Renault TSF – Blockhaus and Interior – The Batteries - Inside Track | Renault TSF Tank Kent

Progress on the interior of the Blockhaus ‘fixed-turret’ for the Renault TSF is steady. The lack of available information has made progress slow but enough information has been mined through the use of our contacts, in particular the renowned French radio specialist Bernard Pigelet, to keep our momentum going at a steady pace. The latest focus has been on the various accu. batteries and piles ‘pile’ batteries positioned within the TSF. Just what did the batteries and piles look like externally and internally? How these power packs and other related equipment were secured is under discussion and working hypotheses are the order of the day for now. We know from our previous work that the schematics provided all those years ago from the various manuals for the Renault FT and TSF provide a fairly accurate overview of the various components. Some are very out of place and can only be used as rough guides. The drawings of the Renault TSF interior layout provided by Reglement Des Unites De Chars Legers TOME III of 1932 and a very much older version of the same drawings all provide a good base from which to start piecing together the exact size and position of these ‘unknown’ items within the Renault TSF in 1918. We know the outer and internal dimensions from our own Renault TSF example. These measurements, when applied to cleaned up very old schematics re-released in the 1932 publication, concur with the known measurements of our E10 TER. The last visit of Bernard Pigelet was very helpful in working out many of these unknown details. Subsequent follow up communications have driven this quest a long way to conclusion. The E10 radio and Ondemetre have been positioned in one of the images in the correct location. The dimensions of these two items and the surrounding Renault TSF provided a very good step forward in determining the dimensions of the remaining cases for the battery and pile power packs. Bernard Pigelet provided some wonderful wartime images of these battery cases and their external markings which will allow for an accurate reproduction process once the dimensions have been cracked. More to follow as the project evolves….

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