Cool to see the MK4 tank rocking it in a game. There were actually two versions, the male and female depending on whether the side saddle weapons were cannons or machine guns.
I did a write up on the first 'Tank' for another site a while ago.
Please note I'm only including this here as a distraction to the inevitable debate and hand wringing about women in WW1 on the frontlines (tip: yes there were, they were incredibly rare and it's unlikely a serving soldier would have ever have seen one during his time on the lines).
So to get back on the subject of what looks like a different and awesome war game-
AKA- 'His Majesty's Land Ship Centipede'
The concept of the first 'tank' and the requirements behind it's development differ substantially from what we would consider a tank from Late WW1 on and that is the most important thing to keep in mind as we consider the first 'tank' and how it started a new industry which in many ways defined land warfare for decades to come.
It was very apparent early in WW1 that weapon development had outstripped transport and armour capabilities, this as we all know produced a stalemate amongst the fronts as trenches were dug and progress stalled. The battlefields were a horrific meat-grinder as infantry stood almost no chance of completing any objective, as soon as they went 'over the top' machine guns, artillery and crude fences would make this task almost impossible.
The need for a mechanised vehicle to assist the infantry in travelling to and then taking enemy trenches was obvious to a few and work got under way in developing such a vehicle and trying to convince powerful figure heads in the military and government of it's use. The first prototypes were barely functioning models focused on testing the principals of a tracked armoured vehicle utilising wooden bodies and very basic tracks purchased from the US. Eventually the Mk1 shape was formed, parts were transported as 'water tanks' giving birth to the name of the vehicle and the first true 'Tank' went into testing. The main body was 25 feet long and was designed to be able to travel over a trench 12 feet wide (8 and 9 feet also mentioned as requirements by some sources) although this was rarely possible, a top mounted turret was considered but concerns over a high Centre of Gravity saw that removed and instead replaced with either cannons or machine guns in side mounted sponsons; These were called the male and female versions. The tracks travelled the entire outer distance of the body and were unsprung, the lack of suspension while doing a marginally better job at keeping the tracks mounted made for an awful ride over any terrain. The tracks at the base are actually mounted on a slight curve to improve steering but this ultimately proved self-defeating on soft ground as they sank in and the surface area increased dramatically.
At this time in 1915/1916 the only diesel engines were land mounted and not yet developed enough for vehicle use and the petrol Internal Combustion Engine was very new and not yet engineered into a reliable state. A Daimler 16l 6 cylinder was used developing only 100bhp with which to push the 28t mass at between 3 and 4mph depending on how well it was working at that time. Steering was initially provided via a rear mounted and hydraulically operated tail but this proved useless and was quickly removed from later models, although the mountings remained for some time. Instead the crew learnt to steer via careful altering the track speeds, care was needed to stop the relatively crude gearboxes and shafts sheering apart. In combat navigation was achieved thanks to a delicate periscope system that rarely survived travelling with no suspension and a very sensitive ships compass which for some reason didn't enjoy being inside a metal can with a running engine a few feet away.
The infancy of the internal combustion engine was in many ways the main weakness of the vehicle, asides from it's low power output the Daimler engine (and later Ricardo units) had shocking reliability, frequent fuel and oil leaks made it a fire hazard not to mention the heat and exhaust gasses produced would get trapped inside the body, minor updates over time did little to solve these issues and as crews often trained in bare hulls without the side weapons fitted they didn't truly discover the hot, cramped and toxic conditions until they were on the battlefield.
Protection was provided by 6-12mm armour which was sufficient at stopping most light machine gun fire at moderate distances but was soon outdone by heavier machine guns, the newly developed anti-tank rifle and artillery which had an easy time picking off tanks left stricken by failed engines. Bundles of hand-grenades were also effective forcing the inclusion of top netting which was somewhat effective at rolling the explosives away. Armour plates and improvements were planned but not utilised, probably as the vehicles already suffered greatly with slow speeds, beaching and mechanical wear.
Ultimately the first Tank had mixed results, awful reliability and little experience in how to effectively use them led to their first uses on the battlefields being quite difficult but at times they showed such promise that the Admiralties Landship secured it's place on the table. In time the crews who suffered greatly inside the hot hulls were able to learn how to better use the weapons even if those who gave the orders didn't always know how to better deploy them.
But again it's important to reiterate that the 'Tank' was not what we currently consider a true fighting vehicle, it was developed to assist infantry by breaking through barbwire, machine gun emplacements and breaching trenches which it did... On the occasions that it was pointing in the right direction and the engine was working. It also proved the validity of mechanised warfare and as engines improved so did mobility eventually taking the emphasis away from Trench warfare and changing the face of large scale war.
Type: Tank / Infantry support vehicle
Place of origin: United Kingdom
In service: 1916-1945(?)*
Designer: William Tritton, Major Walter Gordon Wilson, The Landships committee
Manufacturer: Various
Weight: 28t male, 27t female
Length: 7.75 m (25ft)
Width: 4.2 m (13ft 9in)
Height: 2.5 m (8ft 2in)
Crew: 8
Armour: 6-12mm steel, often non-hardened.
Main armament:
6 pounder cannons or 4 0.303 machine gunes
Engine: Daimler 16l 6 cylinder petrol (100bhp) Later Ricardo unit (150bhp)
Power/weight: lol
Suspension: none
Operational range: 40km
Speed: 3-4mph
*Some were found with soviet markings at the end of WW2 in Germany, its a bit of a mystery. We can only presume they broke down there.
