in the first phase of the war against the invading Italian forces. The Mark I of early production had a “semi-internal” cast gun mantlet, which was replaced on the late models by a bigger cast mantlet with three vertical slits, for the gun, machine-gun and periscope. The large sloped turret, also designed for maximum internal space, had no cupola, but a flat hatch with the periscope mounted inside. In practice, it was open most of the time. The gun was balanced through a paddle shaft, making pointing easier and more accurate, and allowing efficient fire on the move.
On the very flat terrain encountered in the Libyan plains, this feature was of great proficiency. The 40 mm (1.57 in) armor was designed to deal with most tanks of the time (in 1939), armed with 37 mm (1.46 in) guns. The frontal glacis was sloped, like the turret, but the rear and sides were flat and more vulnerable. Early production models were given provisional armored side panels, usually protecting the rear part of the tank (engine and fuel tanks). The first unit to fight with these brand-new Crusaders Mark I was the 6th Royal Tank Regiment, part of the 7th Armoured Brigade. They fought alongside Matilda infantry tanks, using their speed for screening tactics. No Italian tank was a threat, but this would change with the arrival of Rommel and his Panzer IIIs in Africa, in January 1941.
Crusader I CS[]
| Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader I CS | |
|---|---|
| |
| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Category | Medium Tank Cruiser Tank |
| Speed | 42 km/h |
| Main armament | 76.2 mm Ordnance QF 3 inch howitzer |
| Coaxial weapon | 1x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Used by | Great Britain Australia |
| Crew in‑game | 3 |
| Seat 2 | Commander Seat |
| Seat 3 | 1x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| Historical Picture | |
| [[File:{{{History Picture}}}|300px]] | |
Some Crusader I's were converted on the stocks as infantry support tanks, or CS (Close Support), equipped with a 3 inch (76.2 mm) howitzer capable of firing smoke rounds. Though in FHSW the howitzer doesn't have access to smoke rounds. The Crusader I CS is particularly good against since it has the small turret with a Besa MG which was omitted in the second version of the Crusader tank.
Experimental "Meteor" Powered Crusader[]
| A15 Cruiser Tank Mk V No. T3646 | |
|---|---|
| |
| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Category | Medium tank Cruiser Tank |
| Debut in FHSW | 0.6 |
| Speed | 80 km/h |
| Main armament | 40 mm 1 x QF 2-pounder |
| Coaxial weapon | 1 x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Used by | Great Britain Australia |
| Crew in‑game | 3 |
| Seat 2 | Smoke (36 rounds) Commander Seat |
| Seat 3 | 2x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| Historical Picture | |
| [[File:{{{History Picture}}}|300px]] | |
As the German tanks it was apparent that the Crusader tank was had a lot of shortcomings and there was no direct replacement ready. Development of the Meteor tank engine started with the use of recovered Merlin engine parts from crashed aircraft. While unsuitable for re-use in aircraft, the Rolls Royce chassis division had begun collecting and refurbishing them in the hopes of finding a use. Robotham was approached by Henry Spurrier of Leyland Mechaziation and Aero, to ask about help with tank powerplants. The Mark 1 Meteor was assembled out of many of the recovered parts. After this meeting Robotham and his team began to examine the possibility of fitting a Rolls-Royce engine in a cruiser tank. After testing a variety of Rolls Royce engines they settled on the Merlin Mk III, produced an unsupercharged version of the engine, and installed it in a Crusader tank. This was delivered to Aldershot for trials on 6 April 194. The Meteor powered Crusader excelled in its trials, going so fast that the time-keepers failed to time it properly, and on its first run it failed to take a corner and crashed into some trees! It was later estimated that the tank had reached around 80 kmh. Furthermore, Merlin engine was used in Challenger and Cromwell tanks.
Besides being faster than other variants it also has one additional machine gun in the front of the hull. The machine gunner controls both the machine gun turret and the machine gun in a affixed in the hull.
Crusader II[]
| Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader II | |
|---|---|
| File:Crusader II.jpg | |
| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Category | Medium tank Cruiser Tank |
| Speed | 42 km/h |
| Main armament | 40 mm 1 x QF 2-pounder |
| Coaxial weapon | 1 x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Used by | Great Britain Australia |
| Crew in‑game | 3 |
| Seat 2 | Commander Seat |
| Seat 3 | 1x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| Historical Picture | |
| [[File:{{{History Picture}}}|300px]] | |
Late production Mark Is were given large side protective panels, attached to the upper hull, providing better protection against the 50 mm (1.97 in) gun of the Panzer III. These panels became permanently attached from the factory starting from the Mark II. This new version also received a large increase in armor, from 40 to 49 mm (1.57-1.93 in), on the frontal glacis and turret. The added weight was coped with by a more powerful Nuffield Liberty Mk.III. To save weight and a crew member, the awkward turret was often removed. The only machine-gun that remained was the coaxial one. The large “three slit” cast mantlet was also serial. This evolution arrived in 1942, just in time for some major battles of the campaign of Africa.
Crusader II CS[]
| Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader II CS | |
|---|---|
| File:Crusader II CS.jpg | |
| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Category | Medium tank Cruiser Tank |
| Speed | 42 km/h |
| Main armament | 76.2 mm Ordnance QF 3 inch howitzer |
| Coaxial weapon | 1 x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Used by | Great Britain Australia |
| Crew in‑game | 3 |
| Seat 2 | Commander Seat |
| Seat 3 | 1x 7.92 mm Besa Mk.I |
| Historical Picture | |
| [[File:{{{History Picture}}}|300px]] | |
Some Crusaders II's were also converted as infantry support tanks. Compared to the previous CS tank it is a more armoured and streamlined design in that the small turret on the front of the hull is removed.
Crusader III[]
| Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader III | |
|---|---|
| |
| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Category | Medium tank Cruiser Tank |
| Speed | 42 km/h |
| Armour | 
|
| Main armament | 57 mm 1 x Qf 6Pdr |
| Coaxial weapon | 1 x 7.92 mm Besa MG |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Used by | Great Britain |
| Crew in‑game | 2 |
| Seat 2 | 1 x 7.92 mm Besa MG |
| Historical Picture | |
| [[File:{{{History Picture}}}|300px]] | |
This was the last production version of the Crusader. It got a complete new designed turret, because the turrets from the Mark I and II are too small for the new maingun, the 57mm 6 Pounder gun. By this, two new details from the tank are already presenting! This new turret was bigger and was in the front flat because it got a gun mask built inside the turret. The armor increase from the 26mm (Mark I) to 32 mm (Mark II and Mark III). Like above already said, the auxiliary turret was not designed on the Mark III due to the major problems such like too small for an ordinary man to fit in it and there was no room to operate the gun. Also when the auxiliary turret was open, the main turret could not be transverse. The later Mark III will not have those turrets anymore. The production started in may 1942. However this tank got a bether gun and even bether armour, soon as possible the American tank replaced the Crusader tanks. When the Allieds leave the North Africa campaign, many Crusader tanks are left in Africa. It belonged in the Top 10 Worst WW2 tanks which saw service!
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