Up to the late 1920s, the United States military had relied

on tank designs from overseas. This included the Tank

Mk. VIII International Liberty, a World War One
rhomboid style tank co-produced with the United Kingdom
and the French designed Renault FT, known as the
Light Tank M1917 in American service.
T1E1, F Company, 2nd Tank Regiment, Fort Benning
Georgia 1932. Illustration by Tank Encyclopedias own
David Bocquelet

The M1917 served well into the 1920s with the US

Military. In 1927 the US Army designed a new tank to be
built by James Cunningham, Son, and Company based in
Rochester, New York (they were the first car company in
the World to produce an automobile with a V8 engine).
This tank was the Light Tank T1, sometimes known as
the T1 Cunningham. It would be one of the United
States first modern home built tanks.

What is a modern tank? You may well ask. The Renault

FT is often considered to be the first modern tank, as
since its appearance, tanks have more or less followed
its general layout.This being a fully rotating turret, and
separate crew and engine compartments. The T1 was The first model, T1. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Americas first tank to follow this design.

The T1 was developed between 1927 and 1932, and

would go through seven variations from T1, to T1E6.
Each variation would go through upgraded weaponry,
engine performance, and suspension.

The anatomy of the T1 remained mostly the same

through its various versions. Its characteristics were a
rear mounted turret, an engine positioned in the front,
and rear mounted drive sprockets. The exceptions were
the E4 and E6 models. In these models, the turret was
relocated to the center of the tank, the engine to the rear
and the drive sprockets to the front.
The T1E1. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Armament was constant. The tank carried a 37mm (1.46
in) Gun, with a coaxial M1919 .30 Cal. Machine Gun
mounted in the fully rotatable hand cranked turret. The
armament was mounted slightly to the right of the center
line. The tank had a crew of two consisting of
Commander and Driver in a set up similar to the
M1917/Renault FT Light Tank. The Commander was
located in the turret, and also performed the role of
Gunner and Loader. It was his responsibility to service
the main armament. The driver was located just in front of
him.

T1E2 with the improved turret. Photo: Wikimedia

Commons

The T1 taking part in training. Photo: worldoftanks.ru

T1: The T1 made its first appearance in 1927 as a single

prototype. Its main armament was the 37mm Short Tank
Gun M1918. This gun was a US development of the
Canon dInfanterie de 37 modle 1916 TRP, a The T1E3 with the long barreled 37mm Browning gun.
low-velocity French Infantry Support Gun that was used Photo: Wikimedia Commons
in the First World War. The turret was roughly conical,
with the roof sloping towards the gun. The T1s armor
ranged from 6.4mm (0.25 in) to 9.5mm (0.37 in) and was
powered by a Cunningham water-cooled V8 gasoline
engine, rated at 105 hp. This gave a top speed of 20 mph
(32 km/h). It had an unsprung suspension, using
equalizing links between the bogies to soften impacts,
even so, it would have been an extremely rough ride over
hard terrains. The tank weighed 7.5 tons.

T1E1: The T1E1 followed the original vehicle in 1928,

there were few changes. The only major alterations
consisted of the hull no longer extending beyond of the
The T1E4 with the improved, Vickers derived,
forward idler wheels, and the relocation of the fuel tanks
suspension. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
to above the tracks. Speed was also reduced to 18 mph
(29 km/h). Steering was achieved with a simple
clutch-brake steering system. Four of these vehicles
were produced making them the only T1s to see any kind
of series production. The vehicle soon received the
standardization designation of Light Tank M1, this was
soon revoked, however.

T1E2: Like its T1 predecessor, only one T1E2 prototype

was built. It saw some major changes to its offense and
defense. The E2s armor was increased to 15mm (0.625)
thick, raising the tanks overall weight to 8.9 tons. The
armament was also exchanged for a Browning 37mm
Auto-Cannon, which had much higher velocity than the
standard M1918 gun. It is thought this gun may have T1E6, the final model. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
been a long barreled version of the M1924. The
armament was later reverted, however, with the M1918
37mm Gun being reintroduced. A new turret was
introduced that was completely conical with a flat, rimmed
The tank would never see mass production with the four
top. It almost had the appearance of a top hat, the E2
T1E1s being the most tanks in the series built. The T1
was the only version of the tank to have this turret. The
was dropped in favor of a new design by the Rock Island
Cunningham V8 engine had its power boosted to 132 hp,
Arsenal, the T2. The T2 would later go onto become the
giving the tank a better power-to-weight ration. Maximum
Combat Car/Light Tank M1, and would pave the way
speed was only 16 mph, however, due to gear ratio
for famous American light tanks such as the M3 and M5
changes.
Stuart.

T1E3: The E3 was a further development of one of the

Just one of the Cunningham T1s survive today. The tank
four T1E1s. This variation was brought in 1930 by the US
had previously sat (unarmed) on outdoor display at the
Ordnance Department. It could be considered as
U.S. Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving
somewhat of a Tankenstein, as it was made up of a
Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland. However, when the
combination of parts from the T1E1 and T1E2. It was
museum closed in 2010, it was moved to the U.S. Army
armed with the Browning Auto-Cannon, had thickened
Ordnance Training and Heritage Center at Fort Lee,
armor and more powerful engine of the E2, but kept the
Virginia. It remains there in indoor storage, out of public
E1s turret, hull and gear ratios. The E1s gear ratios
display.
combined with the E2s more powerful engine again
increased the Tanks power-to-weight ratio, and
increased the top speed to 21.9 mph (35.2 km/h). The The tank spawned one variant, the 75mm Howitzer Motor
major change to T1E3 came with the suspension, which Carriage (HMC) T1. This was a turretless T1 hull, armed
was completely redesigned and featured hydraulic shock- with the M1 75 mm Pack Howitzer. This also stayed a
absorbers and coil-springs. This gave a much smoother prototype, with just one model built.
ride and better cross-country performance than the
springless suspension of the previous models. An article by Mark Nash

T1E4: The T1E4, introduced in 1932, was a complete

metamorphosis compared to the previous models of the Osprey Publishing, New Vanguard #245: Early US Armor,
T1. The layout of the vehicle was changed to having a Tanks 191640
centrally mounted turret, engine in the rear and sprocket Presidio Press, Stuart A History of the American Light
wheels at the front. It had a new suspension based on Tank, R.P. Hunnicutt
the British Vickers 6-ton Light Tank, which the US Army Merriam Press, Development of Armored Vehicles
had previously tested. This suspension consisted of Volume 1: Tanks, Ray Merriam
semi-elliptic leaf-springs on articulated four-wheel bogies. T1 on the Armored Vehicle Database
The vehicle was now longer than the original 12 ft 6 in
(3.810 m) of the T1 at 15 ft 5 in (4.70 m). Armament was
changed to the short barrel version of the M1924 Gun.
The E4, at first, retained the E1s engine. This soon
proved to be underpowered so it was replaced with
another upgrade Cunningham V8 rated at 140 hp, giving
the tank a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h).

T1E5: The E5 came along around same time as the E4,

and was a further development of one of the T1E1
Prototypes. This model was fitted with a new steering
system. Up until this model, the T1s had all used
Clutch-Brake steering, which led to overall power loss
when traversing the hull. This was replaced by a
controlled differential steering system, otherwise known
as a Cletrac system named after the Cleveland Tractor
Company who produced it. It worked by slowing down the
wheels on one side of the tank, letting the faster side to
swing in the direction required. Testing concurred that
this was a much better method than the original Clutch-
Brake, especially at higher speeds. US Ordnance
promptly recommended its use for all future tracked
vehicles that could exceed a speed of 6 mph (10 km/h). It
is still used today on the M113 APC. The E5 was given
the same Cunningham 140 hp V8 engine as the E4.

T1E6: T1E6 was the final T1 variant. This was a further

development of the E4, with Cunningham Engines
removed altogether. The 140 hp Cunningham V8 was
replaced by a 244 hp V12, made by the American-
LaFrance & Foamite Corporation, based in Summerville,
South Carolina. This engine barely squeezed into the
tanks engine bay, and increased the weight to 9.95 tons,
even with the more powerful engine, the speed remained
a controlled 20 mph (32 km/h). The T1E6 retained the
M1924 main armament of the T1E4, with the same
thickness of armor. However, this time it ranged from
9.5mm (0.375 inches) to 15.9mm (0.625 in).

Medium Tank T6 - The Birth of