France Renault FT-17 tank

The French tank Renault FT-17 (Renault FT-17), the participant:

– 1-st World War (Western Front)
– Civil war and intervention in Russia (Odessa, VSYUR and the Far East)
– war in China, in Shanghai?
– 2nd World War (Western Front)

French light tank “Renault” FT-17

The French tank “Renault” FT-17 is the first tank in the world, in which ideas were laid, which found their development in subsequent tank models: armament mounted in a rotating turret, commander’s turret, stern arrangement of engine and power transmission, etc.

The tank was manufactured since 1917 by Renault, Berliet, Scheidet and Deiauneu-Belleville. A total of 7820 units were produced.

In the prewar years, the tank was exported to Afghanistan, Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Holland, Yugoslavia and Japan.

At the end of the fleet company in France, the FT tanks were captured by the Germans, used in police units and for the protection of airfields.

The main technical characteristics of the Renault FT-17 tank

Combat weight – 6.5 tons.
Engine type – carburetor Renault
Power – 35 hp
The speed is 7.7 km / h
Power reserve – 35 km.
Reservation:
forehead – 16 mm
forehead of the turret – 16 mm
Crew – 2 people.
Armament:
tool – 37 mm
ammunition – 50 shots

Design Features

Base – the original.
The overall layout is classical.
Armament – gun guidance is performed with the help of a manual swing mechanism; there is a telescopic sight.
Protection – the body consists of three large cast armored parts: frontal, forged, aft, as well as from rolled boards, roof and bottom; the sides are connected to the frontal and stern parts with the help of bolts, and with the cranked box – studs; The bottom is welded to the sides and bolted to the fore and aft parts; The tower is cast-in-one with a variable wall thickness. Chassis – carburetor engine, four-cylinder “Renault”; transmission mechanical; side reduction gears single-row; suspension mixed, blocked and single-row.

See also the history of Renault  FT-17

February 23. Once this holiday was called “Red Gift Day”, “Red Army Day”, then “Soviet Army Day”. Now this official state holiday is called “Defender of the Fatherland Day” in memory of the first battles of February 23, 1918 near Pskov and Narva. In recent years, this event has become regarded not only as an event in the history of Russia, but also as an important date in world history. These battles with the Germans are now also seen as part of the battles of World War I. Until November 11, 1918, all the clashes in Russia from the point of view of world history are considered as part of the First World War on the Eastern Front. Well, our civil war is a continuation of the First World War, its consequences for the participating countries.

From the point of view of auto-armored vehicles, the French Renault FT-17 tank holds a special place of honor in all these events, a rare piece of which with wooden wheels is available in the Museum of Armored Vehicles and Armaments in Pavilion N7.

World War I and Renault FT-17 (France)

Renault FT-17 – is the first tank in the world with the line-up “as it should.” At the dawn of tank building, there were rhombic tanks, they were in the shape of cars, there were giant bicycles, but the first tank in the world, as we now see it, is Renault FT-17 (France). Renault FT-17 became the best tank in the world of the First World War.

Renault FT-17 and the first tank troops of Russia (General Denikin’s White Army)

By signing the “obscene Brest Peace”, Soviet Russia (and the Red Army) became the official “allies” of Kaiser Germany. Along with the events near Pskov and Narva, in the south of Russia, in Rostov on the night of February 22-23, officers who returned from the front, led by generals Kornilov and Alekseev, advanced on the Ice Campaign. A “White Army” appeared, with the goal of defeating the Bolsheviks and continuing the war with Germany until Victory. France, being Russia’s “ally” in the struggle against Germany in World War I, began to help the White Army as the successor to the Russian Army by supplying uniforms and weapons. Thus, the first French Renault FT-17 tanks came to Russia and the first Russian tank troops were formed (the “White”, VSYUR)

Renault FT-17 – the first Soviet tank (Red Army of Comrade Trotsky)

Back in World War I, there were representative offices and joint Russian-French automobile enterprises in Russia. To develop tank building of the Red Army, by order of comrade Lenin, two French Renault FT-17 tanks were captured near Odessa for study and copying. Thus was created the first Soviet tank Renault Russian, which received the name “Freedom Fighter Comrade Lenin.”

Renault FT-17 – a monument of military history of the XX century

This famous World War I tank is presented in the best world museums in the world, including the Kubinka and the Saumur Tank Museum (Loire, France)

Renault FT-17 as a VIP holiday gift

The first VIP gift in the form of a “Russian Renault” model was made to comrade Lenin himself. Well, all over the world they also made models of Renault tanks as VIP gifts, but without any revolutionary inscriptions about “freedom fighters”.

One of these “gift” models is available at the Military Thought Gallery (Moscow, Lubyanka). Classical exposition dedicated to the First World War and the first tanks. In our opinion, such a Renault tank is the best and original VIP gift for February 23rd, to the Defender of the Fatherland Day for men, especially for those who served in tank and automobile troops or are interested in military history.