US Tank M1917

Ensimmäinen sarjavalmisteinen tankki yhdysvalloissa oli M1917 jonka valmistus ehdittiin aloittaa hieman ennen kuin WW-Iehti loppua. Vaunu oli kopio Renault Ft tankista, ja tarkoitus oli valmistaa näitä vaunuja ranskassa oleville joukoille, jotka jo käyttivät vähäisessä määrin ranskalaisten valmistamia Renaut Ft panssarivaunuja.

Valmistus aloitettiin yhteistyössä ranskalaisten kanssa, koska ranskan oma tuotanto ei riittänyt kattamaan yhdysvaltojen haluamia Renault FT vaunuja, niiden kysyntää ja tarvetta WW-I rintamalla.

                    

Vaunuja tilattiin 4440 kpl mutta vain 950 ehdittiin valmistaa ennen kuin sota päättyi.

Yhdysvaltain armeija käytti 1920 luvun ajan näitä vaunuja, mutta taisteluihin ne eivät osallistuneet ja vaunut poistettiin vähitellen käytöstä vuoden 1930 alkuun mennessä.
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The M1917 was the USA's first mass-produced tank, entering production shortly before the end of World War I.[2] 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

A joint Anglo-American programme was set up to develop a new type of heavy tank similar to those then in use by the British. It was, though, expected that sizeable quantities would not be available until April of the following year. Because of the wartime demands on French industry, the Inter-Allied Tank Commission decided that the quickest way to supply the American forces with sufficient armour was to manufacture the Renault FT light tank in the USA.
                     
                            

A requirement of 1,200 was decided, later increased to 4,400, and some sample Renault tanks, plans, and various parts were sent to the US for study. The design was to be carried out by the Ordnance Department, under the job title "Six-ton Special Tractor," and orders for the vehicles placed with private manufacturers. 

However, the project was beset by problems: the French specifications were metric and incompatible with American (imperial) machinery; coordination between military departments, suppliers, and manufacturers was poor; bureaucratic inertia, lack of cooperation from military departments, and possible vested interests delayed progress.
                     
                                                                   Light tank M1917
Place of origin: United States
Specifications
Weight: 7.25 tons
Length: 16'5"
Width: 5'10 1/2 "
Height: 7'7"
Crew: 2
Armor: 0.25" to 0.6"
Armament: 37mm M1916 gun or Marlin M1917, later M1919 Browning machine gun

Engine: Buda HU modified 4-cylinder, 42 hp, with forced water cooling
Transmission: sliding gear, 4 speed forward, 1 reverse
Suspension: Coil and leaf springs, with bogies and rollers.
Fuel capacity :30 gallons (30 miles on the road)
Operational range: 48 km (30 miles) on road.
Speed: 8 km/h (5.5 mph)

The Army in France was expecting the first 300 M1917s by April, 1918. In the event, production did not begin until the autumn, and the first completed vehicles emerged only in October. Two tanks arrived in France on November 20, nine days after the end of hostilities, and a further eight in December. In the summer of 1918, with no sign of the M1917s and US troops desperately needed at the Front, France supplied 144 Renault FTs, which were used to equip the US Light Tank Brigade.
                   

After the war, the Van Dorn Iron Works, the Maxwell Motor Co., and the C.L. Best Co. built 950 M1917s. 374 had cannons, 526 had machine guns, and 50 were signal (wireless) tanks. These were delivered to the Tank Corps, to complement about 200 Renault FTs brought back from France.