page_title: Saint-Chamond (tank)
section_title: Surviving example
hierarchical_section_title: Saint-Chamond (tank) / Surviving example
caption_attribution_description: Genuine W1 French Heavy Tank The Saint Chamond was the second French tank to enter service, but despite a large production run of some 400 between April 1917 and July 1918 it was not entirely successful. Its main armament was a 75mm gun in the nose. The extended nose, added to the small size of the tracks, would lead to considerable problems with crossing trenches. The crew of eight also manned the four machine guns fitted around the machine. They served until the end of the war in a number of roles until replaced in French service by newer British designs. This is the sole surviving example. For many years it was part of the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Ordnance Museum in Maryland, United States, but it was gifted back to France in 1987 and is now preserved by the Musée des Blindés at Saumur. It was recently restored to running condition and is seen taking part in ‘TankFest 2017’ to celebrate 100 years since the type originally entered service. ‘The Tank Museum’, Bovington Camp, Dorset, UK. 24th June 2017
context_page_description: The Saint-Chamond, named after the commune of Saint-Chamond, was the second French heavy tank of the First World War, with 400 manufactured from April 1917 to July 1918. Although not a tank by the present-day definition, it is generally accepted and described as such in accounts of early tank development. Born of the commercial rivalry existing with the makers of the Schneider CA1 tank, the Saint-Chamond was an underpowered and fundamentally inadequate design. Its principal weakness was its Holt caterpillar tracks. They were much too short in relation to the vehicle's length and heavy weight. Later models attempted to rectify some of the tank's original flaws by installing wider and stronger track shoes, thicker frontal armour and the more effective 75mm Mle 1897 field gun. Altogether 400 Saint-Chamond tanks were built, including 48 unarmed caisson tanks. The Saint-Chamond tanks remained engaged in various actions until October 1918, belatedly becoming more effective since combat had moved out of the trenches and onto open ground. Eventually, the Saint-Chamond tanks were scheduled to be entirely replaced by imported British heavy tanks.
context_section_description: The last Saint-Chamond tank remaining in existence, an improved mid-1918 model, alongside other French tanks of World War I (Schneider CA1 and Renault FT), is preserved at the Musée des Blindés at Saumur, France. It had survived, together with a Schneider CA1 tank of the same vintage, at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Ordnance Museum in Maryland and was donated by the U.S. to the French government in 1987. Between 2015 and 2017 it was restored to running condition and repainted in a World War I camouflage scheme, at a cost of €120,000. It took part in various displays throughout 2017 to mark the centenary of the first use of tanks by the French army.
  A full-size replica in polystyrene foam, built by students of the Lycée Le Corbusier at Tourcoing, is on display outdoors at the Historial de la Grande Guerre museum in Péronne, France.
caption: Last Saint-Chamond surviving taking part in TankFest 2017 in Bovington Camp, Dorset, UK.
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