The British tank Mark I It was the first mass-produced armoured vehicle with tracks, and the first used in combat; it was used for the first time in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15-22 September 1916 - opening photo).
Of carts Mark I 150 examples were built, of which 75 were “male” (armed with cannons and machine guns) and 75 “female” (armed only with machine guns).
It is good to stress that the Mark I it comes from Big Willie, an experimental tank designed in 1915, which carried out its first tests in Lincoln (UK) in January 1916. The tests thrilled the military authorities present; in fact, a first order of 40 similar vehicles was immediately commissioned, named precisely Mark I.
It should also be noted that the Big Willie (photo below), later, was called The mother (the mother), as the “founder” of the entire British tank family.
As mentioned above, the initial order of tanks was for 40, later increased to 100 and finally to 150 units.
During the manufacturing process, some modifications occurred. The first concerned the steering system, composed of two steerable wheels installed on a sort of "tail" that extended the tank. Once it was seen that the use of these wheels presented numerous technical problems, and in particular their vulnerability to enemy fire was ascertained, they were replaced by a braking system that stopped one of the tracks.
At the same time, tanks were required whose armament consisted mainly of machine guns to effectively counter the enemy's response at close range once the trenches had been conquered. These new tanks, without wheels for steering and with only machine guns, were called "female"; 75 of them were built (as previously mentioned) based on the specifications for use which required that each tank armed with guns be followed by one armed with machine guns.
In Mark I “male” the guns were placed in protruding lateral casemates with a 120° sector for shooting. The crew consisted of 8 men: a commander, a driver, four gunners and two steering operators (with the task of braking one or the other of the tracks according to the driver's request).
From Mark I some wagons for the transport of men and materials and the first tracked self-propelled vehicles were derived, that is, wagons equipped with a 155 mm piece from which the wheels were removed. Mark I self-propelled gun, initially designed only for the transport of the cannon, was instead also used for fire actions.
After the baptism of fire in the battle of Flers-Courcelette, during which many Mark I they did not reach the objective due to mechanical problems or inexperience of the crew, the vehicle was used in other battles.
During the Battle of Messines Ridge (June 1917) the German army used the "K Bullet", a special anti-tank ammunition, quickly putting many vehicles out of action.
All this led to the rapid disappearance of the Mark I and of the two following specimens (the Mark ii and the Mark III); these were replaced by the Mark IV (much more powerful and better protected).
It is good to remember that with the Mark I the difference between “males” and “females” also ended; in fact, later “tanks adopted a multipurpose armament”. 1
Il Mark I had a total weight when fully loaded of 28 tons (the Mark I “female” approximately 27 tons), a total length of 9,8 meters (the “female” 8 meters) and a width of 4,1 meters.
The height was 2,5 meters, while the ground clearance was 0,42 meters.
The engine power was 105 hp; the tank could reach a maximum speed of 6 km/h, and had a range of about 45 km.
The front armor was 12 mm thick, the side armor was 8 mm thick, and the upper armor was 6 mm thick.
The tank could count on a crew of 8 men. The armament consisted of: 2 57/40 cannons and 4 7,62 caliber machine guns (the Mark I “female” 5 machine guns caliber 7,62).
1 See C. Falessi, B. Pafi, The Mark I, in Illustrated History, n°142, 1969, p.111
Photo: web
