Although the British were the first to introduce somewhat effective tanks in high numbers on the battlefields of the First World War, they were not the only country to build early tanks. In addition to early German “landship” type tank-like vehicles, the French too pressed several early tank designs into service. One of the French prototypes used American technology in its design — but was overall a terrible tank. Meet the Saint-Chamond tank, one of the worst tanks of World War One.

The Saint-Chamond was in some ways a direct competitor to the Schneider CA1, France’s first tank. Competition between the two design teams resulted in a Saint-Chamond that was both larger than the Schneider and housed a more powerful main gun, upstaging the Schneider tank in terms of both size and firepower.

Like many tanks of the World War One era, the Saint-Chamond packed four machine guns as well as a heavy main gun into what was essentially an armored steel box, with the main gun protruding from the tank’s nose. The 75mm main gun had limited traverse: to aim the gun more effectively, the driver would rotate the entire tank to give the gunner a better angle on target. Next to the tank front, to the right of the main gun, a gunner operated a Hotchkiss machine gun and also doubled as the main gun’s breech operator.

Despite the Saint-Chamond’s large size, space inside was cramped due in part to the tank's whopping 8 crew members: four machine gunners, one mechanic, a commander/driver, gunner/loader, and assistant gunner, as well as what was essentially a full-sized field gun inside the Saint-Chamond tank.

The Saint-Chamond was not small, tipping the scales at about 23 tons. Despite its large size, however, it was relatively nimble on flat, paved surfaces and could chug along at speeds up to about 7.5 miles per hour. But on uneven battlefield terrain, the Saint-Chamond was absolutely terrible. This video shows the last Saint-Chamond in motion and gives a good sense of its speed and size.

The Saint-Chamond used American-designed caterpillar tracks that were originally intended for use on tractor farm equipment. By housing 8 crewmembers as well as a large field gun, the Saint-Chamond’s hull had to be extended, much longer than the length of the caterpillar tracks. 

This gave the Saint-Chamond a very long forward overhang that greatly reduced its off-road capabilities, as the tank’s nose was very prone to driving into the earth. When crossing wide trenches or larger craters, the Saint-Chamond would often become stuck. Additionally, the tank’s comparatively small tracks had to bear the weight of a vehicle that was much heavier than what the tracks were designed for and were prone to damage or derailment.

The Saint-Chamond was in short, not a great tank, though in fairness most of the tanks of that era were not quite the formidable armored vehicles they would become. Still, over flat terrain against immobile targets like enemy field guns, the French tank could be useful. Despite being one of the worst tanks of the war, the Saint-Chamond makes for an interesting piece of World War One history.

Caleb Larson is a Defense Writer with The National Interest. He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture.

Image: Wikimedia