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Ram tank
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Contents
1 Development
2 Combat history Early production Ram Mk II at CFB Borden
3 Survivors
4 Variants Type Medium tank
5 See also Place of origin Canada
5.1 Tanks of comparable role, performance,
Service history
and era
5.2 Other Commonwealth Tanks of the Used by Canada
Second World War Wars Second World War
6 Notes
7 References Production history
8 External links Designed 1941
Manufacturer Montreal Locomotive Works
Produced November 1941July 1943
Development
No. built 2,032
Even before the loss Specifications (Ram Mk II)
of the majority of the Weight 65,000 lb (29 t)
United Kingdom's
tank force in France Length 19 ft (5.8 m)
in 1940 after Width 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Dunkirk, it was
Height 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
recognised that tank
production in the UK Crew 5 (Commander, gunner, loader,
at the start of the war driver, co-driver/hull gunner)
was insufficient and
capacity in the US
Ram Mk.II (early production) tanks Armour 25-87 mm
was taken for British
during the war Main
needs.[2] So it was QF 6 pdr Mk III
armament 92 rounds
necessary that if
Canada was to equip Secondary 3 .30 in (7.62 mm)
with tanks they would have to be manufactured locally.[3] In armament machineguns (Ram I 4,715
June 1940 the Canadian Pacific Railway's Angus Shops in
rounds, Ram II 4,440 rounds.[1])
Montreal, as the only large firm with spare capacity, had
received a contract to produce 300 partially fitted out Engine Continental R-975 9-cyl radial
Valentine tanks for the British; this was followed later with gasoline engine
one for 488 complete tanks for Canada.[4] However the 400 (298 kW)
Valentine was an infantry tank and Canada required a cruiser Power/weight 12.3 hp/ton
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tank for its recently formed armoured division. In the end Transmission Borg-Warner clutch, controlled
1,420 Valentines were produced by CPR, most of which differential
were supplied to the USSR. Although the Valentine used a
number of American produced parts, its reliance on British Suspension Vertical volute spring
components, difficulties in adapting its manufacture to North Operational 232 km (144 mi)
American methods, and other problems such as limitations range
to the availability of the right type of armour plate affected Speed 25 mph (40 km/h)
Valentine production. The Canadian Joint Committee on
Tank Development concluded, in September 1940, that its cruiser tank should be based on a US rather than a
British design.[5] This would be quicker and allow it to use components already in production for the US
design.[6]
The Canadians were interested in production of the M3 Medium. However the M3 was an interim design; its
main armament was in a side sponson, it was tall and under-armoured, and it was clear that it would be
unsatisfactory for Canadian and British use. In early 1941 the Canadian Interdepartmental Tank Committee
adopted a compromise: to develop a superior design locally but still using the M3 chassis.[7] The British Tank
Mission which was involved in the modifications of the M3 for British use contributed a tank expert, L.E. Carr,
to design a new hull and turret for the Canadian tank which could take a 6-pounder (57 mm) or 75mm gun
while retaining the lower hull of the US M3 Medium.[8]
The new hull was cast rather than welded or riveted and lower than that of the M3. The pilot model's turret and
upper hull casting was produced in the US by General Steel Castings and later they aided the set up of
Canadian production.[3] Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was chosen to make the new Canadian M.3
Cruiser Tank (as it was then known) and was given the funding to set up the Canadian Tank Arsenal at Longue
Pointe. MLW was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company, which had experience in producing
large castings and another ALCO subsidiary was producing cast hulls for the M3 Medium.
Canadian engineers ran into many challenges when developing the tank as Canada had never produced a tank
before. Along with the lack of knowledge, it took time for Canadian factories to gear up for the production of
many of the Ram's components. Initially Canada relied heavily on United States and British materials to
complete the construction of the Ram. Most critically the Ram's Continental engine and transmissions were
available only in the USA and these were always in short supply. The Ram tank was developed with a turret
which unlike the US M3 could traverse the main armament 360 degrees. Its fully cast armoured steel hull gave
reinforced protection and, with the driver's seat repositioned to meet British requirements for right-hand
drive,[3] lower height; while the U.S.-designed chassis and power train ensured its overall reliability.[9]
Although it could mount a US 75 mm gun, the preferred armament for the Ram was the QF 6 pounder which
had superior armour-piercing capability. As neither the 6 pounder nor the Canadian-designed mounting for it
was immediately available, early production (50 tanks) were fitted with the 40 mm QF 2-pounder gun.[8][10]
A prototype Ram was completed in June 1941 and general production of the Ram I began in November of the
same year. The Ram I and early Ram IIs were fitted with side doors in the hull and an auxiliary machine gun
turret in the front. The former weakened the hull and complicated production, and the doors and the machine
gun turret were discarded in later modifications. By February 1942 production had switched to the Ram II
model with a 6-pounder gun and continued until July 1943. In March 1942 a decision had been made to change
production over to the automotively-similar M4A1 Sherman tank for all British and Canadian units. Ram
production continued due to delay in starting the new M4 production lines and a reluctance to let the plant lie
idle.[3] By July 1943 1,948 vehicles plus 84 artillery observation post (OP) vehicles had been completed.
The official Canadian history of the war compares the Ram to the Ross rifle as examples of unsuccessful
Canadian weapon designs. It states that given the Sherman's superiority, in retrospect it would probably have
been better for the United States to produce more tanks, and for Canada to have focused on manufacturing
more transport vehicles such as the successful Canadian Military Pattern truck designs. The Sexton self-
propelled gun based on the Ram chassis, however, was very successful.[11]
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Combat history
As built, the Ram was never used in combat as a tank, but was used for
crew training in Great Britain up to mid 1944. The observation post
vehicles and Armoured Personnel Carrier, gun tractor, and munitions
carrier versions of the Ram saw considerable active service in North
West Europe. These tanks were mainly rebuilt by Canadian Army
workshops in the United Kingdom. Conversions of Ram tanks with the
Wasp II flamethrower gear were used by the 5th Canadian Armoured
Brigade in the Netherlands in 1945.[12]
Survivors
One Dutch Ram tank, an OP/Command vehicle, survives at the Dutch Cavalry Museum in Amersfoort.
A Ram tank modified as a Kangaroo serves as a memorial to the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment in
Mill, Netherlands.
Ram tanks can also be seen at the Canadian War Museum, in Worthington Park at Canadian Forces Base
Borden, in front of the Beatty Street Drill Hall in Vancouver, and at the Bovington Tank Museum (both a tank
[13] and a Kangaroo[14])
Variants
Tank Cruiser, Ram Mk I
Ordnance QF 2 pounder / 40mm gun (171 rounds).
Tank Cruiser, Ram Mk II
Early production: Mk III QF 6 pounder (57 mm) gun with 92
rounds.
Late production: Mk V six-pounder. Auxiliary turret and sponson
door removed. Browning .303 in (7.7 mm) machine gun fitted in
ball mount.
Badger Ram Mk I
A flamethrower equipped tank. The first Badgers were Ram
Kangaroos with the Wasp II flamethrowing equipment (as used
on the Universal Carrier)
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Australian Sentinel
British Cromwell
German Panzer IV
Hungarian Turn III
Italian Carro Armato P 40
Japanese Type 3 Chi-Nu
Soviet T-34
Swedish Stridsvagn m/42
United States M4 Sherman Ram OP/Command tank at Amersfoort
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Notes
1. Hunnicutt, R.P. (1978). Sherman: A history of the American medium tank. Presidio Press. pp. 535536.
2. Ellis and Chamberlain p3
3. Ellis and Chamberlain
4. Ellis & Chamberlain p5
5. Cameron, L.R.Tank Production in Canada AHQ Report 38, Department of National Defence Directorate
of History and Heritage (DHH), 27 July 1950
6. Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p172
7. Ellis and Chamberlain p6
8. Fletcher, Great Tank Scandal, p. 94.
9. Broad p27
10. Chamberlain and Ellis p172
11. Stacey, C. P. (1970). Arms, Men and Government: The War Policies of Canada, 19391945 (http://www.
cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/docs/AMG_e.pdf) (PDF). The Queen's Printer by authority of the
Minister of National Defence. pp. 513514.
12. Ellis and Chamberlain p18
13. Tank Cruiser, Ram Mark II (E1988.23) (http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?_IXSS_=_IXMEN
U_%3dtop%26ALL%3dram%26_IXACTION_%3dsummary%26%252asform%3d%252fsearch_form%
252fbovtm_combined%26TYPE%3darticle%26_IXFPFX_%3dtemplates%252fsummary%252f&_IXFI
RST_=2&_IXSPFX_=templates/full/tvod/t&_IXMAXHITS_=1&submit-button=summary&_IXMENU_
=Vehicles), Tank Museum
14. Ram Kangaroo, Armoured Personnel Carrier, Full Tracked (E1985.121) (http://www.tankmuseum.org/ix
bin/indexplus?_IXSS_=_IXMENU_%3dtop%26ALL%3dram%26_IXACTION_%3dsummary%26%252
asform%3d%252fsearch_form%252fbovtm_combined%26TYPE%3darticle%26_IXFPFX_%3dtemplate
s%252fsummary%252f&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXSPFX_=templates/full/tvod/t&_IXMAXHITS_=1&submit-
button=summary&_IXSESSION_=&_IXMENU_=Vehicles), Tank Museum
15. Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p 174
References
Chris Ellis, Peter Chamberlain AFV No. 13 Ram and Sexton, Profile Publications, England
Chamberlain, Peter; Ellis, Chris (1969), British and American Tanks of World War II (2nd US (1981)
ed.), Arco Publishing
Roberts, Paul The Ram Developments and Variants, Vol. 1, Service Publications, Ottawa, Canada
2002
Roberts, Paul The Ram Developments and Variants, Vol. 2, Service Publications, Ottawa, Canada
2004
Law, Clive Making Tracks Tank Production in Canada, Service Publications, Ottawa, Canada 2001
Fletcher, David (1989). The Great Tank Scandal: British Armour in the Second World War - Part 1.
HMSO. ISBN 978-0-11-290460-1.
Broad, Graham "Not competent to produce tanks" The Ram and Tank Production in Canada, 1939-
1945, Canadian Military History Volume 11 Number 1, Beacon Herald Fine Printing Division, Stratford,
Canada 2002
Wallace, John F. Dragons of Steel: Canadian Armour in Two World Wars, The General Store
Publishing House, Burnstown, Canada 1995
External links
Newsreel of Ram tanks in production and testing. (http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=23035)
WWII vehicles (http://www.wwiivehicles.com/canada/tank-medium/ram.asp)
Mapleleafup.org (http://www.mapleleafup.org/vehicles/cac/ram.html)
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