The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat, as well as being the first operational German tank. Although various German armoured vehicle proposals were shown a modest amount of support early in the war, e
Key facts
- Weapon.is_vehicle
- yes
- Weapon.name
- Sturmpanzerwagen A7V
- Weapon.image
- File:Mephisto A7V in AWM front view.jpg
- Weapon.image_size
- 300
- Weapon.caption
- Sole surviving A7V ("Mephisto") on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
- Weapon.type
- Heavy tank
- Weapon.origin
- German Empire
- Weapon.service
- 21 March 1918 – 16 October 1918
- Weapon.used_by
- German Empire
- Weapon.wars
- World War IGerman Revolution
- Weapon.designer
- Joseph Vollmer
- Weapon.design_date
- 1916
- Weapon.manufacturer
- Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft
- Weapon.number
- 20
- Weapon.weight
- battle weight
- Weapon.suspension
- Holt track, vertical springs
- Weapon.speed
- on roads cross-country
- Weapon.primary_armament
- 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt(initially with 180 rounds; later 300)
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
19 sectionsContents
- History
- Naming
- Design
- Armament
- Ammunition
- Propulsion
- Combat history
- St. Quentin Canal
- Villers-Bretonneux
- Other actions
- Assessment
- After the war
- A7V chassis listing
- Variants
- Surviving example
- Replicas
- See also
- References
- External links
The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat, as well as being the first operational German tank. Although various German armoured vehicle proposals were shown a modest amount of support early in the war, enthusiasm among German high command was low and they were given little funding and attention. The sudden appearance of the British Mark series of tanks causing panic amongst the German infantry led this to be reconsidered however, and development on the German tank program began. ==History== After the first British tanks appeared on the Western Front, in September 1916, the German War Ministry formed a committee, under the auspices of its Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, Section 7, Transportation"), to investigate tank development.
The project to design and build the first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer, one of Germany's foremost automobile designers. It was to weigh around 30 tons, be capable of crossing ditches up to wide, have armament including a cannon at the front and rear as well as several machine-guns, and reach a top speed of at least . The running gear was based on the American Holt tractor, copied from examples loaned by the Austro-Hungarian Army. After initial plans were shared with the army in December 1916, the design was extended to be a universal chassis that could be used as a base for both a tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen ("over-land vehicle") cargo carriers.