| Mark V tank | |
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A British Mark V (Male) tank |
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| Service history | |
| In service | 1918–1945 |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Major Wilson |
| Designed | 1917 |
| Manufacturer | Metropolitan Carriage |
| Produced | 1917– June 1918 |
| Number built | 400 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | Male: 29 tons Female: 28 tons |
| Length | 26 ft 5 in (8.5 m) |
| Width | Male: 13 ft 6 inch (4.19 m) Female: 10 ft 6 in |
| Height | 2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)[1] |
| Crew | 8 (commander, driver, two gearsmen and four gunners) |
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| Armour | 14 mm (0.55 in) maximum |
| Main armament |
Male: Two 6 pdr 6 cwt QF with 207 rounds Female: Four .303 Vickers machine guns |
| Secondary armament |
Male: Four .303 in Hotchkiss Mk 1 Machine Gun Female: Two .303 in Hotchkiss machine guns |
| Engine | 19 litre six cylinder in-line Ricardo petrol engine 150 hp (110 kW) |
| Power/weight | Male: 5.2 hp/ton |
| Transmission | 4 forward 1 reverse, Wilson epicyclic in final drive |
| Fuel capacity | 100 imperial gallons (450 l) |
| Operational range |
45 mi (72 km) about 10 hours endurance |
| Speed | 5 mph (8.0 km/h) maximum |
| Steering system |
Wilson epicyclic steering |
The British Mark V tank[note 1] was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank, deployed in 1918 and saw action in the closing months of World War I and in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side.
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The Mark V was first intended to be a completely new design of tank, of which a wooden mock-up had been finished. However, when the new engine and transmission originally desired for the Mark IV became available in December 1917, the first more advanced Mark V design was abandoned for fear of disrupting the production run. The designation "Mark V" was switched to an improved version of the Mark IV, equipped with the new systems. The original design of the Mark IV was to be a large improvement on the Mark III but had been scaled back to be a mild improvement due to technical delays. The Mark V thus turned out very similar to the original design of the Mark IV - i.e. a greatly modified Mark III.
The Mark V had more power (150 bhp) from a new Ricardo engine. Use of Wilson's epicyclic steering gear meant that only a single driver was needed. On the roof towards the back of the tank behind the engine was a second raised cabin for a machine-gunner and the tank commander. The machine guns now fired through ball mounts rather than loopholes, giving better protection and a wider field of fire.
Four hundred were built, 200 each of Males and Females. Several were converted to Hermaphrodites by swapping sponsons to give a single 6-pounder gun for each. These are also sometimes known as "Mark V Composite".
The Mark V was a late participant in the First World War. It was first used in the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918 when 60 tanks contributed to a successful assault by Australian units on the German lines. A number saw service in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side. They participated in the British North Russia Campaign. Some saw service with the Estonian forces after Russian forces had to retreat into Estonia and be disarmed and were used until 1941. Mark Vs were also delivered to the French, Canadian and American armies.
Two Mark V tanks, one male, one female, can be seen in several photographs taken in Berlin in 1945 in front of the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).[2] It has been suggested this was a museum piece that had been previously displayed at the Lustgarten and it had been used as a static pillbox to help bolster the city's defences during Nazi Germany's final days. However, there is no evidence this was the case and it is not clear what role (if any) it played in the Battle of Berlin.
In 1917 Sir William Tritton developed the Tadpole Tail, an extension of the tracks to be fitted to the back of a tank to improve trench crossing abilities. This was necessary because the Hindenburg Line had 3.5 m (3.8 yd) wide trenches to stop the British tanks. When Major Philip Johnson of the Central Tank Corps Workshops heard of this project, he immediately understood that the weight of the heavy girders strengthening the attachment might be put to a better use by creating a larger tank. He cut a Mark IV in half and stretched the hull, lengthening it by six feet. When details had been forgotten, it was for a long time assumed that most Mark V* had been field conversions made by Johnson. It is now known that they were all factory-built. It had a larger "turret" on the roof and doors in the side of the hull. The weight was 33 tons. Of orders for 500 Males and 200 Females, 579 had been built by the Armistice – the order was completed by Metropolitan Carriage in March 1919.[3] The American 301st Heavy Tank Battalion was equipped with 19 Mark V and 21 Mark V* tanks in their first heavy tank action against the Hindenburg Line on 27 September 1918. Of the 21 Mark V* tanks, 9 were hit by artillery rounds (one totally destroyed), 2 hit British mines, 5 had mechanical problems, and 2 ditched in trenches. The battalion, however, did reach its objective.
The extra section was also designed to house a squad of infantry. This was the first ever purpose designed tracked armoured personnel carrier (APC), it was also the first APC to be significantly armed, as some earlier conversions of tanks into supply carriers lacked any armament. It could operate as a tank as well as carrying troops, and it was not until the post World War II era Merkava that a tank that could also carry troops under protection was produced.
Note: the asterisk (*) in early British tank designations was usually pronounced as "star" when spoken, e.g., Mark Five-star, or Mark Five-star-star, etc.
Because the Mark V* had been lengthened, its original length-width ratio had been spoiled. Lateral forces in a turn now became unacceptably high causing thrown tracks and an enormous turn circle. Therefore Major Wilson redesigned the track in May 1918, with a stronger curve to the lower run reducing ground contact (but increasing ground pressure as a trade-off) and the tracks widened to 26.5 inches. The Mark V engine was bored out to give 225 hp and sited further back in the hull. The cabin for the driver was combined with the commander's cabin; there now was a separate machine gun position in the back. Of a revised order for 700 tanks (150 Females and 550 Males) only 25 were built and only one of those by the end of 1918.[3]
See: Mark X.
During the Battle of Amiens in August 1918, several hundred Mark V tanks with the new Whippet tanks penetrated the German lines in a foretaste of modern armoured warfare.
Mark V tanks, acquired by the Red Army in the course of the Russian Civil War, were used in 1921 during the Red Army invasion of Georgia and contributed to the Soviet victory in the battle for Tbilisi.[4]
In 1945, at least two Mk V tank leftovers were used by German garrison in defense of Berlin. It's unknown whom the tanks were captured from. Both tanks were destroyed in the subsequent battle in Berlin.[5]
A few tanks were present at the Second Battle of Gaza in Palestine in 1917.
Eleven Mark V tanks survive. The majority are in Russia or Ukraine and are survivors of the tanks sent there to aid the White forces during the Russian Civil War.
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