Army Tanks History

While they did not have army tanks as we know them, the ancient peoples did have large objects that they used to batter the walls of cities and towns in order to defeat their enemies. The idea of using a tank in battle was one of the fastest growing ideas in history. World War 1 saw the fastest development of any military fighting machine in the development and the use of the tank to help solve the stalemate of trench warfare in No Man’s Land, France. Although ideas for the development of such a machine existed for centuries in the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, it was the invention of the internal combustion engine that made it a possibility.

The observation of an American made Caterpillar tractor led an English war correspondent in France, Lt. Col. Ernest Swinton, to make a recommendation to the British Committee of Imperial Defence that these vehicles should be armoured and used in battle. Winston Churchill saw real possibilities in this idea and urged the development of what he called a “land ship”. The name tank came about as part of the secret mission to send these machines to France during the war. The names of the various parts of the tank have nautical names because it was the Navy who essentially approved their use in battle. The secrecy of the development failed in one respect and that was that the infantry who were expected to fight alongside the tanks had no training in how to do so.

The tank as a war machine had its first success in battle at Cambrai on November 17, 1917 with 400 tanks in use. The infantry however, did not know how to use them to their advantage. Six hundred tanks were later used in a battle on August 8, 1918. However, these tanks were very vulnerable unless the army accompanied them.

In 1917, the United States started producing army tanks. The first one produced was the Mark V111, weighing 43.5 tons. This tank had a crew of 11 men and was armed with two 6- pounder and 5 30-calibre machine guns. It could travel at the speed of 6.5 miles an hour and had a range of 50 miles. Other tanks produced at this time were the M1917 light tank and a tank produced by the Ford Motor Company containing two Model T engines.

After the war, it was clear that this machinery definitely had a place in warfare. All countries continued to build on the ideas and create bigger and better tanks. In 1931, the Char B1 bis made its appearance in France and is still considered to be one of the most powerful tanks in the world. In the US, the War Department did not consider tanks to be useful in battle and preferred to use light and medium tanks that were easily transported.

During World War 11, the design of German tanks went through at least three phases. The US had not developed or produced very many tanks in the pre-war period and was caught short as compared to the Axis Powers. Mass production of tanks, however, soon brought the armoured division of the army back up with the development of light armoured tanks that had devastating firepower and speed. The tanks used by the Allies in the war are largely credited with the major advances throughout Europe.

Tank development continued after 1945 mainly because of the Cold War. Tanks became larger and were more heavily armoured and changes were made with regard to gun stabilization and the comfort of the crew. Even though guided missiles and armoured helicopters brought an end to a massive use of tanks in battle, they are still used and being further developed and refined. The Ukrainian T-81-120 Oplot, for example, can fire both NATO 120 mm ammunition and ATGM’s through its gun barrel.