The Tank, Cruiser, Ram was a

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 ...

designed and built by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 ...

, based on the

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to standardization on the American

Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...

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, dur ...

observation post An observation post (commonly abbreviated OP), temporary or fixed, is a position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements, to warn of approaching soldiers (such as in trench warfare), or to direct fire. In strict military terminology, an ...

, 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 ...

Development

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

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.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

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

's Angus Shops in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, as the only large firm with spare capacity, had received a contract to produce 300 partially fitted out

Valentine tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter ...

s 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 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 ...

and Canada required a

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 Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. 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 Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive ...

(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 Longue Pointe (French for "Long Point") is a place located in northern Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi Category I Land (land for exclusive use by Cree) but has no permanent population. It is used by both Cree and Inuit ...

. MLW was a subsidiary of the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

, which had experience in producing large castings and another

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

subsidiary 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 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 ...

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

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 Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name) ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a tank Sherman may also refer to: Places United St ...

'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 Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks were mutually coherent ranges of military trucks, made in large numbers, in several classes and numerous versions, by Canada's branches of the U.S. 'Big Three' auto-makers during World War II, compliant to ...

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

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 A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

, 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 ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1945. In 1945 the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the 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 Dutc ...

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 Kangaroos are four 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 ...

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 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 (together with the

tanks of the three other tank battalions, in part simply taken without permission) were replaced by

Centurion tank The Centurion was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing ...

s leased by the U.S. Government in 1952. Some Ram tanks were used in the 1950s as static pillboxes in the

IJssel Line The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. ...

, 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 The Dutch Cavalry Museum is located in the centre of The Netherlands in the city of Amersfoort. The museum is hosted in two large buildings at the ''Bernhardkazerne'' army barracks. The collection contains small objects, like uniforms, firearms, ...

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

. A Ram tank modified as a

Kangaroo Kangaroos are four 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 ("Bearing Armed Men") , colours= Orange and Black , identification_symbol= , identification_symbol_label= , identification_symbol_3= , identification_symbol_3_label= , march= , mascot= , Beret= , battles = , notable_commanders= Gordon Minto C ...

Mill, Netherlands Mill is a village in the former Dutch municipality of Mill en Sint Hubert, in the province of North Brabant. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Land van Cuijk. Mill is known from the Battle of Mill, a two-day fight during the ...

. Ram tanks can also be seen at the

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (french: link=no, Musée canadien de la guerre; CWM) is a national museum on the country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military history, in a ...

*, in Worthington Park at

Canadian Forces Base Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, C ...

, in front of the

Beatty Street Drill Hall The Beatty Street Drill Hall is a Canadian Forces armoury located at 620 Beatty Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), an armoured reconnaissance reserve regiment, the olde ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, 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 and west of the major port of Poole. The collecti ...

(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 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 ...

Variants

;Tank Cruiser, Ram Mk I :

Ordnance QF 2 pounder The Ordnance QF 2-pounder (British ordnance terms#QF, QF denoting "quick firing"), or simply "2 pounder gun", was a British anti-tank gun and vehicle-mounted gun employed in the World War II, Second World War. It was the main anti-tank weapo ...

/ 40mm gun (171 rounds). ;Tank Cruiser, Ram Mk II : Early production: Mk III

(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, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...

) 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

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 The Wireless Set No. 19 was a Second World War mobile radio transceiver designed for use by Armoured warfare, armoured troops of the British Army. First introduced in 1940, the No. 19 began to replace the pre-war Wireless Set No. 11. Two modified ...

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 The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was the major British field gun and howitzer during the World War II, Second World War. Its calibre is 3.45-inch (87.6 mm). It was introduced into service just before the war s ...

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 The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder (or just 17-pdr)Under the British standard ordnance weights and measurements the gun's approximate projectile weight is used to denote different guns of the same calibre. Hence this was a 3-inch gun, of which ...

towed

Anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored 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 Self-propelled may refer to * Human-powered transport, humans moving themselves (and their cargo) via their own muscle energy * Machines that power their own movement: ** Automobile (from ''auto-'' + ''mobile'', "self-moving") ** Locomotive (from ...

QF 3.7 inch AA gun The QF 3.7-inch AA was Britain's primary heavy anti-aircraft gun during World War II. It was roughly the equivalent of the German Flak 8.8 cm and American 90 mm, but with a slightly larger calibre of 3.7 inches, approximately 94 mm. ...

but got no further than testing.Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p 174

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