During the First World War, although France was not the first country to develop tanks, its Renault FT- 17 was definitely the most successful type, and the design of its rotatable turret also affected the development path of an armored vehicle. Today I won't talk about FT- 17, but another French heavy tank-Saint Sha Meng.
19 14 In September, the Battle of the Marne River ended, and the German and French troops dug a bunch of trenches from the Swiss border to Belgium, and then the long and boring battle began. Because the war is mainly in France, the French naturally want to push back the front line, but the barbed wire in front of the trench and the machine guns on the position always leave a pile of bodies for the infantry, and they come back in vain. So at that time, the French thought of running over the barbed wire with an armored roller, opening the hole and letting the infantry go deep into the trench.
But obviously, this kind of non-crawler roller has poor maneuverability on the muddy battlefield. And the protection ability is not ideal. At this time, the headache Frenchman looked at the tractor in the field and suddenly realized.
At that time, an American tractor named Holt sold well in Europe. The Allies used this machine with good off-road traction to pull guns or other materials from 19 15. If this vehicle is equipped with armor and weapons, isn't it a matter of minutes to break through the trench?
At first, this project was led by Schneider Company. They will lengthen the chassis of Holt tractor, press the boiler steel plate on it, sharpen the front of the tractor and overwhelm the barbed wire, and the armor 1 1mm will resist bullets. There is a 75mm Schneider short-tube howitzer on the right side of the locomotive (the initial velocity is only 200m/s), and there are 8mm hutcheson machine guns on each side of the locomotive, weighing 10 ton.
This batch of tin cans and 19 16 were ordered by the French military in early 2006. However, due to the fact that the prototype has not yet reached the actual requirements and the war is tight, the French army hopes to jointly develop and manufacture with FAMH Company in St. Sha Meng. However, Schneider said that FAMH wanted to enjoy it, but it had to cost money. FAMH said you were still thinking about money, so you just made it yourself, and the final product was named after the city of San Sha Meng, where the company is located.
FAMH with full firepower is also based on the chassis of Holt tractor, which is one level higher than Schneider tank everywhere.
It is also a 75mm gun, but the San Sha Meng gun is placed in front of the car body, and it is not a 75mm Schneider short gun, but a serious M 1897 cannon (Italian gun).
Due to the long gun body and large recoil device, the whole front of St. Sha Meng protrudes a lot, and the chassis is longer than Schneider CA. Just in front, like Schneider, it is a conical oblique armor with a thickness of 1 1mm, and later a layer of 8.5mm gap armor was added. The side 17mm vertical armor has stronger protection for the occupants, and there is an 8mm hutcheson machine gun at the front, back, left and right. The weight of the car also soared to 23 tons, powered by a 90-horsepower four-cylinder gasoline engine. It is unique in that it is electrically driven, the motor is powered by the engine, and the two tracks are driven by two motors, which has good steering performance.
However, actual combat has proved that St. Sha Meng is not suitable for use as a trench-breaking tank. Holt tractor's low chassis and overweight body make its off-road performance poor (Schneider and A7V tanks with similar chassis also have this problem), and its long front makes it easy to plunge into the soil after climbing, so it can't be used for ditch cleaning at all.
However, due to its excellent maneuverability, it can pave the way quickly, and the excellent range trajectory of Italian guns also allows him to fight against German artillery. To put it bluntly, it is not so much a tank as a prototype of a self-propelled gun.