Later, a new cast turret with riveted and welded construction was developed by Forges et acieries Paul Girod. During the early days of its service, the FT-17 was fitted with a riveted turret which had some disadvantages, such as complex manufacturing process, poor bullet-proof properties and failure to achieve a full rotation. FT-17s were formally put into service in the French Army in March 1918. In March, it was officially designated as “Type M.17.FT”, better known as “FT-17” later.īy June 1917, 3500 FT-17s had been ordered, but mass production didn’t start until September because many technical problems needed to be solved in the initial production stage. The first prototype was unveiled in January 1917 and it passed the workmanship test in February. At last, the Army agreed the production of a prototype. Consequently, Colonel Estienne appealed to General Joseph Jacques Cesaire Joffre (1852-1931), Commander in Chief of the French Army, for support. Though the new design was technically far more advanced than other countries’ tanks, top officials of the French Army refused to approve the project or allocate funds because they had more interest in the Char 2C super-heavy tank. Many revolutionary designs of this tank were created by the talented designer Rodolphe Ernst Metzmaier (1887-1985). Renault showed a full-scale wooden mock-up of the tank to Colonel Estienne. The reason was that it’s quite difficult for the Renault Company to do so since they were never involved in tank development before. In June 1916, Colonel Estienne contacted Louis Renault to convince him to develop a new tank, but Mr. The tank could also be used for accompanying the infantry into combat. Colonel Jean-Baptiste Eugene Estienne (1860-1936), who’s known as the father of French tanks, proposed to develop a less expensive light tank with good passing ability. But their performance disappointed the French Army due to their cumbersome bodies and very poor passing ability. Almost at the same time, French tanks Schneider CA1 and Saint Chamond went into service as well. In September 1916, the revolutionary British Mark I tank was first used in combat, ushering in a new era of mechanized warfare. Introduction: Notes from Instruction booklet:
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