Skeleton tank

Skeleton tank
Skeleton Tank preserved at Aberdeen Proving Ground
TypeExperimental Tank
Place of origin USA
Production history
ManufacturerPioneer Tractor Company
Produced1918
No. built1
Specifications
Mass18,000 lb (8,200 kg)
Length25 ft (7.6 m)
Width8 ft 5 in (2.57 m)
Height9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Crew2
Armor0.5 in (12.7 mm)
Main
armament
1 X .30 (7.62 mm) caliber machine gun
Engine2 X Beaver 4-cylinder
50 hp (37 kW)
SuspensionRigid frame tracks
Maximum speed 5 mph (8.0 km/h)
Bow of Skeleton Tank. Note boxy fighting compartment and machine gun turret.
Right side of Skeleton Tank showing use of iron pipes and plumbing connections to create lozenge or rhomboid shape for trench-crossing.
Rear of Skeleton Tank showing gearbox.

The Skeleton tank also known as the Spider tank was an experimental prototype tank built in 1918 by the Pioneer Tractor Company, Winona, Minnesota for $15,000 ($ 303,800 in 2024).[1][2] The prototype was ready for trials by October 1918.[3] Designed with several innovative features, some of which were controversial at the time, the Skeleton Tank project did not proceed beyond the single prototype.

  1. ^ Zaloga 2017, p. 6
  2. ^ Chamberlain & Ellis 1972
  3. ^ Moore 2017