The French FT-17: A Tank of All Trades

On May 31, 1918 the Renault FT-17 (officially called simply the "FT Char") rolled onto the battlefield to slow the renewed German advance on Paris. It was not the first time a tank was used in the First World War, but it was the first tank design with such a long-lasting, popular design. This French tank was small compared to some of the other tanks to cross the trench scarred battlefields of the Western Front, but it was mighty. Some examples captured from the French saw service with the Nazi army to the end of the Second World War. A multitude of countries made copies due to its versatility, produced independently by the United States, Spain, Italy, and the Soviet Union.

French production began in 1917. The tank weighed six and a half tons (6.5) and could carry a turret that mounted either a machine gun or small cannon. The first production models carried a cast steel turret that could only accommodate a Hotchkiss light machine gun. Later innovations in the turret, primarily one created from riveted steel plates allowed room for a 37mm gun, or cannon to be mounted, giving this tank more of a "punch" on the battlefield. Even later innovations allowed a cast turret with a large enough interior to house either a machine gun or a cannon, and this was known as an omnibus design. The FT-17 tank was also the first armored fighting vehicle in the world to have a turret that could rotate 360 degrees with ease on a ball-bearing bed. Incidentally, FT-17 doesn't stand for French Tank 1917, or low tonnage, small size or trench crosser...it's simply an internal Renault production code, a code that was available for use when production began...FT-Char (tank), nothing more...

The FT-Char 17, along with copies produced by Italy, Russia, Spain, Japan and the United States, is perhaps the most internationally used armored vehicle in history. It saw almost continuous use from its debut in 1918, to a single operational Afghani FT-17 in the 1980s.

Afghanistan

When Poland went to war against Red Army forces in 1918, France provided them 120 FT-17 tanks to fight the Soviets. The Russian Red Army captured around 20, incorporating them into their new tank corps and using the FT-17 as a model for their own design and production. Subsequently, the Soviet Union ended up gifting a small number of these captured French tanks in 1923 to Afghan Emir, Amanora Khan, a present in gratitude for Afghani recognition of the USSR. They remained through the Russian occupation of 1979-1989, and were still there when the United States occupied the country in 2001. Four tanks FT-17 tanks were left. One remains in the country, one was gifted to Poland in 2012, and two, found in a junkyard, were given and flown to the United States where they have been restored and put on display.

Belgium

The Belgians purchased and received 75 FT-17 tanks, both machine gun and cannon mounted versions. While a good portion were still in existence in 1940, they remained in storage and did not see any military action against the Nazi invasion in WWII.

Brazil

Brazil received 12, 4 armed with the Hotchkiss machine gun, 7 with the 37mm Puteaux cannon, and one TSF radio tank. These were used in the San Paolo rebellions of 1924 and 1932.

Renault FT-17 FST Radio or Command Tank

Czechoslovakia

Seven FT-17 tanks were purchased by Czechoslovakia between 1921 and 1923. They remained in service until 1933.

China

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Between 1917 and 1918 Italy received five FT-17 tanks from the French, one 37mm cannon mounted version and three of the Hotchkiss machine gun mounted versions. The Mle.1914 Hotchkiss machine guns were quickly replaced with Italian ones. These tanks were evaluated and produced by the Italians as the Fiat 3000 light tank due to the French being unable to fill Italy's large orders.

Fiat 3000

Iran

A shipment of some FT-17 tanks were ordered from France and received by Iran in 1924. Another 100 FT Renault tanks were ordered, and might have been delivered in 1937-1938. These were probably the later updated version of the FT-17, the FT-31. For all intents and purposes, the outward appearance remained the same, with some updated modifications. Essentially, it was woefully outdated by the 1930s, but still saw service.

Renault FT-31

Japan

Japan purchased 13 FT-17 tanks in 1919 and they were renamed Ko-Gata, Japanese for "Model A". These tanks first saw combat in 1932 at Harbin, Manchuria.

Vichy

A number of FT-17 tanks saw service with Vichy French forces in Lebanon and Syria during the Second World War.

Vichy Renault FT used by the French against the British in Syria/Lebanon, 1941

Vichy French FT-17 tanks in Indochina (Vietnam)

Lithuania

Twelve FT-17 tanks were purchased from France in 1923. They were armed with a British Vickers machine gun in the turret instead of a French Hotchkiss. They served until the late 1930s.

Netherlands

One FT-17 tank was purchased by the Dutch Army in 1927 for evaluation and testing.

Philippines

One FT-17 tank was provided by the United States to the the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The tank was active between 1936 and 1940, used for training purposes.

Poland

Romania

Spain

Nationalist Forces

Sweden

One tank was purchased for testing in 1923. In 1924 it was converted to a radio tank by attaching a log bamboo pole as an antenna, and in 1926 it was used for target practice and destroyed. The Swedes were not impressed...