These two Mark V Composite Hermaphrodite Tanks were restored in the Luhansk Railway department repair factory 2009. They had been left rusting in local villages for over 90 years. It is great to see that they are looking after such unique pieces of history but we never like to see such things used as gate guards or for monuments, open to all the elements. But these images give us a glimpse inside of these tanks that in their day, were cutting edge technology.
Approximately 70 were sent to support the White Russian forces in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and in the British North Russia Campaign. Most were subsequently captured by the Red Army. Four were retained by Estonian forces, and two by Latvia.
The last known use of the Mk V in battle was by units of the Red Army during the defence of Tallin against German forces in August 1941. The four Mk Vs previously operated by Estonia were used as dug-in fortifications. It is believed that they were subsequently scrapped.
In 1945, occupying troops came across two badly damaged Mk V tanks in Berlin. Photographic evidence indicates that these were survivors of the Russian Civil War and had previously been displayed as a monument in Smolensk, Russia, before being brought to Berlin after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Accounts of their active involvement in the Battle of Berlin have not been verified.
Great interior shots of a Mark V. The Mark V was, at first, intended to be a completely new design of tank, of which a wooden mock-up had been completed; however, when the new engine and transmission originally planned for the Mark IV became available in December 1917, the first, more advanced Mark V design was abandoned to avoid disrupting production. The designation “Mark V” was switched to an improved version of the Mark IV, equipped with the new systems. The original design of the Mark IV was to have been a large improvement on the Mark III, but had been scaled back due to technical delays. The Mark V thus turned out very similar to the original design of the Mark IV – i.e. a greatly modified Mark III.
Mark V Composite Hermaphrodite Tank Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine.
