Category:Tanks by gender

The practice of describing tanks by their 'gender' applied only to British heavy tanks, the 'rhomboid' tanks, of the First World War.

The first tanks, ordered in February 1916, were designed to carry two 6 pdr guns in side-mounted sponsons, as well as three machine guns. In April it was decided that they might be unable to protect themselves from attacks by large numbers of enemy infantry. Half of the 150 tanks were therefore fitted with two additional machine guns in place of the six-pounders, and it was decided that the two types should operate in pairs on the battlefield. They were then differentiated by being termed 'Male' for the gun-armed tanks and 'Female' for the machine gun tanks.

Some of the later Mark V tank were also produced in a 'Composite' version, with one sponson of each type. In service these were more commonly termed 'Hermaphrodites'.

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