In Their Words

FT-17 Renault Light Tank

Three years of bloody combat had gained neither side an advantage by the time of America’s entry into World War I. Advances in technology had produced deadly varieties of machine guns and other small arms that easily cut down fields of men within seconds. Soldiers on both sides had dug into the ground for protection and fought the war to a stalemate. In response, a solution was devised during the last years of the war to break out of the trenches and bring mobility back to the conflict. That solution was the tank.

Among the first tanks produced, the French FT-17s (or “baby-tanks” as they were often called) provided armored mobility on the battlefields of Europe. Although crude compared to modern tanks, the FT-17 and other early tanks signaled a beginning to a new form of military technology that would not only be highly valuable. but also one that would persist through every major war of the past century. The concept espoused by the FT-17 was simple: provide soldiers with a way to move about the battlefield fully protected from small arms fire, while being able to return fire without risk of injury.

Designed by French car producer Louis Renault, production of FT-17s began in 1916 in hopes of creating a ‘light tank’ more maneuverable than existing models. Weighing in at 6.5 tons and utilizing a 39 horsepower engine, the FT-17 could attain a high speed of 7km/h. The tank’s armor was thick enough to withstand nearly all small arms fire, though a direct hit from an anti-tank weapon or artillery shell would knock the tank out of commission. In order to fight back, the FT-17 could be equipped with either a 37 mm gun or a 7.92mm machine gun, depending on battlefield conditions.

The American M1917 Light Tank

The M1917’s design was inspired by the French FT-17. Due to its late arrival in Europe, it never saw action during WWI, but acted as the standard US Army light tank until it was phased out in 1931.

On display in the tank park of the First Division Museum at Cantigny.

Photographs from the Archives of The Colonel Robert R. McCormick Research Center

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