Saint Chamond | |
|---|---|
| Pays | France |
| Type | Réservoir moyen |
| Masse | 23 tonnes |
Lla St-Chamond est le deuxième char lourd Français de la Première Guerre mondiale, avec 400 chars fabriqués d’avril 1917 à juillet 1918. Bien qu’il ne s’agit pas d’un réservoir selon la définition actuelle, il est généralement accepté et décrit comme tel dans les comptes rendus du développement précoce du réservoir. Né de la rivalité commerciale existant avec les fabricants du char Schneider CA1, le Saint-Chamond était une conception sous-puissante et fondamentalement inadéquate. Sa principale faiblesse était le Holt « chenille » traces. Ils étaient beaucoup trop courts par rapport au véhicule’longueur et poids lourd (23 tonnes). Les modèles ultérieurs, cependant, ont tenté de rectifier une partie du réservoir’s défauts originaux en installant des chaussures de piste plus larges et plus solides, un blindage frontal plus épais et le canon de campagne Mle 1897 de 75 mm plus efficace. Au total, 400 chars Saint-Chamond ont été construits dont 48 chars Caisson non armés. Les chars Saint-Chamond sont demeurés engagés dans diverses actions jusqu’à la fin de l’été 1918, devenant tardivement plus efficaces puisque les combats avaient quitté les tranchées pour se déplacer sur un terrain dégagé. Finalement, cependant, les chars Saint-Chamond devaient être entièrement remplacés par des chars lourds britanniques importés.
Source: Saint Chamond sur Wkipedia
| Saint Chamond – WalkAround | |
|---|---|
| Photographe | Unknow |
| Localisation | Inconnu |
| Photos | 68 |
| Saint Chamond – WalkAround | |
|---|---|
| Photographe | Unknow |
| Localisation | Inconnu |
| Photos | 47 |
Overview and Context
The Saint-Chamond was the second French heavy assault tank to enter service during World War I, with approximately 400 units produced between 1917 and 1918. Born out of industrial rivalry with the manufacturers of the first French tank (the Schneider CA1), it was an ambitious but deeply flawed design.
Its primary goal was to bring the firepower of a potent artillery piece, the French 75 mm field gun, directly against enemy trenches and fortifications.
Conception et spécifications
- Shape and Hull: It had a long, boxy superstructure with significant overhangs at both the front and rear of the vehicle, extending well beyond the relatively short, narrow tracks. This gave it a massive, ungainly silhouette.
- Main Armament: A long-barreled 75 mm gun (either the Saint-Chamond L12C TR or the standard Mle 1897 field gun in later versions) was rigidly mounted in the front of the hull, offering only a very limited traverse.
- Secondary Armament: Four 8 mm Hotchkiss machine guns, one mounted in each side (front, rear, left, right).
- Propulsion: The tank used a complex and innovative petrol-electric transmission system (Crochat-Colardeau). A 90 hp Panhard engine drove a generator, which in turn powered two electric motors linked separately to each track. This allowed for smooth steering but was heavy and prone to overheating and mechanical issues.
- Équipage: The tank typically required a large crew of eight to nine men.
- Armure: Initially thin, with maximum armor plating of around 11.5 mm on the front and 8.5 mm on the sides. Later models increased side armor to 17 mm and added a spaced layer to the front to resist German armor-piercing bullets.
Combat Performance and Flaws
Despite its powerful main gun, the Saint-Chamond was plagued by critical operational deficiencies:
- Trench Crossing: The overly long hull combined with the relatively short track length and heavy forward weight caused the tank’s nose to violently dig into the ground or get irrevocably stuck in trenches and shell craters, making it notoriously poor for traversing the scarred terrain of the Western Front.
- Underpowered: The 90 hp engine was inadequate for the tank’s operational weight of around 23 metric tons, severely limiting its cross-country speed and agility (top speed was only about 8-12 km/h).
- Vulnerable: Its thin side armor left the crew vulnerable to heavy machine gun fire, a major issue that was only partially addressed in late-production models.
The Saint-Chamond remained in service until late 1918, mostly performing as a canon automoteur or being converted into unarmed supply/recovery vehicles, as it was eventually superseded by the more reliable and tactically superior Renault FT light tank and imported British heavy tanks.
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