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| Char B1-bis |
French Tank: Char B1-bis
Crew: 4
Armament:
75mm (2.95in) gun
in hull; does not traverse
47mm (1.85in) gun in fully
traversing turret
7.5mm machine-gun – hull
7.5 mm machine-gun – not coaxial
with turret gun/aimed independent
Armor: 60mm
(2.36in) maximum
55mm (2.2in) side armor plating
Engine:
6 cylinder inline
water-cooled gas engine
307 bhp at 1,900 rpm
8 bhp / ton
Weight: 70,548
lb. (32,000 kg)
Dimensions:
Length - 21 ft. 5 in. (6.52m)
Width - 8 ft. 2 in. (2.5m)
Height - 9 ft. 2 in. (2.79m)
Performance:
Speed, road - 17 mph (28km/h)
Speed, off road 13 mph (21km/h)
Range, road - 85 miles (135 km)
Range, off road 60 miles (100 km)
Obstacle - 3 ft. 1 in. (0.93m)
Trench - 9 ft. (2.75m)
Gradient - 26 degrees
Fording Depth 30 inches
Ammunition:
75mm (HE) - 74 rounds
47mm (AP/HE)- 50
7.5mm 5,100
Manufacturer: Renault
Production: 1937
– 1940
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| Out of commission in Belgium |
The Char B1-bis was a superior heavy tank for its day. It could survive a hit from the armament of
most any German tank or anti-tank gun, except for the deadly German 88. Adding to its toughness were self-sealing
fuel tanks and a welded hull as opposed to one held together with rivets. Rivets dislodged by a shell strike had a way
of becoming projectiles that ricocheted about the inside of the tank. The Char B1-bis was surprisingly maneuverable. The driver used a conventional steering wheel
to guide it. It might have been an
effective offensive weapon, used to exploit a breakthrough of an enemy’s front
line except the French leadership still saw the battlefield as being a clash of
infantry formations and tanks were dispersed among the foot soldiers to be used
in a supporting role. The punch produced
by a tight fleet of Char B1s firing their 75mm guns was nullified by obsolete
tactics.
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| French proprietor, tank and German soldier |
The Char B1-bis was expensive to build and operate. Maintenance was difficult. Its bulky height made it an inviting target. Its weight also made it slow. The single-man turret was cramped and the
commander had the responsibility of loading, aiming and firing its 47mm gun as
well as being aware of the battlefield situation and leading his crew. The hull-mounted 75mm gun was not traversable requiring the driver to line up his tank with the target before
firing. With no radio communications between tanks the
effectiveness of working together in unit formation was greatly diminished.
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| Picture for the folks back home |
The Char B1-bis would have been a successful tank design for
the First World War but the tactics of armored warfare in combination with
close air support had progressed significantly during the two decades separating
Versailles with the cataclysm of May 1940.
France hadn't prepared itself for warfare in the 20th century
because its people hadn't yet recovered from the sacrifices made during the last
war. The German leaders exploited their
neighbor’s reluctance to fight by first isolating them from the other nations on the
continent and then plotting their ultimate destruction through the application of rapid military force – the highly mobile mechanized warfare that came
to be called blitzkrieg.
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