Lorraine 37L

Lorraine 37L
The shorter two-bogie, four-road-wheeled version
Type	Tracked carrier
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	France, Nazi Germany, Syria
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Lorraine
Designed	1936
Manufacturer	Lorraine, Fouga
Produced	January 1939 - November 1942
No. built	~480 by June 1940; ~630 in total
Specifications
Weight	6.05 metric tonnes loaded
Length	4.20 m (13 ft 9 in)
Width	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Height	1.29 m (4 ft 3 in)
Crew	two
Main armament	none
Engine	Delahaye type 135 6-cylinder inline 70 hp
Payload capacity	810 kg + 690 kg
Suspension	leaf spring
Ground clearance	30 cm (12 in)
Fuel capacity	114 litres
Operational range	137 km (85 mi)
Speed	35 km/h (22 mph)

The Lorraine 37L or Tracteur de ravitaillement pour chars 1937 L, ("Tank Supply Tractor 1937 L") was a light tracked armoured vehicle developed by the Lorraine company during the Interwar period or Interbellum, before the Second World War, to an April 1936 French Army requirement for a fully armoured munition and fuel supply carrier to be used by tank units for front line resupply. A prototype was built in 1937 and production started in 1939. In this period also two armoured personnel carriers and a tank destroyer project were based on its chassis. Mainly equipping the larger mechanised units of the French Infantry arm, the type was extensively employed during the Battle of France in 1940. After the defeat of France, clandestine manufacture was continued in Vichy France culminating in a small AFV production after the liberation and bringing the total production to about 630 in 1945. Germany used captured vehicles in their original rôle of carrier and later, finding the suspension system to be particularly reliable, rebuilt many into tank destroyers (Panzerjaeger) of the Marder I type or into self-propelled artillery.

In 1934 the order was given to design a munition supply vehicle to increase the operational range of independent tank units. The same year the Renault 36R was selected for further development; three hundred were ordered from 1938. However this tractor was only partially armoured; on 17 April 1936 a new set of specifications was drafted for a fully armoured vehicle to deliver fuel and munitions to tanks fighting on the frontline.

Early in 1937 the Lorraine company finished a prototype. It was a lengthened version of a proposed replacement type for the 1931 model Renault UE Chenillette tracked infantry supply tractor. In February 1937, the matériel commission, the Commission de Vincennes, was ordered to test the prototype and to complete an evaluation before 1 November 1937, even if testing would not yet have been finished. The prototype was only presented on 9 July and tested until 4 August. It was equipped with a 2371 cc Delahaye four cylinder 124 F engine. Although the vehicle attained a maximum speed of 30 km/h (19 mph), this dropped to an unacceptably low 22.8 km/h (14.2 mph) when an intended fuel trailer was attached. It was therefore returned to the factory; after a more powerful Delahaye 135 engine and stronger clutch had been fitted it was again tested between 22 September and 29 October and now achieved the desired 35 km/h (22 mph).