WWII Tech Pubs Briefing

Written by
Daren Beazley

Somua S-35 of the Char de cavalerie of 4e Cuirassiers. 1e DLM during fierce fighting in the Mormal Forest, 18 to 21st May 1940. The heavily armoured Somuas inflicted severe damage on 5. Panzer Division but were eventually overwhelmed.

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Overview

The Somua S-35, in May 1940, was simply regarded as the best medium tank in the world. The vehicle was designed and manufactured by Société d'Outillage Mécanique et d'Usinage d'Artillerie (SOMUA) and stems from an initial requirement instigated during the French tank building programme of 1931 which was then ratified on the 26th June 1934. The requirement specified a vehicle of 13 tonnes with 40mm of armour, a 47mm cannon and machine gun. It was to have a range of some 200km and a top speed of 30 km/h.

A prototype of some 17 tons, somewhat heavier than at first envisaged, was then produced during the Autumn of 1934. Trials began in the Spring of 1935 and an order for 50 vehicles was placed in March 1936. The Somua S-35 was the first ever tank to be manufactured from a casting process and among its many attributes, it incorporated for the very first time sloped armour. Thus the vehicle was extremely well armoured for its size to weight ratio and had a maximum speed of 40 km/h. Moreover, the cast APX4 turret was the same mounted to the Char B1 bis which incorporated the superb high velocity 47mm SA-35 L/34 cannon. Thus it was capable of dealing with any enemy armoured vehicle of the time, with relative ease, up to 800 metres away.

By May of 1940 the French army had over 400+ Somua S-35's in service which equipped the Régiments de Cuirassiers and Régiments de Dragons in the Division Légère Méchanique (DLM). DLM's consisted of four armoured regiments each with 44 tanks, a sum total of 176 light and medium tanks. Two of these regiments were equipped with the Somua S-35 medium tank, while the other two were equipped with the Hotchkiss H-35 or H-39 light tank. By May of 1940 the French could boast three such DLM's. They all took part in the early part of the conflict mostly at Hannut in Belgium and acquitted themselves extremely well.

The thick and relatively well sloped armour made the S-35 extremely difficult to kill. High velocity shells from 37mm cannon equipped tanks such as the Panzer III and Panzer 38(t) along with the anti-tank guns that equipped German field units were simply unable to penetrate the armour. Somua S-35's were lost in combat to 88mm anti aircraft guns pressed into an anti-armour role and marauding ground attack aircraft such as the Stuka dive-bomber. Others simply broke down and were abandoned. Elements of the 3rd DLM took part in the mainly British led counter attack at Arras on the 21st May 1940 and again acquitted themselves extremely well. The 47mm SA-35 cannon proved to be extremely effective against any enemy vehicle out to extreme ranges.

The Somua S-35's major 'design' drawbacks were in many instances the lack of a functioning radio and a one-man turret. This resulted in a rather slow rate of fire. French military doctrine at the time stipulated that tanks in general were thought of as infantry support vehicles pure and simple and were often committed to battle in a piece meal fashion. They were dispersed around the countryside in one's and two's to support local infantry actions and formations. Thus the German invader often had local superiority in numbers and generally outmaneuvered and outsmarted their French opponents through superior tactical leadership, command, control and communications.

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Variants

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Specifications

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