Ford 3 Ton Tank (Two-Man Tank) |
| Written by Marcia Malory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
During World War I, American forces in France used either French light tanks or British heavy tanks. In 1918, Ford copied the design of the French Renault FT-17 to create an American two-man tank, the Ford 3 Ton Tank. Although it was called a tank, it was really a machine gun carrier. The Ford 3 Ton Tank was the smallest and least expensive tank built in the United States. It had two Model T Ford engines that together produced 45 horsepower. ![]() Both the driver and the gunner sat at the front. The driver controlled the steering by changing the gear ratio in each engine. The gunner had a 0.3 inch machine gun that which was placed in a limited traverse mount. A prototype of the Ford 3 Ton Tank was sent to France and was tested and approved before the Armistice. Only fifteen 3 Ton Tanks were ever built, although 15,015 were originally ordered. |