Gun Carrier Mark I

Gun Carrier Mark I
British Gun Carrier Mark I fitted with a 60-pounder gun
Type	Self-propelled artillery
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
Used by	UK
Wars	World War I
Production history
Designed	July 1916
Manufacturer	Kitson & Co.
Produced	June - July, 1917
Number built	48
Variants	Gun Carrier Crane, Gun Carrier Mark II (project only)
Specifications
Weight	28.45 t
Length	9.75m
Height	2.41 m
Crew	6 + gun crew

Main armament	60-pounder field gun or 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer
Engine	Daimler petrol engine 105 hp
Suspension	Unsprung
Operational range	37.8 km
Speed	5.95 km/h

The Gun Carrier Mark I was the first piece of self-propelled artillery ever to be produced, a British development from the First World War.

Development

During 1916 it became clear that in case of a breakthrough, the very purpose of the first tank, the Mark I, artillery would have great trouble following the advancing troops. Any successful offensive would therefore be in danger of stalling immediately. To solve this problem Major Gregg, an engineer working for the main tank producing company Metropolitan, Carriage, Wagon and Finance, proposed to build special mechanised artillery, using parts of the Mark I. The production of a prototype was approved on 5 June 1916; the actual design began in July. The first prototype was ready to participate in the Tank Trials Day at Oldbury on 3 March 1917. An order of fifty vehicles was given to Kitson & Co. in Leeds. Deliveries to the army started in June and ended in July of the same year.

Description

The vehicle bore little resemblance to the Mark I. The tracks retained a vestige of the 'lozenge' form but very low, almost flat. At the rear a rectangular superstructure covered the Daimler 105 hp engine and transmission of the Mark I; the transmission was reversed compared to its position in the Mark I. This structure also housed the vehicle commander, a mechanic and two gearsmen. The original double tail wheel of the Mark I (intended to aid steering but often omitted in action) was attached to the rear of the vehicle and seems to be retained in photographs.

The front section, an open area between the tracks, was flanked by tall narrow structures, above the front of the track frame at each side, that acted as armoured cabs for driver on the left and brakesman to the right. In the prototype these driving positions had been directly in front of the superstructure; moving them forward greatly improved visibility, but made communication very difficult. This arrangement had obvious disadvantages where, as in the Mark I, four men, including the gearsmen, had to coordinate their actions to drive and manoeuvre a most ungainly vehicle. Between these two structures lay a low-slung pivoting platform able to accommodate a 60-pounder (5-inch) field gun, a 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer or any equivalent in stores or personnel.

This platform acted as a loading ramp down which a loading trolley or cradle could be lowered and positioned beneath the gun carriage. The wheels of the gun were removed — these were attached to the side of the carrier until needed again. The carriage was lowered onto the trolley which could then be winched up onto the platform using a pair of engine-driven winding drums. The procedure could be reversed to unload the gun. The spaces to the rear of the cabs were used to store up to a hundred rounds of ammunition for the howitzer in addition to other warlike stores. In theory, the field gun could be fired from the vehicle; in reality only the howitzer could be so used.

Since this weapon could be fired while mounted—even if never fired in anger—the Gun Carrier Mark I has been seen as the first modern self propelled gun, in the sense of a weapon system capable of independent action and having operational mobility on the battlefield.

Operational history

In July 1917, two Gun Carrier Companies were formed of 24 vehicles each. Probably none of them ever fired a shot. As breakthroughs never materialized the vehicles were ultimately only used as supply tanks. It was calculated a single tank had the same carrying capacity as 291 human porters. The Gun Carrier was first used at the Third Battle of Ypres where they carried a number of 60-pounder howitzers and several hundred tons of ammunition. While not employed as mobile artillery, in their role of supply tanks they were well-suited to the conditions of the Western Front and they would remain in constant use until the end of hostilities.^[1]

Variants

Salvage tank on a train on the way to the Battle of Cambrai, November 1917

Two vehicles out of the order of fifty were finished as Gun Carrier Cranes, salvage tanks with a hand-operated crane in the front^[2] but without the distinctive pair of forward cabs.