Saint-Chamond (tank)
| Saint-Chamond (tank) | |
|---|---|
Later Saint-Chamond with M.1897 cannon |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 8 (commander, driver, 6 teams) |
| length | 8.68 m |
| width | 2.66 m |
| height | 2.36 m |
| Dimensions | 22 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 11-17 mm |
| Main armament | Saint-Chamond TR 75 mm cannon, later M.1897 75 mm cannon with 106 rounds of ammunition |
| Secondary armament | four 8-mm-Hotchkiss-MGs Mle 1914 with 7500 rounds of ammunition |
| agility | |
| drive | Panhard 4-cylinder engine 66 kW (90 PS) |
| Top speed | 8 km / h (road) 1 km / h (terrain) |
| Power / weight | 3.0 kW / t (4.1 HP / t) |
| Range | 59.5 km |
The Saint-Chamond was a French tank from the First World War . It was named after the city of Saint-Chamond , the location of the armaments company FAMH, which produced it.
Together with the Schneider CA1, it represents the first attempt by French industry towards a tank construction. Its development, based on the first test vehicle of the Schneider CA1, began in the spring of 1916 at the Compagnie des Forges et Aciéries de la Marine et d'Homécourt ( FAMH) in Saint-Chamond .
Armament and technology
The model was armed with a 75-mm cannon at the front and four machine-guns at the front, sides and rear, and thus offered the eight-man crew suitable means for combat operations. The drive system was technically remarkable. The tracks were operated by separate electric motors and controlled by electrical resistors. This led to a much more comfortable steering of the tank compared to the usual mechanical systems. However, this system was very unreliable due to possible overheating of the electric motors.
Military unsuitability
The chassis and chain construction of the vehicle, however, proved to be fatal. The designers adopted the Holt / Caterpillar system, which has been tried and tested in the civilian sector and was originally developed for civilian chain tractors and was also used in a revised form for the German A7V assault vehicle . However, the French did not secure the drive, which was developed for relatively firm terrain, against fire. The most serious problem of the construction, however, was the more than nine meters long fuselage of the vehicle, which protruded just under two meters at the front and rear over the crawler tracks, which were overloaded with it. Thus, the Saint-Chamond could not meet an important requirement for tanks of the First World War - the ability to overcome obstacles required in the context of cross-country mobility - and failed even on simple infantry trenches . As a result, all 16 vehicles used got stuck on obstacles during the first combat mission on May 5, 1917. As a result, the model was abandoned. After the first 400 cars ordered were built in the spring of 1918, production of the Saint-Chamond was discontinued in favor of the light Renault FT . After the end of the war in autumn 1918, the vehicles were only used to train new crews.
