#landships

07.15.1903: USAT Logan arrives at San Francisco from the Philippines with David John Conwill aboard. He has been gone since 08.05.1902. “We were just a few days out of San Francisco when we got the news that Germany had invaded England. I’d lived in America since I was 9 years old, but I’d been born in London, and I still felt a pang…”

07.16.1903: As the German reinforcements slated for Britain are no longer needed there, France feels threatened and withdraws its slow-moving Saar Offensive to consolidate its defensive position.

08.20.1903: D.J. Conwill’s initial enlistment expires and he is discharged at Fort McDowell on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. He returns to Springfield, Illinois, where he becomes a firefighter until reenlisting on 06.13.1904.

09.19.1903: U.S. Navy commissions its final three Plunger-class submarines: USS Plunger (A-1), USS Porpoise (A-6), and USS Shark (A-7), all at Crescent Shipyard in Elizabethport, New Jersey.

10.30.1903: A member of parliament, ex-army officer Winston Churchill, writes to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Selborne, proposing an armored, tracked “land ship" to break sieges.Selborne passes the idea on to Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, who orders him to explore the idea. It will lead to tanks.

Just… the idea of wandering aimlessly over the surface of some alien world in a truly massive mobile mining platform. A crew of 16 resides in your amalgamation of a Euclid R100 and a soviet Kharkovhanka. You and three others serve as a bridge crew, piloting, scanning, maintaining comms, and navigating. The rest sit on their asses until a new deposit comes up, then they get out in 10-feet-tall exo-suits equipped to tear through the earth and stone of this world.

The bridge itself isn't the most spacious you've seen - more like a set of four desks built into the hull, with enough room to walk between them - and really, the only reason anyone not on duty at one of those stations winds up in there is the external hatch that leads to the balcony wrapping around the front of the landship. Best view on the planet, right there.

A door at the back of the cockpit leads to the main sanctuary for crew. Well-worn diner-style booths line one wall and sleeping alcoves/bunks line the other. The back and some of the middle is taken up by a kitchenette that provides just a bit of a taste of home. The front and middle is taken by an entertainment system that's seen contiguous use since the start of the mission.

A door at the back of that cabin leads to a hanging balcony inside the docking bay/engine room. There's twelve suits in there, and not a week goes by where some sort of malfunction or disability doesn't rock the work crew. Number 3's been having issues with the actuators in its left arm for a month, and Number 8 was leaking power through a faulty coupling until early that week. The engine is a delightfully, near-silent hum that only occasionally trades places with a band of baboons playing 50 steel drums...

They Shall Not Grow Old

Guess who wrote a fifth 1000 word long practice story. This one is a first contact story, involving an alien species I have been toying with literally for like eight years. Set it in WWI, because I don’t know? Anyway I did a little more research than usual for a practice story, but it’s still very unpolished. Tagging @jogress @muceybbds @majingojira @akirakan @filipfatalattractionrblog @espanolbot2 in case any of you might be interested.

…………

The Evolution of the Landship

At the outset of the First World War the British Army had a motley collection of motor vehicles including staff cars, trucks and a handful of artillery tractors. The early fighting on the Western Front saw the hasty deployment of rudimentary armoured cars but as the front lines became static thoughts began to turn to a different kind of armoured vehicle. One which could punch through tracts of barbwire, cross enemy trenches and was impervious to enemy fire. The development of what later became known as the tank began in early 1915. 

The name ‘Landship’ comes from the Landships Committee established by Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, who was one of a number of key figures that drove the tank’s development. While early designs had been referred to as Landships by February 1916, the new armoured vehicles had been codenamed 'tanks', Landships was believed to be too descriptive. 

The following is a brief overview of the evolution of the various tanks developed by the British during the Great War.

Little Willie

'Little Willie' evolved from the Foster Company's first attempts to build a tank, No.1 Lincoln Machine, with improved tracks developed by Sir William Tritton. Powered by a huge 105 horsepower Daimler engine, the 16 ton 'Little Willie' was no more than a proof of concept. The development of a robust and reliable track system was paramount and 'Little Willie' was instrumental in testing various track and steerage systems. Today 'Little Willie' is displayed at the The Tank Museum at Bovington.

Image #1

Caption: Little Willie photographed at Cricklewood, near London, during trials in late 1915.

Big Willie

Major Walter Wilson's design for a vehicle with a track that encompassed the whole circumference of the vehicle was realised with the construction of  'Big Willie' in late 1915. 'Big Willie' also nicknamed 'Mother' and 'His Majesty's Landship Centipede' weighed in at an impressive 28 tons and was the first tank to use the instantly recognisable rhomboid track shape and introduce the gun sponsons either side of the vehicle.

Image #2  

Caption: 'Big' Willie undergoing testing in Burton Park in Lincoln, in January 1916. Note the rhomboid shape which formed the pattern for all future tanks.

Mark I

The Mark I was Britain's first tank to see action during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. A refined version of 'Big Willie' it utilised the now standard rhomboid shape and was built in both male and female configurations. 150 of this first batch of tanks were built. As lessons were learnt in the field improvements to the design were made leading the Mark II.

Image #3 

Caption: Tank 'Clan Leslie' preparing to advance on Flers during the Battle of the Somme, 15th September 1916. Part of the first wave of tanks to go into action. 

Image #4

Caption:  A Male Mark I tank that broke down on its way to attack Thiepval on 25th September, 1916. Note the steering tail and anti-grenade frame on top of the tank.

The interior of a British heavy tank, note the empty shell racks next to the driver and the exposed engine and gears behind him (source)

Mark II / Mark III

The Mark II (see image #5) differed very little from the earlier Mark Is, incorporating some small changes it was intended to be used as a training tank but shortages saw them pressed into service during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. Just fifty Mark IIIs were built, none saw action overseas, instead they remained in Britain and were used to train tank crews.

Image #5

Caption: The drolly named 'Lusitania', a Mark II male tank, of the 1st Tank Brigade moving along a ruined street in Arras.

Mark IV

The Mark IV was the first true improvement over the earlier Mark I, with thicker armour and shorter 6 pounder guns which were easier to aim. Production began in May 1917, with over 1,200 built. They first saw action at Messines Ridge during the summer of 1917 and later more successfully at Cambrai. The Mark IV was the most widely produced and used British tank of the war.

Image #6 

Caption: A Mk IV Female Tank moves over dense mud at the testing ground at Cricklewood. 

Image #7 

Caption: A tank crashing through barbed wire at the Tank Driving School at Wailly, during the special training for the Battle of Cambrai, October 1917.

The effects of a direct hit could be devastating, this Female Mark IV lost its tracks and took heavy damage (source)

Mark V

An improved version of the Mark IV it utilised a new 19 litre six cylinder in-line Ricardo petrol engine and transmission. 400 Mark Vs were built, first seeing action in the spring of 1918. Several lengthened variants, the Mark V* and V**, experimented with carrying a section of infantry but these proved to have poor manoeuvrability and never saw action.

Image #8

Caption: A column of Mark Vs carrying fascines to help them cross the ditches of the Hindenburg line, September 1918.

Mark VIII

The Marks VI and VII were cancelled to enable concentration on production of earlier models and the new Mark VIII 'Liberty', co-developed and manufactured with the US. The great improvement of the Mark VIII was that the engine was sectioned off from the crew, however, the war ended before any of the new tanks saw action.

Image #9 

Caption: With a twelve man crew the Mark VIII had seven Hotchkiss machine guns and two quick-firing 6 pounders.

Whippet Medium Tank

Designed to be faster and more agile than the earlier heavy tanks, the Whippet could reach speeds of up to 8.5mph and was armed with four Hotchkiss machine guns. Again developed by Sir William Tritton at Fosters of Lincoln, the Whippet was intended to exploit gaps made by the heavier tanks.

Image #10

Caption: The Whippet was Britain's principle light tank with a small, three man crew, it first saw action March 1918.