Design
The Department of Tank Design was asked to design a heavy cruiser tank in 1943. It was to have a 76 mm (17 pdr.) gun and have good cross country speed. The 1st mock-up was completed in 1944 and in early 1945 and six prototypes were sent to Germany, but none saw action.
An all welded steel hull that was divided into 3 compartments. The engine was behind a fireproof bulkhead.
Air was fed to the engine through 2 fans in the roof of the engine compartment. Power was supplied to the traversely mounted transmission through the clutch.
The driver sat in the front and to the right. The turret had an ammunition hatch on the left, and storage on each side. The loader was located on the left, the commander on the right, and the gunner in front of the commander.
The commander had a cupola that had split hatches and had to be hand traversed. He also had 7 periscopes all around, and a periscopic day sight that had a ballistic pattern in it.
The loader had twin hatch covers and a periscopic day sight.
The suspension had 3 sets of pairs of road wheels. The front and rear wheels had shock absorbers.
Six were sent to the 22nd Armored Brigade of the 7th Armored Division in May 1945. Never saw action due to end of war.
