France Renault FT 17 Char Canon BS

World War 2 Tank and Gun Database

The Renault FT 17 Char Canon BS was a Light Tank designed in 1917, manufactured by Renault, it was based on the fully tracked FT17 chassis and was in use from 1917 to 1935.

General Details (Light Tank)

Specifications
Operational Date(s)	1917 - 1935
Ordnance classification	Light Tank
Quantity Produced	40
Weight	7.2 tonne
Crew	2
M.G's small	1
M.G's large(>10mm)	n/a
Length	4.08 mtr
Width	1.74 mtr
Height	2.15 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed	5 mph
Max Cross Country Speed	3 mph
Range Road	35 miles
Range Cross Country	14 miles
Fuel Type	Petrol
Fuel Capacity	unknown
Horse Power	35 hp
Power/Weight	4 hp/tonne

General Information

The Renault FT 17 Char Canon BS was a Light Tank designed in 1917, manufactured by Renault, it was based on the fully tracked FT17 chassis and was in use from 1917 to 1935.

The vehicle was powered by Renault '4 Cylinder 35hp' petrol powerplant producing 35 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 5 mph with a range of about 35 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was poor providing a max speed of about 3 mph and a range of about 14 miles.

It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of a 75 mm Schneider BS which could penetrate 0 mm of flat plate at 100 metres

This version mounted a short barrelled 75mm gun in a seven sided riveted angular turret.

Armour Details

Turret
Front	16mm	@	13°	(16mm)
Side	16mm	@	15°	(17mm)
Rear	16mm	@	15°	(17mm)
Top	8mm	@	65°	(9mm)

Superstructure
Front	16mm	@	70°	(47mm)
Side	16mm	@	0°	(16mm)
Rear	16mm	@	0°	(16mm)
Top	6mm	@	67°	(7mm)

Hull
Front	16mm	@	29°	(18mm)
Side	16mm	@	0°	(16mm)
Rear	16mm	@	0°	(16mm)
Top	6mm	@	67°	(7mm)

Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)

Effective Armour - Maximum 47 mm - Minimum 7 mm


Weapon Details
	75 mm Schneider BS (Tank Gun)
		History
		Based on the 75 T Schneider trench mortar the Blockhaus Schneider was a modification for installation in the Schneider CA1tank.
		Manufactured	1916 - 1918
		Calibre	75mm
		Length	L/10
		Rate of Fire	4rpm

Ammunition Details
Name/Id	Calibre Weight MVelocity					Explosive Content
75mm fieldgun Mle 1897 short shell (HE High Explosive)	75mm 5.3Kg 200M/Sec					≈0.795Kg explosive
Range(Mtr)	100	200	400	800	1200	1600	2000	2400
Flight Time(Secs)	0.51	1.05	2.21	4.89	8.1	11.93	16.49	21.87
lateral dispersion means the side to side variation of the shell from the aiming point
50%(CEP) of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
80% of shells land within +/- (mtr)
95% of shells land within +/- (mtr)
range dispersion means the back to front variation of the shell from the aiming point
50%(CEP) of shells land within +/- (mtr)
80% of shells land within +/- (mtr)
95% of shells land within +/- (mtr)
Direct Fire
Range(Mtr)	100	200	400	800
Flight Time(Secs)	0.51	1.03	2.11	4.44
Hit Probability(%)	90	83	52	8
Blast/Fragmentation Effects
Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill	3 mtr	Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill						7 mtr
Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill	19 mtr	Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr						2 mm
An explosion within 3 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal.
An explosion within 7 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's.
An explosion within 19 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties.
The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 2 mm of the tank armour including the roof.

About Penetration Figures

All penetration figures in this database are calculated to a common standard based on German WWII testing criteria (complete penetration with functioning fuze). This allows direct comparison between all nations' guns.

Original national test figures would be higher for some nations due to different criteria:

German: 1.00? (baseline - strictest)
British: 1.02? (slightly looser)
American: 1.05? (50% mass through plate)
Soviet: 1.10? (75% mass through plate)

For example, a Soviet gun showing 159mm here would be published as ~175mm in Soviet documents, and a German gun showing 120mm would be published as 120mm in German documents. The 159mm figure is directly comparable to the German 120mm - the Soviet gun really was more powerful.

National Testing Standards
German:	1.00? - Complete penetration, fuze functions (strictest)
British:	1.02? - Complete penetration
American:	1.05? - 50% of shell mass through plate
Soviet:	1.10? - 75% of shell mass through plate
All database figures are normalized to German standard for direct comparison. Multiply by the factor above to see original national test figures.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.