By: Chris Dyke and Dylan Granter

HISTORY OF THE TANK

THE BEGINNING The history of the tank began in World War 1 when armoured all-terrain fighting vehicles were first deployed as a response to the problems of trench warfare, ushering in a new era of mechanized warfare. Though initially crude and unreliable, tanks eventually became a mainstay of ground armies. By World War 2, tank design had advanced significantly, and tanks were used in quantity in all land theatres if the war. The Cold War saw the rise of modern tank doctrine and the rise of the general purpose main battle tank. the tank still provides the backbone to land combat operations in the 21st century

A British Mark 1 tank in action on 26 September 1916

DEVELOPMENT World War 1 generated new demands for armoured self-propelled weapons which could navigate and kind of terrain, leading to the development of the tank. The tank was originally designed as a special weapon to solve an unusual tactical situation: the stalemate of the trenches on the western front it was a weapon designed for one simple task crossing the killing zone between trench lines and breaking into enemy defences. The armoured tank was intended to be able to survive artillery bombardments and machine-gun fire, and pass through barbed wire in a way infantry units could not hope to, thus allowing the stalemate to be broken .

A frot-laffly land ship was tested on march 28, 1915 in France

EARLY CONCEPTSThe earliest concepts in recorded history include Leonardo da Vinci's late 15th century drawings of what some people describe as a tank, a man-powered wheeled vehicle encased in armour, with cannons all around it. however the human crew would not have the power to move it over larger distance, and usage of animals was problematic in a space so confined

WORLD WAR 1

A first offensive using mark 1 tanks took place on September 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. Forty-nine were committed, of which 32 were mechanically fit to take part in the advance and achieved some small local successes

WORLD WAR 2World War 2 forced armies to integrate all the available arms at every level into a mobile, flexible team. The mechanized combined arms force came of age this war, in 1939, most armies still though of an armoured division as a mass of tanks with relatively limited support from the other arms. The German, Soviet, and American armies therefore developed a number of tank surrogates such as tank destroyers and assault guns to perform these functions in cooperation with the infantry.

TANKS OF THE WORLD

RUSSIAN KV-2• The KV’s strengths included armor that was impenetrable by any tank

mounted weapon then in the service, except at point range, that it had good fire power, and it had good traction on soft ground.

• It also had serious flaws. It was difficult to steer, the transmission was a twenty year old Caterpillar design and was unreliable and was know to have shifted with a hammer, and the ergonomics were poor, with limited visibility and no turret basket.

• Weighing 45 tons its was just too heavy

• KV’s were never equipped with a snorkelling system so they had to be left to travel to an adequate bridge.

• Belonged to the soviets, and was used during World War 2.

GERMAN TIGER TANK• During the course of war, the Tiger I : saw combat on all German Battlefronts. The Tiger I

was feared by many of its opponents, it was engineered using expensive materials and labour intensive production methods

• Only 1,347 were built between August 1942 to August 1944.

• Was prone to certain types of track failures and immobilizations, and limited in range by its high fuel consumption.

• Belonged to Nazi Germany, used during WW2 and had a top speed of 45.4km/h.

M4 AMERICAN SHERMAN

• The M4 Sherman, was the primary battle tank used by the United States and other Westerns Allies in World War 2, and proved to be a reliable and highly mobile workhorse, despite being out matched by the heavier German tanks in the war.

• Second most produced tank in the WW2 era, After the soviet T-34

• Had a unusual side-sponson mounted 75 mm gun.

MODERN TANKS

Tanks that are made these days are more advanced. Tank development has consisted of making changes in order to improve protection, mobility and firepower. Different types of armour, including modern modular, composite and explosive reactive armour, have been developed in order to defend again ever-evolving anti-tank weapons. Other changes in tank design have been made to increase the safety of the tank crew. Some tanks have there engine at the front providing the crew with additional protection from a direct hit.

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_tank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman