World War 2 In Review No. 19: French Fighting Vehicles

By Merriam Press

Merriam Press World War 2 In Review series

2023 eBook Edition

This issue presents four articles on these French tanks that saw service prior to and during World War II:

(1) Char B1 heavy tank manufactured before World War II

(2) Char D1 was a pre-World War II French infantry tank

(3) Char D2 was an upgraded version of the D1

(4) Char 2C, also known as FCM 2C, was a French super-heavy tank developed, although never deployed, during World War I, which was the largest operational tank ever taken into production, and they were used mostly for propaganda purposes during the early months of World War II

387 B&W/color photos/illustrations

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387216161

Book preview

World War 2 In Review No. 19: French Fighting Vehicles

F:\Data\_Templates\logo.jpg

Hoosick Falls, New York

2023 eBook Edition

ISBN 9781387216161

Copyright © 2017 by Merriam Press

All rights reserved.

Additional material copyright of named contributors.

The views expressed are solely those of the author(s).

This work was designed, produced, and published in

the United States of America by

Merriam Press, 489 South Street, Hoosick Falls NY 12090

•

For details on all the issues of World War 2 In Review, go to the World War 2 In Review Facebook page here.

•

Merriam Press has published numerous titles on historical subjects, especially military history, with an emphasis on World War II, in print and eBook formats.

Also available are previously published works, including out-of-print and hard to find manuals, unit histories, journals, magazines, reports, campaign and battle histories and other materials on historical topics, some in printed form with many as PDF files.

For details on all the titles that are available visit:

Merriam Press

https://www.merriam-press.com

E-mail: [e-mail]

On the Cover

Char B1

The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II. The Char B1 was a specialized heavy break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turret was added, to allow it to function also as a Char de Bataille, a battle tank fighting enemy armor, equipping the armored divisions of the Infantry Arm. Starting in the early twenties, its development and production were repeatedly delayed, resulting in a vehicle that was both technologically complex and expensive, and already obsolescent when real mass-production of a derived version, the Char B1 bis, started in the late thirties. Although a second uparmored version, the Char B1 ter, was developed, only two prototypes were built.

Among the most powerfully armed and armored tanks of its day, the type was very effective in direct confrontations with German armor in 1940 during the Battle of France, but slow speed and high fuel consumption made it ill-adapted to the war of movement then being fought. After the defeat of France captured Char B1 (bis) would be used by Germany, with some rebuilt as flamethrowers or mechanized artillery.

The Char B1 had its origins in the concept of a Char de Bataille conceived by General Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne in 1919, e.g. in his memorandum Mémoire sur les missions des chars blindés en campagne. It had to be a Battle Tank that would be able to accomplish a breakthrough of the enemy line by destroying fortifications, gun emplacements and opposing tanks. In January 1921 a commission headed by General Edmond Buat initiated a project for such a vehicle. To limit costs, it had to be built like a self-propelled gun, with the main weapon in the hull. To minimize the vehicle size this gun should only be able to move up and down with the horizontal aiming to be provided by turning the entire vehicle. The specifications included: a maximum weight of thirteen metric tons; a maximum armor thickness of 25 millimeters; a hull as low as possible to enable the gun to fire into vision slits of bunkers; a small machine gun turret to beat off enemy infantry attacks, at the same time serving as an observation post for the commander and a crew of at most three men. Two versions should be built, the one a close support tank armed with a 75 mm howitzer, the other an antitank-vehicle with a 47 mm gun instead.

The French industry was very interested in the project. In the past this had often led to much non-constructive rivalry. Estienne, who in the war had personally witnessed the dismal effects of such a situation, was determined to avoid a repetition this time. He used his position as Inspector-General of the Tanks to enforce the so-called Estienne accord on the industrialists, ordering them to reach a mutual understanding, free from any spirit of industrial competition. To be allowed to join they had to agree beforehand to relinquish any patents to the Army, which would be free to combine all projects into a single type. In exchange industry were promised very large orders of no less than a thousand vehicles.

On these conditions four projects were started in 1921: two by a cooperation between Renault and Schneider: the SRA and the SRB, one by FAMH (Forges et Aciéries de la Marine et d'Homécourt, better known as Saint Chamond) and the last by FCM (Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée), the FCM 21. Renault and Schneider would each get to produce 250 units, FAMH and FCM each 125. A fifth producer, Delaunay-Belleville, of which the project (an improved FT 17) had been rejected beforehand, would be allowed to make 83 tanks; the remaining 167 would be allotted at the discretion of the French State.

On 13 May 1924 the four prototypes were presented at the Atelier de Rueil, where they were compared, each having to drive over a twenty kilometer test course. Immediately it became evident that their technical development had been insufficient, most breaking down; the SRA even started to fall apart. Maintenance was difficult because the engines were inaccessible. All projects used a three men crew but differed considerably in size, form and the solution chosen to laterally point the gun.

The SRA was the heaviest vehicle with 19.5 metric tons. Its length was 595 centimeters, its height 226 cm and its width 249 cm. It had a 75 mm howitzer in the right side of the hull and a cast, 30 mm thick, turret with two machine-guns. It was steered by an epicyclical transmission combined with hydraulically reinforced brake disks—during tests this failed to provide the desired precision.

Seen from the front it already was very similar to the final model, but its side view was more like that of the British Medium Mark D, including the snake track-system, with the drive wheel higher than the idler in front. The suspension used leaf springs. A Renault six-cylinder 180 hp engine (a bisected 12V aircraft engine) allowed for a maximum speed of 17.5 km/h; a four hundred liter fuel tank for a range of 140 kilometers.

The SRB was a somewhat larger vehicle, six meters long, 228 centimeters high and 2,5 meters wide. It was nevertheless lighter at 18.5 tons, a result of having a smaller 47 mm gun—it thus was the antitank-version. Using the same engine, its speed was accordingly slightly higher at 18 km/h. More limited fuel reservoirs holding 370 liters decreased the range to 125 kilometers. It used an advanced hydraulic suspension system and the hydraulic Naeder-transmission from the Chaize company combined with a Fieux clutch and Schneider gear box. It used modified FT 17 tracks. The upper track run was much higher, creating enough room for a side door on the left.

The FAHM prototype resembled the contemporary Vickers Medium Tank. It weighed seventeen tons, was 520 centimeters long, 240 cm high and 243 cm wide. It used a hydropneumatic suspension. Despite a weaker Panhard engine of 120 hp it still attained a speed of 18.2 km/h. Fuel reservoirs of just 230 liters limited its range to a mere seventy kilometers. The 75 mm howitzer was placed in the middle of the hull and steered by providing each snake track with its own hydraulic Jeanny transmission. On top was a riveted machine-gun turret with 25 mm armor.

The lightest prototype was the FCM 21 at 15.64 tons. It resembled a scaled-down Char 2C, the giant tank produced by the same company. It was very elongated with a length of 6.5 meters and width of 205 centimeters. A rather large riveted turret with a stroboscopic cupola, adopted from the Char 2C, brought its height