The unusual sound of the Saint-Chamond tank (French heavy tank from All Quiet on the Western Front)

The unusual noise is caused by its Crochat-Colardeau electric transmission.
It has a 4-cylinder Panhard-Levassor petrol engine that drives an electric generator, which in turn powers two electric motors that drive the tracks. One advantage of this arrangement is that it can make perfect gradual turns.

[@UrbanTomfoolery]

(watches all quiet on the western front) (watches this video) that sound is scary as hell now

[@k-132_44]

Sound of big lumbering murder boxes moving toward you

[@aaronfromwesternmass4293]

Bro, i was just thinking that!

[@CariHere]

This is one of those early tank designs where nothing makes sense by modern standards. I love these kinds of tanks.

[@dickyarya8204]

Well obviously, tank was still a new concept and they're just experimenting with everything

[@a-plane7508]

Yeah like the Renault ft17, the fcm 2c or the mark V

[@imgvillasrc1608]

@@a-plane7508 The Renault FT was the pioneer of modern tanks. The design both perfectly made sense and absolutely revolutionary.

[@SanitysVoid]

I think it makes sense for trench warfare, it's a line siege tank.

[@SaifoDevast]

There Are one thing, that makes sense. Sloped armor.. 😁

[@htomerif]

Considering that the track squeaking is usually the loudest part of a tank from the outside, making the transmission somehow louder is an accomplishment.

[@MegaRazorback]

The Crochat-Colardeau electric transmission component of the Saint-Chamond tank was like that even on the railway stuff that used the same transmission apparently.

[@StoptheHateJustDebate]

Slightly more menacing than just the tread clanking.

[@SquishyZoran]

It sounds like a large starter to me

[@TheHeadcrabRepublic]

​@@MegaRazorback electric trans components? Interesting do you know how it worked?

[@MegaRazorback]

@@TheHeadcrabRepublic Basically there's a petrol engine running but that's not used to actually drive the tank or the trains, it was there just to supply power to the electric generators which in turn feed power to the electric motors for locomotion. For the time that setup was considered very advanced in tech terms and while clunky as hell it actually worked well enough unlike a particular tank of WW2 with an electric transmission system.

[@carterponwith2920]

Who else is thinking of that terrifying scene from All Quiet on the Western Front? The sound of the roaring engines and screaming being demoralizing is an understatement.

[@snailbert147]

The guy getting crushed under the tracks 😰

[@this_dude1644]

I thought about albert when he surrendered but made into bbq for the french to eat Edit: ALL DOWN !

[@oliverbruce6240]

They seem to have got the sound of the St Chamond quite accurate in the film.

[@rostdreadnorramus4936]

That's why I'm here.

[@connormclernon26]

@@snailbert147the unvarnished truth about tank warfare of that period and what it was like for them to enter a defended trench

[@Momo_Kawashima]

Mk. 1 Landship: I am designed in a ship-like shape to destroy barbed wire, trenches and barricades on my path A7V: I have sloped armor on all sides to make the shells from other tanks bounce off and I am armed with lots of machine guns all around to defend myself Renault FT: I am the first tank that has an engine compartment positioned in the back, separated from the crew, and a fully revolving turret Saint-Chamond: *L O N G*

[@daviferreirabarbosa6215]

Saint-Chamond:I'm stuck.

[@yoshisilver2386]

St chamond:I'm a hot dog

[@Momo_Kawashima]

@@daviferreirabarbosa6215 what are you doing step-austro-ungarian?

[@daviferreirabarbosa6215]

@@Momo_Kawashima Sorry but,i'm From Brazil and You are going to Brazil!

[@Momo_Kawashima]

@@daviferreirabarbosa6215 no no, I'm from Italy, heheheheh... YOU, YES YOU, YOU ARE GOING TO CALABRIA!!!

[@ilikemusic2024]

It's strange how something can look so strong and flimsy at the same time.

[@NastyFruit]

I see it in all French people, not strange one single bit

[@WhatIsThatThingDoing]

When that thing corners, I get the deep dread that a track link will break.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

Seeing these first tanks is really fascinating. They were still trying to figure out exactly what a tank should be so some really interesting designs like the St Chamond were the result.

[@McLarenMercedes]

I believe the main idea behind the St Chamond was to design a mobile artillery vehicle carrying the dreaded (and highly influential) 75 mm field gun. Machine guns could indeed deal with unprotected troops but the fact remains the artillery stood for the most casualties in WWI and artillery was needed to clear pillboxes, fortifications and dug-in troops. It was also discovered that whenever a trench was taken the enemy pulled back and eventually shelled it with their own field artillery from nearby trenches before storming it with reinforcements and retaking it. For this reason the troops that did take an enemy trench lacked any way of replying with any artillery fire of their own. Now if you could somehow bring your own field artillery to be able to give the enemy troops fleeing to their next trench a nasty surprise and forcing them into seeking cover or defensive positions... Enter the St Chamond... The long front overhangs and the main gun sticking out even further out was a design flaw. For all their firepower St Chamonds had a nasty habit of getting stuck. The too short tracks for a tank that weight was also a bad combination. Theoretically the St Chamond was a sound idea, but put into practice it rarely did its job as intended. But one has to cut the designers some serious slack - they were literally in uncharted waters and were hard-pressed into designing a wonder weapon fast. As such what they produced in such short time is rather impressive.

[@claricefontana4872]

@@McLarenMercedes yea seems fine for their moment, not so many designs around, sounds weird today but in beggining of 19 century this could be useful(if it aint stuck).

[@claricefontana4872]

The fact at least it had a suspension seems better, but even with his massive size, the crew area seems half of it, or less.

[@aarayskirata3420]

for some reason, it looks ahead of its time cause of the shaping

[@elouenmyas580]

@@McLarenMercedes The St Chamond remained the tank equipped with the biggest gun up until 1941.

[@lukasguy9762]

Wow. Those things are rare. Amazing that not only do they have one, but one that is restored.

[@chriscryer7087]

Rare is an understatment this the only St Chamond left remaining anywhere in the world, in working order or not.

[@scottbrown7073]

I have only seen it once but Australian troops in ww1 captured a a7v "Mephisto" and it's the sole surviving German a7v left in my home town Brisbane

[@scottbrown7073]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephisto_(tank)

[@srvaughan2502]

This one is from the tankmuseum in saumur.

[@canadianbluepants9446]

@@scottbrown7073 yeah i saw that one a few years ago, cant get over the size it just so gigantic yet tiny at the same time

[@TheBanjoShowOfficial]

It's really a crazy thought that the world went from having these weird monstrosities to just a little over 20 years later- having tiger tanks, panther tanks, the vast variety of sherman tanks, and literally everything in between that we recognize from the second world war.

[@Nick-bb4nk]

We went from having a glorified life size paper airplane setting records by flying 100 feet, to landing on the moon in 60 years

[@manuel.camelo]

​@@Nick-bb4nk Aliens helped us 🖖👁️👃👁️

[@partylizard8343]

@@Nick-bb4nkthere were British soldiers who fought in the Boxer Rebellion, as well as watched the Cuban Missile Crisis on television

[@samiamrg7]

I mean, heck, the FT-17, what I will call the first “anatomically modern tank” was designed and built essentially alongside the Saint Chamond.

[@northerngannetproject3147]

Note the tank's name writen on side 'love flower'... 😅

[@tattoo78ish]

I can't stop hearing the Saint Chamond sound in Battlefield 1. It sounds so good.

[@guangdali1762]

I'm still playing BF1. actually i just restarted after all these years. still plenty of people!

[@Iynz1]

@@guangdali1762 slowly dying Because of hackers/cheaters

[@guangdali1762]

@@Iynz1 i see.... i havent had my enjoyment disruoted by cheaters si far yet though

[@L.P.1987]

@@Iynz1 Not in PS4

[@badvideos5806]

@@Iynz1 Alive and well on PC! You just have to play on community servers

[@nicholasarmstrong2676]

The St Chamond definitely looks like a "land ship"!

[@omargerardolopez3294]

More so than the actual landship

[@MithridatesVI-Evpator_Pontus_]

Если ты сидишь в немецком окопе-то от этого монстрика можно обосраться!😨

[@dawsonreum5459]

One of the creepiest sounding tanks ever in my opinion

[@Ted_II]

Imagine not knowing of the existence of tanks and then hearing this sound at night getting closer

[@charleygreen1591]

"An enemy airship is en route"

[@thexjade379]

This tank is quite fast for its era

[@MrCantStopTheRobot]

Look up the Whippet tank from the war from the Brits. It was actually fast, and killed many by running people down, even though it naturally had a machine gun.

[@inisipisTV]

Yes, with an amazing speed of 8.3 mph. 😅

[@limcw6092]

@@MrCantStopTheRobot I mean it’s a light tank

[@MrCantStopTheRobot]

@@limcw6092 well so was the FT-17, but it's hard to imagine that running anyone down that still has legs.

[@LesangdesdieuX]

@@inisipisTV Well in WW1 it's a lot, the marching infantry don't go a fast and it's not supposed to outrun them but support them to take trenches

[@elkpants1280]

Genuinely incredible to see it. And I am very glad to see it still running in this age. But for anyone else in the comments, when you hear that noise in modern equipment, turn it off lol. Something has gone wrong with the engine and powertrain XD

[@BoopSnoot]

A common misconception is that its a gun mounted on the front, that's actually where they insert the pole that holds the white flag. :)

[@joelstalker3879]

The tank was mainly used as fast moving stationary guns ...they were trash at crossing trenches😅..because tracks for some reason are shorter than the tank's body.

[@marchellochiovelli7259]

You get it.

[@liamnolan4732]

I think it had to do with fitting the 75mm gun inside. This made them have to elongate the front to fit it in.

[@joelstalker3879]

@@liamnolan4732 That's probably the case, 75mm was quite a heavy gun for its time. Either way it wasn't accurate in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT...Especialy the way it passed throught the trench.

[@Ulfcytel]

Limitations of the standard Holt system. The French (and Germans, for the A7V) basically stuck a tank body on the chassis of the American company's tractor, to get the vehicles into service quicker. Unlike the British, who adapted it to run all the way around the hull for better trench-crossing ability.

[@joelstalker3879]

@@Ulfcytel it is amazing to see how much evolution happend between the two wars....for tanks and other things....

[@Azrael-hb5cv]

The sound of that tank is pure pain 😆 I'm sure it would've been absolutely terrifying on the battlefield.

[@looneyirish007]

Pistols could penetrate it 😂

[@looneyirish007]

@Luca Baki or a pistol, just walk over to it and tap tap

[@ennui9745]

@@looneyirish007 Look at this misinformation lol. Even the earliest tanks were immune to small arms fire (that was kind of their intended purpose to begin with).

[@eleSDSU]

@@ennui9745 Jajaja, just because that is the intended purpose it doesn't mean all tanks accomplish this. There are so many tanks that were built atrociously and were very vulnerable to small arms fire, the worst and most famous might be the Bob Semple tank or the earlier models of Arjun. Idk if this is the case for the Saint-Chamond but to imply that ALL tanks were impervious to small arms fire is factually wrong and a glaring erasure of Kiwi excellence jaja.

[@ennui9745]

@@eleSDSU ...You're telling me that the Arjun, which, despite its flaws, is still a main battle tank from the early 21st century, can be penetrated by small arms...?

[@myrddraalhalfmen9524]

Love the moment when A7V quietly crawled from behind a hill at 1:35

[@hitthelikebutton9611]

Good spot! Hope they have a guy like you on their crew.

[@myrddraalhalfmen9524]

@@hitthelikebutton9611 Hahah, thanks

[@joonasnaski9513]

never thought an a7v could move quietly

[@hztn]

- Yep, that may be a deadly situation for French tank in WW1.

[@Brother_O4TS]

Yeah, that Chamond would've been dead if it was during the war

[@robertmorey4104]

Very cool piece of history. Looks very clumsy for crossing trenches tho. Really great its preserved.

[@The1nsane1]

They weren't good at crossing trenches, tended to hang up on the front overhang.

[@samiamrg7]

They were meant more as mobile artillery than breakthrough vehicles like the Mark IV. That is why it has the field gun on the front. Even then, though, it was prone to getting stuxk as demonstrated by it struggling to clime a small mound of dirt.

[@taffetamocha4130]

I didn’t know one survived! Cool!

[@unxcool4125]

Sarcasm much?

[@tbuxt3992]

France owns a few restored ones

[@garyslayton8340]

​@@tbuxt3992only this one This is litterly the one one that exists (That they will tell us about)

[@Novusod]

Probably built just as the war was ending and then thrown in storage for 100 years.

[@chainehistorique3342]

Americans in 1916 : what the hell IS a tank?!? 😂

[@charlieclelland5895]

Nope - the remains of the original motor/generator and drive motors were all replaced in the project to get the Saint-Chamond mobile again. The present engine is a diesel, the generator and drive motors are fairly good matches to the original equipment. I doubt whether anyone would have trusted the original wiring knowing the Saint-Chamond had sat outside in the weather at Aberdeen for 50 years.

[@MinutemanOutdoors]

The wiring should have been pretty good actually. The biggest issue would probably have been all the mechanical/analog bits. Levers and pushrods with rusted bearings and joints, locked up axle, fucky wucky brushes and wax bearings in the electric motors. Wish i could have been there to help with all that :(

[@BigWheel.]

@@MinutemanOutdoors you vastly overestimate the quality of war time wiring.

[@ProWalter2]

I had no idea the Saint chamond was at Aberdeen! I assumed it was always at Blindes

[@garyslayton8340]

​​@@ProWalter2ts wild to think that the next most intact one is like a rusted frame burried in verdun

[@Alex_Guy1011]

Well, at least it's better than all those Mark IV tank moving replica squeakfests. LOL.

[@juagguproductions9713]

I was at that one! It was amazing to see this beast in action, I was just scared it was gonna get stuck!

[@chubbymoth5810]

For a machine that old, it's a miracle it moves at all. Compared to other tanks that era, the track mounting is pretty modern. I guess a massive engine is taking all space in the middle.

[@jamesdunn9609]

Not really. If you read the description, it's a gas engine running an electric generator, which in turn runs two electric motors, which actually power the tracks. It has an electric transmission too. So it's a series of smaller motors instead of one huge one. It's actually very advanced stuff for the early 1900's.

[@canadianbluepants9446]

@@jamesdunn9609 wait yeah damn, even late ww2 tanks didnt even have that kind of tech

[@maxmoritz5065]

​@@canadianbluepants9446 because it sucks.and gives nearly no speed

[@canadianbluepants9446]

@@maxmoritz5065 obviously if it was worked on it wouldve by ww2...

[@gerardoramoncesarreynaldo9469]

The type can be seen in the 2022 version of "All Quiet on the Western Front". Obviously the;yre built on modern tank chassis.

[@MichalKaczorowski]

They build it on BMP-1 chassis. In the movie, they look absolutely terrifying from the point of view of the soldiers in the trenches.

[@leneanderthalien]

@@MichalKaczorowski the Saint Chamont is all original and build on a bulldozer chassis , absolutly not on modern equipment

[@exceptionalanimations1508]

@@leneanderthalien Mical is talking about a copy of the original that was featured in a movie, goofy not the one in the video which is a restored original

[@YMS09D]

While the Saint-Chamond never truly filled its role as a tank, apparently it made a good mobile artillery piece.

[@Shafferhead]

Incredibly fascinating time WW1. The tech was so crude but yet advanced. Most interesting time in modern history imho.

[@chamberlane2899]

I feel like the era between the beginning of the Crimean war to the end of the Meiji restoration is a close contender. That’s where you see wooden age of sail vessels rubbing shoulders with weirdly modern looking iron steamers. It’s where all of these wonderful images like fully kitted Samurai rattling a Katana, navy colt, and Winchester running around charging Gatling guns or boarding steam ships. It’s where the trans Atlantic telegraph is laid down by the Great Eastern, a monumentally large ship powered by screws, sails, and paddle wheels all at the same time. It’s where one submarine scores the first kill of the class, while another strange oar powered one is off using divers in old timey diving suits to disable sea mines. It’s where everything from Gatling guns and hand grenades to sabers and Calvary are valid weapons of war. Its where fax is used alongside these crazy natural gas lamps, which themselves look like someone took an electric light and added fire to it. It’s an era full of seeming anachronisms, weird interim technologies, and that is something I love. It’s also when cowboys were still a thing, and that’s pretty cool to.

[@Popeslash]

I think there are way more interesting times than global tragedy, like when working class led socialist movements erupted to challenge capitalist tyranny post WW1.

[@allsystemsgootechaf9885]

​@@Popeslash nah thats pretty lame ngl

[@Popeslash]

@@allsystemsgootechaf9885 Well, I'm sure you're being honest, but you're just clowning yourself there. Lol Imagine viewing the history of revolutions and working class rising as 'lame'.. The powerless rising against the powerful are literally the greatest moments in our history. The only way to disagree with that is if you don't rly know anything about it, or support fascist tactics favoring of the current power dynamics.

[@aussieflintknapping]

​@@Popeslashlmao cry harder commie

[@Droidcommander4172]

Man i love this Machine

[@hitthelikebutton9611]

Came for the sound. Stayed for the amazing camouflage. Cool. Thanks.

[@ogloc6308]

i dig the paint scheme

[@woutmoerman711]

I love the camouflage !

[@eckyx9019]

Looks good for its time.

[@Ollisaa6095]

that is a beautiful tank!

[@diegoferreiro9478]

I didn't know there was a working St.Chamond existing today. Good job!

[@maddog3770]

Amazing restoration

[@1248-f8u]

This is practically mid evil technology and design by modern standards, I love it so much.

[@evo5dave]

Medieval

[@--SPQR--]

We've gone full evil since

[@evo5dave]

@@--SPQR-- 😆

[@le_souverainiste_francais7420]

Vive la France 🇨🇵

[@barrag3463]

"a 4-cylinder Panhard-Levassor petrol engine that drives an electric generator, which in turn powers two electric motors that drive the tracks" I guess maybe they didn't have a diesel available that would be powerful enough while also not making the thing more massive, and I guess it's a step up from the Schnieder, which vented diesel smoke into the cabin. It's just interesting to see such a novel idea in what was basically the first wave of tank designs.

[@pierrevilley6675]

The problem was probably more from the transmission than the power, differential transmission between two tracks isn't really easy to design, whereas giving each track it's own motor allows you to get rid of the transmission and the gearbox entirely.

[@K-Effect]

It’s amazing that there’s a functioning example still around

[@Conradlovesjoy]

I imagine this is how todays drones will look to someone 100 years from now.

[@rileyernst9086]

The transmission roars and whirs to intimidate the vehicle's enemies. Imagine hearing that for the first time echoing through the fog on a cold winter's morning in the trench. This makes me so happy to see.

[@DR-re8tp]

Imagine having no clue what a tank is and you just hear that coming through the smoke towards you

[@nigelcarren]

Nothing to do with this tank but in 2006 The Imperial War Museum invited me to exhibit one of my armours as part of the Animals at War exhibit. It was there for about two years. Seeing my armour which was a reproduction of a 17th Century Polish Winged-Hussar armour standing between Lawrence of Arabia's Brough Superior and a British Mark V Tank remains one of my proudest moments. Bless all those brave Lions of men. ⚒️⚔️🇬🇧 EDIT: SUBSCRIBED. Looks interesting 👍

[@_spooT]

this looks stealthy and badass for something that's designed during ww1. it's as if it even looks like an amphibious vehicle with a howitzer up front to break fortifications during landing

[@chrissierra-5633]

Tho this tank was realy bad

[@military-vehicles]

That's a beautiful sound and tank!

[@tomaslopez2940]

Hot take: WWI tanks are far scarier than the ones that came after. Today, all tanks have the basic turret and hull design and there are countermeasures to deal with them. Back then, they built industrial monsters like this and the Mk. IV that looked menacing and nobody knew how to stop them…

[@louisavondart9178]

..the side amour was so thin that ordinary rifle rounds penetrated and killed the crew. When tanks got stuck in shell holes or rubble in streets, German infantry would pry open the doors and toss grenades in. AT guns were quickly designed and slow moving tanks were easy meat. The early surprise was quickly overcome.

[@tomaslopez2940]

@@louisavondart9178 even so, modern tank’s don’t look nearly as scary

[@eelinyman3771]

WW1 tanks have that Man-made horrors beyond my comprehension vibes. Imagine you're a poor ass worker from a backwater town and this pulls up on your trench.

[@anderspedersen7488]

“Fleur D’Amour” - Flower of Love.

[@connorsmith1005]

This was my favourite BF1 vehicle to drive. I loved charging into buildings and using the suicide pigeon to bring them down around me.

[@calvacoca]

Written on its flanks : "fleur d'amour" (flower of love).

[@sheldonray5308]

I can't believe the French managed to make a tank that sounds exactly like paint it black by the rolling stones when it backs up. 1:50

[@BFVK]

And just after it sounds like Lennon's Give Peace a Chance

[@The_Original_Brad_Miller]

@ Sheldon Ray Yep, Audio Pareidolia. Also John Lennin's Give Peace a Chance at 2:10

[@Tarik360]

I love that they got a somewhat sloped armor wedge at the start.

[@LordStraightBanana]

That camouflage, when you’re fighting in the desert in the morning and rain forest in the afternoon.

[@lepyroberserk8486]

Lovely one. VIVE LA FRANCE !!!

[@Blind_Hawk]

Can't believe that this was the best tank in BF1.

[@dou5689]

Sounds comical, but it only adds to its terrifying factor.

[@baxtrom]

When this popped up in my recommendations I first thought the Russians had dug really deep into their reserve depots

[@LuzikArbuzik77]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" 😂

[@hztn]

- Dirty katsaps really keep a park of a steam locomotives in case of WWIII and global energetic and transport collapse. Also they realy used a armored trains in Ukraine last summer - just like 100+ years ago. Or in a US civil war, bgahah.

[@tedkreibich8584]

Glad to see the old tanks being refurbished and shown to us all.

[@EmotoZ]

Suddenly after the release of "All quiet on the Western Front" This cute tank doesn't look that cute after all. A lot of people judge tanks based on their looks and make fun of them, but they certainly would wet their pants to even a tetrarch if they were in the war and it was coming at them. War machines, no matter how "cute" Are sinister killing devices.

[@louisavondart9178]

..that movie is total BS. That type of tank was relegated to use as mobile artillery when it was proven that it could NOT cross a trench.

[@blackster_Co.]

It looks and sound so goofy, not really the image of a war machine. Pretty cool to see old, early machines designs.

[@quinnduffy6689]

It's just so typically French. Innovative and ridiculous at the same time.

[@edwinbruckner4752]

Haha, that instantly remind me of the grand tour special about French cars/vehicles. Well said, the french are brilliant and stupid at the same time.

[@dylanmelotti4301]

Really was waiting to see a pigeon fly out the side.

[@Weisior]

Tell me what you want, but for me this thing looks like some cool sporty steampunnk spaceship! I cheered for it to go up that little hill, but it went behind it sad instead :(

[@JonathonMitchell-ig4bv]

This tank was captured in Fishguard

[@supertrinigamer]

Now I see why the germans thought this was a monster when they first saw it and shit themselves

[@markashly7811]

Exactly you can also see it on all quiet on the western front

[@Pantsinabucket]

@@markashly7811that movie is a dogshit butchering of an amazing book. The 1930 & 1979 versions don’t show this bs for good reason. And no, the Germans didn’t shit themselves when they saw these early tanks, they just shot at it and threw grenades. The armor on these things were so thin and brittle that even if you couldn’t penetrate (which you could at close ranges), the spalling would absolutely shred up the crewmen inside. Tanks were almost entirely ineffective on the western front until the invention of the periods superheavies like the Char 2 series and the smaller, better armored tanks like the FT-17 and Whippet.

[@markashly7811]

Meh agree to disagree

[@andremontmartin7207]

This tank, and many other armaments of the French army (naval guns, etc.) were produced in my region, between St Etienne and Lyon (France). A region which very early on had a metallurgical vocation (coal mines, sword making from the 16th century) and has been able to develop recognized know-how in these fields. A copy of this tank can be seen at the Musée des Blindés, in Saumur (France)

[@romacottarediflive152]

Celui de Saumur c'est celui que tu vois dans la vidéo et c'est juste le dernier exemplaire en état de marche. Et non c'est pas une copie.

[@yoshimuracosplay7020]

Stéphanois ici aussi 💚💚💚 Avec l'usine GIAT qui produisait les FAMAS et les Leclerc...

[@ssgusa]

As a former M1A1 tanker I’m glad I was in an Abrams. 🇺🇸💜

[@Mountainmonths]

wow that things a beast

[@moodydude565]

Elephant on the legs of a gazelle

[@reedsilvesan2197]

How we love these old historical pieces restored

[@trevortrevortsr2]

Petrol-electric?

[@jamesharris4695]

Imagine sitting in a trench and you hear this creeping towards you in the fog. It even have a creepy mechanical laugh

[@McBurnside6380]

Troops: We need something that can cross the shell craters and trenches of no-mans land. Tank designers: I got you covered.

[@louisavondart9178]

Those things couldn't get across a traffic hump. Relegated to mobile artillery after the first disasters.

[@Elchamuc020]

Now imagine hearing a bunch of these machines for the first time

[@Straswa]

I like the Saint Chammond's design far more than the Mark tanks. Nice vid.

[@thejacal2704]

This is a mark 2.

[@thejacal2704]

@BossHossGT500 Yes it is.

[@olinxy6886]

@@thejacal2704 No its not, Mark tanks were British, this one is a French tank

[@thejacal2704]

@@olinxy6886 It's a Mark 2 St Chamond.

[@olinxy6886]

@@thejacal2704 Definitely not... If you are referring to the Schneider Tank it's another type, not a mark 1

[@dillonventola408]

It litteraly looks like you built an armored boat around a bulldozer

[@PixelG_]

I just love goofy ahh looking tanks

[@jessegd6306]

It's like watching an old man in a wheel chair roll along a park and falling asleep mid-roll every now and then, only to wake up a couple seconds later and carry on like nothing happened.

[@turbomac5195]

You can see she has her bulldozer mothers looks 😁

[@alexrivera4605]

I have a 1000 kills on it. Once you master it you will be lethal. I like using the dove/ artillery package. It can save you when surrounded by enemies

[@Manuelslayor]

Crew: what if we don't know where we need to go? Commander: joust use a map of the frontline as camo

[@itzyaboi5880]

Whose here to watch it get stuck

[@mirochlebovec6586]

I can imagine the driver just praying “don’t fall apart don’t fall apart”

[@pan2aja]

I knew it ! The movie "all quiet on the Western front" have the boogie wheel wrong

[@189951]

I can see the humour in calling a tank a "flower of love"!🤣🤣🤣

[@davidburke709]

I have modeled several French tanks. To me they look less camouflaged than illustrated! I have a model of a St. Chamond - neat to hear what it sounds like!

[@jamallabarge2665]

A Motor-Generator pair, probably a DC combination. Later systems used AC power and variable frequency drives. The later were more efficient.

[@manfredconnor3194]

Sounds like it is ready to breakdown at any second!

[@MichaelMass90]

This machine and its sound are a good match with the Jawa's "Sandcrawler"

[@windseer55]

imagine hearing this coming out from the fog and suddenly firing at your position. the loud engine, the whining and the metal clanking.

[@DR_Loud75]

amazing that with so much space for an engine and "armor" 4 millimeters thick (able to be pened by a ww1 service pistol) that it still struggles to go up a maybe 10 to 15ish percent grade and the transmission sounds like it's about to brick and fall out the bottom, all that said its amazing to see both such a rare machine both not just around today but actually driving around, its fascinating seeing the beginnings of an entire era of combat and mechanics that is still strong till this day.

[@Hhfrhe1]

This looks ahead of its time

[@admiralYamamoto_]

It was basically just a farming tractor with armor and a gun

[@BFVK]

Exactly, the caterpilar tractor Holt is the basis. They just put a steel box on the tracks.

[@admiralYamamoto_]

@@BFVK toaster

[@jackstecker5796]

That is one weird looking armored vehicle. Though, to be fair, that was when they were still trying to figure out what worked and what didn't.

[@Wadi2004]

fun fact, although the Saint-Chamond tank was in the film all quiet on the western front, the ones in the film were very well made replicas made from BMP chassis. you can tell from the close up shot of the suspension and wheels in the film.

[@darkgoth69]

Man thats a terrifying sound ay

[@Sir.Fisher]

amazed to see it going forward

[@jasonvogel98]

I'm sure it was designed to sound terrifying

[@garrettdavis6802]

Imagine hearing that coming towards your trench for the first time as the rubble starts to shake around you having absolutely no clue what exactly that meant and the feeling you experience with the sudden realization that nowhere is safe anymore

[@christopherwebber3804]

Your trench didn't have to be very wide for it to just fall into it, or otherwise get stuck, the overhang at the front is a big problem. Basically a Holt tractor with an armoured box on top, but the armoured box was too long.

[@vulcanmm6573]

Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!, I never expected to see one of these relics still around much less working very awesome and epic indeed

[@kendalcimen5141]

Its name means "Flower of Love"

[@Onezmhu]

The fact it's called "Fleur d'Amour", Flower of Love, makes it 1000 times better

[@franciosdeaeruiu7555]

Wow, an actual running Saint-Chamond. It sounds sick, literally and figuratively lol