Little Willie
50°41′39″N 2°14′35″W / 50.69430°N 2.24317°W
Little Willie | |
---|---|
Type | Prototype tank |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | N/A |
Production history | |
Designed | July 1915 |
Manufacturer | Fosters of Lincoln |
Produced | August–September 1915 |
No. built | 1 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 16.5 tonnes (16.2 long tons; 18.2 short tons) |
Length | 19 ft 3 in (5.87 m) 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) inc. rear steering wheels |
Width | 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) |
Height | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) to top of hull 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) to top of turret |
Crew | (Projected) 6 |
Main armament | (Projected) petrol 105 hp (78 kW) |
Power/weight | 6 hp/tonne (4.5 kW/tonne) |
Transmission | Two-speed forwards, one reverse final drive by Renolds chains |
Suspension | Unsprung |
Maximum speed | 2 mph (3.2 km/h) |
Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British
Number 1 Lincoln Machine
Work on Little Willie's predecessor began in July 1915 by the
On 11 August actual construction began; on 16 August Tritton decided to fit a wheeled tail to assist in steering. On 9 September the Number 1 Lincoln Machine, as the prototype was then known, made its first test run in the yard of the Wellington Foundry. It soon became clear that the track profiles were so flat that ground resistance during a turn was excessive. To solve this, the suspension was changed so that the bottom profile was more curved. Then the next problem showed up: when crossing a trench the track sagged and then would not fit the wheels again and jammed. The tracks were also not up to carrying the weight of the vehicle (about 16 tons). Tritton and Lieutenant
New arrival by Tritton out of pressed plate.
Light in weight but very strong.
All doing well, Thank you.
Proud Parents[2]
This system was unsprung, as the tracks were held firmly in place, able to move in only one plane. This was a successful design and was used on all First World War British tanks up to the
Description
The vehicle's 13 litre 105 bhp (78 kW)
Most mechanical components, including the radiator, had been adapted from those of the Foster-Daimler heavy artillery tractor. As at least four men would have been required to operate the armament, the crew could not have been smaller than six. The maximum speed was indicated by Tritton as being no more than two miles per hour. The vehicle used no real armour steel, just boiler plate; it was intended to use 10 mm plating for production.[5]
Little Willie and Big Willie
Wilson was unhappy with the basic concept of the Number 1 Lincoln Machine, and on 17 August suggested to Tritton the idea of using tracks that ran all around the vehicle. With d'Eyncourt's approval[6] construction of an improved prototype began on 17 September. For this second prototype (later known as "HMLS [His Majesty's Land Ship] Centipede", and, later still, "Mother"), a rhomboid track frame was fitted, taking the tracks up and over the top of the vehicle. The rear steering wheels were retained in an improved form, but the idea of a turret was abandoned and the main armament placed in side sponsons.
Number 1 Lincoln Machine was rebuilt with an extended (90 centimetres longer) track up to 6 December 1915, but merely to test the new tracks in Burton Park, near Lincoln; the second prototype was seen as much more promising. The first was renamed Little Willie, the scabrous name then commonly used by the British
In June 1916 the tank was transferred to the tank training area near Elveden.[7] After a period at the training area it sent back to its original manufactures who may have used it for tests relating to the development of the whippet tank.[8] By 1925 it was at Bovington.[9]
Though it never saw combat, Little Willie was a major step forward in military technology, being the first tank prototype to be finished.[note 1] During the remainder of World War I, some tank crews continued to informally refer to their vehicles as "Willies" or "buses". In 1922 the Royal Tank Regiment adopted a folk song called My Boy Willie as its regimental march.[10]
Today
Little Willie was preserved for posterity after the war, having been saved from being scrapped in 1940. During the Second World War it may have been positioned to act as a pill box to defend the camp at Bovington.[11] It is today displayed at The Tank Museum at Bovington. It is essentially an empty hull, without an engine, but still with some internal fittings.[12] The rear steering wheels are not fitted and there is damage to the hull plating around the right–hand vision slit, possibly caused by an attempt at some point to tow the vehicle by passing a cable through the slit.[13][14] This would have torn the tank's comparatively thin steel plating.[14]
Notes
- ^ The development of the similar French Schneider CA1 started earlier in January 1915, but its first real prototype was only made in February 1916
References
- Citations
- ISBN 978-1-873257-79-1
- ^ Pullen 2007, p. 30.
- ISBN 978-1-84176-689-8.
- ^ Fletcher (2001), p. 43.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 14:03-14:18. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ Fletcher (2001), p. 41.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 23:13-23:24. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 23:38-24:12. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 24:22-24:30. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-4738-1673-2.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 24:32- 24:45. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 13:10-13:20. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ David Willey (3 February 2023). See inside Little Willie | The Tank Museum. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 17:35- 17:41. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ a b Fletcher, David (22 March 2010). Little Willie – The world's first tank. The Tank Museum. Event occurs at 6min 10sec. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- Bibliography
- Fletcher, David (2001). The British Tanks, 1915–1919. Marlborough: Crowood. ISBN 978-1-86126-400-8.
External links
- Little Willie (E1949.322) Museum record for Little Willie]
- Little Willie Honoured with Heritage Engineering Award