Vickers A1E1 "Independent" | |
---|---|
Type | Tank |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Vickers |
No. built | 1 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 33 long tons (34 t; 37 short tons) |
Length | 24 ft 11 in (7.59 m) |
Width | 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) |
Height | 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) |
Crew | 8 |
Armour | 13–28 mm (0.51–1.10 in) |
Main armament | QF 3 pounder gun (47 mm) |
Secondary armament | 4 × 0.303 Vickers machine gun |
Engine | Armstrong Siddeley V12 petrol 370 hp (280 kW) |
Transmission | 4 forward, 1 reverse |
Suspension | coil spring bogies |
Operational range | 95 miles (153 km) |
Maximum speed | 20 mph (32 km/h) |
The Independent A1E1 is a multi-turreted tank that was designed by the British armaments manufacturer Vickers between the First and Second World Wars. Although it only ever reached the prototype stage and only a single example was built, it influenced many other tank designs.
The A1E1 design can be seen as a possible influence on the Soviet T-100 and T-28 tanks, the German Neubaufahrzeug tanks, and the British Medium Mk III and Cruiser Mk I (triple turret) tank designs. The Soviet T-35 tank was heavily influenced by its design. [1]
The Independent was a multi-turret design, having a central gun turret armed with the 3 pounder (47 mm) gun, and four subsidiary turrets each armed with a 0.303 inch Vickers machine gun. The subsidiary turrets were mounted two at the front and two to the rear of the turret (about halfway along the hull). The gun of the left rear turret was able to elevate to engage aircraft. The tank was designed to have heavy firepower, self-defence capability, and superiority to enemy weapons. It had a crew of eight, the commander communicating with the crew through an intercom system. The Independent was never used in combat, but other armies studied it and a few adopted designs derived from it. [2]
Planning for the A1E1 began in December 1922 when the General Staff of the British Army drew up a specification. This was for a turret-less tank with at least 9 feet (2.7 m) of trench crossing ability. [3] On receiving the specification Vickers began design work on a vehicle that followed the General Staff's ideas and also a multi-turreted design of their own. [3] The two designs were offered to the General Staff which opted for the Vickers multi-turreted design. An order for a prototype was formally placed on 15 September 1926 but some work appears to have begun before this date. [3]
The tank was largely designed by Walter Gordon Wilson; its 35.8-litre (2,180 cu in) V12 air-cooled engine was designed by Armstrong Siddeley. It also incorporated a new hydraulic braking system which had to be specially developed due to its weight and speed. The prototype was delivered to the War Office in 1926, and displayed to the premiers of the Dominions that year. [4]
In 1928, the rear of the tank was modified to strengthen it. [3] At the same time, a new design of brake-block was fitted. [3] The transmission was also heavily reworked. [5]
The tank was the subject of industrial and political espionage, the plans ending up in the Soviet Union, where they may have influenced the design of the T-28 and T-35 tanks. Norman Baillie-Stewart, a British army lieutenant, was court-martialled in 1933 and served five years in prison for providing the plans of the Independent (among other secrets) to a German contact. [6]
It remained in use for experiments until 1935, when it was worn out and retired, now with the Bovington Tank Museum, where it is preserved. [7] During the Second World War the tank was set up to act as a pillbox or defensive position to protect the Bovington base in the event of a German invasion. [8] As part of this it was fitted with a working 3-pounder taken from a Vickers Medium Mark I to replace the gun it had been fitted with which probably never worked. [8] The interior of the tank is currently inaccessible due the levels of asbestos. [9]
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited service with the Red Army. Often called a land battleship, it was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to reach production, but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable. Most of the T-35 tanks still operational at the time of Operation Barbarossa were lost due to mechanical failure rather than enemy action. It was designed to complement the contemporary T-28 medium tank; however, very few were built.
The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, is a British infantry tank of the Second World War.
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production. The many variants included riveted and welded construction, petrol and diesel engines and a progressive increase in armament. It was supplied in large numbers to the USSR and built under licence in Canada. It was used extensively by the British in the North African campaign. Developed by Vickers, it proved to be both strong and reliable.
The Tortoise heavy assault tank (A39) was a British heavy assault gun design developed during the Second World War, but never put into mass production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas such as the Siegfried Line and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility.
The Tank, Infantry, Mk I, Matilda I (A11) is a British infantry tank of the Second World War. Despite being slow, cramped and armed with only a single machine gun, the Matilda I had some success in the Battle of France in 1940, owing to its heavy armour which was proof against the standard German anti-tank guns. However, it was essentially useless in an attacking sense, as its weak armament made it toothless in combat against enemy armour, and the tank was obsolete before it even came into service. The Battle of France was the only time the Matilda I saw combat. The tank was cheaply built as the British government wanted each of the tanks to be built on a very restricted budget in the build-up to the Second World War. It is not to be confused with the later model Tank, Infantry Mk II (A12), also known as the "Matilda II", which took over the "Matilda" name after the Matilda I was withdrawn from combat service in 1940. They were completely separate designs.
The TOG2, officially known as the Heavy Tank, TOG II, was a British super-heavy tank design produced during the early stages of World War II for a scenario where the battlefields of northern France devolved into a morass of mud, trenches, and craters as had happened during World War I. When this did not happen, the tank was deemed unnecessary, and the project terminated. A development of the TOG I design, only a single prototype was built before its termination.
The Tank, Infantry, Valiant (A38) was a British tank design of the Second World War that only reached the prototype stage. It was intended to meet a specification for a well-armoured, light-medium tank, for use against Japanese forces in the South-East Asia theatre. The prototype demonstrated that the design was a failure and this sole example produced was retained by the School of Tank Technology as a lesson to its students.
The Light Tank Mark I to Mark V were a series of related designs of light tank produced by Vickers for the British Army during the interwar period.
Tanks were initially deployed in World War I, engineered to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare. Between the two world wars, tanks were further developed. Although they had demonstrated their battlefield effectiveness, only a few nations had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after World War I, Britain and France pioneered tank technology, with their models generally serving as a blueprint for other countries. However, this initial advantage would slowly diminish during the 1930s, shifting in favor of the Soviet Union and, to a lesser degree, Nazi Germany.
The Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car was a series of armoured vehicles that were produced in South Africa and adopted by the British Army during the Second World War. RAF Armoured Car companies possessed them, but seem never to have used them in action, making greater use of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars and other types.
The Vickers Medium Mark I was a British tank of the Inter-war period built by Vickers from 1924.
The Heavy Tank M6 was an American heavy tank designed during World War II. The tank was produced in small numbers and never saw combat.
Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history. Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum, Bovington, England.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) initially purchased foreign tanks for evaluation during World War I, and began developing its own indigenous designs during the late 1920s.
The British Mark V tank was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank.
The T-100 was a Soviet twin-turreted heavy tank prototype, designed in 1938–39 as a possible replacement for the T-35 heavy tank. The T-100 was designed by N. Barykov's OKMO design team at S.M. Kirov Factory No. 185 in Leningrad. The T-100 was originally conceived with three turrets and was eventually built with two. It was in competition with a similar design - the SMK - but neither were adopted and instead a single turret version of the SMK was ordered as the KV-1. All three prototypes were tested at the same time in the Battle of Summa during the Winter War with Finland.
The Medium Mark III was a medium tank developed in the United Kingdom during the Interwar period.
This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Japanese Army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era.
The Type 87 Chi-I medium tank a/k/a Experimental tank No.1 was the first indigenously designed tank produced by Japan for the Imperial Japanese Army. Development of this medium tank began in June 1925 and was completed by February 1927. During the field trials, the tank proved to be too heavy and under-powered. The project was cancelled and a new light tank design was finished by April 1928 and designated the Type 89 I-Go.
Medium Mark D was a British medium tank developed at the end of the First World War.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)