Mark V (tank)

Mark V tank
A British Mark V (Male) tank
Type	Tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1918 – (last known)1945
Wars	First World War Russian Civil War Second World War (minimal)
Production history
Designer	Major Walter Gordon Wilson
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd., Birmingham, UK.
Produced	1917 – June 1918
No. built	400
Specifications
Weight	Male: 29 tons "battle weight" Female: 28 tons
Length	26 ft 5 in (8.5 m)
Width	Male: 12 ft 10 inch Female: 10 ft 6 in
Height	2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)
Crew	8 (commander, driver, and six gunners)
Armour	16 mm (0.63 in) maximum front 12 mm sides 8 mm roof and "belly"
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
Transmission	4 forward 1 reverse, Wilson epicyclic in final drive
Fuel capacity	93 imperial gallons (420 l)
Operational range	45 mi (72 km) radius of action about 10 hours endurance
Speed	5 mph (8.0 km/h) maximum
Steering system	Wilson epicyclic steering

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:

The British Mark V tank was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank. It was first deployed in 1918, used in action during the closing months of World War I, and in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side, and by the Red Army, after they were captured. The tank was improved in several aspects, chiefly the new steering system and engine, but it fell short in other areas such as mechanical reliability, and its insufficient ventilation. . However, Mark V was successful, especially given its limited service history, and primitive design.

The Mark V was, at first, intended to be a completely new design of tank, of which a wooden mock-up had been completed; however, when the new engine and transmission originally planned for the Mark IV became available in December 1917, the first, more advanced Mark V design was abandoned to avoid disrupting production. The designation "Mark V" was switched to an improved version of the Mark IV, equipped with the new systems. The original design of the Mark IV was to have been a large improvement on the Mark III, but had been scaled back due to technical delays. The Mark V thus turned out very similar to the original design of the Mark IV – i.e. a greatly modified Mark III.

Production of the Mark V started at Metropolitan Carriage and Wagon at the end of 1917; the first tanks arrived in France in May 1918. Four hundred were built, 200 Males and Females; the "Males" armed with 6-pounder (57 mm) guns and machine guns, the "Females" with machine guns only. Several were converted to Hermaphrodites (sometimes known as "Mark V Composite") by fitting one male and one female sponson. This measure was intended to ensure that female tanks would not be outgunned when faced with captured British male tanks in German use, or the Germans' own A7V.

The Mark V was to be followed by the more advanced Tank Mark VI, but this was abandoned in December 1917, to ensure sufficient production by British, American, and French factories of the Tank Mark VIII for a planned 1919 offensive. However, the war ended in November 1918, and few Mark VIIIs would be built (most of those completed in Britain were immediately scrapped). The Mark V was also the basis of the Mk IX Troop Carrier, a dedicated Armoured Personnel Carrier, but only 34 were completed by the end of the war. After the war, most of the British Army's tank units were disbanded, leaving five tank battalions equipped with either the Mark V or the Medium Mark C. The British Army's interest shifted more to lighter, faster tanks, and the Mark V was partially replaced by the Vickers Medium Mark I during the mid-1920s. Although the Vickers Medium Mark I was heavier Vickers A1E1 Independent reached prototype stage in 1926, but it was abandoned for lack of funds. The remaining Mark Vs appear to have been replaced by medium tanks by the end of the decade.