Medium Mark C

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Late WWI/early interwar British medium tank

title: "Medium Mark C" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tanks-of-world-war-i", "medium-tanks-of-the-united-kingdom", "world-war-i-tanks-of-the-united-kingdom"] description: "Late WWI/early interwar British medium tank" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_Mark_C" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Late WWI/early interwar British medium tank ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox weapon"]

Field	Value
name	Medium Tank Mark C
image	Medium Mark C Hornet tank, Q 70983.jpg
image_size	300
caption	Medium Mark C
origin	United Kingdom
type	Medium tank
is_vehicle	yes
is_UK	yes
design_date	1917
designer	William Rigby
manufacturer	Fosters
production_date	1918 (August–November)
number	50
spec_label	'Female'
length	25 ft
width	8 ft
height	9 ft
weight	20 LT
suspension	unsprung
speed	7.9 mph
vehicle_range	225 km (75 miles)
primary_armament	5 x .303 (7.7mm) machine guns
armour	14 mm maximum
engine	Ricardo 6-cylinder petrol engine
engine_power	150 hp
pw_ratio	7.5 hp/tonne
crew	4: commander, driver, mechanic, machine gunner
ref	Fletcher 2001, White
::

The Medium Mark C Hornet was a British medium tank developed during the First World War, but produced too late to see any fighting.

Development

In 1917 Sir William Tritton had developed the Medium Mark A Whippet without involving his former co-worker Walter Gordon Wilson. In response Major Wilson began to design an improved type on his own, the Medium Mark B, in July 1917. As soon as he became aware of Wilson's intentions, Tritton ordered his chief designer, William Rigby, to design a rival type: the Medium Mark C. The drawings were approved by the British Army on 19 April 1918. The prototype was finished in August, a few weeks before the Medium B prototype also in construction at Tritton's own factory. At first 200 tanks were ordered; later this was increased to 600, all to be produced by William Foster & Co Ltd at Lincoln with Armlet & Wortley as subcontractor. Only 50 were built. The colloquial name of the tank was to be "Hornet", but it seems nobody ever used it.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/MedMarkC.jpg" caption="Medium Mark C, cross–section diagram"] ::

Superficially, the Medium C looks a lot like its rival, the Medium B.{{cite book |title=World Encyclopaedia of the Tank. An international history of the armoured fighting machine. |last=Chant |first=Christopher |year=2002 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=0-7509-3147-7 |ref=Chant, World Encyclopedia of the Tank |pages=32–33

Rigby had taken great care to improve the design's ergonomics. The commander had a special revolving lookout cupola and even a small map table. There were eleven vision slits. Special stowage boxes were fitted for the personal gear of the crew of four. Speaking-tubes were used to improve communication. The driver had an odometer.

Operational history

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/1919_Battle_of_George_Square_-_tanks_and_soldiers.jpg" caption="Medium Mark Cs deployed in Glasgow in 1919, following the [[Battle of George Square"] ::

In the (likely) eventuality that the Medium Mark D would not be ready for mass production in 1919, the Tank Corps hoped to receive no fewer than 6,000 Medium Cs that year, a third of which would be of the "Male" version, with a long six-pounder (57 mm) gun, as used on the first British tanks, in the front of the superstructure. Though drawings were prepared, nothing would come of this. When the war ended all orders were cancelled, with only 36 vehicles nearly finished. These were completed, together with fourteen others built from pre-produced parts, for a total production of fifty. General J.F.C. Fuller considered switching the budget for the development of the Medium D to a further production of Medium C's so as to fully equip all peace-time tank battalions with this better tank, but decided against it. Only the 2nd Tank Battalion received the tank. As it was the most modern materiel of the Tank Corps, it was carefully kept from harm: no Medium C's were sent either with the Expedition Forces against the Bolsheviks in Russia or to the Anglo-Irish War. The only tanks participating in the 1919 victory parade were four Medium C's. The only "action" the tank ever saw was being deployed to Glasgow in 1919, where they were parked in the Cattle Market, unused, in case they were needed to control rioting in the city, following the rioting known as the Battle of George Square in 1919.

From 1925 on, the Medium C was gradually replaced by the Medium Mark I and Medium Mark II. Proposals to use Medium Cs as recovery vehicles were rejected. A single vehicle was used to test a new type of transmission. In 1940 the last remaining Medium C was melted down.

Notes

References

White, BT p34
Crow, Duncan. ''British and Commonwealth Armoured Formations 1919-46'' (Profile Publications Ltd, Great Bookham, no date), p.2.

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