The NC 27 Tank

The NC 27 (sometimes also known as the Char NC1) was another deriative of the FT-17, and can be seen as one of the last attempt to modernize this classic design. The result was not too sucessfull.

Like the FT-17 it was to be a so called Infantry Tank, used in close support. The hull was up-armoured (maximum 34mm), and in addition to this, a compleletly new track assembly was designed, a system suspended by a triple coil spring column suspension combined with six vertical hydro-pneumatic schock absorbers and ran on three four-roller bogies and one independent roller per side. The so called Cleveland controlled differential system was also used here, for the first time in a French tank design. The motor was a 4-cylinder 60hp Renault liquid type engine running on gasoline, that gave it a max speed of some 20 km/h. The weight was 8.5 tons, and it had a crew of two. It used the original FT-17 turret almost unchanged, and was armoured either with a MG or a 37mm Puteaux gun. It was 4.41m long, 1.71m wide and 2.14m high.

It was a bit too heavy and big for just a two-man MG/37mm gun-tank, and both the clutch and the great-box was plagued with problems. It also had short range. And the interior was cramped. (See photos below.) Also, there were some complaints regarding the quality of the steel used. 

The NC 27 was not used by the French Army, but was exported to Yugoslavia and Japan. The Japanese Army called it Otsu-Gata Sensha, and used it in combat in China in the early 30-ies. (They first saw fighting in the so-called Shanghai Punitive Expedition in 1932.) The Japanese also saw the defects of the design, and actually rebuilt it quite a lot: they installed a new, 75hp Mistubishi engine, beefed up both the armament and the armour. Also, the suspension of the NC 27 was more or less copied when the Japanese built their own maedium tank, the Typ 89. Both Netherland bought one NC 27 each, for evaluation, but it was a disappointment, and no further was bought by these two countries. In Sweden was this single copy designated fm/28, and used during the 30-ies, primarily for drive training.

Below you can see photos of the Worlds only remaining copy of the NC 27. It can be seen in the Armour Museum in Axevall in Sweden. (Don't miss it! It has many quite unique tanks. Photos courtesy of Peder Englind.) Like all tanks in this remarkable museum, it is in excellent shape.

Here you can find interior snaps taken from the same tank - well, what else, there are no other left in the world!