Production of Mark I cruiser tanks began in 1936 and spanned into 1941 to which only 125 total vehicles were ultimately produced - all by Vickers. By this time, the British Expeditionary Force was in all-out war within a coalition of Allies in Europe against the might of the German Army. The Mark 1 design was further evolved to become the Mark I CS - a "close-support" tracked vehicle mounting a large-caliber 94mm L15 howitzer while retaining the original's running gear, engine and hull. Both Mark I modelswere used in early combat actions until, inevitably outmoded on the battlefield by evolving German armor.
As with most light-minded tracked armored vehicles used early in the war, the Mark I initially found successes, proving agile and relatively quick while her main gun armament was able to deal effectively with German and Italian armor offerings. The Mark I saw definitive combat actions at the French and Greek fronts in the Allied attempt to stem the Axis advance. Expanded combat actions also included appearances in the North African desert campaign where it proved effective enough against the early Panzer II light and Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tanks under the command of fabled German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Corps. These actions also proved the value and excellent design nature of the British 40mm QF 2-pdr guns as an anti-tank/anti-armor weapon.
However, the situation changed with the advent of the better-armored Panzer IVs beginning to debut in and, as such, the Mark I days were officially numbered. The Mark I, herself, lacked much in the way of inherent armor protection against German guns and her many vertical facings did little to deflect incoming projectiles. Light armor lacked against larger-caliber shaped charges and the vertical facings of the main turret, the driver's compartment and machine gun turrets acted as "shot traps" for incoming enemy projectiles landing direct hits.
The British attempted to shore up some of the issues of their Mk Is by developing the "Cruiser Tank Mk II". The type fielded heavier armor protection through bolted-on panels atop the Mk I's existing armor facings in an effort to increase the tank's survivability. The new tank retained the turreted 40mm main gun armament but did away with the dual machine turrets in the front hull. Instead, a single .303 Vickers/BESA machine gun was offset to the right-hand side. Power was again through an AEC 6-cylinder gasoline engine. The added armor, however, did much to degrade road performance - down to 16 miles per hour from the original's 25. Needless to say, the Mark II did not fare particularly well in combat at this point in the war.
The Mark I itself was dropped from frontline British Army use as soon as 1941. Some of her underlying components were, however, still utilized in the upcoming Valentine Infantry Tank beginning service in 1940 so all was not lost.
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