50°41′39″N 2°14′35″W / 50.69430°N 2.24317°W
Little Willie | |
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![]() Little Willie at the Tank Museum, Bovington (2006) | |
Type | Prototype tank |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | N/A |
Production history | |
Designed | July 1915 |
Manufacturer | Fosters of Lincoln |
Produced | August–September 1915 |
No. built | 1 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 16.5 tonnes (16.2 long tons; 18.2 short tons) |
Length | 19 ft 3 in (5.87 m) 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) inc. rear steering wheels |
Width | 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) |
Height | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) to top of hull 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) to top of turret |
Crew | (Projected) 6 |
Main armament | (Projected) Vickers 2-pounder (40 mm) gun |
Secondary armament | (Projected) Various suggestions of Maxim, Hotchkiss, Lewis, or Madsen machine guns |
Engine | Foster-Daimler Knight sleeve valve petrol 105 hp (78 kW) |
Power/weight | 6 hp/tonne (4.5 kW/tonne) |
Transmission | Two-speed forwards, one reverse final drive by Renolds chains |
Suspension | Unsprung |
Maximum speed | 2 mph (3.2 km/h) |
Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history. Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum, Bovington, England.