My First Video

Hey guys, welcome back to Armchair History. Today we will be introducing a new show called Tank Ranks, where we'll be taking a look at tanks throughout history and ranking them based on effective speed, firepower, armor, reliability, and reusability. This week we'll be talking about the Crusader, the infamous desert tank designed to win through superior maneuverability over raw firepower or armor. The Crusader, or otherwise Cruiser Mark VI tank, was Britain's most important tank in World War II of the North African Campaign. Firstly, on classification, it's important to know this tank was a cruiser tank, meaning it was used for speed and was lightly armored, mainly used for reconnaissance and quick forward assaults. This would prove great for desert condition. The other main classification you're going to see later on is the infantry tank, which is used to support the infantry in the main attacks. They'll be much slower and much more armored, with in most cases higher firepower. So why was the Crusader, or Cruiser Mark VI, created? Well, after the realization that the previous Cruiser Mark V Covenantor tank could not cope with the speed or armor required for the standard British cruiser, Nuffield Mechanizations and Arrow Unlimited decided to come up with a brand new model in 1939. This model was to be one of the fastest of its day. This was due to a genius idea by American J. Walter Christie. By using an aircraft engine, therefore the Crusader tank would officially adopt the Nuffield Liberty V-12 water-cooled 340 horsepower engine. This, along with large and spread out wheels, allowed for the Crusader to reach speeds of around 27 miles per hour, or 43 kilometers per hour, on road, and 15 miles per hour, or 24 kilometers per hour, cross-country, and up to 40 miles per hour, or 64 kilometers per hour, with increased horsepower, which at the time was faster than any other tank on the field for its day. It would be first modeled with an Ordnance QF Pounder 40 millimeter gun in the Mark I Crusader. This, however, would prove inadequate, along with its just 40 millimeter main armor. So along with the increase in the armor for the Mark II Crusader, it also got an upgrade to the 49 millimeter gun, and the final Mark III Crusader would receive an Ordnance QF 6 Pounder 57 millimeter main gun, and a deduction to only three to four crew members, as well as 51 millimeter main armor, allowing it to put up a good fight with any mid-generation Panzer III or Panzer IV tanks, and fitting well with the British doctrine of firing accurately and quickly while on the move. So this leads to the next question, where and when was this tank operating? By 1941, Crusaders received its baptism of fire in North Africa after the Axis pushed the Commonwealth forces all the way back to the Egyptian border in June of 1941. The reinforcing Crusader tanks refilled the entire 6th Royal Tank Regiment, which attached to the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, forming the well-known 7th Armored Brigade, Desert Rats. The brigade first saw action in Operation Battleaxe, attempting to relieve forces defending in the Siege of Tobruk. The Crusader tank played a crucial role in the Battle of El Alamein, the Siege of Tobruk, and all throughout Tunisia. These tanks had been easily taken out by Axis anti-tank guns, however, which could easily ignite the unprotected ammo rounds. Anti-tank guns would be the main reason the Crusader had been taken out of action in battle, rather than to enemy tanks. And more surprisingly, these tanks had been lost to more mechanical failure than to actual enemy fire. Problems occurred by the cooling system and air filter, so the engine was often restored from 340 horsepower to 400 horsepower by the soldiers themselves, which could then reach up to 40 miles per hour or 64 kilometers per hour, which once again was the fastest tank of the time. These tanks would soon be outclassed, though, by the closing of the North Africa Campaign, but still, the Crusaders remained the most important British tank in the Africa Campaign, after which, in 1943, they began being replaced by U.S. vehicles, including the Stuart and Sherman tanks. As their armor and inability to take a gun any bigger than a 6-pounder meant they rapidly became obsolete. Regardless, special versions could be seen throughout the duration of the war, such as the following Crusader 3AA Mark 1-3 Anti-Aircraft, Crusader AVR Mark 1 Armored Recovery Vehicle. Overall, including all variations, around 5,300 Crusaders had been produced, and saw great effectiveness and use throughout the North Africa Campaign. Lastly, any specifications on this tank can be seen through this chart. The Crusader tank had some great firepower for its day, but it failed to be able to keep up with other tanks, giving the firepower rating a 3 out of 5. The Crusader was also known for its speed, and throughout its use in Africa, was the fastest tank on the field, giving it a 5 out of 5. Its armor had a lot of flaws compared to other tanks in the field, but for a cruiser tank, it had much better armor than any other cruiser before it, giving it a 2 out of 5. One of the biggest flaws of the Crusader was its reliability, as it even lost more tanks due to mechanical problems than combat, giving it a 2 out of 5. Lastly, the Crusader was favored by the British Army, and played a vital role in all of the major battles of North Africa, and later was used throughout the rest of the war in its variations, such as the Crusader Anti-Aircraft, or Crusader Gun Tractor, giving its overall use a 4 out of 5. This tank falls short in reliability, and certain armor design flaws. However, overall, when it got working, it got the job done, and for the time period it was deployed in, saw further use through many of its variations, giving the overall rank for this tank a 16 out of 25. Thanks for listening, I hope you'll join us in the next short film for Armchair History.