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55-525: The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I . One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat, as well as being

110-451: A tank gun 's range, and sheer armour mass was no longer a guarantee of survivability against the largest HEAT warheads of tank guns or missiles. Chamberlain, Peter; Ellis, Chris (1981) [1969], British and American Tanks of World War II , Arco Publishing Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , interwar period Background: History of

165-614: A 57 mm before entering service. Number 501, Gretchen , took part in the action at St. Quentin before her 57 mm was fitted. The A7V carried between 40 and 60 cartridge belts for its machine guns, each of 250 rounds, giving it a total of 10,000 to 15,000 rounds. Officially, it carried 180 shells for the 57 mm gun, of which 90 were canister , 54 were armor-piercing , and 36 were high-explosive ; in practice, however, A7V crews stowed up to 300 57 mm rounds for combat. Power came from two centrally mounted Daimler 4-cylinder petrol engines delivering 75 kW (101 hp) each;

220-491: A canister round are the 76 mm and 105 mm tank guns and the 120 mm MOBAT and WOMBAT recoilless anti-tank guns. Shrapnel shells—named for the inventor, British artillery officer Henry Shrapnel —were developed from canister during the Napoleonic Wars and were intended to deliver the same canister effect, but at much longer ranges. As a result, its early designation was "spherical case shot". Instead of

275-646: A canister round, the M1028, for the M1 Abrams ' 120 mm smoothbore gun in time for the 2003 invasion of Iraq . The effect is to turn a large-caliber gun on an armored fighting vehicle into a giant shotgun . This can be used against enemy infantry even when in proximity to friendly armoured vehicles, as the projectiles do not penetrate armour. In addition it can be used to create entry points to buildings, reduce wire obstacles and clear heavy vegetation, as well as strike low flying aircraft and helicopters. At times when

330-598: A cannon at the front and rear as well as several machine-guns, and reach a top speed of at least 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph). The running gear was based on the American Holt tractor , copied from examples loaned by the Austro-Hungarian Army . After initial plans were shared with the army in December 1916, the design was extended to be a universal chassis that could be used as a base for both

385-625: A depression. Canister shot was also used to good effect by U.S. Marine 37 mm anti-tank guns in World War II to break up Japanese banzai charges . During the Korean War United Nations tanks experienced close-range massed infantry attacks from Communist forces. As a consequence a canister-type tank round was introduced to "sweep" enemy infantry off friendly tanks without harming friendly tank crews, who were behind canister-proof armor. UK weapons known to have fielded

440-552: A group of Whippet tanks and destroyed one of them. A counterattack later re-established the Allied line, by which time three A7Vs were out of action in No Man's Land or behind German lines. Nixe was badly damaged, and a German team destroyed it with explosive charges during the night of the 24th. Elfriede had overturned; it was righted and recovered from No Man's Land three weeks later by French troops and British tanks, and handed over to

495-509: A heavy tank force and did not want to compromise its 4,800 km (3,000 miles) supply line to Europe. The M6 heavy tank was designed in 1940 but held few advantages over medium tanks and planned production of several thousand was stopped. The Anglo-American T14 heavy tank project started in 1941 did not deliver a pilot model until 1944. The US preferred to use tank destroyers (mobile but relatively lightly armoured vehicles) for anti-tank defence, and prior to 1944 there were few indications that

550-507: A tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen ("over-land vehicle") cargo carriers. The first prototype was completed by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft at Berlin-Marienfelde and tested on 30 April 1917. A wooden mockup of a final version was completed in May 1917 and demonstrated in Mainz with 10 tons of ballast to simulate the weight of the armor. During final design, the rear-facing cannon was removed and

605-495: A tin can filled with metal balls, the shrapnel shells carry a small powder charge to break open the case and disperse the shrapnel. Grapeshot was a geometric arrangement of round shot packed tightly into a canvas bag and separated from the gunpowder charge by a metal disk of full bore diameter. Grapeshot used fewer but larger projectiles than were contained within canister or shrapnel shells. Case shot broadly describes any multi-projectile artillery ammunition. The canister round

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660-588: Is no known official record or photographic evidence of A7Vs in Polish service. The design of the A7V is featured on the 1921 Tank Memorial Badge, awarded to German veterans of World War I who served as tank crewmen. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Drawings for two improved designs were prepared, but the war ended before any were produced. Thirty chassis were assigned for completion as Überlandwagen supply carriers, but not all were completed before

715-431: Is still used today in modern artillery. Canister shot consists of a closed metal cylinder typically loosely filled with round lead or iron balls packed with sawdust to add more solidity and cohesion to the mass and to prevent the balls from crowding each other when the round was fired. The canister itself was usually made of tin , often dipped in a lacquer of beeswax diluted with turpentine to prevent corrosion of

770-719: The Battle of Brice's Cross Roads the Confederates used this method. At times, trained artillerists would fire the canister shot towards the ground in front of advancing enemy troops, causing the conical pattern to flatten out as the balls ricocheted and skipped off the terrain. This in effect widened the killing zone. An example of this tactic was on the first day of Gettysburg , where Lt. James Stewart's Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery on Seminary Ridge skipped canister shot at Alfred M. Scales 's approaching Confederate infantry , breaking up their attack and forcing them to take cover in

825-467: The Interwar period , these larger vehicles with stronger defensive and offensive capabilities became known as "heavy" tanks. Heavy tanks had gradually progressed from their trench warfare and bunker destroying role to dedicated anti-tank purposes by the onset of World War II . Heavy tanks saw limited deployment by France at the beginning of the war, and were only ever used in conflict by Nazi Germany and

880-679: The Second Battle of the Marne ), the Germans put eight A7Vs and 20 captured Mk IVs against the French lines. Although 10 of the Mk IVs were lost in this action, no A7Vs were lost. The final use in World War I of A7Vs was in a small but successful action on 11 October 1918, near Iwuy . Germany did not consider the A7V a success and planned other designs. However, the end of the war meant none of

935-649: The St. Quentin Canal . Three of the A7Vs suffered mechanical failures before they entered combat; the remaining pair helped stop a minor British breakthrough in the area, but otherwise saw little combat that day. Three detachments ( Abteilungen ) of tanks were assigned to an attack in April 1918 at Villers-Bretonneux at the head of the four German divisions spread over a 6.4-kilometre (4 mi) front. Two tanks broke down en route, but

990-808: The T28 GMC and ' Tortoise ' had casement designs and weighed around 80 tonnes but did not enter service. The immediate post-war period saw the final fielding of heavy tanks, including the US M103 heavy tank , the British FV214 Conqueror , and the French ARL 44 (in very limited numbers for the ARL 44), all in response to the Soviet heavy tanks of the period . The largest tank guns were approaching maximum calibre whose shell could still be handled by

1045-508: The 13 that saw action achieved some success, and the British recorded that their lines were broken by the tanks. The first and second tank-against-tank combat in history took place on 24 April 1918 when three A7Vs (including chassis number 561, known as Nixe ) taking part in an attack with infantry incidentally met three British Mark IVs (two female machine gun-armed tanks and one male with two 6-pounder guns ) near Villers-Bretonneux. During

1100-454: The A7V carried 500 litres (110 imp gal; 130 US gal) of fuel. The top speed was about 15 km/h (9.3 mph) on roads and 5 km/h (3.1 mph) across country. The 24 wheel suspension was individually sprung – an advantage over the unsprung British tanks. The A7V's power-to-weight ratio was 5.1 kW/ton (6.8 hp/ton), it could cross trenches up to 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) wide, and its ground clearance

1155-463: The A7V. In contrast, the French produced over 3,600 of their light Renault FT , the most numerous tank of World War I, and the British over 2,500 of their Mark I, II, III, IV, V, and V* heavy tanks. Two vehicles closely resembling the A7V, one of which was named Hedi , were among several used by Kokampf , a Freikorps tank unit, to quell civil unrest in Berlin in 1919. They were constructed using

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1210-576: The French for examination. Mephisto lay stuck in a crater behind German lines for almost three months. After the area was taken by Australian troops, in July, the tank was towed to the rear by British tanks and, eventually, transported to Australia. In May, A7Vs were used with limited success in an attack on the French near Soissons , during the Third Battle of the Aisne . On 15 July, at Reims (during

1265-643: The German Tiger I and Tiger II designs, or the Russian KV and IS designs. Heavy tanks feature very heavy armor and weapons relative to lighter tanks. Many heavy tanks shared components with lighter tanks. For example, the US M103 heavy tank shared many components with the lighter Patton tank , including transmission and engine. As a result, they tend to be either underpowered and comparatively slow, or have engine and drive train reliability issues. In case of an entirely new design development, which

1320-584: The Soviet IS series . Note that "heavy" versus "medium" is more a question of tactical roles than weight; the Panther , for example, was a "medium" tank that outweighed most Allied "heavy" tanks. American forces rarely fielded heavy tanks, as they still held on to the infantry-support doctrine like the British; in addition, the Americans recognized the logistical and mobility issues that came with possessing

1375-605: The US M4 Sherman was outclassed in terms of armor and weapons by German heavy tanks which were few in number. Near the end of World War II, a few early model M26 Pershings were sent to Europe to gain combat experience. Aside from these the closest the Americans came to putting a heavy tank into service were up-armored M4 Sherman "Jumbos" which were used as assault guns . Both the US and UK developed very well-armoured and armed tanks intended for assaulting heavily defended areas -

1430-565: The USSR from about 1943 to the war's end. This tank type remained a decisive factor in the early years of the Cold War. The purpose of heavies would not change until their replacement by the main battle tank . Often referred to as MBTs, these designs effectively filled all roles required by armies, thus rendering more specialized designs obsolete. The first British tank, the Mark I of World War I,

1485-446: The auspices of its Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, Section 7, Transportation"), to investigate tank development. The project to design and build the first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer , one of Germany's foremost automobile designers. It was to weigh around 30 tons, be capable of crossing ditches up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) wide, have armament including

1540-461: The battle, tanks on both sides were damaged. According to the British lead tank commander, Second Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, the female Mk IVs fell back after being damaged by armour-piercing bullets. They were unable to damage the A7Vs with their own machine guns. Mitchell then attacked the lead German tank, commanded by Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Biltz , with the 6-pounders of his own tank and knocked it out. He hit it three times, and killed five of

1595-525: The cannon. Various types of canister were devised for specific models of artillery field pieces. In 1753, the " secret howitzer ", a special gun with an oval bore—intended to spread shot even wider—was briefly introduced into Russian service, but ultimately proved unsuccessful. The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich, London, holds examples of two early 18th century experimental French wide bore cannon—flattened tubes intended to scatter canister wide but in one horizontal plane. The United States Army developed

1650-495: The chassis from Überlandwagen and armed with four MG08/15 machine guns. It is not known whether the vehicles were armour-plated. There is a popular myth that France handed over several A7Vs to Polish forces, which used them during the Polish–Soviet War in 1919–1920. However, reliable sources dismiss the idea because the fate of each A7V that saw service in World War I is known and includes no transfers to Poland and there

1705-477: The crew when they bailed out. He stated that he then went on to rout some infantry with case shot . The two remaining A7Vs in turn withdrew. As Mitchell's tank withdrew from action, seven British Whippet tanks also engaged the German infantry. Three of these were knocked out in the battle, and it is unclear if any of them engaged the retreating German tanks but they did carry out an attack on two German battalions in

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1760-403: The crew, even using awkward two-part ammunition (separate projectile and propellant case, similar to battleship guns), which greatly slowed their rate of fire. Thanks to improved shell designs and fire control technology improving accuracy, postwar medium tanks were catching up to heavy tanks in firepower. The tactical value of heavy tanks thus declined to the point that no new designs were fielded;

1815-521: The end of the war. The only surviving A7V is Mephisto , which was abandoned by its crew during the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918. It was recovered three months later by British and Australian troops, and taken to Australia in 1919 as a trophy. The vehicle stood outside the old Queensland Museum in Bowen Hills, Brisbane , under an open-sided shelter for many years until being moved into

1870-598: The first operational German Tank. It was developed as a response to British tanks. Although the A7V is generally considered to be better designed compared to its counterparts , it struggled to procure high production numbers due to its relative complexity and high cost. After the first British tanks appeared on the Western Front , in September 1916, the German War Ministry formed a committee, under

1925-487: The gun tube and fired simultaneously using a single charge. At the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, Mercer's Troop , Royal Horse Artillery , fired a roundshot and a canister from each gun as a double-shot. The roundshot was loaded first with the canister on top. Canister played a key role for Union forces during their defeat of Confederate troops in Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. In 1864 at

1980-675: The heavily armed mediums came to be known as the main battle tank (MBT). Doctrine held that less expensive self-propelled artillery could serve in the infantry support role. The weight of MBTs quickly increased during the Cold War , and most third generation MBTs including the M1 Abrams , Challenger 2 , Leopard 2 , Merkava , Arjun MBT , and Type 99 have weights similar to those of 1950s heavy tanks. Older heavy tanks with steel armour were rendered obsolete by anti-tank guided missiles and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ammunition. The much more flexible missiles are effective at ranges beyond

2035-417: The metal. Iron was substituted for tin for larger-caliber guns. The ends of the canister were closed with wooden or metal disks. A cloth cartridge bag containing the round's gunpowder used to fire the canister from the gun barrel could be attached to the back of the metal canister for smaller caliber cannon. A sabot of wood, metal, or similar material was sometimes used to help the round during firing from

2090-835: The new Queensland Museum on Southbank in 1986. It was damaged by floodwater in 2011, and taken for restoration to the Workshops Rail Museum , North Ipswich, Queensland. After restoration it was displayed at the Australian War Memorial , Canberra , from 2015 until 2017. It has now been returned to the Queensland Museum. The cannon from A7V 504 Schnuck is on display at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester . There are numerous modern replicas, made to look like

2145-564: The number of machine-guns was increased to six. The first pre-production A7V was produced in September 1917, followed by the first production model in October 1917. The tanks were given to Assault Tank Units 1 and 2, founded on 20 September 1917, each with five officers and 109 non-commissioned officers and soldiers. The tank's name was derived from that of its parent organization, Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 (Verkehrswesen) (General War Department, Section 7, Transport). In German,

2200-500: The open to the rear causing them to break and flee. Mitchell's tank lost a track towards the end of the battle due to damage from an exploding mortar shell and was abandoned. The damaged A7V limped back to the German lines, but eventually broke down. It was later destroyed by a German demolition squad, to prevent its capture and reuse by the Allies. During the same day however, another tank-against-tank fight took place where an A7V engaged

2255-408: The original, many made of wood and modern materials: Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Heavy tank Heavy tanks achieved their greatest, albeit limited, success when fighting lighter tanks and destroying fortifications. Heavy tanks often saw limited combat in their intended roles, instead becoming mobile pillboxes or defensive positions, such as

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2310-492: The other tanks in development or planned ones – such as the Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien and the 120-ton K-Wagen – would be finished. With only 20 produced, the A7V made only a very minor contribution to the German war effort in World War I, and the approximately 50 captured British Mark IV tanks (renamed Beutepanzer in German operation) the Germans fielded in action during the war outnumbered

2365-459: The round could be known as scrapshot or langrage. In 1718 Blackbeard armed his guns with a range of makeshift weaponry including langrage. Several of his cannons, still loaded with spikes and shot, have been recovered from the wreck site of his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge . Archaeologists have also retrieved conglomerations of lead shot, nails, spikes and glass from the site. Langrage

2420-474: The significantly lighter Panzer IV medium tank. However, low reliability and limited resources meant that just 1,347 were produced, compared to roughly 8,800 Pz.Kpfw. IV. The origins of the class date to World War I and the first tank designs, which were intended to operate in close concert with infantry . Virtually all early tanks possessed thick armor to allow them to survive in no man's land . As lighter and more maneuverable designs were introduced during

2475-451: The supply of balls was limited, nails, scrap iron or lead, wire, and other similar metal objects were included. The projectile had been known since at least the 16th century and was known by various nicknames in the 17th century such as hailshot or partridge shot. Rounds recovered from Henry VIII's warship Mary Rose (sunk 1545) were wooden cylinders filled with broken flint flakes. When filled with rubbish or scrap (rather than round bullets)

2530-547: The tank , Tank classification , Tanks in the Cold War Background: History of the tank , Tank classification Canister shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition . It has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies, and saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th century. Canister

2585-429: The tank was called Sturmpanzerwagen (roughly "armoured assault vehicle"). The A7V was 7.34 m (24 ft 1 in) long and 3 m (9 ft 10 in) wide, and the maximum height was 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in). The tank had 20 mm of steel plate at the sides, 30 mm at the front and 10 mm for the roof; however, the steel was not hardened armour plate , which reduced its effectiveness. It

2640-449: The terrain directly in front of the tank was obscured by the vehicle's hull, which meant that there was a blind spot of about 10 metres (33 ft). However, in open terrain, the A7V could be used to some success, and offered more firepower than the armoured cars that were available. The A7V was first used in combat on 21 March 1918. Five tanks of Abteilung I (Detachment I) under the command of Hauptmann Greiff were deployed north of

2695-417: Was 190 to 400 mm (7.5 to 15.7 in). Compared to that of other World War I tanks, the A7V's road speed was quite high, but the vehicle had very poor off-road capability and a high centre of gravity, which made it prone to getting stuck or overturning on steep slopes. The large overhang at the front and the low ground clearance meant that trenches or very muddy areas were impassable. The driver's view of

2750-867: Was also found among the artifact assemblage of the Mardi Gras shipwreck, 4000 ft (1219 m) deep in the Gulf of Mexico . When fired, the canister disintegrates and its shards and projectiles spread out in a conical formation, causing a wide swath of destruction. It was particularly effective during the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War , where massed troops at close range (usually less than 400 yards) could be broken up by artillery batteries firing canister. At times, particularly at very close range, artillery crews would fire extremely lethal "double canister," where two rounds were loaded into

2805-548: Was armed with six 7.92 mm MG08 machine guns and a 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon mounted at the front. Some of these cannons were of British manufacture and had been captured in Belgium early in the war; others were captured in Russia in 1918 and appear to have included some Russian-made copies. Some A7Vs originally were built with two forward-facing machine guns instead of a 57 mm gun. Most were converted to carry

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2860-439: Was designed under the British infantry tank concept, which is similar to the heavy tank, having thick armour and tending to weigh more than their other tanks. However, it is usually considered separate because infantry tanks generally had less firepower, with their cruiser tanks (comparable to mediums) at the time having the same main armament but more machine guns. Later war examples were the German Tiger I and II , as well as

2915-533: Was introduced to break through German defensive lines of trenches and barbed wire . When lighter, faster tanks were introduced, the larger tanks were classified as heavy. The French Char 2C was one of the largest tanks ever produced. At the start of World War II, France and the Soviet Union were the only countries to have inventories of heavy tanks, such as the Char B1 , T-35 , and KV-1 . The Matilda II

2970-410: Was sufficient to stop machine-gun and rifle fire, but not larger calibre rounds. The crew officially consisted of at least 17 soldiers and one officer : commander (officer, typically a lieutenant ), driver, mechanic, mechanic/signaller, 12 infantrymen (six machine gunners, six loaders), and two artillerymen (main gunner and loader). A7Vs often went into action with as many as 25 men on board. The A7V

3025-628: Was the case with the German Tiger I , designs often became needlessly complex and costly, resulting in low production numbers. Although it is often assumed that heavy tanks suffered inferior mobility to medium tanks , this was not always the case, as many of the more sophisticated heavy tank designs featured advanced suspension and transmissions to counteract this drawback. As mentioned previously, heavy tanks are often extremely expensive and resource-intensive to produce and operate. The German Tiger I , for example, had similar speed and better terrain-handling characteristics when compared to its main competitor,

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