Inside the Chieftain's Hatch: Renault R35

The R35 was Renault's entry into the "Replace the FT" race, alongside Hotchkiss and FCM, and is the first in the early-war series of videos I'll be doing.

[@PMGF]

The French are usually at the forefront of military innovation. Like the Lebel, with it's 8 round, smokeless powder charge & the FT with it's small size & rotating turret. However they tend to stand by these early developments while others observe and refine them, that's the disadvantage of innovating & adopting the earliest generations of weaponry, that everybody learns from your mistakes.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

French tank development was greatly hampered by inter-branch rivalries. The Infantry wanted Infantry support tanks and didn't think the Cavalry should even exist any more while the Cavalry said only they deserved tanks and that only artillery should be available to support the infantry. This was the state of things right up to the surrender of France. And even though both the Cavalry and Infantry got tanks, they did not have a national armor doctrine. Cavalry had their doctrine and training and the Infantry had their doctrine and training and they were mutually exclusive.

[@Shinzon23]

While they may have great innovators, they sucked balls with anything related to keeping abreast of tactics and doctrines...

[@SPAZTICCYTOPLASM]

"disadvantage of innovating & adopting the earliest generations of weaponry, that everybody learns from your mistakes." Except the french themselves. They never learned from their own mistakes. Or if they did, their bureaucracy completely stifled innovation. For example the lebel you mentioned, that gun wasn't innovative in the slightest, the gun itself was "created" in six months and all they did was convert a kropatchek, and the cartridge was literally 11mm gras, they necked down to 8mm because they just wanted a round NOW. These penny pinching choices absolutely hurt the french. It took about 2 years for everyone to have their own smokeless powder rifles and everyone had a better gun than the french. The lebel was practically a single shot because it was a tube loader, meanwhile everyone adopted clips. The french even until ww2 seem to have the philosophy of "it's cheap and good enough." While everyone else tried to improve themselves sometimes to a fault like Germany. It also seems like the french sorta upper echelon didn't care for the actual fighting men, like the 2 man turrets because "wow, less manpower per tank so we can have more tanks" while most other countries considered things like crew comfort and usability. Or things like they chose not to use welded armor not because they didn't know it was better, but because welders are paid more so each tank would cost more. Look at chieftains review of the panzer 3. The pz isn't that well armored, nor is it packing a huge gun. But Chieftain comments on it's relative comfort and amazing visibility comparing it to modern tanks.

[@johnmccrossan9376]

In the words of jermey clarcson (paraphrasing a bit i think) "the french like to be first. Its like that face transplant thing we dont know what we are doing we'll take the baxkside of a baboon and call it a face, there we are first!"

[@CountArtha]

I see that you, too, watch Forgotten Weapons

[@AmatureAstronomer]

American usage of the R-35. In the "The United States Army in World War II" series (the official history of the American army), volume "Operation Torch", an American rifle squad was tasked with investigating the French Foreign Legion barracks in Safi, Morocco. They come across an R-35 driving down the road. They had no bazooka, but they did have some rifle grenades. They fired one, which hit the front right quarter, penetrated and spauling killed the driver. The tank lurched to the left and hit a tree, which threw the commander forward and he broke his neck hitting the edge of the turret. The squad discussed what to do for a minute and decided to take the tank. They removed the bodies of the two dead Frenchmen. Then while one rifleman figured out how to drive it, another figured out how to load and fire the cannon and machine gun. The rest of the squad followed behind. When they arrived at the French Foreign Legion barracks, they saw two unmanned 25mm anti-tank guns outside and a stucco building with all the legionaries inside. One of the American troops spoke French and threatened to shell the building, if the French did not surrender. The garrison surrendered. The captured R-35 and rifle squad then marched all 125 French prisoners down to the beach.

[@druisteen]

Not all french colonial are French foreign légion

[@AmatureAstronomer]

@@druisteen True. Just telling ya what the book said.

[@druisteen]

@@AmatureAstronomer American book are sometine not accurate , especially toward France

[@AmatureAstronomer]

@@druisteen Okay. You tell me, what French units were stationed at Safi, Morocco, December 1942? And, what unit surrendered to an American squad sent to investigate the French Foreign Legion barracks?

[@druisteen]

@@AmatureAstronomer For sure .... the Marine corp was in safi les Troupes de marine

[@collinfreese2987]

I am getting the idea that the Chieftain hates this tank.

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

Hate is a strong word... disapprove may be better.

[@buringfyra]

TheChieftainWoT i dont think you hate any tank. Because tanks are awesome.

[@collinfreese2987]

true, but very dissaproving.

[@mattbishop2021]

God bless you for even getting in it. When I visited Saumur they offered to let my climb in it and my middle aged 6'4" self said thanks but dear God no thanks! The ARL44 was much better suited to my frame!

[@markusbjorklund5920]

This video could be used in presenting my Renault Megane.

[@ThroneOfBhaal]

People get a sick pleasure out of watching you get in and out of tiny tiny spaces. That should be a compilation unto itself. 'Chieftain, the in and out of it.' ...

[@TheScorpionStrike]

Slow, poorly armed, and cramped for its crew it may be, but by tank standards it's cute. Granted, 'cute' is not an adjective that one would consider desirable on most military equipment. An enjoyable tour all the same.

[@Orb_Pilot]

Judging by the existence of the ELC and all those adorable armored cars produced by France I'd presume that cute AFV:s are an official part of the French military doctrine.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

French tanks, the Miimes of the Tank world.

[@wiesshund-games]

Keep in mind, at the time, the majority of the axis tanks would be of PZI and PZII design While the R35 could not catch those cause it does not have the speed, It was capable of playing Gandalf vs Balrog in You can not pass, and casting flaws aside it would be fairly impervious, but of course it was not really designed as a tank vs tank vehicle but instead to be a heavy robo soldier to support the infantry up close and personal, but to various reason's that situation kinda never presented itself cause the guys in charge were planning on a re-eun of WWI for some reason and that's how they put all their pieces on the playfield. But that is pretty much how the entire blitzkrieg goes. It's a lovely story of We have everything we need to stop an invasion, now lets put it all everyplace we can so that it cant be used to stop anything :( In hindsight, it is hard to imagine when the hell those in charge were thinking exactly

[@AgentTasmania]

Shame the rubber duck AMX40 never came to be

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

rear view mirror, seriously, well, at least I can add a high-quality reference to my jokes nöw.

[@elpresidente5767]

salty that you lost two world wars to the French ? heh

[@_Itchy_Bones_]

@@elpresidente5767 I don't really think the French had anything to do with the second one

[@elpresidente5767]

@@_Itchy_Bones_ de tassigny think otherwise ;)

[@_Itchy_Bones_]

@@elpresidente5767 yeah no the different French resistance groups fought amongst each other then when France was liberated French generals were proped up in Paris as heros to prevent the then widely accepted as inevitable post-war French Civil War. That's why the allies rapidly shut down the indiscriminate armament of resistance groups and limited resources to specified missions like in D-day

[@elpresidente5767]

@@_Itchy_Bones_ how many french resistant were killed while fighting each other?

[@Antigonus.]

The plugs for the vision slits remind me of the Peril Sensitive Sunglasses in Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: When peril is detected, blind yourself so that you don't get scared.

[@alcibiadesW]

Strange. They remind me of an attempt to keep out bullet splash when the tank comes under sustained rifle and machine gun fire. When a bullet hits a hard target it can break up. The fragments go all over, and some can come through a vision slit. Eye damage and other crew injuries are possible results. So your statement is the opposite of correct. The point of stopping bullet splash is to prevent yourself from being blinded. Being able to block the vision ports was a wise precaution.

[@wierdalien1]

alcibiadesW and they say i am not fun at parties.

[@ZGryphon]

Well, to be fair to the manufacturer of peril-sensitive sunglasses, they work _perfectly_ against the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.

[@stevenpilling5318]

Very, very ravenous.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

"A physical contact" to communicate with the driver? Let me guess, in a noisy tank that would be a kick with a boot.

[@Blockio1999]

Exactly.

[@paoloviti6156]

TotalRookie_LV the physical contact by booting the driver with "nice" kicks was more common than you think because the intercom system, if available, failed quite often during the war so as the driver can't see what the commander wants he just received a series of well aimed kicks that leaves no doubt what the commander wants! That he will have a very sore back at the end of the day is another story..

[@TotalRookie_LV]

Well, once again I was _mostly_ just joking, but only found out, there is something to it. Someone needs to spraypaint this on the back of the drivers seat or at least attach a paper with the message: "In case driver hangs up, reBOOT it!

[@paoloviti6156]

TotalRookie_LV exactly what I was thinking as well! Rebooting is the correct answer when the driver has done a fuck up! Lol

[@nedyarbnexus9460]

yes, and the t-34 was no different.

[@jcdf2]

Many people were of smaller physical proportions back then. Those that were shorter and thinner were often selected to drive the tanks.

[@VladiSSius]

German Tank : Normal Difficulty. Russian Tank : Hard Difficulty. French Tank : Dark Souls.

[@Juan_404]

VladiSSius Italian Tank:2 times Dark souls

[@AgentTasmania]

American- Easy

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

You will not survive.

[@josephsatricleofevillanuev3194]

German tank: Heroic Victory American tank: Decisive Victory Russian tank: Phyrric Victory French tank: You died.

[@Fortheweak13]

@@josephsatricleofevillanuev3194 "German tank: Heroic Victory" that's funny I can't remember in which timeline we ever saw german tanks win a war ?

[@Electronick7714]

Given the fact I'm 6 foot 2 and I know the Chieftain is also a tall person, my first thought was "oh boy I can't wait to see how he squeezes into that one man turret..." Drivers station was surprisingly roomy though

[@lombank7024]

Just what we need a overpowered tier 2 getting love

[@robbrown5702]

With the cannon muzzle right over the drivers hatch the muzzle blast must have been terrific!

[@BELCAN57]

When an Irishman "has no words" you know it's bad .

[@jaaksootak318]

I love this thing at tier 2 in wot! I feast on the tears of all tanks that have autocannons and gift you cool-headed medals.

[@whathappensinmaine5463]

The H35 is even worse with that. Angle just right and you wreck anything. The only problem is the 25 is low damage high pen. And the 37 is high damage low pen.

[@mnguy98]

Meanwhile in War Thunder... a penetrating hit just about anywhere and you're dead instantly

[@ledichang9708]

He used the word "DEATHTRAP"!

[@michaelcoulter1114]

"I've got nothing" Seems to be a good description of the entire tank. 😂

[@katfrog98]

This is madness. "I have no words," is articulate.

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

All of those complaints about the driver's position and not a single mention of the lovely, tucked and rolled, hand crafted upholstery in the most delightful of designer colors. >:-(

[@rvail136]

Love your series on tanks, sir. Thanks for giving us the info.

[@MFKR696]

Amazing to see the company that Renault has become. They've come a long way. Easily my favorite Highway-Tractor manufacturer. The Renault Magnum and T-series are both pretty great.

[@yujinakamura3316]

Feels like traveling the world with Chieftain, it's just great!

[@axlemarley3082]

Thank you for the video! Cant wait to see the next one!!

[@darcycross8718]

Nice to see you back. I like seeing the early war tanks.

[@rednoob8954]

Me too

[@cjmj26]

Glad to see you're wearing the proper footwear!

[@osmacar5331]

i have learnt more about the individual tanks from you then searching for the individual tanks themselves

[@nos9510]

"lé mousé dé blundé" :')) love your vidéos ! that is so cool to see all thoses tanks

[@Bimbasek01]

Chieftain, maybe you would consider making an episode about Tankiette TKS or/and 7 TP. Those are qiute interesting Polish light tanks. Cheers! ;)

[@linkdeous3928]

7 TP ? 7 tiny benis ? :DDDDD

[@empe3332]

7 tonnes

[@WARLOCKIKITCLAW]

He already did one on the TKS :D kzbin.info/www/bejne/gn-vqXeGZdSggdU&ab_channel=The_Chieftain Edit: I just now noticed your comment is 4 years old, same with the vid...oops...

[@SilentRazor1uk]

Thanks Mr. Moran and all camera helpers, elves, nymphs and their families etc, for covering this poor vehicle; that had poorer feeling crews no doubt. I wonder if it is likely that apart from the armour and possible radio, they still preferred the FT's, being posted to a Char 1 B, or being demoted to 'The Line'?

[@wikikomoto]

yessssss im so happy you actually brought up the balkan campaign, its the reason this thing is one of my favourite tanks of the war

[@jfrorn]

Yes! More early tanks!!! The bit at the end was funny....

[@buringfyra]

Woo More chieftain! Im sure you guys have tanks lined up to visit still and other footage we dont know about ;) but I would LOVE to see the inside of Germany's more common vehicles like the stug and a panzer 4 :D

[@HowieDaDuk]

Excellent episode! Reminds me of another episode by another excellent host, regarding French predreadnoughts, "When Hotels go to War." Like U said, "I got nothing..."" LOL :)

[@vanishingfolklore]

Thank you for the video

[@Crimsonedge1]

That drivers hatch doesn't seem too bad. Plus the sudden burst of speed and strength granted by the fear of an imminent death would make all the difference.

[@mrodgers3756]

Thanks for showing the details that made this tank poor for taking on other tanks. Advanced Squad Leader showed the effect to me, you showed the cause to me.

[@ryanbarker5217]

love the R2-D2 dome....

[@apixel3383]

Any day the Chief uploads a video is a good day

[@thomasembleton1467]

Love the AMX 13 Harpon and its ss11 missiles on the wall such a useful little tank on wargame if supported correctly

[@HOrseshoeM]

19:12 Nicholas Moran: "Omelette Du Fromage" Me: "It's all you can saay it's all you can saaaay"

[@videocomentaror322]

Love your vids.

[@XxdoggyshitxX]

Inside the hatch ELC AMX cmon

[@Edax_Royeaux]

I'm genuinely curious if can actually fit in a 5 foot tank.

[@s.marcus3669]

That cupola on the turret was the inspiration for the Dalek head, no doubt!

[@hoodoo2001]

I've decided that my FT tank running full scale model is going to have a one man crew. No point in being totally cramped and miserable in peacetime. Mine is made of wood and utterly claustrophobic, imagine being in these things and having to fight all buttoned down among all that metal.

[@Kaeto2002]

My dad has one of those R35 tank engines. He made it as the power plant for an arc welder. Direct belt drive off the crankshaft to a B-17 generator with a B-17 heated flight suit controller to adjust the amperage. All on a hand built wheeled frame. Will you be doing the Ducky?

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

You need to post a video of that outfit. I just sub'ed to you in case you make one. Peace.

[@engrs4wrd2]

"I got nothing. I'm gonna get out." Probably the same thing most Renault's drivers said at one point.

[@WarEndblast]

Geez as a french, hearing you speak french at the start was such a treat !

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

I used to live in Belgium. I'm understandable, but I murder the language with my accent.

[@Kargush]

Now I'm wondering if there is a tank that The Chieftan find so bad he wouldn't get inside it to avoid BB fire.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Easy, he probably won't get in a A38 Valiant since getting shot by BBs is better than losing a limb

[@klassehkhornate9636]

Valiant Assault Tank

[@thecanadiankiwibirb4512]

Neurofied Yamato the crews had to be valiant to get in

[@Little_Sams_Top_Guy]

Idk why but that loud ass noise when he closed the coolant cap around the 4:45 mark is hilarious because you know that scared the piss out of the regular museum guests

[@GeneralJackRipper]

I'd much rather see the Char B1bis, but I'm happy with this too. The R35 is just so damn cute, it's like a little puppy dog.

[@Riceball01]

Great video, as always, I was laughing at your comments about the tank all the way through the video. I saw a video by Lindybeige talking about one man turrets and using this tank as an example and actually seeing what it's really like inside made me realize that the R35 is actually much worse than he made it out to be.

[@MrLogain85]

If one thing these videos have taught me is how hellish things can be for tank crews. This is right up there with Jagpanzer38t aka Hetzer.

[@basiaromanovski458]

Please do a B1 and B2! It looks tall and wide enough for you and its quite well known

[@Edax_Royeaux]

Obscure question: does the AMX ELC Bis prototype have enough of a interior to do a Inside the Chieftain's Hatch on? Or is the tank sitting in the museum have an empty interior?

[@rohanwright7384]

Thanks

[@sandergjertsenstvold1051]

Love how a tank that was driven by cost saving has jaeger dails. If you haven't heard of jaeger (lecoultre), they make watches with prices that start at Rolex level, and only goes up from there... got to love the french

[@tacomas9602]

I find it interesting how the light tank itself evolved from 1918 to 1960s and today.

[@kevincrandell7953]

Finally watched this episode and I think I know where the Doctor Who writers got the inspiration for the Daleks. Especially at 0918.

[@sirmoke9646]

Saumur? I sense a Königstiger video in the near future! I hope you have spent a lot of time filming there... lots of cool and unique tanks those frenchies have there!

[@MadnerKami]

As always, thanks for the great episode and insight. Looking forward to you checkig out that Char B1 in the background next ;) Also, on a scale from Panther to T-34, where would you rate the crew-ergonomics of this tank? *snickers* But seriously now, it's easy to see why the french tanks were so inferior to the german tanks on a technological level. 3-man turrets and radios on every tank was clearly the way forward and it will forever baffle me, how the other nations didn't see that one coming from a mile away.

[@MrMarinus18]

But also the German tanks had way more thought and time put into them. Making sure every single cubic centimeter of space is being used, that the crew fits correctly into it with enough room to not feel claustrophobic or get in each other's way and that they have enough visibility.

[@larrybrown1824]

don't know if there are any left, but earlyl Pz III and IV'S would be cool to see.

[@alkister]

Извиняюсь за Гуглпереводчик :) Wonderful that you continue to shoot such a video. WG freezes now many of their activity, it is good that you are not affected. PS the video is Planned for Tortoise?

[@joshuasutherland6692]

Just waiting for the "Inside the B1" vid here.

[@JayOrlando32828]

R35 Renault is one awesome little light tank III I love it .... i have 110+ 14 X 35+ X ready to buy but NO MONEY lol

[@MrRugbylane]

these are great videos - but the repeating music in the background is like a mosquito in my ear.

[@petebrian2841]

Sacrebleu ze tank is on fire!

[@BufusTurbo92]

This makes the M11/39 look like a reasonably good machine.

[@thhseeking]

I haven't seen one, but a look at the AMC 35 would be interesting. I have conflicting data about its size. Some say that it's the same length as an R35, others that it's longer. And wider.

[@Ed-ty1kr]

French military doctine dictates that if you camoflage your vehicle, you must include exterior lighting so the vehicle can be spotted. Also you must paint a large bullseye on the weakest part of the turret, so that the gunner can be easily killed, rendering the tank useless.

[@HappyDuude]

Given some of the strange buttoning up -- to what extent did inter-war tanks, or indeed WW2 tanks, consider gas protection? Given its impact in WW1 - I do wonder if there was some limiting in place in terms of openness? Or at least consideration given?

[@MrMarinus18]

Most didn't bother with it. Gas protection means you would need to make perfectly fitted plates and welt them together super cleanly in addition to an overpressure system that requires a lot of power as well as a large and bulky filtration system.

[@rethans]

I would like to see you do a inside review of a Japanese TE-KE tank !.

[@MadGnu]

This is clearly his favorite tank

[@yeetosyeeterofyeet1825]

I almost killed an entire enemy team in this by my self in WoT Blitz.... My entire team was dead... I killed 6 out of the 7, the 7th enemy was an R35, wasn't even close to destroying him until I ran out of AP and was left with HE then ended up shooting him with HE for no reason at the cap, that time I loaded 50 AP 50 HE. This battle happened in copperfield

[@drdrumbeat3010]

I like the Driver's 'make up mirror' ! Seriously, imagine getting hit inside of that, it's so cramped !

[@lexworx7267]

I could tell by your face you loved it ! So all in all a good tank then ? 🤣🤣

[@maxjean9122]

the little cople miss in the big cople is it use to evac the gas/smoke of the canon

[@davidcoleman4941]

Sir a question, why has wot's dropped the 1st 2nd and 3rd line up of French tanks.

[@donlove3741]

Saw a photo of an R tank in Belgium after WW2. FARMER used it as a tractor.

[@RandomVideos-re9ux]

“communication isn’t a problem cuz there isn’t any” lol

[@thelieutenant7732]

Please make an episode on the Sd.kfz.251 Puma!

[@LastAvailableAlias]

The dials are by "Jaeger". German supplier for French tank manufacturing?

[@TahirPassionGP]

The mighty Metal Slug tank !

[@eduardgonzalezroca33]

The Slits on the turret were not that simple. There were installed episcopes PPL160 with 68º horizontal FOV and 24º vertical FOV .French tanks used "episcopes" to provide the crew with views outside the tank with a large FOV through a very tiny viewslit and provide protection by having what is in effect a small armored, vertically rotating "periscope" view (vision area is offset from the opening in the armor plate) . The cupola inludes a PPL180 with 30º vertical fov (and guess 68º horizontal fov) that would be used by default and a estienne 114mm slit.....

[@uconnjames]

It actually surprised me that Chieftain can fit into the tank.

[@ygorschuma3059]

Hey Chief, there are any surviving Chars B1/B2 or Chars Bis? if so, are you planning on doing an *"Inside the Chieftain's Hatch"* with it too?

[@whyme943]

Will you ever take a look at d1 or d2 tanks?

[@MordalfusGrea]

I hope he gets an inside look at the Char B1

[@stevenpilling5318]

It seems that the most that can be said for the bulk of the French and Italian tanks is that they made passable constabulary vehicles for the Germans.

[@gamerroyal659]

Oh you have got to do the tiger 2

[@feppfepp]

What happened to the sound? It sounds a bit broken?

[@ifga16]

I think that I can see the design of the Dr Who Daleks in the cupola.

[@AcceptYourDeath]

Every Nation: "....must be able to be operated within reason" France: " All we need is people with 4 arms and 2 brains....AND WE ARE GOOD \o/ "

[@DarkSplash99]

Char b1 or Somua S35 next?

[@marcelmustang1]

AMX 50B Inside the Chieftan's Hatch incoming....? Yeaaaahhh

[@pjotrslanina1403]

Here in The Netherlands, the German's put the turret of the R35 on to some little bunkers they had built. However, they never saw action.

[@lllPlatinumlll]

The dome on top with the vision slit..... this is not the droid you are looking for.

[@ltjamescoopermason8685]

What tank did De Gaul command as he was over six foot plus the crap hat he wore ! As always entertaining thanks for sharing! 😉

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

I seem to recall it was Char D2s.

[@mijnkampvuur]

How did this tank compare to the panzer iv?

[@budmeister]

So a Mk19 has more firepower than the 37mm gun of this tank?

[@franz_stigler]

budmeister yep

[@anotherrandomtexan25]

budmeister maybe idk how big they made the HE round for this gun but they could still have fit more explosive filler on the tank mounted one think of it as .357 magnum vs 30-06 yeah it's a bigger bullet diameter but the rifle bullet still has a similar weight range for it's rounds just depends on how they wanted to make them (the tank gun rounds)

[@CleveAneki]

M71 90mm HE had about 2 pounds of explosive in it. If you think 2 pounds of HE is weak then idk what you've been smoking. And, heads up, no one uses minengeschoss except in a select few aircraft guns from the Cold War, which are rarely used anymore. Mine shells are weaker structurally, and have to be fired at lower velocities, making them ineffective for hitting fast moving and maneuverable targets.

[@Andrewza1]

So a hummer with a Mk19 out perfoms this tank.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

Not only is the 40mm grenade from the M-19 more powerful, but has better range and is more accurate. Go, go DEPD out to 900m... What many people don't understand is that the explosive fillers used by WWII tanks was more powerful that the equivalent mass of TNT, but today's fillers are significantly more powerful that the fillers used during WWII.

[@foch3]

These videos are so much fun. But you need to remind viewers to Thumbs up and subscribe. I've forgot on many of your videos to like.