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First Panzers 1917-1918

作者:achtungpanzer 来源:panzer 日期:2007-3-1 0:21:58 浏览:次

A7V

German tank development can be traced back to 1911, when Austrian Oberleutenant Gunther Burstyn proposed a design for "motor vehicle gun" ("Motorgeschutz") with a turret. He patented his design in 1912 in Germany but it never progressed beyond paper. In 1916, development of tracked armored vehicles started again with Marienwagen I and II (also known as Bremer-Wagen), followed by Duer-Wagen and in 1917, Treffas-Wagen.

A7V Sturmpanzerwagen
A7V - Allegmeine-Kriegs-Department 7, Abteilung Verkehrswesen (General War Department 7, Traffic Section) was designed in January of 1917 by Reserve Captain and Engineer Joseph Vollmer. General War Department 7, Traffic Section was raised in September of 1916, after first British tanks appeared on the battlefield. On November 13th of 1916, the German Army decided to build tanks and overall project was under direction of Joseph Vollmer. New tank was to be a universal platform to be used as a base for both a tank and cargo carrier. It was based on Holt tractor of which parts were obtained from Austria, where it was produced under licence. Vehicle was powered by two centrally mounted 100hp Daimler engines with commander's cupola / compartment above them. First prototype was completed by Daimler-Benz and tested in April of 1917. The wooden mock-up of a final version was ready in May of 1917. First pre-production A7V was produced in September of 1917, followed by production model in October of 1917. All tanks received nicknames (e.g. Mephisto, Wotan, Isolde etc.) and were grouped in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Abteilung. It had its tank vs. tank debut against British tanks on March 21st of 1918 at St. Quentin and on April 21st at Villers-Bretonneux / Cachy. Only 20 out of 100 ordered (in December of 1917) were produced due to the steel shortages and overall low priority of the project. A7V was unstable and had a very poor trench-crossing performance due to its track design and minimal ground clearance. Two production types existed, early type with hull sides made of number of pieces (with large number of rivets) and late type with one piece hull sides. There were other numerous differences between inpidual tanks since all parts were handmade and made to fit given tank. In addition, its poor quality armor plates offered little protection for 18 men (in some cases 22 men) crew composed of artillerymen, infantrymen and mechanics. The main armament consisted of 57mm (Russian Sokol or Belgian Maxim Nordenfeld) gun and six heavy machine guns. Additional weapons were carried by the crew of whom some fought alongside the tank during combat. Along with A7V tanks, 30 to 75 unarmored cargo carriers - Uberlandwagen / Gelandewagen were produced. Some cargo carriers were fitted with ditch digging machines Following the WWI, few (5?) tanks were received as reparations from Germany by Poland and pressed into limited service from 1919 to 1922, during the Polish-Soviet War but it has not been proven if Poland really received any A7V tanks. Today, original A7V Mephisto captured by Australian troops in 1918, can be seen in the museum in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. Full scale replica build modelled after the original Mephisto can be seen at Panzermuseum at Munster, Germany.

A7V/U Sturmpanzerwagen

A7V/U - Allegmeine-Kriegs-Department 7, Abteilung Verkehrswesen (General War Department 7, Traffic Section) / Umlaufende Ketten - (all-round tracks). Its design was by Vollmer based on original A7V but featured sponsons and all-round tracks (features copied from British tanks). Armament consisted of two Belgian Maxim Nordenfeld 57mm or Russian 57mm Sokol or German 77mm guns mounted in side sponsons along with four to six 7.92mm Maxim 08/15 machine guns. Its suspension was based on Holt tractor (just as A7V) and was 8.5m long. Maximum speed was 12.5km/h and it was powered by two Daimler engines (just as A7V) producing 210hp. Armor protection ranged from 20mm to 30mm and entire tank weighted 39.6 tons. A7V/U was operated by the crew of 7 men. It resembled British Mark IV (Hermaphrodite) tank but was larger. 20 were ordered in September of 1918, but only single prototype was produced by Daimler-Benz and then scrapped as it proved to be a failure.

A7V/U2 Sturmpanzerwagen / A7V/U3 Sturmpanzerwagen
A7V/U2 was to be a version with smaller sponsons and machine gun mounted in a cupola, while A7V/U3 was to be armed only with machine guns. Both never entered production and remained as projects.

K-Wagen / Kolossal-Wagen / Grosskampfwagen Super Heavy Breakthrough Tank

K-Wagen was designed by Joseph Vollmer and Captain Wegner (Weger?) and ordered in December of 1917, it was to enter service in 1919. It was designed so that it could be broken into four parts for rail transport. K-Wagen had a boxy hull mounted with sponsons. Armor protection ranged from 10 to 30mm and entire tank weighted 148-150 tons. The vehicle was to be 12.7m long, 3.0m wide (6.0m wide w sponsons) and 3.0m high. It featured roller-type tracks and was powered by two Daimler-Benz aerial engines (each producing 650hp) with electric-magnetic clutch transmission. Maximum speed was 7.5km/h. K-Wagen's armament consisted of four 77mm guns (two mounted in each sponson) with 800 rounds of ammunition and seven 7.92mm Maxim 08/15 machine guns with 21000 rounds of ammunition. Modified U-Boot communications and control equipment was to be used. It was to be operated by the crew of 22 men. Production was delayed because of the material shortages and only two were under construction in November of 1918 at Riebe-Kugellager factory at Berlin, but were not completed. Both were eventually scrapped by the Allied Control Commission.

LK.I (Leichte Kampfwagen) Light (Cavalry) Tank
LK.I was designed by Joseph Vollmer and influenced by captured British Mark A Whippet Medium Tank. It was based on Daimler car chassis, using the existing axles for sprocket and idler wheels. It's design followed typical automobile layout with the engine at the front and driving compartment in the rear. It was the first German tank to be mounted with the turret (rear mounted) armed with 7.92mm Maxim 08/15 machine gun. Armor protection was 8 to 14mm and entire tank weighted 6.89 tons. It was 5.08m long, 1.95m wide and 2.52m high. LK.I was powered by single Daimler-Benz Otto Model 1910 4-cylinder 50-60hp gasoline engine with operational range of 70km and maximum speed of 14km/h. It carried 140l of gasoline and was operated by 3 men crew. Only prototypes were produced in mid 1918, while 800 were ordered.

LK.II (Leichte Kampfwagen) Light (Cavalry) Tank