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The R 35, short for ''Char léger Modèle 1935 R'' or '''Renault R35''' was a French light Infantry Tank of the Second World War . Designed in mid-1930's, it was the basic French tank of the early stages of the war. It was also used by other armies of the epoch, including the Polish Army. DEVELOPMENT The development plan of . Fearing that his rival Hotchkiss might well replace him as such, Louis Renault hurried to finish a vehicle; construction was soon in such an advanced stage that the changes in specification issued on June 21 , 1934 , to increase armour thickness from 30 to 40 mm, could not be implemented. On December 20 , 1934 Renault was the first to deliver a prototype, with the project name of Renault ZM, to the ''Commission de Vincennes''. In the spring of 1935 this vehicle was refitted with heavier armour and a standard APX turret. The prototype was still being tested when international tensions increased due to German rearmament. This prompted an urgent demand for swifter modernisation of the French tank fleet. The ZM was to be put into production immediately. On April 29 , 1935 an order of 300 was made, even before the final model could be finished, at a price of 190,000 French Franc per hull (unarmed, without the engine and turret, the overall export price was ca. 1,400,000 francs in 1939 1, that is ca. 32,000 dollars by , 1936 and had to be extensively tested again as it was different from the prototype. DESCRIPTION To save time, Renault based the suspension and running gear on that of the AMR 35 (''Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance Modèle 1935 Renault ZT'') that was designed for the cavalry. It had five wheels at each side, fitted with horizontal leaf springs, like the AMC 35 . The hull, with a length of 4.02 m, consisted of three cast modules, with a maximum thickness of 43 millimetres, that were bolted together. Total weight was 10.6 metric tons (9.8 tons without oil and ammo). The bottom module carried on each side an independently sprung front wheel, two bogies and the driving sprocket at the extreme front. The final drive and differentials were housed at the right in the nose module. It was steered through a Cletrac differential with five gears and by engaging the brakes. The driver was seated somewhat to the left and had two hatches. The Renault V-4 85 hp engine was to the right in the short rear with the self sealing 166 liter fuel tank at its left. It rendered a road speed of 20 km/h and a range of 130 km. Cross-country speed did not exceed 14 km/h and the fuel consumption totalled 212 l/100km. From 1940 onward they were fitted with AMX tails to help in trench crossing. The cast APX hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits (the highest point of 2.13 m) and had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander, the only other crew member. There was sometimes unofficially a seat installed for him but he most often stood. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down and would be used as a seat to improve observation. The earliest vehicles were fitted with the APX-R turret (with the L713 sight) mounting the short 's spent cartridges (from a total of 2400) went down a chute through a hole in the floor. The tank carried 42 AP and 58 HE-rounds. The R 35 at first had no radio, except for the second battalion of the ''507e Régiment de Chars de Combat'' (of Charles De Gaulle ), but the R 40 had the ER 54 installed. However, this added to the already heavy task load of the commander, who also acted as gunner and loader. RENAULT R40 AND PROJECTS In 1937 it had become obvious the original suspension system was unreliable and ineffective. After many trials it was replaced in the 1940 production run, after the 1540 vehicles had been built with the original design, by an AMX system using twelve wheels fitted with six vertical springs (AMX was the new name of the military division of Renault nationalised on of the Polish Army in France and the last two French tank battalions to be formed. It was intended to fit the R 40 with the welded FCM turret in the second half of 1940, while refitting all existing R 35's with the longer SA 38 gun and bringing R 40 production levels up to 120 per month for the duration of the war. Several projects were based on the R 35 such as a number of Fascine carriers: these had frames or other contraptions mounted over the hull or turret with a fascine in them that could be dropped to fill trenches. OPERATIONAL HISTORY The R 35 was intended to replace the FT-17 as standard light infantry tank from the summer of 1936, but even by May 1940 not enough conscripts had been retrained and therefore eight battalions of the older tank had to be kept operational. Of a total order for 2,300 at least 1,601 had been produced until June 1 , 1940 — the numbers for that month are lacking — but 245 had been exported: to Poland (50), Turkey (100), Romania (41), and Yugoslavia (54). It is likely that the tanks exported to Yugoslavia (in April 1940) are not included under the 1,601 total and that overall production was 1,685. In 1938 the Polish Army bought two R 35 tanks for testing. After a series of tests it was found that the design was completely unreliable and the Poles decided to buy the French Somua S-35 tanks instead, a proposal that was later refused by the French government. However, as the threat of war became apparent, it was decided to buy hundred tanks anyway. The first fifty (other sources lower the number to 49) arrived in Poland in July of 1939 , along with three Hotchkiss H35 tanks. Most were put into service with the Łuck -based 12th Armoured Battalion. During the Polish Defensive War 45 tanks formed the core of the newly-created 21st Light Tank Battalion that was part of the general reserve of the Commander in Chief. The unit was to defend the Romanian Bridgehead , but was divided after the Soviet invasion of Poland of September 17 . 34 tanks were withdrawn to Romania , while the remaining tanks were pressed into service with the improvised ''Dubno'' Operational Group and took part in the battles of Krasne and Kamionka Strumiłowa . Six tanks were also attached to the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade . The second shipment of R 35 did not reach Poland prior to the outbreak of WWII and was redirected to Tunisia in October. On 10th May 1940 in mainland France the R 35 equipped 21 battalions, each of 45 vehicles. This gave 945 R 35/R 40 tanks in the French front line units. Of these 900 were originally allocated at Army level in ''Groupements de Bataillons de Chars'' consisting of several battalions:
These pure tank units had no organic infantry or artillery component and thus had to cooperate with infantry divisions. However 135 (2, 24 and the new 44 BCC) were allocated on 15th May to the provisional 4th DCR (''Division Cuirassée de Réserve''). Two more new battalions, the 40th and 48th ''Batallion de Chars de Combat'', though still not having completed training, were used to reinforce 2DCR, the first equipped with fifteen R 35's and thirty R 40's, the second with 16 R 35's and 29 R40's bringing the total organic strength to 1035. In addition the 1st and 2nd Tank Battalion of the Polish 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade , at first training with FT-17's, were equipped with 17 R 35's and about 58 R 40's in late May. At the same time 1, 6, 25, 34 and 39 BCC were used to reconstitute 1DCR, 10 BCC reinforced 3DCR and 25 BCC was reconstituted with 21 R 35's and 24 R 40's. As about 300 tanks from the materiel reserve were issued to these units as well, around 800 of the 1440 available R 35's ended up in armoured divisions after all. Two R 35 battalions (63 and 68 BCC) with 45 and 50 tanks respectively were in Syria , a French Mandate Territory , and 26 were in Morocco , serving with 62 BCC. The majority (843) fell into German hands; 131 were used as such as ''Panzerkampfwagen 35R 731 (f)''; some were given to Germany's allies used by the Syria n army on the 20th May 1948 . NOTES AND REFERENCES ::Inline: ::General: EXTERNAL LINKS SEE ALSO |
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