M1917 light tank

M1917 tank at Ropkey Armor Museum

The Six Ton Tank (or Special Tractor) M1917 was a US tank, and was America's first important mass produced tank. The Six Ton Tank M1917 was a license built near-copy of the French Renault FT, and was accepted by the army in October 1918. The US Army ordered approximately 4,440 Six Ton M1917 Tanks between 1918 and 1919, receiving about 950 tanks before cancelling the contract. No US manufactured tank reached Europe in time to participate in World War I.

Features

• Armament: One 37mm cannon or one colt 7.62mm machine-gun.
• Armour: 17mm
• Crew: 2
• Dimensions: Length - 5m; Width - 1.9m; Height - 2.3m
• Weight: 6.4 tons
• Power Plant: Budha HU modified 4-cylinder water cooled 42hp.
• Speed: 8km/h 5.5mph
• Range: 48km 30 miles (on road).

History

In the autumn of 1917 the American Expeditionary Force decided that tanks were essential for its conduct of the war, and should be acquired as soon as possible. Britain had none of her own to spare, and so a joint Anglo-American programme was set up to develop a new type of heavy tank similar to those then in use by the British. It was, though, expected that sizeable quantities would not be available until April of the following year. As a short-term solution, France lent the U.S. Tank Corps 124 Renault FT light tanks. Since French industry was already hard-pressed, the Inter-Allied Tank Commission decided that the quickest way to supply the American forces with armour was to manufacture the FT in the USA.

An order for 1,200 was agreed, later rising to 4,400, and some sample vehicles, plans, and various parts were sent to the US for study. The design was to be carried out by the Ordnance Department, and orders for the vehicles placed with private manufacturers. However, the project was beset by problems: the French specifications were metric and incompatible with American (imperial) machinery; coordination between miltary departments, suppliers, and manufacturers was poor; bureaucratic inertia, lack of cooperation from military departments, and possible vested interests delayed progress.

The Army in France was expecting the first 300 tanks by April, 1918. In the event, production did not begin until the autumn, and the first completed vehicles emerged only in October. Two tanks arrived in France on November 20th, nine days after the end of hostilities, and a further eight in December.

After the war, the Van Dorn Iron Works, the Maxwell Motor Co., and the C.L. Best Co. created 950 M1917s. 374 had cannons, 526 had machine guns, and 50 were signal (wireless) tanks. These were delivered to the Tank Corps, to complement appx. 200 Renault FTs brought back from France.

In June 1920 the Tank Corps was abolished as a separate branch, and control of tanks handed to the infantry. The number of tank units was progressively reduced, and the vehicles mothballed or scrapped. In 1940 the Canadian Army bought 250 surplus examples at scrap value (about $240 each) and the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps gained valuable experience and training on them before embarking to Europe and using the more modern equipment.

Combat

The M1917 did not take part in any combat. In July 1932 six M1917s were deployed during the dispersal of the Bonus Army in Washington D.C. George S. Patton Jr. states in his diaries that these vehicles were carried in trucks as a deterrent, but contemporary film shows them moving on their tracks along Pennsylvania Avenue.[1] It is not believed that any shots were fired.

Distinguishing Features

There are several features that distinguish the M1917 from the Renault FT. External: the exhaust was on the left hand side instead of on the right; a new mantlet for the machine-gun or 37mm cannon replaced that of the FT; all-steel idler wheels replaced the steel-rimmed wooden ones; extra vision slits for the driver were added, and the frontal armour below the turret was slightly modified. Internal: a steel bulkhead separated the engine from the crew compartment; an internal electric starter replaced the Renault's crank start. All M1917s had a polygonal turret; none had the circular turret fitted to approximately 50% of Renaults.

It is notable that the driver's vision slits were approx 2" higher on the M1917 than on the Renault, since it was found that American crewmen tended to be taller than the French.

Variant

Six Ton M1917 A1: In 1929 an M1917 was fitted with a Franklin six-cylinder, 67hp, air-cooled engine. This involved lengthening the engine comparment by approx. 1 foot. In 1930-31 seven M1917s were fitted with the 100hp version of the Franklin. This raised the top speed to 9mph.

Depiction in Films

M1917s were used by U.S. film-makers on numerous occasions as a substitute for Renault FTs, to depict either American tank actions during World War One or Renaults in use by European armies during and after the War.[2]

See also

• Tanks_in_the_United_States

References

• The Encyclopaedia of Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles; Published in 2007 by Amber Books Ltd.
• Zaloga, Steven J. Armored Thunderbolt, The US Army Sherman in World War II. 2008, Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0424-3.