The Tank, Heavy Assault, A33 (Excelsior) was a British experimental

heavy tank Heavy tank is a term used to define a class of tanks produced from World War I through the end of the Cold War. These tanks generally sacrificed mobility and maneuverability for better armour protection and equal or greater firepower than tanks ...

based on the

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

(A27) design developed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was developed when there were concerns as to performance of the

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, a ...

Development

After the

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment o ...

in August 1942, there was concern that the Churchill

infantry tank The infantry tank was a concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily vehicle armo ...

was slow and too unreliable and it was suggested that production of the Churchill stop in 1943 in order to manufacture more of the A27 (Cromwell) design, which was performing well in trials. While two lines of tanks were still policy, there was interest in a "universal tank chassis" from which infantry tanks,

cruiser tank 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 develop ...

s, and other vehicles could be built. Until then an interim design based on the A27 to replace the Churchill as an infantry tank was considered.Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p80

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

proposed an up-armoured A27M (Cromwell): A31 was a Cromwell with more armour and A32 was a more thorough redesign of the A27 with stronger suspension and armour equivalent to the Churchill.

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

, contracted to build Cromwells, proposed using the A27 hull and turret with extra armourThe armour on the Cromwell was bolted to the outside of the turret and the track and suspension of the 50-ton US

M6 Heavy Tank The Heavy Tank M6 was an American heavy tank designed during World War II. The tank was produced in small numbers and never saw combat. Development Because of limited budgets for tank development in the interwar years, at the outbreak of Worl ...

which had been developed for both US and British use. This scheme received the General Staff number A33. English Electric built two prototypes on a

Cromwell 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 th ...

hull, the first with the suspension and T1 track of the M6 tank in 1943 but with a

6-pounder gun 6-pounder gun or 6-pdr, usually denotes a gun firing a projectile weighing approximately . Guns of this type include: *QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss, a 57 mm naval gun of the 1880s; a similar weapon was designed by Driggs-Schroeder for the US Navy ...

. The second was built with a widened Cromwell track and suspension by LMS and different armoured skirts. The design included extra armour and an Ordnance QF 75 mm gun. When the problems of the early Churchill models were worked out, the A33 was no longer required and the project was dropped.

Survivors

The second pilot vehicle is on display 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 collection ...

Bovington Bovington Camp () is a British Army military base in Dorset, England. Together with Lulworth Camp it forms part of Bovington Garrison. The garrison is home to The Armour Centre and contains two barracks complexes and two forest and heathland tr ...

, UK.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*White BT, ''British Tanks 1915-1945'' Ian Allan p68-69 *Chamberlain, P and Ellis, C ''British and American Tanks of World War II'' 1981 Arco publishing {{WWIIBritishAFVs Heavy tanks of the United Kingdom World War II tanks of the United Kingdom Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom Infantry tanks Trial and research tanks of the United Kingdom

Development

Survivors

See also

Tanks of comparable role, performance, and era

Notes

References

Bibliography