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A7V
A replica of "Wotan" in Panzermuseum Munster, Germany.
Type	tank
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	21 March 1918 - October 1918
Used by	German Empire
Wars	World War I
Production history
Designer	Joseph Vollmer
Designed	1916
Number built	20
Specifications
Weight	30 to 33 t
Length	7.34 m (24 ft 1 in)
Width	3.1 m (10 ft)
Height	3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Crew	18
Armor	side 20 mm, front 50 mm
Primary armament	57 mm gun
Secondary armament	6×7.9 mm machine guns
Engine	2×Daimler 4-cylinder 200 hp (149 kW)
Power/weight	6.5 hp/tonne
Suspension	Holt track, vertical springs
Operational range	30-80 km (20-50 miles)
Speed	9 km/h

The A7V was a tank introduced by Germany in 1918, near the end of World War I. 100 examples were ordered for the spring of 1918, but only 20 were delivered. They saw action from March to October of that year, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to see operational use.^[1]

[edit] History

Following the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front, the Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, 7. Abteilung, Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, 7th Branch, Transportation"),^[2] was formed in September 1916.

The project to design and build the first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer, a Reserve Captain and engineer. The new tank was to be a universal chassis which could be used as a base for both a tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen ("Over-land vehicle") cargo carriers. It was based on the Holt tractor, parts for which were obtained from Austria, where it was produced under licence.

The first prototype was completed by Daimler-Benz and tested in April 1917. A wooden mockup of a final version was completed in May 1917. The first pre-production A7V was produced in September 1917, followed by the first production model in October 1917.

[edit] Naming

The tank's name was derived from that of its parent organization, Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, 7. Abteilung, Verkehrswesen.^[1] In German the tank was called Sturmpanzer-Kraftwagen (roughly "assault armoured motor vehicle").

[edit] Design

The A7V was 7.34 metres (24 ft 1 in), 3 metres (10 ft) wide the maximum height was 3.3 metres (10 ft 10 in). The tank had 20 mm of steel plate at the sides and 30 mm at the front; however the steel was not hardened armour plate, which reduced its effectiveness. It was thick enough to stop machine gun and rifle fire, but not larger calibres. This offered protection comparable to the thinner armour of other tanks of the period, which used hardened steel.

The crew normally consisted of up to sixteen soldiers and two officers^{[clarification needed]}: commander, driver, mechanic, mechanic/signaller, twelve infantrymen (six machine gunners, six loaders), and two artillerymen (main gunner and loader).

The A7V was armed with six 7.9 mm MG08/15 machine guns and a 5.7 cm gun mounted at the front. The 'female' variant had two more machine guns in place of the main gun. It is not entirely clear how many started this way or were converted. Some sources say only chassis number 501 saw combat as a female.

Power came from two centrally mounted Daimler 4-cylinder engines delivering 100 hp (74 kW) each. The top speed was about 15 km/h on roads and 5 km/h across country. The A7V carried 500 litres of fuel (132 imperial gallons).

It was as slow as other tanks of the day, but had very poor off-road capability and was prone to getting stuck. The large overhang at the front and low ground clearance meant trenches or very muddy areas were impassable. This was worsened by the fact that the driver could not see the terrain directly in front of the tank, due to a blind spot of about 10 metres. However, on open terrain it could be used to some success and offered more firepower than the armoured cars that were available. Power to weight ratio was 6.8 hp/ton (5.1 kW/ton), trench crossing: 7 ft (2.3 m), ground clearance: 7.5 to 15.75 in (200 to 400 mm).

Thirty chassis were assigned for completion as Überlandwagen supply carriers, but not all were completed before end of the war.

The design of the A7V featured on the Tank Badge of 1921, awarded to commemorate service in the German Panzer forces of 1918.

[edit] Combat history

A7V tank at Roye on March 21, 1918.

The A7V was first used in combat on 21 March 1918. It was deployed north of the St. Quentin Canal. The A7Vs^{[clarification needed]} helped stop a minor British breakthrough in the area, but otherwise saw little combat that day.

Main article: Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux

The first tank against tank combat in history took place on the 24 April 1918 when three A7Vs (including chassis number 561, known as "Nixe") taking part in an attack with infantry incidentally met three Mark IVs (two Female machine gun-armed tanks and one Male with two 6-pounder guns) near Villers-Bretonneux. During the battle tanks on both sides were damaged. According to the lead tank commander, 2nd Lt Frank Mitchell, the Female Mk IVs fell back after being damaged by armour piercing bullets. They were unable to damage the A7Vs with their own machine guns. Mitchell then attacked the lead German tank, commanded by 2nd Lt Wilhelm Biltz,^[3] with the 6 pounders of his own tank and knocked it out. He hit it three times, and killed five of the crew when they bailed out. He then went on to rout some infantry with case shot. The two remaining A7Vs in turn withdrew. As Lt. Mitchell's tank withdrew from action, seven Whippet tanks also engaged the infantry. Four of these were knocked out in the battle, and it is unclear if any of them engaged the retreating German tanks. Lt. Mitchell's tank lost a track towards the end of the battle from a mortar shell and was abandoned. The damaged A7V was later recovered by German forces.

A7V Tank, Mephisto, at Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia.

All 18 available A7Vs had been put into action that day with limited results; two toppled over into holes, some encountered engine or armament troubles. After a counterattack, three ended up in Allied hands. One was unusable and scrapped, one used for shell testing by the French, and the third taken by the Australians.

The A7V was not considered a success and other designs were planned by Germany, however the end of the war meant none of the other tanks in development, or planned ones, would be finished (such as the Oberschlesien, K-Wagen, LK I or LK II). The final use in WWI of A7Vs was in October 1918; a number were scrapped before the war ended in November.

The extremely limited production of twenty made a very limited contribution, and most of the tanks (less than a hundred in total) that were fielded in action by Germany in World War I were captured French or British tanks (Beutepanzer). In contrast, the French had produced over 3,600 of their light FT-17, the most produced tank of World War I, and the British over 2,500 of their heavy Mark I to V tanks.

[edit] Post war

Two lightly armoured vehicles broadly resembling the A7V, one of which was named "Hedi", were used by government troops or Freikorps to quell civil unrest in Berlin in 1919, and were constructed after the war, probably using the chassis from Überlandwagens.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] A7V chassis listing

• 501 Gretchen: scrapped by the Allies in 1919 (Female).
• 502: Scrapped by Germans in October 1918.
• 503 Totenkopf: Scrapped by Germans in October 1918.
• 504 Schnuck: lost at Fremicourt 31 August 1918.
• 505 Baden I: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
• 506 Mephisto: lost at Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918, recovered by Australians,
• 507 Cyklop: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
• 525 Siegfried: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
• 526: Scrapped by Germans in 1 June 1918.
• 527 Lotti: lost at Pompelle Fort 1 June 1918.
• 528 Hagen: lost at Fremicourt 31 August 1918.
• 529 Nixe 2: lost at Remis 31 May 1918, recovered by Americans and scrapped at Aberdeen Proving Grounds Museum in 1942.
• 540 Heiland: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
• 541: Scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
• 542 Elfriede: lost at Villers-Bretonneux 24 April 1918
• 543 Hagen, Adalbert, König Wilhelm: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
• 560 Alter Fritz: lost at Iwuy 11 October 1918.
• 561 Nixe: scrapped by Germans 24 April 1918.
• 562 Herkules: scrapped by Germans after 31 August 1918.
• 563 Wotan: scrapped by the Allies in 1919,
• 564: Scrapped by the Allies in 1919.

[edit] In museums

• The captured A7V Mephisto is in the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia. It is the last A7V out of the twenty produced.
• A replica of the A7V "Wotan" is in the Deutsches Panzermuseum in Munster.
• One cannon from an A7V (possibly *504 "Schnuck") is at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Foley, John (1967). A7V Sturmpanzerwagen. Profile Publications. 
• Foss, Christopher F. (2003). The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles. Spellmount. pp. 232. ISBN 1862271887. 
• Bass, Eric (2006). German Panzers 1914-18. Osprey Publishing. pp. 232. ISBN 1841769452. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: A7V

• A7V in Polish Forces
• On World War I tanks in general
• Photo and information about the A7V tank "Mephisto" at Queensland Museum
• Memoir of the British/German tank battle