Comet Tank
The Comet tank or Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of the World War II, Second World War, during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. The Comet was developed from the earlier Cromwell tank with a lower profile, partly-cast metal, cast turret which mounted the new Ordnance QF 17 pdr#77 mm HV, 77 mm HV gun. This was a smaller version of the 17 pdr anti-tank gun firing the same 76.2 mm (3") projectiles, albeit with a lighter charge, and was effective against late-war German tanks, including the Panther tank, Panther and Tiger I, Tiger. The Comet rendered the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger obsolete and was an interim solution until the completely new design Centurion tank was available. When firing armour-piercing discarding sabot, APDS rounds, the 77 mm HV was superior in armour penetration capability to the 75 mm KwK 42 gun of the equivalent Axis tank, the Panther. The Comet entered active servic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum (previously the Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collection traces the history of the tank with almost 300 vehicles on display. It includes Tiger 131, the only working example of a German Tiger I tank, and a British First World War Mark I, the world's oldest surviving combat tank. It is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Armoured Corps and is a registered charity. History The writer Rudyard Kipling visited Bovington in 1923 and, after viewing the damaged tanks that had been salvaged at the end of the First World War, recommended that a museum be set up. A shed was established to house the collection but was not opened to the general public until 1947. George Forty, who was appointed director of the museum in 1982, expanded and modernized the collection. He retired in 1993 afte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cast Metal
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intended shape. The metal is poured into the mold through a hollow channel called a sprue. The metal and mold are then cooled, and the metal part (the ''casting'') is extracted. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods. Casting processes have been known for thousands of years, and have been widely used for sculpture (especially in bronze), jewelry in precious metals, and weapons and tools. Highly engineered castings are found in 90 percent of durable goods, including cars, trucks, aerospace, trains, mining and construction equipment, oil wells, appliances, pipes, hydrants, wind turbines, nuclear plants, medical devices, defense products, toys, and more. Traditional techniques include los ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Liberty L-12
The Liberty L-12 is an American Water_cooling#Internal_combustion_engines, water-cooled 45° V12 engine, V-12 engine, displacing and making , designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It was designed principally as an aircraft engine and saw #Aircraft, wide use in aero applications. It also #Watercraft, saw marine use (both in racing and in Runabout (boat), runabout boats) once it was marinized; it was used in #Tank, various military tanks; and in #Automobile, some race cars. A single bank 6-cylinder version, the Liberty L-6, and V-8, the Liberty L-8, were derived from the Liberty L-12. It was succeeded by the Packard 1A-2500. Development In May 1917, a month after the United States had declared war on Germany, a federal task force known as the Aircraft Board, Aircraft Production Board summoned two top engine designers, Jesse G. Vincent (of the Packard Motor Car Company) and Elbert J. Hall (of the Hall-Scott Motor Company), to Washington, D.C., Wash ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Centaur Tank
The Cromwell tank, officially Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M), was one of the series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second World War. Named after the English Civil War–era military leader Oliver Cromwell, the Cromwell was the first tank put into service by the British to combine high speed from a powerful, reliable engine (the Rolls-Royce Meteor) and reasonable armour. The intended dual-purpose high-velocity gun could not be fitted in the turret, so a medium-velocity dual-purpose gun was fitted instead. Further development of the Cromwell combined with a high-velocity gun led to the Comet tank. The name "Cromwell" was initially applied to three vehicles during development. Early Cromwell development led to the creation of the A24 Cavalier. Later Cromwell development led to the creation of the competing Centaur tank (officially the ''Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Centaur (A27L)''). This was closely related to the Cromwell, both vehicles being externally simila ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cavalier Tank
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk VII Cavalier (A24) was an interim design of British cruiser tank during the Second World War. It was derived as a follow on from the Nuffield's A15 Crusader tank as it was expected to enter production in 1942. A parallel effort under Leyland Motors and Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company to the same specification resulted in the A27 Cromwell and Centaur tanks which was accepted for service in preference to the Cavalier. Development Early Development Development of the Cavalier initially started as development of the Cromwell tank. 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 57 mm QF 6 pounder gun. This led to General Staff specification A23 for a cruiser version of the A22 Churchill tank from Vauxhall, and A24 from Nuffield Mechanization & Aero Limited based upon their ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crusader Tank
Crusader, in full "Tank, Cruiser Mk VI, Crusader", also known by its List of tanks of the United Kingdom#General Staff numbers, General Staff number A.15, was one of the primary British cruiser tanks during the early part of the World War II, Second World War. Over 5,000 tanks were manufactured and they made important contributions to the British victories during the North African campaign. The Crusader only saw active service in Africa but the chassis of the tank was modified to create anti-aircraft, fire support, observation, communication, bulldozer and recovery vehicle variants. The first Crusader Mark I tanks entered service in 1941 and though manoeuvrable, they were relatively lightly armoured and under-armed. The following Crusader Mark II had a maximum armour of . The main armament for the Crusader Mark I and IIs was a 40 mm Ordnance QF 2-pounder gun; the following Crusader Mark III was fitted with a 57 mm Ordnance QF 6-pounder gun at the expense of one member ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cruiser Tanks
The cruiser tank (sometimes called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry, as distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were developed after medium tank designs of the 1930s failed to satisfy the Royal Armoured Corps. The cruiser tank concept was conceived by Giffard Le Quesne Martel, who preferred many small light tanks to swarm an opponent, instead of a few expensive and unsatisfactory medium tanks. "Light" cruiser tanks (for example the Cruiser Mk I) carried less armour and were correspondingly faster, whilst "heavy" cruiser tanks (such as the Cruiser Mk II) had more armour and were slightly slower. The British cruiser tank series started in 1938 with the A9 and A10 cruiser tanks, followed by the A13, A13 Mark II, the A13 Mark III Covenanter in 1940 and the A15 Crusader which entered service in 1941. The Crusader was superseded by the A27 Cromwell in 1944. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Western Desert Campaign
The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the Sahara Desert, deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main Theater (warfare), theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September. Operation Compass, a five-day raid by the British in December 1940, was so successful that it led to the destruction of the Italian Tenth Army (Italy), 10th Army (10ª ) over the following two months. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who sent a small Nazi Germany, German force to Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli under List of Adolf Hitler's directives, Directive 22 (11 January). The ( Erwin Rommel) was formally under Italian command, as Italy was the main Axis powers, Axis power in the Mediterranean and North Africa. In the spring of 1941, Rommel led Operation Sonnenblume, which pushed the Allies back to Egypt except for the siege of Tobruk at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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KwK 42
The 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 (from 7.5 cm '' Kampfwagenkanone'' 42 L/70) was a 7.5 cm calibre German tank gun used on German armoured fighting vehicles in the Second World War. The gun was the armament of the Panther medium tank and two variants of the Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun. On the latter it was designated as the "7.5 cm ''Panzerabwehrkanone'' 42" (7.5 cm Pak 42) anti-tank gun. Design The increased muzzle velocity and operating pressure of the new gun required a new armour-piercing projectile to be designed. The PzGr. 39/42 was the result, and apart from the addition of wider driving bands it was otherwise identical to the older 7.5 cm PzGr. 39. The wider driving bands added a little extra weight, from 6.8 kg for the old PzGr.39, to 7.2 kg for the new PzGr.39/42.US Army Technical Manual TM9-1985-3, United States Government Printing Office Washington, 1953 The gun was fired electrically, the primer being initiated using an el ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Armour-piercing Discarding Sabot
Armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) is a type of Rifling, spin-stabilized kinetic energy penetrator, kinetic energy projectile for anti-armor warfare. Each projectile consists of a sub-caliber round fitted with a Sabot (firearms), sabot. The combination of a lighter sub-caliber projectile with a full-caliber propellant charge allows for an increase in muzzle velocity compared to full-caliber rounds, giving the round increased armor-penetration performance. To further enhance their armor-penetration capabilities, APDS rounds typically feature a hardened core made from tungsten or another hard, dense material. For a given caliber, APDS ammunition can effectively double the armor penetration of a gun when compared to full-caliber rounds such as Armor-piercing ammunition, AP, Armor-piercing shot and shell#Second World War, Armor-piercing Capped (APC), and APCBC, Armor piercing Capped Ballistic Cap (APCBC) projectiles. APDS-rounds were commonly used in large caliber tank guns up unt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Centurion Tank
The FV4007 Centurion was the primary main battle tank of the British Army during the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing combat into the 1980s. The chassis was adapted for several other roles, and these variants have remained in service. It was a very popular tank with good armour, maneuverability, mobility, and a powerful main armament. Development of the Centurion began in 1943 with manufacture beginning in January 1945. Six prototypes arrived in Belgium less than a month after the war in Europe ended in May 1945. It entered combat with the British Army in the Korean War in 1950 in support of the UN forces. The Centurion later served on the Indian side in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, where it fought against US-supplied M47 Patton, M47 and M48 Patton tanks, and it served with the Royal Australian Armoured Corps in the Vietnam War. Israel's army used Centurio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger
The Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30) was a British tank of World War II. It mounted the QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun on a chassis derived from the Cromwell tank to add anti-tank firepower to the cruiser tank units. The design compromises made in fitting the large gun onto the Cromwell chassis resulted in a tank with a powerful weapon and reduced armour. However, the extemporised 17-pounder Sherman Firefly conversion of the US-supplied Sherman proved easier to produce and, with delays in production, only 200 Challengers were built. The Challenger was able to keep up with the fast Cromwell tank and was used with them. History The driving force in the development of the Challenger was William Arthur Robotham. "Roy" Robotham had been a Rolls-Royce executive in the car division who, with no work to do, had led a team to develop a tank powerplant from the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine. The Rolls-Royce Meteor gave the British a powerful, reliable engine, which was used in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |