A7V-U
| Assault armored car A7V-U | |
|---|---|
Complete prototype (1918) |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 16 |
| length | 8.38 m |
| width | 3.06 m |
| height | 3.35 m |
| Dimensions | 39.8 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 14 mm |
| Main armament | 2 cannons 5.7 cm |
| Secondary armament | 4 light MG 08/15 |
| agility | |
| drive | two four-cylinder in-line engines from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft 147 kW (200 PS ) |
| Top speed | 16 km / h (road) 4–8 km / h (off-road) |
| Power / weight | 3.7 kW / t (5.0 HP / t) |
The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V-U is a German tank development from the First World War , a further development of the A7V . Whose name was inspired by the office of A EPARTMENT 7 V erkehrswesen .
description
The A7V-U is a tank developed in 1917 with a circumferential chain guide, the long sides of which had an approximate rhombus shape, as was known from the British tanks. Especially booty models of the Mark I served as models. In order to ensure quick, efficient assembly and the provision of spare parts, the A7V-U was designed to ensure that the parts between this model and the regular A7V are largely interchangeable. Therefore, both versions corresponded in the arrangement of the motor, the technical equipment as well as the load-bearing parts of the chain drive. An important main difference lay in the fixed connection between armor and chassis, which made it impossible to replace the entire structure without problems, as with the A7V, and in the crawler tracks. The A7V-U had a fixed turret for machine gunner, the driver and the commander did not sit above the engines, as with the A7V, but had their place in the front of the tub. As with the regular A7V, a 16-man crew was planned. The fixed armament consisted of two 5.7 cm Maxim Nordenfeldt cannons and four 08/15 machine guns . It was initially planned a delivery of 60 tanks of this type by February 1919, which should amount to a total of 240 vehicles by June 1919. One advantage of the German design was the larger side swivel range of the on-board cannons, in contrast to the British. Nevertheless, the swivel range was limited to 110 degrees. Since the dangers of the blind spots in front of the armored car had been recognized, an attempt was made in the A7V-U to limit these areas to a minimum by means of a number of loopholes for machine guns and handguns.
Test results and rejection
The traffic engineering examination commission (VPK) reported the first A7V-U on May 5, 1917, ready for deployment on September 1, 1917. But this appointment could not be kept. Technical difficulties and problems with material procurement delayed the production of the prototype. Therefore, the first driving tests could only be made on June 25, 1918. It quickly became apparent that the 40-ton vehicle was too heavy and had a poor center of gravity. Despite its bulk, the planned crew in the A7V-U had significantly less space available than in the A7V. So the shooters had to fire deep seated or kneeling. Nevertheless, the OIc section wanted to see the A7V-U at the front as soon as possible. In particular, the demonstration of a captured Mark IV on December 19, 1917 made a great impression.
The A7V-U project was criticized by key decision-makers from the start. The chief engineer Joseph Vollmer (1871–1955), the designer of the A7V, who was also responsible for the A7V-U, disliked the fact that with the chains completely unsecured against fire, an important weak point in the Allied tank models should now also be reproduced from the German side . Like Vollmer, the A7V department did not endorse the construction of the A7V-U. On the other hand, the OIc section of the OI department of the Supreme Army Command (OHL) and, until mid-March 1918, the chief of field force driving, were behind the project.
Production of the A7V-U, of which a single built prototype had been assembled by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft , was finally postponed in June 1918 in favor of the Protze developed by Krupp . In addition to the difficulties mentioned, comparative tensile tests with a regular A7V formed an important criterion against the A7V-U. On the A7V-U, there was 40 percent greater friction in the chain circulation than the standard model. In addition, the upper part of the chain guide silted up quickly. This was a technical error that also showed up in the British model of the A7V-U. Therefore the development of the A7V-U was finally given up on September 12, 1918. The prototype was transferred to the Berlin-based tank driving school of the Guard Motor Vehicle Battalion and ultimately scrapped.
Technical specifications
The technical data of the A7V-U prototype corresponded in many areas to those of the "normal" A7V .
| Manufacturer | Daimler Motor Company |
|---|---|
| crew | 16 men |
| engine | Double engine system, Daimler-Benz 165 204 , 4-cylinder in-line engines (water-cooled) with cylinders cast in pairs, two overhead valves per cylinder, under-controlled, double centrifugal cooling water pump |
| Bore, stroke | 165/200 mm |
| Displacement | 17,000 cm³ each |
| power | 100 HP (74 kW) each at 800 to 900 rpm |
| Carburetor | Pallas carburetor, rev limiter |
| ignition | High voltage magneto ignition ( electric arc ) |
| lubrication | Pressure circulation lubrication |
| cooler | Tube cooler |
| Fuel | Gasoline - benzene mixture |
| speed | 16 km / h (road) / 4–8 km / h (off-road) |
| Length Width Height | 8.38 m / 4.89 m / 3.14 m |
| Ability to exceed | 3–4 m |
| total weight | 40 t |
| Armament | 2 Cockerill-Nordenfelt-Kasematt rapid fire cannon 5.7 cm L / 26.3 4 lMG 08/15 |
literature
- Wolfgang Schneider and Rainer Strasheim: Waffen-Arsenal Volume 112 German combat vehicles in World War I , Podzun - Pallas Verlag GmbH 1988, ISBN 3-7909-0337-X .
- Heinrich Walle (Red.), Committee for the replica of the Sturmpanzerwagen A7V (publisher): Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. From the original tank to the Leopard 2. A contribution to the history of the military and technology (= military technology and scientific weapons science 15). Mittler, Herford 1990, ISBN 3-8132-0351-4 .
- Roger Ford: Panzer from 1916 to today , Karl Müller Verlag 1997, ISBN 3-86070-676-4 .
Web links
Remarks
- ^ Fritz Hahn: Weapons and Secret Weapons of the German Army 1933-1945. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5832-1 . P. 17.
- ↑ a b c d Heinz Kaufhold-Roll: The emergence of the heavy combat vehicle (A7V) . In: Heinrich Walle (Red.), Committee for replicating Sturmpanzerwagen A7V (Ed.): Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. From the original tank to the Leopard 2. A contribution to the history of the military and technology (= military technology and scientific weapons science 15). Mittler, Herford 1990, ISBN 3-8132-0351-4 . Pp. 51-79; here: p. 72.
- ↑ a b Heinz Kaufhold-Roll: The emergence of the heavy combat vehicle (A7V) . In: Heinrich Walle (Red.), Committee for replicating Sturmpanzerwagen A7V (Ed.): Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. From the original tank to the Leopard 2. A contribution to the history of the military and technology (= military technology and scientific weapons science 15). Mittler, Herford 1990, ISBN 3-8132-0351-4 . Pp. 51-79; here: p. 73.
- ↑ Heinz Kaufhold-Roll: The emergence of the heavy combat vehicle (A7V) . In: Heinrich Walle (Red.), Committee for replicating Sturmpanzerwagen A7V (Ed.): Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. From the original tank to the Leopard 2. A contribution to the history of the military and technology (= military technology and scientific weapons science 15). Mittler, Herford 1990, ISBN 3-8132-0351-4 . Pp. 51-79; here: p. 77.