Radio instead of pigeons - the first wireless tank
The success of a battle depends on firm, continuous, stable, operational and covert command and control of subunits. For these purposes, a coordination system is being created, in which the bodies and control points are functionally linked, as well as a communication system.
And it is precisely communications that play the most important role in the overall command and control system, providing commanders and staffs with guidance over the activities of subordinate troops, coordinating mutual efforts of neighbors and units of various combat arms, transmitting signals, as well as guiding all types of combat, technical and logistical support.
foreword
Until the XNUMXth century, wireless radio communication in household matters was just a fantasy. And even after the appearance of radio at the very end of the XNUMXth century, it took a long time before radio became a popular item of military and household use.
The radio was the first device to enable mass communication. This allowed information to be transmitted everywhere, not only nationally, but also internationally.
Radio development began in 1893 when Nikola Tesla demonstrated wireless radio communications in St. Louis, Missouri. His work laid the foundation for those scientists who worked to improve the radio we now use.
The development of practical, if I may say so, radio communication began after A. Popov in 1895, and a year later - by the Italian G. Marconi, radio receivers were created that could transmit and receive a signal, that is, carry out radio communication. The demonstration by A. Popov of the functioning of the radio equipment he created and the wireless transmission of signals carried out with its help took place for the first time on May 7, 1895.
Before World War I, radio was mainly used to communicate with ships at sea. At that time, the ship, going to sea, broke off all relations with the shore and lived its own life during the voyage. Now the radio allowed the ship to communicate with the coast under any conditions, wherever it was.
For example, the first experiments with the use of radio on a domestic navy were held in March 1897. Then A. Popov from the port of Kronstadt established radio communication with the yacht "Rybka" at a distance of 650 m.
In the summer and autumn of the following year, 1898, under the direct supervision of the same A. Popov, radio communication was established between the transport "Europe" and the cruiser "Africa" at a distance of about 3 miles.
World War I and the emergence of Wireless communications tank
With the First World War, the importance of radio became apparent and its usefulness increased significantly.
During the war, the military used radio communication (wireless communication or "wireless communication" in the terminology of those years) almost exclusively, and it became an invaluable tool for sending and receiving messages to the military in real time without the need to use, as before, a physical messenger. During this period, the first radio stations transported by transport and carried by a soldier were developed.
In 1917, the first wireless armored transporter appeared in England.
It was the Mk tank. I, on which equipment was installed to enable two-way audio communication using Morse code. Before that everything Tanks on the battlefield had to rely on either physical or visual communication.
Physical communication was achieved using carrier pigeons. Each tank contained four pigeons, which were kept in a wicker basket. They were launched from hatches in tank sponsors. The message was enclosed in a cylindrical package attached to the legs of the bird.
Visual communication was in the form of semaphores and signal flags.
Flags or movable semaphore bars are used to transmit information over a distance that allows the signal to be received with the naked eye. Usually it is no more than 1 km. The distance can be increased up to 3 km if optical devices are used to receive the signal.
On armored vehicles, semaphore communication was provided either by a mechanical mast equipped with blades attached to the roof of the tank, or manually through hatches in the rear of the combat vehicle. We used three primary colors in which the semaphore disks were painted: white, red and green. Their combination gave a certain signal or information. So, if the crew noticed the enemy, this was conveyed by a combination of two colors - white and red.
However, there were problems with both methods.
The pigeon was a one-way message and could not be answered (let alone lost, shot, or even eaten).
The Semaphore, although a two-way method, was unreliable in times of poor visibility, such as early morning fog or the thick acrid smoke that so often accumulated on the battlefield.
After the appearance of the tank, it became the main weapons breakthrough enemy defense. But in battle, a moment could come when the infantry could lag behind the tanks or the tanks in the heat of the attack would be forced to break away from it.
What then to do, how to return or stop the advance of tanks?
And if the tanks run into the enemy and need support, what then?
Therefore, in the initial period of the war, they tried to lay a telephone cable behind some of the tanks for audio communication with the crew. But the cable was often cut off, clinging to debris on the battlefield, or cut by fragments of mines and shells during shelling.
Wireless communication has become the solution to such problems.
With the appearance on the battlefield of the improved model of the Mk. IV, it was decided to several surviving tanks Mk. I convert into special and training machines. One of the special vehicles was tanks with wireless communication, or, as they said at the time, "signal tanks".
Communication equipment
Experiments to install a wireless device inside the tank began in June 1917.
At that moment, the tanks of the Mk. I was supposed to be used as experimental machines. At the same time, all weapons and related internal equipment were dismantled from armored vehicles. This was enough to provide room for wireless communications equipment.
The original intended method was to use tanks as armored vehicles that would carry all of the radio receiving station equipment to be installed in suitable locations after the attacking troops, including tanks, had cleared the German trenches and moved on.
Soon everyone realized that this method was not suitable for maneuvering combat operations.
After some deliberation, it was decided to start installing the antenna on the tanks themselves.
The sponsors usually carried the main armament of the tank. As mentioned above, the weapons were disposed of, and the vacated space was used as a place for wireless equipment. The wireless set was installed in the right sponson with a small operating table added to the left.
The kit and related systems were powered by two additional 10-volt batteries and a small dynamo mounted on the engine.
The tanks used three types of wireless equipment:
1. W / T Trench Set Mk. I: 1916 CW, transmission rate 500-1400 cycles per second (hertz), receiving frequency 500-1400 cycles per second (hertz), output power 30 watts, range 5 miles (8 km), antenna 15 feet (4,6 m). The number of stations produced - 199 pcs.
2. W / T Trench Set Mk. II: 1917, continuous wave, transmission frequency 340-1850 cycles per second (hertz), receiving frequency 340-1850 cycles per second (hertz), output power - 30 watts, range 5 miles, antenna 2x4 feet (0,6x1,2 , 15 m) or single 133 ft. Produced XNUMX pcs.
3. W / T Trench Set Mk. III: 1917, consisted of a receiver and a transmitter in separate buildings. Continuous wave, transmission rate 450-1450 cycles per second (hertz), receiving frequency 450-1450 cycles per second (hertz), output power 30 watts, range 2-5 miles (3,2-8 km). Receiver weighs 17 lbs (7,65 kg), transmitter 18,5 lbs (8,3 kg). Antenna 2x4 feet or single 15 feet. The number of manufactured transmitters 2 853, the number of manufactured receivers –2 650 pcs.
Morse code was used for communication between subscribers.
The signal was transmitted through an antenna 15 feet (4,6 meters) high. If the tank was in motion, the antenna was positioned horizontally on the roof of the tank. When the tank was stationary during transmission and reception, the antenna mast was raised. The mast supported an antenna cable, which was connected to the radio station through the roof of the tank. The cable was approximately 200 feet (61 meters) long. To the left and right of the mast, the cables were stretched for its stable position.
At the same time, radio transmitters began to be installed on airplanes. Therefore, the idea of linking together an aircraft and a tank, as they would say now, into a single information network, became obvious.
To this end, different types of antennas have been tested in France and the UK to test the effectiveness of wireless telephony. aviation with a tank. Below is the first page of a report by Lieutenant Arthur Regg (8th Royal Air Force Squadron), which shows one version of the antenna, similar to the modern "traveling" wave. From the report, it can be understood that stable communication with the aircraft is provided with an antenna length of 30,5 m at a range of up to 3,5 km at an aircraft speed of up to 150 km / h. Later, work from France was transferred to the British Air Force base in Biggin Hill, on the southern outskirts of London.
Another type of wireless / telephony receiving antenna tested at Biggin Hill can be seen in the photos below. On the Mk. IV numbered 402, a flexible panel antenna is located at the front of the housing. The antenna cable (indicated by arrows) exits from the right viewing window and appears to be attached to the lower right corner of the panel.
Another image of the 402 on Biggin Hill shows a flexible "whip aerial" sticking out of the back of the right sponson. Perhaps this is the same antenna as in the photo above. But, most likely, this is a different version of the antenna, tested in France, and called a "fishing rod".
Participation in battles
Combat reports and related photographs of the Wireless communications tank are extremely rare. But based on the small amount of information available, we can conclude that wireless tanks were used in hostilities 7 miles south of Ypres in the West Flanders region of Belgium in June 1917.
At least one other Mark IV tank was converted to a wireless tank in September 1917. It was used in the Menin Road area, which was just 2 miles east of Ypres. This Mk. IV used a radio mast, but instead of mounting it on the tank, it stood vertically on the ground next to it.
The third episode of the combat use of wireless tanks is the Battle of Cambrai (November 20 - December 7, 1917).
Here communication tanks were used as command tanks. However, the number of tanks is unknown. We only know that at that time standard kits for artillery (“continuous wave” receiving stations) were used, which were transferred to battle tanks. In battle, they turned out to be unsuitable, since the antenna had to be installed outside the tank.
Tests on the transmission of information using wireless communication were so successful that in August 1918 the tank corps ordered 288 Mk. III with 96 sets of 120W radios. The last development of the wireless communication tank took place in July 1918, when the next tests of wireless telephones for tank-to-tank and tank-to-plane communication were carried out.
On September 1, 1918, at a British Air Force and Panzer Corps conference held at Panzer Corps headquarters, Colonel Hugh Elles provided the British Air Force with information on how the wireless system works. After that, the conference participants began work on how to link the systems of the British Air Force and the Panzer Corps and improve communication between them. This is evidenced by a letter from Major General Philip Heim to RAF Command dated September 4, 1918. Below is a fragment of this letter.
Two months later, the war ended, and the work begun was suspended, never reaching its practical implementation. It was only decades later that these ideas were brought to life.
Currently, it is not known exactly how many of these tanks were built, where they were produced and who converted them. Also, no reports were found about “stories battles "during the First World War, written by commanders of tanks with wireless equipment.
Information