Encyclopedia > Tank history

Article Content

Tank history

"Little Willie" The original British tank prototype.
From the site Photos of the Great War (http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/photos/greatwar.htm)

During World War I, motorized vehicles were still relatively new and uncommon, and their use on the battlefield was limited. The earliest motorized AFVs were tractors with crude metal plates bolted on to give some protection to the driver and passengers. The British Royal Navy developed the idea into the first tanks (called 'landships') by fully-enclosing the armoured area, adding a track-laying suspension, and guns mounted in turrets. Early tanks were large, had large crews, and moved about the same speed as marching infantry. They were 'male' or 'female', depending upon whether their armament was a large cannon or multiple smaller machine guns. The nickname 'tank' was a codeword used to confuse the enemy and maintain secrecy while they were being built and shipped to the front.

British Mk.1 tank.
From the site Photos of the Great War (http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/photos/greatwar.htm)

The first use of tanks on the battlefield was the use of 49 British Mk.I tanks at the Battle of the Somme (1916) on September 15, 1916, but most of the machines broke down and the attempt proved nothing. Of the forty-nine tanks shipped to the Somme, only thirty-two were able to begin the first attack in which they were used, and only nine made it across "no man's land" to the German lines.

The first tanks were also not capable of performing on a real battlefield even when they were working -- the tanks deployed in 1916 could only cross trenches or craters of less than two meters span, and only the French tank designed by Renault could climb a forty-five degree slope. The artillery in use at the time made craters too large and too deep for a tank to cross or climb out of.

Engine power was the primary limitation; World War I tanks weighed around thirty tons, and the most powerful engine in use was about one hundred horsepower. (Compare that power-to-weight ratio of 3.3 hp/ton to the German Mark III of the 1930s, which weighed 25 tons and had a 300-hp engine -- 12 hp/ton. By the end of the 20th century, power-to-weight ratios exceeded 20 hp/ton.) No World War I tank could travel faster than walking pace over good ground. At that speed, an object the size of a one-car garage could be destroyed by mortar fire.

Many feel that because the British Commander Field Marshal Douglas Haig was himself a horse cavalryman, his command failed to appreciate the value of tanks. In fact, horse cavalry doctrine in World War I was to "follow up a breakthrough with harassing attacks in the rear", but there were no breakthroughs on the Western Front until the tanks came along.

French St. Chamond tanks.
From the site Photos of the Great War (http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/photos/greatwar.htm)

The French used tanks for the first time on 16 April 1917, during the Nivelle offensive[?]. It was major failure; the St. Chamond tanks, that didn't have the ability to cross trenches as the British one could, were sent to the enemy lines without infantry support.

The first successful use of tanks came in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. British General J.F.C. Fuller, chief of staff of the Tank Corps, planned the battle. The tanks made an unprecedented breakthrough, but the British were so surprised they failed to exploit the opportunity. Ironically, it was the soon-to-be-supplanted horse cavalry that had been assigned the task of following up the motorized tank attack.

US army operating Renault FT-17 tanks
From the site Photos of the Great War (http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/photos/greatwar.htm)

Despite this first success, the early British designed tanks suffered from several weaknesses that the Germans had quickly learnt to exploit. They required a large crew and their production was insufficient. Tanks became much more efficient in 1918 with the French Renault FT-17. It was small and light compared to its predecessors (and to modern standards), conceived for mass production, operated by two men only, and equipped with a rotating turred it established the basic concept of modern tank. In few months the FT-17 was used by all the allies.

The first tank-versus-tank battles took place 24 April 1918. It was an unexpected meeting engagement between three German A7Vs and three British Mk.IVs.

Later, Fuller's Plan 1919[?] for an offensive was the inspiration for German blitzkrieg tactics in World War II. The plan itself was never used because the blockade[?] of Germany brought an end to the war. As a military planner and later journalist, Fuller continued to develop his doctrine of using tanks supported by infantry to break through enemy lines to attack communications in the rear.

(more on WWI usage)

**WW1 Tank Comparison Table**
Country	Year	Built	Type	Armament [ammo load]	Front Armour	Side Armour	Roof Armour	Speed (kmph)	Crew	Weight	Engine	Range
UK	1916	75	Mark I male	2x 57mm/L40 [324] + 3 MGs [6272]	12 mm	10 mm	6 mm	4.5	8	28.4 t	105 hp	37 km
UK	1916	75	Mark I female	5 MGs [30080]	12 mm	10 mm	6 mm	4.5	8	27.4 t		37 km
UK	1917	25	Mark II male	2x 57mm/L40 + 3 MGs	12 mm	10 mm	6 mm		8			45 km
UK	1917	25	Mark II female	5 MGs	12 mm	10 mm	6 mm		8
UK	1917	25	Mark III male	2x 57mm/L40 + 3 MGs	12 mm				8
UK	1917	25	Mark III female	5 MGs	12 mm				8
UK	1917	420	Mark IV male	2x 57mm/L23 [332] + 4 MGs [6272]	16 mm	12 mm	8 mm	5.6	8	28.5 t	125 hp	56 km
UK	1917	595	Mark IV female	5..6 MGs [10000]	16 mm	12 mm	8 mm	5.6	8	27 t	125 hp	56 km
UK	1917	200	Mark V male	2x 57mm/L23 [207] + 4 MGs [5800]	14 mm	14 mm	8 mm	7.5	8	29.5 t	150 hp	72 km
UK	1917	200	Mark V female	6 MGs [14100]		14 mm	8 mm	7.5	8	28.5 t		72 km
UK	1918	200	Mark V* male	4x 57mm/L23 [221] + 4 MGs [8400]		12 mm	6 mm	4	+24	33 t		63 km
UK	1918	432	Mark V* female	8 MGs [16800]		12 mm	6 mm	4	+24	32 t		63 km
UK	1917	200	Mark A "Whippet"	4 MGs [5400]	14 mm	14 mm	5 mm	13	3	14 t	2x 45 hp	64 km
France	1916	400	Schneider C.A.1	75mm/L13 [94..96] + 2 MGs [4000]	11,5 mm	11,5 mm	5,5 mm	6	6	13.5 t	60 hp	48 km
France	1917	400	Schneider C.A.1	75mm/L13 [94..96] + 2 MGs [4000]	24 mm	17 mm	5,5 mm	6	6	14.6 t	60 hp	75 km
France	1916	165	St. Chamond M16	75mm/? [106..108] + 4 MGs [7488]	11,5 mm	8,5 mm	5,5 mm	8.5	9	22 t	90 hp	60 km
France	1917	235	St. Chamond M17	75mm/L36 [106..108] + 4 MGs [7488]	11,5 mm	17 mm	5,5 mm	8.5	9	24 t	90 hp	60 km
France	1917	3177	Renault FT mitrail.	1 MG [4800]	16 mm	8 mm	6 mm	8	2	6.5 t	35 hp	35 km
France	1918	3177	Renault FT canon	37mm/L20 [240]	16 mm	8 mm	6 mm	8	2	6.7 t	35 hp	35 km
Germany	1917	20	A7V	57mm/L26 [180]+ 6 MGs [10000 .. 15000]	30 mm	20 mm	15 mm	12	18	32 t	2x 100 hp	35 km

Source :War is Over (http://wio.boom.ru/tank/ww1tank.htm)

(between the wars: mention Charles de Gaulle,s, Basil Liddell Hart's and Heinz Guderian's advocacy of mechanized warfare) Use of tanks during the spanish Civial War

World War II

During World War II, the tank reached new heights of capability and sophistication. The German tanks, though technologically inferior to many of their opponents' tanks in the areas of armor and weaponry, were used most skilfully to achieve surprising strategic victories early in the war. The German doctrine stressed the use of combined-arms involving infantry and air support, and the tactic of the Blitzkrieg (lightning warfare). Furthermore, the Germans were quick to supply their tanks with radios, which provided unmatched command/control.

It was true that nothing larger than machine guns could be mounted in any turret that this vehicle could carry. But with this disadvantage, it could be made ready for action by 1934 and it would at least serve as a training tank until our real combat tanks began to appear. [...] Nobody in 1932 could have guessed that one day we should have to go into action with this little training tank.

-- Heinz Guderian, Chief of German Army General Staff, on the Pz I.

(use of Pz I and Pz II training tanks due to lack of combat tanks)

The largest tank ever built was the Maus, designed in 1942 by Ferdinand Porsche under direct order from Adolf Hitler. Weighing 188 tons, the Maus was armed with a 128mm cannon and a coaxial 75mm gun, and covered with 180-240mm of armour. Only two prototypes were built, and both were lost while still undergoing testing. One of the Maus prototypes currently resides in the Museum of Armoured Forces in Kubinka[?] Russia.

Tanks were adapted to various uses during WWII including mine-sweeping tanks, and flame-thrower tanks.

(What's the true story behind the Maus in the museum? There are conflicting stories. In one version, both were scuttled at the factory prior to Soviet occupation, in another, one fought briefly before being captured.)

(T-34, tankettes, and other allied tanks of WWII; Patton, Rommel, Guderian, etc)

Post-WWII

Since WWII, most of the changes in tank design have been refinements to targeting, ranging, and stabilization equipment, and to communications, and crew comfort. Armour has evolved to keep pace with improvements in weaponry, and guns have gotten bigger, but in most cases have not fundamentally changed.

During the latter half of the 20th century, some tanks were armed with ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles) which could be launched through the main gun barrel. In the U.S., the M60A2, M551 Sheridan, and prototype MBT-70, with 152mm barrel/launchers, used the Shillelagh infrared missile. The MBT-70 was cancelled prior to production due to high cost, and superseded by the M1 Abrams, which used a conventional gun. Both the M551 and the M60A2 were widely considered failures; expensive, unreliable, and difficult to maintain. They were replaced by M60A3's (using conventional guns) and M2 Bradleys. ATGMs are currently mounted on lighter AFVs, such as the M901 ITV and the M2/M3 Bradley.

(Russian missile-armed tanks: T-64, T-72, T-80, T-90[?]?)