Vickers Medium Mark I Medium Tank (1923)
The Vickers Medium Mark I was fast and well-armed for its time, though suffering from inadequate armor protection along the front-facing surfaces.
After World War 1, British authorities were content to simplify and downsize their armored corps. By 1920, a new government-funded tank design was being developed under the designation of Medium Mark D light infantry tank to bring about a more modern design. Meanwhile, the Vickers firm was concurrently working on a private-venture light armored fighting vehicle (AFV) all their own. While the Medium Mark D project eventually led to naught, the Vickers firm produced two working prototype versions - a machine gun-laden "female" and a cannon-armed "male" - by the end of 1921 known collectively as the 'Vickers Light Tank".
The Vickers Light Tank proved too unique for its time (particularly its new, complicated and unreliable transmission system) and the program was soon dropped in 1922. However, progress had also been made on a more conventional alternative started in 1922 that inevitably became the "Light Tank Mark I" under the Vickers company designation of A2E1. The Light Tank Mark I was initially envisioned as a light armored fighting vehicle with exceptional speed and range for the time. Its 47mm armament was also specifically designed to handle other tanks in head-on duels as opposed to being used in support of, or alongside, advancing infantry. A three-man turret was selected to help improve communications between the tank commander and the gunner, allowing for more accurate and faster targeting and engagement. The mounting of the main armament in a rotating turret was something of a novelty up to this point as well, with many early post-war tank systems still mounting main guns in fixed superstructures or limited-traversing side sponsons. Therefore, the Light Tank Mark I was the first British tank to feature an all-around traversing turret as well as geared elevation for its main gun. Evaluation of this new system took place in 1923 and deliveries to the British Army began in 1924. That same year, the tank was reclassified as a "medium" class tank and redesignated as the "Medium Tank Mark I".
The Vickers design was a vast departure from the lozenge-shaped monsters dominating the battlefields of World War 1. Like other tanks developed at the beginning of the 1920s, the Mark I sported something of a tall side profile made up of a hull and superstructure to which was affixed a curved and oblong turret. Unlike most tank designs of the time, however, the Mark I made use of an efficient turret compartment in which three of the five-man crew were situated. This essentially became the standard for tank designs to follow - a practice still utilized today. The five crew were made up of the driver, tank commander, gunner/mechanic and two dedicated machine gunners. The driver was situated in the front right of the hull, just left of the engine. The tank commander, gunner and one machine gunner took their positions in the turret. It is of note that the interior of the tank was not compartmentalized, meaning that the crew shared the same cabin space as the powerplant - something of a drawback when one considers the noise and fumes generated by the gasoline engine. Ten small doubled road wheels were fitted in pairs to either track side. The suspension system was sprung and helped to make speed a top attribute of the Medium Mark I. However, the tank was only allotted an armor thickness of 8mm, making for poor armor protection overall, particularly along the critical forward-facing plates. Crew entry and exit was via double-hinged doors along the superstructure sides while there was also a door fitted to the rear of the hull, offset to the right. Power was supplied by an Armstrong Siddeley V-8 air-cooled gasoline engine delivering 90 horsepower tied to a four-speed gearbox, the engine itself developed from an aircraft powerplant. Top speed was listed at 13 miles per hour with a range of 150 miles. The operational weight was just over 13 tons.
The Medium Mark I mounted a main armament consisting of a 1 x 47mm QF ("Quick Firing') 3-pounder gun. While the gunner also doubled as the tank mechanic, the turret machine gunner was also assigned double duty as the loader. This seemingly strange assignment of tasks was no doubt refined some by the time of World War 2 - where co-axially mounted machine guns were now controlled by the gunner himself and a dedicated ammunition loader was made a principle part of tank crews. The main armament was supplemented by a collection of 4 x Hotchkiss M1914 7.7mm machine guns and a further 2 x 7.7mm Vickers machine guns for self-defense against infantry attacks. The two Vickers machine guns were fitted to ball-mountings on either superstructure side, just aft of the crew entry/exit side doors.
The Medium Mark I served with the Royal Tank Regiment up until 1938 before being phased out by much more modern and effective systems. The Vickers Medium Mark II tank was a slightly improved form of the Medium Mark I detailed elsewhere on this site. Text ©2003-2013 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • No Reproduction Permitted
MilitaryFactory.com does NOT sell equipment/weaponry. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance or general operation. Please consult manufacturers for such information. Our disclaimer. Email corrections / Comments to MilitaryFactory at Gmail dot com.
Specifications for the
Vickers Medium Mark I
Medium Tank
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Manufacturer: Vickers - UK
Initial Year of Service: 1923
Production: 200
Focus Model: Vickers Medium Mark I
Crew: 5
Overall Length: 17.49ft (5.33m)
Width: 9.12ft (2.78m)
Height: 8.79ft (2.68m)
Weight: 14.8 US Short Tons (13,411kg; 29,566lbs)
Powerplant: 1 x Armstrong Siddeley V-8 air-cooled gasoline engine delivering 90 horsepower.
Maximum Speed: 13mph (21 km/h)
Maximum Range: 150 miles (241 km)
NBC Protection: None
Nightvision: None
Armament:
PRIMARY:
1 x 47mm QF 3-pounder main gun
SECONDARY:
2 x 7.7mm M1914 Hotchkiss machine guns
4 x 7.7mm Vickers machine guns
Ammunition:
Not Available.
Variants:
A2E1 - Internal Vickers Designation
Light Tank Mark I - Original Designation; changed in 1924.
Medium Tank Mark I - Initial Production Model; 30 examples produced; service beginning 1924.
Medium Tank Mark IA - Improved Mark I; increased armor protection; improved bogies; revised turret.
Medium Tank Mark IA* - Rebuilt Mark Is and Mark IAs; sans Hotchkiss guns; co-axial installation of Vickers machine gun; rotating cupola.
Medium Tank Mark I CS / Medium Tank Mark IA CS - Close-Support Smoke-Laying Vehicles rebuilt from Mark I and Mark IAs; 1 x 15-pdr mortar.
Experimental Wheel-and-Track Medium Mark I - Proposed Variant; never mass-produced.
Operators: United Kingdom
By Decade:
• 1910 to 1919
• 1920 to 1929
• 1930 to 1939
• 1940 to 1949
• 1950 to 1959
• 1960 to 1969
• 1970 to 1979
• 1980 to 1989
• 1990 to 1999
• 2000 to 2009
• 2010 to 2019
• VIEW ALL
• Compare Tanks
By Type:
• 4x4 Military Vehicles
• 6x6 Military Vehicles
• 8x8 Military Vehicles
• Artillery Gun Systems
• Anti-Aircraft (AA) Guns
• Anti-Aircraft (AA) Vehicles
• Anti-Tank (AT) Guns
• Anti-Tank (AT) Vehicles
• Armored Cars
• Armored Personnel Carriers (APC)
• Battlefield Robots
• Halftrack Vehicles
• Heavy Tanks
• Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV)
• Light Tanks
• Main Battle Tanks (MBT)
• Modern Combat Tanks
• Medium Tanks
• Military Motorcycles
• Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS)
• Reconnaissance Vehicles
• Special Purpose Vehicles
• Self-Propelled Guns (SPG)
• Tank Destroyers
• General Purpose / Utility Vehicles
By Nation:
• Afghanistan
• Britain
• China
• France
• Germany
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel / Israeli Army
• Italy
• Libyan Army
• North Korea / North Korean Army
• Pakistan
• Russia
• South Korea
• Soviet Union
• Syrian Army
• United States
• VIEW ALL
World War 2:
• Artillery
• Infantry Fighting Vehicles
• Tank Destroyers (All)
• Tanks (All)
• Australian Tanks
• British Tanks
• Canadian Tanks
• Cruiser Tanks (UK)
• Czechoslovakian Tanks
• French Tanks
• German Tanks
• German Tank Destroyers
• German FlaK Guns
• German Reconnaissance Vehicles
• Hungarian Tanks
• Italian Tanks
• Japanese Tanks
• Romanian Tanks
• Soviet Tanks
• Swedish Tanks
• US Tanks
• VIEW ALL
World War 1:
• France WW1 Tanks
• Germany WW1 Tanks
• Britain WW1 Tanks
• US WW1 Tanks
• WW1 Artillery
• WW1 Tanks (all)
• VIEW ALL
Spanish Civil War:
• VIEW ALL
Korean War:
Vietnam War:
• VIEW ALL
Cold War:
• Cold War Tanks
• Cold War American Tanks
• Falklands War
• Post-WW2 British Tanks
• VIEW ALL
Gulf War (1991):
• VIEW ALL
Miscellaneous:
©2013 www.MilitaryFactory.com • Content ©2003-2013 MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Site Contact Email: militaryfactory at gmail dot com. The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® trademarks and protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws.
Top MF Stuff: 2013 Military Pay Scale | Military Ranks | WW2 Weapons | Sniper Rifles | Kts to Mph | WW1 Aircraft | Automatic Rifles | Aircraft Cockpits | Vietnam War Weapons | Main Battle Tanks | Submachine Guns | Shotguns | French Military Victories
Most photographic images appearing on this site are courtesy of the United States Department of Defense and are approved for public use. Other images acquired through the public domain. Digital art work courtesy of Dan Alex. Business Consulting by Kyle Williams. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance or general operation. Please consult manufacturers for such information.
