Cruiser Mk III

The British Mk III (A13) was built during World War II. The tank was the very first British cruiser to use the Christie suspension system which gave better cross-country performance and higher speeds. The suspension system was named after the American inventor J. Walter Christie.

In 1936, the pioneer in tank design General Martel became the Assistant Director of Mechanization at the War Office. He urged the implementation of a tank that only used the Christie suspension system but also followed the inventor’s practice of using lightweight aircraft engines. The British government purchased and licensed the suspension system through Morris Motors Group. Sixty-five units were built by 1939.

The Mk III weighed 14 long tonnes and had a height of 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m). Its size was 19 ft 8 in (6 m) in length and 8 ft 8 in (2.5 m) in width. The cruiser could fit a crew of four – a commander, gunner, loader and driver. Its armour was 6-14 mm thick and arms included a QF 2-pounder gun with 87 rounds and a .303 Vickers machine gun capable of firing 3,750 rounds. The Nuffield Liberty V12 petrol engine provided 340 hp. The operational range was 90 miles and the top speed was 30 mph.

Although the cruiser was fast, it was under-armoured. From 1940 to 1941, a few units were used in Greece and the North African campaign, but most of the units were lost during the French campaign. The basic design of the Cruiser Mk III was used for the Cruiser Mk IV.