Female tank
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2023) |
The "Female" tank was a variation of the
The prototype, nicknamed "Mother", and the first production models of what would become referred to as the Mark I were designed to carry two
A consequence of these designations was that the prototype Mother was considered a "male" tank.
The design of the female sponson allowed only a very small door, which made escape from the vehicle extremely difficult. From the Mark II onwards, a new design was introduced that was smaller, incorporated
Both male and female tanks took part in the first tank action, on September 15, 1916, at the
In 1918 it was decided that tanks should be "hermaphrodite", simultaneously male and female, carrying both heavy armament and lighter machine guns. For the World War I tanks, this was achieved by fitting them with one sponson of each type. A mixed ability armament of the heavy gun and multiple machine guns also became common practice on turreted designs, without sponsons. This has become the standard model for tank designs since World War I and since then the terms "male" and "female" have been disused.
The basic idea underlying the concept of female tanks was widely used in design of light tanks and the first British infantry tanks in the years leading to World War II. Some armour of the World War II period, such as the German Ferdinand tank destroyer, were exclusively "male", having only their heavy gun. These were found to be susceptible to infantry attack and so a defensive machine gun was added in the improved version, the Elefant.
References
- ISBN 0-7509-2706-2.
Bibliography
- Swinton, Ernest D.(1933). Eyewitness. Doubleday, Doran & Co. p. 184.
- Smithers, A. J. (1988). A New Excalibur : The development of the Tank, 1909–1939. Grafton. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0-58607-325-4.
- Stern, Albert G. (1919). Tanks, 1914–1918: The log-book of a Pioneer. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 76.
- ISBN 978-0-11290-409-0.