User blog:Jaften/Sandbox/M1917 Light Tank

Summary

The M1917 Light Tank was the United States' first mass-produced tank, entering production shortly before the end of World War I. It was a license-built near-copy of the French Renault FT, and was intended to arm the American Expeditionary Forces in France, but US manufacturers failed to produce any in time to take part in the War. Of the 4,440 ordered, about 950 were eventually completed. They remained in service throughout the 1920s but did not take part in any combat, and were phased out during the 1930s.

When the United States of America joined the Allies on the battlefields of France and Belgium in WW1, in April 1917, the US Army Expeditionary Force did not possess any tanks. Their officers inspected the British and French tanks and decided the French Renault FT tank would meet their needs until more British style heavy tanks could be manufactured.

They were loaned some Renault FT tanks and a few British Mk.V tanks for the final attacks of WW1. The French factories were fully committed in producing tanks to meet the needs of the French Army. There was no spare capacity in France to build additional tanks for the US Army.

This tank should not be judged with modern eyes. Tank on tank combat was not a consideration in the design of this vehicle. The Germans only produced 20 A7V heavy tanks during WW1. These tanks were the solution to the problem of how do you cross ‘no-man’s land’ under rifle plus machine gun fire and breach the enemy’s front line of trenches. Most of the Renault FT tanks used in the war were only armed with machine guns. A few were mounted with cannons to deal with fortified bunkers and machine gun positions. They worked with machine gun armed tanks who protected them from infantry attack.

Many books and websites state that the design of the Renault FT armored fighting vehicle was the first to use a turret that traversed 360 degrees. That statement is not true. Before the war and during the early part of the war, turrets were used on armored cars. The Renault FT was the first "tank" with a turret that traversed 360 degrees to see action on the battlefield.

Description [partially] lifted from Wikipedia and Tank Encyclopedia.

Powers and Stats

Tier: 9-B with main gun, 9-C with machine guns

Name: M1917 Light Tank

Origin: Real World

Age: 1918–1932(?)

Classification: Light Tank

Length: 5 meters (16.42 feet)

Width: 1.79 meters (5.875 feet)

Height: 2.31 meters (7.58 feet)

Weight: 6.7 tonnes (7.39 tons)

Pilot(s): 2 (commander/gunner, driver)

Necessary Prerequisites: Trained crew, fuel, ammunition

In use by: American armed forces (United States Army)

Powered by: Buda HU modified 4-cylinder, 4-cycle, vertical L-band gasoline engine with forced water cooling delivering 31.32 kilowatts (42 horsepower) at 1460 revolutions per minute

Operational Timeframe: Over 5 hours 25 minutes

Terrain: Ground

Material: Rolled face-hardened steel armor, between 6.35–22mm (0.25–0.87 inch) thick

Attack Potency: Wall level firing 37mm gun (up to 159 kilojoules), Street level+ firing .30 caliber machine gun (3.39–3.68 kilojoules)

Speed: Below Average Human, 8.85 kilometers per hour (5.5 miles per hour) max speed

Striking Strength: Wall Class (An M1917 at full speed can have kinetic energy of 20 kilojoules)

Durability: At least Wall level, at most Small Building level+ in terms of total destruction (comprised of up to 6700 kilograms of low carbon medium alloy armor-grade steel with a fragmentation energy of over 531 megajoules),

Range: Operational range of 48 kilometers at 8.85 kilometers per hour (30 miles at 5.5 miles per hour) on roads; up to over 1.5 kilometers with 37mm gun, up to over 1.8 kilometers with .30 caliber machine gun

Weaknesses: Very underpowered and slow by modern standards, has very outdated hardware

Weaponry:

• 1×37mm Mle M1916 Tank Gun in turret with 238 rounds ("Male" tank only)

OR

• 1×.30 caliber Marlin M1917 Machine Gun in turret with 4200 rounds ("Female" tank only, replaced by Browning M1919 Machine Gun)

OR

• 1×.30-06 caliber (7.62×63mm) Browning M1919 Machine Gun in turret with 4200 rounds ("Female" tank only, replaced Marlin M1917 Machine Gun)

Note: Similar tanks of about the same type and period generally have performance equivalent to this one.