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Landships II -> Landships WW1 Forum -> Tanks -> 1500 ton tank! (no not a misprint)
Post Info TOPIC: 1500 ton tank! (no not a misprint)
Centurion


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1500 ton tank! (no not a misprint)
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When digging around trying to find details of the 150 ton field monitor I came across two seperate items that  tickled my curiosity


"In 1916, the plans for the US 1500 ton Landship had it being modular. The hull, Twin gun turret(two 6 inch naval howitzers), Drive Train/tracks(Each track was to be powered by a diesel electric locomotive combo which had first gone into service in Montana in 1915. Incorporating everything within the tracks itself.)
One of the Holt Brothers, of Holt(Later Catepillar tractor) Tractors. Did the design work.
The only thing stopping the building of these monsters was the fledgling Engineer Corps..who pointed out there was no bridge on earth that could support the Landship's weight. This did not deter the designers of the proposed landship, and it took a letter explaining to the designers that the Engineers did not have a crane powerful enough to assemble this monstrosity in the field.
Plans did go through for the 150 ton tank mounting a single Naval 6" in a turret."


"During the time Mr. Holt was in Washington, he not only supervised the design and building of the "Caterpillar"—ten ton—five ton—and two and one-half ton artillery tractors, but also made the preliminary study of the one-man tank, which was later built by the Ford company. He also supervised the work of preliminary design of the 150-ton tank and started work on the 1,500-ton tank, at the request of the Naval Consulting board, which work was finally completed in conjunction with the engineers of the Westinghouse company."


I assume that the "150 ton tank" is the 150 ton field monitor (and the "one man tank" is actually the Ford 3 ton). However a 1500 ton monster is a real landship and makes the proposals of Hetherington et al look positively unambitious. Even the P1000 project in WW2 Germany (using a turret from a pocket battleship) would have been lighter. The date (1916) is interesting - what theatre of war was it meant for? Mexico?


Does anyone have any information on the reality of all this?



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Roger Todd


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Fascinating, where are these quotes from?


BTW, I've been having real problems with the forum today, anyone else?



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Tim R


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Hello Robert


   Hello Roger, First thing first, I am having alot of trouble with the forum, I dont no why, and I have been unable to get Peter by email, I am not sure what is up.


Robert, I am sorry, I promised the 150 ton information, I have been very busy at work, and at home recently, I will do my best in the next few days, and send you the information on it.


As far as the 1500 ton tank, I have about what you have except I have a rare photo of the holt chassis and track system that was slated to be used for its design, I will post it in a few days, when I get back home. It is huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


All the best


Tim R



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Centurion


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The first quote comes from a tank net thread of 2005 that contains several references
http://63.99.108.76/forums/lofiversion/index.php/%5C%22http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/t8580.html


The second is from a biography of Pliney E. Holt (San Joaquin County Biographies). Pliney was Benjamin Holt's nephew.


The Naval Consulting Board was headed by Edison (Light bulbs phonographs etc) and contained a Mr Sperry (Gyro compasses etc etc) and a Mr Maxim (younger brother of Hiram Maxim machines guns etc) himself an inventor of various types of high explosive. A certain young politician called F.D. Roosevelt also seems to have had something to do with it. Maxim was responsible for the board championing the Garand M1 automatic rifle and Edison and Sperry had a lot to do with bringing the British pioneering ASDIC work into what became SONAR. The Board seems to have had a close relationship with Westinghouse with some of that company's engineers seconded to it.



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Craig York


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 Man, and I used to pat myself on the back for knowing something about the Czar tank...You do come up with some of the most amazing stuff, Robert!


And I can't wait to see what you come up with once you've got a photo to work from!!!


 


 


 


(EDIT: No problems with the forum myself, but this is my first time on today...)



-- Edited by Craig York at 00:35, 2006-03-30

-- Edited by Craig York at 00:54, 2006-03-30

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Centurion


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Just to show that such monsters were not just a 20th century phenomenon. See this extract about the siege of Ostend at the beginning of the 1600s


Pompey Targone's perambulatory castle


The gigantic chariot, on which a moveable fort was constructed, was still more portentous upon paper than the battery. It was directed against that republican work, defending the Gullet, which was called in derision the Spanish Half-moon. It was to be drawn by forty horses, and armed with no man knew how many great guns, with a mast a hundred and fifty feet high in the centre of the fort, up and down which played pulleys raising and lowering a drawbridge long enough to span the Gullet.


It was further provided with anchors, which were to be tossed over the parapet of the doomed redoubt, while the assailants, thus grappled to the enemy's work, were to dash over the bridge after having silenced the opposing fire by means of their own peripatetic battery.


Unfortunately for the fame of Pompey, one of his many wheels was crushed on the first attempt to drag the chariot to the scene of anticipated triumph, the whole structure remained embedded in the sand, very much askew; nor did all the mules and horses that could be harnessed to it ever succeed in removing it an inch out of a position, which was anything but triumphant.



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Centurion


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America seems to have been the home of vast designs. An extract from the biography of a Philedelphia industrialist and inventor (of safety glass and solar power systems)


"In 1917, the last innovation made public by Shuman prior to his death was a land battleship he called a  "Superdreadnought" which would reportedly destroy entire towns and villages in a matter of minutes. Shuman got as far as drawing sketches of a tank like structure with wheels that were 200 feet in diameter before the idea was rejected by the War Department."


Oh for a copy of the sketches



-- Edited by Centurion at 13:09, 2006-04-10

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Tim R


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Hello Robert


 Where did you get your information on Frank Shuman's "Superdreadnought", I have been researching him for awhile, and I have found very little, I know he also designed a submarine powered by liquid oxygen that the War Department adopted in the early part of 1917.


All the Best


Tim R



Attachments
FrankShuman.jpg (13.7 kb)
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Doggowitz


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No Pictures of those sketches for this Supertanks?

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Centurion


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Doggowitz wrote:

No Pictures of those sketches for this Supertanks?
I think that Tim has the monopoly, we wait agog

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