The Cruiser Mark I, or A9 was the first cruiser tank - that is to say, a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, along with enemy tanks. Use of the A9 was confined to Britain.

History and specifications

The A9 was developed by Sir John Carden in 1934. Intended to succeed the Vickers Mark II . However, this was still in the time of the Great depression and the tank had a number of cost-cutting measures applied. It was the first British tank to have a centrally-located turret. It was poorly armoured, however, with a maximum of 14mm a lot of vertical panels, and there were numerous shot traps .

The driver's compartment and the fighting compartments were not separated. As well as the turret armament, which consisted of a 2-pounder (40mm) gun and a coaxial Vickers machine-gun, there were two small turrets either side of the driver's compartment, each sporting one more machine-gun. Both these smaller turrets were permanently manned, which gave the tank a total crew of 6 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver and two machine-gunners).

The tank entered testing in 1936 and 125 were ordered in the summer of 1937. Originally a Rolls-Royce car engine was used, but this proved underpowered and was replaced by an AEC bus engine.

The later Valentine tank essentially used the same lower hull and suspension, though with considerably more armour.

The A9 weighed 12 tons, was 5.8 metres long, 2.65 metres high, 2.5 metres wide, and had a top speed of 25mph on road and 15mph off. Its maximum road range was 150 miles. 100 2-pounder rounds were carried, and 3000 rounds total were carried for the three Vickers machine-guns.

Performance

The Cruiser was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaigns. The 2pdr gun was perfectly capable against German tanks. However the minimal armour meant it was easily shot to pieces. Also problematic was the lack of HE shells for the 2pdr gun and even worse the lack of HE for the 95mm gun on the Close Support version.

The mechanical reliability of the Cruiser was also a disadvantage. In particular, tracks were easily slewed causing difficulties.

Variants

Mark I (A9)
Used by the 1st Armored Division in France. Used by the 2nd and 7th Armored Divisions in North Africa until 1941.

Mark I CS
Had a 3.7" (94mm) howitzer installed in the turret. This gun only fired smoke rounds, 40 of which were carried.

See also

• List of AFVs

External links

• A9 Specifications