Russian Tanks of World War 1
Tanks and armored vehicles Approximately 4,000 armored military vehicles in September 1918.
It seems that similar designs an armored tractor were shared at the beginning of the war by the two allies on the French side, Colonel Estienne a renowned military engineer and gunnery officer successfully studied in 1914 the idea of an armored transport capable of carrying troops without man's land after a few trials in Britain, he saw the new Holt tractor widely used for towing artillery as an opportunity to develop his ideas.
The prototype Fouche was a first precursor, the number 1 type C has been designed and tested from 2-17 February 1916 It was essentially an extended Holt 1 meter frame with an additional truck wrapped in a structure similar to a boat the fortune before conception was designed to cut the barbed wire and maybe ride the mud He was unarmed, wood and convertibles trials were held with Louis Renault, the carmaker, and two officers, Bousquet and Cdt Ferrus most of this experience was later passed on the CA-1.
Among other projects, the Char-Frot-Laffly Turmel was found in March 1915 and rejected by the Commission, there was a long armored box 7 meters, on the basis of a steamroller Laffly wheels and powered by a 20 hp It was protected by 7 mm 0 28 armor, machine guns up to four or more, a crew of nine, and a maximum speed of 3 to 5 km h 2-3 mph.
The same year, Aubriot-Gabet Cuirassé foolproof also tried was Filtz an agricultural tractor equipped with an electric motor, powered by the cable, and equipped with a rotating turret housing of a 37 mm 1 45 QF in the pistol in December 1915, another project by the same team this time self-contained with a gasoline engine and complete tracks was considered and rejected also.
Another engineer, Schneider, Eugene Shone had already started working on a modified chassis Holt after political pressure and final approval by the chief of staff, Schneider Co., then the largest French arsenal, began working on Schneider CA-1 But because administrative discrepancies and Schneider reorganization for war production, while the CA-1 production assumed by a subsidiary of the company SOMUA was delayed a month in April 1916, when the first were delivered, the British had already thrown into action their brand is the surprise effect was mostly lost losses were huge, but this is more due to a poorly coordinated plan of General Nivelle and the unreliability of this first model Schneider tanks simply failed or hangs on the other path were taken by German artillery.
Schneider CA-1 model was built an arsenal and the latest Renault FT was a product of the automobile company but in 1916, the army wanted its own project, which became the Char St. Chamond St Chamond developed in parallel Schneider CA was also based on a modified chassis Holt He has a much larger hull, to fulfill the military requirements for a better armament in fact become the most heavily armored tank of the war on the Allied side, with 75mm QF February 95 in the gun on the ground and four machine guns, but its hull more proved to be his demise he was more likely to be mired the Schneider operations and therefore had a huge attrition rate therefore it was mostly relegated to operations on better land, easy to find in the last stages of the war, after the deadlock has been broken, or relegated to training Sai nt Chamond was classified as a heavy tank too, but it was not the case in the French military nomenclature in 1918, this reservoir was considered obsolete, although with some interesting innovations.
The famous FT a plant series designation meaningless, was born Renault ideas for series production, General Estienne own concept of mosquitoes tank fleets, and the inspired pen of the chief engineer of Renault, Rodolphe Ernst Metzmaier it was really a breakthrough, a vehicle was small monument but not cramped at least the size of an average French, recruited largely from the peasantry it was organized in a new way now integrate the driver in the front, rear engine, long tracks and a central rotating turret containing the main armament of light, relatively quick, easy and cheap to build, fell into the gun and MG versions armies, it was transformed into thousands in 1917-1918, widely exported and licensed product for years he was the first American tank, the first Russian first Japanese and first be aucoup other nations after the war Italian FIAT 3000 was largely inspired by this model.
Other projects were started in 1917-18, but never did, or after the war Saint Chamond, for example, has been working on a new model largely inspired by the hull of British style rhomboid, but with a fixed superstructure in front, and later a rotating turret He remained a paper project FCM 2C-Forges et Chantiers Mediterranean Estienne was another project, a land cruiser designed to work breakthroughs in the most difficult areas and very defending was ambitious, with several turrets and a crew of seven may be too ambitious, as the shipyard in the Mediterranean dragged to produce a single prototype Finally a series of 10 super-heavy tanks were built in 1920-1921 , powered by the captured German Maybach engines.
400 integrated, a 47 mm 1 85 on the SB field barbette gun, two guns Hotchkiss floats.
400 built, a cover mounted 75 mm 2 field 95 in the gun, machine gun Hotchkiss 4 floats.
270 constructs a 37 mm 1 45 into SB Puteaux gun or a Hotchkiss 8 mm 0 31 in gun M1909.
unknown number of construction, a 37 mm 1 45 into SB Puteaux gun or a Hotchkiss 8 mm 0 31 in gun M1909.
Schneider CA-1, the first French operational tank Because of its design closely based on the long Holt chassis, the great, the angular hull was subject to bog down and its maintenance and the average training showed the problems and like tanks British, they suffered huge losses due to German artillery and earned the nickname of mobile crematoria because the fuel tank exposed the end of 1917, all existing CA-1 were limited to the purposes training Saint Chamond products by the army with the specifications of the army, was the most heavily armed and the impressive reservoir of the Allies, but proved quite unreliable in the field with the same chassis and lengthened the Holt even longer , exceeding the angular hull, Saint Chamond was an even poorer mobility CA-1 agents serving Schneider, after numerous reports crews even complained about it to the National Assembly, which led to an official commission of inquiry, however, a relatively moderate terrain, they have proven to efficie nt, with better speed of 45 mph usually takes about 7 12 km h Some advanced features such as the Crochat Collardeau electric transmission have proven unreliable in actual combat conditions the famous Renault FT by far the best of the three models launched during the war, it was revolutionary, with many features yet use on modern tanks to date the FT was also the most produced tank of the war, far exceeding in this case any contemporary tank Marshal Joffre imagined assault with perhaps 20,000 FTs in early 1919, which was intended to open the way to the heart of Germany.
Peugeot tank Prototype This little boy was competitive response Peugot Renault, a sign that he would thus participate in the war production effort with the same minimalist approach taken by General Estienne for salvation swarms of mosquitoes tanks it was designed by the Oemichen captain, an engineer of the special artillery branch of the French army Peugeot tank was indeed a small machine to 8 tons, the right of the driver and gunner left sitting Echelon, side by side, a superstructure fixed the foremost part of the top of the roof engine, is a solid cast block, slope and thick There were access doors on the sides and rear of the superstructure arming themselves consisted of a single 37 mm 1 46 in the short barrel standard SA-18 spray gun Puteaux balloon mounted and shifted to the left, although other sources indicate that he was a 75 mm 2 95 BS howitzer suspension comprises two pairs of bogeys, leaf springs and the coil, and an upper protective plate for the most sensitive part of wheeltrain The upper tracks was supported by five return rollers The engine was a current model of gasoline Peugeot, probably 4-cylinder series Released in 1918, he successfully passed assessments, but as it did not bring anything new Renault FT wasn t already provides, the program was canceled.
Weighing about 70 tons, has researched and developed since 1916 in Forges and Workshops of the Mediterranean FCM Char 2C is another project of the army long wanted a super-heavy tank, it was designed to be able to deal most fortified German positions and look strong in the eastern border but the development of such a model was first advanced so slow that the project was taken over by the chief engineer of Renault Rudolph Ernst Metzmaier and attentive participation personal and General Mouret They were operational in 1923, the initial order of 200 was canceled after the armistice in 1918.
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French tanks and armor of the Great War, French, tanks, armor.