Skeleton Tank

History of Skeleton Armor

Two major tank developments occurred in the battles of World War I (1914-1918): the British introduced their large trench-traversing monsters through their collection of diamond-shaped "landing ships", and the French developed the Renault FT- 17, a light combat vehicle whose primary armament is housed in a fully traversable turret. The Americans used both models when they entered the war in Europe in 1917, but soon began producing combat machines at home under various brands to meet wartime needs.

One of these ventures became the "Skull Tank," which was created in 1918 by the Winona, Minnesota-based Pioneer Tractor Company. The tank was modeled on the great British land ships, but with all possible weight removed to accommodate the production of what was essentially a "skeletal" landing ship. The U.S.

Army was so interested in the design that the service funded the project.

The structure includes iron tubes for support, fully exposed on the sides of the hull and between the two track and wheel components. Other structural components are made from less expensive and readily available wood.

The same upper and lower chain arrangement as the British type is, but the large crew seen in Landschiff is reduced to just two on the skeleton tank.

Reduced weight by retracting the structure, the Skeleton Tank was able to maintain the maneuverability of the lighter FT-17 tank and still traverse trench works across the European landscape. The skeleton tank of course maintained the correct length of 25 feet, and its total weight of 18,000 pounds was comparable to the FT-17's 14,330-pound payload. Power is provided by a pair of 4-cylinder Beaver-branded gasoline engines, each producing 50 horsepower.

The machine could only reach road speeds of 5 miles per hour, but was comparable to the main battle tanks of the time.

Internally, the fighting conditions for the two crew members were cramped, and they were housed in a lightly armored "box" (armor protection only up to 1/2 inch) in the design center. Sight slits are present, but situational awareness is still a circular superstructure that serves as a turret and is mounted on top of the main hull structure, this part holds a .30 caliber machine gun and serves as the primary weapon.

It is envisaged that skeleton tanks could be mass-produced in the US by the Americans and shipped to Europe in assembleable kits. The work will be carried out near France's contested front lines, after which the vehicles can go straight into battle.

However, the war ended with the surrender of Germany in November 1918, and the only complete example of skeletal armor is the entire remainder of the project.

In the absence of permanent wartime requirements, the Skeleton Tank was neither adopted nor produced, and the only experimental prototype ended its days at the US Army Proving Ground (Aberdeen, MD) as a display piece.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

Not available.

Changes