The Schneider CA1 was the first French medium tank. It was inspired by the need to overcome the stalemate of the trench warfare of the Great War.
The name of the tank was Schneider CA. The meaning of "CA" is uncertain. Later it was usually understood to mean Char d'Assaut (literally "chariot" and today the full word for "tank"). For several reasons this interpretation is dubious. Firstly, the designation predates by some months the first known usage of char as "tank". Secondly, word order would be unusual: in French the normal order is Char d'Assaut Schneider. Thirdly, at the time the letter codes at the end were normally used to indicate consequent prototypes. We know the first army prototype based on a lengthened 75 hp Holt was called the Tracteur A, a second shortened Schneider prototype with tail the Tracteur B and that the type as produced was again different from that second prototype. It is plausible that the code means "third type" (C) in its first (A) production version; a further indication for this lies in the fact that it was not uncommon to use a reversed order: AC.
The name of the tank was Schneider CA. The meaning of "CA" is uncertain. Later it was usually understood to mean Char d'Assaut (literally "chariot" and today the full word for "tank"). For several reasons this interpretation is dubious. Firstly, the designation predates by some months the first known usage of char as "tank". Secondly, word order would be unusual: in French the normal order is Char d'Assaut Schneider. Thirdly, at the time the letter codes at the end were normally used to indicate consequent prototypes. We know the first army prototype based on a lengthened 75 hp Holt was called the Tracteur A, a second shortened Schneider prototype with tail the Tracteur B and that the type as produced was again different from that second prototype. It is plausible that the code means "third type" (C) in its first (A) production version; a further indication for this lies in the fact that it was not uncommon to use a reversed order: AC.
| Schneider CA | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin |  France |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 13.6 tonnes |
| Length | 6.32 m |
| Width | 2.05 m |
| Height | 2.30 m |
| Crew | 6 |
| | |
| Armor | 11+5.5 mm spaced |
| Main armament | 75mm Blockhaus Schneider |
| Secondary armament | 2×8mm Hotchkiss M1914 machine guns |
| Engine | Schneider 4-cyl. 60 hp (45 kW) |
| Power/weight | 4 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | Coil spring |
| Operational range | 30/80 km |
| Speed | 8.1 km/h |
