Excelsior

Excelsior

Excelsior

Britain

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.0	4.0	4.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Heavy tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The Tank, Heavy Assault, A33 (Excelsior) (or just Tank, Heavy Assault, A33 (Excelsior)) is a gift rank III British heavy tank with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.67 "Assault" during the 2017 World War Two: Chronicle Event, unlocked after obtaining 11 Chronicle Awards. Based off the Cromwell chassis, the Excelsior provides a substantial armour upgrade with speed.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	114 mm (1°) Front plate 55 mm (74°) Front glacis 114 mm (18°), 55 mm (65°) Lower glacis	39 + 25.4 mm	32 mm (1°) Top 20 mm (18-62°) Bottom	20 mm
Turret	114 mm (1°) Turret front 63.5 mm (1-41°) Gun mantlet	63.5 mm	63.5 mm (1°)	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and bogies are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	42	3	40	811	1,198	20.28	29.95
Realistic	39	3		555	628	13.88	15.7

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm Ordnance QF Mk.V					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	104	-12°/+20°	±180°	N/A	19.4	26.9	32.6	36.1	38.4	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					14.3	16.8	20.4	22.6	24.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
M72 Shot	AP	91	88	78	67	57	49
M48 Shell	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
M61 Shot	APCBC	103	100	89	77	66	57

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
M72 Shot	AP	619	6.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
M48 Shell	HE	463	6.3	0.4	0.5	666	+0°	79°	80°	81°
M61 Shot	APCBC	618	6.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	+4°	48°	63°	71°

Smoke characteristic
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Screen radius in m	Screen time in s	Screen hold time in s:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):
M89	259	3	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M4A3E2 Jumbo.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
64	33 (+31)	17 (+47)	1 (+63)	Yes

Center empty: 33 (+31)

Optics

A.33 Optics placement in Simulator Mode.

When in simulator mode the gun will fire slightly low and to the left of the aimed position due to the sight being offset, this should be kept in mind and accounted for when engaging targets.

Excelsior Optics
Which ones	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	x1.85	x3.5
Comparable optics	Churchill Mk I

Machine guns

7.92 mm BESA
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
2,550 (225)				600	N/A	N/A
Hull mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
2,550 (250)				600	±10°	±10°

Usage in battles

The A 33 Excelsior is a fast moving highly manoeuvrable, well armoured heavy tank offering great speed of up to 40 km/h. It excels at flanking and catching the enemy of guard. To get the best from this tank in battle, use it speed and manoeuvrability to your advantage. Since the Excelsior is a heavy tank it armour offers up to 114 mm of protection and if angled it can further increase it to offer over 210 mm. Allowing the tank to become immune to virtually all enemy rounds. However, the thickest parts of the armour plate is on the front of the tank and front of the turret, so it is important to keep the front pointed towards the enemy in combat.

Combined with the 75 mm cannon, which has a reload of up to five seconds, it is able to cause mayhem on the battlefield. load M61 Shot round and fire away, always aim for the sides and rear of the enemy tanks, this is the weakest parts, when at range. However, when fighting tiger tanks get as close as you can, approach from the rear and shoot the rear of the turret, it will knock the tigers turret out allowing you to head to it's side and knock it out with some precision shots.

The A 33 Excelsior, does not have any turret mounted machine guns, it's roof armour is only 25 mm thick allowing enemy aircraft to cause havoc. To evade the aircraft use smoke and head towards any additional smoke rounds which you may fire, this will prevent the aircraft from following you and allowing you to evade them.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	M61 shot
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		M89	Smoke grenade
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent front armour thickness
• Quite fast
• Hull machine gun works
• -12 degrees of gun depression
• Premium SL and RP rewards
• Access to smoke

Cons:

• Front armour is non-sloping
• Low ammo count
• Large ammo rack in turret ring makes for easy detonation
• Very slow reverse
• Shells have no HE filler
• Weak side armour

History

Prompt

The early combat experience of the Churchill infantry tank raised concerns on its reliability and speed, with a suggestion that production be halted while development focus on an "universal tank" for the British armoured forces to replace the cruiser and infantry tanks. However, until such a design could be formulated, they still needed a tank for the assault role the infantry tanks would take.

Rolls-Royce Company, the company producing the prototype A27 Cromwells, suggested that the Tank Board use the A27 as an interim design with stronger armour, suspension, and armament. The suggestion was supported with the English Electric Company, whom plan to upgrade the A27 with thicker armour and elements from the American M6 heavy tank.

Development and Cancellation

On 07 May 1942, Tank Board approved for the production of these uparmoured A27 under the designation A33, though it would also have the name Excelsior. English Electric Company were in charge of producing the uparmoured A27 models and produced two prototypes. The first had the M6 suspension system and a 6-pdr cannon. The second had a wider track, different armoured skirts, additional frontal armour, and a 75 mm gun. Both used the same V12 Meteor engine as the A27.

Reliability issues with the Churchill were soon ironed out by 1943, to the point it became a very successful infantry support vehicle and multiple variations were made based off the chassis. The A33 Excelsior, meant to replace the Churchill, was no longer needed and the project was dropped in 1943.

Today, the second prototype can be seen at the Bovington Tank Museum.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Excelsior from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Excelsior Tank Review - NUSensei

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same gun

• Valentine XI
• Cromwell V / Cromwell V (RP-3)
• Churchill VII

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Churchill III / Pz.Kpfw. Churchill (Germany)

External links

• [Devblog] WW2 Chronicles vehicles: A33 Excelsior (GB)