When the American designers and developers faced the need to create "their own American" tank, at first the task did not look difficult or super difficult. After all, most of the European (except for German) tanks used in the world were built on the basis of the American Holt tractors by Benjamin Holt. True, Holt bought the tractor patent from the Englishman David Roberts of the Hornsby company.
Benjamin Holt Tractor - Holt 75.
When the revolution of 1917 was in full swing in Russia, the American company CLBest, which was licensed in the production of Holt tractors, had an idea: to enter a new untapped market for military armored vehicles. Moreover, the Holt 75 rail-layer being produced has already won good reviews (by the way, the model is so successful that it served in some places until 1945).
True, the way to implement this idea was chosen the simplest - directly to the base tractor to hang "armor" from sheet iron and equip the resulting unit with a gun and machine guns. This was due to the rush of development and the desire to be the first. Nevertheless, having hastily riveted their "tank", the developers offered it to the military. And, of course, they were refused. But this did not stop the CLBest engineers, and after the alteration, an improved version, the Tracklayer Best 75, was presented. Apparently, it should be considered the first American tank.
They did not change the structure of the rail-layer. Leaving the layout of the undercarriage unchanged: with tracks in the back and a steering wheel in front, the armor was made in the form of an inverted boat. By design, this shape was supposed to help break barbed wire barriers. The tank also received a turret with portholes and cannons sticking out in different directions. The view from the armored vehicle remained critically poor, and the military again rejected the prototype.
Tracklayer Best 75 on the streets of a big city.
Promotional video:
Best 75 characteristics: weight from thirteen to fifteen tons, armament consisted of a pair of 37-mm cannons, in addition, 7.62-mm machine guns could be installed. The power plant consisted of a seventy-five strong gasoline engine. True, the weight allowed the car to only accelerate to five km / h. The crew consisted of five people. In total, two Best 75 were produced.
The Best 75 participates in California National Guard maneuvers.
The tanks did not receive a purely military purpose, nevertheless, they were used for propaganda and advertising posters and publications, sometimes providing absolutely fantastic data that convinced readers of the reliability, passability and safety of American "forts on wheels."
* Breakthrough * through the barbed wire.
