The Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, based on the

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. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to standardization on the American Sherman tank for frontline units, it was used exclusively for training purposes and was never used in combat as a gun tank. The chassis was used for several other combat roles however, such as a

flamethrower tank A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in the Second World War, du ...

, observation post and armoured personnel carrier.

Development

Even before the loss of the majority of the United Kingdom's tank force in France in 1940 after

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, it was recognised that tank production in the UK at the start of the war was insufficient and capacity in the US was taken for British needs.Ellis and Chamberlain p3 So it was necessary that if Canada was to equip with tanks they would have to be manufactured locally.Ellis and Chamberlain In June 1940 the

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's Angus Shops in

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, as the only large firm with spare capacity, had received a contract to produce 300 partially fitted out Valentine tanks for the British; this was followed later with one for 488 complete tanks for Canada.Ellis & Chamberlain p5 However the Valentine was an infantry tank and Canada required a cruiser tank for its recently formed armoured division. In the end 1,420 Valentines were produced by CPR, most of which were supplied to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Although the Valentine used a number of American produced parts, its reliance on British components, difficulties in adapting its manufacture to North American methods, and other problems such as limitations to the availability of the right type of armour plate affected Valentine production. The Canadian Joint Committee on Tank Development concluded, in September 1940, that its cruiser tank should be based on a US rather than a British design. This would be quicker and allow it to use components already in production for the US design. The Canadians were interested in production of the M3 Medium. However the M3 was an interim design; its main armament was in a side sponson, it was tall and under-armoured, and it was clear that it would be unsatisfactory for Canadian and British use. In early 1941 the Canadian Interdepartmental Tank Committee adopted a compromise: to develop a superior design locally but still using the M3 chassis. The British Tank Mission which was involved in the modifications of the M3 for British use contributed a tank expert, L.E. Carr, to design a new hull and turret for the Canadian tank which could take a 6-pounder (57 mm) or 75mm gun while retaining the lower hull of the US M3 Medium. The new hull was cast rather than welded or riveted and lower than that of the M3. The pilot model's turret and upper hull casting was produced in the US by General Steel Castings and later they aided the set up of Canadian production. Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was chosen to make the new Canadian M.3 Cruiser Tank (as it was then known) and was given the funding to set up the ''Canadian Tank Arsenal'' at Longue Pointe. MLW was a subsidiary of the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

, which had experience in producing large castings and Alco was producing cast hulls for the M3 Medium. Canadian engineers ran into many challenges when developing the tank as Canada had never produced a tank before. Along with the lack of knowledge, it took time for Canadian factories to gear up for the production of many of the Ram's components. Initially Canada relied heavily on United States and British materials to complete the construction of the Ram. Most critically the Ram's Continental engine and transmissions were available only in the USA and these were always in short supply. The Ram tank was developed with a turret which unlike the US M3 could traverse the main armament 360 degrees. Its fully cast armoured steel hull gave reinforced protection and, with the driver's seat repositioned to meet British requirements for right-hand drive, lower height; while the U.S.-designed chassis and power train ensured its overall reliability. Although it could mount a US 75 mm gun, the preferred armament for the Ram was the QF 6 pounder which had superior armour-piercing capability. As neither the 6 pounder nor the Canadian-designed mounting for it was immediately available, early production (50 tanks) were fitted with the 40 mm QF 2-pounder gun. A prototype Ram was completed in June 1941 and general production of the Ram I began in November of the same year. The Ram I and early Ram IIs were fitted with side doors in the hull and an auxiliary machine gun turret in the front. The former weakened the hull and complicated production, and the doors and the machine gun turret were discarded in later modifications. By February 1942 production had switched to the Ram II model with a 6-pounder gun and continued until July 1943. In March 1942 a decision had been made to change production over to the automotively-similar M4A1 Sherman tank for all British and Canadian units. Ram production continued due to delay in starting the new M4 production lines and a reluctance to let the plant lie idle. By July 1943 1,948 vehicles plus 84 artillery observation post (OP) vehicles had been completed. The official Canadian history of the war compares the Ram to the Ross rifle as examples of unsuccessful Canadian weapon designs. It states that given the Sherman's superiority, in retrospect it would probably have been better for the United States to produce more tanks, and for Canada to have focused on manufacturing more transport vehicles such as the successful Canadian Military Pattern truck designs. The Sexton

self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

based on the Ram chassis, however, was very successful.

Combat history

As built, the Ram was never used in combat as a tank, but was used for crew training in Canada and Great Britain up to mid 1944. The observation post vehicles and

Armoured Personnel Carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

, gun tractor, and munitions carrier versions of the Ram saw considerable active service in North West Europe. These tanks were mainly rebuilt by Canadian Army workshops in the United Kingdom. Conversions of Ram tanks with the Wasp II flamethrower gear were used by the 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1945.

Export

Netherlands

In 1945 the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...

got permission from the Canadian government to take free possession of all Ram tanks in army dumps on Dutch territory. Those not already converted into Kangaroos were used to equip the 1st and 2nd Tank Battalion (''1e en 2e Bataljon Vechtwagens''), the very first Dutch tank units. These had a nominal organic strength of 53 each. However it proved to be impossible to ready enough tanks to attain this strength because the vehicles were in a very poor state of maintenance. In 1945 it was also reported that the Dutch government was negotiating the purchase of 44 Ram tanks that were stationed in England alongside the purchase of other military equipment of Canadian origin. In 1947 the UK provided 44 Ram tanks from its stocks, that were in a better condition. Forty of these had been rebuilt with the British 75 mm gun; four were OP/Command vehicles with a dummy gun. This brought the operational total for that year to just 73, including two Mark Is. In 1950 only fifty of these were listed as present. The Ram tanks were replaced, together with the Sherman tanks, by Centurion tanks beginning in 1953. Some Ram tanks were used in the 1950s as static pillboxes in the IJssel Line, their hulls dug in and embedded within two feet of concrete.

Survivors

One Dutch Ram tank, an OP/Command vehicle, survives at the Dutch Cavalry Museum in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. A Ram tank modified as a

Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

serves as a memorial to the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment in

Mill, Netherlands Mill is a village in the south of the Netherlands, located in the municipality of Land van Cuijk, North Brabant. Mill is known from the Battle of Mill, a two-day fight during the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. On 1 January 2006, Mi ...

. Ram tanks can also be seen at the

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (CWM) () is a National museums of Canada, national museum on the military history of Canada, country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military hist ...

(the

version), in Worthington Park at Canadian Forces Base Borden, in front of the Beatty Street Drill Hall in

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, and at the

Bovington 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, Dorset, Wool and west of the major port of Poole. ...

(both a tank and a Kangaroo) A Ram Tank can also be seen outside of the Armoured Trial and Development Unit based at Bovington Camp.

Variants

;Tank Cruiser, Ram Mk I : Ordnance QF 2 pounder / 40mm gun (171 rounds). ;Tank Cruiser, Ram Mk II : Early production: Mk III QF 6 pounder (57 mm) gun with 92 rounds. : Late production: Mk V six-pounder. Auxiliary turret and sponson door removed. Browning .303 in (7.7 mm) machine gun fitted in ball mount. ;Badger : A flamethrower equipped tank. The first Badgers were Ram Kangaroos with the Wasp II flamethrowing equipment (as used on the

Universal Carrier The Universal Carrier, a development of the earlier Bren Gun Carrier from its light machine gun armament, was one of a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other companies. The first carriers – the Br ...

) installed in place of the bow MG. Later models were turreted Rams with the equipment in place of the main gun. ;Ram Kangaroo : Ram with turret removed to give an armoured personnel carrier capable of carrying 11 battle-ready troops (or -- more often -- as many as could fit) as well as the two crew. See

. ;Ram OP/Command (84) : An armoured vehicle to function as a mobile observation posts for the Forward Observation Officers (FOO) of Sexton self-propelled gun units, based on Ram Mk II. The gun was replaced by a dummy, and two Wireless Set No. 19 radios were fitted with a No. 58 set. Crew of six. They were built from the last 84 Rams off the production line in 1943. ;Ram GPO : Like OP but with special equipment for "Gun Position Officers" of

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

regiments. Had Tannoy loudspeakers mounted. ; Sexton "25-pdr, SP, Tracked" : Self-propelled artillery vehicle armed with QF 25 pounder gun in open-topped superstructure. ;Ram Ammunition Carrier :Also called "Wallaby", an armoured ammunition supply vehicle, converted as for the Kangaroo but used to carried 25-pdr ammunition for Sexton. ;Ram ARV Mk I :

Armoured recovery vehicle An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...

created by adding winch gear added to Ram Mark I . ;Ram ARV Mk II :

Armoured Recovery Vehicle An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...

based on Ram Mk II. Jibs and earth spade added, turret replaced by dummy. ;Ram Gun Tower : Armoured artillery tractor for use with Ordnance QF 17 pounder towed

Anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

. In addition, a Ram was used in an attempt to produce a self-propelled QF 3.7 inch AA gun but got no further than testing.Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p 174 File:Ram Mark I tank.jpg, Ram Mk I File:Ram tank e010778911-v8.jpg, Ram Mk II – early production File:Ram tanks e010778916-v8.jpg, Ram Mk II – later production, with Mk III QF 6 pounder but still with auxiliary turret File:RAMAmersfoort.jpg, Ram OP/Command tank at Amersfoort File:Ram Kangaroo 1 Bovington.jpg, Ram Kangaroo at

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 collectio ...

, Bovington File:Sexton I ‘S-159377’ “Courage” (51647466466).jpg, Sexton I File:Dsc02780 - ram gun.jpg, Ram 3.7 inch during testing

Notes

References

*Chris Ellis, Peter Chamberlain – ''AFV No. 13 – Ram and Sexton'', Profile Publications, England * *Roberts, Paul – ''The Ram – Developments and Variants, Vol. 1'', Service Publications, Ottawa, Canada 2002 *Roberts, Paul – ''The Ram – Developments and Variants, Vol. 2'', Service Publications, Ottawa, Canada 2004 *Law, Clive – ''Making Tracks – Tank Production in Canada'', Service Publications, Ottawa, Canada 2001 * *Broad, Graham – ''"Not competent to produce tanks" The Ram and Tank Production in Canada, 1939-1945'', Canadian Military History Volume 11 Number 1, Beacon Herald Fine Printing Division, Stratford, Canada 2002 *Wallace, John F. – ''Dragons of Steel: Canadian Armour in Two World Wars'', The General Store Publishing House, Burnstown, Canada 1995

External links

Newsreel of Ram tanks in production and testing.

WWII vehiclesRam Tank registryDutch Cavalry Museum
has a RAM Tank Mk.2 in its collection. {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Cruiser tanks of Canada World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Canada World War II medium tanks Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944 Multi-turreted tanks