An A1E1 Tank with a man next to for scale.
In 1922, the British War Office asked Vickers to design a new heavy tank to replace the world war 1 Mark V heavy tank. The choswn design was for a for a tank with a main gun in a turret and four machine guns in smaller turrets. The Land Battleship idea pioneered the British with this design, would enjoy a brief European-wide before it's shortcoming became apearent and the pracrical problems of command, crew, control, wieght, and size made it redundant.
However, as an experimental tank it anticipated and influenced future tank designes with verios development. The control of the A1 were hydraulically operated by the driver at the front with an engine in the rear, and trakcs.slung low with the hull between them. The main amrmament was a 3pdr quick fireing gunin the main turret. With vicker machine guns in the smaller turrets. It's 398hp V12 engine gave the A1 a road speed of 25mph but in practice it was slowee about going 20mpg caise it used iol quickly. The engine was very hard to start-hence the the fitting of the aero-marine starter.
With a wieght of 32 tones, the engine, final drive, suspension, rubber tyers of the road wheel and the brakes all gave constint trouble cause the tank was to heavy, out of portions, and to long for the width this in turn mad it hard to turn and steer, and cuased serios problems at the rear where the tracks fumes started to peel away from the hull. Eventually after expensive but usefull seven years development cycle the project was canceled after coasting £150,000 - a high price for the time.
A1E1[]
- Entered Servise: Never did
- Country: Britian
- Crew:8
- Weight:32 tones
- Dimensions: Length- 24ft, Hight (over hatch)- 8.11ft, Width- 8.9ft
- Armament:1x 3pdr Quick Fire gun, 4x Vickers Machine guns
- Armor: Max 30mm
- Powerplant: 398hp V12 engine
- Speed: 20mph
- Range: 93miles