LAST RUN FOR A WW1 TANK?

Page 20 of December's Old Glory carries an ominous report -

It says that the last fully operational WW1 tank, a Mark V, was run for possibly the very last time on Nov 8th, as it was driven out from it's place in the Tank Museum, Bovington, and onto a low loader for transit to the Lord Mayor's show in London.

It does not explain why this might be the final run, but if it is true can anyone enlighten us as to why?

I cannot understand why it would not be possible to keep operational and on occasion, demonstrate, such an important relic :dunno:

possably the gears or other parts have become brittle with age ?

The steel in the armour plate and chassis is so old and of poor quality that it has chrystalised in places and is very brittle. It has a similar strength to a piece of china. One good hard knock and the thing has a good chance of shattering (strange but true).

Although it breaks my heart to say it, it is probably best now to lay it up for good, so at least people can see it while it is still so complete and original. Maybe the tank museum should apply for a lottery grant to make a replica. I am sure that BAE systems would like the work. :whistle:

Tim (too)

The steel in the armour plate and chassis is so old and of poor quality that it has chrystalised in places and is very brittle. It has a similar strength to a piece of china. One good hard knock and the thing has a good chance of shattering (strange but true).

Interesting, thanks for that. Just strange to think that so many old steel structures are still OK, so I'm guessing that armour plate generally does not age that well - something to do with the alloy mix?

Interesting, thanks for that. Just strange to think that so many old steel structures are still OK, so I'm guessing that armour plate generally does not age that well - something to do with the alloy mix?

 

I have seen evidence of this myself with a WW1 MkIV tank that has sat in a square in my home town since 1919. Recently, the council wanted some conservation work done on it and I was brought in by one of the potential contractors. The steel plates on the side were cracked and pulled out of line by rust that had foced the riveted joints apart. Discussing this with Bovington Tank Museum, it is not unusual. The steel plate used and the hardening procedure was to blame, you have to remember, armour plate was in its infancy at that time, doubtful they were using alloy mixes, more like flame hardened boiler plate, I suspect. Welding the cracks would have made the problem worse, all in all, to restore one of these to usable condition, you would end up reconstructing the hull, then the originality has gone out of the window. Sad as it is, they are best left to rest in peace now as static displays.

And someone else got the conservation job. One interesting I spotted though, when inside it, both of the huge drive chains were in place. From information I had picked up before, one drive chain was removed from all these tanks that were in place all around the country as war memorials, so that they could not be driven and used in any civil uprising.

Richard

That would be a very good solution , If they can reproduce a Tiger than it should be even easier to do the same to a WW1 Mark V !!

Hi all,

i am sure that this topic has been covered here before, and i belive that the tank has several stress fractures in the chassis ??

I am sure John Pearson has more info on this subject.

http://www.hmvf.co.uk/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=38&topic=1404.msg11011#msg11011

hopefully the above linkwill help

Ashley

http://www.hmvf.co.uk/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=38&topic=1404.msg11011#msg11011

 

hopefully the above linkwill help

 

Ashley

 

:tup:

Just a thought. If this happens to a WW1 tank and makes it un-drivable, when will it start happening to our vehicles?

Just a thought. If this happens to a WW1 tank and makes it un-drivable, when will it start happening to our vehicles?

 

As Great War Truck said, it's a lot less likely to happen with later vehicles because they will be constructed from better-produced metal.

I heard that some CVRTs are cracking up. It's something to do with a certain early batch of hulls and the reaction with added on belly armour.

Yes CVRTs do suffer from corrosion quite badly, and the armour can delaminate. Andys Striker almost has a hole in it at one place where it has corroded badly. The floor in my Sabre is quite corroded too, especially the earting points. Just because it's Aluminium doesn't mean it won't corrode.

Chris

The Mk V has probably done more than ten times its design mileage anyway but indeed the problem is stress cracks in the lower hull. It is a disaster but not a complete catastrophy (or you could say the other way round as well!). The Museum have looked into the possibility of repairing the problem but I do not think it was viable. I understand that the repacement of pieces with pattern parts would be a problem so far as authenticity is concerned, apart from the cost and welding type repairs are not on due to the effects on the next piece of original armour that you would be trying to weld to. They are still looking however at the problem so a solution may be found. It will certainly not be the last ever time it is moved as I am, sure it will turn out in 2016 to mark the 100th anniversary of the first use of tanks and 2018, 100yrs since the end of the Great War.

All is not lost hoever. There are several replica WW1 tanks about and don't forget, the Mk IV is also a runner/runnable but the very devil to drive.

By the way, the Mk V is the nastiest machine I have ever been in: no suspension, glowing exhausts, unguarded wirrling bits and fumes. It is like being in the rocker box of an engine while it is running. Needless to say, I feel priviledged to have had a go however!

My feeling is that about anything made by man that is used if it goes Through enough stress cycles it will fail..... . It may take thousands or millions of cycles of course but its just a matter of time. So as things age if you don't push it too hard it will take longer to reach that point and if you inspect the areas where water can pool or dirt can get trapped and keep them clean and drained you will be helping it to survive a bit longer

Speaking of replicas, one of the many items in Peter Jackson's toybox includes a Mk IV tank replica, built using a caterpillar bulldozer (D6 I think), looks spot on in all the video footage and photos i've seen of it. Also has a Rolls Royce A/C replica too but only seen that from a distance in a video

Page 20 of December's Old Glory carries an ominous report -

 

It says that the last fully operational WW1 tank, a Mark V, was run for possibly the very last time on Nov 8th, as it was driven out from it's place in the Tank Museum, Bovington, and onto a low loader for transit to the Lord Mayor's show in London.

 

It does not explain why this might be the final run, but if it is true can anyone enlighten us as to why?

 

I cannot understand why it would not be possible to keep operational and on occasion, demonstrate, such an important relic :dunno:

I've been reliably informed that Bovington WW1 tank is one of two that is currently on a BBC Film set in Essex..

The other is a replica, Just seen one of them driving across the fields but from the distance I was at I couldn't tell which one it was.. Will try & get some photos tomorrow..

I only got sight of one of the 2 Tanks on set there & I could be wrong about it being the Bovy Tank but there was a Tank Museum sign written vehicle there..

The Filming is for 3 episode WW1 drama based on true stories from a British Soldiers diary for BBC Factuals.

When I was contacted for help finding people for this I was told The first episode they are filming is set during 1918 Battle of Amiens but they are shooting it out of sequence so not sure what episode they are filming at the moment.. very big production though..

A bit more about BBC's WW1 programming here http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/world-war-one-centenary.html

I've been reliably informed that Bovington WW1 tank is one of two that is currently on a BBC Film set in Essex..

The other is a replica, Just seen one of them driving across the fields but from the distance I was at I couldn't tell which one it was.. Will try & get some photos tomorrow..

 

I only got sight of one of the 2 Tanks on set there & I could be wrong about it being the Bovy Tank but there was a Tank Museum sign written vehicle there..

 

 

More than likely the MkIV replica built for the film Warhorse and which the Tank Museum bought, to enable them to have something representative at WW1 commemoration events.

More than likely the MkIV replica built for the film Warhorse and which the Tank Museum bought, to enable them to have something representative at WW1 commemoration events.

They had two there, I was told that one of them was an Original & the other the replica :undecided:

just looking through old photos and found this one of Peter Jackson's Spring Chicken.

The Mk V has probably done more than ten times its design mileage anyway but indeed the problem is stress cracks in the lower hull. It is a disaster but not a complete catastrophy (or you could say the other way round as well!). The Museum have looked into the possibility of repairing the problem but I do not think it was viable. I understand that the repacement of pieces with pattern parts would be a problem so far as authenticity is concerned, apart from the cost and welding type repairs are not on due to the effects on the next piece of original armour that you would be trying to weld to. They are still looking however at the problem so a solution may be found. It will certainly not be the last ever time it is moved as I am, sure it will turn out in 2016 to mark the 100th anniversary of the first use of tanks and 2018, 100yrs since the end of the Great War.

All is not lost hoever. There are several replica WW1 tanks about and don't forget, the Mk IV is also a runner/runnable but the very devil to drive.

By the way, the Mk V is the nastiest machine I have ever been in: no suspension, glowing exhausts, unguarded wirrling bits and fumes. It is like being in the rocker box of an engine while it is running. Needless to say, I feel priviledged to have had a go however!

Oh you lucky, lucky devil!! :-) :-) :-)

just looking through old photos and found this one of Peter Jackson's Spring Chicken.

What a beauty it is........

Oh you lucky, lucky devil!! :-) :-) :-)

Neil, luck doesn't come into it, any 'perks' John gets are due to all his voluntary hard work for the museum.

They had two there, I was told that one of them was an Original & the other the replica :undecided:

The Warhorse replica was being unloaded from a low loader when I was at the TM on 5/2/14 so I assume it was just being returned from the Essex film gig.

What about the various Renault FT & it's American half-brother, the M1917?

Of the former, we've Runners at Saumur & Thun, with The Weald Foundation restoring both an FT & a TSF - fair to assume both will be runners, of the latter, Old Rhinebeck has a confirmed runner, with a couple of potentially running tanks at Hayes Otoupalik's collection & Nokesville.

I believe many of the Renaults were refurbished in the early 1930s, so I suppose it may depend upon how one defines "WW1 tank".

The Warhorse replica was being unloaded from a low loader when I was at the TM on 5/2/14 so I assume it was just being returned from the Essex film gig.

I have just returned from the Secret Nuclear Bunker in Essex where the filming took place. It has been confirmed that there was definitely two WW1 Tanks there. The replica & the other one which was much larger than the replica but the same type of tank. The "Original Tank" had a 24 hour security guard with it due to it's value, none of the other kit was guarded. If it wasn't the Tank museums WW1 Tank where did it come from??