The lengthened Mark V family
The Mark V* and Mark V** were attempts to extend the usefulness of the British rhomboid heavy tank against wider trenches. The first retained the basic Mark V machinery, crew arrangement and sponson armament while adding six feet to the hull. The second attempted to recover mobility lost through that extension. They shared an ancestry, but they were not interchangeable names for the standard Mark V or for a single unchanging stretched configuration. Sources
The Mark V* reached production and combat in 1918. The Mark V** belongs principally to late development and postwar experimentation. Published accounts describe much firmer evidence for the first vehicle’s production and service than for the detailed Mark V** production breakdown. Reported mixed-sponson Mark V* Composite or Hermaphrodite conversions are retained as unresolved questions rather than presented as a securely documented third production fleet. Sources
A six-foot answer to wider trenches
The immediate requirement was trench crossing rather than greater road speed. The standard Mark V was no longer than the Mark IV: 26 feet 5 inches, or about 8.06 metres. A more capable engine and steering system did not by themselves extend the distance that its hull could span. The account traces the lengthened solution through earlier experiments, including an unsuccessful tail-extension approach and a Mark IV cut and extended through its centre. Sources
The Mark V* applied the centre-extension idea to the newer mechanical arrangement. Overall length rose to 32 feet 5 inches, approximately 9.89 metres. Unlike an experimental vehicle altered in a workshop, production Mark V*s were newly manufactured. The published Tank Museum source identifies Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company in Birmingham as the builder and gives 645 completions against an order for 700. The order’s 500 Male and 200 Female allocation does not establish a verified division of the smaller completed total. Sources
The Mark V** was a further redesign rather than simply another length label. Accounts describe revised track curvature, wider tracks and increased power, intended to address the steering and mobility penalties of the Mark V*. Exact technical figures require more work. Sources
Hull, weapons and the cost of extra length
The extended hull retained tracks running around a rhomboid body and weapons carried in side sponsons rather than a turret. Doors behind the sponsons improved escape access. Further machine-gun mountings were added above these doors and in the altered rear cab. A Male carried two QF 6-pounder guns with supporting machine guns, while a Female carried machine guns. A photographed mounting, an armament allocation and the number of weapons carried on a particular occasion are related but not identical evidence. Sources
The Mark V* retained the 150 hp Ricardo petrol engine and Wilson epicyclic steering. Weight rose to roughly 33 tons without a corresponding increase in engine output. Wider tracks helped distribute the load, but the longer track contact and heavier hull made steering more difficult. The published two principal accounts give trench-crossing figures of 13 and 14 feet. Both indicate an improvement, but their difference remains unresolved rather than being reduced to a supposedly exact universal performance figure. Sources
The specifications distinguish values directly supported for the stretched tanks from values inherited from the Mark V. The same restraint applies to engine output, road speed and plate distribution. These are configuration questions, not blanks to fill by copying the closest-looking tank. Sources
Carrying infantry was not the same as accommodating them
The additional space encouraged the carriage of infantry and machine-gun teams. It did not transform the Mark V* into a purpose-designed personnel carrier. The normal tank crew remained about eight, and the men carried in addition had to share a hot, noisy interior with machinery and exhaust fumes. Access through new doors improved an escape problem without solving the conditions inside. Sources
Published accounts give two different carrying estimates: up to 15 men and four machine guns in its museum account, and 20–25 additional troops in Fuller’s account. They cannot be combined with the crew into a single standard complement. The circumstances of the experiments and the definition of useful capacity need to accompany any number. Reports of carried troops emerging incapacitated are central to assessing the idea; floor space alone is not evidence of an effective troop-carrying system. Sources
Communication also remained limited. Visual signals and coordination with supporting infantry were more representative than a dependable standard radio suite. The available material mentions wireless experiments, but those do not establish fleet-wide installation. The family’s crew and passenger experience belongs beside its engineering specifications, not merely in a list of theoretical capacities. Sources
Production, operations and later engineering work
Published figures separates manufactured Male and Female tanks from reported conversions, engineering equipment and operator records. A French receipt or service entry does not represent another British production run, while a named surviving vehicle is an individual specimen rather than a variant. The published French operator entry is especially tentative: quantities and combat status still require corroboration. Sources
Mark V*s participated in the Hundred Days. The account connects their infantry-carrying role to Amiens on 8 August 1918 and describes later service involving American tank personnel. Its narrative emphasizes the same limitation found in the technical discussion: improved trench crossing did not remove mechanical, crew-environment or combined-arms constraints. Mark V** development, by contrast, arrived too late to have comparable combat importance. Sources
The enlarged hulls also became engineering test platforms. Work at the Experimental Bridging Establishment included a Mark V* with an internal winch and later Mark V** vehicles using hydraulic lifting equipment. Such experiments deserve explicit coverage without turning every fitting into a new tank production type. That conflict is preserved for a separate relationship correction, not silently propagated into the encyclopedia’s family tree. Sources
What the visual record can and cannot establish
The account supplies five images: historical views of the stretched tanks, damaged vehicles and a modern photograph of the preserved Mark V** known as Ol’ Faithful. They serve different purposes. A damage close-up can document a particular opening or impact area but is not a substitute for a complete exterior view. The later museum photograph illustrates a surviving object and its displayed condition, not automatically an untouched wartime configuration. Sources
Dates, damage explanations, restoration states and engineering attachments therefore need individual captions. The image selection and the unresolved numerical questions do not diminish the family’s historical interest. Mark V* responded to a particular obstacle-crossing problem, while Mark V** attempted further improvements and had a different operational history. Sources
Photographs and image credits
Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.
Sources and further reading
Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.
- S2 — The Tank Museum, "The Mark V*" — The Tank Museum
- S3 — The Tank Museum, "Mark V" collection page — The Tank Museum
- S4 — J. F. C. Fuller, Tanks in the Great War, 1914-1918 — Project Gutenberg edition of 1920 book
- S5 — Clough Williams-Ellis and Amabel Williams-Ellis, The Tank Corps — Project Gutenberg edition of 1919 book
- S6 — The Tank Museum, "Battle of Amiens: 8-11 August 1918" — The Tank Museum
- S7 — The Tank Museum, "Experimental WWI Tanks - Part III" — The Tank Museum
- S8 — Imperial War Museums, "The development of the Tank in the First World War" — Imperial War Museums
- S9 — Australian War Memorial Collection E04926 — Australian War Memorial
- S10 — Australian War Memorial Collection E04937 — Australian War Memorial
- S11 — American Battle Monuments Commission, Bellicourt American Monument history — ABMC
- S12 — U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Training Support Facility page — U.S. Army Center of Military History
- S13 — Wikimedia Commons, File: British Mark V-star Tank.jpg — Wikimedia Commons
- S14 — Wikimedia Commons, File: British Mark V-star-star Tank.jpg — Wikimedia Commons
- S15 — Wikimedia Commons, File: Mark V** tank Ol' Faithful at the Tank Museum.JPG — Wikimedia Commons
- S16 — Wikimedia Commons, File: MkVTankDisabledBy2inchMortarBombRonssoy3October1918.jpg — Wikimedia Commons / Australian War Memorial
- S17 — Wikipedia, "Mark V tank" — Wikipedia
