Analyze the development of the techology (tank) from WWI through the employment in WWII

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Development of the Technology (Tank ) From WWI through the Employment in WWII

A tank is a trail armored combat vehicle created to employ enemies face-to-face , via straight fire from a large caliber-gun and supporting fire from machine guns . Heavy armor on top a high extent of mobility confer it survival , as the tracks let it to cross even rough land at high speeds

The name tank first came to pass in British factories making the hulls of the first

battle tanks : the workmen were given the notion they were making tracked water containers for the British Army , therefore keeping the assembly of a fighting vehicle secret

The process began in World War I . American tank doctrines from the beginning focused on direct support of the infantry . American Expeditionary Forces (AEF ) planners paid little attention to futuristic ideas such as those of British Colonel J .F .C . Fuller for a campaign based on fast tanks in deep-penetration roles . With the end of the war the embryonic Tank Corps was disbanded . Tank units were assigned to the infantry , whose experts increasingly warned against their excessive use as a potential handicap to the rifleman 's "offensive spirit

In 1921 the Army possessed about 1 ,000 copies of the light French Renault FT-17 , and 100 or so British Mark VIII heavy tanks assembled at Rock Island Arsenal from parts made for a projected Anglo-American program that died with the Armistice . What the infantry wanted was a light tank of about 6 tons that could be transported on Army trucks and a medium tank of 15 tons , the weight limit of average highway and pontoon bridges . What it got by 1930 were a dozen or so prototypes of various kinds , all too far from meeting branch specifications to be considered for even limited production

Branch rivalry proved less intense than expected . While the cavalry stressed the importance of speed and range , in-house organs such as Infantry Journal published an increasing number of articles emphasizing the potential of tanks for independent missions , as well as in the branch-specific roles of leading and accompanying infantry . There was however , simply not enough money to pursue separate design tracks of close support and long-range exploitation

Could one vehicle possibly perform both tasks ? A potential solution emerged when the fast tank so often discussed in armor circles became reality in the designs of independent inventor J . Walter Christie . The few Christies actually purchased were divided between infantry and cavalry and earned mixed reviews . Their influence was nevertheless perceptible in the M2 light tank and its near sister the M1 combat car

More than 100 of these 7 .5-ton vehicles were acquired in the mid-1930s The M1 carried only two .30-caliber machine guns in a rotating turret the M2 had the same armament in two fixed turrets--a characteristic that promptly earned it the nickname "Mae West " in honor of the buxom film siren . But the vehicles ' reliability made them welcome in the...