The Tank Museum Acquires Cold War-Era Charioteer

A new addition to the Tank Museum‘s collection, a Charioteer, arrived at the location last week. Recently acquired in Finland, the long-term plan is for this tank to be restored and join the museum’s running fleet of vehicles.

Charioteer on the flatbed of a truck, parked outside a building — Photo Credit: The Tank Museum / Provided

The Charioteer was a desperate stop-gap solution to a lack of firepower in the British Army’s tank force at the beginning of the Cold War.

By 1951, it became clear that the Centurion wouldn’t be available quickly enough in the numbers needed by the Army. An interim solution was devised to put the Centurion’s 20-pounder rifled gun onto the Cromwell chassis.

Around 442 Cromwells were converted to Charioteers. The British issued them to Territorial Army tank units who would be mobilized in the event of war, rather than frontline forces. One-hundred-and-eighty-nine were exported to Austria, Finland, Lebanon and Jordan.

Charioteer parked on grass, near buildings — Photo Credit: The Tank Museum / Provided

The Finnish Defence Forces used Charioteer tanks between 1958-80. This Charioteer was acquired at auction in October 2024 from the Finnish government and would have been mainly used for training purposes.

Head of Collections at the Tank Museum, Chris van Schaardenburgh, said:

“We’re delighted to have the Charioteer safely at the museum after its long journey from Finland. Once restored, this will be an important addition to the museum’s running collection. We’d like to thank the Finnish Tank Museum and the Finnish Army for their support in acquiring this vehicle.”