TIL About The Origin of the Word "Tank"

Here's something fun I learnt today. Ever wondered about the origins of the word tank we use today for armored fighting vehicles?

I never had, just figured we called them always like this .

Well, turns out there's actually an interesting story behind it! The word was initially used as a codename by the Brits to maintain secrecy behind the development of a new war vehicle they were developing to break the deadlock of trench warfare.

So sometime 1915 they chose the word "tanks" to imply the new weapon was some short of water storage tanks being shipped to the front lines, in an effort to mislead any potential spies and stuff.

Eventually the nickname stuck even after the official unveiling and later on became the accepted universal term.

In case you wonder, that first tank was the Mark 1 that came in two types. Female and male. Male tanks where equipped with naval guns and machine guns while female tanks were armed only with machine guns.

British Mark I "male" tank, public domain

Despite its slow speed and many mechanical reliability issues the Mark I demonstrated the potential of armored warfare. It's main debut was in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916 and had a profound psychological impact on both the British and German troops was profound despite the mixed results and many mechanical failures.

Here is a link to Wikipedia if you would like to learn more about its history. And here's a cool video with some historical footage

Okay friends, I hope you enjoyed yet another useless fact. Stay tuned for more

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