A7V

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Sturmpanzerwagen A7V
Sole surviving A7V (Mephisto) was on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Now on Permanant display at Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland.
Type	Heavy tank
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	21 March 1918 – 16 October 1918
Used by	German Empire
Wars	World War I German Revolution
Production history
Designer	Joseph Vollmer
Designed	1916
Manufacturer	Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft
No. built	20
Specifications
Mass	31.5 t (31.0 long tons; 34.7 short tons) battle weight
Length	7.34 m (24 ft 1 in)
Width	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Height	3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Crew	A minimum of 18, sometimes up to 25.
Armor	5 to 30 mm (0.20 to 1.18 in)[1]
Main armament	5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt (initially with 180 rounds; later 300)
Secondary armament	6 × 7.9 mm machine guns 36,000 rounds
Engine	2 × Daimler-Benz 4-cylinder 200 hp (149 kW) total
Power/weight	6.5 hp/tonne
Transmission	Adler gearboxes and differentials
Suspension	Holt track, vertical springs
Operational range	30–80 km (19–50 mi)
Maximum speed	15 km/h (9.3 mph) on roads 6.4 km/h (4.0 mph) cross-country

The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers.^[2] The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat, as well as being the first operational German Tank.^[3] It was developed as a response to British tanks. While certain publications have attempted to claim the A7V was an improvement over its British competition, there is nothing to support this suggestion. It was less capable across rough terrain, slower, required a far larger crew to operate and ultimately never had any success comparable to that of the British ‘Land Ships’.