The finalized 27 tons (short) Cavalier vehicle featured a length of 6.3 meters, a width of 2.8 meters, and a height of 2.4 meters. The standard operating crew was five and included a driver, co-driver/machine gunner, commander, main gunner, and loader. Armor protection ranged from 13mm to 76mm across the tank's various facings. Power was provided by a Nuffield Liberty Mark IV gasoline-fueled engine of 410 horsepower which, when coupled to the "improved" Christie suspension system, supplied the vehicle with a road speed of up to 24 miles per hour and an operational range of 165 miles. Off-road speeds maximized at 14 miles per hour. Primary armament was a QF 6-pounder (57mm) main gun which was fed from a stock of sixty-four projectiles. Secondary armament were 2 x 7.92mm BESA machine guns (one bow-mounted, the other fitted coaxially in the turret) for local defense. 4,950 rounds of 7.92mm ammunition were carried.
Externally, the Cavalier carried a conventional tank arrangement with a front-mounted driving/crew compartment, the turret fitted directly aft, and a rear-mounted engine installation. Typical British design was in play for the vehicle relied heavily on thick, near-vertical surfaces along the hull superstructure and turret alike. The driver sat at front-right with the co-driver/bow machine gunner to his left. The remaining crew held positions in the center of the hull within the turret. The running gear was of a traditional track-and-wheel arrangement that utilized five large road wheels to a hull side with the drive sprocket at rear and track idler at front. Barrel hang was decidedly minimal to prevent the vehicle becoming stuck when traversing down steep trench walls. The driving controls were aided by pneumatic power.
The Cavalier was in service from 1942 into 1945 and eventually stocked the armored corps of both the British Army as well as Free French Forces. For the former, these were relegated to secondary roles and for tanker crew training and typically not used as frontline combat vehicles due to better alternatives being made available. One variant of the line became the Cavalier ARV, an Armored Recovery Vehicle model that lost its turret to have an A-frame jib set atop the hull. The Cavalier OP was an Observation Post vehicle to serve artillery groups in accurizing their indirect ranged fire. The vehicle carried a "dummy" main gun barrel and was outfitted with extra communications equipment for the role. For the French, some twelve vehicles were operated under the banner of the 12th Dragoon Regiment of the French 14th Infantry Division.
The end of the war in 1945 effectively ended the widespread use of the Cavalier. Its selection of the Liberty engine to power the line was never truly satisfactory, leaving the tank an underpowered vehicle. At one point it was considered as a successor to the Crusader series it was developed from.
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