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In attendance at the demonstration of the Killen-Strait tractor were two future British Prime Ministers: David Lloyd George (who achieved the highest office by the end of the year) and the current First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
During the demonstration the tractor successfully demonstrated its ability to cut through a barbed wire entanglement. Both Churchill and Lloyd George came away impressed by its potential.
It was Churchill who, on Colonel Swinton's urging (and backed by Hankey), sponsored the establishment of the Landships Committee to investigate the potential of constructing what amounted to a new military weapon. The name of the committee was derived from the fact that, at least initially, the tank was seen an extension of sea-going warships - hence, a landship.
THE BIRTH OF THE LANDSHIP - OR TANK
Together the Landships Committee and the Inventions Committee, working with Colonel Swinton, agreed to go ahead with the design of the new weapon, which at that time remained nameless.
They therefore commissioned Lieutenant Walter Wilson of the Naval Air Service and William Tritton of William Foster & Co., based in Lincoln, to produce the first landship in secrecy. Its codename, given because the shape of the shell resembled water carriers, was 'tank'; the name, assigned in December 1915, stuck.
Swinton laid down certain key criteria that he argued must be part of the finished design. The tank must boast a minimum speed of four miles per hour, be able to climb a five foot high obstacle, successfully span a five foot trench, and - critically - be immune to the effects of small-arms fire. Furthermore, it should possess two machine guns, have a range of twenty miles and be maintained by a crew of ten men.
This first tank was given the nickname 'Little Willie' (soon followed by 'Big Willie') and, as with its predecessors, possessed a Daimler engine. Weighing some 14 tons and bearing 12 feet long track frames, the tank could carry three people in cramped conditions. In the event its top speed was three miles per hour on level ground, two miles per hour on rough terrain (actual battlefield conditions in fact).
The 'Little Willie' was notably restricted in that it was unable to cross trenches. This handicap was however soon remedied under the energetic enthusiasm of Colonel Swinton.
THE ROLE OF THE ROYAL NAVY
The tank was in many ways merely an extension of the principle of the armoured car. Armoured cars were popular on the Western Front at the start of the war, since at that stage it was very much a war of movement. Their use only dwindled with the onset of static trench warfare, when their utility was questionable.
The Royal Navy's role in tank development may seem incongruous but was in fact merely an extension of the role they had played thus far in the use of armoured cars. The navy had deployed squadrons of armoured cars to protect Allied airstrips in Belgium against enemy attack. It was this experience that Churchill drew upon when offering his department's support for the 'landship'.
PRODUCTION OF THE TANK
The first combat tank was ready by January 1916 and was demonstrated to a high-powered audience. Convinced, Lloyd George - the Minister of Munitions - ordered production of the heavy Mark I model to begin (the lighter renowned 'Whippets' entered service the following year).
Meanwhile the French, who were aware of British tank experimentation, proceeded with their own independent designs, although they remained somewhat sceptical as to its potential; their focus at the time was firmly on the production of ever more battlefield artillery.
Nevertheless the French had their own Colonel Swinton, a man named Colonel Estienne.
He managed to persuade the French Commander in Chief, Joseph Joffre, of the battlefield potential of the tank as an aid to the infantry.
Joffre, ever a champion of the 'offensive spirit', agreed with the result that an initial order for 400 French Schneider (their first tank, named after the factory which produced them) and 400 St. Chaumond tanks was placed, although they were not used until April 1917.
Five months after its combat demonstration to the British, in June 1916 the first production line tanks were ready, albeit too late for use at the start of that year's 'big push' - the Battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916.
EARLY USE OF THE TANK
Initially the Royal Navy supplied the crews for the tank. History was made on 15 September 1916 when Captain H. W. Mortimore guided a D1 tank into action at the notorious Delville Wood.
Shortly afterwards thirty-six tanks led the way in an attack at Flers. Although the attack was itself successful - the sudden appearance of the new weapon stunned their German opponents - these early tanks proved notoriously unreliable. In part this was because the British, under Commander in Chief Sir Douglas Haig, deployed them before they were truly battle ready in an attempt to break the trench stalemate. They often broke down and became ditched - i.e. stuck in a muddy trench - more often than anticipated.
Conditions for the tank crews were also far from ideal. The heat generated inside the tank was tremendous and fumes often nearly choked the men inside. Nevertheless the first tank operators proved their mettle by operating under what amounted to appalling conditions.
The first battle honour awarded to a tank operator went to Private A. Smith, awarded the Military Medal for his actions at Delville Wood on 15 September 1916.
Fonte:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/tanks.htm
Mais:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gONT2Zp_krU
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/ww1-tanks.asp
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28319/28319-h/28319-h.htm
