Built by the British in 1915 it was never used in combat. The first tank ever invented was called "Little Willie".Inventors of the tank got their inspiration from farming vehicles that used caterpillar tracks to travel over rough terrain. The crew of these early WW1 tanks had to endure being locked in a small area that was very hot, dusty, and filled with gas fumes.Ineffectiveness at the Battle of the Somme. This lack of speed was a major factor for this new These first tanks were extremely slow and crawled along at about 3 miles per hour (4.83 Kilometers per Hour).The tanks did help the British take the towns of Flers and Courcelette however the British were not able to continue their momentum.Of the forty nine tanks brought to the Battle of Flers-Courcelette only a few participated in the battle.Four crew men had to coordinate actions in an extremely noisy environment which made communication nearly Steering these tanks was extremely difficult.The armament varied but involved a combination of 6 pounder (57 mm gun) artillery guns and machine guns located on both sides.These tanks had a crew of eight four soldiers to control the vehicle and four gunners.These vehicles were equipped with a six cylinder petrol engine.The total length of these tanks was ten meters (32.8 feet).
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