Steam tank (vehicle)
Information about Steam tank (vehicle)
| US Army Corps of Engineers Steam Tank | |
|---|---|
) The US Army Corps of Engineers Steam Tank; the sponson is absent | |
| Place of origin | ){kind=small} United States |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 50.8 t |
| Length | 10.6 m |
| Width | 3.8 m |
| Height | 3.2 m |
| Crew | 8 |
| Armor | 13 mm |
| Primary armament | flamethrower |
| Secondary armament | four machine guns |
| Engine | 2 steam 500 hp (373 kW) |
| Power/weight | 9.8 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | unsprung |
| Operational range | ? |
| Speed | 6 km/h |
The Steam Tank (Tracked) was an early U.S. tank design of 1918 imitating the design of the British Mark IV tank but powered by steam.
The type was designed by an officer from the U.S. Army's Corps Of Engineers. The project was started by General John A. Johnson with the help of the Endicott and Johnson Shoe Company and financed by the Boston bankers Phelan and Ratchesky (it cost $60,000). Expertise was called in from Stanley Motor Carriage Company in Watertown, Massachusetts, that produced steam cars. The engines and boilers of two Unit Railway Cars were built in. Earlier fighting vehicles projects had employed steam power because petrol engines were not yet powerful enough; the Steam Tank however used it for the main reason that it was meant to be a specialised flame thrower to attack pillboxes and the original design had this weapon driven by steam. When the main device to build up sufficient pressure became a 35 hp (26 kW) auxiliary gasoline engine, the two main 2-cylinder steam engines with a combined power of 500 hp (0 kW) remained, each engine driving one track to give a maximum speed of 4 mph (6 km/h). The transmission allowed two speeds forward and two in reverse. The steam engines used kerosene for fuel.
The flame thrower, located in the front cabin, had a range of 90 ft (27 m); additionally there were four 0.30 inch machine guns; two in a sponson at each side. The length of the vehicle was 34 feet 9 inches, the width 12 feet 6 inches and the height 10 feet 4.5 inches. The tracks were 24 inches wide. Each track frame carried mud clearing spikes, sometimes mistaken for battering rams. The tank had a weight of about fifty short tons. There was to have been a crew of eight, on the assumption there were a commander, a driver, an operator of the flame thrower, a mechanic and four machine gunners.
Only one was completed in Boston and demonstrated in April 1918, in several parades also, on one occasion breaking down in front of the public. The prototype was in June shipped to France to be tested — with much publicity to bolster allied morale — and was named America. The flame thrower nozzle was moved to a rotating turret on the roof of the cabin. There was also another steam-powered AFV project (the Steam Wheel Tank) that didn't use tracks but was three-wheeled, hence the designation "(Tracked)" or "(Track-laying)". The design combined serious cooling problems with a dangerous vulnerability due to its two steam boilers and large fuel reservoirs needed to heat the two main engines, and feed both the auxiliary engine and the flame thrower.
| World War I tanks |
|---|
| British tanks |
| Mark I - Mark V series - Mark VIII - Mark IX Medium Mark A Whippet - Medium Mark B - Medium Mark C |
| French tanks |
| Renault FT-17 - St. Chamond - Schneider CA1 - Char 2C |
| German tanks |
| A7V |
| Italian tanks |
| Fiat 2000 |
| Experimental designs |
| Flying Elephant - Tsar Tank - LK I - LK II - Mark VI - Mark VIII - K-Wagen - Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien - Holt Gas-Electric Tank - Steam Tank (Tracked) - Skeleton tank - Steam Wheel Tank |
Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include tanks, aircraft, and ships.
Civilian vehicles may also be armoured.
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Civilian vehicles may also be armoured.
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flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.
Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame.
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Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame.
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steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the heat energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work.
Steam engines were used as the prime mover in pumping stations, locomotives, steam ships, traction engines, steam lorries and other
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Steam engines were used as the prime mover in pumping stations, locomotives, steam ships, traction engines, steam lorries and other
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
tank is a tracked armoured combat vehicle designed to engage enemies head-on, using direct fire from a large-calibre gun and supporting fire from machine guns. Heavy armour as well as a high degree of mobility give it survivability, while the tracks allow it to cross even rough
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Mark I was the world's first combat tank, entering service in World War I, born of the need to break the domination of trenches and machine guns over the battlefields of the Western Front. Along with its subsequent variants, it was the most successful heavy tank of the war.
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In physical chemistry, and in engineering, steam refers to vaporized water. It is a pure, completely invisible gas (for mist see below). At standard atmospheric pressure, pure steam (unmixed with air, but in equilibrium with liquid water) occupies about 1,600 times the
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Watertown, Massachusetts
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Middlesex
Settled 1630
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Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Middlesex
Settled 1630
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flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.
Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame.
..... Click the link for more information.
Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame.
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Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage,[1] is a flammable hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek "keros" (κηρός wax).
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The short ton (S/T) is a unit of mass equal to 2,000 lb (exactly 907.18474 kg). In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton (or tonne
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Steam Wheel Tank was the official US Army name for the vehicle also known as the 3 Wheeled Steam Tank, the Holt Steam Tank and the Holt 150 Ton Field Monitor. It was an early U.S.
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Mark I was the world's first combat tank, entering service in World War I, born of the need to break the domination of trenches and machine guns over the battlefields of the Western Front. Along with its subsequent variants, it was the most successful heavy tank of the war.
..... Click the link for more information.
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Mark VIII or Liberty was an Anglo-American tank of the First World War.
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Early Development
As the First World War progressed, the industrial production capacity of the Entente was taxed to the limit...... Click the link for more information.
Mark IX tank was a British armoured fighting vehicle from the First World War, the world's first specialised Armoured Personnel Carrier.
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Development
During the first actions with tanks it became clear that often infantry couldn't keep up with the tanks; not because..... Click the link for more information.
Medium Mark A Whippet was a British tank of World War I. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks by using its relative mobility and speed in exploiting any break in the enemy lines.
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Medium Mark B was a British tank of the First World War developed as a successor to the Whippet, but ultimately unsatisfactory and production was cancelled at the end of World War 1.
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History
The engineer Lieutenant Walter G...... Click the link for more information.
Medium Mark C Hornet was a British tank developed during the First World War, but produced too late to see any fighting.
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Development
In 1917 Sir William Tritton had developed the Medium Mark A Whippet without involving his former co-worker Walter Gordon Wilson...... Click the link for more information.
Renault FT-17 or Automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault FT modèle 1917 was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history.
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St Chamond was the second French heavy tank of the First World War. Overall an inadequate design born of commercial rivalry, the war ended before it was replaced by British heavy tanks.
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Schneider CA1 (originally named the Schneider CA) was the first French tank. It was inspired by the need to overcome the horrors of the trench warfare of the "Great War".
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Development
The Schneider Company was a large arms manufacturer in France...... Click the link for more information.
Char 2C (also known as FCM 2C) was a super-heavy French tank developed, although never deployed, during the First World War. It was the largest tank ever to be operational.
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Development
The exact origins of this tank have long been shrouded in mystery...... Click the link for more information.
A7V was a tank introduced by Germany in 1918, near the end of World War I. The name is probably derived from the Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement 7 Abteilung Verkehrswesen
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FIAT 2000 was an Italian heavy tank of the First World War. It is considered the most advanced tank design of the period.
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History
During World War I, Italy did not field any armoured units due to a lack of tanks...... Click the link for more information.
Flying Elephant was a proposed super-heavy tank, planned but never built by the British during World War I.
After the last order for the Mark I, an additional fifty vehicles in April 1916, it was far from certain that any more tanks were to be produced.
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After the last order for the Mark I, an additional fifty vehicles in April 1916, it was far from certain that any more tanks were to be produced.
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The Tsar Tank, also known as the Netopyr' (Нетопырь, Pipistrellus bat) or Lebedenko Tank, was an unusual Russian armored vehicle developed in 1914–1915.
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Leichter Kampfwagen (English: light combat car) or "LK I" was a German light tank of the First World War, the design of which was directly inspired by the British Medium Mark A Whippet.
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The Mark VI was a British heavy tank project from the First World War.
After having made plans for the continued development of the Mark I into the Mark IV, the Tank Supply Committee (the institute planning and controlling British tank production) in December 1916 ordered
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After having made plans for the continued development of the Mark I into the Mark IV, the Tank Supply Committee (the institute planning and controlling British tank production) in December 1916 ordered
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Mark VIII or Liberty was an Anglo-American tank of the First World War.
..... Click the link for more information.
Early Development
As the First World War progressed, the industrial production capacity of the Entente was taxed to the limit...... Click the link for more information.
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