The (re)advent of the Tank - Renault FT

Hi guys! Welcome back to my blog - its been a while since I have covered anything tank related but I am finding myself more and more recently with free time to fill so why not talk about tanks? As before I will be covering largely tanks from World War 2 through to the Cold War, with the odd modern tank perhaps thrown in (What? The Abrams is sexy...). To begin however, I thought it would be apt to go back to what is possibly the birthplace of the modern tank as we know it - the Renault FT.

--Specs--

Lets rattle through its technical specs first shall we? It weighed in at 6.5 tonnes, was 5 metres long by 1.74 metres wide by 2.14 meters high and seated two crew - a driver and a commander (who doubled as the gunner). The armor thickness was between 8 millimetres at its thinnest point to 22 millimetres at its thickest. It was initially designed to be armed with an 8 millimetre Hotchkiss machine gun but was later equipped with a 37 millimetre Puteaux cannon. Its engine was a 4 cylinder Renault design that gave it a power-to-weight ratio of 5 horsepower per tonne - with a full load of fuel (95 litres) it had an effective operating range of 60 kilometres.

--Construction History--

The FT was Renaults first venture into tank design. Louis Renault was approached by a Colonel in the French military in late December 1915 with plans for a tracked armoured vehicle - Renault initially declined citing that there was no way they would be able to spare the machinery/man power to create it. After a chance meeting 6 months later however, Renault reconsidered and jumped straight in.

Renault essentially changed everything in the Colonels original plans - he proposed that the FT should not weight more than 7 tons as he was certain that no engine produced at the time would be able to give it a sufficient power-to-weight ratio to give it the mobility requested of the Military. Its tracks were permanently under tension to reduce the chances of them coming free from the drive wheels, and a tail was added in order to allow it to cross trenches without becoming stuck.

Its initial turret was a rounded cast steel one, which as mentioned was designed to carry an 8 millimetre Hotchkiss machine gun - early on in 1917 however it was made clear that a 37 millimetre cannon would suit it better. This gun wouldnt fit in the turret though, so various designs were tested before settling on one designed by Paul Girod - this version was mostly cast with a few rolled parts. This updated turret could mount both guns and was generally an improvement in every aspect.

--Service History--

The Renault FT was used to varying degrees of success long after it should have found itself in the scrap heap. After its introduction late into World War I it found overwhelming success due to the war shifting from a stagnant trench war into a war of movement. They could swarm their enemy due to the vast quantity of resources the allies were massing in a bid to outproduce the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottomans) too which proved very effective indeed. By the time the war ended France had manufactured almost 3000 of them. Wow!

After the war many were exported to various countries, who then used the FT as their main tank. They saw combat in the Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War, Chinese Civil War, Rif War, Spanish Civil War, Estonian War of Independence and of course, World War 2. Not a bad track record eh?

--Wrap Up--

It was clear the French were onto a winner with the Renault FT from the start - the design was so starkly different from any of the other armoured vehicles of the time, so different that it proved incredibly flexible causing it to become the standard; Driver in front, Turret in the middle and Engine to the rear. Indeed it was the first tank to have a turret at all! I wonder if Louis realised how much of a game changer that would become, if he did his ego must have been huge...

Previously I was working on these once a week but honestly I dont even know if I can promise that (we all know how side tracked I get with things...) but I will try to keep these coming at a semi regular pace for you all, providing you enjoy them. My next piece is up for vote - pick a nation and let me know. Currently its a tie between Germany and Britain, so get in there!

Pick one!