Utopias make history. This
philosophical concept is fully applicable also to armoured warfare development. As a
matter of fact, when steam powered engines were replaced by the gasoline propelled ones,
at the end of 19th century, the possibility of building armoured vehicles became less
hypothetical.
 |
Speaking of tanks was, however, still premature as the first objects,
wheeled vehicles armed with machine guns and equipped with shields or metal plates, should
be considered more like self-propelled guns or armoured cars. In 1896 E.J.Pennington designed an oval shaped vehicle with four wheels hidden by metal plates and two hull mounted machine guns. This project was not, however, realized. |
| Two years later, , at the Richmond (Surrey) exhibition in 1898, F.R.Simms
showed an armoured vehicle he had built by mounting a Maxim machine gun on a
motorized De Dion-Bouton quadricycle. The MG was installed on the front wheels bar
and bore an iron shield for the driver's protection. This vehicle can be considered the first armed vehicle with a gasoline powered engine |
|
In the same year, in the United States, Major R.P.Davidson, one of the "fathers" of American armoured warfare, designed a similar vehicle (realized by Charles Duryea) by mounting a Colt machine gun on a motor driven tricycle, later modified as a quadricycle.
|
|
In 1902, F.R.Simms exhibited a Motor War Car prototype, an improvement of
the previous Motor scout, at the London Crystal Palace.
|
This boat-shaped four wheel vehicle, equipped with a 15 hp Daimler engine,
carried two Maxim machine guns, in 360 degree traverse turret located on the hull
top. The model, built by Vickers & Maxim, remained at a prototype stage. |
In 1904, R.P.Davidson designed a steam engine powered vehicle for fast
machine gun transportation, the forefather of the self-propelled gun.
|
Davidson built two of these cars which were used, as well as the previous vehicles, by the US Military Academy. |
In 1902, at the Paris Car Exhibition, Charron-Girardot et Voigts presented their Automitrailleuse, a semi-armoured car, derived from a touring car model, bearing a machine gun on the rear. Although this vehicle remained at a prototype stage (only two cars were actually produced) mainly because of its excessive cost, the excellent impression made on military observers pushed the company, two years later, to design a new, duly improved, version.
|
Charron car's main features were : weight 3 tons, 30 hp engine capable
of 45 km/hr on route (30 km/hr on field), fully armoured (6 mm nichel/steel plates Lebel
Big Rifle's bullet resistant), armed with a Hotchkiss MG mounted on a 360
degree traverse turret (designed by Guye, a French Navy officer). Wooden wheels
were protected by steel plates and its tyres, stuffed with special material, could work
even burst. The car was equipped with portable U-shaped tracks for trenches and two
headligths for night operations. |
Twelve cars, produced at the Russian Czar's orders, were confiscated by German customs officers and retained for German Army testing purposes.
|
In 1906, Austro-Daimler, in spite of German Army scepticism, realized a
very advanced armoured vehicle (the first "four-wheel-drive" car), equipped with
two machine guns mounted on a 360 degree traverse turret, and a crew of 4. Neither did this good car , like its predecessors, have an actual follow up by military authorities. |
| In 1909, Hotchkiss company manufactured, at the Turkish Sultan's orders,
four protected cars, quite similar to the 1902 Charron-Girardot et Voigt
Automitrailleuse, equipped with a machine gun located on the rear. These cars saw action during the riots which led to the Sultan's ousting. Their actual use was, however, very "unusual" because, while in transit to reach the Sultan's army, they were captured by the Young Turks, a revolutionary group, ... and used against the Sultan himself ! |
|
At the beginninig of the 1900's, Czarist Russia demonstrated great interest for
armoured cars. During the Russian-Japanese War, Gen. Nakashidze, the
Cossack Corps Commander-in-Chief, devised a plan to supply the Cavalry Corps with armoured
cars.
|
In 1905, Russia placed a purchase order (36 ordered but only one delivered) for Charron
armoured cars (an improved version of the above presented model). In spite of its
advanced technology, a mass production was not planned, due to the Russian industries lack
of capacity and to the conservative approach of the Czarist Army. It was then decided to
continue buying cars from abroad. Amongst the others there was the acquisition of one Armstrong-Withworth armoured car, in 1913, which did not, however, give satisfactory results being too heavy and subject to several mechanical failures. |
War drums were rolling in the Balkans !!
Please forward your comments (if any) to my Mailbox
Back to Klisura 69 homepage
Acknowledgment
All the color images (by G.Canestrari) and information have been selected from the "I
Corazzati" book by B.Benvenuti, edited by A.Mondadori - 1976). They are property of
the authors
Page established on : July 15, 1998
Last update : July 15, 1998
This page is maintained by Mario Paesani .....the webmaster !
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free
Home Page
Simms'
Motor scout 
Davidson-Duryea quadricycle 
