Char de Rupture Saint Chamond M-16

The Char de Rupture - Breakthrough Tank - was the second idea carro francese of the Great War. The planners sought a vehicle capable of attacking e penetrating the 2nd e 3rd line of an enemy defence in depth, while Char d’Assaut engaged e pinned the 1st line. The enemy rear areas included artiglieria positions, strongpoints, supply dumps, ed other important objectives well beyond the range of friendly artiglieria. If a surprise attack was to be successful, these rearward positions would have to be eliminated quickly, allowing fanteria e cavalleria to break through e reach the relatively open terrain beyond. Only the tank could fulfill this role, because artiglieria proved too difficult to deploy forward e supply across the devastated no-man’s land.

The new vehicle would be larger e heavier than the Char d’Assaut Schneider, but it used many of the same mechanical components taken from the Holt tractor. Il Compagnie des Forges et Aciéries de la Marine et d’Homécourt (F.A.M.H.) francese at Saint Chamond, near Lyon, designed the tank in 1916. The "St. Chamond" proved to be a faulty design, it had large front e rear hull overhangs which reduced fuori strada maneuverability, e made the vehicle difficult to handle. Other flaws became apparent when the St. Chamond saw its first action on 5th maggio 1917: The gun’s recoil cylinder proved too vulnerable to fuoco nemico, e crew members found it difficult to exit a strikken vehicle in combat.

Modellini Disponibili

Caratteristiche Tecniche

Char de Rupture Saint Chamond M-16
Motore: Panhard, 4-cylinder petrol, 67 KW
Velocità: 8 km/h sulle strade
Capacità di Combustibile:
Average Range: 59.5 km
Lunghezza: 8687 mm
Larghezza: 2667 mm
Altezza: 2362 mm
Peso: 22 t
Armamento (early model): 75 mm Saint Chamond T.R. gun, quattro 8 mm Hotchkiss MGs
Armamento (late model): 75 mm M.1897 field gun, quattro 8 mm Hotchkiss MGs
Corazzatura: 11 to 17 mm all around
Equipaggio: capocarro, guidatore e six cannonieri

Utilizzo Storico

Armata Francese, maggio 1917–1918

Of the 400 carri armati St. Chamond built during the war, some were of the original design con due circular cupolas on the roof. This type was soon modified in the course of the production process, e the vehicle received a higher roof con only one square cupola. The tracks were changed to a chevron pattern which provided better traction, e some veicoli received additional armour plates to protect them against German "K" bullets. None of these revisions made the St. Chamond an acceptable tank, ed it was scheduled to be replaced by carri armati pesanti britannici in 1919. The Great War ended before the vehicle could be withdrawn.

Patrick Storto

Domande più frequenti

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Soldatini della Prima Guerra Mondiale

– Pubblicato: 30.11.1997 – Aggiornato: 17.01.1998
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