Returning to that Alt-Spanish Civil War theme.
Previously ...
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https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=351.msg216113#msg216113_____________________________________________
Renault Resurrection - the Modernized M1917A3 Light TankThe US Army's M1917A3 program was an attempt to revive worn-out M1917 light tanks. Applied only to 'non-runners', this involved a complete rebuild of the drivetrain. In many cases, M1917A3 candidate hulls had been stripped of many usable components in the past to maintain the active M1917 fleet. These 'carcass' hulls were rebuilt with extended rear hulls to accommodate a new, rear-mounted transmission and final drive system.
The engine was the same 83 hp Ford V8 as had been used in the Light Tank T3 - but reversed in orientation. Within the extended rear hull section was a REO
Self-Shifter semi-automatic transmission which replaced the M1917's obsolete chain-drive system. This rather complex drivetrain arrangement was arrived at because there was thought to be insufficient space within the driver's compartment to accommodate a driveshaft.
The suspension system was also completely changed. Initially, the replacement was to be a Vickers leaf-spring suspension - but this went no further than the first prototype conversion. When Rock Island Arsenal's Light Tank T2 design was abandoned, so too was this M1917E2 prototype. Instead, the Vertical Volute Spring System (VVSS) suspension from the follow-on Light Tank T3 was adopted. The result was a 'new' light tank with a vastly superior cross-country performance compared with the original, Renault-designed M1917. It was also much faster - while the M1917 was hard-pressed to exceed 5 mph, the rebuilt M1917A3 was capable of over 15 mph.
In the end, it was concluded that too much work and expense went into producing M1917A3 conversions for use in Spain. The dozen hulls begun were completed and shipped to València for operational employment but that brought this conversion program to an end. The deployed M1917A3s - know locally as
los nuevos Renault - accompanied shock troops, using their unexpectedly high speed to achieve breakthroughs. The tactic was effective but costly. Between losses in combat and lack of spares for the type, no M1917A3s are know to have served beyond the end of 1938.
Left: The sole prototype M1917E2 fitted with Vickers leaf-spring suspensions.
Right: A newly-deployed M1917A3 (with VVSS suspension) on the Andalucían front, Summer 1938. Note that this vehicle has had its original .30-inch Marlin M1917 machine gun replaced by a local (Oviedo-made)
Ametralladora sistema Hotchkiss,
modelo 1914. Substituting these 7x57 mm chambered Hotchiss guns greatly simplified ammunition supply.