The Tank, Cruiser, Comet I was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World
War II. It was designed to provide greater anti-tank capability to Cromwell tank squadrons.
It was armed with the 77mm HV which was effective against late war German tanks and a superior
weapon to the 75mm KwK 42 gun of the Panther when firing APDS rounds. As a development
of the Cromwell, it was an interim design before the Centurion tank.
The Comet saw post World War II combat during the Korean war, and remained in British service
until 1958. Comets sold to other countries continued in some cases to operate into the
1980s.
Design and development Background
Combat experience against the Germans in the Western Desert Campaign demonstrated to the
British many shortcomings with their cruiser tanks. Hence a request was made in 1941 to
the Nuffield Organisation and Leyland Motors Ltd for a new heavy cruiser tank that could
achieve battle superiority over German models. For reasons of economy and efficiency, it
had to use as many components as possible from the current A15 Cruiser tank Mk VI Crusader
tank. The initial designs submitted were the A24
Cruiser Tank Mk VII Cavalier tank from Nuffield powered by a Nuffield-Liberty L-12 engine
and the A27L Cruiser tank Mk VII Centaur tank from Leyland, which was also powered by the
Liberty L-12 but would be able to use the more powerful Rolls-Royce Meteor when it became
available. The Cruiser tank Mk VII Cromwell was the third
parallel development to the Cavalier and Centaur. The Cromwell's Meteor engine proved to be
very reliable and gave the Cromwell good mobility, but some problems did appear. The tank was
prone to throwing its tracks if track tension was not maintained properly or if it turned
at too high a speed or too sharply. There were also some problems with suspension breakage,
partly due to the Cromwell's high speed. A 17 pounder version of the Cromwell, the
A30 Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger tank, was under development. To handle the large gun, the
Cromwell hull had to be lengthened and a large turret set on top. Due to the slow production
of Challengers, the Sherman Firefly conversion received official support. Until the Challenger
was available, one Firefly would be issued to each troop of Cromwells; but this was unsatisfactory
due to the different maintenance requirements and associated supply complication of two
tank models, as well as the performance difference between Cromwell and Sherman.
A34
With the A34, later named Comet, the tank designers opted to correct some of the Cromwell's
flaws and enhance the Cromwell's main strengths, low height and high speed. Originally, it
had been expected that the tank would use a new gun from Vickers: the "High Velocity
75mm". However, as designed, the gun would not fit into the turret size available. So
the gun was changed to a different gun, the "77mm HV". This gun used the same calibre
projectile as the 17-pounder but the shell casing was from the older QF 3 inch 20 cwt
anti-aircraft gun loaded to higher pressures. The resulting round was completely different
from 17-pounder ammunition. It had a lower muzzle velocity than the 17-pounder but the
ammunition was much more compact and more easily stored and handled within the tank.
This made it possible to mount the gun on a smaller turret ring - the Challenger turret
had been so large to allow space for two loaders - without making the hull wider. Several other
improvements were made: armour protection was increased, the hull and turret were welded
with a cast gun mantlet, ammunition was stored in armoured bins, the suspension was strengthened,
return rollers were added and the turret was electrically traversed, with a generator powered
by the main engine rather than the hydraulic system of the Cromwell.
Armour on the Comet ranged from 32 mm to 74 mm on the hull, while the turret was from
57 to 102 mm. The Comet tank's top speed was limited from
the Cromwell's 40+ mph to a slower, but respectable 32 mph to preserve suspension and engine
components and to reduce track wear. The mild steel prototype was ready in February
1944 and entered trials. Although concerns about the hull gunner and belly armour were
put to one side, there was still sufficient delay caused by minor modifications and changes
that production models did not begin to be delivered until September 1944. Intended to
be in service by December 1944, crew training was delayed by the German Ardennes Offensive.
By the end of the war, 1,200 had been produced. Comet was fitted with two radio sets: a Wireless
Set No. 19, for communication with the regiment and the troop, and a No. 38 Wireless for communication
with infantry units. Like many British tanks, it also had a telephone handset mounted on
the rear so that accompanying infantry could talk to the crew.
Service history
Second World war The 11th Armoured Division was the first formation
to receive the new tanks – deliveries commenced in December 1944 – and the only division
to be completely refitted by the end of the war. Due to its late arrival in the war in
north west Europe, the Comet did not participate in any major battles, although it was used
in combat. The Comet was involved in the crossing of the Rhine and the later Berlin Victory
Parade in July 1945. The Comet's maximum speed of 32 miles per hour was greatly exploited
on the German Autobahns. Cold War
During the following Korean War, the Comet served alongside the heavier Centurion, a
successor tank introduced in the closing days of World War II on an experimental basis,
but too late to see combat. The Centurion was formally adopted in 1949 and was partly
based on the Comet's design. The Comet remained in British service until 1958, when the remaining
tanks were sold to foreign governments; up until the 1980s, it was used by the armies
of various nations such as South Africa, which maintained several as modified recovery vehicles.
41 Comet Mk I Model Bs were also used by Finnish Defence Forces armoured brigade until 1970.
The tanks were stored until 2007, when four of them were auctioned off.
Four Comets were delivered to the Irish Army in 1959 and a further four in 1960. Severe
budget cutbacks affected the service lives of the Comets, as not enough spares were purchased.
The Comet appealed to the Irish Army as it was cheap to buy and run, had low ground pressure
and good anti-tank capability. However, faulty fuses meant the withdrawal of the HE ammunition
which limited the tank's role to an anti-tank vehicle. With stocks of 77 mm ammunition
dwindling in 1969, the army began an experiment to prolong the life of the vehicle. It involved
replacing the turret with an open mounting with the Bofors 90 mm Pv-1110 recoilless rifle.
The project was cancelled due to lack of funds. The last 77 mm Comet shoot was in 1973 and
the tanks were withdrawn soon afterwards. One is preserved in the Curragh Camp and two
more survive in other barracks. Operators
Cuba Finland
Ireland South Africa
United Kingdom Myanmar
FV4401 The Comet was used as the basis for the experimental
FV4401 Contentious, a self-propelled air transportable anti-tank gun mounting a 105mm L7 gun in an
open mounting on the shortened hull of a Comet, and using the vehicle's hydraulic suspension
system to adjust elevation, similar to the method used on the Swedish S-Tank. One or
two prototypes were built and tested before the project was cancelled.
Notes Notes
Citations
References Bingham, AFV Profile No. 25 Cromwell and Comet,
Profile Publishing Miller, David, The Illustrated Directory of
Tanks of the World: From World War I to the Present Day, Zenith
Steve Crawford, Chris Westhorp, Tanks of World War II, Zenith
Comet WWIIVehicles.come External links
Detailed Comet specifications and performance data
Comet Walk Arounds on Prime Portal OnWar specifications
Bolton IPMS Model Book British Cruiser Tank A34 Comet