A7V - German first tank

The Germany A7V tank was the answer to the Mark I of the British Army.

After the initial shock in the battlefield caused by the Mark I which proved to have a great psychological effect against unprepared infantry and with an easy could pass over trenches and fences spreading mayhem, the German high command ordered the development of its first tank. On April 1917 the first prototype of the A7V Sturmpanzerwagen begins its trials, weighting 30 tons this tank was operated by a crew of  nonetheless than 18 men, the A7V was armed with 6 Maxim MG 7.5 mm and one Maxim Nordenfelt 57 mm cannon, the protection was provided by plates of 30 to 20 mm thick and the pair of 100 hp Daimler petrol engine could reach a speed up to 9 mph (17 kmh).

On April 24, 1918, the first known tank-to-tank duel has taken place in the second battle of Villers-Bretonneux when a A7V leading the attack have encountered a British Mark I tank. after being hit 3 times, the German A7V has been knocked-out, the crew suffered many causalities but some managed to leave the tank.

After the failure of the A7V the German high command has canceled the order for 100 A7V tanks, but the experience learned from its short service in the army lead to the attempt to improve its design into the A7V-U with a full length tracks around the tank, similar looking to the Mark I but never passed the prototype phase until the end of World War I.

Mark I - British first tank

The history of tank began in the
United Kingdom, 1916.

World War I tears apart Europe with a conflict in a scale never seen before. The British army urges for a machine capable of turn the tides of war in its favor.

The Mark.I was based on a urgent need for a machine that could break through enemy lines, moving over trenches while dealing with enemy fire using its machine guns (4x  .303 / 7.62 mm Hotchkiss) to decimate infantry while the cannons (2x Hotchkiss QF 6 pdr / 57 mm) deals with fortified structures and MG nests.

Weighting 28 tons the Mark I was powered by a 105 hp six cylinders petrol engine, the hull used plates of 6 to 15 mm thick in a very distinctive shape with tracks going all around it providing good capacity to cross obstacles, the armament covers the flank of the tank for a good purpose, shot inside the trench while crossing it.

Despite its very low speed of only 3.7 mph (5.95 kmh), high rate of breakdown and cramped space for the crew with a hot engine and pipes in the middle of crew compartment, the Mark I proved to successfully accomplish its purpose having its baptism of fire in September 1916 in the Battle of Flers-Courcelett when they surprised the German troops in the dawn of a new era in war, ever since these heavy armored vehicles called tank changed the way of every conflict.