![]() ![]() It was not named the FT 17 or FT-17 during World War I. The letters FT do not stand for ‘first tank’ or the French terms ‘faible tonnage’ (low tonnage), ‘faible taille’ (small size), ‘franchisseur de tranchées’ (trench crosser), or ‘force terrestre’ (land force). None of these tanks would see active service but they were stationed at the Langres tank school. Two M1917 would be sent to France nine days after the armistice on November 20th, 1918 and eight more would arrive in December. Only 64 M1917 tanks had been completed by the end of the war. The US Government placed an order for 4,440 tanks to be built, but only 950 were produced before the order was cancelled. This was more commonly abbreviated to just M1917. Later, they were given the official designation Model 1917 6-ton light tank. For security reasons, the early tanks were just called ‘6 ton special tractor’. The Americans quickly conducted negotiations with the French government and obtained the license to start production of the Renault FT tank in America. (photo: US National Armor and Cavalry Museum) M1917 light tank of the 11th Tank Company in Hawaii, circa 1938. There was no spare capacity in France to build additional tanks for the US Army. The French factories were fully committed in producing tanks to meet the needs of the French Army. They were loaned some Renault FT tanks and a few British Mk.V tanks for the final attacks of WW1. Their officers inspected the British and French tanks and decided the French Renault FT tank would meet their needs until more British style heavy tanks could be manufactured. When the United States of America joined the Allies on the battlefields of France and Belgium in WW1, in April 1917, the US Army Expeditionary Force did not possess any tanks.
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