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Look in The Past
  • 2 days ago
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Music: Epic Blockbuster 2 by Rafael Krux
Transcript
00:20This vehicle is regarded by many as the best French heavy tank of World War II.
00:24It was built with strong armament and thick armor,
00:27and was chosen as the main type for the French Army as their so-called battle tank.
00:33But it carried some design issues caused by its long development time,
00:36which was maybe the longest of every tank as it started in 1920 just after the First World War.
00:43This was the Char B1 model, the tank that was in development for more than one and a half decades.
00:50So let's see the history of this vehicle today.
01:00Tanks became an integral part of the military forces during the First World War,
01:04and the idea of the so-called battle tank appeared right after the war ended.
01:09The concept originates from General Jean-Baptiste Etienne,
01:13who had the idea for a tank that could bridge the gap between the light tanks like the Renault FT
01:17and the giant land battleships like the Char 2C.
01:21His basic concept was a 13-14 ton breakthrough tank,
01:25which can move together with the motorized infantry and carries a 75mm gun,
01:30which it can use against fortifications.
01:32Tourettes, even machine gun tourettes were only an optional feature in the original concept.
01:38The project to design this new tank was initiated in 1921, including five manufacturers.
01:45Delaunay Belleville, FAM Hage, Renault, FCM and Schneider.
01:52The original vision was to make the companies work together on a design,
01:56but in reality all of them came up with their own vehicles,
01:59except Renault and Schneider who combined their efforts.
02:03The Delaunay Belleville model was finished first,
02:06but their proposal was actually just an update on their earlier rejected design,
02:10which actually was just an enlarged Renault FT.
02:14In May 1924 the other four designs were presented,
02:18but due to the increased requirements, which now asked for 25mm frontal
02:22and 20mm sidearmor and now a mandatory machine gun turret,
02:26none of the designs managed to meet the previously set weight limit.
02:30The FCM 21 used some parts from the 2C heavy tank,
02:34and it was the lightest from the four designs, weighting 15.6 tons.
02:38On the other hand, it was the longest, with 6.5 meters.
02:42It mounted the 75mm gun in the center of the hull,
02:46and used a 120hp Panhard engine.
02:50The FAM H proposal in contrast was the shortest vehicle, with 5.2 meters length.
02:56It used the same Panhard engine as the FCM design,
02:59and mounted the main gun in the same manner,
03:01but it featured a new dual machine gun turret.
03:06Renault and Schneider presented two tanks, the A and B models.
03:11The SRA variant was equipped with a short 75mm gun in the hull,
03:16but unlike the FCM or FAM H designs, the gun was moved to the side,
03:20to make more room for the driver.
03:22This vehicle was the heaviest, with 19.5 tons,
03:25because of its thicker 30mm armor plates,
03:28but thanks to its more powerful 180hp Renault engine,
03:32its speed was comparable to the other designs.
03:35The SRB design was a bit longer, but lighter, at 18.5 tons,
03:40and it used a 47mm gun mounted in a similar fashion
03:44than the 75mm one on the SRA model.
03:48All of the designs had a top speed around 17 to 18 km an hour,
03:52but their range varied widely, depending on the size of the vehicle,
03:56and how much fuel storage it allowed.
03:59But during the comparison trials, all of these models proved to be unreliable,
04:03with several breakdowns and malfunctions.
04:06Since none of them were deemed satisfactory,
04:08but all of them had some notable technical features,
04:11it was decided to use the best parts from each vehicle,
04:13and create one design, from which, as it was hoped,
04:16hundreds of units will be manufactured.
04:19So based on the experiences, new requirements were set in 1925,
04:23to use the basic layout and profile of the SRA and SRB models,
04:28with the gun on the side,
04:30the more powerful Renault engine, with Schneider differential,
04:33and the track setup from the FCM model, but with new suspension design.
04:38The armor thickness was increased to 40mm on the front,
04:41and 30mm on the sides,
04:43and the estimated weight for this new tank was around 20 to 22 tons.
04:48Renault was tasked to coordinate the development of this new design,
04:52and the mock-up for the new model was finished by 1926.
04:56It had a similar layout as its predecessors,
04:59but it was longer and bigger.
05:01The tracks and suspension were fully reworked,
05:04and the crew was increased to 4 men.
05:07Soon it was decided to order 3 prototypes,
05:10one each from Renault, FCM and FEMH.
05:13However, the final requirements were still changing during this year,
05:17so the contracts for the prototypes were already signed in March 1927.
05:23The first of these models was finished by Renault in January 1929,
05:27but its armament was only installed in April 1930.
05:31This model now had an upgraded 250 horsepower engine,
05:35to cope with the increased weight of the vehicle.
05:39So as you can see, the French at this point already spent a decade on this tank project,
05:43and they just managed to finish the first prototype.
05:47During 1930, testing of the new tank began,
05:50which, though weighting 25 tons was heavier than requested,
05:53still managed to reach a top speed of 24 km an hour.
05:57As part of the trials, the prototype also did a 250 km trip,
06:02with 16 km an hour average speed,
06:04which at the time was considered very good,
06:07both in speed and in the fact that it managed to finish the trip without breaking down.
06:12So finally the new tank, after more than a decade, reached an acceptable form.
06:16But since it was in development for long years,
06:19in 1930 another modernization was in order.
06:22So new requirements arrived,
06:24which also included changes based on the experiences with the first prototype.
06:28The second and third models were both delivered a year later,
06:31including these changes.
06:33The biggest one being the requirement of a 47 mm gun in the turret,
06:37instead of machine guns.
06:40During trials many different changes were tested on the design.
06:43Different turrets, suspension modifications and gearboxes,
06:46and even diesel engines were installed in the tanks.
06:50But at the end of 1932, the project finally arrived to a design that seemed finished.
06:55So in theory, after testing, the production of the type could have begun, right?
07:00Wrong.
07:02By the time the design reached this point,
07:04several other factors came into play, hampering the project.
07:08The infantry would have liked a bigger number of smaller tanks.
07:12Not big, expensive ones, which are slow to manufacture.
07:15So development of lighter tank designs, like the Char D1 or the FCM-36 were also in progress.
07:21On the other end of the spectrum, in 1930 a new program was started for even heavier battle tank designs.
07:28And by 1932 three options were laid out.
07:31The Char B2, a 35 ton tank with 50 mm of armor and a long 75 mm gun.
07:38The B3, which would have been a 45 ton design, with 75 mm and 47 mm guns and 6 men
07:46crew.
07:47And finally, the BB model, a giant 60 ton tank, with two 75 mm guns and 8 men crew.
07:54Of course, as we know, none of these gone anywhere, apart from a mock-up for the BB type.
07:59But they added confusion to the French tank development and used up valuable resources and time.
08:06The other problem for the Char B1 came from outside France.
08:10By this time the League of Nations discussed many armament reduction treaties,
08:14and some of these included weight limitations for future tank designs.
08:18So the French held the production orders for the Char B1,
08:21and in the meantime they started the development of the smaller D2 model,
08:25which was seen as a good replacement, in case the armament treaty would ban heavier tanks.
08:30I have already made a video on the Char B2, so if you want to know more about that type,
08:35check it out!
08:37However, the League of Nations couldn't reach an agreement on the treaty in 1932.
08:41And by October 1933, Germany left the organization altogether.
08:46So finally, the Char B1 design was not in danger of being banned.
08:50And in March 1934, a mere 13 years after the beginning of the project, Renault received an order for 7
08:56Char B1 models.
08:58In December they received another order for 20 units.
09:01But the company was already overloaded with work, building the D1 and D2 models as well.
09:06So production of the new heavy tank was very slow.
09:09The first B1 model was only finished a year later, in December 1935.
09:14And Renault only finished the order for the first 7 units in May 1936, almost 2 years after they were
09:20ordered.
09:22The problems at Renault pushed the French government to take drastic actions.
09:26And finally, at the end of 1936, the tank production at Isile Molino was nationalized, creating a new company, AMX.
09:35Apart from the very slow production, these tanks were very expensive to build as well.
09:39Actually, they were the most expensive tanks at the time, costing more than 1,200,000 francs each.
09:45More than double the price of the D2 model.
09:48So in 1936, the Char B1 model after 15 years finally was finished and entered production.
09:54But, by this time, with the appearance of the newer anti-tangants, like the French SA-35, which all had
10:01higher penetration than older models,
10:03the original 40mm armor on the B1 was not adequate anymore.
10:07So just after the type entered service, a modernization program was started again.
10:12The front armor plate was increased to 60mm of thickness, and the size to 55mm, making the tank almost impenetrable
10:20to the anti-tangants of the time.
10:22The turret was also upgraded to the new APX-4 model, which featured 55mm stick armor all around, and housed
10:30the long-barreled SA-35 47mm gun.
10:33To cope with the increased weight, which was now over 31 tons, the engine power was raised to 300hp, and
10:40the suspension and tracks were also modified.
10:43The upgraded models were named B1 Bis, and they became the main production type from 1937.
10:51There was actually another, even more heavily armored version of the type, the B1 Ter variant.
10:57And this model also added new features to the design.
11:00Initially, it was planned to have a weight of around 45 tons, but the engineers managed to keep the weight
11:05under 40 tons, mostly by using sloped armor on the new design.
11:10Another improvement over the B1 Bis variant was that the 75mm cannon in the hull was able to traverse horizontally,
11:17unlike on the earlier models.
11:19The new variant was tested during 1938, and eventually it was meant to replace the B1 Bis variant.
11:24But time was running out for the project, and only 3 prototypes were finished before the fall of France in
11:301940.
11:38The Char B1 was a big tank, 6.37 meters long, 2.58 meters wide, and 2.79 meters tall.
11:48It featured 60mm thick armor on the front, and 55mm on the sides.
11:54Even the rear section was heavily armored with 50mm thick armor plates.
11:58The late model APX 4 Tourette featured 55mm thick armor all around.
12:03But because of the heavy armor, the tank weighed more than 31 tons.
12:08It was powered by a 307 horsepower petrol engine, and had a maximum speed of 25 kilometers an hour, but
12:16it only had a range of around 160 kilometers.
12:19And this caused a lot of trouble for the design later.
12:22The tank's main armament included the 47mm SA-35 gun in the turret, and the 75mm Huitzer in the hull.
12:30The secondary armament consisted of two 7.5mm machine guns, one in the turret, and one in the bow.
12:38And now, let's see the service history of the Char B1, and how it faced against the German onslaught during
12:44the Battle of France.
12:52The Char B1 entered service in 1936, and in less than a year, the upgraded B1 bismodels were already introduced.
13:00But the production of the type was still very slow.
13:03The first order for 35 B1 bismodels took about a year to finish, with the first tank leaving the factory
13:09in April 1937, and the last one in March 1938.
13:14Despite the glacier manufacturing speed, the first order was soon followed by a second one, again for 35 units, then
13:21a third for 70 tanks in February 1938.
13:25By the time World War II broke out, the French managed to build around 370 B1 and B1 bismodels,
13:31and another 400 was ordered immediately after the outbreak of the war, in September 1939.
13:38But by June 1940, only 403 units were produced, from the ordered 1,178.
13:45Some of the last models even left the factories without Tourettes, and they were sent to battle like that, showing
13:51the desperation of the French forces.
13:53The Char B1, originally designed as a breakthrough tank, featured very strong armor, and very good trench crossing abilities.
14:00But it lacked the mobility needed for the new type of maneuvering warfare, and because of its short range, it
14:06had to refill frequently.
14:08Their strong armor and armament, compared to the German tanks they faced, still made the B1s formidable in tank-on
14:15-tank engagements.
14:16But their low numbers, slow speed, and small one-man turret were big drawbacks.
14:20The coordination of the tank forces was greatly hindered by the lack of communication, as the tanks were only equipped
14:27with very basic radios, which were only able to transmit Morse code.
14:31So even though, in technical terms, the B1 design was a much stronger tank than its opponents, but the Germans
14:37quickly learned their weaknesses, and the big tanks were many times isolated, flanked, and destroyed, despite their strong armor protection.
14:45The Char B1s were organized in specialized breakthrough units, but as it turned out, the French theories about the coming
14:51war were all wrong.
14:52And instead of the slow trench warfare, similar to what they saw in the Great War, this conflict was highly
14:58mobile, and the French tactics and vehicles were not prepared for that.
15:03More than 160 of these tanks were captured by the Germans, who put them to use.
15:09Some as support vehicles or training tanks, some were converted to carry flamethrowers, and some were modified to carry a
15:16105mm Heitzer.
15:18They were still in service, and some of them were recaptured after the Allied invasion of France.
15:23And they were used by the French resistance fighters, and later the reformed French forces.
15:28The surviving B1 models were used until the end of the war, but the French heavy tanks history didn't end
15:34just then.
15:35Many of the features from the B1s were used in a design that was partly developed during the war, under
15:40the German occupation, and entered service with the French forces a few years later.
15:45This was the ARL-44 heavy tank, but we will look at that vehicle in a later video.
15:54The Char B1, from a technical standpoint, was a formidable tank in the early years of World War II, but
16:00it carried many outdated design features, thanks to its extremely long development time.
16:05But despite all of its faults, it's still one of the iconic vehicles of World War II.
16:12Hope you guys enjoyed this video.
16:14Please leave a like, subscribe to my channel, and in the comments let me know if there's any interesting events
16:19or vehicles you'd like to see.

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