Excelsior tank

The Tank, Heavy Assault, A33 (Excelsior) was a British experimental heavy tank based on the Cromwell (A27) design developed in the Second World War when there were concerns as to performance of the Churchill tank.

Development
After the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, there was concern that the Churchill was not as good as expected and a tank to combine the infantry and cruiser tank roles was planned.

While two lines of tanks were still policy, there was interest in standardizing on common components. The design used the Cromwell's combination of Rolls-Royce Meteor engine and Merrit-Brown transmission.

English Electric built two prototypes on a Cromwell tank hull the first with the suspension of the US M6 Heavy Tank and the second with a widened Cromwell track and armoured skirts. The design included extra armour and an Ordnance QF 75 mm gun. When the problems of the early Churchill models were worked out, the project was dropped.

Survivors

 * The second pilot vehicle is on display at the Bovington Tank Museum in Bovington, UK.