Überlandwagen

A7V
Type Supply carrier
Place of origin  Germany
Service history
In service September 1917 - November 1917
Used by  Germany
Wars World War I
Production history
Designer Joseph Vollmer
Designed 1916
Manufacturer Daimler-Benz
Number built 30
Specifications
Crew 2
Engine 2×Daimler 4-cylinder
200 hp (149 kW)
Suspension Holt track, vertical springs
Speed 13 km/h

The Überlandwagen ("Over-land vehicle") was a tracked supply carrier built on the chassis of the German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen tank. When the A7V was first designed, the design committee made allowance for the chassis to be fitted with an alternative load carrier body.

Description

The Überlandwagen shared a common chassis with the A7V tank, with suspension derived from the American Holt tractor and twin 100 hp Daimler engines centrally mounted. A driving position was sited above the engines on a platform, with dual sets of controls for driving in either direction to avoid the need to turn the vehicle. A canopy was fitted over the driving position, and wooden dropsides and ends were fitted at the front and rear of the vehicle. Some examples had rails added to support a tarpaulin over the load spaces. Towing hooks were fitted at both ends of the chassis.

The vehicle had a top speed of 13 km/h and was manned by a driver and an assistant.

Service

A production run of 30 Überlandwagens was projected, but not completed, before the end of the war. By the end of September 1917, an experimental transport column had been formed equipped with 8 Überlandwagens, the ArmeeKraftwagen-Kolonne-Raupe Nr 1111. It was despatched to Northern France in November 1917, and initial reports indicated that the vehicles worked well. They were used up until the end of the war, chiefly to transport general stores and ammunition up to front line positions.

Two lightly armoured vehicles resembling the A7V tank were constructed after the war, one of which was named "Hedi", which were used by government troops, or Freikorps, to quell civil unrest in Berlin in 1919. It is thought that they were constructed using Überlandwagen chassis.

References