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The FCM F1 was a French super-heavy tank developed during the Interbellum by the ''Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée'' company. Twelve were ordered in 1940 to replace the Char 2C, but France was defeated before construction could begin, a wooden mock-up being all that was finished. The FCM F1 was large and elongated, and had two turrets: one in front and one in the back, with a single high-velocity gun in each turret. The rear turret was higher so it could shoot over the first one. The vehicle was intended to be heavily armoured. Its size and protection level made it by 1940, at about 140 tons the heaviest tank ever to have actually been ordered for production. Despite two engines its speed would have been low. The primary purpose of the tank was to breach German fortification lines, not to fight enemy tanks. The development path of the FCM F1 was extremely complex, due to the existence of a number of parallel super-heavy tank projects with overlapping design goals, the specifications of which were regularly changed. For each project in turn several companies submitted one or more competing proposals. ==The ''Char Lourd''== In the twenties France used a typology of tanks, classified according to weight. The heaviest class was formed by the ''Char Lourd'', or "heavy tank". In the programmes of 1921 and 1930, no new tank was foreseen for this class, the Char 2C fulfilling the role of ''Char Lourd''.〔Touzin (1979), p. 180〕 The programme of 1926 led on 28 March 1928 to a ''Char d'Arrêt'' project of fifty tons, named after the ''fort d'arrêt'', a solitary fort able to block enemy advance. As specified on 13 July 1928, it was to be armed with two high-velocity 75 mm guns in a single turret and protected by either 100 mm armour at three sides or by 150 mm armour at the front, the side armour being reduced to about 60 to 70 mm. The speed should be about five to six km/h in rough terrain, the suspension being unsprung. When conceptual studies by FCM had reached 100 tonnes, it was feared such a heavy vehicle would have insurmountable steering problems. By the end of July an articulated tank was foreseen, with a separate tracked motor and double gun module, each weighing about seventy to eighty tonnes and featuring 100 mm armour. In view of the novelty of such a construction, a more conventional alternative was studied in parallel, of a sixty-five tonne tank with a single 75 mm gun and protected by 120 mm armour. In February 1929 a choice had been made for the alternative design and adjusted specifications were formulated. On 20 April 1929 it was announced that no budget would be made available for constructing this type and on 17 May 1929 the study was terminated.〔Paul Malmassari, 2014, "Les Maxi-Chars au-delà du Char Lourd, 2e partie — 1928-1938: Du char d'arrêt au char maximum", ''Histoire de Guerre, Blindés & Matériel'' 108: 53-63〕 In June 1929, the STCC (''Section Techniques des Chars de Combat'') began another heavy tank study, proposing a faster design with a Johnson track, an engine of 500 hp, a speed of 12 km/h, 65 tonne weight, a turreted 120 mm gun and 50 mm front protection. In January 1930, this was changed into a project for a 70 tonne tank, with a high-velocity 75 mm gun, 40 mm all-round protection and a great length of 9.35 metres. The design was soon discontinued and for many years no French super-heavy tank development took place.〔 On 4 May 1936 however, the ''Conseil Consulatif de l'Armement'' under General Julien Claude Marie Sosthène Dufieux decided to develop a new heavy tank, with the following specifications given on 12 November 1936: a maximum weight of 45 metric tons, immunity to 75 mm AP fire over a distance of 200 metres, a speed of 30 km/h, a range of 200 kilometres, and an armament consisting of a long 75 mm gun in the hull and a 47 mm gun in a turret.〔Jeudy (1997), p. 138〕 It would thus have resembled an oversized Char B1, of which tank several other development projects were ongoing. In 1937 three manufacturers, AMX, ARL and FCM, presented prototype proposals; ARL even presented three of them simultaneously. All of these however even in this early stage of development had a higher projected weight than 45 tons — and threatened to become even heavier during actual construction. In reaction, the ''Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre'' initially decided on 26 March 1937 to build a very small and cheap but heavily armoured (60 mm) vehicle instead, on the lines of the British Matilda I. The first designs featured a 37 mm gun. When a better armament was demanded, it was understood through a study by the ''Section de l'Armement et des Études Techniques'' (SAET) on 5 April 1937 that the tank would still weigh about twenty tons, while another tank, the Char G1, was already in development in this weight class. As a result, in February 1938 the specifications were again radically changed, and now called for a superheavy tank with a 75 mm gun in a turret; no weight limits were imposed. Of all projects, the new specifications were most similar to the original FCM proposal of sixty tons and so the French Supreme Command decided on 6 April 1938 to grant FCM a development contract for what was now called the Char F1. It was nonetheless realised that this project could be no more than an intermediate step in heavy tank design; already, also in February, a special commission had been formed, headed by the inspector-general of tanks, Julien François René Martin, to further study the problem of overcoming the new defences of the ''Westwall'' (often incorrectly called the "Siegfried Line") being constructed at the time on the western German border. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「FCM F1」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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