British tank of the first world war. American tanks of the first world war

Hello friends. In light of the great interest in the history of the First World War in Lately, for your attention a short article about the origins of the tank era. First World War became the turning point of two eras. It changed the map of Europe, irrevocably took the lives of about 10 million people, upended all the usual ideas about the world of that time, and perhaps the world itself.

In our history, this war is also marked in many ways by the fact that during this period, two new types of weapons were used for the first time in combat operations - chemical and tank. This newest weapons restructured the entire military theory and practice, made the customs of the then war even harsher, and the new possibilities of man to destroy his own kind even more terrifying.

In the midst of this war, in the winter of 1916, the headquarters of the combined armies of the Entente began to develop a joint campaign designed to once and for all take the entire strategic initiative into their own hands and bring the war to a victorious conclusion. A strategic decision was made to use the maximum of available forces and assets, including those at the implementation stage, to conduct main operations. The main objective of the planned offensive was to capture all German communications centers and move the combat zone to the French coast.

The Somme River was chosen as the site of the main joint operation between England and France. The terrain conditions were poor for maneuvers - hills and uneven terrain, but the Allies calculated that their numerical superiority over the enemy would allow them to overcome all negative factors. To ensure complete success of the operation, 6 cavalry and 32 infantry divisions were involved. Strong fire support operations were supported by 2.2 thousand guns, 1.2 thousand mortars, 300 aircraft. And most importantly, for the first time it was planned to use the new kind heavy ground weapons - tanks.

The operation took place on July 1 and continued until November 18, 1916. The Germans were well prepared, and the Allied victories became controversial. The British offensive was repulsed, but the French captured several settlements and a couple of positions in two days. But the German army, under the leadership of K. von Bülow, was able to organize defense in the shortest possible time and pulled together additional reserves.

By September 12, the Allies overthrew the German line, but they no longer had enough strength to develop the main offensive. Then a new type of weapon, never used before, came to the rescue. Exactly 97 years ago, on September 15, 1916, the British carried out the very first tank attack in human history. True, due to lack of experience, the crews of the vehicles were still very poorly prepared. But the tanks themselves were completely unmaneuverable, bulky and slow. At night, 49 vehicles advanced to the front, of which only 32 moved to their original positions. Only 18 tanks took part in supporting the attack, the rest, despite the terrifying appearance, simply could not overcome natural obstacles. But even this relatively small number had a powerful influence on the development of the battle. Thanks to tank support, British forces on a front almost 10 km long advanced 5 km inland. The entire operation took almost 5 hours. British manpower losses were much lower compared to earlier operations.

When carrying out their attack, the British used Mk.1 vehicles, an experimental model of which was created in 1915. The creators called this tank “Little Willie”. After several tests, the vehicle was declared fit for combat. The first operational samples of this tank were released in 1916, and at the same time an order was placed by the British command for one hundred similar vehicles. The Mk.1 tank was produced in two main modifications: “Male” (“male” tank had a machine gun and two 57-mm cannons) and “Female” (“female” tank was equipped only with machine gun weapons). The armor was 6-10 mm, it could withstand shrapnel and bullets, but a direct hit from a shell was fatal for it. This colossus weighed 30 tons, the length was 10 m, and the speed was 6 km/h, it could overcome trenches and wire fences. The crew consisted of eight people, and the engine was located in the same hull with the crew. The temperature inside the iron beast sometimes reached 50 degrees. The crew's equipment necessarily included a gas mask, since the crew lost consciousness from the small amount of oxygen and toxic gases.

The next major use of tanks by British forces occurred on November 20, 1917 in the Cambrai area. This was the first truly massive tank attack.

Mk1

The entire Third Tank Corps, equipped with 476 armored “bridges,” took part in this offensive. According to the drawn up plan of the operation, it was expected that after breaking through the German defenses, they would capture Cambrai and enter Belgium.
In the morning, the tank corps attacked German positions. Surprise attack large quantity armored vehicles worked rather as a weapon of demoralization. Stunned by such a situation, the enemy offered almost no resistance - the defenders had neither experience in fighting tanks nor the appropriate weapons, and most importantly, they were in a state of shock. The tanks made a terrible impression on the Germans, causing genuine horror and panic. On the evening of November 20, tanks, accompanied by infantry, advanced 10 km and headed towards Cambrai. In total, 8 thousand prisoners, about 100 guns and hundreds of machine guns were captured. But a little later, the inconsistency in the actions of the infantry and tanks became clear, and the British attack stopped. And by November 29 it stopped completely. On November 30, the German command launched a powerful counter-offensive and soon the lost sections of the front were returned. Then the British brought another 73 tanks into battle. The tanks advanced in small groups of 3 vehicles, in the shape of a triangle, followed by infantry in three lines: the first captured the trenches, the second destroyed the enemy infantry, and the third provided the rear.

First tank battle using tanks on both sides happened at the very end of the war, on April 24, 1918. This was a battle between British Mk.1 tanks and German tanks A7V near the village of Villers-Bretonneux. Artillery and infantry did not take any part in this battle at all. Thanks to the higher maneuverability of the vehicles and better coordination of the crew, the British won.

A7V

The order to begin production of these combat vehicles in Germany was received by Josef Vollmer. They had to meet a number of requirements: a reliable engine, minimal noise, the ability to replenish ammunition within a few hours, a relatively small silhouette, sealing and quick engine replacement.

The tank created by Volmer was called LK-I (“light tank”), at the same time more were ready for production heavy tanks LK-II. It was planned to make one third of the tanks only with machine guns, and all the rest with cannons. They did not have the opportunity to take part in hostilities right away - the war had already ended before the tanks were produced. A kind of paradox emerged - Germany, which had the opportunity to make tanks that were not inferior to the enemy, stopped their production due to the low flexibility of the industry. If Germany had had a sufficient number of lighter tanks, it is unknown how the course of the war would have unfolded.

LK-I

In the battles of the First World War, tanks clearly demonstrated their main capabilities. In addition to significant physical damage, they brought severe psychological confusion to the ranks of the defenders. It became clear that the enormous potential of the new combat vehicle had yet to be revealed in the coming decades.

The First World War differed from all previous wars in the abundance of innovations - military aviation, submarine warfare, chemical weapons and, of course, tanks, which brought the battles out of the deadlock of trench warfare.

UK tanks

The very first tank of the war was built on September 9, 1915 in Great Britain. At first it was called "Little Willie", but after it was finalized and put into production, it was given the name "". On September 15, 1915, tanks of this type were used in combat for the first time, in France, during the Battle of the Somme.

Mark I

First combat use tanks showed that the design of the Mark I is imperfect. Tanks broke down, were easily penetrated, drove slowly - all these shortcomings led to huge losses. As a result, it was decided to significantly change the car. The tail was removed, the muffler was changed, the exhaust pipes were reconstructed, the thickness of the armor was increased - and as a result, the changes led to the appearance of first the Mark IV, and then the last British tank of the First World War.

Mark V

In parallel with the Marks, in 1917 the British built a high-speed Whippet tank, or Mark A, a fairly fast and reliable car, which performed well in combat. The Whipett was very different from other British tanks, but the main vehicles were still diamond-shaped - the British began producing tanks of a new format after the First World War.

Whippet

Tanks of France

The first French tanks were the Schneider and Saint-Chamon, built in 1917. These machines had a number of disadvantages, but were quite effective when used extensively. As a result, the tanks were converted into armored personnel carriers - their design turned out to be suitable for these purposes.

Saint-Chamond
Schneider

The French Renault FT-17 tank played a much larger role in the development of world tank building - the world's first mass-produced light tank, the first tank with a classic layout and the first tank with a rotating turret. The idea for its development came to Colonel Etienne in 1916, when he decided that the army really needed a type of tank to accompany infantry. As a result, it was decided to create a small, cheap machine, ideal for mass production. It was planned to produce 20-30 such vehicles per day, which would allow the French army to be fully equipped with tanks.

The development of the new car was undertaken by designer-manufacturer Louis Renault. As a result, the Renault FT-17 was born in 1917 - the result of much trial and error.

Renault FT-17

Immediately after entering the battlefield, the tanks received worldwide recognition. They were supplied to Russia (then to the USSR), Poland, USA, Japan, Italy, Romania, China and a number of other countries. The vehicle was improved for a long time, and after the war it remained in service with many countries, and in France it was still the main tank. Some examples of the Renault FT-17 survived right up to the present day, and took part in hostilities at its initial stage.

As a result, it was the design features of the Renault FT-17 that became the basis for further tank building.

Tanks of Russia

Even before the First World War, Russia had a tank project created by the son of D.I. Mendeleev, Vasily Dmitrievich Mendeleev. Unfortunately, the tank project was never implemented.

Mendeleev's armored vehicle

Already in the First World War, Nikolai Lebedenko developed the first Russian tank- “Tsar Tank”. This huge vehicle, with a crew of 15 people and a hull length of 17.8 meters, was armed with powerful guns and was impressive in its size. A prototype was built, but during sea trials it almost immediately got stuck with a wheel in a small hole, and the engine power was not enough to pull the car out. After such a failure, work on this tank was completed.

Tsar Tank

As a result, during the First World War, Russia did not produce its own tanks, but only actively used imported equipment.

Tank Germany

In Germany, the role of tanks in the war was understood too late. When the Germans realized the power of tanks, German industry had neither the materials nor the manpower to create combat vehicles.

However, in November 1916, engineer Vollmer was ordered to design and build the first german tank. The tank was presented in May 1917, but did not satisfy the command. An order was given to design a more powerful machine, but work on it was delayed. As a result, the first German A7V tank appeared only in 1918.

A7V

The tank had one significant feature - protected tracks, which were so vulnerable on British and French vehicles. However, the car had poor cross-country ability and was generally not good enough. Almost immediately the Germans created new tank, A7VU, in shape more similar to English tanks, and this vehicle was already used more successfully, becoming the progenitor of future heavy tanks.

A7VU

In addition to the A7V tanks, Germany built two Colossal supertanks, which weighed about 150 tons. These largest tanks in the world never took part in battles, and after the war they were destroyed under the Treaty of Versailles.

There is a generally accepted opinion that the tank as a combat unit was born as a means of overcoming the protracted “trench” crisis in the First World War. The armed armored vehicle really turned the tide, but its concept itself was invented long before great war. Somewhere in 1904, the first examples of self-propelled artillery platforms appeared in Great Britain. The vehicles were designed to act as a mobile fortification, capable of moving over rough terrain. The ideal starting point for the British was an agricultural tractor with a tracked chassis and a more powerful engine than a car. At the same time, the transformation of the tractor into a combat vehicle was going on with great effort, which did not prevent them from being used at the front as ordinary tractors. The American company Holt (the progenitor of Caterpillar) bought the patent for production and began supplying the British army with these same tractors. Meanwhile, the concept of a new one was slowly hewn out in the crucible of protracted battles.

When the US Expeditionary Army arrived in Europe, it did not have its own tanks. Why, there weren’t any of them in all of America. The Armored Motor Car Company produced the first production armored car only in 1915, and at the time of entry into the war in the States, only one 1st squadron of machine-gun armored vehicles, consisting of eight units of equipment, was formed in the US Marine Corps. Having a completely standard layout for that time, this machine is notable for the fact that it could be disassembled into modules and transported by boats. Well, they did it for the Marines after all.

The first production King Armored Car

The commander of the expeditionary forces, General John Pershing, was offered to take a couple of copies with him, but he refused. In the first battle of Cambrai, seeing British tanks in action, Pershing was impressed, sufficiently appreciated the potential and appointed Colonel George Patton to lead the formation of the American tank corps. By September 1918, the building was ready. In total, 8 heavy battalions were created with British Mark VI tanks in service and 21 light battalions using French Renault FT-17s. Only 4 of them took part in the battles. During their presence, the expeditionary forces used only foreign equipment. The native American one was never delivered. Although intensive development was already underway in the United States, trials were made, errors were made and, in general, our own tank building school was formed.

I suggest you get acquainted with what worked or didn’t work for them. This article touches on the period up to and including 1918, that is, the very dawn of design thought, when engineers were unafraid and still didn’t really know how it would be more correct, and machines that were built in at least one copy are mentioned.

Holt 75 Tank 1916

The Holt 75 was a popular half-track tractor model of the time. So they decided to cover the tractor with armor and get a tank. The design was supposed to be quite funny, the huge overhangs greatly limited maneuverability, and the tank itself looked more like a self-propelled hangar. The power of the Holt four-cylinder engine was 75 forces, but this was on the flywheel, and only 50 reached the drive shaft. The tractor weighed 12 tons and, due to the absence of clutches, was controlled using a small wheel extended forward on the frame. As for armament, they planned to install one 75 mm caliber cannon, two machine guns there, two more machine guns in the stern and one in a rotating turret mounted on top. The armor is about 2-3 mm, and the approximate speed is 7-13 km/h. It didn’t go beyond the prototype, and even that one was made almost out of tin. Holt participated in this whole process only by taking the tractor from him.

There is some confusion with the tractors themselves. This was the moment of the emergence of the Caterpillar company, but at the same time the word “caterpillar” was and is translated as “caterpillar”, so it is found in both senses. In any case, the engines were absolutely Holt.

Holt Three-wheeled Steam Tank of 1917

The three-wheeled steam tank is no longer based on the Holt serial tractor, but built and developed by the Holt company. Steam, by the way, does not run on wood, but on kerosene, with two two-cylinder engines with a power of 75 hp. every. It had to move across the battlefield in reverse, although the steam engine, as far as I know, does not care where the drawbar is pushed, so the driving efficiency did not suffer from this. Development of it began back in 1916, but the tank was ready only by 1918. The armament kit included a course 75-mm howitzer and 0.30-caliber Browning machine guns in quantities from 2 to 6 (according to various sources). The armor was interesting; its thickness reached an impressive 16 mm at that time, and only the stern, bottom and roof were 6 mm.

The vehicle is similar to the famous Lebedenko tank. When in the winter of 1918 the American military began testing at the Aberdeen training ground, this fruit of a brilliant design idea traveled 15 meters and “loaded”. 75 horses for each wheel turned out to be not enough, it was necessary to take a caterpillar drive. Clucking their tongues, the army men refused further work on the project.

So that you don't laugh too much at the steam tank - this is a steam car from 1919

Best 75 prototype 1917

The same Holt 75 tractor, born in 1909, only produced under license by Best, which is why it is called Best 75 Tracklayer. And here the definition of a tracklayer is interpreted as nothing other than a caterpillar track. So Best created their own design, as they saw it. A bulky hull with weapons mock-ups located somewhere in the area of ​​the steering wheel and a superstructure at the stern. The model turned out to be unviable, and the military, again clicking their tongues, politely refused. Well, you can’t make a good tank out of a tractor.

Not stopping at the first failure, Best engineers decided that the whole problem was in the layout and moved the weapons to the turret located at the stern. Now, in addition to the driver, there were two cannons and several holes for machine guns. The shape of the hull was also changed, and the tank model began to look very stylish. The word steampunk was not known then, but when the military refused again, propagandists grabbed the car. If a tank cannot be used for its intended purpose, but at the same time it looks menacing and beautiful, then why not use it for advertising purposes? Based on these thoughts, CLB 75 managed to work as a model to demonstrate the power of the US armed forces. A series of photographs and even postcards appeared in which he was present. After the war the prototype disappeared. Most likely, it was dismantled for scrap metal.

Caterpillar G-9 of 1917

Another Holt attempt to make a cool tank. All the same. Holt tractor covered with an armored hull. Only the engine this time had a power of 150 hp. The G-9 resembled a mobile dugout. It had five loopholes on board and one in the stern. The guns were placed in the turrets and one at the stern, and two variants of the tank layout are known: one- and two-turret.

Tests of the vehicle at a test site near Los Angeles once again showed the inconsistency of the design. The speed of the tank, even in a straight line, did not exceed 5 km/h, and there was no talk of cross-country ability. There were some incidents. At some point, the driver lost control of the tanker and plunged the car into a ditch, which resulted in the destruction of the hull. Tired of clucking their tongues and finally realizing the inadequacy of the agricultural tractor as a chassis for a combat vehicle, the military gave up and walked away.

Holt Gas-Electric of 1917

This time, the Holtites approached the task quite seriously and built a tank, not an armored tractor. The steering wheel was eliminated, and the tracked chassis was significantly redesigned. The gasoline-electric (gas is gasoline) circuit was used forcedly. There were no friction clutches, so they installed their own electric motor on each track so that they could be controlled, and the 90-horsepower motor was combined with a generator. Although the tank turned successfully, this drive system overcomplicated the design; it overheated and often failed. But the idea itself, probably picked up from the French, was interesting. The body was an ordinary armored box with a sheet thickness from 6 to 15 mm. For better cooling, a folding sheet was installed in the stern, but no one would keep it open in battle. The tank's armament consisted of two Browning 0.30 machine guns mounted on the sides and a 75 mm Vickers cannon located in the front hull.

Tests have shown that 90 hp. (this does not take into account transmission losses) is clearly not enough for a 25-ton vehicle. They refused to further refine the project.

US Army Corps Steam Tank of 1918

The first time that army engineers were directly involved in the matter. It is quite natural that the tank had a large lobby and was actively pushed at all levels. The design of the British diamond-shaped Mark was taken as a basis and, in principle, the car turned out to be similar, but had two characteristic differences.

Due to the fact that gasoline and diesel engines were in their infancy, preference was given to a used steam power plant running on kerosene. By that time, the development of steam propulsion was, if not at its peak, then at a very high level. high altitude, and such a motor could well compete with internal combustion systems. The fact that the total power of the twin two-cylinder steam engines reached 500 hp is enough. Each engine had a drive to its own drive wheel, and the tank was controlled by a simple “right throttle - left throttle”.

Second interesting feature became weapons. Instead of a cannon, they chose a flamethrower as the main one. This tank was probably one of (if not the first) flamethrower tank. In the “main caliber” design, instead of compressed gas cylinders, a separate 35 hp gasoline engine was used to eject the fire mixture, which created a pressure of about 110 atm. and allowed the charge to be thrown at a distance of up to 27 meters. Additionally, 4 Browning machine guns were installed in the side sponsons. The crew consisted of 8 people, armor - 15 mm, combat weight - 45 tons.

The first presentation to the general public took place on April 17, 1918 at a parade in Boston and everything would have been fine, but the tank broke down. The cause of the breakdown was the unreliability of the power plant. After repairs, the car was loaded onto a ship and sent for testing to Europe, but even there it did not reach the battlefield. We were just afraid to send it. Subsequently, work on the project was stopped and the final fate of the prototype is unknown.

Skeleton Tank

Without a doubt, one of the most interesting “military” American tank projects. Having carefully analyzed the practice of using British marks on the battlefield, the designers came to the conclusion that although the large linear dimensions make it possible to overcome huge trenches with craters, they also contribute to a significant increase in the affected area, as well as an increase in mass. The engineers proposed placing the chassis in a separate structure, and placing the engine and crew in the middle of a small box suspended between the tracks. The idea, of course, is sound, but it was not possible to bring it to its logical conclusion.

The first prototype was significantly lighter than the original, had less weight, greater thrust-to-weight ratio and maneuverability, but at the same time it had a number of its own design shortcomings. Such as: a separate transmission unit, weak weapons and an excessively “shaky” chassis. The “infantile” diseases of the design could be cured, but the war ended, and the military lost interest in the prototype, preferring their own version of the French FT-17. Fortunately, a prototype of the “skeleton” tank was preserved and is now kept in the Aberdeen Tank Museum.

Ford 3-ton mod. 1918

Having seen enough of the successes of the French with their Renault FT-17, Uncle Ford also wanted one for himself. The first work on a light tank began in 1917, and the first prototype was ready by mid-1918. The vehicle turned out similar to its ideological inspirer both in layout and chassis design. The only fundamental difference was the absence of a turret, and the 37mm cannon and machine gun were located in the frontal plate of the hull. The forehead armor is 13 mm, and the sides are 10 mm. There were two engines, but automobile engines with a power of 45 hp each. every. The goal was maximum unification with the brand's cars, in order to subsequently produce new tanks in the thousands. And they made a government order for 15 thousand, but the war did not end on time.

It is quite natural that the vehicle did not have time to take part in the hostilities. By September 11, 1918, only 15 copies were made, of which 10 went to the troops, where they quickly proved their unreliability and poor maneuverability. By the mid-20s they were written off and replaced with the M1917.

US Mark 1

When you finally decided on the shortcomings light tank Ford, the military ordered a new car in which these oversights were to be eliminated. The weight of the new tank increased to 7.5 tons, but it received a rotating turret with the same set of weapons (37 mm cannon and machine gun) and more powerful (60 hp each) twin engines. Reservations remained at the same level. Due to the end of the war, work on the project was curtailed, and preference was given to the more successful “American Renault”.

Hamilton Tank or Oakland "Victoria" Tank

It is also a very interesting machine, which includes several advanced solutions and is quite capable of becoming the first serial American development. The first work on it began in December 1915 at the Oakland Motor Car Company under the leadership of chief designer Hamilton. Even then, they developed their own tracked chassis for the new tank, moving away from the usual practice of using a tractor chassis. The chassis turned out to be successful and quite reliable. The chassis was protected with side armor plates (!), and the front part and commander's cupola were installed at angles, which was also a very advanced solution for that time. The placement of the main armament (37 mm cannon or machine gun) was planned in the frontal plate of the hull. At the end of 1917, the prototype entered testing, but it was simply “crushed” due to competition with the Ford 3-ton and successful French FT-17. Due to hopelessness further work over the car were stopped.

Studebaker Supply Tank

The famous American company Studebaker, which already specialized in the production of trucks during the First World War, also offered its own version of an armored vehicle. This “tank” was originally planned exclusively as an armored cargo carrier, but it turned out to be something similar to the British diamond-shaped Marks, only lower and longer. Quite naturally, they tried to develop this platform as a tank one, but nothing good came of both options. The tracked armored Studebaker remained in a single prototype.

M1917 6-ton Tank

According to a glorious tradition, everyone bought a license for the French Renault FT-17, the tank was very good. So in the USA, seeing the prospect of profit (and production capacity the French could not provide everyone who wanted it), quickly bought the documentation and promised to make a whole bunch of tanks for short term, give it to everyone and keep it for yourself. The production process naturally encountered a bunch of problems, ranging from the incompatibility of metric drawings with inch ones, the industry’s unwillingness to produce a number of components, and the banal “cutting and rolling back” significantly delayed the time of triumph. Serial production was established only in the fall of 1918, when the war was nearing its end, the warring powers planned to cut military budgets, and no one except the United States needed tanks. Since no one needs it, and the money is invested, they started making it for themselves. A total of 950 units were produced, of which: 526 with Browning machine guns, 374 with Vickers 37 mm guns and another 50 communication vehicles (TSF). The tanks were structurally almost no different from the prototype, with the exception of a few minor details. “American Renaults” did not take part in hostilities.

Mark VIII "Liberty" Tank

Joint American-English-French development. In fact, the only American ones were the Liberty engine, chassis elements, transmissions and electrical equipment. The tank should have been quite successful in its own right; for example, it was the first to use an overpressure system to protect the crew from weapons of mass destruction. Also, the weapon placement scheme was made according to the most rational scheme, and the elongated hull made it possible to overcome trenches up to 5.5 meters long. The engine was separated from the fighting compartment by a partition to protect the crews. For assembly, they planned to build a plant 200 miles from Paris. But, as often happens with joint projects, the war ended faster than expected and interest in working together faded away instantly. From ready-made kits, from 1919 to 1920, the United States built about 100 tanks, which did not take part in hostilities and by the beginning of World War II they were all transferred to Canada as training tanks.

Actually, this is where the variety of American tanks designed during the First World War exhausted itself. One can only mention the unrealized and unrealistic ideas of a 200-ton tracked “Trench Destroyer” with a crew of 30 people and Holt’s 150-ton field monitor on wheels, armed with 152 mm guns. But these projects are more akin to the German Ratte, just as senseless and stupid.

Materials used:
http://www.history-of-american-wars.com/world-war-1-tanks.html#gallery/0/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Corps_of_the_American_Expeditionary_Force
http://www.aviarmor.net/tww2/tanks/usa/_usa.htm
http://alternathistory.org.ua/taxonomy/term/114
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/ww1-us-tanks.asp
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_VIII

We will talk about tanks of the First World War. The First World War became the impetus for the emergence of new tactics of warfare, new weapons, equipment and much more. Heavy and infantry machine guns, flamethrowers, armored vehicles, including tanks, appeared, military aviation, chemical weapons, new artillery and much more. In the post we will talk about the first world of tanks, In This post will look at the main tanks of the First World War:

UK: Mk.1, Mk.4, Mk 5, “Whippet”.
France - Renault FT-17.2C, SA-1 "Schneider", Saint-Chamond.
Germany - A7V.
Italy - Fiat 2000, Fiat 3000.

British tanks

Mk-1 "Male".

The British tank Mk-1 “male” is the very first tank in the world.
First English tank designated Mk 1, it was put into production towards the end of 1915, when the war began to enter the so-called “positional stage”.
On both sides of the front, opponents dug into the ground, entangled in rows of barbed wire and bristling with machine guns. Any attack cost huge losses, incommensurate with the results achieved. Many military men understood that armored combat vehicles could solve this problem. In addition, numerous and very diverse armored vehicles were already operating on the fronts, the successes of which only confirmed the above statement. However, the maneuverability of heavy armored cars left much to be desired. It was precisely for breaking through defense lines that the Mk 1 tank was made.
The armament was placed in flat half-turrets - sponsons, installed on both sides of the vehicle. Based on the combat experience gained, the Mk 4 with reinforced armor was created in 1917. In May 1918, the Mk.5 with 18 mm armor and a 150 horsepower engine began to arrive in units , allowing speeds of up to 10 km/h. This vehicle was equipped with a commander’s cupola for the first time.

Characteristics of Mk-1 “Male”:

Weight - 28.45 tons. Length - 8 m.
reservation - 10-12 mm.
Engine power - 105 l\s.
Speed ​​- 6 km/h.
Weapons:
2 cannons of 57 mm caliber.
4 machine guns.
Crew - 8 people.

(the photo above shows British tanks destroyed and captured by the Germans).

This is the mask the commander of a British tank wore to protect his face from pieces of metal flying off the armor inside the tank when hit by bullets or shells from outside.

Medium tank MK.A "Whippet".

To operate in a zone behind the line of enemy fortifications, a high-speed tank was required, with greater maneuverability, less weight and dimensions. The project of a medium tank was made by W. Foster's company in Lincoln even before an order was received for it from the military. A prototype was manufactured in December 1916 year, and already in June 1917 there was an order for 200 Mk.A tanks. Since there were difficulties with the production of rotating turrets, they were replaced with a tower-like wheelhouse. The Mk.A was much more reliable than a heavy tank: tankers joked that greyhounds were the only vehicles who are able to return to the unit themselves after an attack.

Medium tank Mk.A "Whippet", characteristics:

Weight - 14 tons.
Length - 5 m.
Armor - 14 mm.
Speed ​​- 13 km/h.
Armament - 4 machine guns.

German tank

In October 1916, the German military department, concerned about the very successful use of British and French tanks, the instructions of a special technical commission consisting of representatives of leading German companies such as Daimler, Bussing, NAG, Opel, Holt-Caterpillar, headed by the head of the 7th department of the General Directorate of the War Ministry (on- abbreviated in German as A 7V - hence the name of the armored vehicle) develop a project for your own heavy tank.

The design work was carried out in great haste and was completed by the end of the year. On January 16, 1917, a finished chassis with a wooden mock-up of an armored hull was demonstrated in Berlin-Marienfeld, and already on January 20, the War Ministry prepared an order for the construction of 100 armored vehicles, and it was assumed that only 10 weapons would be armored.

Since the layout of the vehicle was based on symmetry in the longitudinal and transverse planes, in general the A7V tank (see photo) was more of a “mobile fort”, well suited for all-round defense, rather than a means for breaking through enemy defenses and supporting the advancing infantry army. Armoring of the chassis and inclined armor plates suspended above the bottom at the front and rear, together with a high center of gravity, significantly reduced the vehicle's maneuverability. The tank moved confidently on loose soil only on level ground and easily overturned even with the slightest lateral roll.

Until the end of the war, only 20 A7V tanks were built (each of which was assigned given name), who managed to take part, with varying degrees of success, in a number of important battles of the final stage of the First World War. Form tank attacks launched in March 1918 near Saint-Quentin and on April 24 near Villers-Bretonnet ended successfully, then on July 15 near Reims all 20 tanks participating in the offensive (A7V and captured) were knocked out

No one expected a world war, no one prepared for it, and it was even more difficult to foresee the nature of the coming battles.

The task is to break through the defense

Already in the autumn of 1914, Swinton, a British army officer posted to France, began to realize that main problem the advancing infantry will cover the distance between the front edges of the attacking and defending forces. Go to full height it is difficult to attack an enemy hidden behind the parapets of full-profile trenches and armed with rapid-firing machine guns, and by the end of this journey no more than half of the personnel will remain from any unit. The soldiers' bodies needed to be covered with something, and to accomplish this task he proposed the simplest solution. You need to take an ordinary agricultural machine, a Holt tractor made in the USA, and cover it with armor. It is interesting that these first tanks of the First World War were forced to be reproduced in 1941, when they were called “NI” (“out of fear”).

The idea was not very successful, since the requirements for the chassis when designing agricultural equipment did not correspond to the complexity of the rough terrain over which it was necessary to move during the offensive. But this did not make the task less relevant; it just had to be solved differently.

The first are the British

The main thing that the designers Nesfield and Makfi took into account when designing fundamentally new sample military equipment is the ability to overcome wide ditches and trenches. The diamond-shaped silhouette of armored monsters, known from films about them, became a manifestation of the originality of the engineering thinking of English inventors. The first tanks of the First World War were called “Big Willie” and “Mark”; their distinctive feature, in addition to the characteristic trapezoidal shape of the armored hull, was the placement of weapons on the sides, in special protrusions. At the same time, the name of a new type of armored vehicle (English: “Tank”) arose, translated meaning “tank” or “tank.”

France doesn't give up!

French tanks from World War I were designed with great variety technical solutions and fantasies. Initially, they were going to be built as low-speed mobile artillery mini-batteries, protecting the infantry with their silhouette and providing fire assistance to them. However, the designers soon came to the conclusion that it was necessary to build relatively light machines capable of quick maneuver. "Renault - FT17" is most consistent with modern ideas about this class of weapons, if only because it has a rotating artillery turret located above the armored hull. Similar vehicles of the Royal Romanian Army took part in the attack on the USSR in 1941, when two FT-17s, preserved from the Civil War, long ago became exhibits in Soviet museums.

The Germans are pressing

As for the fighting qualities that the First World War possessed, their characteristic difference was the powerful artillery weapons, which later became business card German armored vehicles. Main sample, A7V, was huge, you had to enter it like an armored train car, through the door. Two mechanics constantly monitored the operation of the engines; in addition to them, there was an artillery crew inside the hull. The commander, machine gunners and driver together made up a crowded crew. The car was slow and slow.

Common defects of different designs

All the first tanks of the First World War had a serious drawback: it was practically impossible to stay in them for a long time due to heavy gas pollution and high temperature, created work engine located in the same space as the crew. Powerful motors had not yet been created, and assembly technologies did not involve other methods of joining parts other than riveting. The armor withstood the impact of a bullet, sometimes a light projectile, but the effect of any field artillery caliber over three inches had a detrimental effect on equipment and personnel.

In Russia, tanks began to be built later than in other industries. developed countries, but have achieved very serious success in this matter. But that is another story…