The Vezdekhod: Riga's 1915 Contender for the World's First Tank

Every history of the tank begins in 1916, on the Somme. Riga has an earlier candidate.

A young aircraft designer

Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov was an aviator before he was anything else. DARTZ records that he designed his first aircraft in 1909, made his first flight in 1911 at the Zolitūde airstrip near Riga, and in 1914 built the world’s first twin-tail aircraft. When war came, he proposed something else: a vehicle that could go anywhere.

Built in the Russo-Baltic workshops

He called it the Vezdekhod, “goes everywhere”. The proposal was made in August 1914. On 13 January 1915 permission to build it was granted, and by 1 February work had begun in the automobile repair workshops of the Russo-Baltic works in Riga. DARTZ records its test on 18 May 1915, and cross-country trials followed later that year.

How it worked

The Vezdekhod ran on a single wide track of rubberised fabric, carried on four drums with a fifth to keep it tensioned, and it was steered by two small wheels at its sides. A 10 hp petrol engine drove the rear drum. It was about 3.6 m long, 2 m wide and 1.5 m high. DARTZ describes its design as holding the key elements of a modern tank: tracks, an armoured hull and a turret for armament.

The first tank?

The Vezdekhod was never built in series. Its steering proved difficult, the project was set aside, and a revival in 1916 went no further. Later, Soviet writers promoted it as the first tank, after British tanks had appeared on the Western Front. DARTZ is careful with the claim: it calls the Vezdekhod a contender, “still debatable”, and the T in its own name is for Tank.

Why it matters to DARTZ

DARTZ traces its armour to the same works: armoured railway carriages for the royal trains, armoured Russo-Balt cars, and the Vezdekhod. It honours Porokhovshchikov on its Wall of Fame. Read what DARTZ stands for and the history of the armoured car.