German tank STURMPANZERWAGEN A7V COBI 2989 - Great War

You know that:

• When the British Mark I tank was the first in the world to attack German positions on 15 September 1916, panic broke out among the German soldiers. On that day, the never-ending race to develop heavy armoured vehicles began.
• The bewildered German command was initially unable even to define the requirements for the characteristics of the future tank and so, while the Allied powers had produced 8,000 tanks, Germany was still sitting over a blank drawing board.
• Eventually, a 40-member committee was able to draw up a development brief and the road to the A7V tank was finally open.
• The A7V was the German Army's first even slightly serviceable tank. Only 20 were produced in 1918.
• Each of the 20 tanks produced bore a unique name such as "Elfriede", "Mephisto", "Wotan" etc.
• However, Germany's first attempt to build an armoured vehicle was Frederich Goebel's walking machine in 1914, which broke its legs on the first attempt.
• In March 1918, the German command concluded that the A7V tank had absolutely inadequate driving characteristics in the field, and preferred to deploy captured British and French tanks into battle.
• The A7V took part in the first ever tank battle, against British Mark IV tanks. The result was one German tank destroyed and two British tanks damaged.
• The tank crew served in literally inhumane conditions. The lack of suspension, the noise and fumes from the engines that were not separated from the crew, the fumes from the gunshots, and the 18 people crammed into the tank's bowels was unbearable.
• The driver had a limited view starting approximately 10 meters in front of the tank, resulting in frequent entrapment.
• A special feature was the control of the tank by adjusting the speed on each of the two engines using a large steering wheel.
• The price of one tank was 250 000 Marks, i.e. about 1 600 000 € today.
• The only surviving example bearing the name Mephisto can be seen at the German Tank Museum Munster.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: length 7.34 m, width 3.1 m, height 3.3 m
• weight 29 900 kg
• armouring front 30 mm, sides 20 mm, ceiling 6 mm, bottom 10 mm
• propulsion unit 2x Daimler 165-204 petrol engines, each with 74.6 kW
• number of gears 3 forward + 3 reverse
• maximum road speed 16 km/h
• maximum off-road speed 8 km/h
• range 60-70 km on the road or 30-35 km off-road
• overcoming obstacles up to 0.4 m high
• wadeability 0.8 m
• main armament Maxim-Nordenfeld L/26.3 57 mm cannon
• secondary armament 6x Maxim MG 08 machine gun of 7.92 mm calibre