Last surviving Saint Chamond Tank - Tankfest 2017 - Tank Museum, Bovington

A French Saint Chamond Tank in the arena at The Tank Museum, Bovington during Tankfest 2017.
This Saint-Chamond is the last one of its kind in existence. It was restored to running order by the Musee des Blindes, Saumur, in preparation for the centenary of the first use of French armour on the battlefield in 1917. 2017 was the first time it was seen at Tankfest. Four Hundred St-Chamond tanks were built during the First World War, with the first ones produced in 1917. It was not very effective on the battlefield because of its poor manoeuvrability and by 1918 it had been completely replaced by Renault FT17 tanks and British heavy tanks driven by French Army crews.

The Saint-Chamond, named after the commune of Saint-Chamond, was the second French heavy tank of the First World War, with 400 manufactured from April 1917 to July 1918. Although not a tank by the present-day definition, it is generally accepted and described as such in accounts of early tank development. Born of the commercial rivalry existing with the makers of the Schneider CA1 tank, the Saint-Chamond was an underpowered and fundamentally inadequate design. Its principal weakness was its Holt caterpillar tracks. They were much too short in relation to the vehicle's length and heavy weight (23 tons). Later models attempted to rectify some of the tank's original flaws by installing wider and stronger track shoes, thicker frontal armour and the more effective 75mm Mle 1897 field gun. Altogether 400 Saint-Chamond tanks were built, including 48 unarmed caisson tanks. The Saint-Chamond tanks remained engaged in various actions until October 1918, belatedly becoming more effective since combat had moved out of the trenches and onto open ground. Eventually the Saint-Chamond tanks were scheduled to be entirely replaced by imported British heavy tanks.
To power the tank a heat engine fed a generator which, in turn, supplied power to two electric motors, one per caterpillar. The differential power supply allowed control of the machine. It was a clever but complex system that caused many setbacks in operations.

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