Char B1

The Char B1 was a French heavy tank built in the 30s, the Char B1 was immune to almost all Anti-tank rifles used by the Nazis during the start of the World War II but it was slow and had only one crewman that had to shoot and drive the tank at the same time. Less than 400 of these tanks were built until the German invasion.

Description
The Char B1 prototype heavy tanks were built in 1930s to experiment with heavy break-through specialist vehicles. After altering the design based on the experiences with the two prototypes, the Char B1 design was completed, and on 6 Apr 1934 an order for seven units was issued. They were extremely costly to build; each unit cost about 1.5 million Francs, but the price was justified to some of the French military leaders for the tanks' purpose. Well-armed and well-armored, these tanks were meant to be used well on the front to very quickly and very decisively punch a hole in the enemy's defensive line, although the high fuel consumption seemed to partially make them ill-suited for that purpose. Another potential drawback of the design was that the commander of each tank was also expected to be the loader and gunner of the main gun, thus potentially overwhelming the commander in combat situations. Several French firms were given contracts to build the Char B1 heavy tanks, including Renault, AMX, FCM, FAMH, and Schneider.

In the late 1930s, the Char B1 bis variant design was completed which carried thicker armor and new primary armament, improving the design's anti-tank capabilities. Between 8 Apr 1937 and Jun 1940, 369 Char B1 bis heavy tanks were delivered out of the order of 1,144 units; 129 were delivered by the eve of the European War.

The Char B1 ter variant design was drawn up and planned to be in production in the summer of 1940. These tanks have thicker sloped armor and upgraded engine, but they never entered production before the German invasion of France.

At the eve of the invasion, Char B1 heavy tanks were in service with the French 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions Cuirassées de Réserve; the 1st DCR and 2nd DCR each fielded 69 of these tanks, and the 3rd DCR had 68. After the invasion began, the 4th DCR was formed with 56 Char B1 tanks (12 original type, 44 bis type). A significant portion of them were lost during German artillery bombardments or to anti-tank guns, but they put up a strong mobile defense against German tanks. In one instance on 16 May, a Char B1 heavy tank single-handedly destroyed 13 German tanks from an ambushed position while taking 140 hits and survived the engagement. After the fall of France, 161 of them were captured by German forces. They were put into German service; 85 as tanks under the designation Panzerkampfwagen B-2 740 (f), 60 as converted flamethrowers under the designation Flammwagen auf Panzerkampfwagen B-2 (f), and 16 converted to self-propelled artillery. The captured units largely served in training roles or on secondary fronts.

Variants

 * B1 - first production version, with 40mm armor and a APX-1 turret gun with a SA34 250 hp Renault engine. Serial numbers between 101 and 135, 35 units made.B1_bis_Stonne.jpg at the Battle of Stonne and being exposed at Stonne where this battle ocurred.]]
 * B1 bis - second production version, armor increased to 60 mm forward and 55 mm on the sides, turret APX-4, SA35 barrel, 300 hp Renault engine. Serial numbers between 201 and 856, according to different manufacturers, 369 units made.
 * B1 b - third version with the production should have started in the summer of 1940, had a 75 mm gun with a pointing azimuth of 10 °, 70 mm armor sloping sides, tank capacities increased, driven turret Fives-Lille electrically with a double raceway, 4 units made.
 * B2 and B3 - projects 50 mm armored car, abandoned due to a weight of about 45 tons.
 * B40 - A improved Char B1, with a frontal armor increased to 80 mm

Specifications

 * Crew: 4 (that served as commander, gunner, loader, driver and radio operator at the same time)
 * Weight: 32 tons.
 * Length: 6.52 m
 * Width: 2.5 m
 * Height: 2.79 m
 * Engine: Renault, 6-cylinder, gasoline (307 hp)
 * Speed: 28.2 km / h (road) and 9.9 km / h (off road)
 * Operational Range: 150 km
 * Main Armament: Cannon mm/L32 47 (tower)
 * Secondary Weapon: Cannon mm/L17 75 (hull) and a 7.5 mm machine gun
 * Ammunition: 50 rounds of 47 mm (AP and HE), 74 75 mm projectiles (HE) and 5100 of 7.5 mm
 * Shield of the Old: 40-60 mm (front), 55 mm (sides and reverse), 14-27 mm (top) and 22 mm (bottom)
 * Tower Shielding: 55 mm (front), 45 mm (sides and aft) and 28 mm (top)