Renault FT Polygonal Turret Unmasked

Our previous entries covering the restoration of our polygonal turret ended where we were unable to continue the project due to a lack of information. The polygonal turret is rare in relation to the cast Berliet variety. Those turrets that have survived provide dubious assistance as they have nearly all been upgraded or modified over time to accept a new weapon platform or where repair work or time have removed the original detail from 1918. The many turrets we studied either had served their last operational duty embedded along the Maginot Line or Atlantic Wall as ready made bunkers or survived in national arsenals until obsolescence relegated them, if fortunate, to the museum sector. None of the polygonal variety contained enough detail to allow us to finish the build picture of our own example. This frustration continued until we had the fortune to be invited to study the fine example contained within the collection of the Integrated Police Museum in Brussels. This visit was facilitated by our contact at the Brussels Museum. Our questions regarding the spring/damper mechanism under the cupola, the locking device at the front of the cupola, the rear hinge mechanism at the rear of the cupola, the fixation points for the travel stay of the weapon, the upper and lower bracing of the armour below the cupola etc etc were all answered by this unique artefact. The weapon that had been fitted originally in this turret was the 37mm Puteaux cannon. This was the only shortfall in an otherwise spectacular information coup. Our own cupola had lost both its front and rear. The various sheets of armour plate at the base of the cupola were original but the upper and lower frame supporting them had been replaced over the years and was incorrect. The new discovery had the required original reference points. We could now at last produce a correct and complete polygonal turret. .

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From the Archive: The polygonal turret is rare in relation to the cast Berliet variety.

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