The Tank Mk V was powered by a Ricardo 6-cylinder inline gasoline-fueled engine developing 150 horsepower. This was mated to a five speed transmission featuring 4 forward speeds and 1 reverse. Operational range was 45 miles while maximum speed (on ideal surfaces) was 5 miles per hour. Steering was accomplished through a Wilson epicyclic steering configuration. The powerplant was of particular note for it was the first British tank to feature an engine specifically designed for the role as opposed to a design borrowing from an existing powerplant development - usually resulting in a vastly underpowered engine. Mechanical reliability was always a present menace for these early tank systems and the Mark Vs proved no different - breakdowns were just as common (and dangerous) to Allied tankers as was enemy artillery, the latter proving the most lethal enemy to these first generation tanks in the whole of the war.
Tank Mk Vs were fielded in number during the Battle of Amiens beginning August 8th, 1918. Australian, Canadian, French and American forces scored a victory over the German Empire in this four day encounter that saw major fighting end on the 12th. The Germans lost 30,000 to the Allies 22,200 as 532 Allied tanks took part in the battle which included as many as 1,900 supporting aircraft coupled with traditional heavy artillery. The battle came to be known to the Germans as "The Black Day of the German Army" due to plummeting morale and mass surrenders. The battle also brought an end to the static nature of trench warfare and reinstituted "mobile", or "fluid", warfare back into the fold.
Beyond its service in World War 1, some Tank Mk Vs served alongside "White Army" Russian forces against the Bolsheviks in the scope of the Russian Civil War. The war had begun in the October Revolution of 1917 and carried into October of 1922. Many Tank Mk Vs were subsequently captured in the fighting by Red Army forces and reconstituted. The Allied intervention in the civil war therefore became a failed endeavor - the Bolshevik victory ultimately giving rise to the Soviet Union. The Red Army used Tank Mk Vs to take Tbilisi during its successful invasion of Georgia in 1921. Bolsheviks scored victories in Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia as well as in Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
The Tank Mk V series was eventually produced in three major variants following the basic male/female combat versions detailed above. A lengthened hull variant (designed to help cross wider trench openings) was produced in no fewer than 579 examples (of the 700 initially ordered). These arrived prior to the Armistice of November 1918 though total production was not completed until March of the following year. Many of these saw service well into the 1920s and were designated as Tank Mark V* (note asterisk).
The Tank Mark V** was based on the Tank Mk V* initiative with revised wider tracks to counter the affected track length-to-width ratio that was altered with the hull's lengthening. The engine was uprated to output up to 225 horsepower and relocated further aft in the hull. Of the 700 examples on order before the end of the war, only 25 of this type were ultimately produced - the end of the war cancelled many such procurement orders.
The Tank Mark V*** was a proposed improved form intended for use in 1919 should the war had progressed beyond 1918. The type was evolved into the "Tank Mark X" designation but existed on drawing boards only. It would have emerged as a further improvement on the Mark V utilizing many of its existing automotive components for logistics' sake and borrowed design features of the preceding series. Maneuverability over uneven terrain was a prime focus of this variant.
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