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Mephisto – rarest tank in the world | Australian War Memorial
Mephisto – rarest tank in the world | Australian War Memorial
Mephisto
- Thread starter Graeme
- Start date
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Wildcat
Major
It's a great relic, I've seen it quite a few times at the Queensland Museum.
mikewint
Captain
An amazing vehicle to say the least and the only tank produced by the Germans in WWI. Amazingly the Germans were very slow to realize the value of armored "tanks" and when they did, they preferred captured British or French tanks.
The A7V featured a boxy, armored hull superstructure fitted atop the modified tracked components of a Holt tractor. The result was a vehicle that appeared to have no true front end - the only telltale sign being its 57mm field gun fitted at the bow. Various captured British, Belgian, and Russian 57mm field guns were uses during production of the twenty vehicles. To this was added 6 x Maxim MG08 machine guns - two at ports along each hull side and a pairing at the rear hull face. The field gun required at least two personnel to operate effectively as did each machine gun. In addition to the driving/steering crew and onboard engineers, the total crew numbered 18 or more. About 30,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition were carried to go along with 500 x 57mm projectiles.
Its armor plating was near-vertical along all of the available faces and there was a centrally-mounted cupola-type assembly fitted on the roof - this area reserved for the driving compartment. Hinged rectangular doors offered the needed entry/exit for the crew. Armor protection ranged from 30mm at the front facing to 20mm at the rear and 15mm protecting the sides. Combat weight was listed at 33 tons (29,937 kg; 66,000 lb)
The vehicle sat atop a rather shallow track system (ground clearance was measured in mere inches) which utilized some fifteen roadwheels to a hull side. Power was through 2 x Daimler-Benz 4-cylinder gasoline engines developing 200 horsepower and mated to Adler gearboxes and differentials while being exhausted through a stack set along the lower hull sides. The suspension system was of vertical springs, retained from the Holt tractor design. All told, the vehicle managed a ponderous 9 miles per hour on roads and 4 miles per hour when attempting cross-country travel. Ranges were limited to 50 miles maximum if the vehicle did not suffer a mechanical breakdown or get bogged down in the terrain. The engine was installed at center with the main running gear components resting under the rear section of the hull. Two drivers sat in the upper center bridge area operating steering wheel and lever controls. The crew had access to ropes strewn over their heads to help stabilize themselves during rough-terrain travel.
The vehicle was excessively heavy which made it impractical over uneven and soft terrain and it held an inherently slow speed for traveling to which accompanying infantry simply outpaced it - limiting the A7V's support value during offensives. The shallow and narrow track base made the vehicle unsafe under certain conditions and its powertrain was prone to breakdown - even more so than seen on British and French designs. Its large size and slow speeds also made for an easy target and near-vertical facings offered little ballistics protection from direct hits. Firing arcs were limited, particularly for the 57mm gun at front. The large crew and inherent operating conditions restricted proper communications. If the A7V held a saving grace, it was in its armor protection scheme which was better than its contemporaries.
The German Army ordered 100 Sturmpanzerwagen A7V tanks by the end of 1917. However, construction was slow and only 20 were completed by the end of the war in November of 1918. The Germans also made heavy use of captured British and French tanks during the war - indeed much of the German armored force was actually made up of captured vehicles.
In March of 1918, four A7Vs were paired with five captured British Mark IV tanks and used during the Ludendorff Offensive spanning from March 21st, to July 18th. The A7Vs and Mark IV tanks were used in the post-artillery barrage period that preceded movement into enemy terrain and fought against the British defenses stationed at St. Quentin.
The recorded first-ever tank-versus-tank duel occurred southwest of Villers-Bretonneaux on April 27th, 1918. The Germans had captured the town and were aiming towards Amiens to enact a breakthrough in the Allied lines. An Allied force managed to take some ground in a night action and three British Mark IV tanks were deployed to hold the ground - though only one was of the cannon-armed (6-pounder) "males", the other two being machine-gun-only-armed "female" tanks. With the threat of encountering an enemy armored vehicle low, this seemed sufficient-enough of a defense for the work ahead.
German A7Vs were eventually sent to counter the Allied gains. Offering just machine gun resistance and lesser armor protection, the two females were both damaged and forced to withdraw. The British male then engaged with its 6-pdr gun and managed several direct hits upon the lead A7V which was knocked out. The remaining two A7Vs then withdrew to mark the end of the fighting.
A7Vs were further used at the Third Battle of the Aisne (May-June 1918) and at the Second Battle of the Marne (July 1918). Their final actions were on October 11th, 1918 near the northern French town of Iwuy.
Any A7Vs that were not lost to combat were scrapped in the post-war drawdown. One example was claimed by the Australians at Villers-Bretonneux and is on display at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia. All of the twenty completed chassis were given names by the Germans as if battleships - this particular chassis carries the name of "Mephisto".
The A7V featured a boxy, armored hull superstructure fitted atop the modified tracked components of a Holt tractor. The result was a vehicle that appeared to have no true front end - the only telltale sign being its 57mm field gun fitted at the bow. Various captured British, Belgian, and Russian 57mm field guns were uses during production of the twenty vehicles. To this was added 6 x Maxim MG08 machine guns - two at ports along each hull side and a pairing at the rear hull face. The field gun required at least two personnel to operate effectively as did each machine gun. In addition to the driving/steering crew and onboard engineers, the total crew numbered 18 or more. About 30,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition were carried to go along with 500 x 57mm projectiles.
Its armor plating was near-vertical along all of the available faces and there was a centrally-mounted cupola-type assembly fitted on the roof - this area reserved for the driving compartment. Hinged rectangular doors offered the needed entry/exit for the crew. Armor protection ranged from 30mm at the front facing to 20mm at the rear and 15mm protecting the sides. Combat weight was listed at 33 tons (29,937 kg; 66,000 lb)
The vehicle sat atop a rather shallow track system (ground clearance was measured in mere inches) which utilized some fifteen roadwheels to a hull side. Power was through 2 x Daimler-Benz 4-cylinder gasoline engines developing 200 horsepower and mated to Adler gearboxes and differentials while being exhausted through a stack set along the lower hull sides. The suspension system was of vertical springs, retained from the Holt tractor design. All told, the vehicle managed a ponderous 9 miles per hour on roads and 4 miles per hour when attempting cross-country travel. Ranges were limited to 50 miles maximum if the vehicle did not suffer a mechanical breakdown or get bogged down in the terrain. The engine was installed at center with the main running gear components resting under the rear section of the hull. Two drivers sat in the upper center bridge area operating steering wheel and lever controls. The crew had access to ropes strewn over their heads to help stabilize themselves during rough-terrain travel.
The vehicle was excessively heavy which made it impractical over uneven and soft terrain and it held an inherently slow speed for traveling to which accompanying infantry simply outpaced it - limiting the A7V's support value during offensives. The shallow and narrow track base made the vehicle unsafe under certain conditions and its powertrain was prone to breakdown - even more so than seen on British and French designs. Its large size and slow speeds also made for an easy target and near-vertical facings offered little ballistics protection from direct hits. Firing arcs were limited, particularly for the 57mm gun at front. The large crew and inherent operating conditions restricted proper communications. If the A7V held a saving grace, it was in its armor protection scheme which was better than its contemporaries.
The German Army ordered 100 Sturmpanzerwagen A7V tanks by the end of 1917. However, construction was slow and only 20 were completed by the end of the war in November of 1918. The Germans also made heavy use of captured British and French tanks during the war - indeed much of the German armored force was actually made up of captured vehicles.
In March of 1918, four A7Vs were paired with five captured British Mark IV tanks and used during the Ludendorff Offensive spanning from March 21st, to July 18th. The A7Vs and Mark IV tanks were used in the post-artillery barrage period that preceded movement into enemy terrain and fought against the British defenses stationed at St. Quentin.
The recorded first-ever tank-versus-tank duel occurred southwest of Villers-Bretonneaux on April 27th, 1918. The Germans had captured the town and were aiming towards Amiens to enact a breakthrough in the Allied lines. An Allied force managed to take some ground in a night action and three British Mark IV tanks were deployed to hold the ground - though only one was of the cannon-armed (6-pounder) "males", the other two being machine-gun-only-armed "female" tanks. With the threat of encountering an enemy armored vehicle low, this seemed sufficient-enough of a defense for the work ahead.
German A7Vs were eventually sent to counter the Allied gains. Offering just machine gun resistance and lesser armor protection, the two females were both damaged and forced to withdraw. The British male then engaged with its 6-pdr gun and managed several direct hits upon the lead A7V which was knocked out. The remaining two A7Vs then withdrew to mark the end of the fighting.
A7Vs were further used at the Third Battle of the Aisne (May-June 1918) and at the Second Battle of the Marne (July 1918). Their final actions were on October 11th, 1918 near the northern French town of Iwuy.
Any A7Vs that were not lost to combat were scrapped in the post-war drawdown. One example was claimed by the Australians at Villers-Bretonneux and is on display at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia. All of the twenty completed chassis were given names by the Germans as if battleships - this particular chassis carries the name of "Mephisto".
Good stuff!
Yep, Mike, that's the one from Queensland, but its on loan to the AWM until later this year, then it goes back to Brisbane. Here's the wiki page on the A7V and examples built; a lot of this info comes from a wee booklet that the museum sells in the shop:
A7V - Wikipedia
A7V - Wikipedia
mikewint
Captain
I've got a A7V kit in the Stash but haven't gotten around to actually building it but looking at it and imagining 18 men crammed inside that smelly, stinky, hot, lurching, interior boggles the mind. Then there are people shooting at you...