Mark IV (tank)
| Mark IV | |
|---|---|
Mark IV Lodestar in Brussels |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 8th |
| length | 8.05 m |
| width | 4.11 m / 3.20 m |
| height | 2.46 m |
| Dimensions | 28 t / 27 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 14 mm |
| Main armament | 2 × 57 mm cannons (male) / 5 MG (female) |
| Secondary armament | 3 MG (male) |
| agility | |
| drive | Daimler six-cylinder petrol engine 77 kW (105 PS) |
| Top speed | 6 km / h |
| Power / weight | 2.8 kW / t (3.8 HP / t) |
| Range | 56 km |
The British Mark IV tank was the successor to the Mark I , Mark II and Mark III types . Two versions of the Mark IV were used in World War I : the Male version ("male") was armed with cannons, the Female version ("female") with machine guns .
history
Construction of the Mark IV began in May 1917. This type was an extensively revised version of its predecessor and had armor of a maximum of 14 mm instead of the 12 mm thick of the Mark III. The Mark IV also featured improved fuel delivery and smaller retractable booms.
1220 examples were built: 420 Males , 595 Females and 205 unarmed tank tenders (tugs). The Mark IV was thus the most widely built British tank of the First World War.
At the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, 476 tanks of this type were used. The Mark V tank followed in July 1918, but it was never able to replace the Mark IV entirely.
Technical specifications
The data of the female version are in brackets.
- Weight: 28 t (27 t)
- Length: 8.05 m
- Width: 4.11 m (3.20 m)
- Height: 2.46 m
- Front armor: 14 mm
- Engine: Daimler six-cylinder petrol engine with 105 hp
- Tank volume: 318 liters (70 UK gallons)
- Top speed: 6 km / h
- Range: 56 km
- Gradeability: 35 °
- Climbing ability: 1.20 m
- Armament (male)
- two 6 pounder cannons
- three MG Lewis (one in front, one on each side)
- Armament (Female)
- five MG Lewis (one in front, two on each side)
- Crew: 8 men
- Manufacturer: William Foster & Co., Lincoln (Lincolnshire) ; Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd., Birmingham
Whereabouts
Only six Mark IV are still preserved today:
- A Mark IV female , F4 Flirt II , stands in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life , Lincoln . The first tanks were built nearby by William Foster & Co.
- A Mark IV male is in the Bovington Tank Museum .
- A Mark IV female stands in Ashford, Kent . This is one of many tanks on display in cities in Britain after the war. Most, however, were scrapped in the 1920s and 1930s.
- A Mark IV male , Lodestar III , is in the Musée Royal de l'Armée in Brussels in the original painting .
- A Mark IV female stands in the ANZAC hall of the Australian War Memorial .
- A Mark IV Female , D51 Deborah , was excavated near Flesquières in France in 1999. It had been abandoned during the Battle of Cambrai and filled in when a shell was filled.
