Renault FT

06.37




                                                                                   

Renault FT or FT-17/FT17 was a French light tank  that was the most revolutionary and influential tank design in history, that predicate give because FT was the first tank  to enter service with a rotating turret, earning it a place in history second only to the British Heavy Tank Mk.I which was the first tank ever to see combat,the FT was designed by the Renault Automobiles Company, Louis Renault possible began working on 21 December 1915 after a visit from Colonel Estienne.
(Its concept came from Colonel who visited England to study the British tanks and knew about the French St. Chamond and Schneider tanks that were already being developed. In June 1916 he came up with the idea of a lighter tank that could be built in large numbers to operate as a ‘swarm’ supporting infantry attacks. Most armies adopted this idea after WW1, but later-generation infantry tactics and anti-tank weapons made them largely useless by the time WW2 broke out).
At a later, chance meeting with Renault on 16 July 1916, Estienne asked him to reconsider, which he did. The speed with which the project then progressed to the mock-up stage has led to the theory that Renault had been working on the idea for some time.

Louis Renault himself conceived the new tank's overall design and set its basic specifications. He imposed a realistic limit to the FT's projected weight, which could not exceed 7 tons. Louis Renault was unconvinced that a sufficient power-to-weight ratio could be achieved with the production engines available at the time to give sufficient mobility to the heavy tank types requested by the military, to manage large trench crossings a rear tail was mounted, which facilitates balance and hanging. Instead of “mobile fortresses” or “land cruisers”, the Renaut FT seemed lightly armed, but the turret made it versatile and efficient in most circumstances.
 The FT's tracks were kept automatically under tension to prevent derailments, while a rounded tail piece facilitated the crossing of trenches. Because the engine had been designed to function normally under any slant, very steep slopes could be negotiated by the Renault FT without loss of power. Effective internal ventilation was provided by the engine's radiator fan, which drew its air through the front crew compartment of the tank and forced it out through the rear engine's compartment.


DESIGN


Renault’s talented engineer Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier designed a narrow riveted box (slightly more than an average shoulders width), with flat sides, pointed noise and sloped rear. All available internal space was used, with almost no room to spare. The engine was located at the rear, and separated from the fighting compartment by a firewall. The driver sat on the front, his feet acting on the brake and release clutch pedals between the large pair of idler wheels.
The commander stood just behind him. At first the standing position was only meant for short-term offensive, but with time, a leather strap was fixed on both sides, as an improvised sitting. However, the commander still had to stand up to use his narrow cupola.
The crew accessed the tank through the front, through a two-doors hatch, and collapsible upper vision armored panel. The commander could exit from the rear turret hatch, a feature which became mainstream on French tanks. The driver had three vision slits, one on the collapsible panel, two on the sides.

                                             

 The Renault 4-cylinder air-cooled petrol engine was started either by a rear crank or an internal one. It was handily reachable from above, protected by a large hood. The petrol tank was installed after the turret and before the engine, high for gravity and well-protected except from above.
A steel chain was usually suspended on the rear tail in order to be used for towing another vehicle. Large metal boxes were suspended on the flanks, with shovels, picks, spanner and other tools, as well as sometimes additional fuel tanks and spare track links.

There was means no communication medium between the turret operator and driver and the interior was almost deafeningly noisy, so a kind of “kicking code” in the back, shoulders or even head of the driver was used to transmit steering orders. These were armed with a Puteaux SA 18 37 mm (1.45 in) short-barreled, low-velocity gun, or a coaxial Hotchkiss 7.92 mm (0.31 in) machine gun.

                                                                        Picture Of  Puteaux SA 18 37 mm (1.45 in)

Production 

The first wave was ordered in December 1916 for deliveries in February 1917, but amended, then suspended, and was still in jeopardy in May, despite the arrival of Pétain.

It was not until September 12 that the new armament minister Louis Loucheur took Thomas’s office, and the project was definitely approved. Under Charles-Edmond Serre’s supervision, the first 84 machines were delivered prior to the end of 1917, and 2697 more until November 1918. This was, by far, the largest tank production by any country at that time, but caused problems to Renault which was still not ready to fulfill such orders and convinced other firms to share the lot, like Berliet at Lyon, and (Schneider) Somua and Delaunay Belleville.

Renault produced two variants of the FT, the “female”, or machine-gun model, which was more common, and the “male”, armed with a short-barreled 37 mm (1.45 in) Puteaux SA 18 gun. Those models also differed by their definitive “Omnibus” turret, multi-faceted (standard) or rounded with bent metal plates, also known as the “Girod turret” first introduced by Berliet (hence the “Berliet turret”).

By December 1917 3100 FTs were to be produced with the Omnibus turret, in both types, as well as 700 derived BS versions (fitted with a short 75 mm howitzer) and 200 TSF, radio versions. In January 1918, the order was again shifted for 1000 “female”, 1850 “male”, 970 BS (howitzer versions) and 200 TSF. In October the total order has reached a staggering 7820 machines. In November the armistice came and the order was cancelled, 1850 had been delivered so far by Renault, 800 by Berliet, 600 by Somua, and 280 by Delaunay-Belleville. The largest turret manufacturer was Paul Girod Aciéries at Ugine, which casted, assembled and forged round and octagonal models.

Problems were experienced with the armor plates. Many came at the time from Britain, which caused delays due to local priorities. The supply of the new 37 mm Puteaux gun, specially redesigned from a light artillery gun, was also slow to reach full production. Despite the considerable delays (almost a year) before an effective production started, the first batch was still plagued with defects.There was also a continuous lack of spare parts, which hampered the units’ operational capabilities and limited maintenance in the field. The poor quality of the fuel filters in particular, and the highly sensitive fan belts caused considerable turmoil and up to ten per cent of active vehicles were unfit for service in 1918 because of this, waiting for replacement parts.

In 1919 a new redesigned version was proposed by Renault, including a more powerful engine, a long-barreled Puteaux gun and additional cases fitted in their tracks. It was successfully exported throughout the world. Some of them were immediately put into action, like the Finnish and Polish versions against the Soviets.
Service
The first operational unit using FTs was the 1st BCL (Batallion de Chars Légers), on 18 February 1918. But only at the end March did this unit receive its full tank complement, although still unarmed. Each battalion counted three companies, with a full strength of 75 vehicles. The majority were MG-armed (41), with 30 gun-armed and up to four TSF, with 3 vehicles in reserve.

Although it was smaller and less impressive than previous tanks, the FT was nevertheless successful, as Estienne had predicted, because so many reached the enemy lines at the same time, overwhelming the German defenses. It was also a tricky target due to its narrow section and small height. It gave confidence to the regular soldiers whom advanced behind it, avoiding most of the punishing machine-gun fire.
First engagement occurred in May, 1918 at Foret de Retz, near Soissons. Tactics also involved a combination of gun-equipped “male” tanks to strike machine gun nests and pillboxes, and “females”, equipped with a 7.92 mm (0.32 in) Hotchkiss machine gun to finish the job. There, the rotating turret made all the difference. As the production rose and the tactics were refined and codified, a swarm of light tanks was intended to be thrown towards the German lines in the greatest Allied offensive planned for January-February 1919. Of course the armistice put an end to this plan, including a grand total of 12,260 tanks to be built in France, USA, Italy and Great Britain.
Variant

  • Char canon: an FT with a 37 mm Puteaux SA18 short-barreled gun – about 3/5 of tanks ordered, about 1/3 of tanks actually produced
  • Char mitrailleuse: an FT with an 8 mm Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun – about 2/5 of tanks ordered, about 3/5 of tanks produced
  • FT 75 BS: a self propelled gun with a short barreled Blockhaus Schneider 75mm gun – at least 39 tanks were produced
  • Char signal or TSF: a command tank with a radio. "TSF" stands for télégraphie sans fil ("wireless"). No armament, three-men crew, 300 ordered, at least 188 produced
  • FT modifié 31: upgraded tanks with 7.5 mm Reibel machine gun. This modification started in 1931 on the 1580 chars mitrailleurs still in French stocks; all the metropolitan guntanks were (at least officially) scrapped to build utility vehicles on their chassis and the guns used to equip the R 35. This version was sometimes referred to as the "FT 31", though this was not the official name.
  • FT-Ko: Thirteen modified units imported by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1919, armed with either the 37mm SA18 cannon or machine guns; used in combat in the Manchurian Incident and subsequently for training[17]
  • M1917 – US-built copy. 950 built, 374 of which were gun tanks and fifty of which were radio tanks. During World War II the Canadian Army purchased 236 redundant M1917s for training purposes.
  • Russkiy Reno: the "Russian Renault", the first Soviet tank, produced at Krasnoye Sormovo. A close copy. 17 units were produced. Also known as "Tank M".
  • Renault M26/27: a development of the FT with a different suspension and Kégresse rubber tracks; a number were used in Yugoslavia and five in Poland.
  • FIAT 3000 – an Italian derivation.
  • T-18 – A Soviet derivation from FIAT 3000 with sprung suspension.
  • Polish gas tank – A Polish modification built in the Wojskowy Instytut Gazowy ("Military Gas Institute") and tested on the Rembertów proving ground on 5 July 1926. Instead of a turret, the tank had twin gas cylinders. It was designed to create smoke screens, but could also be used for chemical attacks. Only one was produced.
  • Renault FT AC: A plan to convert France's obsolete FTs into tank destroyers. The tank never left the drawing board. It was designed to have a 25mm anti-tank gun or a 47mm APX anti-tank gun.

Picture






















 

Source
  • https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=225
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FT
  • http://www.peachmountain.com/5star/tanks_FT17.aspx
  • https://www.thoughtco.com/renault-ft-17-tank-2361328
  • http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Renault_FT
  • http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/fr/renault_ft.php
  • https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Renault_FT
  • http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ww1-french-renault-FT-tank.html





Share This Story

Tags: ,

You Might Also Like

0 komentar

Popular Posts

Popular Posts