Екінші дүниежүзілік соғыстағы француз кавалериялық танкысы SOMUA S35

French cavalry tank

The SOMUA S35 was a French cavalry tank of the Second World War. Built from 1936 until 1940 to equip the armoured divisions of the Cavalry, it was for its time a relatively agile medium weight tank, superior in armour and armament to its French and foreign competitors, such as the contemporary versions of the German Panzer III medium tank. It was constructed from well sloped, mainly cast, armour sections, that however made it expensive to produce and time consuming to maintain. During the German invasion of May 1940, the SOMUA S35 proved itself to be a tactically effective type, but this was negated by the French command's strategic mistakes in deploying their Cavalry armoured divisions. After the defeat of France in June 1940, limiting production to a total of about 440, captured SOMUA S35s were used by the Axis powers, some of them on the Eastern Front. A derived type, the SOMUA S40, with an improved suspension, lowered hull cast and welded turret armour, had been planned to replace the original version on the production lines in July 1940. Agreements to produce this improved type for the benefit of Vichy France, Germany and Japan, ultimately did not lead to any manufacture.

The design of the SOMUA S35 comes from the changed specifications of 26 June 1934 for an Automitrailleuse de Combat (AMC) issued for cavalry use.

The hull and turret were castings with a maximum thickness of 47 mm and 40 mm respectively — the former of four sections, bolted together: two longitudinal plates formed the bottom; the superstructure was divided in a front and back section. The turret was a variant of the APX 1 as used on the Char B1: the APX 1 CE (chemin élargi) with a larger as against ) turret ring, allowing the radio operator to assist the commander in loading the gun from an ammunition stock of 118 shells (90 AP, 28 HE) and 2,250 machine gun rounds. As with the B1, the commander was expected to direct the tank while also loading, aiming, and firing the 47 mm SA 35 main gun — although at least the radio duty could be left to another crew member. Radios were planned to be part of the standard equipment of S35s. In practice the platoon commander had an ER (émetteur récepteur) 29 set for communications with a higher command level, but a shortage of the short range ER28 sets for communication within the platoon meant that the other four tanks of the platoon were never fitted with any form of radio, although in some units all tanks had antennas: the programme to fit the sets themselves was postponed until the summer of 1940 and thus overtaken by events. The suspension was designed by Eugène Brillié, the same man who had developed the first French tank, the Schneider CA1. He had worked with the Czech Škoda company and based his design on that of the LT35: eight road wheels paired on four bogies with leaf springs and an equally large tension wheel. The first fifty vehicles had tracks consisting of 144 track links, each link with a length of 75 mm; later vehicles had 103 links of 105 mm length. Engine and suspension maintenance was difficult and time consuming, due to a poor accessibility, though this was improved in later vehicles. The French Army preferred to fight a defensive battle, and was convinced it would be victorious in such an engagement, but understood that the strategic situation might impose the necessity of waging offensive warfare; during the Second World War for 1941 large offensives against Germany were planned, based on an expected French and British material superiority. Each of the two phases of an offensive – the breakthrough by the Infantry and the exploitation of it by the Cavalry – called for its own specialised vehicle, with the AMC designed to fight enemy armour. So it could carry out deep strategic penetrations and destroy enemy armour reserves trying to prevent them, possessing a good anti tank capacity. The French Cavalry, however, judged their main tank to be imperfect in many respects. The one man turret, though it is today typically mentioned as its single most important drawback, was not seen as a major flaw. A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. In combat, the tank commander threatened to be overwhelmed with duties, since in addition to his command functions within the tank he was also responsible for aiming and firing the 47mm turret gun and co axial 7.5mm machine gun. At first, a two man turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armour protection, it was abandoned in favour of thicker steel casts. The B1 bis's APX4 turret faced similar criticism from the Infantry. The operational flaw was its poor mechanical reliability. The suspension units were too weak and too complicated, demanding enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armour modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine. The strategic flaw was the high unit price of the tank, 982,000 French Francs, The tank had to be supplemented by a cheaper type and the only one available had been the Hotchkiss H35, much inferior in armour, armament and speed, even after it had been improved to the "H39" variant. The Cavalry had a very low opinion of the fighting value of this light tank.

Four tanks of the AC4 pre series of the S35 entered service in January 1936 with the 4e Cuirassiers. On 15 April 1937, the first two hulls of the main series left the factory. These, produced at a planned rate of twelve per month, still had to be joined with their turrets. At the end of 1937 the SA 35 gun became available and deliveries of finished tanks of the main production series could begin. On 15 January 1938, four of these were operational. By July 1938, 128 hulls had been delivered, but only 96 tanks were completed with turrets. In the spring of 1939, the number of operational tanks had increased to 192, the two armoured division of the Cavalry having attained their nominal strength. On 1 September 1939, the start of the war, 270 had been produced and 246 delivered. On this date 191 served with the troops, 51 were in depot and four had been sent back to the factory for overhaul. After the outbreak of war, on 21 September a sixth order of fifty was made, followed by a final order of 324 bringing the ordered total to 824.). Each of these had an organic strength of four squadrons with twenty S35s; each squadron however had a matériel reserve of two tanks, one of them usually used by the squadron commander, resulting in a total of 88 vehicles per division; regimental and brigade commanders in practice had personal tanks too. Furthermore, 31 were present in the general matériel reserve, 49 in factory stocks and 26 were being processed for acceptance. These vehicles were later issued to several ad hoc units, such as the 4th DCR (commanded by Charles de Gaulle) which received 39, part of 3e Cuirassiers, the 4th DLM (10), and some Corps francs Motorisés (about 25). Also the destroyed 1st, 2nd and 3rd DLM were reconstituted with a small number of tanks, the first two divisions received ten S 35s, the third twenty; S 35s further served with the 7e Cuirassiers (25) and a platoon of three was present in the 3e RAM of the 3e DLC. In May 1940 during the Battle of France the DLMs were tasked with the difficult manoeuvre of carrying out a quick advance into the Low Countries, followed by a holding action to allow the infantry divisions following behind to dig themselves in. The 2nd and 3rd DLM were concentrated in the Gembloux gap between Louvain and Namur, where there were no natural obstacles to impede a German advance. They had to spread out somewhat to hold that sector against incursions by the German 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions. This was necessitated by the local tactical situation and did not reflect some fundamental difference in doctrine between the use of the DLMs and the Panzerdivisionen. Both types of units were very similar in equipment, training and organisation, as the German armoured divisions too were primarily intended for strategic exploitation, while the breakthrough phase was preferably left to the infantry. The resulting tank battle from 13 to 15 May, the Battle of Hannut, was—with about 1700 AFVs participating—the largest until that day and is still one of the largest of all time. The S 35s gave a good account of themselves, proving to be indeed superior to the German tanks in direct combat, but they were rather hesitantly deployed as the French High Command mistakenly supposed the gap was the German Schwerpunkt and tried to preserve their best tanks to block subsequent attacks by the rest of the Panzerwaffe. When it transpired the attack was really a feint and the forces in the north were in danger of being cut off by the German advance south of Namur, the 1st DLM that had very quickly moved two hundred kilometres to the north to help the Dutch, was hurriedly rushed south again. The resulting disorder and breakdown of most of its S 35s rendered this unit, the most powerful of all Allied divisions, impotent; it was defeated by the German 5th Panzerdivision on 17 May. They were issued to the 12e régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique that, after French forces in Africa had sided with the Allies, operated them against German and Italian forces during the Tunisia Campaign. After taking part in the Tunis victory parade, 12e RCA's S35s were replaced by M4 Shermans, but crews often affixed the SOMUA plate on their new tanks. After the liberation of France in 1944 an armoured unit was raised, the 13e Régiment de Dragons, using French matériel, among which were seventeen S 35s.

After the fall of France a number of S 35s (297 were captured according to some sources) were taken into service with the Wehrmacht as the Panzerkampfwagen 35 S 739(f). The Germans modified the cupola by cutting its top off and installing a simple hatch. On 10 December 1940 the first German tank unit equipped with French Beutepanzer was formed: 201. Panzerregiment with 118 tanks; 36 of these were S 35s, the rest "38Hs". On 10 February 1941, 202. Panzerregiment was established; both regiments were united into Panzerbrigade 100. On 27 January the independent 301. Panzerabteilung was formed with French vehicles; total S 35 organic strength in the Wehrmacht was thus ninety. On 22 March this independent battalion replaced the Second Battalion of 201. Panzerregiment, which battalion was renamed Panzer Abteilung 211 and sent to Finland in June, the only major German unit with S 35s that would fight on the Eastern Front; some were deployed by 22. Panzerdivision near Sevastopol in 1942. The 21st and 25. Panzerdivision in 1943 used some S 35s when reforming after having been largely destroyed. Some vehicles had their superstructure removed and were used for driver training, while others were used for security duties. Some of these units fought in Normandy in 1944, such as 100. Panzer Ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung and 206. Panzer Abteilung, while others were used in Yugoslavia for anti partisan duties (7. SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division "Prinz Eugen", 12. Panzer Kompanie z. b. V. and I./Panzer Regiment 202). There were still twelve S 35s listed as in German service on 30 December 1944. Some of the captured S 35s were delivered to German allies: 32 to Italy in 1941, two to Hungary in 1942 and six to Bulgaria in 1943. They were used by the Italians to equip the CC Tank Battalion "S35" for the 131st Tank Infantry Regiment, before being transferred to the XIII Army Corps in Sardinia. The Bulgarian vehicles were after the war used by police units. A vehicle captured by the partisans of Tito was refitted by them with a British 6 pounder gun, and designated SO 57.

In 1937, SOMUA developed the SAu 40 self propelled 75 mm gun from the S35. Its suspension featured an extra wheel to improve off road capabilities, and the hull was wider. Only one prototype was built in this configuration; it fought in June, fitted with its 75 mm. 72 units had been ordered on 1 May 1940. The new order requested that the Sau 40 be produced as a self propelled tank destroyer, with the powerful 47 mm SA 37 gun. but with the original width, this SOMUA S40 had a welded ARL 2C turret and redesigned cast superstructure, both to lower production costs and to improve protection standards as the cast sections, delivered by eighteen subcontractors, sometimes were of inferior quality. The new suspension strongly improved the climbing capacity, of which the Cavalry had officially complained in November 1938; its greater weight was compensated by lowering the hull height by fourteen centimetres, causing a weight gain of four hundred kilogrammes. In contrast, the engine deck was raised to fit an improved 230 hp engine, increasing maximum speed to 45 km/h, although the new engine was not yet available in the summer of 1940. The armament and general nominal armour base would remain the same, but first steps to improve these, which might have naturally have evolved into a "S 41", had already been taken in the spring of 1940, when plans were made for a 60 mm welded ARL turret. A first order was on 21 September 1939 made for fifty vehicles, and it was intended to become the main production type, superseding the S 35 from the 451st vehicle with total orders having reached four hundred hulls, but none were completed at the time of the German invasion; the first vehicles were planned to be produced in July; hull sections had already been cast since November 1939. Of the first 160 vehicles, eighty had been planned to be made of an intermediate type, with the old turret. In November 1940, the Japanese government had requested Germany to allow production for Japan. When Japan became a belligerent through the Attack on Pearl Harbor, on 9 February 1942 it was decided that France would produce 250 SOMUA S40s for the Japanese Imperial Army, the first to be delivered in twelve months time, production having to reach a peak of eight vehicles per month in eighteen months. Both production and delivery were precluded by the Axis occupation of Vichy France in November 1942. In early 1942, France was finally given permission to reequip its forces with SOMUA S40s, now that the type had become obsolete and the Germans had lost interest. Two versions were considered on 24 April 1942, both fitted with the larger FCM turret, originally developed for the Char G1. The first would have been armed with the SA 35 gun, operated by a two man turret crew, the second with the longer SA 37 gun placed in a three man turret. France foresaw a production of 135 vehicles, to equip three squadrons of 45 each, but the preparations were halted in November 1942 when the whole of France was occupied. However, a clandestine development continued, of a SARL 42, fitted with the ARL 3 turret and a 75 mm L/32 or L/44 gun using an optical range finder. To limit weight, its side armour was to be reduced to thirty millimetres. In 1945 it was proposed to build a tank destroyer by refitting existing S 35 chassis with a superstructure for the British 76.2 mm 17 pounder gun.