Canada's Cruiser Ram, Kangaroo

Photos

Ram	Ram Mk I Royal Armored Corps Tank Museum	Ram Mk I U.S. Ordnance Dept.
Ram Mk II
Kangaroo	Kangaroos entering s'Hertogenbosch, Holland, in October 1944 Bovington Tank Museum (Mark Holloway)

Design

In 1940 the Montreal Locomotive Works designed a tank based on the turret from an American M3 Lee with a cast steel hull.⁴ Some believe this is where the US designers got the idea for the Sherman.

Crew

Had a cast hull with the driver on the right in the front.

MG Turret

There was a machine gun turret on the left side. This had a .3" machine gun and could traverse 120° left and 50° right.

Turret

The turret was also cast with the mantlet being bolted on. A few of the vehicles were produced with shoulder controlled 2 pdr guns as the 6 pdr wasn't available.

Kangaroos

The Canadians had converted some Priests to be infantry carriers, however, these were too tall so an alternative was needed.⁵ The Canadians had used Ram tanks as training vehicles in Britain and were not being used.⁵ 500 of them were moved to a Canadian workshop in France code named "Kangaroo."⁵ These had the turret and other equipment removed and two bench seats were installed.⁵

Climbing rings were welded on the sides to assist the infantryman in getting into the Kangaroos.⁵ The infantrymen's weapons couldn't be used from inside the Kangaroo and there was no overhead protection.⁵

Prototype

By June 1941⁶ the first prototype was completed at the Montreal Locomotive Works and sent to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland for evaluation.

Production

• 1941: 1,094, 2,150⁴
• Ram Mk II: 1942-1943: 1,899
• Kangaroo: 500 converted⁵

Variants

• Cruiser Ram Mk I: It was intended to be produced with a 6 pdr gun, however these weren't finalized so the first 50 were with 2 pdr guns.
• Cruiser Ram Mk II: Full production version which began in January 1942 and ended in July 1943. Eliminated the hull side doors, improved the suspension, modified the clutch, and installed new air cleaners. The MG turret was replaced by a more traditional ball mounting. The gun also had a gyrostabilizer.
• Ram Kangaroo: Turret was removed and benches were installed.⁵ 11 men plus 2 crew carried. Hand and foot grips were added to outside hull.⁵
• Ram Gun Tower: Kangaroo with towing hook for 17 pdr anti tank gun. Crew and ammo carried in vehicle.
• Ram Ammunition Carrier "Wallaby": Like Kangaroo but carried 25 pdr ammo for Sexton.
• Ram OP/Command: Ram II used for command or observation. Used dummy gun which could only be traversed 90° by hand, and had extra radio equipment. The rotating hatch was calibrated so that the hatch periscope could be used as a direction finder. Browning machine guns were installed in the bow and the turret hatch. 84 built in 1943. Crew of 6.
• Ram GPO: Like OP but with special equipment for gun position officers of SP artillery regiments. Had Tannoy loudspeakers mounted.
• Ram ARV Mk I: Ram I converted to ARV by adding winch.
• Ram ARV Mk II: Ram II fitted with fixed dummy turret and dummy gun. Jib and earth spade added.
• Ram AVRE: 2 vehicles converted by Royal engineers in 1943. Churchill was used instead.
• Ram QF 3.7" AA: Mount for 3.7" AA gun.⁶ Project abandoned.
• Ram Flame throwers "Badger": Converted by Canadian Army to use Wasp II flame throwing equipment installed in place of the bow MG. Used in Holland in 1945.
• Ram with 75 mm gun: Installed American 75 mm M3 gun. Project abandoned.
• Ram Searchlight: Units in Europe added 40" searchlights and used for night operations.

Usage

By the end of 1941 they were being shipped to Canadian units in England.⁴ Used by the 4th and 5th Canadian Armored Divisions until they were replaced by Shermans. Most of the tanks were used for training in Canada and Britain as the US was able to start producing enough tanks for Canadian use.⁴ Many were converted to special tanks.

Kangaroo Usage:

Many were used by the British 79th Armored Division and Canadian Divisions. The Kangaroos started reaching the frontline units in September 1944.⁵

Kangaroos were first used at Le Havre.⁵ The 7th Infantry Division used them last on May 3, 1945, at Hamburg.⁵

Occasionally the Kangaroos were used to carry ammunition and fuel to troops that were under fire.⁵

Specifications

	Ram	Ram Mk I	Ram Mk II	Ram Command / OP	Kangaroo
Crew	Commander, driver, co-driver, gunner, loader. 51	Commander, driver, co-driver, gunner, loader.2 52,3	Commander, driver, co-driver, gunner, loader.2 52,3,6	63	25
Passengers					105
Physical Characteristics
Weight	64,000 lb, 65,000 lb 29,030 kg	64,000 lb3, 65,000 lb2	65,000 lb2,3,4,6 29,484 kg1,4,6 29 tons1	64,000 lb3	25,400 kg5 25 tons5
Length w/gun	18' 8", 19'	19'2,3	19'1,2,3,4,6 5.79 m4,6, 5.791 m1	19'3	19'5 5.79 m5
Length w/o gun
Height	8' 9"	8' 9"2,3	8' 9"1,2,3,4,6 2.667 m1,4,6	9'3	6' 3"5 1.91 m5
Width	9' 5"	9' 1"2, 9' 5"3	9' 1"1,2,3, 9' 6"4,6 2.768 m1, 2.895 m4,6	9' 1"3	9' 1"5 2.77 m5
Width over tracks
Ground clearance	1' 5"
Ground contact length
Ground pressure	13.3 psi
Turret ring diameter
Armament
Main		2 pdr. OQF2 2 pdr.3,4,6	6 pdr. (57 mm)1 OQF 6 pdr. OQF2 6 pdr.3,4,6	2: MGs3	1: 0.303" Browning MG5 1: 7.7 mm Browning MG5
Secondary
MG	3: 7.62 mm MG1	2: .30 cal Browning MG2 3: MGs3	2: .30 cal Browning MG2 3: MGs3
MG - anti aircraft	.30 M1919A Browning	.50 cal Browning MG2	.50 cal Browning MG2
MG - coaxial	.30 M1919A Browning		MG6
MG - hull	.30 M1919A Browning		MG6
Side arms
Quantity
Main		1712	922
Secondary
MG		.30: 4,4402 4,275	.30: 4,4402 4,000
Side arms
Armor Thickness (mm)		252, 872 1" - 3.5"3	252, 871,2, 25-896 1" - 3.5"3	1" - 3.5"3	605
Hull Front, Upper
Hull Front, Lower
Hull Sides, Upper
Hull Sides, Lower
Hull Rear
Hull Top
Hull Bottom
Turret Front
Turret Sides
Turret Rear
Turret Top
Engine (Make / Model)	Wright Continental R-975-EC21	Continental R-9752 Continental R-975-EC23	Continental R-9752,4,6 Continental R975-C13 OR Continental R-975-EC23	Continental R975-C13	Continental R-9755
Bore / stroke
Cooling
Cylinders			Radial6
Capacity
Net HP			4006		4005
Power to weight ratio
Compression ratio
Transmission (Type)
Steering
Steering ratio
Starter
Electrical system
Ignition
Fuel (Type)			Gasoline6		Gasoline5
Octane
Quantity
Road consumption
Cross country consumption
Performance
Traverse	360°	360°2 MG: 120° left, 50° right	360°2
Speed - Road	25 mph	25 mph2,3	25 mph1,2,3,4,6 40.2 kph4,6, 40.23 kph1	25 mph3	25 mph5 40 kph5
Speed - Cross Country	20 mph	20 mph2	20 mph2
Range - Road	144 miles	144 miles2	144 miles1,2,4,6 232 km1,4,6		144 miles5 232 km5
Range - Cross Country
Turning radius
Elevation limits	+20° to -7.5°, -10°	-7.5° to +20°2	-7.5° to +20°2
Fording depth	3'	3'2	3'2
Trench crossing	7' 5"	7' 5"2	7' 5"2,4 2.26 m4
Vertical obstacle	1' 6", 2'	1' 6"2	1' 6"2, 2'4 0.61 m4
Climbing ability			60%6
Suspension (Type)	Vertical volute	Vertical volute.2	Vertical volute.2
Wheels each side	6
Return rollers each side	3
Tracks (Type)
Length
Width	1' 4.5"	15.5"2	15.5"2
Diameter
Number of links
Pitch
Tire tread
Track centers/tread	6' 11"	6' 11"2	6' 11"2