The Comet was developed from the earlier Cromwell tank with a lower profile, partly-cast turret which mounted the new 77 mm HV gun.

This was a smaller version of the 17 pdr anti-tank gun firing the same 76.2 mm (3") projectiles, albeit with a lighter charge, and was effective against late-war German tanks, including the Panther and Tiger.

[2] The Comet rendered the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger obsolete and was an interim solution until the completely new design Centurion tank was available.

Combat experience against the Germans in the Western Desert Campaign demonstrated to the British many shortcomings with their cruiser tanks.

There were also some problems with suspension breakage, partly due to the Cromwell's high speed and it ran through a number of design changes as a result.

The biggest complaint was related to firepower; the Cromwell had originally been designed to carry the 57 mm Ordnance QF 6-pounder, also retrofitted to the Crusader tanks.

In combat, these were found to be useful against other tanks but lacking any reasonable high explosive load they were ineffective against anti-tank guns or static emplacements.

Testing on the range by 2nd Fife and Forfarshire Yeomanry as they converted from Shermans showed that the gun did not penetrate the front armour plate of a captured German Panther tank.

[4] Several other improvements were made and many Cromwell design revisions were incorporated, such as safety hatches for the driver and hull gunner.

The turret was electrically traversed (a design feature taken from the Churchill tank), with a generator powered by the main engine rather than the hydraulic system of the Cromwell.

Comet tanks were built by a number of British firms led by Leyland, including English Electric, John Fowler & Co., and Metro-Cammell.

Concerns about the hull gunner and belly armour were put to one side to avoid redesign, but there was still sufficient delay caused by minor modifications and changes.

The unit returned to the Brussels area in the middle of January 1945 three weeks later and finally paid-off its Shermans in exchange for Comets.

The Comet saw combat and 26 were destroyed but due to its late arrival in the war in north west Europe, it did not participate in any large battles.

The Comet appealed to the Irish Army as it was cheap to buy and run, had low ground pressure and good anti-tank capability.

The regime of Fulgencio Batista was forced to seek arms from other nations, which included the UK, which sold the Comet tanks from stocks (the government also allowed the purchase of 17 Hawker Sea Fury fighter aircraft from the manufacturer).

[10] The few Comets in Cuba were soon retired from service and either scrapped or abandoned, being replaced with larger quantities of T-34/85 and T-54/55 tanks received from the Soviet Union.