The British Mark V Composite

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

, a development of the Tank Mark I saw service with the

Estonian Army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

in the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

from 1919 to 1920.

Design and development

The Mark V was intended to be built as completely new design. However, in December 1917, when the desired new engine and transmission became available, this design was abandoned and the designation switched to an improved version of the Mark IV, in fact a Mark IV as it was originally intended: more power (150 bhp) with a new

Ricardo Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...

engine, improved steering mechanism and epicyclical transmission, only one driver was needed. A second cupola, with hinged sides, was added, towards the rear of the tank, so that the crew could attach the unditching gear without leaving the vehicle. Four hundred Mk V were built, 200 each of Males and Females. Several were converted to ''Hermaphrodites'' by swapping sponsons to give a single 6-pounder gun and extra machine gun.

History

The first Mark V Composite tanks reached Estonia at the end of 1919. Although Estonia previously requested tanks from the Entente, their request was originally refused, as the Allies feared Estonia might be defeated by the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

. An unexpected opportunity to obtain such tanks came when the Northwestern Army under Yudenich was overpowered by the Soviets and retreated towards Estonia. During the dissolution of the Northwestern Army, the Commander of the

Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces ( et, Eesti Kaitsevägi) are the unified military forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consist of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Esto ...

Johan Laidoner Johan Laidoner ( – 13 March 1953) was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Eston ...

received permission to take custody of the Northwestern Army's tanks. This action brought four ''Mark V'' and two ''

Renault FT The Renault FT (frequently referred to in post-World War I literature as the FT-17, FT17, or similar) was a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to ...

'' tanks to Estonia. According to the Commander-in-Chief's daily order nr. 770 on 26 November 1919,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Hans Vanaveski was ordered to organize a training unit under the name of ''Tank Class''. This unit was placed under the direct orders of the ''Reserve Forces''

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. This act was previously approved on 23 November by the

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

During the Soviet occupation

The heavy tank company was taken over by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

in February 1941. The tanks were in a very poor condition and hardly able to move by their own power. As the

did not have tank transport platforms for the railway, the tanks were left behind in a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

near

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, which was soon after forgotten. The tanks were relocated again in August the same year when they were used to cover the Soviet retreat from Tallinn. ''Mark V''s were dug into the soil along the

Pirita River The Pirita ( et, Pirita jõgi) is a long river in northern Estonia that drains into Tallinn Bay (part of the Gulf of Finland) in Pirita, Tallinn. The basin area of the Pirita is 799 km2. For the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, the ...

coastal line in order to create stationary gun platforms for the defence line. There are no records however of the usage or success of this plan, yet it is certain that it was tried out.

Appearance in World War II

The ultimate fate of these four Estonian Mark V Composite tanks is believed to have been being melted down somewhere in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

into armour steel for the German

total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combata ...

effort.http://www.raamatukoi.ee/cgi-bin/raamat?79813
Estonian Armoured Machines. Tiit Noormets & Mati Õun. Tammiskilp 1999. p. 95

Gallery

File:EST-Tanks-Mark V - Russian Northwestern Army tanks in Tallinn (1919).jpg, Russian Northwestern Army tanks in Tallinn (1919) File:EST-Tanks-Mark V Wahtula on the Auto-Tank Regiment summerdays.jpg, Mark V "Wahtula" tank on the Auto-Tank Regiment summerdays File:EST-Tanks-Mark V-Demonstration drive near the Beach gates of Tallinn (1920).jpg, Demonstration drive near the Beach gates of Tallinn (1920) File:EST-Tanks-Mark V-Driving along Pärnu highway (1920).jpg, Driving along Pärnu highway (1920) File:EST-Tanks-Mark V-Driving along Tallinn (1920).jpg, Driving along Tallinn (1920) File:EST-Tanks-Mark V-Driving along the hills of the Beach Gates of Tallinn (1920).jpg, Driving along the hills of the Beach Gates of Tallinn (1920) File:EST-Tanks-Mark V-Estonian tank crew repearing the tank.jpg, Estonian tank crew repairing the tank File:EST-Tanks-Mark V-frontal view.jpg, Mark V tank frontal view

References

External links

{{Tanks of Estonia History of the tank Military equipment of Estonia