Little Willie Tank - The British Little Willie was the initial prototype for the development of the tank and is believed to be the basis for the famous British Mark tank.

As the Western Front froze and the war came into focus in late 1914 and early 1915, the newly formed British Landing Craft Commission, led by Winston Churchill, decided it was necessary to develop an advanced armored vehicle to penetrate German positions.

Little Willie Tank

Little Willie Tank

Agricultural machines are used because they have chain drives and can be driven even in difficult terrain. The Killen-Strait tractor was developed as one of the first prototypes, but it did not meet the requirements. So on July 29, 1915, Sir William Tritton, director of the agricultural machinery factory William Foster & Co. Ltd, entrusted with the manufacture of a suitable vehicle. Tritton used an existing concept from lead developer William Rigby, but lengthened the chain using seven rollers instead of four as before. One of the Bullock Creeping Grip Tractor Company from the USA works as a chassis. The suspension has been adjusted accordingly.

File:little Willie At The Tank Museum, Bovington.jpg

For easier steering, two rear wheels are also installed, which are used to steer when turning slightly and do not need to use the brake as usual. On September 9, 1915, the prototype was first tested as Lincoln Machine #1.

After the first test, the weak point was on straight roads, which pushed the ground up too much when the car turned and got in the way. After the repair, it was found that when crossing the ditch, the cells hang too low and get stuck. This problem was eventually solved by using cast chain links with integrated center guide teeth.

As an engine, a 105 hp Daimler engine was installed in the back, the fuel supply worked through the tanks above it by gravity. Two drivers sit in the front, one controls the steering wheel, clutch, front gear and throttle, the other controls the brakes. There were also two gearbox controls sitting in the back. Weapon operators are placed between the two.

The 2-pounder Vickers cannon and six Madsen machine guns were designated as armament. The machine gun should be located in a non-rotating turret. 10 mm thick boiler plates were planned for armouring, armor steel was only used on later tanks.

English Little Willie Tank In Blueprint ...

After further testing, both Tritton and his advisor, Lt. Walter Gordon Wilson, decided that the medium was insufficient. On 17 September 1915, the project was shelved and work began on the successor model, which resulted in the Mark I tank. Meanwhile, work on the Little Willie continued, but after the Mark I tanks proved suitable for the front, the project was stopped altogether.

The prototype survived the First World War and was saved from scrapping during the Second World War in 1940 when the United Kingdom was in dire need of raw materials for the war economy. The vehicle is now at the Bovington Tank Museum, although the interior has since been dismantled.

The nickname Little Willie comes from the British press, who named the prototype Lincoln Machine Number 1 in reference to Prince Wilhelm of Germany.

Little Willie Tank

The tank – the Panzer – seemed to be the solution to the problems that plagued every warring nation in the First World War. Powerful industrialists, mainly British and French, developed the tank, only the Germans stepped aside and started thinking about it too late: when the war ended, the Kaiser's army fleet consisted of at most 20 armored vehicles (and quite a few captured vehicles, much better and more suitable). In this type of compass, Wolfgang Fleischer presents the armored and tracked vehicles of all countries up to 1918.

Chris Moore · A Century Of Tanks · Lrb 12 May 2022

Sophisticated defensive positions protected by barbed wire fences and machine guns confronted infantry of all branches with the seemingly intractable problems of World War I. When the British used the first armored vehicles at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, codenamed "Tanks", to cross trenches, it revolutionized future warfare. In this volume, Wolfgang Fleischer describes the development of the world's first armored fighting vehicles by all nations, accompanied by many skepticism and technical problems.

Like all wars, the First World War spawned countless technological inventions that had a single goal: to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy. Never before has the use of new technology claimed such a high number of victims, never before has the physical destruction of the other side been possible. In this document, Wolfgang Fleischer meticulously documents the full spectrum of weaponry used by the Central Powers and their adversaries, be it machine guns, artillery, poison gas, armored fighting vehicles and armored fighting vehicles, aircraft or submarines.

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By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies to improve your online experience. This is based on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I agree. NoRead General Data Protection RegulationLittle Willie was the prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Built in the autumn of 1915 by order of the Landing Craft Commission, it was the first complete prototype tank in history. Little Willie is the oldest surviving personal tank and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of the Tank Museum, Bovington, Gland.

Little Willie Tank Hi Res Stock Photography And Images

Work on Little Willie's predecessor began in July 1915 by the Landship Commission in response to a request from Great Britain during World War I for an armored fighting vehicle that could cross an 8-foot (2.4 m) trench. After several other projects where monorails and trirails failed, on 22 July William Ashbee Tritton, principal of William Foster & Company of Lincoln agricultural machinery, contracted to develop the two-line "Tritton Machine". It must use racetrack assemblies—pre-assembled rails and suspension components (seven wheels running on the road instead of four)—purchased as fully-built parts, tuned from the Bullock Creeping Grip Tractor Company in Chicago.

On August 11, the actual construction began; On August 16, Tritton decided to install a rear door with wheels to aid in steering. On September 9, Lincoln Machine No. 1, as the prototype was known, ran for the first time in the Wellington Foundry yard. It is clear that sections of the track are so flat that cornering ground resistance is excessive. To solve this problem, the suspension has been changed so that the underside is more curved. Another problem appears: when crossing a track, the rails sag and the wheels misalign and get stuck. The track also cannot support the weight of the vehicle (about 16 tons). Tritton and Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson tried a number of alternative track designs, including balata straps and flat cables. Tritton, 22 September, devised a robust but rugged system that used riveted pressed steel sheets to form the links and incorporated guides to measure the inside of the rail frame. The entire track frame is connected to the main body by large pins.

This system has no springs, as the rails are held in place, it can only move in one plane. This was a successful design and was used on all British World War I tanks up to the Mark VIII, although its speed was limited.

Little Willie Tank

At the back, just enough room left for the turret. The prototype was equipped with a non-rotating turret mock-up with an attached machine gun; a 2lb (40mm) Vickers Maxim ("Pom-pom") gun was fitted and up to six Mads machine guns for augmentation.

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The main weapon will have a large ammunition store with 800 rounds. Stern suggested to Tritton that the gun could slide forward on rails, giving better range, but in this case the turret idea was dropped and the crew hatch changed. In front of the car, two m sit on a narrow bch; one person controls the steering wheel, clutch, main gear and throttle; the other holds the brake. The overall length of the final version with long rails and rear rudder in place was 8.08 m (26 ft 6 in). The length of the main unit without the rear rudder is 5.87 m (19 ft 3 in).

Most of the mechanical parts, including the radiator, were adapted from those of the Foster-Daimler heavy artillery tractor. Since at least four meters are needed to operate the weapon, the crew should not be less than six people. The top speed set by Tritton is no more than two miles an hour. The vehicle does not use actual armor steel, only boiler plates; is intended for the production of 10 mm plating.

Unsatisfied with the basic concept of Lincoln Machine No. 1, Wilson proposed to Tritton on August 17 the idea of ​​using lines run around the car. With d'Eyncourt's consent

Construction of the improved prototype began on September 17. On this second prototype (later known as "HMLS [Emperor's Land Ship] Ctipede" and later still "Mother") a diamond-shaped track frame was fitted to carry the tracks higher. vehicle head. The rear rudders were retained in an improved form, but the turret idea was dropped and the main shaft

British Mark I Tank 1916: Fletcher, David, Bryan, Tony: 9781841766898: Books

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