Charioteer tank destroyer

The Charioteer tank destroyer officially known as FV4101 Cromwell Heavy AT Gun^[2] was a British tank destroyer, designed in the 1950s from the Cromwell tank and used to add firepower to units serving in West Germany.

Development

In the early 1950s, in an attempt to give extra firepower to the units of the Royal Armoured Corps, some Cromwell tanks received a 20 pounder gun (the same as the Centurion) in a new but lightly armoured turret. The resulting vehicle was designated as the FV 4101 Charioteer tank destroyer. About 200 units were converted by Robinson and Kershaw Ltd in Cheshire.

Service

In practice the Charioteer was used by British Territorial Army units only and during mid and late 1950s most of the vehicles were sold to Austria, Finland, Jordan and Lebanon.

Survivors

• A Charioteer is on display at the Bovington Tank Museum in Bovington, UK.
• A Finnish Charioteer is on outdoor display in the Parola tank museum.
• A Charioteer tank destroyer is on outdoor display in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel.^[3]

Operators

•  Austria – Austria purchased 56 vehicles in 1956.
•  Finland – Finland bought 38 "Charioteer Mk VII Model B" by 1960 and they remained in use until 1979. The tanks were stored until 2007 when they were auctioned out.
•  Jordan – Jordan equipped two squadrons (24 vehicles) of their 3rd Tank Regiment in 1954. Some of the Jordanian Charioteers were sold to Lebanon.
•  Lebanon – Lebanese Army (43 vehicles), passed on in 1976 to several Lebanese or Palestinian warring factions.
•  United Kingdom

Non-state operators

• Lebanese Arab Army – unknown number in service (1976-77).
• Lebanese Forces – unknown number in service (1980-1993).
•  Palestine – several ex-Lebanese vehicles employed by the PLO against Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict.
• Tigers Militia (Lebanon) – unknown number in service (1976-1980).

See also

• Conqueror tank
• FV4004 Conway

Notes and references