Mark V tank

Mark V tank
A British Mark V (Male) tank
TypeHeavy tank
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1918 – (last known) 1945[1][2]
WarsFirst World War
Russian Civil War
Second World War (unknown usage)
Production history
DesignerMajor W. G. Wilson
Designed1917
ManufacturerMetropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company, Birmingham, England
Produced1917 – June 1918
No. built400
Specifications
MassMale: 29 tons "battle weight"
Female: 28 tons[3]
Length26 ft 5 in (8 m)[3]
WidthMale: 13 ft 6 inch (4.1m)[3]
Female: 10 ft 6 in
Height2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)[4]
Crew8 (commander, driver, and six gunners)

Armour16 mm (0.63 in) maximum front
12 mm sides
8 mm roof and "belly"[3]
Main
armament
Male:

Two 6-pounder (57-mm) 6 cwt QF guns with 207 rounds;
four .303 in (7.7-mm) Hotchkiss Mk 1 Machine Gun
Female:

Six .303 in Hotchkiss Mk 1 Machine Gun
Engine19 litre six cylinder in-line Ricardo petrol engine
150 hp (110 kW) at 1200 rpm
Power/weightMale: 5.2 hp/ton[3]
Transmission4 forward 1 reverse, Wilson epicyclic in final drive
Fuel capacity93 imperial gallons (420 L)[3]
Operational
range
45 mi (72 km) radius of action[3] about 10 hours endurance
Maximum speed 5 mph (8.0 km/h) maximum
Steering
system
Wilson epicyclic steering

The British Mark V tank[a] was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank.

The tank was improved in several aspects over the Mark IV, chiefly the new steering system, transmission and 150 bhp engine, but it fell short in other areas, particularly its insufficient ventilation leading to carbon monoxide poisoning for the crew.[5] Various versions were fitted with a variety of armament including 6-pounder guns and machine guns.

It was first deployed in July 1918 on the Western Front at the Battle of Hamel; then at the Battle of Amiens, and on the Hindenburg Line during the closing months of World War I.

During the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side, four Mark Vs were delivered to Archangelsk, four to Tallinn, Estonia,[6] and around 70 were delivered to Novorossiysk in southern Russia. The survivors were captured and used by the Red Army.[7]

There were two main further variants, the lengthened Mark V* and a few Mark V**s with a more powerful engine and wider tracks. A planned Mark V*** was never built. There are eleven surviving Mark V tanks. The Mark VIII tank was an enlarged Mark V with greater power: only those with the Liberty engine saw post-war service in the US. A further unarmed development was the Mark IX tank, one of the first armoured personnel carriers, which saw limited use in Britain after the war.

In general the Mark V was successful, especially given its limited service history, and somewhat primitive design dating back to 1915.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fletcher, 47 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Narod, Beutepanzer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g AFV Profile No. 3 Tanks Marks I to V
  4. ^ Tank, Mark V (Male), Bovington Tank Museum
  5. ^ Fletcher, David. "Tank Chats #21 Mark V Tank". Youtube. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  6. ^ Bullock, David; Deryabin, Alexander (2003). Armored Units of the Russian Civil War: White and Allied. New Vanguard 83. illustrated by Alexei Aksenov. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 14–15.
  7. ^ Fletcher, David (2011). Mark V Tank. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 20–28.


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