TOG I (A12 turret)

The TOG I was an 80-ton, 10-meter-long super-heavy breakthrough tank born from the Special Vehicle Development Committee at the beginning of World War II. Founded by Albert Gerald Stern, this committee was composed of famous World War I tank pioneers—including Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, Ernest Swinton, Henry Ricardo, and Walter Gordon Wilson—who collectively became known as "The Old Gang". The TOG I was designed specifically for trench warfare, featuring full-length unsprung running tracks reminiscent of early rhomboid tanks and boasting frontal armor up to 62 mm (2.4 inches) thick to protect against 47-mm armor-piercing shells and 105-mm field guns. Its design began in December 1939, and the prototype delivered in October 1940 featured an A12 turret turret armed with a 2-pounder gun, alongside a hull-mounted french 75mm cannon. It was also supposed to be armed with 4 besa machine guns in sponsons. However, those were never mounted.