Project armored Big Wheel Landship (UK)

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At the turn of the XIX and XX centuries, the British inventor Brahma Joseph Diplok began work on the original design of the propulsion unit, capable of increasing the permeability of technology. The development called Pedrail was first tested in which several tractors of various models were used, and then became the basis for new inventions. At the beginning of the tenth years of the 20th century, a tracked undercarriage was developed on the basis of an unusual wheel. Soon, work began on the creation of a full-fledged military equipment using the original propulsion. One of the first developments in this area was the project of the Big Wheel Landship combat vehicle.

At the very beginning of 1915, B.J. Diplock and his company Pedrail Transport Company presented to the military leadership of the United Kingdom two samples of promising technology using a pedrail-type undercarriage. During one of the demonstration events, officials saw a transport cart and a mobile armor shield for soldiers, built on the basis of the Pedrail caterpillar. These samples immediately interested the military, although they did not become the subject of an order for the supply of finished products. Major interest was shown to him by Major Thomas J. Hetherington. Almost immediately after the show, he proposed to continue the development of original ideas and use them when creating promising samples of high-grade military equipment.



Project armored Big Wheel Landship (UK)
Layout of the land vehicle of the Big Wheel Landship of the first version. Photo Landships.activeboard.com


Interest in the new chassis and showed the first naval lord Winston Churchill. In February 1915, based on a proposal to continue work, he created a new organization called the Royal Naval Land Ships Committee aviation. The task of the Committee was the development of existing ideas and the creation of land military equipment. Further work of this and other organizations later led to the appearance of full-fledged projects of armored vehicles. However, before the construction of the first serial tanks Committee staff managed to create and even test several less successful models.

One of the main requirements for new projects was to ensure the maximum possible terrain on rough terrain. By the beginning of 1915, the participants of the First World War had time to face the characteristic features of a positional war, primarily with multiple obstacles in front of enemy positions and numerous craters from artillery shells on the battlefield. Because of this, new models of technology should have been able to overcome various obstacles.

To fulfill the requirements regarding mobility and maneuverability, the projects should use appropriate propulsive devices. In some developments it was proposed to apply the ideas of B.J. Diplock In particular, in his project T.J. Heatherington decided to use an early version of the Pedrail project, which proposed the creation of an original wheel design. According to the officer, such a propulsion unit could give the perspective armored vehicle the required characteristics. At the same time, in another project that was created in parallel, the pedrail caterpillar was used.

Characteristic differences of the wheel design diplock from the usual systems gave a significant increase in maneuverability in complex landscapes. T.J. Heatherington decided to fully realize these advantages due to a significant increase in the size of the wheels. The result was the formation of the original appearance of the armored vehicle, as well as the corresponding name of the project. This development remained in stories under the name Big Wheel Landship - "Land ship on big wheels".


The structure of the wheel type Pedrail. Drawing from the patent B.J. Diplock


It should be noted that the project Big Wheel Landship stopped in the early stages, and this led to some unpleasant consequences from the point of view of the history of technology. Most of the materials and documentation on this development was lost, because of which many features of the project can not be established. In addition, in this regard, in different sources there are descriptions planned for the construction of the machine, differing in the mass of parts or even the overall architecture. Nevertheless, the available information still allows us to draw up a general picture, as well as to determine why the project did not receive a continuation and stopped at one of the first stages.

The reason for the appearance of the "Land Vehicle" of the design of Major Heserington was a certain success of the Pedrail propulsion, namely, the unit in the wheel form factor. In order to increase the maneuverability of the vehicle, the author of the original propulsion device added a set of moving support plates to the round wheel, which could significantly increase the prop support surface area, thereby increasing the permeability. At the same time, for the correct and most efficient operation of the propulsion unit inside the cylindrical body, a set of various units was placed.

The basis of pedrail-wheels was a relatively complex set of units, placed inside the case. Directly to the body of the base machine should be fixed stationary devices to which a set of parts-rails were suspended on hinges and springs. According to the latter, the rollers should have moved during the operation of the propulsion unit. The rollers were fixed at the ends of the levers, the second shoulder of which was given under the hinge mount for the plate-support. The implication was that when the car was moving and the outer casing of the wheel was rotating, the rollers would move in a circle, moving the supports as needed. Due to the curved shape of the lower part of the rails, the most efficient feeding of the supports was ensured: on the ground at the same time there were several plates at once.

The use of wheels design B.Dzh. The diplock in itself gave a noticeable increase in maneuverability by increasing the contact area of ​​the propeller and the ground. It was proposed to further improve this parameter by increasing the size of the propulsion unit and the chassis as a whole. This feature of the project T.J. Heatherington was reflected in his title. The required revision of the wheel assumed a change in the geometrical parameters of individual parts in accordance with the design parameters of the technique. The general principles of architecture and work, however, remained unchanged.


Projection armored vehicles. Figure Aviarmor.net


Exact and reliable information about the design of the armored vehicle Big Wheel Landship is missing. According to one of the modern versions, it was proposed to build a two-axle all-wheel drive car articulated scheme. The use of pedrail wheels and a two-piece hull with the possibility of changing the relative position of the sections made it possible to ensure a relatively high maneuverability with good maneuverability. In addition, it was possible to do without quite complex turning mechanisms responsible for changing the position of the wheel during maneuvering.

One of the surviving diagrams shows that the front section of the Big Wheel Landship was supposed to have a body with a complex frontal shape and vertical sides. Due to the installation of large wheels, the front section should have a small width. It provided space to accommodate the driver, engine, transmission elements and some other units. On the stern wall there were devices for swiveling with the rear section.

The rear section should have been different in size and shape. The front part of its body had an average height and increased width. The central compartment was already due to the need to install wheels, but it was distinguished by the presence of a high superstructure, almost completely covering the upper part of the wheel. The aft compartment had a reduced height, but was wider than the central one. The rear section of the car had to accommodate the power plant and some other units. According to others, this version of the machine should have a wheel formula 4х2 with a front driving axle.

The connection of two sections was provided with two hinges, placed in a vertical plane. The design of the hinge allowed the sections to move relative to each other in the vertical and horizontal planes. To control the movement of the machine, it was proposed to use chain devices: the chains were rigidly fastened to the front wall of the rear section and interacted with two shafts of winches placed on the sides of the front section. By winding the chains, the mutual position of the two sections was changed.


The second version of the car. Figure Landships.activeboard.com


The existing body allowed to arm the armored vehicle with one or other systems. There was the possibility of installing machine guns or guns of existing types. Exact placements weapons on the preserved schemes are not listed. It is possible that a large superstructure of the rear section of the hull could be used for mounting a gun or a machine gun.

According to other data, a different design was proposed, using a limited number of promising propellers. In this case, the Big Wheel Landship was supposed to have two wheels of a large-diameter Diplock design in front of the hull. The hull itself had an oblong shape with a raised front and lowered aft parts. On the sides of the narrowed front, there were mounts for the wheels of the Pedrail system. In the stern should have been placed a cart of three wheels of reduced diameter. The body was proposed to be assembled from armor with thickness up to 3 inches (mm 76,2). Inside the hull there was a compartment for the power plant, crew jobs, weapons, etc.

According to reports, this version of the armored car differed in significant dimensions. The main front wheels should have a diameter of 40 feet (12,2 m), rear - 13 feet 4 inch (about 4 m). The total length of the vehicle was 100 feet (30,5 m), width - 80 feet (24,4 m), height - 46 feet (14 m). Estimated combat weight reached 300 t.

It was proposed to install several turrets with cannon and machine-gun weapons on different parts of the corps. Depending on customer requirements, these or other types of weapons could be used. Provided shelling significant sectors in various directions.

T.J. Heatherington quickly formed the final look of a promising armored vehicle. After that a model was made, which was soon shown to representatives of the military department. At the end of March, the model was shown to W. Churchill. A senior official approved the new project and authorized further work. In addition, the project authors received an order for the construction of six units of new equipment. The cost of each sample of the Land Vehicle on Large Wheels was determined at the level of 70 thousand pounds sterling.


Build a full-size layout. Photo Aviarmor.net


Before starting the assembly of the experimental equipment, it was necessary to make a full-size wooden model, which made it possible to determine certain features of the project, as well as to form a list of necessary improvements. Layout assembly work started in April 1915 of the year. Over the next few weeks, one of the British companies produced a number of model units. However, before the final assembly, as far as is known, it never came. For various reasons, work on the project Big Wheel Landship was stopped. The customer did not see the layout, which did not allow for the construction of experimental equipment.

There were several reasons for stopping the project. First of all, the complexity of the implementation of the original proposals had a negative impact on the fate of the development. The machine was too large and heavy, which made it difficult to assemble, and also placed special demands on the units used. Not every industrial enterprise at that time could cope with the assembly of the proposed equipment. In addition, the project was struck by the lack of experience in creating and operating heavy-duty armored vehicles. The customer could not decide on the basic requirements, because of which the technical task changed several times. Moreover, each time the project had to make certain changes, which only delayed the work.

Proposed by T.J. Heatherington combat machine turned out too complicated and expensive both in production and in operation. Also, the problem could be considered the lack of clear and definite views on the use of such equipment and its role on the battlefield. At the same time, new projects have already begun to appear, which did not differ in great technical courage, but solved the tasks set. As a result, interest in large combat vehicles like the Big Wheel Landship gradually declined. As a result, the British military decided to abandon this technique, focusing on projects of a different kind.

Armored vehicle Big Wheel Landship designer T.J. Heatherington was made only as a scale model. A full-size model was built, but was not completed. The assembly of the experimental equipment did not even begin. Meanwhile, another project that used a Pedrail type undercarriage was able to reach the test stage of a prototype and even had some chances to reach operation in the military.


On the materials of the sites:
http://aviarmor.net/
http://landships.activeboard.com/
http://winstonchurchill.org/
http://forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/
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2 comments
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  1. +6
    21 November 2016 07: 08
    The idea of ​​the second variant is similar to the idea of ​​"Tsar Tank". How difficult are the first steps, ideas. It is for us now, it is easy to laugh at their ideas, but this is a sin. They were the first.
  2. +1
    21 November 2016 10: 19
    "And experience, son of difficult mistakes ..."

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