Sturmpanzerwagen A7V

After the British designed the Mark I tank, which was followed by the Mark II, Mark III, Mark IV and etc..., the Germans decided to establish the ''Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, 7. Abteilung, Verkehrswesen'' in 1916. They are resposible for design an own tank, who need to face the both British and French tanks. During the early years of the so called "landships", the Germans have the face the British and French tanks with some beute panzers, captured British and French tanks. The design of the Sturmpanzerwagen A7V started in the same year and the first prototype was completed by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft at Berlin-Marienfelde and was tested on 30 April 1917. A wooden mockup of a final version was completed in May 1917 and demonstrated in Mainz with 10 tons of ballast to simulate armour. During final design the rear-facing cannon was removed and the number of machine-guns was increased to six. The first pre-production A7V's was produced in September 1917, followed by the first production model in October 1917. The tanks were given to Sturm-Panzer-Kraftwagen-Abteilung 1 and Sturm-Panzer-Kraftwagen-Abteilung 2, founded on 20 September 1917, each with five officers and 109 NCOs and soldiers. The A7V was 7.34 metres long, 3 metres wide, and the maximum height was 3.3 metres. The tank had 20 mm of steel plate at the sides, 30 mm at the front and 10 mm for the roof; however the steel was not hardened armour plate, which reduced its effectiveness. It was thick enough to stop machine-gun and rifle fire, but not larger calibres. This offered protection comparable to the thinner armour of other tanks of the period, which used hardened steel. The crew normally consisted of up to seventeen soldiers and one officer: commander (officer, typically a lieutenant), driver, mechanic, mechanic/signaller, twelve infantrymen (six machine gunners, six loaders), and two artillerymen (main gunner and loader). The A7V was armed with six 7.92 mm MG08 machine guns and a 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon mounted at the front. Some of these cannons were of British manufacture and had been captured in Belgium early in the war; others were captured in Russia in 1918 and appear to have included some Russian-made copies. It have a Daimler 4-cylinder petrol engines delivering 100 horsepower (75 kW) each. The top speed was about 15 kilometres per hour on roads and 5 kilometres per hour across country. The 24 wheel suspension was individually sprung—an advantage over the unsprung British tanks. Compared to other World War I tanks the road speed was quite high, but the tank had very poor off-road capability and was prone to getting stuck. The large overhang at the front and the low ground clearance meant trenches or very muddy areas were impassable. This was worsened by the fact that the driver could not see the terrain directly in front of the tank, due to a blind spot of about 10 metres. However, on open terrain it could be used to some success and offered more firepower than the armoured cars that were available. The A7V was first used in combat on 21 March 1918. Five tanks of Abteilung I under the command of Hauptmann Greiff were deployed north of the St. Quentin Canal. Three of the A7Vs suffered mechanical failures before they entered combat, but the remaining pair helped stop a minor British breakthrough in the area, but otherwise saw little combat that day. The first tank against tank combat in history took place on 24 April 1918 when three A7Vs taking part in an attack with infantry incidentally met three Mark IVs near Villers-Bretonneux. The lead German tank, commanded by Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Biltz, was hit by the 6-pounders of a male Mark IV tank and was knocked out. The two remaining A7Vs in turn withdrew. The damaged A7V was later recovered by German forces.