Parallel to the development of British heavy tanks in World War One was the creation of a cavalry tank that could exploit any breakthroughs made by the heavier tanks. Work began on the new tank in October 1916 with metal being cut on the prototype on December 21, 1916. The work was completed on February 3, 1917 and trails commenced on March 3, 1917. Following the demonstration of the tank, given the designation Medium Mark A but nicknamed the Whippet, an order of 200 examples was given with the first to be delivered on July 31, 1917.
Originally, the Whippet was given a rotating turret off an Austin armored car but this was dropped in favor of a fixed, rear mounted turret. Armament consisted of four, ball-mounted .303 Hotchkiss machine-guns, one on each face of the turret. The Whippet was powered by two 4-cylinder Tylor Twin engines, each driving one set of tracks. In addition, each engine had its own gearbox and transmission which could be locked together when the tank was driving in a straight line. This rather complex drive train required significant training on the part of the driver in order to master the handling of the tank. In order to turn the Whippet, the transmissions had to be uncoupled and one engine revved up and the other powered down in order to effect the change in direction. The driver was provided with a steering wheel whose mechanism automatically adjusted the engines accordingly. In practice, the gradual steering often failed, causing the tank to veer off course. Drivers, knowing the problems with the regular steering mechanism, would use the brakes to effect turns or would bring the tank to a halt, lock a track side, then turn which sometimes led to the Whippet throwing or breaking a track due to the jerky motions. For armor, the Whippet had a maximum of 14mm which was proof against German armor-piercing ammunition as used in their machine-guns and small arms though it was completely vulnerable to anti-tank guns and artillery. In terms of speed, the Whippet could muster a top speed of 8mph which was double that of the main British heavy tank, the Mark IV. The Whippet had a three man crew that consisted of the commander, the driver, and the gunner. The latter had his work cut out for him given he had to man four weapons within the confines of the turret. In some cases, the commander would assist or a second gunner was crammed into the fighting compartment.
Following World War One, the Whippet was eventually replaced by the Medium Mark B and Medium Mark C which left examples of the Whippet as surplus and at this stage, the Japanese entered the picture. As Japan sought to modernize its military in the 1920s, it did so in three major ways. The first was to send personnel abroad to the major military powers (like Britain and France) to study the military technology of those countries. The second way was for Japanese companies to hire foreign engineers and designers and the third way was to purchase foreign designs with which to study. When World War One ended, the Japanese looked to Britain and France to purchase tanks. The first order was for a single Mark IV heavy tank (some sources state a Mark V tank) while a second purchase, done in 1919, was for six Medium Mark A Whippet tanks along with thirteen Renault FT light tanks (called the Ko-Gata Sensha in Japanese service). The photograph shows one of the Japanese Whippet tanks being demonstrated before a crowd of military personnel.
The Whippet tanks the Japanese obtained were production models as evidenced by the four mud chutes on the tank as the prototypes had five. Exhaust smoke from the engine is obscuring some of the features of the tank but the fixed turret is evident though devoid of any armament. It is possible that the demonstration was done soon after the Whippets were received in Japan as the original British white/red/white identification striping on the front of the tracks is still visible. Later photographs of the Whippets do not show this and stars were added to the front of the hull which suggests the tanks had been later repainted. The Japanese retained the Whippets in service until 1929 but by then, Japanese industry was already developing their own indigenous tank, the Type 87 Chi-I medium tank.
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