Thread by @historicfirearm

THREAD: Shall we talk WW1 tank weapons?

The British Mk I Heavy came in two variants Male & Female.

The Male's primary armament was a pair of forward facing QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss mounted in sponsons. The ~4ft long barrels proved a little ungainly.

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While the MkI Male also had some Hotchkiss Mk1* machine guns.

It was the Female MkI which packed 4 .303 vickers guns in her sponsons.

As the war went on a Hermaphrodite tank with one sponson with a 6pdr & one with machine guns was also introduced.

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The MkIV introduced shorter 6pdr guns which became the standard for all future 'male' British heavy tanks. By the time the MkVIII 'International' was developed it was to have a Male armament of 2 QF (quick firing) 6-pounders and an array of 7 Hotchkiss machine guns.

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The MkVIII had 5 machine gun positions in its raised superstructure and 2 more in is side doors. The British tanks would use a .303 Hotckiss Mk1* while the US tanks would eventually be fitted with the M1919 Browning tank machine gun.

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This is a Browning M1919 (a gun synonymous with #WWII), this model with its barrel protector & ball joint still in the white. Note the hand grip below the receiver. Designed by John Browning the M1919 remains in service with some militaries today.

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This wonderful photo from the Library of Congress perfectly shows how the Browning mounted into the side doors of the MkVIII - note he's using the grip beneath the receiver to aid traverse of the ball mount.

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Lets take a break from machine guns for a moment to appreciate this wonderful photo of a MkVIII's sponson 6pdr position absolutely surrounded by shell storage racks.

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The tank carried 208 shells for its guns, the ready racks in the sponson held 12 standard shells and 13 smoke shells.

The rest were held in a central stowage rack and in racks either side of the driver's position.

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Anyway, back to machine guns!

The tank was supposed to go into action carrying a minimum of 21,000 rounds of ammunition. The belts were stored in storage spaces in the centre of the fighting compartment.

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The MkVIII never saw action. It was only entering production in november '18 & its French assembly plant wasn't complete. This image taken from footage of a tank demo in the 20s shows it in action alongside the prototype M1921 Medium Tank - a tank you don't see often! 10/

This wonderful photo taken at a demo at Camp Meade in 1925 shows no less than 5 MkVIIIs during a mock attack! The US built 100, they served into the late 20s/early 30s, very much obsolete.

Footage of the MkVIII in action -

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Hope you found that thread interesting, if you'd like to learn more about the MKVIII, check out my in-depth article & video on it here: armourersbench.com/2020/04/12/mkv…

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