Renault FT-17 Tank

1. Lead

The Renault FT-17 (Char léger Renault FT) was the first modern tank in history. Built in France in 1917, it was the first tank with the layout that every tank has used ever since: a driver at the front, a rotating turret in the middle, and an engine at the rear.

It was small, light and simple, armed with a 37 mm gun or a machine gun, and crewed by only two men, and it was built in larger numbers than any other tank of the First World War: more than 3,600 were built in France, and nearly 1,000 more were built in the United States as the M1917.

The FT-17 fought in the last year of the First World War, at Soissons and in the Hundred Days Offensive, and it was used by more than twenty countries after the war, and it was still fighting in the Second World War, in Poland, in France and in Finland, more than twenty years after it was built.

The FT-17’s importance cannot be overstated. Before the FT-17, tanks were large, rhomboid machines, like the British Mark I tank and Mark IV tank, with their guns in sponsons on the sides and their crews of eight men, and they were slow, unreliable and difficult to drive.

The FT-17 changed all that: it was small, it was fast for its time, it was easy to drive, and it had a turret that could rotate through 360 degrees, which allowed the gunner to engage targets in any direction.

Every tank built since the FT-17 — from the M3 Stuart tank to the Tiger I and to the tanks of today — has used the FT-17’s layout, and the FT-17 is rightly called the first modern tank.

2. Key Facts

Type	Light tank (the first modern tank)
Origin	France
Designers	Louis Renault; Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier
Manufacturers	Renault; Berliet; SOMUA; Delaunay-Belleville; others
In service	1918–1940s (France and many other armies)
Produced	1917–1919; about 3,694 built in France; about 950 M1917 built in the US
Weight	About 6.5 tonnes
Length	5.00 m (with tail); 4.10 m (without tail)
Width	1.74 m
Height	2.14 m
Crew	2 (commander/gunner, driver)
Armour	8–22 mm
Main armament	37 mm Puteaux SA18 gun (FT-17 canon) or 8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun (FT-17 mitrailleuse)
Engine	Renault four-cylinder petrol, 39 hp
Top speed	About 7.7 km/h on level ground
Range	About 60 km

3. Background and Development

The idea of a small tank

Renault’s proposal

The FT-17 was born of the idea that a tank did not need to be large. In 1916, when the British Mark I tank first fought at Flers-Courcelette, the French Army was building its own large tanks, the Schneider CA1 and the Saint-Chamond, which were large, slow and unreliable, and which were armed with guns in the hull.

Louis Renault, the founder of the Renault motor company, believed that a small, light tank, armed with a gun in a rotating turret, would be more useful than a large tank, and he proposed the FT-17 to the French Army in 1916.

The French Army was sceptical at first, because it believed that a small tank could not cross trenches, but Renault persuaded the Army to order a prototype, and the prototype, which was ready in 1917, proved that a small tank could cross trenches, crush wire and carry a gun into the enemy’s lines.

A revolutionary design

The FT-17 was designed by Louis Renault and by Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier, and it was a revolutionary design. It was the first tank with a rotating turret, which was mounted in the middle of the vehicle and which could rotate through 360 degrees, and it was the first tank with the driver at the front and the engine at the rear, which became the standard layout for tanks.

The FT-17 was also the first tank to be built in large numbers, with more than 3,600 built in France, and it was the first tank to be exported in large numbers, with more than twenty countries using it after the war.

The FT-17’s design was so successful that it was copied by other countries, including the United States, which built the M1917, and the Soviet Union, which built the MS-1, and Italy, which built the Fiat 3000. The FT-17’s layout was so influential that it is still the standard for tanks more than a hundred years later, and it is taught in every course on tank design.

The rotating turret

The FT-17’s rotating turret was its most important innovation, and it changed tank design forever. Before the FT-17, tanks had their guns in sponsons on the sides of the vehicle, like the British Mark I, or in the hull, like the French Schneider, and they could only fire to the sides or to the front.

The FT-17’s turret, which was a small, octagonal turret, could rotate through 360 degrees, and it allowed the gunner to engage targets in any direction, without turning the whole vehicle. The turret was operated by the commander, who also served as the gunner, and who had to load, aim and fire the gun himself, which was a burden, but which was accepted because the turret was so small and because the tank’s crew was only two men.

The rotating turret became the standard for tanks, and it is still the standard today, with the commander, the gunner and the loader working together in the turret.

Production in large numbers

The FT-17 was built in large numbers, and it was the first tank to be built in mass production. About 3,694 FT-17s were built in France between 1917 and 1919, by Renault, Berliet, SOMUA, Delaunay-Belleville and other firms, and about 950 M1917s were built in the United States by Ford and by other firms, making a total of more than 4,600 FT-17s and M1917s.

The FT-17’s production was a remarkable achievement, given the state of French industry in 1917 and 1918, when the factories were working day and night to produce tanks, guns and ammunition for the war, and when materials and labour were in short supply.

The FT-17 was built in two versions: the FT-17 canon, armed with the 37 mm Puteaux gun, and the FT-17 mitrailleuse, armed with the 8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun, and both versions were built in large numbers, and both fought in the First World War.

4. Design

The layout: driver, turret, engine

The FT-17’s layout was its most important innovation, and it became the standard for tanks. The driver sat at the front of the hull, with a good view of the ground ahead, and the engine was at the rear, where it was accessible from the rear and where it did not fill the fighting compartment with heat and fumes, as it did in the British Mark I.

The turret was in the middle of the vehicle, and it could rotate through 360 degrees, and it housed the commander, who also served as the gunner, and the 37 mm gun or the machine gun. The FT-17’s layout was simple, logical and easy to produce, and it was copied by every country that built tanks after the First World War, and it is still the layout of tanks today, with the driver at the front, the turret in the middle and the engine at the rear, although the crew is now larger and the turret is now manned by two or three men.

Armour and armament

The FT-17’s armour was thin by any later standard: 22 mm on the front, 16 mm on the sides and 8 mm on the rear and on the roof. It was enough to stop rifle bullets and machine-gun fire, which was the main threat on the Western Front, but it was not enough to stop the German armour-piercing rifle bullet, and it was certainly not enough to stop German artillery.

The FT-17’s armament was either the 37 mm Puteaux SA18 gun, which fired a high-explosive shell against infantry and an armour-piercing shell against strongpoints, or the 8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun, which fired against infantry and was effective at close range.

The 37 mm gun could penetrate about 20 mm of armour at 500 metres, which was enough to destroy German machine-gun posts and strongpoints, but not enough to destroy German tanks, of which there were very few, and the FT-17 was not designed to fight other tanks: it was designed to support the infantry.

The crew of two and the Renault engine

The FT-17’s crew was only two men: the driver, who sat at the front of the hull, and the commander, who sat in the turret and who also served as the gunner. The commander had to command the tank, to spot the targets, to load, aim and fire the gun, and to communicate with the infantry, which was a heavy burden, and which reduced the tank’s effectiveness in combat, although it was accepted because the tank was so small and because the crew could not be larger.

The FT-17 was powered by a Renault four-cylinder petrol engine of 39 horsepower, which was mounted at the rear of the vehicle, and which gave it a top speed of about 7.7 km/h on level ground, and a range of about 60 km.

The engine was reliable and easy to maintain, and it was one of the reasons why the FT-17 was built in such large numbers, and why it remained in service for so long.

5. Variants

Variant	Years	Key features	Production
FT-17 canon	1917–1919	37 mm Puteaux SA18 gun	About 1,850
FT-17 mitrailleuse	1917–1919	8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun	About 1,850
FT-17 TSF	1918	Radio tank; no gun	Small numbers
FT-17 with 75 mm gun	1918	Experimental; 75 mm gun	1 (experimental)
M1917 (US)	1918–1919	American copy; 37 mm gun or machine gun	About 950
Renault FT-31 / FT-18	1930s	Modernised; Reibel machine gun	Conversions

Canon and mitrailleuse

The FT-17 was built in two main versions, and the difference between them was their armament. The FT-17 canon was armed with the 37 mm Puteaux SA18 gun, and it was intended to destroy German machine-gun posts, strongpoints and field guns, and about 1,850 were built.

The FT-17 mitrailleuse was armed with the 8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun, and it was intended to protect the canon version from German infantry, and to sweep the German trenches with fire, and about 1,850 were built. The two versions were meant to fight together, in pairs, with the mitrailleuse covering the canon while the canon destroyed the German defences, although in practice the two versions were often used interchangeably, and the distinction was less important than it had been for the British Male and Female tanks.

The FT-17’s two versions show how the French Army thought about the tank: as a weapon to support the infantry, not as a weapon to fight other tanks.

The M1917 and the modernised FT-31

The FT-17 was copied by the United States, which built the M1917, an American version of the FT-17, with about 950 built by Ford and by other firms. The M1917 was armed with the 37 mm gun or with the machine gun, and it was used by the American Army after the war, although it arrived too late to fight in the First World War, and it was used for training and for trials.

The FT-17 was also modernised in the 1930s, as the FT-31 and the FT-18, with a new machine gun, the Reibel, and with a more powerful engine, but the modernisation was limited, and the FT-17 remained an obsolete tank, and it was still in service in 1940, when it fought the German Army in the Battle of France.

The M1917 and the FT-31 show how long the FT-17 remained in service, and how its design, which was revolutionary in 1917, was still in use more than twenty years later, even though it was obsolete.

6. Operational History

First combat: Ploisy, 31 May 1918

The FT-17 first saw action on 31 May 1918, at Ploisy, near Soissons, where it supported the French infantry in an attack on the German lines. The FT-17s, which were used in small numbers at Ploisy, helped the French to capture the German positions, and they showed that the small tank could be used in conjunction with the infantry, and that it could cross trenches and crush wire, and that it was a useful weapon.

The FT-17’s first battles were small, but they were important, because they showed that the FT-17 worked, and that it could be built in large numbers and used in large numbers, and the French Army ordered more FT-17s, and they were delivered in time for the great offensives of the summer of 1918, where the FT-17 played a much larger role.

The FT-17’s crews, who had been trained at Champlieu, learned quickly, and they returned from Ploisy with lessons that made the tank more effective in the battles that followed.

Soissons and the Hundred Days, 1918

At Soissons in July 1918, the FT-17 fought in the great French counter-offensive that began the Hundred Days Offensive, and it was used in large numbers, with hundreds of FT-17s supporting the French and American infantry. The FT-17s broke through the German lines, and they advanced with the infantry, capturing German guns, prisoners and supplies, and they helped the French to win the battle of Soissons, which was a turning point in the war.

After Soissons, the FT-17 fought in the Hundred Days Offensive, in the battles that pushed the German Army back across France, and it was used in every major attack of the summer and autumn of 1918, and it helped the Allies to break through the Hindenburg Line and to advance to the Armistice in November 1918.

The FT-17’s success in 1918 was the result of its large numbers and of its simplicity, and it was the tank that the French Army used most often in the last months of the war.

The FT-17 in the interwar years

After the First World War, the FT-17 was used by more than twenty countries, and it became the most widely used tank in the world. It was used by Poland, which used it in the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, and by Finland, which used it in the Winter War of 1939–1940, and by Yugoslavia, Romania, China, Brazil and many other countries, which used it for training and for internal security.

The FT-17’s wide use after the war is evidence of its importance, and of the fact that it was the first modern tank, and that it was a design that other countries wanted to copy, even if they did not build it in large numbers.

The FT-17 remained in service in many countries into the 1930s, when it was replaced by more modern tanks, but it was still in service in 1939, when the Second World War began, and it fought in Poland, in France and in Finland.

The Second World War, 1939–1940

In the Second World War, the FT-17 fought in Poland in September 1939, where it was used by the Polish Army against the German invasion, and where it was destroyed in large numbers, and in France in May and June 1940, where it was used by the French Army against the German Blitzkrieg, and where it was also destroyed in large numbers.

The FT-17 was obsolete by 1939, and its 37 mm gun could not penetrate the Panzer III’s armour, and its own armour could not stop the Panzer III’s 37 mm gun, and it was no match for the German tanks.

The FT-17’s last battles were fought in Finland in the Winter War, where it was used by the Finnish Army against the Soviet invasion, and where it fought in the snow and in the forests, and where it was destroyed by Soviet tanks and by Soviet artillery.

The FT-17’s service in the Second World War showed that a tank that was revolutionary in 1917 could be obsolete in 1939, and that tank design had moved on, although the FT-17’s layout remained the standard.

7. Performance and Specifications

Specification	Renault FT-17 (canon)
Main gun	37 mm Puteaux SA18
Armour penetration (AP)	About 20 mm at 500 m
Armour (front)	22 mm
Armour (side)	16 mm
Armour (rear)	8 mm
Weight	About 6.5 tonnes
Engine	Renault, 39 hp
Power-to-weight	About 6 hp per tonne
Top speed (road)	About 7.7 km/h
Range (road)	About 60 km
Fuel capacity	95 litres
Crew	2
Number built	About 3,694 (France); about 950 M1917 (US)

Firepower and protection

The FT-17’s firepower was limited, but it was adequate for its role as an infantry support tank. Its 37 mm gun could penetrate about 20 mm of armour at 500 metres, which was enough to destroy German machine-gun posts and strongpoints, but not enough to destroy German tanks, of which there were very few in the First World War, and it fired a high-explosive shell against infantry and an armour-piercing shell against strongpoints.

The FT-17’s protection was also limited: its armour, at most 22 mm thick, was enough to stop rifle bullets and machine-gun fire, but not enough to stop the German armour-piercing rifle bullet, and it was certainly not enough to stop German artillery.

The FT-17’s real protection was its small size: it was difficult to see and difficult to hit, and it could use the ground to hide, and it could avoid being hit, which was the light tank’s doctrine, and which was the reason why the FT-17 was designed to be small rather than well armoured.

Mobility and comparison with the Mark IV

The FT-17’s mobility was good for its time, and it was one of its strengths. With a top speed of about 7.7 km/h on level ground, it was faster than the British Mark IV tank, which could reach only 6 km/h, and it was the fastest tank of the First World War after the Whippet, which could reach 13 km/h.

Its Renault engine, which produced 39 horsepower, was reliable and easy to maintain, and its light weight, about 6.5 tonnes against the Mark IV’s 28 tonnes, allowed it to cross bridges that the Mark IV could not cross, and to move across ground that the Mark IV could not cross.

Compared with the Mark IV, the FT-17 was faster, lighter and more agile, but it was less well armed and less well protected, and it was designed for a different role: infantry support, rather than breakthrough. The FT-17’s speed and its small size made it an excellent infantry support tank, and it was used for that role for the rest of the war.

8. Operators

France: the first user

The FT-17 was used by France, and it was the standard light tank of the French Army in 1918 and in the interwar period. The French Army, which had ordered the FT-17 in 1917, used it in the last year of the First World War, at Soissons and in the Hundred Days Offensive, and it became the most important tank in the French Army, and it remained in service until 1940, when it fought the German Army in the Battle of France.

The FT-17’s crews were volunteers, and they learned to drive, to maintain and to fight in the tank, and to use it in conjunction with the infantry, and they developed the tactics that the French Army used for the rest of the war.

The FT-17 remained the standard light tank of the French Army until it was replaced by the Hotchkiss H35 and by the Renault R35 in the 1930s, although it was still in service in 1940, when it fought the German Blitzkrieg.

More than twenty countries

After the First World War, the FT-17 was used by more than twenty countries, and it became the most widely used tank in the world. It was used by Poland, which used it in the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, and by Finland, which used it in the Winter War of 1939–1940, and by Yugoslavia, Romania, China, Brazil, Spain, Turkey, Afghanistan and many other countries, which used it for training, for internal security and for combat.

The FT-17’s wide use after the war is evidence of its importance, and of the fact that it was the first modern tank, and that it was a design that other countries wanted to copy, even if they did not build it in large numbers.

The FT-17 remained in service in many countries into the 1930s and 1940s, when it was replaced by more modern tanks, but it was still in service in 1939, when the Second World War began, and it fought in Poland, in France and in Finland.

9. Legacy and Influence

The first modern tank

The FT-17’s legacy is that it was the first modern tank, and that its layout — driver at the front, rotating turret in the middle, engine at the rear — became the standard for every tank built since. Every tank built after the FT-17, from the M3 Stuart tank to the Tiger I and to the tanks of today, has used the FT-17’s layout, and the FT-17’s rotating turret, which was its most important innovation, is still the standard today.

The FT-17 also showed that a tank could be small, light and simple, and that it could be built in large numbers, and that it could be used by many countries, and that it could remain in service for decades.

The FT-17’s design influenced the tanks of every country, including the United States, which built the M1917, and the Soviet Union, which built the MS-1, and Italy, which built the Fiat 3000, and it is still studied by military historians and by tank designers today.

The FT-17 in history and memory

The FT-17 is remembered today as the first modern tank, and as the tank that changed tank design forever. Its rotating turret, which was its most important innovation, has made it one of the most famous tanks in history, and it is a popular subject for modellers and for historians, who study its design and its combat record.

The FT-17 is also remembered as the most widely used tank of the First World War, and as the tank that fought in more countries than any other tank, and as the tank that was still fighting in the Second World War, more than twenty years after it was built.

The FT-17’s name, which was taken from the Renault factory, has become one of the most famous names in tank history, and it is still used today by historians and by modellers, and by the French Army, which named its new light tank the Jaguar, after the FT-17’s successor, the AMX-13.

10. Surviving Examples

Museums in France and around the world

Many FT-17s survive, more than almost any other tank of the First World War, because so many were built and because so many were exported. In France, the Musée des Blindés at Saumur holds several FT-17s, and the Musée de l’Armée in Paris holds an FT-17, and the Tank Museum at Bovington in England holds an FT-17, and the U.S.

Army Armor and Cavalry Collection at Fort Benning, Georgia, holds an M1917, and the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, holds an FT-17. In Poland, the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw holds an FT-17, which was used in the Polish-Soviet War, and in Finland, the Parola Tank Museum holds an FT-17, which was used in the Winter War.

The FT-17’s survival in so many places is evidence of its importance, and of the fact that it was the first modern tank, and that it was used by more countries than any other tank of the First World War.

Running FT-17s today

Many surviving FT-17s are in running order, and they are a familiar sight at military vehicle rallies and at re-enactment events, where their small size and their light weight make them popular with their owners. The FT-17’s small size and its light weight make it one of the easiest First World War tanks to own and to maintain, and it is one of the most common First World War tanks in private collections, and it is often used in films and in television programmes about the First World War, where it stands in for the tanks of 1918.

The FT-17’s Renault engine, which is simple and reliable, is easy to maintain, and many FT-17s have been restored to running order by their owners, and they are driven at rallies and at commemorative events, where visitors can see the first modern tank in action, more than a hundred years after it was built.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Renault FT-17?
The Renault FT-17 was a French light tank of 1918, the first modern tank, with a rotating turret, a driver at the front and an engine at the rear. About 3,694 were built in France, and about 950 M1917s were built in the United States.

Why is the FT-17 called the first modern tank?
The FT-17 was the first tank with the layout every tank has used since: driver at the front, rotating turret in the middle, engine at the rear. Before the FT-17, tanks had their guns in sponsons and no rotating turret.

How many FT-17 tanks were built?
About 3,694 FT-17s were built in France between 1917 and 1919, and about 950 M1917s were built in the United States, making a total of more than 4,600.

What gun did the FT-17 have?
The FT-17 canon had the 37 mm Puteaux SA18 gun, and the FT-17 mitrailleuse had the 8 mm Hotchkiss machine gun. The commander served as the gunner and had to load, aim and fire the gun himself.

Where did the FT-17 fight?
The FT-17 fought at Ploisy and Soissons in 1918, in the Hundred Days Offensive, in the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, in Poland and France in 1939–1940, and in Finland in the Winter War.

Where can I see an FT-17 today?
FT-17s survive at the Musée des Blindés at Saumur, France, at the Tank Museum in Bovington, England, at Fort Benning in the United States, at the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw and at the Parola Tank Museum in Finland.

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Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Renault FT” — production of about 3,694, specifications, variants and service history.
2. The Tank Museum, Bovington, “Renault FT-17” — the rotating turret, the first modern tank and the surviving example.
3. Steven J. Zaloga, French Tanks of World War I (Osprey Publishing, 2010) — development, production and combat record.
4. David Fletcher, British Mark IV Tank (Osprey Publishing, 2007) — the FT-17 and the first modern tank.
5. Spencer Tucker, Tanks: An Illustrated History (ABC-CLIO, 2004) — the FT-17 and its influence.
6. Tank Encyclopedia, “Renault FT-17” — specifications, operators and surviving examples.