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Comet (Tank)

The Comet tank or Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World War II during the Invasion of Germany. It was developed from the earlier Cromwell tank and mounted the new 17 pdr High Velocity (HV) (3 inch; 76.2 mm – sometimes referred to as "77 mm") gun, in a lower profile, partly-cast turret. This gun was effective against late-war German tanks, including the Panther at medium range, and the Tiger.[2] The tank was widely respected as one of the best British tanks of the war, and continued in service afterwards.

The Comet, which was a development of the Cromwell, rendered the Challenger obsolete, and led to the development of the Centurion tank. When firing APDS rounds, the 77 mm HV was superior in armour penetration capability to the 75 mm KwK 42 gun of the equivalent Axis tank, the Panther[3] (which did not use APDS ammunition).

The Comet saw action in the closing stages of World War II and remained in British service until 1958. In some cases, Comets sold to other countries continued to operate into the 1980s.