Tank Mk IV

History of the Mk IV Tank

The British Navy - under the first Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill - created the "tank" (then called the "landing ship"). The development of the "Little Willie" prototype armored car gave way to the production-grade Mk I ("Big Willie") tank, of which 150 examples of this type were produced and used in the first World War I in September 1916 Recorded tank action.

This type has had limited success as it is easily pierced, vulnerable to artillery fire, and can snail at speeds of 3 to 4 miles per hour - the latter only on ideal surfaces . Instead, the vehicle was equipped with two guns to guide its occupants relatively safely from small arms fire, and could traverse trenches about 9 feet in diameter. Its initial use was a serious shock to the Germans, who allowed the British to gain territory against their historical enemies through psychology alone.

Over time, the Germans developed wider trenches, anti-tank trenches, strategically placed artillery and minefields, anti-tank rifles and armor-piercing machine gun ammunition to deter these steely beasts. The "Tank Mk II" was developed from the Tank Mk I and was a crew trainer, but even these entered service with about 50 examples completed and shipped to France. Like the tank Mk I before it, the "male" variant is a cannon marking, while the "female" variant is a machine gun armed marking designed to protect approaching males.

The Tank Mk II has a lot in common with the Tank Mk I, and the Tank Mk III is another premium trainer developed for it to share the capabilities of the upcoming Tank Mark IV series. Reserved for training from the start, the tank Mk III series never saw combat in World War I, and with the slow development of the tank Mk IV, the tank Mark III itself was slow to emerge in clear form.

Like Tank Mk II, 50 Tank Mk IIIs were produced.

On 20 November of that year, some 432 (some sources claim 476) tanks were in service during the Battle of Cambrai, including the Mk IV. At this point Mk I and Mk II have been converted to unarmed carriers. The Mk IV tanks were deployed on the Hindenburg Line near Cambrai, France, about 12 miles wide and 4 miles deep. Initial progress was good, with tanks in normal combat mode using "crawling" technology for a large artillery barrage, where the shells landed directly in front of the armored units.

The Allies managed to drive the Germans away, although the armored units slowed down the infantry, whose task was to clear every collapsed pocket of the enemy, trench by trench. German counterattacks were largely repelled by the presence of British tanks, but German defenses remained strong in key areas. As a result, the offense faltered and the Germans eventually fought back to regain their advantage, eventually repairing their broken line.

The battle continued until December 8 and ended in a stalemate. Of the 476 tanks used in the attack, 179 were destroyed, 65 of which were fired directly by the enemy, and 114 were killed due to terrain problems or mechanical failures.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the battle was the dominant role tanks played - they were no longer considered "support units".

At the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonne on April 24, 1918, Mk IV tanks accounted for half of the first tank-to-tank duels in the history of modern warfare. Three British Mk IV tanks collided with three lanky and bulky German Sturmpanzerwagen A7V armoured fighting vehicles. In the context of the fight, the engagement was rather disappointing, more or less a "draw".

About 15 German A7V vehicles participated in the initial assault on Allied positions at Bois d'Auenne, Villers-Bretonneux and Cachy to reach Amiens. Three of these vehicles were then committed to engaging Allied infantry at Ville-Bretonne, where they encountered three British Mk IV tanks sent to fortified positions. One Mk IV was a man with a cannon and the other two were women with machine guns.

The distance between the two sides is about 400 meters. The two sides began to exchange fire, and the Germans opened fire first. An A7V was hit directly and was disabled only when its driver overturned in the midst of intense action. Two Allied female Mk IVs were damaged and forced to flee.

Two more German A7Vs were subsequently damaged, but survived and attacked the last Mk IV. The second A7V was eventually abandoned by the crew as damage or mechanical failure forced the third A7V to flee.

At this point, the only remaining Mk IV remains the "winner" of the battle - thus ending the first "tank vs. tank" showdown.

The German tank program has never produced more A7Vs than mentioned above, and these are mobile "bunkers" with more armor, thanks to a truly valuable fighter. They were bulky and slow and had only modest success when used in the right tactical situations, but they deployed at 30mm thicker armour than the 12mm of the British Mk IV tanks. The German A7V can also be armed with the German equivalent of the 57mm gun, although all systems (steering, braking, mechanics, firing and machine guns) require the service of 18 personnel. Therefore, until the end of the war, production of this type was limited to 20 units. The Germans therefore used a certain number of obsolete or damaged Mk IVs over the course of the war, at least 40 Mk IVs were reused in this way and in German inventories as Beutepanzerwagen IVs ("4th Marked Captured Armoured Vehicles") , which essentially means "booty" or "booty").

Some replaced their British versions with German guns and were managed by an additional 12. Many of them became operational after December 1917, and the Wehrmacht was able to lead four full tank companies.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

184x57mm projectile.

Changes