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Cruiser Mk VIII (Cromwell VII) (Cromwell VII)

Tweet The Cruiser Mk VIII (Cromwell VII) based on the existing Cromwell and was in use from 1944. General Details Specifications Operational Date(s) 1944 Ordnance classification Quantity Produced 0 Weight unknown Crew 5 M.G's small 1 M.G's large(>10mm) n/a Length 6.40 mtr Width 2.92 mtr Height 2.49 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 32 mph Max Cross Country Speed 18 mph Range Road 166 miles Range Cross Country unknown Fuel Type Petrol Fuel Capacity 116 gal Horse Power 600 hp Power/Weight unknown General Information The Cruiser Mk VIII (Cromwell VII) based on the existing Cromwell and was in use from 1944. It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 75mm which could penetrate 96 mm of flat plate at 400 metres The Cromwell tank was designed as a heavy cruiser tank that could rapidly move and provide good A/T performance, in appearance it looked like the Cavalier. The vehicle had a rear Rolls Royce Meteor engine producing 600hp driving the tracks, towards the main front idler over the 5 large road wheels, round the idler and back under the roadwheels in the standard Christie style. The Mark VII was the final version of the Cromwell with added armour, wider tracks and a lower ratio final drive. Armour Details Turret Front 76mm @ 0° (76mm) Side 63mm @ 0° (63mm) Rear 57mm @ 0° (57mm) Top 20mm @ 81° (20mm) Superstructure Front 63mm @ 0° (63mm) Side 32mm @ 0° (32mm) Rear 32mm @ 0° (32mm) Top 20mm @ 90° (20mm) Hull Front 57mm @ 0° (57mm) Side 32mm @ 0° (32mm) Rear 32mm @ 0° (32mm) Top 20mm @ 90° (20mm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 76 mm - Minimum 20 mm Weapon Details Ordnance Q.F. 75mm (Tank Gun) History This was a temporary fix to the problem of 6pdr guns not having a powerful enough HE shell. It was created by boring out the British 57mm 6pdr to take the American 75mm AP/HE shells, which reduced the Anti Tank performance but provided HE support. Manufactured 1943 - 1945 Calibre 75mm Length L/32   Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content AP M72 U.S. (AP Armor Piercing) 75mm 6.58Kg 618M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.16 0.33 0.68 1.45 2.31 3.29 4.41 5.71 Penetration(mm@30°) 98 91 83 73 64 55 46 38 Penetration(mm@0°) 114 106 96 85 74 64 54 45 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 88 54 25 15 3 HE M48 (HE High Explosive) 75mm 6.76Kg 625M/Sec 0.680Kg explosive Maximum Range not shown as gun elevation is limited Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.16 0.33 0.68 1.43 2.29 3.25 4.36 5.65 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.16 0.33 0.68 1.43 2.29 3.25 4.36 5.65 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 88 57 25 15 3 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 3 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 6 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 16 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr 2 mm An explosion within 3 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 6 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 16 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 2 mm of the tank armour including the roof.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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