Tankopedia
WW1HeavyHeavy TankUnited Kingdom

Mark I

In service 1916 - 1918

The first tank ever sent into battle, fielded on the Somme in September 1916.

Built byWilliam Foster & Co.

Mark I
British Mark I male tank, Somme, 25 September 1916 — Ernest Brooks, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Development history

Built from the Little Willie and Mother trials vehicles, the Mark I was a rhomboid hull designed to climb parapets and span trenches. Its debut at Flers-Courcelette proved the concept but exposed appalling reliability, heat and fumes inside the crew space. Trailing steering wheels were fitted behind the hull and quickly abandoned.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. Mark I Male

    1916

    Two 6-pdr guns in side sponsons plus machine guns.

  2. Mark I Female

    1916

    Machine-gun armament only, intended to sweep trenches of infantry.

  3. Mark II / Mark III

    1917

    Training and transitional batches with minor detail changes.

Notable actions

  • Somme (Flers-Courcelette) 1916
  • Arras 1917