Covenanter loaded onto a flatbed railway car
Cruiser, Mk V, Covenanter (A13 Mk III)
Covenanter tank moving on country road
Brand new A13 Mk III Covenanter
Trainload of Covenanter tanks in 1942
A13 Mk III Covenanter during field trials
The Cruiser Tank Mark V (A13 Mark III) was the first cruiser tank to be named and was called “Covenanter”, thus starting the tradition of giving British tanks names beginning with the letter “C”. Designed by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Co. before the Second World War, and it succeeded the A9, A10 and earlier Marks of A13, which had been taken out of production in 1939-40. Production started in April 1939 and continued until January 1943, but the tank never saw action although large numbers were used for training. It was one of a series of fast cruiser tanks based upon the Christie suspension system. Like predecessors it proved unreliable in service, suffering eternal cooling problems as well as track breakage and track throwing. It had a powerful purpose-built Meadows D.A.V flat-12 engine. However, a design flaw of this vehicle was the positioning of the engine at the rear while the cooling radiator was placed at the front alongside the driver. One former crewmember recalled that the connecting pipes “served the dual purpose of cooling the engine and roasting the crew”. As a result, the vehicle was plagued by overheating, causing continual mechanical problems. Later versions having a better engine-cooling system, a different mantlet, and a number of other improvements. However, the Covenanter’s problems were never satisfactorily solved.
Despite this, it was allowed, by a lack of firm control by the Ministry of Supply, to remain in production until 1943, for two years clogging up production lines, and using materials in short supply, which could have been better used for the production of superior cruiser tanks waiting in the pipeline. The main armament of Covenanter was the 40mm QF 2-pdr high velocity gun, the same as that of the A9, A10 and Al3 Marks I and II; the auxiliary armament consisted of a 7.92-mm BESA MG mounted coaxially with the main gun. Having no other MG, the tank needed a crew of only 4 men, consisting of driver, gunner, loader/radio operator and commander.