Little Willie

50°41′39″N 2°14′35″W / 50.69430°N 2.24317°W / 50.69430; -2.24317

Little Willie
Little Willie at the Tank Museum, Bovington (2006)
Type	Prototype tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	N/A
Production history
Designed	July 1915
Manufacturer	Fosters of Lincoln
Produced	August–September 1915
No. built	1
Specifications
Mass	16.5 tonnes (16.2 long tons; 18.2 short tons)
Length	19 ft 3 in (5.87 m) 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) inc. rear steering wheels
Width	9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)
Height	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) to top of hull 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) to top of turret
Crew	(Projected) 6
Main armament	(Projected) Vickers 2-pounder (40 mm) gun
Secondary armament	(Projected) Various suggestions of Maxim, Hotchkiss, Lewis, or Madsen machine guns
Engine	Foster-Daimler Knight sleeve valve petrol 105 hp (78 kW)
Power/weight	6 hp/tonne (4.5 kW/tonne)
Transmission	Two-speed forwards, one reverse final drive by Renolds chains
Suspension	Unsprung
Maximum speed	2 mph (3.2 km/h)

Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history. Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum, Bovington, England.