Nomenclature
Much confusion surrounds the name of this tank.
It is sometimes stated that the letters FT stand for the French terms faible tonnage (low tonnage) or franchisseur de tranchées (trench crosser). Neither is correct. Nor was it called the FT17 or FT-17.
All new Renault projects were given a two-letter product code for internal use, and the next one available was 'FT.' The prototype was referred to as automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault FT modèle 1917. Automitrailleuse à chenilles means "armoured car with tracks." Once orders for the vehicle had been secured it was the practice at Renault to refer to it as the "FT." The vehicle was originally intended to carry a machine-gun, and was therefore described as a char mitrailleur. Mitrailleur (from mitraille; grapeshot) had by this time come to mean "machine-gunner."
Many sources, predominantly English language accounts, refer to the FT as the "FT 17" or "FT-17." This term is not contemporary, and appears to have arisen post World War One. In Estienne's biography, his granddaughter states, "It is also referred to as the FT 17: the number 17 was added after the war in history books, since it was always referred to at Renault as the FT." Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Malmassari (French tank officer and Doctor of History) states, "The Renault tank never carried the name FT 17 during the First World War, although the initials F.T. seem to appear in August 1917." Some confusion might also have been caused by the fact that the American version of the vehicle, produced in the USA under licence from Renault, was designated the M1917.Once orders for the vehicle had been secured it was the practice at Renault to refer to it as the "FT." The vehicle
When it was decided to enable the FT to carry either a cannon or a machine-gun, the cannon version was designated char canon and the latter, in accordance with French grammar, renamed char mitrailleuse.
It is also sometimes claimed that some of these tanks were designated FT 18. Reasons given for the claim include: that it distinguished tanks produced in 1918 from those of 1917; that it was applied to FTs armed with cannon as opposed to those those with machine-guns; that it distinguished FTs with a cast, rounded turret from those with a hexagonal one; that it referred to the 18h.p. engine; or that it indicated a version to which various modifications had been made. All are mistaken; there was no FT 18.
Renault records make no distinction between 1917 and 1918 output; the decision to arm FTs with a 37mm gun was made in April, 1917, before any tanks had been manufactured; because of various production difficulties and design requirements, several types of turret were produced by a number of manufacturers, but they were all fitted to the basic FT body without any distinguishing reference; all FTs had the same model 18hp engine. The Renault manual of April, 1918 is entitled RENAULT CHAR D'ASSAUT 18 HP, and the illustrations are of the early machine-gun version. The official designation was not changed until the 1930s, when the FT was fitted with a Model 1931 machine-gun and renamed the FT31. By this time the French Army was equipped with several other Renault models and it had become necessary to distinguish between the various types.
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