![]() ![]() ![]() The design was altered at several points along its development resulting in several distinct variations that, while innovative, ultimately did not enter production. However industrial limitations repeatedly hampered production, by late 1941 no prototype was ready and production only began on a limited basis in mid-1942. To save time, the automotive basis had to be the American M3 Lee but with a British cruiser style low-profile turret and hull, and British armaments. Sketches of what would become the Australian Cruiser (AC) tank were first drawn in June 1940, when the situation in Europe was so dire that the Commonwealth was mobilized, and later dramatically escalated when war broke out with Japan in 1941. First intended for combat in North Africa, the AC I was the first and only domestic production tank in Australia’s history. If the Bob Semple tank was an oddity, more conceived as a last ditch defensive vehicle than a real frontline tank, the Australian AC I Sentinel was a fully-fledged cruiser tank. Canadian factories built Shermans and Valentines, as well as the Ram or the Sexton, which were indigenous designs.Īustralia and New Zealand had more limited industrial capacities, but nevertheless pushed on with their own designs, especially as the Japanese threat grew steadily in early 1942. Cruiser Tank – 65 Built The only WWII Australian tank designĪmong the Commonwealth nations, Canada probably had the best industrial capacities and helped Allied tank production during the war. ![]()
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