Mark IV Tank (Replica)
Mark IV - 100 years of tanks in battlefield
British World War I Mark IV tank replica - vehicles like these went into battle almost exactly 100 years ago and became the king of battlefield.
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Tanks went into battle for the very first time on 15 September 1916 on the Somme. They later came to be known as Mark I tanks although their crews invariably referred to them as Cars or Buses. They were the only type available and came in two versions, male and female. You could tell them apart by the fact that the male tanks carried a long six-pounder gun in each sponson, while the females had different shaped sponsons, each armed with a pair of Vickers water-cooled, heavy machine guns of .303 inch calibre.
Inside each tank was the same, except for ammunition stowage which was arranged to suit each version. Power was provided by a six-cylinder, 105hp petrol engine by the Daimler Motor Company Ltd of Coventry (British Daimler) which drove into a two-speed gearbox and then through a Daimler differential to auxiliary gears in the track frames. These provided two extra speeds and were also used for steering. Each tank towed two wheels behind it on a short frame which were used for steering but were easily damaged.
Each tank had a crew of eight; a driver and commander sitting side by side at the front, four men to act as gun crew, two each side; either a gunner and loader for a six-pounder or machine-gunners in female tanks and two men detailed as secondary gearsmen, stationed nearer the back.
The Mark IV tank was introduced in 1917. It weighed about 28 tons and had the same engine and driving arrangements inside as the Mark I, although the wheeled tail was no longer fitted. The Mark IV however had thicker armour and although there were again male and female versions (with Lewis machine-guns instead of Vickers), new designs of sponson (and shorter six-pounder guns) were fitted and were made to fold inside the tank to narrow it down for rail travel. On the Mark I you had to unbolt the sponsons and lift them off for train journeys, the sponsons travelling separately.
Text by: David Fletcher
Tankfest by World of Tanks - 24.-25.6.2016
The Tank Museum - Bovington, UK
Worlds biggest and best live display of historic armour, living history, and much more at the Home of the Tank - The Tank Museum, Bovington, United Kingdom.
Tankfest by World of Tanks - 24.-25.6.2016
The Tank Museum - Bovington, UK
Worlds biggest and best live display of historic armour, living history, and much more at the Home of the Tank - The Tank Museum, Bovington, United Kingdom.
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