The tank, known as the M1919, was delivered in early 1921 and tested until Christie proposed modifying it. The US Tank Corps ordered a single tank from Christie's company based on this design.
Christie's first tank design of 1919 could be driven on its wheels to get to the starting point and then the tracks fitted before it went into action. The system was first introduced on his M1928 design, and used on all of his designs until his death in 1944.Ĭhristie advocated the use of lightweight tanks with long range and high speed, designed to penetrate enemy lines and attack their infrastructure and logistics capabilities.Ī major problem with tanks in World War I was tracked suspension failure. It allowed considerably longer movement than conventional leaf spring systems then in common use, which allowed his tanks to have considerably greater cross-country speed. The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by American engineer J. Christie-derived suspension on Polish 10TP tank: roadwheel (1), spring (2) and arm (3) T3E2 tank with Christie suspension crossing an obstacle during tests in 1936 That movement compresses the spring (2), pushing the arm down again. JSTOR ( June 2009) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ĭhristie suspension as used in his 1931 patent: When the roadwheel (3) is pushed up by an obstacle, the arm (1) it is mounted on is pushed upwards, pivoting around the mounting point where it is attached to the hull.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "Christie suspension" – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.