When was the battle tank invented? The very first tank in the world - myths and reality

On modern wars tanks are one of the main types of combat vehicles, and until recently they were generally the most common mechanized weapons on the planet.

But how did people even come up with the idea to climb into a huge metal box on tracks and go kill each other? Let's try to figure it out.

Leonardo da Vinci tank and armored train on tracks

The idea of creating mobile fortresses has come to people's minds since the days of the first mass wars. At first these were chariots, then battle towers on elephants, and later the famous Wagenburgs appeared, effectively used in the Hussite wars. But all these carts were driven by horses or elephants, which were extremely vulnerable and unpredictable.

Already in those days, people began to think about self-propelled fire fortifications, and the famous Renaissance inventor Leonardo da Vinci also could not ignore this topic. He created a design for a machine made of wood and steel, moving on muscular traction. It looked like a mushroom cap, bristling with guns. Of course, it was impossible to create something like this with the technology of the 15th century, and the project remained only in the form of the author’s imagination. By the way, in 2009, American engineers created a working tank Leonadro da Vinci.

Armored train Buyena

The next stage before the appearance of tanks was the tracked armored train of the Frenchman Edouard Bouyen, who in 1874 proposed putting several cars connected to each other not on rails, but on a common track, arming this monster with guns and providing a crew of two hundred people. And although the project was rejected, the author himself believed that his invention would change the course of wars. Later this happened, although not with his combat vehicle.

The First World War and the first British tanks

With the advent of the first cars, the idea of using them in wars became obvious to everyone. Therefore, already before the First World War, almost all the armies of the leading powers had their own fleet of armored vehicles, and real armored trains were also in use.

The disadvantages of these combat vehicles were natural. For armored vehicles, it is impossible to drive over rough terrain and overcome obstacles and trenches, and for armored trains, they are tied to the rails. Therefore, when, during protracted battles, the armies of the opposing countries increasingly began to dig in, build many kilometers of anti-personnel barriers from mines and barbed wire, use machine guns and shrapnel shells that literally mow down the advancing infantry, it became clear to the engineers that something had to be done.

When in 1915, British Colonel Ernest Swinton proposed using an armored vehicle on a tracked tractor to overcome trenches, Winston Churchill seized on this idea and created the Landship Committee, which urgently began development.

Hetherington machine

The most curious thing is that the same Churchill almost buried the future of tanks when he wanted to implement the idea of Major Thomas Hetherington, who proposed creating a thousand-ton monster on huge wheels, fourteen meters high and armed ship's cannons. Experienced engineers explained to Minister Churchill that this colossus would immediately be shot out of cannons, so the developers turned to Swinton’s idea of creating a machine based on the American Holt-Caterpillar tracked tractor, which had long been used in the army as a tractor.

The so-called “Swinton tank” was developed in strict secrecy, and already on September 9, 1915, a prototype called “Lincoln Machine Number One” passed the first field tests, where a bunch of design flaws were discovered, after eliminating which the first working prototype of the tank appeared - Little Willie. named after developer Walter Wilson. The vehicle also had many shortcomings, and when it was redesigned to meet the requirements of the combat situation, Big Willie was created, which was adopted and sent to war under the name Mark I.

The Battle of the Somme and the debut of British tanks

What was Big Willie like? It was a thirty-ton steel box on diamond-shaped tracks, eight meters long and two and a half meters high. It did not have the usual rotating turret, as it was believed that it would make the tank too noticeable, so the weapons were installed in sponsons on the sides of the vehicle.

The first English tanks were divided into “male” and “female”. The “males” had two 57-mm cannons, while the “females” had only machine guns. The armor was bulletproof and reached ten millimeters. Well, the tank’s speed was simply “racing” - 6.4 km per hour on the highway.

But their sluggishness and low armor did not stop the tanks from scaring the hell out of German soldiers at the Battle of the Somme on September 15, 1916, when 32 combat vehicles attacked enemy fortifications, tearing through barbed wire, rumbling terribly, and shooting enemy soldiers with cannons and machine guns.

Although the disadvantages of quickly putting tanks into operation immediately became clear - after all, initially there were 49 of them, but 17 broke down even before the start of the battle. And out of 32 that went on the attack, 5 got stuck in the swamp, and 9 simply broke down without the participation of the enemy. Nevertheless, the debut was considered excellent, and a total of 3,177 Mark tanks of various modifications were created during the war.

Tank toilet and pigeon post

Little Willie

The first tanks were not models of comfort. As one of the commanders said English tank During the First World War, a former sailor, such a tank rocked as it moved, like a combat boat in a storm. Moreover, during the battle the temperature inside rose to 50 and sometimes 70 degrees Celsius, so heatstroke and hallucinations haunted the crews at every turn. And the observation windows were often broken, and the tankers’ eyes were injured by shrapnel.

Communication was also carried out specifically - for it, cells with carrier pigeons, however, the birds often died from the heat, and then they used infantry messengers, which of course was very inconvenient and dangerous.

The very name “tank” appeared due to the fact that the development of the combat vehicle was carried out in the strictest secrecy, and the equipment was transported by railways under the guise of self-propelled fuel tanks intended for the Russian army. They were even written in Cyrillic, although with the error “be careful Petrograa.” One of the original names for combat vehicles was “water carrier” - “water tank” or “water carrier”, which fully reflected the camouflage legend. But then it turned out that the abbreviation “WC” in English corresponds to the commonly used expression “water closet” - that is, a toilet with a water flush.

Nobody wanted to sit in an office under such a sign and constantly fight off those who wanted to relieve themselves, and then the word “tank” appeared.

German tanks and the first oncoming tank battle

At first, the Germans did not take seriously the idea of fighting with tanks, but when they realized it, they began to urgently rivet their vehicles. And everything would have been fine, but there was just too little time and money, so the end result was an extremely strange metal monster - A7V, a huge steel box, a three-meter high car on tracks, seven meters long and weighing thirty tons, with 57 mm a cannon sticking out of the nose and five machine guns. There were 18 people in the crew!

The most interesting thing is that the colossus had thirty-millimeter armor and speed on the highway - as much as 12 km per hour. German soldiers nicknamed their tank a “heavy camp kitchen” for its enormous size, terrible heat inside and constant smoke from all the cracks.

But it was these terrible self-propelled pans that took the first oncoming tank battle in history, which took place on April 24, 1918 at Villers-Bretonneux, when three German tank The A7Vs faced three British Mark IV heavy tanks and seven Whippet light tanks.

For both sides, the battle was completely unexpected, and the British suddenly discovered that the machine gun armament of the two “females” and all the light tanks could not do anything with the German armor. Therefore, having received several holes, the “females” retreated, and the “male” - the only one with cannon weapons - rushed into battle.

Here the experience and maneuverability of the English tank was already evident, which with a successful shot was able to damage one German vehicle, which was then abandoned by the crew, and force the rest to retreat, so, formally, victory remained with the British.

The German tanks were not bad, but here’s the problem: by the end of the war, 21 of them were produced, while the British had 3,177 tanks, as we wrote above. And this is not counting the tanks of France.

This is how the formidable fighting machines of our time began their journey - like funny and at the same time terrible rattling metal boxes, crawling across the battlefield at a snail's pace and communicating with each other using carrier pigeons.

Time is inexorable in everything, erasing memory if people forget about something significant in their history. Okay, what about the last one? terrible war reminiscent of WWII veterans approaching their centenary, and the T-34 tank leading the parade military equipment on Victory Day. Such combat vehicles, which have covered thousands of kilometers of front-line roads in Russia and Europe, stand on pedestals in many cities of the country. Looking at them, questions often arise: is there a tank in the world, who are its creators?

This can be briefly described general idea from viewing photographs depicting the first tanks created at the beginning of the 20th century:

If we add to this that the speed of these first combat vehicles ranged from 2 to 8 km/h, and the armament consisted of 1 - 3 machine guns per armored “car”, then the picture will become even more complete. It seems, why were such unsuccessful designs used in combat? The answer to this is simple:

Even experienced soldiers, seeing the rattling metal boxes for the first time, fell into panic.
The imperfect armor of the first tanks easily withstood bullets from enemy rifles and machine guns, and the artillery was not ready to fight them due to the lack of skills in direct fire.
The main obstacles for infantry, built during trench warfare in 1916-1917 (barbed wire fences, trenches with machine gun nests), tanks overcame without much difficulty, breaking through the enemy’s long-term defenses, while the losses of the advancing troops were reduced many times over.

The advantages of using new military equipment prevailed, so the opposing countries designed, produced and used the first tanks with varying degrees of success.

Germany, Russia and other Entente

The first two countries suffered huge losses in both the First and Second Great Wars. Dividends were received by others - traders from overseas, gentlemen from Foggy Albion pitting everyone against each other, the French, who were good at staying on the sidelines.

Exhausted in the first years of the war, Germany and Russia could not afford to invest huge amounts of money, the capacity of metallurgical, machine-building, weapons factories, engineering, and labor resources in the production of new military equipment that had not yet been sufficiently tested on the battlefield. Therefore, things did not move beyond the development of a set of drawings and the assembly of prototypes:

Things were completely different for Russia’s “faithful” allies in the Entente:

In total, during the First World War, these states produced almost 7 thousand tanks of all types:

England – 2905 pcs.
France – 3997 pcs.

Although the very first tank in the world was created in England, the most successfully designed and closest to the modern concept of a combat vehicle was the French Renault FT-17. This is confirmed by the fact that its modifications were subsequently made in many countries, including the Soviet Union, and the last cases of use in combat dates back to 1945.

How to change the course of the war? How to quickly break through the front? These questions have interested military leaders of all times. And they found a solution to this problem - this is a tank. This genius, who forever changed battle tactics, was the English Colonel W. Swinton. On October 20, 1914, the colonel contacted War Department with the idea of building an armored vehicle on tracks, using the American Holt tractor as a basis.

According to the Englishman’s proposal, the new vehicle was supposed to be tracked, reach speeds of up to 4 kilometers per hour, have a crew of 6 people, armor protection against direct machine-gun fire and rifles, and be armed with 2 Lewis machine guns. Swinton also proposed the following strategy: it is better to have many small, light vehicles than several heavy and well-protected ones. But, unfortunately, Swinton’s ideas were not destined to come true. And the reason for this was the very large mass of the new car.

The first tank in the world! (History of creation)

Engineer Tritton worked in parallel with Swinton on his tank called “Big Willie”. Tritton’s project turned out to be more successful than Swinton’s, and by the fall of 1915 a prototype was built, and already in the summer of 16, tanks of this type were used in battle, which had a stunning effect on the enemy.

Origin of the name.

Where does the name “tank” come from? Everything is simple here; we can say that history itself came up with such a name. The thing is that the British, like any normal people, used the development of new cars as an ace in their sleeve and, accordingly, all information about this was top secret. But it is necessary to transport prototypes and conduct tests somehow. And the British came up with a solution. They transported tanks by rail, covering them with tarpaulin. Because of their shape, covered with tarpaulin, the tanks were very similar to fuel tanks, and a tank in English is “tank”. This is where the name “tank” comes from.

Beginning in 1914, projects for armored vehicles, both tracked and wheeled, poured in as if from a cornucopia. In addition to the technical prerequisites, there was also a need for this kind of combat vehicles - let’s not forget that the first world war.

In August 1914, the inventor A. A. Porokhovshchikov approached the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief with a project for an armored vehicle - “All-terrain vehicle”. The proposal was considered in the Special Committee by General A.V. Kaulbars. With his support, Porokhovshchikov got an appointment with the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who was convinced by the inventor’s explanations. IN the decision taken It was determined that the “All-terrain vehicle” should be manufactured by the chief of engineering supplies of the armies of the North-Western Front.

The Main Military-Technical Directorate did not approve the necessary drawings, memorandum and cost estimate for the construction of the All-Terrain Vehicle. On December 24, 1914, these materials were received by the chief of engineering supplies for the armies of the North-Western Front, who, after studying the project, drew up a special report to the chief chief of supply for the armies of the same front. The report substantiated the need to build the “All-terrain vehicle” as a vehicle useful in military affairs. January 13, 1915 construction prototype The "all-terrain vehicle" with one wide track was authorized. 9,960 rubles were allocated for its production, and the place of work was determined to be the barracks of the Nizhny Novgorod regiment that had gone to the front.

February 1 in Riga at the Nizhny Novgorod barracks infantry regiment The organization of workshops was completed: 25 soldier craftsmen and the same number of hired skilled workers began manufacturing the “All-terrain vehicle.”

At the proposal stage, two options were considered - with one and two tracks. Since in constructive and production-wise the first option was simpler, so it was accepted. For the prototype, on which the correctness of the basic idea of the invention was to be tested, the greater or lesser perfection of the propulsion device was not of significant importance, so the first option was developed in detail. It was a relatively light “device” weighing 3.5-4 tons, that is, the level of a wedge heel. The supporting structure was a steel frame to which a guide and three support (of which the rear one was the drive) hollow drums were attached. The axes of the guide drum were inserted into special slots in the frame and secured with two screws. By moving it along the slots, the tension of the caterpillar was adjusted. In addition, there was an additional tension drum that formed the upper branch of the caterpillar, passing under the entire bottom of the hull. The chassis was covered with a bulwark.

The wide caterpillar ensured low specific pressure on the ground, good cross-country ability, and eliminated the possibility of the bottom landing on an obstacle; but the use of a rubber band cannot be considered a success due to its high vulnerability. It is unlikely that the mover could confidently withstand concentrated fire. However, allowances should be made for the high speed data and small dimensions of the machine (length - 3.6 m, width - 2 m, body height - about 1.5 m), in a known way making it difficult to conduct aimed fire at it. In general, the ability of the All-Terrain Vehicle to operate maneuverably in combat was beyond doubt.

The car was turned in an original way. On both sides of the frame, in its middle part, there were two steering wheels that rotated about a vertical axis and were connected to the steering wheel by rotating forks and a rod system. On paved roads, the all-terrain vehicle rested on steering wheels and a drive drum. On soft soils, the steering wheels spontaneously deepened, and the entire surface of the track came into action. Thus, a unique interpretation of the wheeled-tracked propulsion system was obtained.

The power unit was a 20-horsepower automobile engine mounted on the rear of the frame. Torque was transmitted to the drive drum through a mechanical planetary gearbox and driveshaft. Of particular note is the design of the armor protection - it is multi-layered (front cemented 2-mm steel sheet, shock-absorbing lining made of hair and sea grass, second steel sheet) with a total thickness of 8 mm. The quality of the shape of the armored hull is striking: it is so high that the question involuntarily arises about the technological difficulties and labor intensity of production in relation to 1915. It is possible that it was precisely this circumstance that forced Porokhovshchikov to abandon such a successful solution in the future and, when designing the All-Terrain Vehicle-2, turn to a primitive box-shaped body. In addition, the design of the all-terrain vehicle’s body made it possible to achieve its waterproofness. This possibility was analyzed, and in the future it was planned to endow the vehicle with amphibious properties.

The driver and commander (aka machine gunner) were located in the middle part of the hull, “shoulder to shoulder,” on two seats installed side by side. The weapons (1-2 machine guns) were planned to be placed in a cylindrical turret crowning the fighting compartment.

In the implementation of the project, the propulsion unit was of particular concern; the design was completely original. Therefore, the main efforts were directed to assembling the chassis. The armored hull was manufactured in parallel. Its elements were subjected to test fire. The entire box was then mounted onto a passenger car chassis and tested for bullet resistance and overall rigidity.

On May 15, 1915, construction of the prototype was completed. A wooden model of the hull was mounted on it, and ballast bags were placed in the vehicle to compensate for the mass. Three days later we conducted a test run. It turned out that the caterpillar jumped off when moving. It took a month to determine the cause. After that, three annular guide grooves were made on the outer surface of the drums, initially smooth, and three centering protrusions were made on the inner surface of the caterpillar.

On June 20, 1915, during official tests, the commission noted the good maneuverability of the vehicle, its maneuverability, high acceleration qualities and a speed of about 25 versts/hour and in the corresponding act No. 4563 recorded: “It turned out that the said “All-terrain vehicle” easily walks through fairly deep sand at a speed about twenty-five versts per hour; Subsequently, the “All-terrain vehicle” crossed at medium speed a ditch with gentle slopes 3 meters wide at the top and about 1 arshin deep. All significant potholes and significant uneven surfaces of the “regimental yard”, where the tests were carried out, were easily overcome by the “All-terrain vehicle” at full speed. Agility is quite satisfactory; in general, the “All-terrain vehicle” passed through soil and terrain impassable for ordinary cars.”

The fine-tuning of the “All-terrain vehicle” was carried out in Petrograd. On December 29, a speed of about 40 versts/hour was achieved. By this time, 18,000 rubles had been spent. The business promised success, but the military stopped funding the work. In this regard, criminal indifference and bureaucracy are often cited. However, it was 1916, the First World War was in full swing, and fighting acquired a protracted positional character. Objectively, the All-Terrain Vehicle, which was ahead of its time, turned out to be “not welcome.” Expect from a fast, highly maneuverable car efficient work it was not necessary on multi-row wire fences. It was clearly not suitable for these purposes. A special tank was required - a positional one. And it was enough for N. Lebedenko to submit an application for a wheeled combat vehicle breakthrough, as with the highest favor of Emperor Nicholas II he received the necessary strength and means to implement his project.

So, despite the positive test results, work on improving the prototype “All-terrain vehicle” was stopped. The Main Military-Technical Directorate took all measures to disrupt the successful completion of experimental work and organization industrial production tanks in Russia. For various offers about future fate“All-terrain vehicle”, the head of the Main Military-Technical Directorate responded with the following characteristic resolutions: “Why did we interfere in this matter?”, “What do we need it for?” (on the proposal to transfer the “All-terrain vehicle” to the Main Military-Technical Directorate). From December 1915 to October 1916, there was bureaucratic correspondence, and all work on the All-Terrain Vehicle was slowed down.

The original drawings of the first “All-terrain vehicle” by A. A. Porokhovshchikov could not be found. Relatively recently, documents were discovered from which it was possible to restore in basic terms the history of its construction, and photographs of the machine taken during its tests were also found.

In September 1916, the first reports appeared in the Russian press about the use by the British of a new weapon - the “land fleet”. These messages were published in the newspaper “Novoe Vremya” No. 14568 dated September 25 (old style) 1916 and in the “Petrogradskaya Gazeta” No. 253. In connection with these messages in the newspaper “Novoe Vremya” No. 14572 dated September 29 (old style) style) in 1916, the article “Land Fleet - Russian invention", which revealed the unsightly role of the Main Military-Technical Directorate in delaying work on the creation of new weapons in Russia - all-terrain combat vehicles.

Soon after the press appearance there was a request to State Duma about the measures taken to provide the Russian army with tanks. Under pressure public opinion The head of the Main Military-Technical Directorate authorized the design of an improved “All-terrain vehicle” - “All-terrain vehicle-2”, or, as it was also designated to distinguish it from its predecessor, “All-terrain vehicle 16g.” The project was soon completed and on January 19, 1917 it entered the armor department of the automobile unit of the Main Military-Technical Directorate. Its examination and discussion dragged on for more than ten months.

In addition to the project, a model of the “All-terrain vehicle-2” was completed. The surviving documents allow us to get a fairly complete picture of its structure. The chassis of the “All-terrain vehicle-2” combines elements of the chassis of a car and a crawler tractor. An endless rubber belt located under the bottom of the body covers four sprung drums. The rear drum is connected by a chain to the power transmission and is the drive drum. Car wheels with a larger diameter than the drum are rigidly mounted on the same axle. The front drum, equipped with a spring device, is raised, which improves overcoming obstacles. The front wheels are mounted on the same axle with the second drum, with the help of which (like a car) turns are made.

When driving on a road with hard surface, the “All-terrain vehicle-2” rested on the ground only with its wheels and moved like a car; the caterpillar was rewinding idle. On loose soil, the wheels sank into the ground, the caterpillar sat on the ground and the crawler began to move. Turning in this case was carried out using the same wheels as when moving on wheels.

Armor protection was provided with a thickness of 8 mm. The armament consisted of 3 or 4 machine guns. 2-3 machine guns were to be installed in a turret of a very original design, which allowed each machine gun to be independently aimed at the target separately.

The engine and transmission, as well as the systems that ensure their operation, were located in the rear of the hull. In the bow of the hull there was a control compartment, and in the middle - a combat compartment. A special partition was provided between the fighting compartment and the compartment power plant. For inspection and maintenance of the engine, there were hatches in the partition.

On October 19, 1917, the Automotive Committee of the State Technical University, where the All-Terrain Vehicle-2 project was submitted for consideration, recognized the design as “insufficiently developed, and therefore the treasury costs for implementing the project in its present form are unnecessary.”

The Porokhovshchikov tank can be considered not only the first Russian tank, but also the first tank in general, since its idea arose and was implemented earlier than in other countries. In addition, Porokhovshchikov largely anticipated the development of tanks in the future. And if we started the history of the tank with an English vehicle, and not with Porokhovshchikov’s tank, it is only because his tank was not used in the Russian army. Porokhovshchikov's tank was forgotten, and was remembered only many years later, when tanks were already widely used in all armies.

At the very beginning of the First World War, in August 1914, the master of the Russian-Baltic Engineering Plant in Riga, Porokhovshchikov, approached the headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Russian Army with a proposal for an original design for a high-speed combat tracked vehicle for off-road driving. At the same time, he turned to the Special Committee for Strengthening the Fleet, promising to create an all-terrain tracked armored vehicle. Porokhovshchikov did not provide any significant documents at that time, and only on January 9, 1915, after long delays at a reception with the chief of supplies of the North-Western Front, General Danilov, the inventor already had ready-made drawings and estimates for the construction of a combat vehicle called the All-terrain vehicle.

Apparently, Porokhovshchikov’s preliminary calculations pleased the top military leadership: in addition to high maneuverability, Porokhovshchikov also promised the vehicle’s buoyancy. The project was approved - permission to build the all-terrain vehicle was received on January 13, 1915, 9,660 rubles 72 kopecks were allocated, and the design data were specified in special report No. 8101. The construction of the vehicle was monitored by the head of the Riga department for housing allowances for troops, military engineer Colonel Poklevsky -Cosello. On February 1, in the Riga auto repair shops of the Russo-Balt plant, which were located at the barracks of the Nizhny Novgorod Infantry Regiment, 25 soldier-craftsmen and the same number of hired skilled workers began manufacturing a prototype of the world's first tank, developed by the famous pilot and designer Alexander Aleksandrovich Porokhovshchikov.

The design of the All-terrain vehicle was unusual. The welded frame rested on one wide track made of rubberized fabric, stretched on four drums, and the front drum was noticeably raised above the supporting surface. The fifth drum pressed the caterpillar from above. The rear drum was the driving one; rotation was transmitted to it through a gearbox and driveshaft from a 10 hp carburetor engine. The specific pressure on the ground should have been only about 0.05 kg/sq.cm. On the sides of the caterpillar there were two columns with small wheels, which the driver controlled using a steering wheel - thus turning the entire body.

The car was equipped with a streamlined body with an air intake niche in front. Interestingly, the armor of the All-terrain vehicle was multi-layered: it consisted of a front cemented 2-mm steel sheet, a shock-absorbing pad made of hair and algae, and another steel sheet with a total thickness of 8 mm.
The design of this tank already included all the basic elements of modern combat vehicles - an armored hull, weapons in a rotating turret, an engine internal combustion, caterpillar propulsion device. The car was equipped with a streamlined body with an air intake niche in front. On a good road, the all-terrain vehicle had to move on the rear drum and wheels, and on loose soil rest on the caterpillar. Such a scheme, despite its relative simplicity, had one global drawback - in fact, the All-terrain vehicle could only move in a straight line, since turning the guide wheels left and right could lead to their complete breakdown.

The supporting structure of the tank was a welded frame with four hollow rotating drums, around which one wide caterpillar belt was rewound. The belt tension was adjusted using a tension device and a tension drum. The vehicle was controlled using two rotary steering wheels located at the sides. In Porokhovshchikov's tank, side clutches were used for turning for the first time - mechanisms that later began to be installed on most tanks; on some machines they have been preserved to this day.
When moving on hard ground, the tank rested on these wheels and on the drive drum, and on soft ground it “lay down” on the caterpillar track. The length of the vehicle was 3.6 meters, width - 2 meters, height (without turret) - 1.5 meters, final weight was assumed to be 3.5-4.0 tons, crew - 1 person, machine gun armament, bulletproof armor. A 15 kW engine, a planetary transmission, and a combined wheel-track propulsion system (one track and two steered wheels) provided maximum speed 25 km/h..

On May 18, 1915, Porokhovshchikov tested his car on a track on a good road, without switching to wheels. When tested, its speed reached 25 km/h (neither the first British nor French tanks had such a speed). After minor modifications, they decided to hold an official demonstration of the All-terrain vehicle, which took place on July 20, 1915
Later, Porokhovshchikov improved his vehicle, making it a wheeled-tracked vehicle: on the roads the vehicle moved on wheels and the rear drum of the caterpillar, when it encountered an obstacle on its way - the all-terrain vehicle lay down on the caterpillar and “crawled” over it. This was several years ahead of tank building at that time. Porokhovshchikov made the tank's hull waterproof, as a result of which it could easily overcome water obstacles.
At the same time (in the spring of 1915) Porokhovshchikov proposed armor of his own design: “The armor is a combination of elastic and rigid layers of metal and special viscous and elastic gaskets.” The boiler iron was annealed “according to a method that is the secret of the inventor,” and as a gasket “after an enormous number of experiments,” he chose dried and pressed sea grass. The author especially emphasized the cheapness of “iron armor” and the ability to bend and weld it.
In 1916, he conducted tests in Petrograd - on December 29, 1916, he reached a speed of 40 versts per hour, which was an exceptionally high figure.
Porokhovshchikov’s most interesting development was the shape of the hull and the design of the armor: it was made multi-layered. However, in the winter of 1916, the military stopped funding the work. And tanks with spaced multi-layer armor appeared only in the early 70s of the 20th century... There is also a version that Porokhovshchikov’s drawings were used by British engineers for their developments.
The experimental vehicle continued to be tested, intermittently, until December 1915, after which a corresponding report was sent to Lieutenant General Kovalenko. In particular, it was stated that “the built copy of the All-Terrain Vehicle did not show all those qualities that are stipulated by report No. 8101, for example, it could not walk on loose snow about 1 foot (30 cm) deep, and tests of running on water were not done...”
Meanwhile, Porokhovshchikov’s vehicle was not considered a combat vehicle, due to the lack of armor and weapons on it, and in the documents it appeared as a “self-propelled gun” - that is, a car. According to the designer himself, the first sample of the “Russian tank” he created did have a number of shortcomings, but all of them were reasons for the departure from the project. In his opinion, much better results could have been achieved if the ATV had a larger distance between the drums, a more powerful engine and a grooved track.
From further work they decided to refuse the “All-terrain vehicle”, especially since 18,090 rubles were spent during this time. The military department ordered Porokhovshchikov to return to the treasury the money allocated for the construction of the vehicle, and to send the All-terrain Vehicle itself to the State Technical University.

Inventor: William Tritton and Walter Wilson
Country: England
Time of invention: 1915

The technical prerequisites for creating a tank appeared back in late XIX century - by that time the caterpillar propulsion system, internal combustion engine, armor, rapid-fire and machine guns had been invented. The first steam-powered tracked vehicle was created back in 1888 by the American Beterom. On the eve of the First World War, the Holt industrial tracked tractor appeared, which can be considered the direct predecessor of the tank.

But the prerequisites alone were not enough - the urgent need was missing. The First World War, which only began in 1914, harshly determined this need.

When the opponents launched millions of armies on the offensive, they never imagined that machine guns and cannons would literally sweep away the regiments and divisions going on the attack. Enormous losses forced the soldiers to eventually hide in trenches and dugouts. In the West, the front froze and turned into a continuous line of fortifications stretching from the English Channel to the border with Switzerland.

The war has reached a so-called positional deadlock. They tried to find a way out of it with the help of artillery - thousands of guns plowed every meter of enemy positions with shells for several days, or even weeks. It seemed like there was nothing alive left there. But as soon as the attacking infantry got out of the trenches, the surviving cannons and machine guns of the defenders again inflicted terrible losses on them. That's when tanks appeared on the battlefield.

The idea of creating a combat tracked vehicle capable of moving over rough terrain through trenches, ditches and wire fences was first expressed in 1914 by the English Colonel Swinton. After discussion in various authorities, the War Ministry generally accepted his idea and formulated the basic requirements that the combat vehicle had to meet. It had to be small, have caterpillar tracks, bulletproof armor, overcome craters up to 4 m and wire fences, reach a speed of at least 4 km/h, have a cannon and two machine guns.

The main purpose of the tank was to destroy barbed wire barriers and suppress enemy machine guns. Soon, the company William Foster and Co., in forty days, created a combat vehicle based on the Holt tracked tractor, called “Little Willie.” Its chief designers were Engineer Tritton and Lieutenant Wilson.

"Little Willie" was tested in 1915 and showed good driving performance. In November, the Holt company began manufacturing a new machine. The designers were faced with the difficult problem of increasing its length by 1 m without adding weight to the tank, so that it could overcome four-meter trenches. In the end, this was achieved due to the fact that the outline of the caterpillar was given the shape of a parallelogram.

In addition, it turned out that the tank had difficulty climbing vertical embankments and steep hills. To increase the height of the toe, Wilson and Tritton came up with the idea of running a caterpillar on top of the body. This significantly increased the vehicle's cross-country ability, but at the same time gave rise to a number of other difficulties associated, in particular, with the placement of cannons and machine guns.

The armament had to be distributed along the sides, and so that the machine guns could fire to the side and backwards, they were installed in the side projections - sponsons. In February 1916 new tank, named "Big Willie", successfully passed sea trials. He could overcome wide trenches, move across a plowed field, climb over walls and embankments up to 1.8 m high. Trenches up to 3.6 m did not pose a serious obstacle for him.

The tank's hull was a frame box made of corners to which armored plates were bolted. The chassis, which consisted of small unsprung road wheels (the shaking in the car was terrible), was also covered with armor. Inside, the “land cruiser” resembled the engine room of a small ship, which you could walk around without even bending down. There was a separate cabin in the front for the driver and commander.

Most of the remaining space was occupied by the Daimler engine, gearbox and transmission. To start the engine, teams of 3-4 people had to rotate a huge starting handle until the engine started with a deafening roar. The first brands of cars also had fuel tanks inside. There were narrow passages left on both sides of the engine. The ammunition was on the shelves between top part engine and roof.

While driving, exhaust gases and gasoline vapors accumulated in the tank. Ventilation was not provided. Meanwhile, the heat from the running engine soon became unbearable - reaching 50 degrees. In addition, with each cannon shot, the tank was filled with caustic powder gases. The crew could not stay in combat positions for a long time, they burned out and suffered from overheating. Even in battle, tankers sometimes jumped out to breathe fresh air, not paying attention to the whistling of bullets and shrapnel.

A significant drawback of “Big Willie” was its narrow tracks, which bogged down in soft soil. At this heavy tank sat on the ground, stumps and stones. It was bad with observation and communication - the viewing slots in the sides did not provide inspection, but the spray from bullets that hit the armor near them hit the tankers in the face and eyes. There was no radio communication. Carrier pigeons were kept for long-distance communication, and special signal flags were used for short-range communication. There was no intercom either.

Controlling the tank required significant effort from the drivers and commander (the latter was responsible for the brakes on the right and left side tracks). The tank had three gearboxes - one main and one on each side (each of them controlled a special transmission). The turn was carried out either by braking one track, or by switching one of the onboard gearboxes to the neutral position, while on the other side they engaged first or second gear. With the track stopped, the tank turned around almost on the spot.

Tanks were first used in battle on September 15, 1916 near the village of Flers-Courslet during a grandiose battles of the Somme. The British offensive, launched in July, produced insignificant results and very significant losses. It was then that the commander-in-chief, General Haig, decided to throw tanks into battle. There were 49 of them in total, but only 32 reached their original positions, the rest remained in the rear due to breakdowns.

Only 18 took part in the attack, but in a few hours they advanced along with the infantry into the German positions 5 km on a front of the same width. Haig was pleased - in his opinion, it was the new weapon that reduced infantry losses by 20 times compared to the “norm”. He immediately sent a demand to London for 1000 combat vehicles at once.

In subsequent years, the British released several modifications of the Mk (that was official name"Big Willie") Each subsequent model was more perfect than the previous one. For example, the first production tank Mk-1 weighed 28 tons, moved at a speed of 4.5 km/h, and was armed with two cannons and three machine guns. Its crew consisted of 8 people.

The later MkA tank had a speed of 9.6 km/h, weight - 18 tons, crew - 5 people, armament - 6 machine guns. MkC, weighing 19.5 tons, reached a speed of 13 km/h. This tank had a crew of four people and was armed with four machine guns.

The last amphibious tank, MkI, created already in 1918, had a rotating turret, a crew of four and an armament of three machine guns. Weighing 13.5 tons, it reached a speed of 43 km/h on land and 5 km/h on water. In total, the British produced 3,000 tanks of 13 different modifications during the war years.

Gradually, tanks were adopted by other warring armies. The first French tanks were developed and produced by Schneider in October 1916. Outwardly, they bore little resemblance to their English counterparts - the tracks did not cover the hull, but were located along its sides or under it. The chassis was sprung with special springs, which made the work of the crew easier. However, due to the fact that the upper part of the tank hung strongly over the tracks, the Schneider's maneuverability was worse, and they could not overcome even minor vertical obstacles.

The most best tank The First World War was the Renault FT, produced by Renault and weighing only 6 tons, crew of two, armament - machine gun (cannon since 1917), maximum speed - 9.6 km/h.

Renault FT became the prototype of the tank of the future. On it, for the first time, the layout of the main components was resolved, which still remains classic: engine, transmission, drive wheel - at the rear, control compartment - in front, rotating turret - in the center. For the first time, on-board radio stations began to be installed on Renault tanks, which immediately increased the controllability of tank formations.

A large diameter drive wheel helped to overcome vertical obstacles and get out of craters. The tank had good maneuverability and was easy to operate. For 15 years it served as a model for many designers. In France itself, Renault was in service until the end of the 30s, and it was produced under license in another 20 countries.

The Germans also tried to develop new weapons. Since 1917, the Bremerwagen company began production of the A7V tank, but their mass release The Germans were never able to fix it. Their tanks took part in some operations, but in quantities not exceeding several dozen machines.

On the contrary, the Entente countries (that is, England and France themselves) had about 7 thousand tanks by the end of the war. Here armored vehicles gained recognition and became firmly established in the weapon system. Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister during the war, said: “The tank was an outstanding and stunning innovation in the field of mechanical aid to war. This is the definitive English answer to German machine guns and the trenches no doubt played a very important role in hastening the Allied victory."

Tanks were widely used by the British in combat. In November 1917, a massive tank attack was carried out for the first time. 476 vehicles took part in it, supported by six infantry divisions. It was a huge success of a new type of weapon. Firing from cannons and machine guns, the tanks demolished the wire fences and overcame the first line of trenches on the move.

In just a few hours, the British advanced 9 km deep into the front, losing only 4 thousand people. (In the previous British offensive near Ypres, which lasted four months, the British lost 400 thousand people and managed to penetrate the German defense by only 6-10 km). The French also used tanks extensively several times. So, in July 1918, more than 500 French tanks took part in the battle of Soissons.