Tank Warfare

arnhem44

The Tank was heralded as the new wonder weapon when it was introduced in September 1916 by the British,on its first outing the tanks advanced five kilometers,this really doesn't reflect that the tanks were really any good only that once seen by the German army that they fled in terror,the Germans themselves only introduced there own version of a tank the A7V in 1917,a large cumbersome looking thing to be honest.Other countries also followed suit after the British,the French Renault FT emerged with a rotating turret which has been credited with been the best tank of the war by many,the Americans also used tanks but the biggest and strangest looking tank that never made it into service was a Russian tank.These tanks were poorly armoured and the crews often suffered terrible deaths.The question is were tanks of any real use at the time,did they succeed in doing much merely only to frighten the enemy or in ye're own view did they play a bigger role?


Below is a selection of tanks used during the war



U.S tank

U.S tanks on a train

Russian Tank

Tank Stables

MK 4 German Tank

Renault FT

Sturmpanzerwagen A7V

Tank factory

More FT's

A7V Diagram

German tank hunting

Manic Moran

You're not giving the French quite enough credit. They started their tank development in parallel with, not after, the British, and the Schneider tank started deliveries in Feb 1916, about a half-year before the British Mk I.

The question is were tanks of any real use at the time,did they succeed in doing much merely only to frighten the enemy or in ye're own view did they play a bigger role?

They provided the only realistic way of breaking the machinegun stalemate.

NTM

bigeasyeah

They werent fully utilised during WW1.Many in the British Military hierarchy viewed them with suspicion and didnt like the fact they were an efficent replacement for cavalry.
Even after the war there existed a debate over the usefulness of the tank.
The role of tank,whether intentionally or not, was to provide protection for troops to get near enough to the enemy positions to be able to fight.Previously they were subjected to withering machine gun fire and obstacles such as barbed wire and hazardous terrain.

Morlar

That diagram of the interior of the tank is pretty mind blowing if you ask me.

I remember seeing pictures years ago of the men in the tanks releasing what looked like doves. It was a surreal photograph until you realise they were homing pidgeons and that was how they communicated - homing pidgeon from tank to the command hq then back again. It was bizzare to see a little pidgeon entrance on the side of a monster tank like that!

The debate about tank warfare and it's origins in WWI is interesting and one I would like to learn more about.

I don't think anyone really utilised them to their full potential for many reasons (to the point where one army had a significant overall advantage over another). It is amazing to think those FT's also littered the battle fields of WWII - also the difference in a mere 30 yrs or so of tank design from the above monsters to the panthers and King Tigers etc.

arnhem44

You're not giving the French quite enough credit. They started their tank development in parallel with, not after, the British, and the Schneider tank started deliveries in Feb 1916, about a half-year before the British Mk I.

What I meant and should of made it more clear maybe that other tanks did not appear on the battlefield till after the British,the Schneider tank did not appear till April 1917 on a battlefield although had been in development and manufacture from 1915,as for a way of breaking through lines I would agree with this to a certain point,the Germans were quick to learn that these early tanks had been poorly armoured and the crews were very vunerable to attacks by armour piercing rounds,only when they were used in large numbers were they really effective and many were captured and used by the opposing sides,the speed of the tank was another factor leaving them open for any artillery fire.

ttm

You should read Robert Kershaws Tank Men . Check out the Amazon reviews. Excellent book that covers the inital battles of the First World war (onwards) from the point of actual crews.

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GA361

I don't think the tank was not as devestating as it could have been in WW1 because at the time it was,in all seriousness,still a development in process.There were alot of problems associated with them which had to iron out,For example the first tank that was taken out of the factory was built September 8 1915 and the tracks fell off September 10. The tank was quickly repaired and was demonstrated again in front of officials a few days later, where it broke down again. Although fortunately they saw the potential in the tank and let them continue its development.

Another problem that was found with early tanks that they were often found to be extremely unreliable. It was commonplace for them to brake down, or become stick in a muddy trench or become "ditched" as the soldiers called it. Also the inside of the tanks were extremely hot and to make matters worse the fumes given off from it nearly choked them. Soldiers that operated them also said that they were ammunition hungry.

But because tanks had so much 'potential',alot of research and development was carried out in the inter-war period to perfect them and the were used with devestaing effect in WW2".Eg,Battle of the Kursk

arnhem44

I wonder did it take much convincing,those generals had so much faith in cavalry and infantry alone

citizen_p

heres another pic of renault ft 17's from my collection.


used up until ww2...

that small pic of a russian tank is very odd... i see they went away from the conventional