Mark V tank

Mark V tank
A British Mark V (Male) tank
Type	Heavy tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1918 – (last known) 1945[1][2]
Wars	First World War Russian Civil War Second World War (unknown usage)
Production history
Designer	Major W. G. Wilson
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company, Birmingham, England
Produced	1917 – June 1918
No. built	400
Specifications
Mass	Male: 29 tons "battle weight" Female: 28 tons[3]
Length	26 ft 5 in (8 m)[3]
Width	Male: 13 ft 6 inch (4.1m)[3] Female: 10 ft 6 in
Height	2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)[4]
Crew	8 (commander, driver, and six gunners)
Armour	16 mm (0.63 in) maximum front 12 mm sides 8 mm roof and "belly"[3]
Main armament	Male: Two 6-pounder (57-mm) 6 cwt QF guns with 207 rounds; four .303 in (7.7-mm) Hotchkiss Mk 1 Machine Gun Female: Six .303 in Hotchkiss Mk 1 Machine Gun
Engine	19 litre six cylinder in-line Ricardo petrol engine 150 hp (110 kW) at 1200 rpm
Power/weight	Male: 5.2 hp/ton[3]
Transmission	4 forward 1 reverse, Wilson epicyclic in final drive
Fuel capacity	93 imperial gallons (420 L)[3]
Operational range	45 mi (72 km) radius of action[3] about 10 hours endurance
Maximum speed	5 mph (8.0 km/h) maximum
Steering system	Wilson epicyclic steering

The British Mark V tank^[a] was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank.

The tank was improved in several aspects over the Mark IV, chiefly the new steering system, transmission and 150 bhp engine, but it fell short in other areas, particularly its insufficient ventilation leading to carbon monoxide poisoning for the crew.^[5] Various versions were fitted with a variety of armament including 6-pounder guns and machine guns.

It was first deployed in July 1918 on the Western Front at the Battle of Hamel; then at the Battle of Amiens, and on the Hindenburg Line during the closing months of World War I.

During the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side, four Mark Vs were delivered to Archangelsk, four to Tallinn, Estonia,^[6] and around 70 were delivered to Novorossiysk in southern Russia. The survivors were captured and used by the Red Army.^[7]

There were two main further variants, the lengthened Mark V* and a few Mark V**s with a more powerful engine and wider tracks. A planned Mark V*** was never built. There are eleven surviving Mark V tanks. The Mark VIII tank was an enlarged Mark V with greater power: only those with the Liberty engine saw post-war service in the US. A further unarmed development was the Mark IX tank, one of the first armoured personnel carriers, which saw limited use in Britain after the war.

In general the Mark V was successful, especially given its limited service history, and somewhat primitive design dating back to 1915.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).