- Yes
- No
Comet T334904 (Project DE10358)
Vehicle History:
An exotic and often overlooked variant of the Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34), was the modifications to tank T334904, as part of project DE10358. This project involved the modification of the Comet tank to accommodate for an increase in ammunition stowage. For this test the extra ammunition was stowed outside the tank in 9 spring hoppers, with the primer facing down, giving the tank an extra 27 rounds of ammunition. Each spring hopper carried 3 rounds, with Three mounted on either side of the turret, and an additional three on the rear of the turret.
The focus of the testing was to see if the external stowage would damage the rounds on cross-country routes, with the aim of the project to enable the tank to carry more rounds into a combat zone. The report makes no mention of if the externally stowed ammunition was to be removed before battle, though with the live rounds being outside the tank, the effect of their premature detonation would have minimal effect on the tank’s actual armour as long as they were positioned correctly. Aan additional Comet tank was involved in this testing, that being tank T335053, which was used for the initial weight testing, as pictured in the historical photos section of this suggestion. Due to the fact that this is a very obscure and unheard of modification, it can be safely assumed it was not adopted for service, leaving this test just a bizarre footnote in the annuls of British armoured development.
obscure and bizarre tests done.
Vehicle specification:
Mass 35 long tons (36 t; 39 short tons)
Length
Hull – 21 ft (6.4 m)
Total – 25 ft 1+1⁄2 in (7.7 m)
Width 9 ft 10+1⁄4 in (3 m)
Height 8 ft 9+1⁄2 in (2.68 m)
Crew 5 (commander, gunner, loader/operator, driver, hull gunner)
Armour .55–4 in (14–102 mm)
Main armament 77 mm HV (3 in; 76.2 mm) 88 rounds
Secondary armament 2 × 7.92 mm Besa MG 5175 rounds
Engine Rolls-Royce Meteor Mark III V12 petrol 600 hp (450 kW)
Power/weight 18.3 hp/long ton (13.4 kW/t)
Drive Webbed & spudded tracks
Transmission Z5 Constant Mesh (5 forward; 1 reverse)
Suspension Improved Christie with return rollers
Ground clearance 18 in (0.46 m)
Fuel capacity 116 imp gal (530 L)
Operational range
On-road – 123 mi (198 km)
Cross-country – 74 mi (119 km)
Maximum speed
On-road – 32.4 mph (52.1 km/h)
Cross-country – 14.3 mph (23 km/h)
Additional historical photos:
Sources:
- Ed Webster (Source of main info and two pictures)
- Игра в бронетанковый ящик по-английски: yuripasholok — LiveJournal (Source of other two pictures)