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The Evolution of Tanks | Tank History

Posted on 2022-12-06

Tanks are well-known for their characteristic armor, mounted guns and the continuous metal tracks that carry them over rugged terrain. They are one of the most iconic symbols of modern warfare, providing their crews superior protection from enemies. But this design took years to perfect, and the combat vehicles we know today looked much different originally. 

Tank structure and design have changed over time to better meet the need for effective weapons and protection in war. This complete history of the evolution of tanks provides a detailed look at how tanks became the high-powered war machines they are today. 

The Origin of Tanks

Humans have used vehicles in war since around the second century BCE, the earliest historians have found evidence of horse-drawn chariots from the Shintashta culture of Eurasia. The invention of the spoked wheel enabled chariot-based warfare to flourish across multiple civilizations, from the Egyptians to the Hittites. By standing on their chariot, a charioteer could shoot arrows or wield a sword from relative safety. 

Though vehicles of war have changed drastically since the Bronze Age, the concept of the protected vehicle has fascinated generations of thinkers. In 1487, Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored car powered by eight people turning hand cranks. Various inventors like James Cowen of Great Britain developed steam-powered armored vehicles. However, the development of a vehicle resembling the modern tank didn't begin in earnest until World War I. 

The First Tanks of World War I 

WWI ushered in a new era of trench warfare, forcing the Allies to develop weapons suited for this combat style. Fighting in the trenches made other vehicles, like trucks, useless. The wheels on military trucks were no match for the shell craters, trenches, deep mud and barbed wire that characterized the battlefields of WWI. The Allies needed bigger and better vehicles. 

The Mark I Tank Enters Battle 

The first world war tank that saw battle was the Mark I. The British debuted this tank in 1916 at the First Battle of the Somme in France. The design for this tank included tracks that moved around the entire vehicle, which could better handle crossing over wide trenches. British soldiers used the tank as cover and drove it over trenches as a mobile pillbox to trap the enemy inside. 

Still, these WWI tanks had some early engineering flaws that would plague generations of their descendants. One of the most significant was the problem of the engine overheating. These heavy tanks caused immense strain on the machine, heating the interior of the Mark I. It became highly uncomfortable for the five soldiers riding inside. 

Despite these problems, England realized the tank's potential and continually improved its design. By the Battle of Cambrai in late 1917, the Mark IV tank achieved a spectacular breakthrough in enemy lines. 

The French Produce Tanks 

At the same time as the British development of the tank, France was also producing a version. The Schneider tank was essentially an armored box mounted on a tractor frame. After this prototype tank, the French designed the Renault F.T., a much lighter machine ideal for close infantry support. 

The evolution of tanks would remain relatively stagnant throughout the war. The United States and Italy copied the Renault F.T.'s design to create infantry support machines. With some input from France, the U.S. and Britain designed the Mark VIII, also called the International. This design promised greater efficiency, but Allied forces only managed to produce a few before the war's end. Germany was the only other country to manufacture any tanks during World War I. 

The U.S. Is Behind in Tank Development 

One of the few U.S. military leaders who believed in the potential of the British and French tanks was Gen. John Pershing. Pershing worked to establish the U.S. Army Tank Corps to train the American military to use the machines. Pershing set Capt. George S. Patton over tank training in Langres, France, preparing trainees by running drills on foot while they waited to receive actual tanks. 

The Army soon established Camp Colt at Gettysburg, the first U.S. Tank School. At Camp Colt, the Tank Corps trained with Renault F.T.s to prepare for combat. The camp was under the command of a young Capt. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had to train himself on a Renault tank before he could teach his officers. 

Besides a few battles between Sept. 12 and Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1918, the U.S. Tank Corps saw little action. Still, the U.S. tanks accomplished a great deal during WWI, demonstrating that the machines could successfully aid in the capture of entire towns with minimal casualties. 

How Tanks Evolved in the Interwar Years

The French Renault F.T. was the most popular tank after World War I, but world powers were aware of the tank's potential and wanted to improve its design to boost their military capabilities further. Some of the most significant advances in tank design during this period were a result of individual countries working to develop more powerful machines. 

  • Advances in tank armament: The French were on the cutting edge after realizing the need for better tank armament. While the early Schneider tanks had 75-mm guns, the British tanks only had 57-mm guns. The lighter guns on British tanks couldn't match up to the larger French ones. After the war, France continued developing 75-mm gun tanks mounted on turrets, giving the crew a wider range of fire. 
  • Improved mobility: Meanwhile, the British were improving their tanks' mobility. Traversing uneven terrain and trenches was a significant challenge for the unwieldy Mark I, but the British were quickly advancing. By the end of World War I, they had developed a tank with a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. The new Vickers Medium tanks were the only tanks to exist in quantity until the mid-1920s. These machines sparked a division separating mobile and slow tanks according to their uses in war. 
  • The rise in heavy tanks: Tank production quickly spread to the Soviet Union, Poland, Japan and Czechoslovakia. As nations increasingly began producing tanks, the lighter designs fell out of favor. Military leaders were starting to see that tanks had value not just as defensive machines but as a separate category of war weapon. Heavier tank designs equipped with 75-mm or 76-mm guns for fighting other tanks began to take hold. 
  • Production increases: On the eve of WWII, the Soviet Union had the largest supply of well-armed tanks. Britain, Italy, the U.S. and France had small forces of tanks, most lightly armed with machine guns. Yet as World War II drew nearer, the world would come to see what powerful weapons tanks could be. 

The United States Envisions the Future of Tank Warfare 

After the war, the Tank Corps shrunk dramatically, and the Army closed Camp Colt in 1919. Tank development in the U.S. slowed to a crawl. The differences that grew between the tank capabilities of the U.S. and other countries like Germany and the Soviet Union during the interwar period created a large technological gap. Ultimately, the U.S.' manufacturing capacity would have to rescue the nation from its lack of growth in tank warfare. 

Eisenhower and Patton weren't through with tanks. Their friendship grew in the interwar period as the two men discussed tank theories and published articles about their belief in tank warfare. Their experiences and knowledge would be essential in World War II. 

The Evolution of Tanks During World War II 

World War II saw a massive surge in tank development as tank warfare became a vital element in fighting and winning battles. Several countries led the way with new tank developments during the war.  

Germany Surges Ahead in Tank Development 

Germany led the world with its tank force at the beginning of World War II. Though the Treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from increasing its tank force, Adolf Hitler made up for lost time after he came to power. In 1933, the German Army began producing panzers, a series of tanks that made up most of the country's tank production during the war. 

Panzers had top speeds of between 24 and 28 miles per hour and thick armor, making them ideal for cross-country warfare. However, the early panzers were lightly armed, with machine guns ranging in caliber from 7.92 mm to 50 mm. The guns on these tanks were no match for British and Soviet tanks, typically armed with 50- or 75-mm guns. Later, Germany developed its largest tank, the Panzer VI, also called "Tiger." Tiger had an 88-mm gun and weighed 55 tons. 

Germany used chillingly effective panzer tank tactics such as tank divisions, a new concept compared to Britain's and the U.S.' strategy of using tanks to support their infantry or cavalry units. Tanks were also central to Germany's blitzkrieg strategies and enabled German forces to quickly and decisively penetrate enemy territory. 

The Soviet Union Improves Tank Design 

As mentioned earlier, the Soviet Union was another major producer of tanks during World War II. The Russians had begun work on the T-34 tank before the war, a medium tank with a 76-mm gun. Around the time the Germans introduced the Tiger tank, the Soviets added 85-mm guns to their T-34 tanks. The Russians also designed the JS tank in response to the Tiger. The JS had a 122-mm gun and weighed only 46 tons. 

British Tanks Boast Speed but Insufficient Power 

At the beginning of WWII, British tanks benefited from superior speed but were often lightly armed, as the British Army still intended them as infantry support. The British Army maintained several infantry tank models, including the Churchill and cruisers like the Cromwell. The Churchill tanks were well-armored, and the Cromwells were fast, but panzers tended to outgun them both early on. The British eventually added a 95-mm howitzer to the Cromwell tanks, which could blast through a panzer's armor. 

The U.S. Provides Tanks for the Effort 

From when the U.S. joined the war in 1941 until the war's end in 1945, the U.S. and Allied powers were far behind German and Soviet tanks in gun power. The U.S. M3 General Grant tank featured only a 75-mm gun mounted on the hull and performed poorly in rough terrain. However, the U.S. produced the game-changing M4 Sherman tank in 1942, a substantial help for the Allied powers.

The U.S. outfitted Britain with its M4 Sherman tanks from 1943 through 1945. These tanks had either 75-mm or 76-mm guns and traveled 26 miles per hour. While the model could be effective against earlier panzers, the German Tigers inflicted terrible losses on the lightly armored M4 Shermans. However, Allied forces eventually capitalized on the Tigers' slowness and found success attacking from the sides and rear.

The lighter, more agile M4 Sherman tanks became one of World War II's most widely deployed tanks. From 1942 to 1945, the U.S. produced over 50,000 of them. A greater quantity of machines coupled with advances in armor finally gave the Allies the upper hand in tank warfare. 

Another significant advantage was Eisenhower's military leadership. His assignments with tanks during WW1 created a solid foundation for an advanced understanding of mechanized warfare. Eisenhower commanded the European Theater as a five-star general and led the Allies to victory as the Supreme Allied Commander. 

Modern Tanks

After World War II, the Soviet Union posed a significant danger with its extensive store of T-34 tanks. While the U.S. and Britain still resisted tanks' potential to form fully mechanized units, the development of nuclear weapons in the mid-1950s spurred a new rush to develop effective armored vehicles.  

U.S. tanks saw only minor developments during the Korean War, Cold War and Vietnam War. The M4 Sherman remained in use through the Korean War, though newer tanks and more advanced technological developments soon replaced it. The newer tanks boasted larger guns, more powerful engines and thicker armor. 

Here's an overview of the significant changes in tank design since the end of WW2. 

Gun Caliber 

Tank guns steadily increased in caliber throughout the 1950s as more countries realized the need for heavily armed tanks. The British developed their Conqueror tanks with 120-mm guns, while the Soviet Union included 125-mm guns on its tanks during the 1970s and 80s. 

The M1 Abrams tank was a significant turning point in U.S.-produced tanks. This machine featured a 105-mm gun and later a 120-mm smoothbore gun with a gun stabilization system capable of maintaining accurate targets while moving at high speeds over uneven terrain. U.S. manufacturers have upgraded the M1 Abrams multiple times, and these tanks saw extensive use throughout the Gulf Wars. 

Ammunition 

Antitank ammunition has also come a long way since the end of World War II. Britain and the U.S. replaced their ammunition with armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot projectiles that could penetrate far thicker armor than any previous types. 

The development of guided missiles has led to tanks that can fire highly explosive cartridges designed for specific threats, including personnel, aircraft and other tanks. 

Armor 

Improving tank armor was a significant focus for post-WWII engineers, as the tanks used in battle up until that point all used steel plates or castings. The difficulty was creating durable armor that was still lightweight and enabled greater mobility. 

Developments in tank armor have led to the introduction of an explosive layer between two thin steel plates to neutralize the danger of a penetrating warhead. The M1 Abrams boasts lighter composite armor, though engineers are looking toward armor that would shrug off kinetic energy to defend against attack. 

Additional Technology

Like other technology, tanks continue advancing. Features like fire detection and suppression, thermal imaging, camouflage systems to conceal from radar detection and enhanced power generation systems are likely to emerge in the evolution of tanks over the next several years. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Tanks have a rich history of development that closely follows the advancements and operations of war. If you're interested in learning more about the evolution of tanks, the following list will provide some answers. 

Who Built the First Tank? 

British Army Col. Ernest Swinton and Secretary for the Committee of Imperial Defence William Hankey first brought their idea for an armored car to British navy officer Winston Churchill. Churchill approved the idea and formed the Admiralty Landships Committee to oversee the developments. 

Swinton's and Hankey's experiments were top-secret, so they told production workers the machine they were building would be a tank to transport water on the battlefield. That may be how the tank got its name. 

When Was the First Tank Built? 

The Admiralty Landships Committee oversaw the building of the first tank, called “Little Willie,” in 1915. This early tank had several design issues — it moved at 2 miles per hour and got stuck in trenches. These flaws kept Little Willie from ever seeing battle. Still, the prototype tank demonstrated the machine's potential and paved the way for the development of the Mark I. 

What Is the Strongest Tank? 

This question may be up for debate, but it's possible to make a good case for the M1 Abrams. The M1 Abrams has demonstrated superior survivability in combat throughout the Gulf Wars. The U.S. military has upgraded the machine every few years, improving its communication, defense and fuel systems. 

What Is the Biggest Tank?  

The biggest tank was the panzer VIII Maus, weighing 188 tons. However, this gigantic size made the Maus too impractical for battle. The biggest tank in operation during the war was a French tank called the Char 2C, which weighed 75 tons. 

Explore Military Vehicles at Volo Auto Museum  

The history of tanks and their development is fascinating, tracing the history of both world wars and multiple countries' involvement in them. Learning about the evolution of tanks provides insight into the world's technological development over the last century and its new ways of waging war. 

If you love military history and want to learn more about military vehicles over the years, visit us at Volo Auto Museum. Our military exhibit features lifelike battle scenes, relics dating back to the Civil War and military vehicles of all kinds, from jets to tank tracks. The museum includes 45 exhibits and over 10,000 mechanical marvels from hundreds of collector cars to a 15,000 square ft animatronic dinosaur exhibit.

Volo Auto Museum offers a full day of fun for the whole family. Plan your visit with us today!