Failing to complete development soon enough to start production in time to have 200 tanks ready for the promised date of 1 April 1917, Stern was ultimately forced to take a Mark IV into production in May 1917 that was only slightly different from the Mark I tank. Production of battle tanks was halted until the new design was ready, necessitating the use of the Mark II and III as interim training tanks. The director of the Tank Supply Department, Albert Gerald Stern, first intended to fit the Mark IV with a new engine and transmission.
It remained in British service until the end of the war, and a small number served briefly with other combatants afterwards. The Mark IV was first used in mid 1917 at the Battle of Messines Ridge. A total of 1,220 Mk IV were built: 420 "Males", 595 "Females" and 205 Tank Tenders (unarmed vehicles used to carry supplies), which made it the most numerous British tank of the war. The main improvements were in armour, the re-siting of the fuel tank and ease of transport. Introduced in 1917, it benefited from significant developments of the Mark I tank (the intervening designs being small batches used for training).
The Mark IV (pronounced Mark four) was a British tank of the First World War.
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