Сен-Шамон. Безбашенный французский танк Первой мировой

#tanks#France#Saint-Chamond The video tells about the history of creation, technical features and combat use of the French tank of the First World War - Saint-Chamond. Why the tank was turretless, how many crew members there were and what was the maximum speed of the tank you will find out by watching this video. Text version of the video with photos on my website https://www.voenhistory.com/2021/03/b... Saint-Chamond (French Saint Chamond) is a French tank of the First World War. One of the first tanks built in the world. The design flaws of the CA-1 Schneider tank were aggravated in the second French machine, "Saint-Chamond", named after the industrial city in which the main units of the design were produced. The rush in work and the little experience of the creators affected it. The nose of the elongated box-shaped hull hung heavily over the tracks, which reduced the tank's cross-country ability on the battlefield. Ditches wider than 1.8 m became an insurmountable obstacle for it. The first tests took place in mid-1916 and revealed the need to widen the track. It was widened to 41 cm, and then to 50 cm. The specific pressure on the soil decreased, and the cross-country ability of the Saint-Chamonds became acceptable. The vehicle's armament included a 75 mm cannon, which was later replaced by a regular 75 mm field gun. Compared to the Schneider, the cannon was positioned more favorably and had a sufficient firing sector. Four machine guns provided all-round defense for the tank. The first Saint-Chamonds were equipped with commander's and driver's cylindrical turrets, and the side armor plates covered the chassis to the ground. Later, the roof became sloping towards the sides so that grenades would roll off. Later, to improve cross-country ability, the lower armor plates were removed. The turrets later acquired an oval and even square shape. The tank's armor thickness reached 17 mm. The tank crew consisted of 8 people. The fundamental innovation of the Saint-Chamond was the electric transmission. The gasoline engine transmitted torque to the dynamo, which generated current and fed two electric motors. The latter set two tracks in motion, each on its own. This made it much easier for the driver to control the tank, but made the entire transmission system cumbersome and unreliable. For fear of breakdowns, the maximum speed of the tank was limited to 8 km / h, although during testing it developed a speed of 12 km / h. A total of about 400 vehicles were assembled. During the First World War, 12 tank groups equipped with Saint-Chamonds were formed. After the defeat of the French tank units on April 16, 1917, the French command used the new weapon more carefully and with greater efficiency. The further use of Allied tanks was with varying success. When used en masse, they achieved some success. But at the same time, the combat experience of the German troops was also increasing. Anti-tank obstacles and ditches were built, anti-tank artillery units were created, capable of destroying armored vehicles at a distance of 1,500 m. 98% of all combat losses of tanks were caused by artillery fire. There is a known case when a German officer, who remained at a gun abandoned by the crew, single-handedly loaded and aimed the gun, destroying 16 tanks one after another. The last time the Saint-Chamonds participated in battles was in July 1918. Two groups of these tanks were completely destroyed within 24 hours. Of the approximately 150 vehicles built, 72 remained in service by the time of the Armistice. Like the Schneiders, most of them were converted into transporters. Both types of heavy tanks were essentially self-propelled artillery units. The Saint-Chamond was better suited to this role due to its larger ammunition supply and satisfactory mobility, but only in dry weather and with careful maintenance. Fire was usually conducted from indirect positions with the help of spotters, as in conventional artillery. This negated the whole purpose of the tank as a mobile fighting vehicle. The last serial vehicle left the factory in March 1918. The tanks that were no longer in service were gradually replaced by the Renault FT-17, and by the Armistice, 72 Saint-Chamonds remained in service. Of these, 50 were converted into transporters. The surviving and unconverted Saint-Chamonds were eventually scrapped. This is where the story of these machines ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My public VK https://vk.com/anubyslive ------------------------------------------------------------------------ After Effects Template provided by: https://motionarray.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Musical compositions - Army of Angels - Edgar Hopp, Schubert March Militaire - Traditional, Legendary Walk 5 - Johannes Bornlöf, Dauntless - Jo Wandrini - belong to http://www.epidemicsound.com and are used under license for Scalelab.