Mark VI (tank)
The Mark VI was a British project to develop a heavy tank in the First World War .
After the Tank Supply Committee made plans for the continuous development of the Mark I into the Mark IV in December 1916 , it commissioned the design of the Mark V and Mark VI .
While the Mark V was to be equipped with all the new functions that could still be integrated into the old chassis of the Mark I, the old chassis was to be replaced with the Mark VI , only a few basic principles of the old tank were to be adopted.
On July 13, 1917, a wooden model of both models was ready. As no technical drawings of the Mark VI have survived, the photos taken on June 23rd and 23rd of the partially unfinished model are the main source of information.
The Mark VI had a completely different chassis compared to the Mark V. It was much higher, the chains were rounded at the front. The side towers were replaced by side doors in which machine guns were built. The main armament was a single 57mm cannon attached to the front. The driver sat in a rectangular structure farther back with machine guns attached to the edges.
The chassis had a separate engine compartment on one side, which also contained the drive wheels of both chains, with the drive shaft of the opposite chain running through the interior. Chains 75 cm wide were used.
In September 1917, the US headquarters in France decided to set up its own US tank corps with 25 battalions , including five with heavy tanks. Major James A. Drain then ordered 600 of the Mark VI , which was the most advanced British tank at the time. However, this jeopardized the plans of Albert Gerald Stern, who wanted to advance the development of the Mark VIII , an Anglo-American joint project. In December 1917, he ordered the project to be discontinued before a prototype was created .