After the Flers-Courcelette battle, where the Mark I appeared on the front in September 1916, it was decided to continue to use the new weapon called 'tank', but only after improving the model. So the already ordered next 100 exemplaries were modified and used in the British Army as the Mark IIs and Mark IIIs. The main change was to drop the rear wheels supposed to aid the steering but of not much use. The tanks were still under-armoured but were nonetheless launched in the inferno of the Ypres battle in April 1917. Meanwhile, under the guidance of Major Wilson and William Tritton, the Mark IV was designed incorporating many improvements. If the silhouette was familiar, with a rhomboid shape and side sponsons, the armour thickness was brought to 16 mm on the front and 8 mm on the sides and roof. On the male tanks, the 57mm gun barrel was shortened to improve the cross-country capability and 3 MGs were added for close protection. They were at first no more Hotchkiss but Lewis models, but those proved to produce too much smoke and the designers quickly reverted to Hotchkiss. The female were equipped with just 5 MGs.
Download from (hotfile.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment