[烛光生存狂]-【坦克装甲车系列】法国S-35坦克简介[经典已完成]

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This tanks was designed and manufactured by the Société d'Outillage Mécanique et d'Usinage d'Artillerie (SOMUA) and comes from a requirement from the French High Command in 1931. It was a tank for the cavalry, fast, well armed and well protected. It was the world first tank made of whole cast armor instead of bolted plates. It entered in service with the French army in 1935/1936 and a total of 400 Somua S35s had been produced on May 10 (including 288 in service in the 3 DLMs). Due to the French tactics at the time it was not used to its best effect. Equipped with excellent cast and sloped armor, the tank was considered hard to kill by German anti-tank gun teams as well as by German tank crews.

One other advantage was that it was able to turn on the spot because of differential steering (like on the B1bis) which allowed both tracks to go in opposite directions (without moving forward), one track was slowed down while the opposite track was accelerated.Its only but serious failing was the mono-seated turret even if actually the Somua S35's APX1CE turret is sometimes described as a "one-and-a-half-man turret", as the enlarged turret ring (CE = chemin élargi), compared to the APX4 found on the B1bis, allowed the radio operator to provide more easily assistance to the commander/gunner/reloader. This tank was the core of the tanks battalions of the DLM (Division Légère Mécanique = light mechanical divisions), what the French made the closest to the German Panzer Divisionen. The Somua carried 118 rounds for the gun (78 HE and 40 APC) and 3750 rounds (25x150 rounds drum magazines for the 7.5mm MAC31).

另外一个优点就是它能够原地转向，由于采用了像B1bis坦克那样的差动操纵系统，也就是说能够让两侧履带往相反的方向转动（不向前移动的前提下），在一侧履带减速的同时另一侧履带加速。

The Somua of the platoon commander had an ER29 radio set (weight 50 kg, range up to 5 km), the squadron commander had both ER29 and ER26ter radio sets (weight 150 kg, range up to 30 km (moving) to 60 km (station) – voice and morse key) and the commander of a group of squadrons had an ER27 radio set (weight 200 kg, range up to 50-60 km by voice and up to 30-100 km by morse key). The driver sat at left front and the radio operator/loader sat on the right slightly behind him. This position allowed him to pass ammunition to the commander/gunner.

Technically the Somua S35 is a full-tracked armored hull, with a V8 engine at rear and the fighting compartment up front (with a bulkhead/firewall between). The hull itself is made of 4 castings, bolted together :

• a two-part bottom hull, joining lengthwise

• a front upper hull over the fighting compartment, with the cast turret on top

• a rear engine hood

Turret rotation speed (electric + manual for final aiming) : 360° in 28 seconds electric rotation for the APX1 turret (12 V Ragonot electric engine). According to J.G. Jeudy in "Chars de France" more powerful electrical engines were fitted to the later Somua S35 compared to the very first models, making the Somua S35's turret to perform a 360° turn in ABOUT 20 seconds, which is not very precise. The batteries allowed the electric system to be available even with the main engine off.

Experiments went on after the tank being delivered to combat units. For instance resistance to German AT mines is tested in March 1940, with sometimes disastrous results when large charges are used. Also in March, a tank without turret is tested against 20x110mm AP shells (from the gun of a Morane-Saulnier MS.406 aircraft). 13 impacts are counted but only one shot perforated the upper hull near the turret race (the turret being absent), but this was a weak point with only 12mm armor thickness, the upper hull armor being generally 20mm thick.

The master engineer has previously worked with Skoda on sub assemblies, mainly the suspension and the 5-speed gearbox. Some parts of the Somua S35 are therefore somewhat 'related' to the Skoda LT35.

In May 1940 only three tracked vehicles were able to make a 280-300km stage without minimal maintenance: the Pz35(t), the Pz38(t) and the Somua S35 all the other German or French tanks made generally 120km - 150km stages per day or needed maintenance.

Running gear has a front idler, a rear sprocket and 4 bogies (2 wheels each) plus a 9th roller at rear, independently sprung. Suspension is provided by leaf springs on the bogies, or coil spring for the last station wheel. The upper run of track travels on 2 rollers and 2 skid rails. Mud scrappers are installed and the bogies are protected under hinged panels to keep away mud projections. They rise to do maintenance on the suspension. The track is made of 103x105mm elements.

Other 'unusual' for the time feature concerning the Somua S35 is the automatic fire extinguishing system. Made by "Telecamit", it is made of 3 pressurized tanks containing each a litre of methyl bromide. Situated between the access hatch and the firewall and near the driver, the tanks are connected to sprinklers set around "hot "spots" (carburettors, fuel dump, fuel tanks, etc.). As a plus, the 2 fuel tanks (one 100l and the other 410l) have a valve to prevent overfill (the tanks are located close to the engine, that can be hot and so set the fuel on fire).

Driving the Somua S35 is practiced as if in a car and there is even a direction wheel. With an average road speed of 35 km/h and a high range, the S35 capabilities are rated among the best at the time. It is even truer if you take into account the more than 40mm thick armor and the power of the 47mm SA35 gun allowing engaging and destroying the German tanks at 800m. But is has a defect added to the 'one and a half' man turret : a too high center of gravity and so a propensity to turn over ; a track not set high enough at the front to negotiates obstacles in rough terrains (but the cavalry doesn't care because emphasis is on protection and range). Another defect of the S35, though not particular to it, as all French tanks had the same problem, is the communication capabilities. In spite of a program dating from 1925, no radio set is installed in subaltern tanks (the ER28 is not yet released in 1940), the platoon commander had an ER29 set, the squadron commander had an ER29 and ER26ter radio set and higher echelons have a ER27. Roughly only one fifth of the Somua S35 tanks equipped with a radio set means also that the enemy could more or less easily spot the command tanks. Moreover, the radio communications were rarely used in combat ; they were in fact often forbidden because the "higher bras" was phobic of eve droppings. To cap it all, the ER29s operate on a different wavelength than the radio sets of the accompanying infantry (the "dragons portés") and artillery, supposedly meant to provide support. Also very interesting is that, according to veterans, the Somua S35 tanks from at least the 18e RD (Régiment de Dragons) had a complete intercom system.

In 1940, an improved version of the Somua S35 is tested and called Somua S40, 374 of these tanks were ordered but no one delivered to the French army. The hull is 33cm wider than the one of the S35 (lower center of gravity), the sprocket is set higher on the hull and there is a longer track work (one more wheel) to increase the cross-country capabilities. It is powered by a more powerful (219 hp) Hispano diesel engine. The S40 was to be equipped with the new ARL2C turret (welded plates and not cast due to emergency) and the new design was to be substituted to the APX1CE turret beginning August 1940.

Weight: 19.5t

Length: 5.38m

Width: 2.12m

Height: 2.62m

Crew: 3 men (Commander, driver, radio ope

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