greatwar-1914:January 17, 1917 - Germans Place Order for Tank DevelopmentPictured - A design for the
greatwar-1914:January 17, 1917 - Germans Place Order for Tank DevelopmentPictured - A design for the AV7 tank, the chosen prototype vehicle. The German army had a mixed reaction to Britain’s deployment of armored tanks in 1916. Most generals believed that artillery and specialized rifles could defeat the behemoths. They had also witnessed the amount of mechanical issues and breakdowns that prevented Britain’s tank force from being a decisive weapon. The tank’s failures had to be weighed against its significant morale impact on German infantrymen, however, who feared the slow-moving but invincible-seeing tanks. Therefore, orders were placed in early 1917 for development of a German tank. Many projects went to committee in early 1917, most using the Holt tractor as the chassis, as the British had done. The design chosen for further development was worked by Joseph Vollmer. Using a lenghtened Holt chassis, Vollmer added on a twin engine that remained under the requirement of 30 tons. A wooden mock-up underwent tests in the spring, then an unarmored example. Armor and weaponry came later, using a single plate of soft steel that gave up to 30mm of protection in the front of the tank, and a Belgian-made, quick-firing Nordenfelt gun. The AV7 underwent further tests in March, where it gained a further two machine-guns and a (sluggish) top speed of 12/km per hour. -- source link