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Mark VIII (tank)
Encyclopedia
The Tank Mark VIII or Liberty was an Anglo-American tank
design of the First World War. Initially intended to be a collaborative effort to equip France, the UK and the US with a single tank design, it did not come to fruition before the end of the war and only a few were produced.
was taxed to the limit. Of the Allies, only Great Britain and France had been major industrial nations in 1914 and the latter had lost 70% of its heavy industry
when the Germans overran that part of Lorraine
that they had not already occupied in 1871. The output
in Britain was limited by labour shortages and a rocketing national debt.
When the United States of America declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, many in Britain hoped this event would solve all these problems. The two men directly responsible for British tank production, Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt
and Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Gerald Stern
, initially considered sending a delegation to the United States immediately, to convince the new ally to start production of a British tank design. After some reflection they decided it was best to leave the initiative to the Americans. In June 1917 the first American approaches were made, but not by the US Army as they had expected. The US Navy wanted the most modern tanks for its US Marine Corps. At that moment the current British tank project was the Mark VI
. It was designed with existing British industrial capacity in mind, posing limits that might be overcome by larger American production facilities. Stern therefore pretended that an even more advanced project had already been in existence which he called the Mark VIII (there was also a much more conventional Mark VII project). He invited the Americans to participate and contribute as much as they would like to its design. Impressed by British hospitality and magnanimity the delegation returned to the States. The Navy was on the brink of sending a team of engineers to Britain when the American Department of War
was informed of developments by the US Military Attaché
in London. It ordered the project to be shifted to the Army and selected Major H. W. Alden to go to the UK to work with the design team at Dollis Hill
on the first drawings of the new tank. He arrived in London on the 3 October, to discover that a lot of design work had already been done by Lieutenant John G. Rackam, mainly influenced by the dismal conditions then encountered at the battlefield in Flanders
.
to divert all available tanks to the Army, leading to a conflict with the Navy (the first of many to come over this issue). This posed serious problems for the British government. It now seemed that American involvement in the war would mean a lesser number of tanks available for the British forces. Also on 4 February 1917 binding agreements had been made with the French about tank production. These had to be renegotiated.
The man to solve all these problems was again Albert Stern. Winston Churchill
, the new Minister of Munitions
, had just been forced to fire Stern as director of the Mechanical Supply Department because of his mistakes in handling the Mark IV project, leading to enormous production delays. He now appointed him International Commissioner for Mechanical Warfare. Stern went to France to meet the French Minister of Munitions, Louis Loucheur and the American C-in-C John Pershing. Loucheur made it clear from the beginning that France had nothing to offer in terms of existing production facilities. Even the French Renault FT-17
light tank could only be produced because of deliveries of British armour plate. This came as no surprise to Stern who had already prepared an International Plan of ten points (in fact a bilateral agreement between the USA and Britain) that he now managed to get accepted by the Americans and was submitted to Churchill on the 11 November. Its main points included (using the original terminology):
The plan already contained some specifications: the tank should have a 300 hp (220 kW) engine, weigh 38.8 tons (39.5 tonnes) and have a trench crossing capacity of 14 feet (4.3 m). Also the name of the tank was stated: the Liberty.
The first design conference took place on 4 December and Churchill approved the plan soon afterwards. It was made into a formal treaty signed by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour
and the US Ambassador Walter Hines Page
on 19 January 1918. The treaty specified the programme in great detail. The first 1,500 tanks had to be made by the end of the year and production should be expanded to 1,200 a month. Both goals were very ambitious given the fact there was neither a completed design nor a factory and that British tank production would in fact be 150 a month during 1918.
The United States would supply: the engine; radiator; fan; piping; silencer; lighting; dynamo; battery; propeller shaft; transmission, including gearbox; brakes; roller sprockets; gear shift and brake control; track links and pins; rear track sprockets, hub and shafts; front idler hub and shafts; track roller, track spindles and bushings.
Britain would supply: bullet and bomb-proof plates; structural members; track shoes and rollers; guns, machine guns and mountings; ammunition racks and ammunition.
The agreed price was to be £5,000 per vehicle.
In December 1917 Stern had ordered a halt to the Mark VI project ensuring that the Mark VIII would be the new standard Allied weapon: the International Tank.
The Mark VIII kept many of the general features of the Mark I-V series: it had their typical high track run and no revolving turret but two sponson
s, one on each side of the tank, armed with a 6-pounder (57 mm) gun
. But it also resembled the Mark VI-project in that it had more rounded and wider tracks and a large superstructure on top directly beneath the front of which the driver was seated. An innovative feature was the departure from the concept of the box tank with its single space into which all accessories were crammed. The Mark VIII was compartimentalised with a separate engine room at the back. This vastly improved fighting conditions as a bulkhead protected the crew against the deafening engine noise, noxious fumes and heat.
There were no machine guns in the sponsons, only the 6-pounders each manned by a gunner and loader. The side machine guns were to the rear of the sponsons mounted in the hull doors. Major Alden had designed the sponsons to be retractable (they could be swung in at the rear by the crew, being pivoted at the front), to reduce the width of the vehicle if enemy obstacles were encountered. Five more machine guns were in the superstructure: two at the front—left and right next to the driver—and one on each of the other sides. As there was no machine gun position covering the back of the tank there was a dead angle vulnerable to infantry attack. To solve this problem a triangular steel deflector plate was attached. The rear superstructure machine gunner could use it to deflect his fire down into that area behind the tank. The tank carried 208 shells and 13,848 machine gun rounds, mostly in a large ammunition locker in the centre which formed a platform on which the commander stood behind the driver observing the battlefield through a cupola
with four vision slits.
The twelfth crew member was the mechanic, seated next to the 300 hp V-12 Liberty engine. Three armoured fuel tanks at the rear held 200 Imperial gallons (909 litres) of fuel giving a range of 89 km. The transmission used a planetary gearbox giving two speeds in either forward or reverse. Top speed was 5.25 mph (8 km/h).
To improve its trench crossing ability to 4.88 m the vehicle had a very elongated shape. The track length was 34 ft 2 in (10.42 m) but even though the hull width was an impressive nominal 3.76 m, the actual length-width ratio of the tracks was very poor as that width included the sponsons. Combined with wide tracks it proved difficult to turn the tank. During testing many tracks twisted and broke in a turn and it was decided to use longer, stronger 13.25 inch (337 mm) links made of hardened cast armour plate, stiffened by webs formed by recesses in the track plate. Another effect of the narrow hull was that the fighting compartment was also very narrow . This was made worse by the fact that now the gap between the double track frames at each side was very wide; earlier types had only the tracks themselves widened. Nevertheless the tank was supposed to accommodate another twenty infantry men in full gear if necessary. In absolute terms the vehicle was very large: 3.13 m tall the Mark VIII was the second largest operational tank in history, after the Char 2C
. However its weight was only 37.6 metric tons as the armour plate was thin with a thickness of 16 mm—a slight improvement over the Mark V but very thin by later standards. The roof and bottom of the hull were protected by only 6 mm thick armour plate, leaving the tank very vulnerable to mortar shells
and landmines.
, contracting a British company. Far from producing its first tank in April, the factory was not even finished by June. The Americans then tried to find a producer in the USA, but failed. In August they contracted another British firm. It finished the factory in November, by which point the war had already ended – not a single tank would be built there.
There were also serious delays in the production of the components. The Liberty engine was redesigned to replace expensive steel parts with cheaper pig iron
. These redesigned engines were only produced in October. The British finished the prototype hull, made of unhardened steel, in July and sent it to the States. On arrival it transpired that no mass-produced parts were ready to finish the prototype, so the Locomobile Automobile Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut
made these all by hand, completing the first vehicle on the 28 September. Testing began on 31 October. Only then was the armament shipped from Britain, two guns and ten Hotchkiss machine gun
s.
Testing was finished after the war and it was decided to build 100 vehicles in the USA; these were constructed in 1919 and 1920 by the Rock Island Arsenal
for $35,000 each, using British armour plates.
Meanwhile the British government had decided to start production in Britain. One thousand five hundred vehicles were ordered from the North British Locomotive Company
, William Beardmore and Company
and Metropolitan, using a 300 hp (220 kW) V12 Ricardo
engine. Only the first managed to produce a prototype before the end of the war, testing it on the 11 November, the day of the Armistice
. From parts already produced a further 24 vehicles were completed after the war. Five were sent to the training centre at Bovington in Dorset, and the others went straight to the scrap dealer.
. The curious designation of the unit had its origin in the fact that since 1922 by law all tanks had to be part of the Infantry. The two machine gun positions at the sides of the superstructure were eliminated, so the crew could be reduced to ten. Water-cooled M1917 Browning machine guns were used. Despite many modifications the vehicles suffered from overheating and poor reliability, causing a prejudice in the Army against the use of heavy tanks. From 1932 onward they were phased out; all were in storage in 1934. In 1940 Canada had a lack of training tanks and bought most vehicles at scrap value.
The tank appearing in the 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
movie was a newly built replica vehicle made from an excavator
, following the hull shape of the Mark VIII but with a turret added.
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
design of the First World War. Initially intended to be a collaborative effort to equip France, the UK and the US with a single tank design, it did not come to fruition before the end of the war and only a few were produced.
Early development
As the First World War progressed, the industrial production capacity of the EntenteTriple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
was taxed to the limit. Of the Allies, only Great Britain and France had been major industrial nations in 1914 and the latter had lost 70% of its heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
when the Germans overran that part of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
that they had not already occupied in 1871. The output
Output
Output is the term denoting either an exit or changes which exit a system and which activate/modify a process. It is an abstract concept, used in the modeling, system design and system exploitation.-In control theory:...
in Britain was limited by labour shortages and a rocketing national debt.
When the United States of America declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, many in Britain hoped this event would solve all these problems. The two men directly responsible for British tank production, Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt
Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt
Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, 1st Baronet, KCB, FRS was a British naval architect and engineer. As Director of Naval Construction for the Royal Navy, 1912-24, he was responsible for the design and construction of some of the most famous British warships...
and Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Gerald Stern
Albert Gerald Stern
Sir Albert Gerald Stern was a banker who became the Secretary of the Landships Committee during World War I, where his organisational ability and influence in financial circles assisted the Committee in creating the first British tank....
, initially considered sending a delegation to the United States immediately, to convince the new ally to start production of a British tank design. After some reflection they decided it was best to leave the initiative to the Americans. In June 1917 the first American approaches were made, but not by the US Army as they had expected. The US Navy wanted the most modern tanks for its US Marine Corps. At that moment the current British tank project was the Mark VI
Mark VI (tank)
The Mark VI was a British heavy tank project from the First World War.After having made plans for the continued development of the Mark I into the Mark IV, the Tank Supply Committee in December 1916 ordered the design of two new types: the Mark V and the Mark VI...
. It was designed with existing British industrial capacity in mind, posing limits that might be overcome by larger American production facilities. Stern therefore pretended that an even more advanced project had already been in existence which he called the Mark VIII (there was also a much more conventional Mark VII project). He invited the Americans to participate and contribute as much as they would like to its design. Impressed by British hospitality and magnanimity the delegation returned to the States. The Navy was on the brink of sending a team of engineers to Britain when the American Department of War
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
was informed of developments by the US Military Attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
in London. It ordered the project to be shifted to the Army and selected Major H. W. Alden to go to the UK to work with the design team at Dollis Hill
Dollis Hill
Dollis Hill is an area of north-west London. It lies close to Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent. As a result, Dollis Hill is sometimes referred as being part of Willesden, especially by the national press...
on the first drawings of the new tank. He arrived in London on the 3 October, to discover that a lot of design work had already been done by Lieutenant John G. Rackam, mainly influenced by the dismal conditions then encountered at the battlefield in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
International Tank
The US Army had set up headquarters in France. It decided to form its own Tank Corps with 25 tank battalions including five Heavy Tank Battalions. To equip the heavy units Major James A. Drain ordered 600 Mark VI tanks in October 1917. It tried to convince the Department of WarUnited States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
to divert all available tanks to the Army, leading to a conflict with the Navy (the first of many to come over this issue). This posed serious problems for the British government. It now seemed that American involvement in the war would mean a lesser number of tanks available for the British forces. Also on 4 February 1917 binding agreements had been made with the French about tank production. These had to be renegotiated.
The man to solve all these problems was again Albert Stern. Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, the new Minister of Munitions
Minister of Munitions
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort...
, had just been forced to fire Stern as director of the Mechanical Supply Department because of his mistakes in handling the Mark IV project, leading to enormous production delays. He now appointed him International Commissioner for Mechanical Warfare. Stern went to France to meet the French Minister of Munitions, Louis Loucheur and the American C-in-C John Pershing. Loucheur made it clear from the beginning that France had nothing to offer in terms of existing production facilities. Even the French Renault FT-17
Renault FT-17
The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" , was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history...
light tank could only be produced because of deliveries of British armour plate. This came as no surprise to Stern who had already prepared an International Plan of ten points (in fact a bilateral agreement between the USA and Britain) that he now managed to get accepted by the Americans and was submitted to Churchill on the 11 November. Its main points included (using the original terminology):
- The incorporation of a partnership between the USA and Great Britain for the production of 1500 heavy tanks to be erected in France.
- The supply of a number of these tanks to France to further the higher purpose of Allied unity, should she require them (Britain hoped France would produce its own Char 2CChar 2CThe Char 2C was a French super-heavy tank developed, although never deployed, during World War I. It was the largest operational tank ever.-Development:...
in sufficient numbers, Loucheur already knew this was unlikely to happen). - France might supply an erecting shop, if convenient; in any case it might be wiser to build a new one (So a completely new factory would have to be built in France).
- A joint supply of components. Britain would supply guns, ammunition and armour; the USA engines, transmissions, forgings and chains (employing US car industry).
- The design would be based on British experience and American ideas and resources, and be superior in power, loading and trench crossing.
- Major Alden would finish the working drawings before Christmas enjoying full cooperation of the British; the design was to be approved by both nations.
- Unskilled labour would be provided by imported Chinese; the French government ensured their local accommodation.
- Production would begin in April 1918 and finally reach 300 a month (So the number of 1,500 was only preliminary).
- The project would have high priority.
- Management would be in the hands of two Commissioners, one British (Stern himself) and one American; but the French could appoint their own if their interests were concerned.
The plan already contained some specifications: the tank should have a 300 hp (220 kW) engine, weigh 38.8 tons (39.5 tonnes) and have a trench crossing capacity of 14 feet (4.3 m). Also the name of the tank was stated: the Liberty.
The first design conference took place on 4 December and Churchill approved the plan soon afterwards. It was made into a formal treaty signed by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
and the US Ambassador Walter Hines Page
Walter Hines Page
Walter Hines Page was an American journalist, publisher, and diplomat. He was the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I.-Biography:...
on 19 January 1918. The treaty specified the programme in great detail. The first 1,500 tanks had to be made by the end of the year and production should be expanded to 1,200 a month. Both goals were very ambitious given the fact there was neither a completed design nor a factory and that British tank production would in fact be 150 a month during 1918.
The United States would supply: the engine; radiator; fan; piping; silencer; lighting; dynamo; battery; propeller shaft; transmission, including gearbox; brakes; roller sprockets; gear shift and brake control; track links and pins; rear track sprockets, hub and shafts; front idler hub and shafts; track roller, track spindles and bushings.
Britain would supply: bullet and bomb-proof plates; structural members; track shoes and rollers; guns, machine guns and mountings; ammunition racks and ammunition.
The agreed price was to be £5,000 per vehicle.
In December 1917 Stern had ordered a halt to the Mark VI project ensuring that the Mark VIII would be the new standard Allied weapon: the International Tank.
Description
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
s, one on each side of the tank, armed with a 6-pounder (57 mm) gun
QF 6 pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss
The Ordnance QF 6 pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss Mk 1 and Mk 2 was a shortened version of the original QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss, and was developed specifically for use in the sponsons of the later Marks of British tanks in World War I, from Mark IV onwards.-History:...
. But it also resembled the Mark VI-project in that it had more rounded and wider tracks and a large superstructure on top directly beneath the front of which the driver was seated. An innovative feature was the departure from the concept of the box tank with its single space into which all accessories were crammed. The Mark VIII was compartimentalised with a separate engine room at the back. This vastly improved fighting conditions as a bulkhead protected the crew against the deafening engine noise, noxious fumes and heat.
There were no machine guns in the sponsons, only the 6-pounders each manned by a gunner and loader. The side machine guns were to the rear of the sponsons mounted in the hull doors. Major Alden had designed the sponsons to be retractable (they could be swung in at the rear by the crew, being pivoted at the front), to reduce the width of the vehicle if enemy obstacles were encountered. Five more machine guns were in the superstructure: two at the front—left and right next to the driver—and one on each of the other sides. As there was no machine gun position covering the back of the tank there was a dead angle vulnerable to infantry attack. To solve this problem a triangular steel deflector plate was attached. The rear superstructure machine gunner could use it to deflect his fire down into that area behind the tank. The tank carried 208 shells and 13,848 machine gun rounds, mostly in a large ammunition locker in the centre which formed a platform on which the commander stood behind the driver observing the battlefield through a cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
with four vision slits.
The twelfth crew member was the mechanic, seated next to the 300 hp V-12 Liberty engine. Three armoured fuel tanks at the rear held 200 Imperial gallons (909 litres) of fuel giving a range of 89 km. The transmission used a planetary gearbox giving two speeds in either forward or reverse. Top speed was 5.25 mph (8 km/h).
To improve its trench crossing ability to 4.88 m the vehicle had a very elongated shape. The track length was 34 ft 2 in (10.42 m) but even though the hull width was an impressive nominal 3.76 m, the actual length-width ratio of the tracks was very poor as that width included the sponsons. Combined with wide tracks it proved difficult to turn the tank. During testing many tracks twisted and broke in a turn and it was decided to use longer, stronger 13.25 inch (337 mm) links made of hardened cast armour plate, stiffened by webs formed by recesses in the track plate. Another effect of the narrow hull was that the fighting compartment was also very narrow . This was made worse by the fact that now the gap between the double track frames at each side was very wide; earlier types had only the tracks themselves widened. Nevertheless the tank was supposed to accommodate another twenty infantry men in full gear if necessary. In absolute terms the vehicle was very large: 3.13 m tall the Mark VIII was the second largest operational tank in history, after the Char 2C
Char 2C
The Char 2C was a French super-heavy tank developed, although never deployed, during World War I. It was the largest operational tank ever.-Development:...
. However its weight was only 37.6 metric tons as the armour plate was thin with a thickness of 16 mm—a slight improvement over the Mark V but very thin by later standards. The roof and bottom of the hull were protected by only 6 mm thick armour plate, leaving the tank very vulnerable to mortar shells
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
and landmines.
Production
The French government hoped to receive 700 Mark VIII's for free, as the French superheavy tank, the Char 2C, could not be produced in sufficient numbers, if at all. However, suffering from a lack of manpower and raw materials the French were not forthcoming in providing any facilities for the production of the International Tank. Soon the Americans decided to build a brand new assembly factory at Neuvy-PaillouxNeuvy-Pailloux
Neuvy-Pailloux is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...
, contracting a British company. Far from producing its first tank in April, the factory was not even finished by June. The Americans then tried to find a producer in the USA, but failed. In August they contracted another British firm. It finished the factory in November, by which point the war had already ended – not a single tank would be built there.
There were also serious delays in the production of the components. The Liberty engine was redesigned to replace expensive steel parts with cheaper pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
. These redesigned engines were only produced in October. The British finished the prototype hull, made of unhardened steel, in July and sent it to the States. On arrival it transpired that no mass-produced parts were ready to finish the prototype, so the Locomobile Automobile Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
made these all by hand, completing the first vehicle on the 28 September. Testing began on 31 October. Only then was the armament shipped from Britain, two guns and ten Hotchkiss machine gun
Hotchkiss machine gun
Hotchkiss machine gun:*Hotchkiss M1909, light machine gun also known as the "Hotchkiss Mark I" in British service*Hotchkiss M1914, medium machine gun*Hotchkiss M1922, light machine gun*13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun, heavy machine gun...
s.
Testing was finished after the war and it was decided to build 100 vehicles in the USA; these were constructed in 1919 and 1920 by the Rock Island Arsenal
Rock Island Arsenal
The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...
for $35,000 each, using British armour plates.
Meanwhile the British government had decided to start production in Britain. One thousand five hundred vehicles were ordered from the North British Locomotive Company
North British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...
, William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active between about 1890 and 1930 and at its peak employed about 40,000 people...
and Metropolitan, using a 300 hp (220 kW) V12 Ricardo
Harry Ricardo
Sir Harry Ricardo was one of the foremost engine designers and researchers in the early years of the development of the internal combustion engine....
engine. Only the first managed to produce a prototype before the end of the war, testing it on the 11 November, the day of the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
. From parts already produced a further 24 vehicles were completed after the war. Five were sent to the training centre at Bovington in Dorset, and the others went straight to the scrap dealer.
Mark VIII*
During 1918, the then prevalent preoccupation with trench crossing capabilities led to preparations being made for the production of an even longer tank: the Mark VIII* (Star). The hull was to be lengthened a full three meters: four feet (1.2 m) at the front and six feet (1.8 m) at the back. This way it should be able to cross a trench 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. To ensure that the tank could turn at all, despite its critically high length-width ratio, the bottom profile of the tracks would be more strongly curved, so that a smaller part of the track would touch the ground. Ground pressure would have increased however, as total weight reached 42.5 tons (43.2 tonnes). If the tank had sunk into soft ground somewhat, it's questionable whether it would have been able to make a turn. No prototype was built.Operational history
The American Liberty tanks equipped a single unit: the 67th Infantry (Tank) Regiment, based in Aberdeen, MarylandAberdeen, Maryland
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,842 people, 5,475 households, and 3,712 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,166.2 people per square mile . There were 5,894 housing units at an average density of 922.4 per square mile...
. The curious designation of the unit had its origin in the fact that since 1922 by law all tanks had to be part of the Infantry. The two machine gun positions at the sides of the superstructure were eliminated, so the crew could be reduced to ten. Water-cooled M1917 Browning machine guns were used. Despite many modifications the vehicles suffered from overheating and poor reliability, causing a prejudice in the Army against the use of heavy tanks. From 1932 onward they were phased out; all were in storage in 1934. In 1940 Canada had a lack of training tanks and bought most vehicles at scrap value.
Surviving Examples
- A Liberty tank survives at Fort MeadeFort George G. MeadeFort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation that includes the Defense Information School, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Courier Service...
in MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. The tank is displayed in the Post Museum and was made in 1920 at the Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. It was assigned to the 301st Tank Battalion (Heavy), later redesignated the 17th Tank Battalion (Heavy). Throughout most of 1921–1922, Major Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
commanded this unit.
- A second American vehicle was at the Aberdeen Proving GroundAberdeen Proving GroundAberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland, . Part of the facility is a census-designated place , which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census.- History :...
in AberdeenAberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
; it was moved to the National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia in 2010. http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=175157
- The British never allocated their Mark VIIIs to a tank unit; a single vehicle survives at the Bovington Tank MuseumBovington Tank MuseumThe Tank Museum is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles in the United Kingdom that traces the history of the tank. With almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the second-largest collection of tanks and armoured fighting vehicles in the world.The Musée des Blindés in France...
.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
movie was a newly built replica vehicle made from an excavator
Excavator
Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform . The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the...
, following the hull shape of the Mark VIII but with a turret added.