Little Willie
Encyclopedia : L : LI : LIT : Little Willie
| |
| Little Willie | |
|---|---|
| General characteristics | |
| Crew | 4-6 |
| Length | 26 feet 6 inches |
| Width | ? |
| Height | ? |
| Weight | 14 tonnes |
| Armour and armament | |
| Armour | ? mm |
| Main armament | 2-pound gun (never fitted) |
| Secondary armament | 2 or 4 machine guns (never fitted) |
| Mobility | |
| Power plant | Foster-Daimler gasoline 105 hp (78 kW) |
| Suspension | |
| Road speed | 3.5 mph |
| Power/weight | 7.5 hp/tonne |
| Range | ? km |
Little Willie was the prototype of the Mark I tank.
History
The Little Willie was designed to meet Great Britain's requirement to cross a 5 foot trench. Tritton and Wilson tried with all sorts of track design including Balata belting and flat wire ropes. Tritton then devised a system using cast flat steel plates riveted to links and incorporated guides to engage on the inside of the track frame. This is a successful design and was used on all WWI British tanks up to the Mark VIII (tank). The rear steering wheels was retained but the dummy turret was removed. Little Willie was completed in December 1915. It was hoped that Little Willie would be used in WWI but its inability to cross trenches and slow speed of 3 miles per hour on level land and just two mile per hour on the battlefield gave tank operators their doubts. Also, Little Willie overheated, which caused even worse conditions for the already cramped up tank operators. Despite these setbacks, Little Willie was a huge success and a huge step in future technology.
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