Sunday 30 June 2013

Lend-Lease Impressions: Centaur

The review of the Cromwell/Centaur is really quite brief, and yet so very devastating.

CAMD RF 38-11355-1389

"To the People's Commisar of External Trade Comrade Mikoyan

After receiving the cyphertext from comrades Borisenko and Solovyev on receiving "General Sherman" and "Centaur" tanks, I report that:
  1. The "General Sherman" tank is the American medium M4A2 tank. We are already receiving these from America.
  2. The "Centaur" tank is a modification of the "Cromwell" tank with an obsolete Liberty 400 hp gasoline engine, removed from production in 1919. There is no reason to order tanks of this type.
I consider it reasonable to decline the proposal of Brigadier General Firebrace to order "Centaur" tanks, and accept his offer to deliver "General Sherman" M4A2 tanks instead.

Deputy Commander of the Armoured and Mechanized Forces of the Red Army, Lieutenant-General Korobkov
Member of the Military Council, Lieutenant-General of the Tank Forces Biryukov

May 6th, 1943"

2 comments:

  1. I wonder, wasn't the Cromwell itself offered to the USSR?

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  2. There's no evidence here that any testing of the Centaur took place.

    It appears that the Russians declined the tank based on a description of it, and not after their own trials.

    ReplyDelete