Char B1bis
Type:Heavy Tank
Country:France
Manufacturer:Renault
Crew:4 men
Armament:1 cannon of 75mm under casemate 1 machine gun of hull of 7.5mm a cannon of 47mm under turret and a coaxial machine gun of 7.5mm
Shielding:60mm maximum
Weight:32t
Dimensions:length 6.52m; width 2.5m; height 2.79m
Engine:Water-cooled gasoline inline 6 cylinder
Power:307hp at 1900rpm
Performance 28km/h on road autonomy 150km
Service time from 1936 to 1940 in the French army then used by the German army
Like other countries after the Great War, France lacked funds for armor research but saw its generals adopting divergent philosophies about the future role of the tank on the battlefield. Some wanted to confine the armored vehicle to infantry support, others wanted to offer it a more decisive role, the cavalry, finally, coveted it for its reconnaissance missions. In 1921, the already famous General Estienne, head of the Technical Section of Combat Tanks and always champion of the armored weapon, made a call for tenders to five companies for the design of a tank weighing 15 t and in front of mount a 47 mm or 75 mm cannon under a casemate.
In 1924, four different models were presented in Rueil and three years later, an order was placed for the construction of three tanks, entrusted respectively to the FAMH (Forges et Aciéries de la Marine et d'Homécourt), to the FCM (Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée) and Renault-Schneider.
The vehicles were made from 1929 to 1931 and received the designation of Char B. Their weight was 25t they mounted a 75 mm under casemate, two fixed machine guns at the front of the hull and two machine guns under turret. The crew was four men. This type, somewhat modified, was put into production under the designation of Char B1 but only 35 units had come off the lines when the decision was taken to manufacture instead an improved model, with thicker armor and a more powerful engine designated Char B1-bis . At the signing of I am in 1940. 365 specimens had been built L total, 66 Char B1-bis had served in the 1 0. 2e. 3rd and 4 reserve battleships and 57 others in autonomous c, geniuses.
The armor was excellent able to withstand tc anti-tank Wehrmacht, with the exception of the famous hull was made of cast elements assembled by ni nage. The driver, seated in the front left, steered Ig by means of a conventional steering wheel connected to a hydrostatic sy. Mounted to the right of the driver, the very short-tube (17.1 caliber) 75 mm coach 35 pointed E from +250 to -150. The piece was fixed in azimuth and the gunner carried out the aiming himself, by moving the vehicle. The weapon showed a usual characteristic, an air compressor which evacuated the turne tube. A Chatellerault 7.5mm machine gun was attached to the right front of the hull, lower than the 75mm machine gun could be served by the driver or the tank.
The APX turret, identical to that of SOMUA was armed with a 37 mm cannon which pointed in sgi +180 to -180. The turret also housed a 7.5 mm ck independent azimuth firing range covering 100 to and fro. The ammunition load was 75 shells (HE) of 75 mm, 50 rounds of 47 mm (AP and HE) and 5,100 rounds for; machine guns. The crew consisted of a driver-gunner, a radio operator, the outfitter and the tank commander. The latter commanded the vehicle, of course, but also had to ensure the aiming, loading and firing of the turret weapons.
The provider, no less approached, passed the ammunition to the tank commander but also loaded the 75 mm under the casemate. The radio operator is seated near the turret. The crew accessed the Ir machine through a large hatch in the right side wall of the vehicle. The driver had a drilled hatch above his station and another manhole was located on [Right mother of the turret. Two emergency exits:one on the
underbody, the other on the roof of the engine compartment. The latter, the transmission assembly and the seeders were placed at the rear of the hull and a compressed air system supplemented the usual electric mechanism for starting. Another interesting feature of the machine is the gyroscopic compass, also powered by the compressor wing.
The undercarriage grouped, on either side, six double steel bogies, among which were three sets of four wheels each, suspended by vertical coil springs and semi-elliptical springs. To these were added three independent bogies a i avant and a a i bitter, the leaf springs covering in these cases a quarter of an ellipse. The gypsy was at the rear, the tension wheel at the front, the latter being suspended by compression.
Further refinements of the Char B 1-bis led to the more heavily armored Char B 1-ter, bringing along a mechanic as the fifth crewman and giving the 75 mm under casemate a sector of fire in azimuth of 50 on both sides. 'other. Only five units of this variant were built and none saw fire.
The German army, too, entrusted the Char B1 with a full range of missions. Its model tank-school removed the turret and the gun under casemate, replacing this last weapon by a machine-gun; the craft of this type had the designation PzKpfw B1 (f) Fahrschulewagen. In addition, in 1942-43, the Germans modified 24 tanks to make flamethrower vehicles where the cannon under casemate obviously no longer had any reason to exist. this type took the designation of PzKplw Bi-bis ’Flamm). The turret was maintained to provide the machine with some anti-tank means. Finally came the self-propelled gun version, rising, instead of the gun under casemate and the turret. the standard German 105 mm howitzer. The conversion work was entrusted to Rheinmetall-Borsig but these models remained wrongly few in number; most served in France itself.
The French Resistance seized some Char B1-bis which they threw into the battle for the liberation of Royan, in 1944. The machine would probably have given way to the ARL 40 but this tank was still only 'At the Design Stage at the End of the French Campaign; however, it was eventually put into production in 1946, then designated ARL 44.
Other major infantry tanks (medium and heavy) fielded by the French include the Char D1 and the Char D2. The Dl was developed in the early 1930s and 160 units were built for the benefit of the infantry from 1932 to 1935. The tanks weighed 13 t and mounted a 47 mm gun under the turret as well as a fixed machine gun at the front of the hull, served by the driver. Later production models included thicker armour, a more powerful engine and a coaxial machine gun. designated Char D2, weighing 16 t and powered by a 6 cyl. developing 150 hp. Some 100 copies were ready in 1940.