Landships II

There's a picture of the Wickersham Land Torpedo in Fred Crismon's book U.S. Military Tracked Vehicles, ISBN: 087938672X. It looks very much like the Goliath.

I'll have a look for a picture of the Hamilton Tank; there's probably something in the same book. I'll scan them and try to work out how to post them here, something which has proved beyond me up to now.

This is the only photo I've found of the Hamilton - taken from the rear (I assume). I shouldn't be rude about the American flag (or any one elses) but I do wish it wasn't in this photo. The tank seems to have some sort of square turret and small panniers or sponsons. But who made it and why?

Right, here are the two photos of Hamilton's other, later, machine...

Good God, you're right! Look:

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/UnitedStates/cargo-personnel/cargo-personnel.html

Note, '...Buick, Studebaker, and Overland all made virtual copies' - look carefully at the picture I posted labelled 'Hamilton GM Machine 1' - is that a Buick name plate? Mind you, Buick was part of GM at the time...

-- Edited by Roger Todd at 01:26, 2006-03-31

An interesting can of worms - thanks Roger

I've discovered some American tanks from WW1: Steam tank "America"; Three wheeled steam tank; Holt Gas-Electric; Skeleton tank; The Best 75; The Best Tracklayer 75; The Holt 75 and The Holt G9... if you want something more about these vehicles.. write on forum and I'll give you some photos

If you compare the track layout of the "Studebaker Supply Tank" and the Newton Tractor, you'll find theyre basically identical. Most prominent are the two bogies on a Y shaped bogie assembly on the sides.

I think it's fair to assume the "Studebaker Tank", was just a modified Newton.

EDIT: Doh, theres already a thread about that :P

---Vil.

-- Edited by Vilkata at 02:08, 2006-04-11

Here's some information . . . re: RE: "America"   U.S. Army Steam Battle Tank of 1918

The AMERICAN STEAM BATTLE TANK

The Steam Tank (Tracked) was an early U.S. tank design of 1918 imitating the pattern of the British Mark IV tank but powered by steam.

The type was designed by an officer from the U.S. Army's Corps Of Engineers. The project was started by General John A. Johnson with the help of the Endicott and Johnson Shoe Company and financed by the Boston bankers Phelan and Ratchesky (it cost $60,000). Expertise was called in from Stanley Motor Carriage Company in Watertown, Massachusetts, that produced steam cars. The engines and boilers of two Unit Railway Cars were built in. Earlier fighting vehicles projects had employed steam power because petrol engines were not yet powerful enough; the Steam Battle Tank however used it for the main reason that it was meant to be a specialized flame thrower to attack pillboxes and the original design had this weapon driven by steam. When the main device to build up sufficient pressure became a 35 hp auxiliary gasoline engine, the two main 2-cylinder steam engines with a combined horsepower of 500 remained, each engine driving one track to give a maximum speed of 4 mph. The transmission allowed two speeds forward and two in reverse. The steam engines used kerosene for fuel.

The flame thrower, located in the front cabin, had a range of 90 feet; additionally there were four 0.30 inch machine guns; two in a sponson at each side. The length of the vehicle was 34 feet 9 inches, the width 12 feet 6 inches and the height 10 feet 4.5 inches. The tracks were 24 inches wide. Each track frame carried mud clearing spikes, sometimes mistaken for battering rams. The tank had a weight of about fifty short tons. There was to have been a crew of eight, on the assumption there were a commander, a driver, an operator of the flame thrower, a mechanic and four machine gunners.

Only one Steam Battle Tank was completed in Boston and demonstrated during April 1918, in several parades also, on one occasion breaking down in front of the public library. The prototype was in June shipped to France to be tested with much publicity to bolster allied morale and was named America. The flame thrower nozzle was moved to a rotating turret on the roof of the cabin.

There was also another steam-powered AFV project (the Steam Wheel Tank) that didn't use tracks but was three-wheeled, hence the designation "(Tracked)" or "(Track-laying)". The design combined serious cooling problems with a dangerous vulnerability due to its two steam boilers and large fuel reservoirs needed to heat the two main engines, and feed both the auxiliary engine and the flame thrower.

US Army Corps of Engineers Steam Tank
General characteristics
Crew     8
Length     10.6 m
Width     3.8 m
Height     3.2 m
Weight     50.8 tons
Armour and armament
Armour     13 mm
Main armament     flame thrower
Secondary armament     four machine guns
Mobility
Power plant     2 steam
500 hp (373 kW)
Suspension     unsprung
Road speed     4 mph
Power/weight     9.8 hp/tonne
Range      ?

- - - - - - - - -

To general knowledge and according to the curator of the Patton Museum, there is only one photograph with it's negative showing the American steam battle tank in operation known to exist.  At the current time, I happen to own that image. The picture was taken on Beacon Street Boston sometime in early 1918.  It shows the big tank rumbling along amid billows of blinding steam.  The photo may have been taken the day that the steam tank broke down near the Boston Public Library.  Will attempt to post a form of that image below. 

Gina W, without knowing specifically what the direction of your son's project is here are some links that should be useful.

1. CARL "Combined Arms Reasearch Libriary Didgital Library"
http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/contentdm/home.htm

A search of "World War Tank" (in advanced search) brought up some 3000 references - perhaps overload but it included:

What kept the tank from being the decisive weapon of World War One?

Evolution of the armored force, 1920-1940.

Innovation in the face of adversity: Major-General Sir Percy Hobart and the 79th Armoured Division (British)

Evolution of the tank in the U.S. Army.

And the seaech should be readily adjustable.

2. Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/index.php

Slecting tab "Texts" then search on "Tanks AND World War" gave some very interesting stuff eg;

Men and tanks - Macintosh, James Cheyne, 1897-

Tanks in the great war, 1914-1918 - Fuller, J. F. C. (John Frederick Charles), 1878-1966 (as Fuller was a key figure in British WWI Tank work its very much primary)


Tanks, 1914-1918; the log-book of a pioneer - Stern, Albert Gerald, Sir, 1878-


3. Questa online research http://www.questia.com/library/history/military-history/

Hope this helps, Brennan

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