![]() The last known whereabouts of the tank has it being used as a snowplow for the city in the early 1920s. Gogos said there aren’t many left, so discovering one will create a buzz. It had a top speed of eight miles per hour, more than twice as fast as a heavy tank like the Mark II, so it was nicknamed the Whippet, the tank museum description notes. The Whippet was designed in 1917, and first went into battle in March 1918, according to the website for the U.K.’s Tank Museum. ![]() The Whippet tanks weighed 14 tons, and were about eight feet long. It’s too expensive to excavate, but Gogos is hoping if the site is redeveloped the tank might be uncovered during the remediation. One location the tank was thought to be turned out to be the metal roof of a tractor shed.īut there’s another location where buried debris occupies a space that’s at least 30 feet deep. The museum was given permission to test at the site last fall. When the city depot moved from the Lemarchant Road site to Blackler Avenue several decades ago, it is likely any surplus equipment was buried there as scrap, said Frank Gogos, chair of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum. The empty lot where the Grace Hospital once stood used to be the city depot and there may be a First World War tank buried on its grounds. ![]() The tank had been modified in the 1920s with a plow attachment to clear Water Street after a Snowmageddon-style blizzard almost a century before that mega-storm buzzword was invented. It’s believed a rare First World War Whippet tank, gifted to various countries - including the then-nation of Newfoundland - as post-war surplus is buried on the site, along with a pile of vintage City of St. ![]() John’s has been a source of local fascination for decades, but a new mystery could stir some worldwide buzz. The site of the old Grace Hospital in central St. ![]()
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