Panhard 178 armored car, on which Piet posted a photo, was a good one. Germans widely used them, IIRC for ex. the armoured recce battalion of 7. PzD was equipped with them during Oper. Barbarossa in 1941.
I have an excellent color footage of the Panhard "panzerspähwagen" in german service, is included in the DVD "Mit der kamera an der Ostfront", an gift from Papa Noel, local variant of Santa Claus.
, they even used it as railway vehicle.
Very cool! Always loved that tank
Thanks, some data on the improved 1940 variant.
Char B1 ter:
Aparently the B1 ter as a design to improve the difficulty manning in the B1 bis, but still a more cheaper option to the B2 wich was to be armed with a fully revolving 75 mm plus 2mgs armed turret.
The B2 should had a better characteritics and to cure some of the vices of the french design, however it was seen as an expensive vehicle, the option to improve the existent B1 bis was choosed instead.
B1 ter development began in 1936, the Chief inspector of the french armored forces, General Velpry, insisted in a improved armor for this tank. That was materialized in a well sloped 75mm frontal plate ( wich included a combined riveted-welded construction) and a side 60mm rolled plate with a "V" shape, protecting the vital parts of the tank. Renault provided a engine 15 % more powerful to cope with the increased weight.
Finally, at last, in this design the driver was liberated from the task to fire the hull howitzer, however it still had a important part aiming it because the azimuth was extremely limited. The B1 ter transmision was a simple differential , a more easy and less complex tha the earlier Naeder double differential. In all and despite to have the devilish single place turret the Ter was a more simple, valuable and workable design than its predesessors.
150 were ordered in 1938, unfortunately for France, economical cutbacks caused than only 3 prototypes were available in may 1940, those used for testing in the Saint Nazaire garrison.
Characteristics:
Manufacturer: Atelier de Construction de Rueil (ARL) , Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterraine (FCM)
Crew: 4, chief/loader/gunner, loader/hull gunner, driver, radio operator.
Hull lenght: 6.35m
Hull gun azimuth: 6º left and right
Width: 2,73 m
Height: 2,83 m
track width : 500 mm
Suspension: coil springs
Weigh in battle order: 36600 kg.
Engine: Renault 6 cilinders gasoline water cooled, 350 hp.
Speed road: 30 km/h
Armor: between 30 to 75mm.
Armament: SA 35 de 47mm in turret ( muzzle velocity 662 mps) with 60 rounds, 75mm howitzer ( muzzle velocity 220mps) with 80 rounds, Chatereault 7,5 mm machinegun with 600 shots.