![]() ![]() ![]() Steering was by braked differential assisted by compressed air at 80 psi although the compressor had to be hand charged with a manually operated pump. It was powered by a two-cylinder Ackroyd heavy oil engine rated at 80hp and was also one of the largest vehicles built for military service at the time. This makes it the first tracked vehicle to enter service with the British Army. ![]() ![]() In 1907 Hornsbys had fitted tracks to the 1905 military tractor that had proved so successful in the War Office trials as a wheeled vehicle. It is said that the term Caterpillar was coined by soldiers who watched it moving along although the name was later adopted by an American company and is now world famous. One of these was tested by the War Office in 1907 and in 1909 this machine was ordered from Hornsbys for military use. In 1904 David Roberts, Managing director of the firm Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham, patented a new form of crawler track which was applied to various prototype vehicles. The oldest item in The Tank Museum is the Hornsby tracklayer or tractor, Little Caterpillar – a steam-powered tracked vehicle, trialled by the War Office for potential use in a combat situation. ![]()
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