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zerokilleroppel · 6 years

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United Kingdom (1917-18) Heavy tank – Built Mk V 400, Mk V* 645, Mk V** 25

A Mark V**, featuring improved tracks, engine and other minor improvements. Only 25 were completed after the war.

The Tank Mark V was the last and largest British tank produced during the war. Born as a very advanced project, it ended up as an enhanced Mark IV. Together with its derivatives, the Mark V* and V**, around 1,070 were completed by March 1919.

A brand new design

The Mark IV was an efficient model, but many issues shown by war experience had still to be solved by mid-1917. A new design, studied by William Tritton, was ready within days, incorporating a set of brand new features, including a new hull, improved transmission, engine and steering system. But while a wooden mock-up was built, industrial priorities dictated a radical turn.

When it appeared that the new transmission and steering system originally planned for the Mark IV were ready for production, the War Cabinet decided to urgently built this improvement of the Mark IV, renamed Mark V. Some features of the original new design will be implemented in the post-war variants of the Mark V.

Mark V tank wooden mock-up ready for inspection 23rd June 1917 at the factory

The Mark V kept all the external features of the Mark IV including the hull, rollers and tracks in order not to disrupt production. However a new, more powerful drive-train and transmission were ready at the beginning of 1917 and tests ordered by William Stern were conducted on modified Mark IVs.

The easy way to identify a Mark V tank from a MkIV tank is that it has a rear commanders cab. This is missing from the wooden Mk V tank mock-up but a machine gun has been mounted in a smaller cab at the rear.

The hull was fitted with a second rear cabin with observation slits and hinged sides allowing the fitting of an unditching wooden beam. The rear part of the hull also received an additional machine-gun mount.

Production of the Mark V started at the Metropolitan Carriage and Wagon factory in the fall of 1917. The first batch arrived in France in May 1918, and total production was 400, of which 200 were male and 200 were female. The last were delivered by mid-1919.

The Mark V in Action

Only available in small quantities by mid-1918, the impact of the Mark V was not significant, but three months later, they were numerous enough to make a difference. The first major engagement was the battle of Hamel, on 7 July 1918, when 60 tanks led the victorious offensive of the Australian troops against the German lines.

A Mark V*, the main, lengthened variant of the Mark V, stretched by 1.82 m (6 feet) to cope with the large antitank trenches of the Hindenburg Line. Its lack of agility was a big issue.

After the armistice, 70 Mark V’s were given by the British government to the White Russian faction fighting against the Bolsheviks. But as the situation worsened, a growing number of captured Mark V’s took action under the red flag. There is no record of duels between red and white Mark V’s, but they ended as a substantial part of the Red Army and were thoroughly studied. They took part in several actions in 1921, including the battle of Tbilissi. Lithuanian and Latvian Mark V’s were still active in 1939.

Mk.V variants

Four variants were built during and after the war. The first was the famous “hermaphrodite”, a bunch of modified “females” to include a “male” artillery sponson. Apparently, some of the soldiers also called these “bastards”.

These mix type tanks were conceived in response to the growing number of captured German Mark I and IV tanks. The giant A7V was very rare at that time. The Mark V* or “star” was a lengthened (by six feet) version designed by Tritton during the fall of 1917, to deal with the Hindenburg line, and its very wide trenches (3.47 m/11.39 ft).

The Mark V was the last evolution of the Mark I lineage, the brainchild of William Tritton and Major Wilson. Here is a standard Mark V male, early production, May 1917. Notice the factory standard dark olive livery and the “eye” painted on the front, a reference to the “eyes” of ancient ships .

A camouflaged late Mark V hermaphrodite. On the other side, a machine-gun sponson was fitted. Multi-pattern liveries were applied on site, with provisional, regulated colors. White, pale blue, brown, dark grey, black, were commonly used in spotted patterns, with or without black borders (French 1918 standard livery). The last Mark Vs were delivered well after the armistice.

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