Even after the end of the war, the Thirty-Four remained in service with the Soviet Army and the armies of friendly countries for a long time, as a completely reliable combat vehicle that more or less met the requirements. Those of them that remained in service were modernized and received the designation T-34-85 model 1960. At the same time, changes were made to the design of the engine, designated B-34-M11. Two air cleaners with ejection dust extraction were installed, a heater was introduced into the engine cooling and lubrication system, and a more powerful electric generator was installed. The driver received a BVN infrared surveillance device with an infrared headlight to drive the car at night. The 9R radio station was replaced with 10-RT-26E. Two BDS smoke bombs were installed at the rear of the tank. The speed increased to 60 km/h. Other characteristics, including combat weight and engine power, remained the same.
In 1969, the T-34s were once again modernized: they received more modern night vision devices and a new R-123 radio station. This ends the history of the development of the T-34 tank in our country, but it did not end there at all.
Let's summarize some results. First of all, a short summary of the number of cars produced:
1940 - 110 (+2 prototypes),
1941 - 2996, 1942 - 12527,
1943 - 15821,
1944 - 14648,
1945 - 12551,
1946 - 2707.
This is Maksarev's data. There are others:
1942 - 12520,
1943 - 15696.
In general, an accurate calculation is very difficult, and perhaps makes no sense. Information about the number of vehicles was provided by factories, military acceptance and other authorities. Be that as it may, arithmetic calculation gives us more than 61 thousand T-34 tanks produced in our country over the course of six and a half years. This puts the T-34 in first place in the world in terms of mass production (the American Sherman tank is second, produced in the amount of 48,071 units). But these are not all thirty-fours ever built. But more on that later.
As we have already said, the T-34 was improved during its production; many changes were made to its design. However, the main things: the body, engine, transmission (except for the gearbox), and suspension have remained virtually unchanged. Other details were changed several times. So, we know that the L-11, F-32, F-34, D-5T, and ZIS-S-53 guns were installed on the tank as the main armament. Some experts count up to 7 different types of towers: welded from rolled sheets, cast or even stamped, 45 mm thick, created at ChKZ. The towers differed not only in the shape and number of hatches on the roof, the number and location of fan “mushrooms”, the presence or absence of pistol embrasures, observation devices in the sides, but, most importantly, in their shape. There are also four types of rollers: with rubber, with internal shock absorption, with solid rims, and with developed fins. There were at least three types of tracks. The additional fuel tanks also differed in shape, quantity and location. There were other differences: antennas, handrails, exhaust pipe covers, driver's hatches, etc. Apparently it’s not worth listing everything. And often at the front, one vehicle, especially after repair, had several different rollers, fortunately their standard sizes were almost the same (outer diameter 634 or 650 mm).
Experts noted the following weaknesses of the armored hull:
- Weakening of the upper frontal armor plate, the presence of a driver's hatch and a large cutout for a machine gun ball mount.
- The same top sheet showed a tendency to form cracks, because was made of homogeneous armor of high hardness; this was caused by fire cutting and welding of a sheet of complex configuration with a large volume of welding work.
- A large number of welded small parts (tow hooks, bullet-reflective strips) led to local weakening of the armor plate and contributed to the biting of armor-piercing shells.
It would be interesting to present the opinion of a highly qualified specialist, namely our outstanding designer of light tanks and self-propelled guns N.A. Astrov (1906 - 1992):
“The general layout of the T-34, which basically repeated the Christie and BT, although now called classic, is by no means optimal, since the coefficient of utilization of the armor volume for such a layout is not high. However, the Kharkovites who chose this particular one for the T-34 scheme, they undoubtedly did the right thing, because changing the overall layout in the conditions of an impending war could lead to unexpected, very difficult, and perhaps irreparable troubles.
A general conclusion arises: the “winning” machine does not always have the opportunity to be based on optimal (according to science) decisions.”
It is necessary to say a few words about what were the organizational forms of using our tanks in the Second World War, that is, in which units and formations the T-34s fought.
The tank divisions of the mechanized corps at the beginning of the war were very strong formations. For comparison: the German tank division of 1941 had 147 or 300 tanks (depending on the number of tank battalions in it, two or three). In the battles in June and July 1941, the mechanized corps suffered heavy losses. But the industry was not then able to quickly make up for the losses in tanks. This required changing and simplifying the structure of tank formations. On July 15, the Supreme High Command headquarters ordered the abolition of the mechanized corps, and at the end of August the NKO approved the staff of a new tank brigade, the tank regiment of which consisted of 93 tanks. But already in September it was necessary to transfer the brigades to a battalion basis. Its two tank battalions totaled 46 tanks. Of these, 16 are thirty-four, 10 are KB, the rest are T-60. Separate tank battalions of 29 tanks each were also formed, consisting of three tank companies, of which only one had seven T-34s. The remaining tanks of this battalion, numbering only 130 people, were T-60s.
We will not consider here other small formations of that difficult period of the war. But already in the winter of 1941-42. our industry has gained strength. The monthly production exceeded 1,500 vehicles, and therefore in March 1942 the formation of four tank corps began. The corps consisted first of two, then of three tank and one motorized rifle brigades and was supposed to have 110 tanks, including 40 thirty-fours. Already in May of the same year, tank armies of non-permanent composition began to be created, but they necessarily had two tank corps. A total of four such armies were formed then, with the 5th Tank Army being formed twice.
In September 1942, the formation of mechanized corps began. As combat experience accumulated and a sufficient amount of equipment became available, the tank armies received a more homogeneous organization. As a rule, they consisted of two tank and one mechanized corps. The tank corps consisted of three tank and one motorized rifle brigade and in 1944 numbered 207 medium tanks (all T-34) and 63 SU. Self-propelled artillery brigades were also introduced into the tank armies. Now all tank brigades were of a homogeneous composition, that is, they consisted only of T-34 tanks. Organization of a tank brigade by state in 1943 (remaining virtually unchanged until the end of the war). By the end of the war, the tank army (there were six of them), numbering more than 50 thousand people, consisted of 900 tanks and control systems. True, not all of them and did not always have a full composition.
T-34s went through the entire war from the first to the last day. They also took part in the defeat of the armed forces of militaristic Japan. They went into battle in the tundra, and in the forests of Karelia and Belarus, along the steppes of Ukraine and in the foothills of the Caucasus, that is, along the entire length of the many thousand-kilometer Soviet-German front. And they fought not only as part of the Red Army. They fought in the ranks of the Polish People's Army. From July 1943 to June 1945, the Polish Armed Forces received 578 tanks, of which 446 were T-34s.
At the final stage of the war, a considerable number of our tanks were also transferred to the armies of Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, which fought shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army.
Note that a number of captured T-34 tanks were also in the service of the Wehrmacht.
Typically, captured T-34s were left in the units that captured them. For example, in the “Panzergrenadier” SS division “Reich” shortly before the Battle of Kursk there were 25 Pz tanks. Kpfw. T34 747(r). It was not possible to establish how many of them went on the attack on the positions of the Soviet troops.
In total, as of May 31, 1943, the Germans had no more than a hundred captured tanks, including 59 T-34s (it should be noted that unit commanders, to put it mildly, were “in no hurry” to report on the captured vehicles they had in service). Of the latter, only 19 units were combat-ready. And as of December 30, their total number was reduced by half. Mostly these were the same "thirty-fours"; of these, 29 were in the 100th Jaeger Division on the Eastern Front.
The Germans also had self-propelled guns SU-122 and SU-85, designated StuG SU122(r) and JgdPz SU85(r), respectively. Finland also had T-34 tanks in World War II. Nine captured T-34-76 and nine T-34-85 tanks were included in Finnish army as of 12/31/44. They took part in battles both with Soviet troops and acted against the Germans after the conclusion of a peace treaty with the Soviet Union.
Device T-34-85
"The T-34-85 medium tank is a tracked combat vehicle with a rotating turret that provides all-round fire from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun" ("Manual on the equipment and operation of the T-34 tank").
The T-34 tank is designed in accordance with the so-called classic layout, that is, the fighting compartment with a turret in front, the engine and transmission compartment with drive wheels in the rear. This arrangement was first used on the French Renault tank in 1917, but perhaps it was most clearly embodied in the BT and T-34 series tanks. The latter, to a certain extent, inherited from the BT the general layout, chassis and suspension parts.
The main parts of the tank are: hull and turret, weapons, power plant, power train (transmission), chassis, electrical equipment and communications. The tank hull is welded from rolled armor plates. Only the upper stern plate was bolted to the corners of the side and lower stern armor plates and, with the bolts removed, could be folded back on two hinges, thereby providing access to the power plant. The roof over the power plant is also removable. In the upper frontal hull plate, installed at an angle of 60" to the vertical, there is a driver's hatch on the left and a machine gun ball mount on the right. The upper side hull sheets are installed at an angle of 41". The lower side sheets are vertical. Each has 4 holes for the passage of the balancer axes of the track rollers, one hole for the bracket for the balancer axes of the front track roller and 4 cutouts for the trunnion of the balancers of the second to fifth rollers.
The bottom of the body consists of two or four (depending on factory differences) sheets, butt welded with overlays. On the front right in the bottom in front of the machine gunner's seat there is an emergency exit hatch through which the crew can leave the vehicle in an emergency. There are also hatches and hatches cut into the bottom for draining fuel from the onboard tanks, draining oil from the engine and gearbox, etc.
Inside the tank body has 4 compartments. In front is the control compartment, which houses the driver and machine gunner, levers and pedals of control drives, and instrumentation. Behind the control compartment is the fighting compartment with a turret, which houses the remaining crew members - the commander, gunner and loader. A removable steel partition separates the fighting compartment from the compartment power plant(SU), in the middle of which the engine is installed on a pedestal. On the sides of the engine there are water radiators, two oil tanks and four batteries. There is a hatch cut out in the roof above the control unit with an armored cover for access to the engine, and on its sides there are elongated air inlets covered with armored shutters.
In the stern behind the bulkhead there is a power transmission compartment, which houses the main clutch, gearbox, final clutches with brakes and final drives, as well as an electric starter, two fuel tanks and two air cleaners. In the roof above the power transmission compartment there is a rectangular air vent, closed with a metal mesh, under which there are adjustable armored blinds. The upper stern plate is equipped with a round hatch with an armored cover, hinged, usually bolted to the armor plate flange. The same sheet contains two armored caps covering the exhaust pipes, as well as two brackets for attaching smoke bombs.
The main armament of the tank was initially a 76-mm semi-automatic L-11 cannon of the 1939 model with a vertical wedge breech. In 1941, it was replaced by guns of the same caliber F-32 and F-34 model 1940. Later, the T-34-85 received an 85-mm gun, first the D-5T model, and then the ZIS-S-53. Thanks to the rotation of the turret, the cannon and coaxial machine gun had a circular fire. In the vertical plane, the elevation angle of the cannon and machine gun is 22". With a descent angle of 5", the unhittable (dead) space on the ground for the cannon and coaxial machine gun is 23 m. The height of the gun's line of fire is 202 cm. The frontal machine gun had a horizontal firing angle of 12" to the left and to the right, descent angle 6" (dead space 13 m), elevation angle 16". An experienced crew, when firing from a standstill, is able to fire 7-8 aimed shots from a cannon per minute. Using the TSh-16 telescopic sight it was possible to fire straight aiming at a distance of up to 3800 m, and with the help of a side level and a goniometer circle, indirect aiming (for example, from closed positions) at a distance of 13600 m. The range of a direct shot at a target height of 2 m with an armor-piercing projectile is 900 m. The rotation of the turret is carried out by a turning mechanism with manual and electric drive. It is located to the left of the gun on the wall of the tower. Maximum speed rotation of the tower from the electric motor -25-30 g/sec. When operated manually, one turn of the flywheel rotates the turret by 0.9". Vertical aiming is carried out manually using a sector lifting mechanism, which is also located to the left of the gun. The gun can be fired by mechanical or electric trigger.
The gun's ammunition consists of 55-60 unitary shots, depending on the production series of the vehicles. For 60 shots, there were usually 39 with a high-explosive fragmentation grenade, 15 with armor-piercing tracer and 6 with sub-caliber shells. The ammunition is placed as follows: the main stowage of 16 (in some vehicles - 12) shots is located in the aft niche of the turret and on the racks. On the right side of the turret there are 4 shots in clamps, and 5 on the walls of the fighting compartment, standing up. The remaining shots are stored in six boxes located on the bottom of the fighting compartment. The machine guns had 31 magazines of 63 rounds each. In addition to the main ammunition, tankers often took ammunition in boxes. The tankers' armament was supplemented by pistols, PPSh and 20 F-1 grenades.
There are 3 MK-4 mirror periscopic observation devices installed on the roof of the turret: at the commander (on the non-retractable part of the roof of the commander's cupola), gunner and loader. This device, developed by the Polish captain R. Gundlyach, at the beginning of the war was adopted under the mentioned designation in English army. It allows observation both forward and backward without changing the position of the observer's head, but only by moving the prism. The device is mounted and rotated in a cage protected by an armored cap. It can also swing around a horizontal axis, which allows you to increase the vertical viewing angle. The commander's cupola was cast and had a rotating roof on ball bearings with a hinged hatch. There are 5 horizontal viewing slots cut into the walls of the turret, protected by glass blocks. The tower itself is also cast, hexagonal in plan with inclined side walls. In its front wall there is an embrasure cut out for installing a cannon, covered with swinging armor.
There are seven holes in the turret roof: on the right is a round hatch for landing the loader, two ventilation holes (on some vehicles - one) covered with armored caps, a cutout for the antenna socket, a hatch for the commander's cupola and two hatches for the heads of the gun commander's and loader's periscopes.
A power transmission (PT) is a set of units designed to transmit torque from the engine crankshaft to the drive wheels to change the tank's speed and traction forces over a larger range than the engine allows. The main clutch (MF) smoothly transfers the load to the engine when the tank starts from a standstill, with sudden changes in the number of revolutions of the engine crankshaft and the speed of the tank. It also disconnects the engine from the gearbox when changing gears. GF is a multi-disk (11 driving and driven disks each) engaging dry friction clutch of steel on steel. The GF is turned on or off by the control drive, for which the driver needs to apply a force of up to 25 kg on the levers.
The GF is connected to the gearbox by a gear coupling. It is designed to change the traction force on the drive wheels and change the speed of movement, as well as to move in reverse at a constant number of revolutions and a constant direction of rotation of the engine crankshaft and, finally, to disconnect the engine from the joint venture when starting it and idling. The gearbox is mechanical, three-chord, five-speed, has five forward gears and one reverse gear. Gears are switched by a control drive consisting of a rocker link, longitudinal rods and vertical rollers with levers. In order for the tank to turn, it is necessary to brake the track towards which the turn is being made. To disconnect the driving wheels of the tracks from the main shaft of the gearbox, dry friction side clutches (BF) are used (also steel on steel), having from 17 to 21 driving and from 18 to 22 driven disks, depending on the thickness. BFs are installed at the ends of the gearbox main shaft. Switching off is carried out by a drive from the control compartment, for which the driver needs to apply a force of up to 20 kg to the handle of the corresponding lever. Floating band brakes are installed on the driven drums of the BF. They are also driven by drives from the control compartment, for which there are left and right control levers on the sides of the driver's seat. Foot drives are also connected to the brakes for simultaneous tightening of both brake bands without turning off the brake fan. Before this, however, the GF is turned off or the gearbox is switched to the neutral position. And finally, between the final clutches and the drive wheels there are final drives, consisting of a pair of spur gears. Gearboxes increase the traction force on the drive wheels, allowing you to reduce the speed of rotation of the drive wheel and thereby increase the torque on it. In fact, the final drive is a single-stage reduction gearbox.
The chassis of the tank includes the tracked propulsion system and suspension. It is this propulsion unit that provides the tank with high cross-country ability. It consists of two caterpillar chains, two drive wheels, two idler wheels and 10 road wheels. The caterpillar chain is small-linked. consists of 72 tracks, half of which have guide ridges, the track pitch is 172, and the width is 500 mm. The tracks are connected with fingers through eyelets. One such caterpillar weighs 1070 kg. Double-disc drive wheels (cast or with stamped disks) are installed on the driven shafts of the final drives and are used to rewind the caterpillar. Between the disks on the axles there are 6 rollers, which drag the ridges of the tracks, and, consequently, the entire caterpillar. Cast front idler wheels serve not only to guide the track, but also to tension it. Tension is carried out by moving the guide wheel on the crank. The fact is that with use, the total length of the caterpillar increases. The guide wheel serves to ensure its constant tension. In case of significant wear of the caterpillar, it is allowed to reduce the number of tracks in it by two.
The suspension of the T-34 tank is independent with cylindrical coil springs, and the suspension of the front roller - a double spring - is located vertically inside the bow of the hull and is protected by shields. The suspensions of the remaining rollers are located obliquely inside the tank hull in special shafts. The track rollers are mounted on bearings on axles pressed into the balancers. Double roller with rubber tire. Between the disks of the rollers are the ridges of the tracks. During the production of the T-34, several types of road wheels with external rubber were used. Since the spring of 1942, in order to save scarce rubber, rollers with internal shock absorption were used (however, this did not last long). The rubber shock absorber was placed on bearings on the balancer axles. The savings, however, were “false” - the internal shock absorbers very quickly failed.
The tank's electrical equipment included sources and consumers of electricity. The latter include: an electric starter, an electric turret rotation motor, fans, an electric trigger for a cannon and a coaxial machine gun, electric motors for a heater (installed after the war) and an oil pump, lighting and alarm devices, a sight heater, a radio station, a tank intercom, etc. The sources of electricity are: a DC generator mounted to the right of the engine, and four batteries installed in pairs on both sides of the engine. The total battery voltage is 24 V, the same voltage is provided by the generator. Its power is 1000 W.
The 9RS radio station is designed for two-way radio communication between tanks or other objects. The station is a telephone and telegraph station, its range depends on the time of day and time of year. It is greatest when using a telephone on a four-meter whip antenna during the winter day: 15 km while moving and up to 20 km when parked. At night, especially in summer, the level of interference increases and the communication range drops to 7 and 9 km, respectively. When working with telegraph, the range increases by 1.5-2 times. When using a shortened antenna, it is naturally smaller. The 9RS radio station works for transmission only by telephone, and for reception by telephone and telegraph. The transceiver with power supply is attached with brackets to the left and rear sheets of the turret to the left and behind the commander’s seat. Since 1952 under major renovation instead of the 9RS radio station, a 10RT-26E radio station was installed, which also works as a telegraph for transmission.
The TPU-Z-BIS-F tank intercom (since 1952 replaced by the TPU-47) consisted of three devices - for the gunner, tank commander and driver.
It is intended for communication between them, and for the commander and gunner through a radio station and with external correspondents.
Two manual carbon dioxide fire extinguishers are mounted inside the tank. A set of spare parts, tools and accessories are located both inside and outside. This includes a tarpaulin, a tow rope, a box with gun spare parts, two spare tracks each - with and without a comb, track track fingers, entrenching tools, etc. After the war, two BDSh smoke bombs were installed at the rear of the tank.
A few words about the work of the crew members. The driver sits on a height-adjustable seat. In front of it in the upper frontal plate there is a hatch closed by an armored cover. The lid contains two fixed periscopes. In order to have a larger horizontal viewing angle, the periscope prisms are located at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tank. The bottom of the prism is covered with protective glass - thanks to it, fragments of a damaged prism will not injure the driver’s eyes. After the war, over protective glass and on inner surface The armor above the periscopes was equipped with soft forehead protectors, protecting the driver's head from bruises.
In front of the driver there are the following mechanisms and instruments: left and right control levers, to the right of the right lever is the gearbox rocker, a little to the left, below is the manual fuel supply handle. Further to the left there is a fuel pedal, a brake pedal with a latch. Under the driver's left foot is the GF pedal. On the inside of the frontal armor plate below the hatch there is a panel with control devices. And even lower are two compressed air cylinders for air starting the engine. On the left side wall there is an electrical instrument panel, a starter button, a tachometer (shows engine speed) and a speedometer. Below them is a fire extinguisher, etc.
To the right of the driver is a machine gunner. He fires from a front-mounted machine gun of the DT brand (changed to the DTM after the war). The machine gun is inserted into a ball, which is mounted in a special socket in the upper frontal plate of the hull. The machine gunner uses the PPU-X-T telescopic sight. Firing is carried out in short bursts (2-7 shots) at a distance of 600-800 m only at group live targets. The machine gun is automatic using the energy of exhaust powder gases. To prevent gas contamination inside the tank, the machine gun is installed so that the hole of the gas piston is moved outside under the movable armor shield. The machine gun has no stock. Shooting is carried out by pressing the trigger.
In the turret to the left of the gun there is a height-adjustable gunner's seat. The gunner’s task is quite specific: having received target designation from the commander or choosing a target independently, ensure that the cannon and coaxial machine gun are aimed at the target, and fire a shot using either the trigger mechanism or the electric trigger. He has at his disposal a TSh-16 periscope sight with fourfold magnification and a field of view of 16°. The sight also serves to determine the distance to the target and monitor the battlefield. In the field of view of the sight there are four distance scales (for different types of cannon shells and for a coaxial machine gun) and a lateral correction scale. The latter is used for aiming at a frontally moving target. To fire from closed positions with indirect fire, the gunner uses a side level, which is mounted on the left shield of the gun fence. He points the cannon and coaxial machine gun at the target using the turret rotation mechanism and the cannon lifting mechanism. The flywheel of the lifting mechanism is located in front of the gunner. On the flywheel handle there is an electric trigger lever for the cannon and coaxial machine gun. The manual trigger is mounted on the gun fence shield in front of the side level.
The commander in his seat is located behind the gunner, to the left of the gun. For the convenience of observation, he is served by the commander's cupola and the observation devices described above. The commander's tasks: observation of the battlefield, target designation to the gunner, work at the radio station and management of the crew's actions.
To the right of the gun is the loader. His responsibilities include: choosing the type of shot as directed by the commander, loading the cannon, reloading the coaxial machine gun, and observing the battlefield. The seat he uses outside of combat is suspended by three straps. Two of them are attached to the turret ring, and the third to the gun cradle. By changing the position of the belts, you can adjust the seat height. In combat, the loader works by standing on the lids of the ammunition boxes on the bottom of the tank. When transferring a cannon from one side to another, he must deftly follow or in front of the breech, while he is hampered by spent cartridges lying on the bottom. The absence of a rotating pole (at least the one that was on our T-28) is a significant drawback of the T-34. Next to the loader's seat, a stopper is mounted in one of the grips of the turret's ball support to secure the turret in the stowed position. If the turret is not fixed, then the shaking and jolting of the vehicle on the march would lead to rapid wear of the support mechanism, and, consequently, to an increase in the play of the turret rotation mechanism.
Production and service of the T-34 in other countries after the end of World War II
After World War II, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (PLAU) was armed with tanks that were predominantly foreign-made, mostly American. But there were also our T-34s (130 units), transferred to the NOAI back in 1945. Two tank brigades were formed from them in our states.
After the war, the leadership of NOAU decided to try to establish the production of tanks at home. The T-34-85 was chosen as the sample. The emphasis was on increasing the service life of the machine. Many changes were made to the design of the T-34. We installed our own diesel engine and an improved transmission. The gun was probably installed the same as our ZIS-S-53, but with a muzzle brake. The chassis and suspension system remained unchanged. The hull and turret underwent the most significant alterations. Thanks to the bevels in the front part of the body, the area of its frontal surface has been reduced. This was supposed to reduce the likelihood of being hit from the front, but it complicated production and weakened the hull. True, the designers took into account that Yugoslav factories would be better able to weld armor parts than cast them. In the same way, the cylindrical hatch bases welded into the side walls of the tower weakened its strength. The tower itself had a convex roof. A significant aft niche apparently made it possible to increase the ammunition load. The ventilation of the tower has been improved (fan hood on the niche). The commander's cupola was missing and it is unlikely that the 4 periscopic devices in the roof of the tower could compensate for this deficiency.
However, the expected gain in tactical and technical characteristics did not happen. And in the early 50s, further work was considered inappropriate. A total of 7 copies of the Yugoslav thirty-four were produced. They took part in the May 1950 parade and subsequently served as training ones. One such vehicle is on display at the military museum in Kalemegdan (Belgrade). We were unable to obtain any technical specifications about her.
At the end of the 40s, the Polish, and after it the Czechoslovak government, decided to organize the production of the T-34 tank at home. Technical documentation and technology were received from the Soviet Union. Specialists arrived to provide assistance. First serial tanks Polish production left the factory floors in 1951. But these were not our T-34s one to one. Their design was improved in accordance with the changing requirements of the time. In 1953 they were modernized again. The designations T-34-85M1 or T-34-85M2 corresponded to the first and second modernization. Their release lasted five years.
Polish-made tanks received a modified turret. The engine, adapted to run on various types of fuel, had a heater to facilitate starting in winter. Mechanisms have been introduced to make the tank easier to control. The range has been increased to 650 km on additional tanks. New 10RT-26E radio station, TPU-47 tank intercom, TPK-1 or TPK-U25 commander's observation devices, and driver's night vision devices were installed. The turret rotation speed has been increased to 25-30° per second. Ammunition - 55 rounds - was placed differently. The crew, thanks to the new system for aiming and loading the frontal machine gun, was reduced to four people. The tank received equipment to overcome water obstacles along the bottom.
Some differences in the shape of the tower, additional tanks, etc. had T-34s made in Czechoslovakia. The ČKD plant in Prague received a license to build this tank in 1949, along with a license to produce the SU-100. The production of tanks began in 1951 and continued for several years.
After the war, T-34 tanks entered service with the DPRK army and the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA). As part of them, they successfully fought on the fronts of the Korean War (1950-53), where they demonstrated their superiority over the American Shermans.
In subsequent years, T-34s, mainly of Polish and Czechoslovak production, entered service with the armies of many states, including participating countries Warsaw Pact, as well as Albania, Angola, Congo, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, China, North Korea, Mongolia, Egypt, Guinea, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Mali, Syria, Finland, Yugoslavia. They took part in numerous military conflicts of the 50s - 60s and even the 70s: in the Middle East in 1956, 1967 and 1973, in the Indo-Pakistan conflicts of 1965 and 1971, in Vietnam in 1965- 75 etc.
Allied tanks
As always, truth is learned through comparison. Our thirty-four also needs it. Comparison with contemporary tanks of the enemy and allies allows us to more clearly emphasize the advantages of our tank, and, perhaps, highlight some of its shortcomings.
We have already talked about German tanks. And what did the tank crews of our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition fight on: the British, the Americans, the French?
In the minds of the British military in the mid-30s, the idea of two types of tanks dominated - infantry (slow, but heavily armored) and cruising (fast, but weakly armored). The latter was intended for large mechanized formations operating in the so-called deep operation.
Let's consider only cruising tanks as being more suitable for the tactical purpose of the T-34. In the summer of 1939, the A 15 Crusader tank began to arrive in the British troops. The latest modification of the Crusader III was produced until 1943. Technically unreliable, the Crusaders were also poorly armed. But these were the main tanks of the British tank forces of the first half of the war.
Taking into account the shortcomings of the Crusaders, the British began producing MK cruiser tanks from the end of 1942. VIII "Cromwell". Its armor was solid at that time, but its maneuverability was low. In battles with the German Panthers, the Cromwells were not successful: neither thick armor nor high speed helped. "Cromwell" did not even reach the level of the main combat and technical characteristics of the T-34-85.
At the very end of the war, the British army received the Comet cruiser tanks, which were essentially a development of the Cromwell, with more powerful weapons (77 mm gun - actual caliber 76.2 mm). The cruising tank, the basis of the British armored forces, was never brought to the level of the contemporary Soviet and German medium tanks.
As for the Americans, the pride of their military tank building was the M4 Sherman medium tank. The development of this vehicle began in March 1941. In February 1942, a prototype was built, and two months later mass production of this most massive American tank began.
It took only 13 months from the moment the decision was made to the start of production. The tank was built until the end of the war, supplied in large quantities to the British army, under Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union (4102 units), as well as to all armies of the anti-Hitler coalition. After the war, Shermans were supplied to all of the United States' allies. Even now in some armies they, although significantly modernized, are in service. This fact itself indicates how reliable the Sherman was and that it had a large reserve for modernization.
The tank was produced by different factories in several modifications, differing in the method of manufacturing the hull and turret, engines, chassis, and weapons. The tank hull was welded. The nose piece first consisted of three bolted pieces, then one cast piece, and finally a cast and rolled piece. The Shermans basically retained the chassis of the M3 medium tank that preceded it. It was only in March 1944 that the new horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS) was introduced, which was used on almost all M4 models.
The M4A2 modification was equipped with a diesel engine. The most common modification of the M4AZ in the American army (from June 1942 to May 1945, 11,324 vehicles were produced) was equipped with a special Ford GAA-8 tank carburetor engine. These tanks had a welded hull. The hull of the M4A4 modification tanks was modified to accommodate the Chrysler A75 power unit, consisting of five engines. The M4A6 modification had the same body, but it was equipped with a Caterpillar RD-1829 radial diesel engine. Tanks of the M4A5 modification were produced by Canadian factories under the designation RAM. All M4 tanks had engines located in the rear, and the transmission and drive wheel were located in the front.
Depending on the modification and production time, the Shermans were equipped with 75- and 76.2-mm cannons of various types, as well as 105-mm howitzers (on some vehicles of the M4 and M4AZ modifications). The 75 mm gun was soon recognized as not powerful enough to fight German tanks. In August 1942, an attempt was made to install a 76.2 mm gun in the M4A1 tank. However, the old tower turned out to be unsuitable for her. In 1943, an experimental T23 tank was developed - a prototype of the future M26, armed with a 90-mm cannon. Its turret, but with a 76.2 mm cannon and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun, was installed unchanged on the M4. The production of tanks with this turret began in March 1944. The armor-piercing projectile of the new gun had an initial speed of 810 m/s (instead of 620 for the previous 75 mm guns) and penetrated 100 mm armor at a distance of 900 m. On the right side of the turret, a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun was mounted on a bracket. The third 7.62 mm machine gun was located in a ball mount in the frontal part of the hull. The tower had a floor that rotated along with it. Placing the ammunition rack at the bottom of the fighting compartment required raising the floor, which increased the overall height of the tank. Some tanks used “wet” ammunition stowage: shots for the gun were placed in tubes passing through a tank with ethylene glycol or water. When a shell hit the stowage, the liquid extinguished the ignited ammunition. A gun stabilizer in the vertical plane and a hydroelectric turret rotation mechanism, which had a duplicate drive to the commander and gunner, were also used. The combat weight of Sherman tanks ranged from 30.2 to 35 tons.
The M4 tank, which received the name "General Sherman" in England, was built in 1943-45. turned out to be the main and best tank of the British army. The first Shermans arrived in North Africa in October 1942 (270 units) and on October 24 received their baptism of fire in the battle of El Alamein. Together with the M3 medium tanks, they made up more than half of all the tanks of the British 8th Army. Later, the British installed their 76.2 mm cannon on the Shermans (which required changing the turret), and in this way received the most powerful tank of the British army during the war. These tanks were called "Sherman Firefly" and began to enter service in February 1944. They were the only Allied tanks that were capable of fighting the German "Tigers" and "Panthers", and even then at close ranges.
The M4 turned out to be a good tank, easy to manufacture. This facilitated its mass production in non-specialized factories that had no experience in mechanical engineering. "Sherman" was distinguished by its operational reliability, structural strength, and maintainability. But it was relatively weakly armed and armored. They tried to eliminate these shortcomings. In particular, on the modification M4A3E2, the thickness of the frontal armor of the hull was increased to 100 mm by shielding. The M4s were more or less equivalent to the German PZ tanks. IV, but could not (except for the Sherman Firefly) conduct an open battle with the Tigers and Panthers. In Korea (1950-53), hopes for the M4A3E8, which was inferior to the T-34-85 in terms of armament and maneuverability, were not realized.
On the basis of the M4 tank, several control systems, sapper and auxiliary vehicles were created, in particular, tank destroyers M10 and M36, a self-propelled 155 mm M40 gun and a 203 mm howitzer M-43. Many tanks were equipped with installations for launching missiles.
This was the second most popular tank in the world after the T-34 (48,071 units were produced). It was inferior to our tank in many characteristics, but superior to it in reliability and ease of operation for the crew.
In other countries - Italy, Japan, France - there were no tanks that were at least to some extent close in tactical and technical data to those described above.
T-34 is the first mass-produced Soviet medium tank. In the 30s, there were two extremes in domestic tank building. On the one hand - light tanks. They had speed, mobility and maneuverability, but on the other hand they had poor protection from projectiles and the low firepower of the installed weapons. At the opposite extreme were heavy tanks with strong armor and powerful weapons, but at the same time slow and slow. The T-34 combined the maneuverability of a light tank with a high level of armor protection and powerful weapons at the level of a heavy tank. The T-34 is also considered the most popular tank of World War II - from 1940 to 1947, seven factories in the USSR, and after the war, more than 60 thousand T-34 tanks of various modifications were produced in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
The T-34 tank was designed at Design Bureau No. 183 at the Kharkov Locomotive Plant named after the Comintern under the leadership of chief designer Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin. In the production program of this plant and in service with the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, the T-34 replaced the popular BT light tanks of the 1930s. Their pedigree goes back to the American Christie tank, a sample of which was imported into the USSR in 1931 without a turret, documented according to documents as an “agricultural tractor.” Based on this imported vehicle, a whole family of high-speed tanks was developed in the Soviet Union. In the 30s, the machines of this series were modernized and improved; production models bore the indices BT-2, BT-5 and BT-7. Of course, BT-7 and T-34 are tanks of different classes. The difference in their combat weight is very large - 13.8 tons for the BT versus 30 tons for the T-34. However, firstly, for the first manufacturer of the T-34, the Kharkov Locomotive Plant named after the Comintern, the BT-7 was the previous “old”, and the T-34 the subsequent “new” basic model - the “thirty-four” replaced the BT at the same production capacities. Secondly, both the BT series before the war and the T-34 during the war were the most popular tanks of the USSR Armed Forces. Thirdly, the T-34 inherited the general layout from the BT. Finally, fourthly, it was on the later releases of the BT-7 that the V-2 diesel engine first appeared, which will be installed on all T-34s.
Tank BT
By 1937, extensive experience in operating BT tanks had accumulated, and the participation of Soviet tank crews in the Spanish Civil War made it possible to test these tanks in real combat conditions. As a result, three cardinal shortcomings were revealed. Firstly, the light armored vehicle turned out to be too vulnerable to enemy artillery, because its armor was designed primarily for bulletproof protection. Secondly, due to the wheeled-tracked propulsion, the tank's cross-country ability left much to be desired. Thirdly, a gasoline engine is more dangerous in combat than a diesel engine - when a projectile hits, a gasoline tank ignites much easier and stronger than a diesel tank.
The Armored Directorate (ABTU) of the Red Army issued a technical assignment to the Kharkov plant for the design of a medium tank, initially designated A-20 or BT-20 on October 13, 1937. Initially, it was planned that the new tank, with its combat weight increased from 13 to 19 tons and a new V-2 diesel engine, would retain the wheeled-track type of chassis, like the previous BT models. While working on the A-20, M.I. Koshkin came to the conclusion that in order to increase the thickness of the armor, the power of weapons, and improve off-road capability, it is necessary to abandon the wheel-tracked chassis design in favor of a tracked one. Koshkin had many influential opponents who advocated the preservation of the wheeled-tracked propulsion system. Several of Koshkin’s colleagues, tank designers, were arrested by the NKVD as enemies of the people. Nevertheless, despite the risk, in case of failure, of becoming a victim of accusations of sabotage, Mikhail Ilyich boldly, decisively and uncompromisingly advocated a new tracked propulsion unit.
To evaluate the advantages of this or that scheme in practice, it was necessary to design two prototype tanks - the wheeled-tracked A-20 and the tracked A-32 with a combat weight of 19 tons and an armor thickness of 20-25 mm. These two projects were discussed at a meeting of the Defense Committee on May 4, 1938, in which I.V. participated. Stalin, members of the Politburo, military personnel and designers. Tank engineer A.A., a participant in the battles in Spain. Vetrov, in his report, based on personal combat experience, spoke in favor of a tracked tank - the wheeled propulsion unit proved to be unreliable and difficult to repair. Vetrov was actively supported by Koshkin - he emphasized that the tracked design is less metal-intensive, simpler and cheaper to produce, and, therefore, the scale of serial production of tracked tanks at equal costs will be much greater than the production volume of wheeled-tracked tanks. At the same time, there were supporters of the wheeled version - the head of the ABTU, corps commander D.G. Pavlov and other speakers actively campaigned for the usual wheeled-tracked tank. The result was summed up by Stalin, who proposed building and testing tanks of both types.
So, in 1938, prototypes of two tanks were tested, differing in the type of propulsion - the wheeled-tracked A-20 and the tracked A-32. The dimensions of the hull, power unit and turret of these tanks were the same. But the A-32 chassis has already received five road wheels, like the future production T-34. At first, comparative tests of the A-20 and A-32 did not reveal any clear advantages of either design.
Koshkin was still looking for an opportunity to prove the advantage of the tracked undercarriage. He pointed out that even with the construction of two single prototypes, the manufacture and assembly of the wheeled-tracked undercarriage took much more time and effort than the manufacture of the tracked one. In addition, during sea trials, Mikhail Ilyich argued that by eliminating heavy wheel gearboxes, it was possible to increase the thickness and weight of the tank’s armor and the power of the installed weapons. The tracked propulsion system makes the tank better protected and armed. At the same time, on wheels the tank catastrophically loses cross-country ability in off-road conditions.
In September 1939, at a demonstration of new models of tank equipment to government members - K.E. Voroshilov, A.A. Zhdanov, A.I. Mikoyan, N.A. Voznesensky Design Bureau, headed by Koshkin, presented the second modified model of the tracked A-32. The light, elegant tank easily overcame all obstacles, forded the river, climbed a steep, steep bank, and easily knocked down a thick pine tree. The admiration of the audience knew no bounds, and the director of the Leningrad Kirov plant N.V. Barykov said: “Remember this day - the birthday of a unique tank.”
In the fall of 1939, construction began in Kharkov of two prototypes of the improved A-34 tracked tank, which differed from the A-32 in the armor thickness of 40-45 mm. This was the maximum possible for the existing engine and chassis. Such armor increased the weight to 26-30 tons and confidently protected the vehicle from anti-tank guns with a caliber of 37 and 45 mm. A significant improvement in the security of the new product became possible only thanks to the tracked drive.
An important role in the birth of the T-34 was played by the creation of a new generation engine. Kharkov designers K.F. Chelpan, I.Ya. Trashutin, Ya.E. Vickman, I.S. Behr and their comrades designed a new 12-cylinder V-shaped diesel engine V-2 with a power of 400-500 hp. The engine was distinguished by a gas distribution scheme that was progressive for its time. Each cylinder head had two camshafts (like modern cars). The drive was carried out not by a chain or belt, but by shafts - one for each head. The timing shaft transmitted torque to one of the camshafts, which, in turn, rotated the second camshaft of its head using a pair of gears. Interesting feature B-2 was a dry sump lubrication system, which required an additional oil reservoir. It should be added that the B-2 was an original development, and not a copy of any foreign model. Unless the designers could have borrowed a set of technical solutions from the then piston aircraft engines.
The layout of the T-34 turned out to be as follows. Ahead is the fighting compartment for the crew. The driver sat on the left, like a driver in a domestic car. Next to him was the place of the radio operator, in front of whom stood a machine gun in the inclined frontal plate of the turret. At the rear of the turret there were seats for the crew commander and the main caliber gun loader. Since communications did not always work well, the commander often gave orders to the driver in a peculiar way. He simply pushed him with his boots in the left or right shoulder, in the back. Everyone understood perfectly well that this meant that they had to turn right or left, accelerate, brake, and turn around.
The engine and transmission compartment was located behind the fighting compartment. The engine was mounted longitudinally, followed by the main clutch, which plays the same role in a tracked vehicle as the clutch in a car. Next was a four-speed manual transmission. From it, through the final drive gearboxes, torque was supplied to the side clutches and the driving rear sprockets of the tracks. Already during the war, by 1943, a 5-speed gearbox began to be gradually introduced into production instead of a 4-speed one.
The chassis consisted of five large double road wheels on each side, drive wheels at the rear and idler wheels (idlers) at the front. Four rollers on each side were equipped with individual spring suspension. The springs were installed obliquely in shafts along the sides of the armored hull. The suspensions of the first rollers in the bow were protected by steel casings. Over the years and at different factories, at least 7 types of road wheels were produced. At first they had rubber tires, then due to the wartime shortage of rubber they had to produce rollers without tires with internal shock absorption. The tank equipped with them rumbled louder. When rubber began to arrive through Lend-Lease, bandages appeared again. The caterpillar consisted of 37 flat and 37 ridge tracks. The vehicle was supplied with two spare tracks and two jacks.
On March 17, 1940, a demonstration of new models of tank equipment was scheduled in the Kremlin to the country's top leaders. The production of two T-34 prototypes had just been completed, the tanks were already moving under their own power, all their mechanisms were working. But the speedometers of the cars were just counting down the first hundreds of kilometers. According to the standards in force at that time, the mileage of tanks allowed for display and testing had to be more than two thousand kilometers. In order to have time to run-in and complete the required mileage, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin decided to drive the prototype cars from Kharkov to Moscow under his own power. This was a risky decision: the tanks themselves were a secret product that could not be shown to the population. One fact of traveling on public roads could be regarded by the NKVD as a disclosure of state secrets. On a thousand-kilometer route, equipment that had not been tested and was not really familiar to the driver-mechanics and repairmen could break down due to any breakdowns and get into an accident. Besides, the beginning of March is still winter. But at the same time, the run provided a unique chance to test new vehicles in extreme conditions, check the correctness of the chosen technical solutions, and identify the advantages and disadvantages of the tank’s components and assemblies.
Koshkin personally took enormous responsibility for this run. On the night of March 5-6, 1940, a convoy left Kharkov - two camouflaged tanks, accompanied by Voroshilovets tractors, one of which was loaded with fuel, tools and spare parts, and on the second there was a passenger body like a “kung” for the participants to rest. Part of the way, Koshkin himself drove the new tanks, sitting at their levers alternately with the factory driver mechanics. For the sake of secrecy, the route ran off-road through snow-covered forests, fields and rough terrain in the Kharkov, Belgorod, Tula and Moscow regions. Off-road, in winter, the units worked to the limit; many minor breakdowns had to be repaired and the necessary adjustments made. But the future T-34s still reached Moscow on March 12. One vehicle’s main clutch failed. Its replacement was carried out at the tank repair plant in Cherkizovo.
On the appointed day, the 17th, both vehicles were transported from the tank repair plant to the Kremlin. During the run M.I. Koshkin caught a cold. At the show, he coughed heavily, which even members of the government noticed. However, the show itself was a triumph of the new product. Two tanks, led by testers N. Nosik and V. Dyukanov, drove around Ivanovskaya Square of the Kremlin - one to the Troitsky Gate, the other to the Borovitsky Gate. Before reaching the gate, they spectacularly turned around and rushed towards each other, striking sparks from the paving stones, stopped, turned around, made several circles at high speed, and braked in the same place. I.V. Stalin liked the sleek, fast car. His words are conveyed differently by different sources. Some eyewitnesses claim that Joseph Vissarionovich said: “This will be the swallow in the tank forces,” according to others, the phrase sounded different: “This is the first swallow of the tank forces.”
After the display, both tanks were tested at the Kubinka training ground, test fire from guns of different calibers, which showed the high level of security of the new product. In April there was a return trip to Kharkov. M.I. Koshkin proposed again to travel not on railway platforms, but under his own power through the spring thaw. Along the way, one tank fell into a swamp. The designer, who had barely recovered from his first cold, got very wet and cold. This time the disease turned into complications. In Kharkov, Mikhail Ilyich was hospitalized for a long time, his condition worsened, and he soon became disabled - doctors removed one of his lungs. On September 26, 1940, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin died. The T-34 had to be mastered under the new chief designer A.A. Morozov.
The introduction of the new tank was faced with numerous difficulties; GABTU and the People's Commissariat of Medium Engineering twice tried to curtail the development of production. Only with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was the final decision made to put the T-34 into mass production.
The first T-34 releases had different weapons. The main caliber gun, which is mounted on the turret and is an important visual detail of any tank, was initially a 76.2 mm L-11 gun with a 30.5-caliber barrel. It was soon replaced by a more advanced F-32 gun with a length of 31.5. Later, in 1941, especially for the T-34, the design bureau of V.N. Grabina designed the F-34 cannon of the same 76.2 mm caliber, with a 41-caliber barrel, which was significantly superior to its predecessors. The standard machine gun was a 7.62 caliber DT. The telescopic sight for direct fire was called TOD-6. It is for the caliber of the main gun that tanks produced before December 1943 are called T-34-76.
In addition to the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, production of the T-34 was planned even before the war at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. In total, until June 22, 1941, 1225 T-34s entered service with the Red Army, of which 967 ended up in the western districts. With the beginning of the war, according to the decree of July 1, 1941, production was also launched at the shipbuilding plant No. 112 "Krasnoe Sormovo" in Gorky. The choice fell on this enterprise, since it had processing bases, crane facilities and workshop bays suitable for the production of T-34. It was in Sormovo that tank production continued continuously throughout the war. T-34s from different factories were noticeably different from each other - it was evident that in Kharkov, Stalingrad and Gorky there was a different machine park.
Production of the T-34 in Kharkov continued until October 19, 1941. With the approach of the front, under continuous bombing, the plant’s equipment had to be loaded onto railway platforms and evacuated to Nizhny Tagil to the Ural Carriage Works, while the plant retained its Kharkov number 183. At first, the new location did not even have enough workshop space. Sometimes it happened that a crane unloaded a machine from a platform onto a steel sheet, a tractor pulled the sheet with the machine from the railway track under the nearest pine trees, power was supplied from a nearby energy train, and the workers were directly under open air In the cold and snowfall, they began to manufacture tank parts. True, we managed to bring a large supply of components from Kharkov.
But when production at Uralvagonzavod was put in order, it was there, in Nizhny Tagil in 1942, that a huge amount of work was carried out to optimize the tank’s production technology, which made it possible to make its production truly widespread. First of all, we're talking about oh fundamentally new technology welding of armored hulls - automatic, under a layer of flux. It was designed by the Electric Welding Institute, which was evacuated to Nizhny Tagil. The work was headed by Academician E.O. Paton.
Academician E.O. Paton
With the introduction of automatic welding, productivity increased sharply - T-34 bodies came off the assembly line in a continuous stream. It turned out that the tank’s protection had also improved radically. For testing, a body of two halves was welded. One side panel was welded the old fashioned way by hand. The second and the nose are under a layer of gumboil. The corps was subjected to severe shelling with high-explosive and armor-piercing shells. The very first hits - and the hand-welded side cracked along the seam. The hull was deployed, and the submerged seam withstood seven direct hits in a row - it turned out to be stronger than the armor.
In 1942, for the creation of the T-34 tank, its three leading designers - Mikhail Koshkin (posthumously), Alexander Morozov and Nikolai Kucherenko were awarded the Stalin medal awards.
M.I. Koshkin A.A. Morozov N.A. Kucherenko
The T-34 used at least seven types of turrets - cast, welded, stamped. The earliest version is a small tower, commonly called a “pie”. In 1942, under the leadership of M.A. Nabutovsky developed a new hexagonal tower, the so-called “nut”. It was more technologically advanced in production. Both towers were considered cramped for the two crew members sitting in them.
In 1942, again due to the advance of enemy troops, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant failed. At the same time, production of the T-34 was also mastered at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant and in Omsk at plant No. 174. The production of tanks at several factories further diversified the number of options. In combat conditions this created additional difficulties. Whenever possible, damaged tanks were evacuated from the battlefield, sometimes dismantled for spare parts right on the spot. They tried to assemble one from the surviving parts, components, and assemblies of several machines. But sometimes, to the horror of tankers and repairmen, identical spare parts for different vehicles did not fit together! It all ended with Stalin calling the Chief Designer of Plant No. 183 A.A. Morozov, and categorically demanded that parts of different plants be brought to a single standard. Therefore, in 1943, unified technical documentation for all factories was issued.
In 1941, a special modification was developed and mastered in 1942 - the OT-34 flamethrower tank. In December 1943, the T-34 was modernized, received a new turret, a new main caliber gun and, accordingly, was renamed T-34-85. This modification became the main one at the end of the war and in the early post-war years. Most of the tanks of this family that have survived today are either T-34-85 or former T-34-76 with the turret plate, turret and gun from the “eighty-five” installed during repairs.
After the war, the V-2 diesel not only became the basis for post-war tank engines. It has also found application in the automotive industry. 25-ton MAZ-525 dump trucks worked on the restoration of the national economy and the great construction projects of the five-year plan. To transport new types of weapons, primarily missiles, as well as the heaviest economic cargo, MAZ-535/537, then MAZ-543 tractors were developed. All of them were equipped with modernized diesel engines of the T-34 tank.
The T-34 tank is considered the most famous Soviet tank and one of the most recognizable symbols of the Great Patriotic War. Thanks to its combat qualities, the T-34 was recognized as the best medium tank of the Second World War and had a huge influence on the further development of world tank building. During its creation, Soviet designers managed to find the optimal balance between the main combat, operational and technological characteristics.
Classification: |
Medium tank |
Combat weight, t: |
|
Layout diagram: |
Classical |
Crew, persons: |
|
Manufacturer: |
|
Years of production: |
|
Years of operation: |
|
Number of issued, pcs.: |
More than 35000 |
Case length, mm: |
|
Length with gun forward, mm: |
|
Case width, mm: |
|
Height, mm: |
|
Ground clearance, mm: |
|
Booking |
|
Armor type: |
Rolled steel homogeneous |
Body forehead (top), mm/deg.: |
|
Body forehead (bottom), mm/deg.: |
|
Hull side (top), mm/deg.: |
|
Hull side (bottom), mm/deg.: |
|
Hull stern (top), mm/deg.: |
|
Hull rear (bottom), mm/deg.: |
|
Bottom, mm: |
|
Housing roof, mm: |
|
Turret front, mm/deg.: |
|
Gun mask, mm/deg.: |
|
Tower side, mm/deg.: |
|
Tower feed, mm/deg.: |
|
Tower roof, mm: |
|
Armament |
|
Caliber and brand of gun: |
85 mm ZIS-S-53 |
Gun type: |
Rifled |
Barrel length, calibers: |
|
Gun ammunition: |
|
Angles VN, degrees: |
|
Telescopic articulated TSh-16, periscopic PTK-5, side level. |
|
Machine guns: |
2 × 7.62 mm DT-29 |
Mobility |
|
Engine's type: |
V-shaped 12-cylinder diesel liquid cooled with direct injection |
Engine power, l. With: |
|
Highway speed, km/h: |
|
Speed over rough terrain, km/h: |
|
Cruising range on the highway, km: |
|
Cruising range over rough terrain, km: |
|
Specific power, l. s./t: |
|
Suspension type: |
Christie pendant |
Specific ground pressure, kg/cm²: |
|
Climbability: |
|
Wall to be overcome, m: |
|
Ditch to be overcome, m: |
|
Fordability, m: |
|
Armor tilt effect
Mass production
Serial production at Soviet factories
Armored hull of the T-34-85 tank
Housing layout
Housing design
Armored turret of the T-34-85 tank
Armament
Engine and transmission
Combat use
The Great Patriotic War
After 1945
Vehicles based on T-34
Interesting Facts
T-34-85 in computer games
Soviet medium tank of the Great Patriotic War period. Adopted by the Red Army by GKO Decree No. 5020 ss, dated January 23, 1944.
It is the final modification of the T-34 tank, model 1943. The new, spacious, three-seat gun turret was developed using design and technological solutions implemented in the experimental T-43 tank. The installation of a more powerful 85-mm cannon, combined with a number of design modifications, significantly increased the combat effectiveness of the T-34-85 tank compared to its predecessor, the T-34-76. The new turret provided an increase in the volume of the fighting compartment, the ability to accommodate a more powerful 85-mm cannon, a better distribution of functions between crew members and its security. With the overall armor protection slightly increased, thanks to the turret, (compared to the T-34-76 tank), but insufficient, compared to the enemy’s heavy tanks, in 1944, the T-34-85 tank practically did not lose its former mobility and maneuverability - the main thing the advantages of a medium tank in fights with heavy Tiger tanks and Panther medium tanks. As a combat vehicle, the T-34-85 tank was a classic example of a combination of design and technological solutions, which in their entirety ensured the best compliance with the tactical and technical requirements for a “cruising” tank during the “Turning Period” of World War II. The main, most objective criterion that determines the quality of the T-34-85 medium tank is the absolutely positive attitude of the crews of Soviet tank crews towards it.
The T-34-85 was produced in the USSR from January 1944 to 1950, before the start of mass production of the T-54. Under license from the USSR, 3,185 tanks of this type were produced in Czechoslovakia in 1952-1958 and 1,980 tanks in Poland in 1953-1955.
In total, over 35 thousand units of T-34-85 tanks (including those produced in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Poland) were produced, and taking into account the previously produced T-34-76, the total production was about 70-80 thousand units. This allows us to say that the T-34 tank was the most popular tank in the world.
Since 1944, the T-34-85 was the main medium tank of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, and after its completion, it formed the basis of the tank forces of the Soviet Army until the mid-1950s, before the mass entry into the tank forces of the Soviet Army of the latest medium T-54 tanks. Officially, the T-34-85 tank was removed from service in the Russian Federation only in 1993. After the war T-34-85 significant quantities were supplied to a number of countries in Europe and Asia, where they were used in armed conflicts, including the Korean and Six Day Wars and a number of others. As of 2010, the T-34-85 is still in service with a number of countries.
Story
In 1943, due to the massive appearance of new models of armored vehicles with enhanced armor among the Germans, the effectiveness of 76.2 mm guns became sharply insufficient. In the battle on Kursk Bulge, in the battles of large masses of tanks, the German offensive was stopped, but only at the cost of huge losses of its own armored vehicles, the bulk of which by that time were T-34 and lightly armored light tanks T-60 and T-70. At the same time, the main losses German side suffered not from the fire of Soviet tanks, but from the action of anti-tank artillery, from mines and bomber aircraft.
This forced us to look for ways to improve the combat qualities of the T-34. After developing several options, the T-34-85 was launched into mass production in 1944, armed with a new 85 mm cannon. The crew increased from 4 to 5 people, the tank received a new turret with reinforced armor and more convenient for the crew and commander. As a result, the weight increased by several tons, which led to a slight decrease in dynamic characteristics.
Armor tilt effect
The analysis showed that the slope of the armor is important only for cases where the caliber of the projectile does not exceed the thickness of the armor, that is, in this case, for calibers less than 45 mm. As the caliber increases, the protective effect of the tilt decreases rapidly. For 88 mm shells, the slope of the T-34 armor had virtually no effect on armor penetration.
Reasons for creating the final modification of the T-34 tank
In 1942, as large-scale production was mastered and the ongoing modernization of the T-34-76 tanks was carried out, in order to reduce the labor intensity of production and improve combat qualities, the leading design bureau of the T-34 tank, plant No. 183, began developing a project for a new medium T-43 tank.
The T-43 tank project was developed in the direction of increasing, compared to the T-34 tank, combat survivability by increasing the thickness of the armor plates of the hull and turret, and combat effectiveness by increasing the volume of the fighting compartment by developing a new, more spacious turret. During the development of the project, the level of unification of components and parts with the serial T-34 tank was 78.5 percent; the configuration and dimensions of the hull remained essentially the same as on the T-34; engine, transmission, chassis elements, gun - the same as on the T-34. At the same time, in the T-43 project some design developments were implemented on the pre-war project of the T-34M tank. In particular, due to the increase in the combat weight of the T-43 tank, compared to the T-34 tank, a torsion bar suspension of road wheels was implemented for the first time for a medium tank.
However, by mid-1943, when the need arose to install an 85-mm cannon on the T-43 medium tank (four versions of the 85-mm cannon developed for the medium tank were ready for testing), it turned out that the new T-43 tank was not has reserves for this to increase combat weight. Even with its “native” 76-mm cannon, the T-43 tank weighed more than 34 tons. A further increase in the mass of this tank led to a decrease in such an important indicator of combat effectiveness as mobility. In addition, the transition of factories to large-scale production of the new tank would inevitably cause a decrease in production volumes, which was considered unacceptable in wartime conditions. In addition, the torsion bar suspension of the road wheels, which had a relatively large diameter, was not yet reliable enough for the operating conditions of a medium tank... Because of this, the design bureau of plant No. 183 decided not to create a new tank but to modernize the existing T-34 to the final modification.
Mass production
In December 1943, plant No. 112 began preparing for serial production of the T-34 tank, with the D-5T cannon, in the new “Sormovo” turret.
January 1, 1944 The T-34 tank has been equipped with the S-53 cannon, with the possibility of installation in turrets with both standard (1420 mm) and extended (1600 mm) turret shoulder strap diameters, ( State Defense Decree No. ..., dated January 1, 1944)..
January 23, 1944 The T-34-85 tank was adopted by the Red Army, ( GKO Resolution No. 5020 ss, dated January 23, 1944). In this regard, all T-34 tanks, with a 76-mm cannon, produced in 1944 and previous releases, received the designation T-34-76.[A].
1944 First half of the year., serial production of medium tanks T-34-76 (model 1943) continued to be carried out by: plant No. 112 “Krasnoe Sormovo”; " Ural plant Heavy Engineering" (UZTM), Sverdlovsk; No. 183 “In the Name of the Comintern”, Nizhny Tagil; plant No. 174, Omsk.
The leading plant for the production of T-34-85 tanks in 1944÷1945 was plant No. 183
The Stalingrad Tractor Plant (STZ) did not resume tank production; The Ural Heavy Engineering Plant "Uralmash", (UZTM), Sverdlovsk, produced exclusively self-propelled guns based on the T-34 tank; The Ural Kirov Plant (UKZ), Chelyabinsk, completed the production of T-34-76 tanks and completely switched to the production of heavy tanks and self-propelled guns based on them.
In January 1944. Plant No. 112 produced the first 25 units. T-34-85 tanks, with a D-5T cannon, in a new “Sormovo” turret.
Since February 1944 Plant No. 112 began a gradual transition to the production of T-34-85 tanks, with the S-53 cannon.
In February 1944. Plant No. 112 produced 75 units. T-34-85 tanks, with a D-5T cannon.
Since March 1944 The production of S-53 guns has begun, in commissioning mode.
In March 1944. Plant No. 112 produced 150 units. T-34-85 tanks, with a D-5T cannon.
In April 1944. Plant No. 112 produced the final batch, 5 units. T-34-85 tanks, with a D-5T cannon, completed the production of T-34-76 tanks, and began mass production of T-34-85 tanks, with a S-53 cannon.
Notes:
In total, between January and April 1944, plant No. 112 produced 255 units. T-34-85 tanks. with D-5T cannon, of this quantity, 5 units. - commander's, with radio station RSB-F.
When the S-53 cannon was first installed in the Sormovo turret, it became clear that the turret needed to be modified in order to increase the lower elevation angle.
Since May 1944 The continuous production of S-53 guns has begun.
Since June 1944 Plants No. 112 and No. 174 began serial production of T-34-85 tanks. with the S-53 cannon, and completed serial production of the T-34-76 tanks.
Serial production of T-34-85 tanks was carried out by: plant No. 112, Krasnoye Sormovo, from January 1944 to 1950 inclusive, a total of about 12,221 units; plant No. 183, (Nizhny Tagil), from March 15, 1944, to 1946 inclusive, about 14,434 units in total; plant No. 174, (Omsk), from June 1943 to 1946 inclusive, a total of about 3994 units.
The total number of T-34-85 tanks built by USSR factories in the period 1944÷1950 is approximately 30649 (35399÷35415) units.
Until now, according to Soviet and (foreign) sources, only approximate information is provided on the number of T-34-85 tanks produced:
During 1944, in total approximately 10647÷10663 units were produced; of this amount: 10499 units. - linear; 134 units - commanders; 30 units - flamethrowers. In particular:
Plant No. 183 produced approximately 6,585 units in total;
Plant No. 112 produced approximately 3062 units in total;
Plant No. 174, produced approximately 1000 units in total;
During 1945, a total of approximately 12,551 units were produced; of this amount: 12110 units. - linear; 140 units - commanders; 301 units - flamethrowers. In particular:
Plant No. 183 produced approximately 7,356 units in total;
Plant No. 112 produced approximately 3,255 units in total;
Plant No. 174, produced approximately 1940 units in total;
During 1946, in total approximately 2701 units were produced; exclusively linear tanks T-34-85. In particular:
Plant No. 183, produced approximately 493 units in total;
Plant No. 112 produced approximately 1,154 units in total;
Plant No. 174 produced approximately 1054 units in total;
From 1947 to 1950, serial production, exclusively linear tanks T-34-85, were produced only by plant No. 112. In particular:
In 1946, plant No. 112, produced approximately 2701 (5500) units;
In 1947, plant No. 112, produced approximately 2300 (4600) units;
In 1948, plant No. 112, produced approximately 1850 (3700) units;
In 1949, plant No. 112, produced approximately 450 (900) units;
In 1950, plant No. 112, produced approximately 150 (300) units;
- Data from foreign sources are indicated in brackets.
In the T-34-85 tank, the quality and reliability of components and assemblies have reached the highest level, while the design and layout have retained exceptional manufacturability, high maintainability, rapid restoration and commissioning of tanks damaged during combat operations.
The structural and weight reserves for further increasing the combat effectiveness of the T-34-85 tank were far from completely exhausted. In particular:
- Torsion bar damping of the road wheels was not implemented, by analogy with the experimental T-43 tank and the serial T-44, which would have provided: improved dynamic characteristics of the vehicle; increasing the volume of the fighting compartment due to the elimination of the side shafts of the spring shock absorbers of the track roller suspension.
- The transverse installation of the engine was not implemented, by analogy with the serial T-44 tank, which would have provided the possibility of rearranging the hull in order to shift the turret rotation axis back, in order to unload the front road wheels, in order to strengthen the frontal part of the hull and increase the volume of the hull's fighting compartment.
Note: The serial medium tank T-44 was a symbiosis of the serial T-34-85 and the experimental T-43. Strengthening the armor protection of the hull of the T-44 tank, compared to the T-34, was achieved, in particular, by: reducing its construction height; elimination of fender niches, and therefore due to a decrease in the useful volume of the hull, compensated by a decrease in the number of crew members.
During mass production, the factories made changes to the design of the T-34-85 tanks in order to: reduce production costs; increasing reliability; combat survivability and combat effectiveness.
As production progressed, the shape of the beam of the bow of the hull, connecting the upper and lower frontal sheets, changed and decreased in size, and on later production vehicles it was completely removed - the upper and lower frontal sheets were butt welded.
During 1944, the following were introduced: mounting of 5 spare tracks on the upper frontal plate of the hull; box-shaped, hinged front mudguards; installation of small smoke bombs (MSG) on the stern plate of the hull.
Serial tanks T-34-85 (like their predecessors, T-34-76), built by different factories, with absolute unification of components and parts, at the same time had minor, individual - factory, design differences due to local technological features production. In particular: various options for mounting spare fuel tanks on the sides of the hull; various options for protective strips of the turret shoulder strap; in the chassis, support rollers were used only with rubber tires (the shortage of rubber was eliminated thanks to supplies from the USA), both stamped and cast, with developed ribbing and lightening holes; various options of caterpillar tracks; gun turrets differed in the configuration and location of welded and casting seams, the number and location of viewing devices, ventilation fungi, and mounting units; handrail brackets; location and design of the commander's cupola.
T-34-85 tanks with a D-5T cannon, built at plant No. 112, Krasnoye Sormovo, had the following design features:
The gun mantlet was cylindrical at the base of the barrel, the width of the embrasure window was smaller, a TSh-16 telescopic articulated sight was installed, and there was no electric drive for turning the turret. The trunnions of the gun cradle have a large offset forward, relative to the turret rotation axis, the commander's cupola is shifted forward, there is no antenna output on the turret roof, and only one ventilation mushroom was installed on the first turrets.
Since June 1944, Plant No. 112 began producing T −34-85 tanks, with the S-53 cannon, while the first tanks had external signs similar to tanks with a D-5T cannon. In particular, the configuration of the early Sormovo turret, U-shaped mounting eyes, location of fuel tanks, etc.
In December 1944 Plant No. 112 submitted a number of proposals to improve the turret layout for consideration by GABTU. In particular:
- about replacing the double-leaf commander's hatch with a single-leaf one;
- on the introduction of a frameless ammunition rack for 16 rounds in the turret niche;
- about duplication of turret rotation control;
- about improving the ventilation of the fighting compartment by dispersing the fans, by moving one of the two installed in the rear of the turret roof to its front part. At the same time, the front fan was an exhaust fan, and the rear one was a discharge one;
In January 1945, from the above proposals from plant No. 112, only a single-leaf hatch cover for the commander’s cupola was introduced.
T-34-85 tanks, with fan fungi on the turret, were produced exclusively by plant No. 112 after the war. There was no viewing slot on the right side of the hull.
Conventional numbers and list of sources used: M. Baryatinsky. Article: “Tank of the Great Victory.” Magazine: “Modelist-Constructor” No. 5. 2002 I. Shmelev. Monograph: “Tank T-34”. Magazine: "Technique and Armament". No. 11÷12. 1998 G. Smirnov. Section: "Tales about weapons."
Licensed production at factories in Poland and Czechoslovakia
At the end of the 1940s. In accordance with the decision of the governments of Poland and Czechoslovakia, to assist in the development of serial production of T-34-85 tanks, design and technological documentation was transferred from the USSR, technological equipment, equipment, Soviet specialists were seconded. In 1949, the ČKD Plant, Prague, acquired a license for the production of the T-34-85 tank and the SU-100 self-propelled guns.
In 1951, the Polish plant Burnar Labedy acquired a license to produce the T-34-85.
T-34-85 tanks, Polish and Czechoslovak production, had minor design differences. Serial production was carried out: in Poland, for 5 years; in Czechoslovakia, for 6 years.
By May 1, 1951, the first 4 units were collected. Polish T-34-85, some of the components and assemblies for them were delivered from the USSR. From 1953 to 1955, 1185 vehicles were produced in Poland, and a total of 1380 vehicles.
In the winter of 1952, the first T-34-85 of Czechoslovak production was produced by the CKD plant, Praha Sokolovo, according to other sources, by the Stalin plant in the city of Rudy Martin.
In Czechoslovakia, T-34-85 tanks were produced until 1958, a total of 3185 units were produced, a significant part of which were for export. On the basis of the T-34-85 tank in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic the following were developed and produced: the MT-34 bridge layer; evacuation tractor CW-34, and a number of other vehicles.
In 1953, the Polish T-34s were upgraded twice and designated accordingly: T-34-85M1 and T-34-85M2. During the modernization: a pre-heater was installed; the engine was adapted to operate on various types of fuel; devices have been installed to facilitate tank control; the location of the ammunition has been changed; a remote control system for the directional machine gun was installed, which made it possible to reduce the number of crew members to 4 people; Underwater driving equipment has been installed. In Poland, on the basis of the T-34 tank, several samples of engineering and repair and recovery vehicles were developed and produced.
Design features Polish-made T-34:
- different arrangement of ammunition - 55 rounds;
- the number of crew members has been reduced to 4 people, thanks to a new system for aiming and loading the frontal machine gun;
- additional mechanisms have been installed to make it easier to control the tank;
- equipment has been installed to ensure overcoming water obstacles along the bottom;
- the configuration of the tower has been slightly changed;
- the angular speed of rotation of the tower has been increased, up to (25÷30)°/sec;
- installed: another radio station - “10RT-26E”; another tank intercom - TPU-47; other observation devices for the commander - TPK-1, or TPK-U25;
- a night vision device has been installed for the driver;
- The volume of additional fuel tanks has been increased, providing an increase in cruising range to 650 km;
- the engine is adapted to operate on various types of fuel, equipped with a heater that facilitates starting at low temperatures;
Design features of the Czechoslovak-made T-34:
- Slightly different tower configuration;
- different shape and location of additional fuel tanks.
List of sources used:
- I. Shmelev. T-34 tank. Monograph. Magazine: "Technique and Armament". 11-12.1998
- Website: M. Baryatinsky. Medium tank T-34-85. /Armor collection 4.99.
Design and layout of the T-34-85 tank
With the adoption of the final modification of the T-34-85 tank, all production T-34 tanks of previous releases (samples of 1940–1943) received the single designation T-34-76. Unlike its predecessor T-34-76, T-34-85, with the S-53 cannon (ZIS-S-53), had a three-man turret of increased size (the ring diameter was increased from 1420 to 1600 mm), which made it possible to increase the volume fighting compartment, place a more powerful gun, an additional crew member and free the tank commander from the role of gunner, for more effective coordination of the crew’s actions.
The first T-34-85 tanks, built by plant No. 112, Krasnoe Sormovo, with a D-5T cannon, had a two-man turret, which was somewhat structurally different from the turret developed by plant No. 183. The D-5T gun took up a lot of space, which did not allow placement additional charger.
Note: T-34-76 tanks (T-34, model 1943), the final series of production, had a three-man turret with a commander's cupola. The gunner was called “tower commander” or “turret commander”.
Armored hull of the T-34-85 tank
Housing layout
The internal volume of the case is conventionally divided into four sectional compartments: the control compartment, in the front part of the case; fighting compartment, in the middle part of the hull; power plant compartment, in the rear of the hull; power transmission compartment, in the aft part of the hull. The fighting compartment, power plant and power transmission compartments are separated from one another by removable steel partitions.
IN department of management posted:
- The driver is on the left and the machine gunner is on the right;
- height-adjustable driver's seat and machine gunner's seat;
- levers and pedals of drives for controlling units and systems of the power plant and power transmission;
- devices that control the operation of the engine and electrical equipment;
- frontal machine gun in a ball mount;
- two compressed air cylinders for air starting the engine;
- part of the ammunition;
- two manual carbon dioxide fire extinguishers;
- first aid kit;
- part of spare parts.
In front of the driver there are: two compressed air cylinders for air starting the engine; panel with control devices; left and right control levers; gearbox slide; manual fuel supply handle; fuel pedal; brake pedal with latch; main clutch pedal.
To the left of the driver, on the side wall, there is an electrical panel on which are located: an electric starter start button; tachometer; speedometer. Two manual carbon dioxide fire extinguishers are mounted under the electrical panel.
IN fighting compartment of the hull and armored turret , posted:
- Along the path of the tank, to the left of the gun, is the gunner, followed by the tank commander; to the right of the gun is the loader;
IN fighting compartment of the corps , posted:
- at the bottom, a nozzle heater for the heating system is installed;
- the bulk of the ammunition was stored in the boxes;
- Along the bottom of the fighting compartment (under the ammunition boxes) there are drive rods for controlling the tank mechanisms.
- On the sides of the fighting compartment section, behind the vertical bulwarks made of sheet steel, there are lower, between the spring shock absorber shafts of the track roller suspensions, and upper fuel tanks.
IN power plant department located:
- in the middle of the compartment, along the longitudinal axis, there is a sub-engine frame for mounting a “V-shaped” diesel engine “B-2”;
- On the sides of the engine there are water radiators, batteries, an oil cooler - mounted on the left water radiator, oil tanks and middle fuel tanks.
- in the roof of the power plant compartment, there is a hatch for access to the engine and a hatch for the passage of air to the radiators - an air inlet closed by blinds;
- Tank control rods run along the bottom of the compartment.
IN power transmission compartment located:
- power transmission units;
- electric starter;
- two air cleaners and aft fuel tanks.
- in the roof above the power transmission compartment there is an air vent hatch, closed with blinds with a mesh;
- The upper aft armor plate is folding and has a hatch for access to the power transmission units.
- a box for tools and spare parts, installed on the horizontal shelf on the starboard side.
Housing design
The tank hull is welded and consists of the following main parts: frontal part; sides; aft; bottoms and roofs.
The armor plates of the hull are made of rolled armor, connected to each other by electric welding, and have thicknesses and angles of inclination, respectively: upper frontal - 45 mm, 60°; lower frontal - 45 mm, 53°; upper stern - 45 mm, 48°; lower stern - 45 mm, 45°; upper side - 40°. The front bottom sheet is 20 mm thick, the rest - 13 mm. Roof thickness 20 mm.
Frontal part of the body. Consists of upper and lower frontal armor plates.
It is noteworthy that as the T-34-85 tanks were produced, the beam of the bow of the hull connecting the upper and lower frontal plates decreased in size, and on later production vehicles it was removed - the upper and lower frontal sheets were butt welded.
On the upper frontal plate on the right, an embrasure is cut for the ball mounting of the frontal (course-oriented) machine gun and armor protection is welded (armor cap of the embrasure), on the left, a hatch is cut for the entry and exit of the driver, closed with a lid. In the driver's hatch cover there are two windows for installing viewing observation devices, covered with armored covers, opened by a mechanical drive from the internal handle. On the sides of the towing hooks there are threaded holes, closed with armored plugs on the threads. Through these holes, access to the shanks of the “worms” of the track tensioning mechanism is provided.
Hull sides. They consist of lower vertical and upper inclined armor plates, to which horizontal shelves (fender covers) are welded. To the lower sides of the inclined armor plates, on the outer side, horizontal fenders are welded, which, together with the horizontal shelves of the hull, form dirt-proof wings, serve as a place for the location of spare parts boxes and as a support for paratroopers.
On the left side fender there is a box with tools and spare parts for the gun.
On the starboard fender: a box for tools and spare parts is installed; spare tracks for caterpillars are fixed; one or two tow ropes are laid.
On the left inclined armor plate of the hull there are installed: in front - brackets for the headlight and signal typhon; in the aft part there are mounting brackets for two spare, unarmored tanks, one for fuel, the other for oil.
On the right inclined armor plate of the body there are installed: in front - a radio antenna output bracket; in the aft part there are mounting brackets for two spare unarmored fuel tanks.
Fuel and oil located in spare, unarmored fuel tanks are consumed before the tank enters battle.
Each lower vertical sheet has holes for the passage of the torsion axes of the suspension of the track rollers' balancers, and cutouts for the balancer's trunnions. On the outer sides, brackets are welded to the lower vertical sheets for attaching rubber stops that limit the upward movement of the track rollers. WITH inside Vertical armor plates are welded into shafts for spring shock absorbers (springs) of track roller suspensions. Between the shafts for the shock-absorbing springs of the suspensions of the 2nd and 3rd pairs of road wheels, on the sides of the fighting compartment section, there are compartments for the front - lower and upper, onboard fuel tanks, between the shafts for the shock-absorbing springs of the suspensions of the 3rd and 4th pairs The support rollers, on the sides of the power plant section, are equipped with compartments for medium fuel tanks. Behind the shock-absorbing spring shafts of the 5th pair of road wheels there are compartments for aft fuel tanks. The fuel compartments are closed from the inside of the tank, with vertical bulwarks made of sheet steel.
Hull stern. Consists of upper and lower stern plates and final drive housings.
The top stern sheet, removable, is bolted to the side sheets and can be hinged back. In the middle part of this sheet there is a round hatch for access to the power transmission (transmission compartment units), closed with a lid on hinges and bolts, and on the sides there are two oval holes for exhaust pipes, protected from the outside by armored caps and brackets are installed, with locks, for mounting smoke bombs. The wires to the electric igniters of the smoke bombs are carried out in steel protective tubes fixed to the upper stern sheet.
Bottom of the case. At the bottom of the body there are: hatches for access to suspension parts, to the drain plugs of tanks and the gearbox housing; hatch for access to the engine water and oil pumps; In the front part of the bottom, on the right, there is a hatch for the crew to exit the tank in conditions where the situation does not allow exit through the upper hatches. On the inside of the bottom of the hull there are brackets for fastening the power plant and power transmission units, as well as the seats for the driver and machine gunner.
Housing roof. Comprises three parts: roofs of the fighting compartment; roofs of the power plant compartment; power train roofs.
The roof over the fighting compartment (turret sheet), is welded to the front and side sheets, has a cutout with a diameter of 1600 mm. On the inside, along the perimeter of the linear cutout, the annular housing of the tower ball support is welded.
There are hatches in the roof above the fighting compartment: in the corners, hatches above the shafts for the suspension springs of the 2nd and 3rd pairs of road wheels; in front, on the right and on the left, there are two round hatches for access to the filler plugs of the front and middle fuel tanks. All hatches are closed with armored covers.
The roof of the power plant compartment, removable, is bolted to the side sheets and partitions, consists of a middle sheet located above the engine, having a hatch for access to the engine, and two side sheets with air inlets, closed by louvres made of armor plates. The blinds are controlled from the fighting compartment. Each air inlet is covered with an armored cap with cutouts for air passage. Through these cutouts and the air intake, air is drawn in by the fan and used to cool and power the engine. In the side sheets of the roof of the power plant compartment there are two hatches above the shafts for the suspension springs of the 3rd and 4th pairs of road wheels and one hatch each for access to the filling necks of the oil tanks. All hatches are closed with armored covers.
In the roof of the power transmission compartment there are air exhaust louvres covered with a mesh. The blinds are controlled from the fighting compartment. On the right side of the roof of the power transmission compartment, there is a hatch, closed with an armored cover, for access to the filling neck of the aft fuel tanks.
Armored turret of the T-34-85 tank
The history of the creation of a turret for the T-34-85 tank
1943 End of August. People's Commissar of Tank Building V. A. Malyshev, Head of the GBTU Marshal of Armored Forces Ya. N. Fedorenko and responsible employees of the People's Commissariat of Armaments arrived at Tank Plant No. 112. At a meeting with plant managers, Malyshev said: “The victory in the Battle of Kursk came at a high price. Enemy tanks fired at ours from a distance of 1,500 m, while our 76-mm tank guns could hit “Tigers” and “Panthers” at a distance of 500-600 m. Figuratively speaking, the enemy has arms one and a half kilometers away, and we are only half a kilometer away. It is necessary to immediately install a more powerful gun in the T-34.".
Initially, it was planned, on a competitive basis, to consider the option of installing an 85 mm cannon with anti-aircraft ballistics, D-5T, on the T-34 tank, which by this time had been successfully used on heavy tanks KV-85, IS-1 and SU-85 , based on the T-34 tank, in the D-5S version. However, due to the large dimensions of the D-5T gun, it was obvious that a new, more spacious turret would need to be designed for it. In this regard, chief designer TsAKB - V.G. Grabin, proposed his project for the modernization of the "thirty-four", for the installation of his, more compact S-53 cannon, in the standard turret of the serial T-34 tank (model 1943), and submitted it for approval to the People's Commissar of Armaments D F. Ustinov and People's Commissar of Tank Construction V. A. Malyshev. The project involved the start of production of prototypes at plant No. 112.
The S-53 gun was implemented Constructive decisions, developed before the war for the F-30 gun, intended for the KV-3 design heavy tank. However, V. A. Malyshev and many specialists from the Scientific Tank Committee (NTK) and the People's Commissariat of Armaments doubted the merits of the “Grabinsky project”. In this regard, Malyshev urgently ordered M.A. Nabutovsky, the head of the tower group of plant No. 183, with a group to fly to plant No. 112 and figure everything out...
1943 October. To speed up the work on linking the 85 mm cannon in the turret of the T-34 tank, on the initiative of V. A. Malyshev, the turret group of plant No. 183, led by Nabutovsky. sent to TsAKB. Nabutovsky arrived to Malyshev, and he ordered to organize a branch of the design bureau of plant No. 183 at the artillery plant where Grabin's TsAKB worked. After a short collaboration with Grabin, Nabutovsky was sent to the design bureau of F. F. Petrov...
As a result, a joint conclusion was made that to install the S-53 and D-5 guns on the T-34 tank, a new, more spacious turret with a wider shoulder strap is required.
M. A. Nabutovsky, at a special meeting in the presence of D. F. Ustinov, Ya. N. Fedorenko and V. G. Grabin, made a counter proposal to design new turrets for the T-34 tank, to accommodate S-53 guns in them and D-5T, based on the design of the turret of the experimental medium tank T-43, project of plant No. 183. M. A. Nabutovsky criticized V. G. Grabin’s idea. From the speech of M. A. Nabutovsky: “Of course, it would be very tempting to put a new gun in a tank without significant modifications. This solution is simple, but absolutely unacceptable for the reason that with this installation of the gun, its fastening will turn out to be weak, and a large unbalanced moment will arise. In addition, this creates crowded conditions in the fighting compartment and will significantly complicate the work of the crew. Moreover, when shells hit frontal armor, the gun will fall out." Nabutovsky stated: “By accepting this project, we will let the army down”….. Grabin broke the silence that followed: “I’m not a tanker, and I can’t take everything into account. And to implement your project will take a lot of time, reducing production.” Ustinov asked: “How long does it take to submit the design bureau project of plant No. 183 for approval at this meeting?” Nabutovsky asked for a week, the director of plant No. 112, K.E. Rubinchik, provided him with his entire design bureau. Ustinov scheduled the next meeting in three days. A. A. Moloshtanov arrived to help M. A. Nabutovsky...
When designing, the 3-seater turret of the experimental T-43 medium tank was taken as a basis. The design of the turrets began simultaneously: the design bureau of plant No. 122 "Krasnoe Sormovo", headed by V.V. Krylov, for the 85-mm D-5T cannon, and the turret group of plant No. 183, led by A.A. Maloshtanov and M. A. Nabutovsky, for the 85-mm S-53 cannon.
Within three days of round-the-clock work, the technical documentation for the new turret for the S-53 gun was ready.
As a result, for the T-34 tank, two new turrets were developed, very similar to each other, reminiscent, but not copying, the turret of the experimental T-43 tank, with a shoulder strap “clear” diameter of −1600 mm.
1943 October. An Order was given to the TsAKB (Chief Designer V.G. Grabin), “On the development of a special 85-mm gun for the T-34 tank.”
1943 October. The D-5T gun was tested on the T-34 tank, in a new turret developed by plant No. 112:
For better balancing, the gun trunnions were moved forward significantly; however, the breech of the gun was located very close to the rear plate of the turret, which made the loader’s work difficult. Even when the tank was moving at low speed, trained loaders could not avoid collisions between the head of the projectile and the breech of the gun. The D-5T gun took up a lot of space, so the new turret could only accommodate two people. As a result, the D-5T cannon was not adopted for service with the T-34 tank.
1943 October - November. Fulfilling the NKV order to create an 85-mm cannon for the T-34 tank, TsAKB and plant No. 92 produced three prototypes of new tank guns: S-53, (leading designers of TsAKB: T. I. Sergeev, G. I. Shabarov); S-50, (leading designers of TsAKB: V. D. Meshchaninov, V. A. Tyurin, A. M. Volgaevsky); LB-1 (LB-85), (plant No. 92, designer A.I. Savin). During the tests, which continued until the end of 1943, preference was given to the S-53 cannon.
The S-53 gun was distinguished by its simplicity of design, reliability and compactness, and provided the ability to accommodate three crew members in the new, more spacious turret. The recoil brake and knurl are located under the base of the bolt, which made it possible to reduce the height of the line of fire and increase the distance between the breech and the rear wall of the turret. The production cost of the S-53 gun turned out to be even lower than for the 76-mm F-34 gun, not to mention the D-5T.
1943 Beginning of December. Plant No. 122 sent two experimental T-34 tanks, with new turrets, to the Moscow Artillery Plant, where they were installed with S-53 guns and carried out mostly successful tests, during which flaws in its design emerged. In this regard, at artillery plant No. 92, during the next meeting, with the participation of: D. F. Ustinov, V. A. Malyshev, V. L. Vannikova, Ya. N. Fedorenko, F. F. Petrova, V. G. Grabina and others, it was decided, for now, to install the D-5T cannon on the Sormovo T-34 tanks and at the same time modify the S-53 cannon.
Serial production of the S-53 cannon was supposed to be launched at plant No. 92, from March 1, 1944, and until then, plant No. 112 “Krasnoe Sormovo” was allowed to install the D- cannon in the new turret, designed by plant No. 112. 5T.
According to the plan, plant No. 112 was supposed to produce 100 units by the end of 1943. T-34 tanks, with a D-5T cannon, that is, before the official adoption of the T-34 tank, with an 85-mm cannon in a new turret, into service. However, the first vehicles were produced only at the beginning of January 1944.
Plant No. 112 "Krasnoe Sormovo" was asked to: ensure the production of T-34-85 tanks with the D-5T gun in quantities:
- In January 1944 - 25 units;
- In February 1944 - 75 units;
- In March 1944 - 150 units;
- From April 1944 - completely switch to the production of T-34-85 tanks, instead of T-34-76.
1944 January. 1. The S-53 cannon was adopted for service on the T-34 tank, both with standard (1420 mm) and extended (1600 mm) shoulder straps.
1944 January... Moloshtanov and Nabutovsky, with all the documentation on the layout of the new S-53 cannon in the new turret for the T-34 tank, arrived at plant No. 183.
Turret design, with S-53 cannon (ZIS-S-53)
The turret of the T-34-85 tank, developed on the basis of the design of the turret for the experimental medium tank T-43, was 5-sided, with rounded ribs, and had an armor thickness increased to 90 mm in the frontal part. Soviet tank crews for some reason, the configuration of the T-34-85 tank turret was classified as “Conical”, and the T-54 tank turret was classified as “Hemispherical”.
It is noteworthy that when creating the new D-5T tank gun, and the S-53, which won the competitive tests, the ballistics of the 85 mm 52-K anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model were taken as the basis.
The 52-K anti-aircraft gun, during test firing that took place from April 25 to April 30, 1943, at the NIIBT training ground in Kubinka, pierced the 100 mm frontal armor of a captured Tiger from a distance of 1000 m. In addition, the development of a new tank gun based on the 52-K anti-aircraft gun reduced the time to master the production of shells.
In fact, the configuration of the tower body is formed by a frontal, rounded, embrasure part, five flat inclined faces, mating linear surfaces of variable radius, and a flat, horizontal 6-sided roof.
- The tower is cast, hexagonal in plan, with inclined side walls. An embrasure for installing a cannon is cut into the front wall, covered with swinging armor.
Technologically, the tower is divided into three parts: linear part; body part; roof of the tower, connected to each other, along the perimeters, by welds.
Running part (upper tower shoulder strap) - a large-sized casting, cylindrical at the bottom, conjugated at the top, with a 6-sided base for mounting the body part.
The cylindrical part serves as a holder for the support ring of the upper shoulder strap of the ball joint welded into it.
Hull part - large-sized casting, formed by a frontal (embrasure) part (thickness 90 mm) and 5 inclined flat edges (walls): two front - side (thickness 75 mm, slope 20°); two rear - side, (thickness 75 mm, slope 20°) and one rear edge, (thickness 52 mm, slope 10°), connected to each other by radius fillets.
In the frontal part there is an embrasure window for installing a gun, which is covered with a swinging armor protection (mask) of the gun. On the inside, brackets with bosses are welded to the frontal part, to which horizontal trunnions for the gun cradle are bolted. On the left bracket there is a stopper for fastening the gun “On the march”, and a lifting mechanism for the gun.
The side walls of the turret have embrasures for firing from personal weapons, covered with armor plugs. Outside, on the side walls of the tower, welded: handrails for paratroopers; mounting hooks or eye brackets. On the rear wall of the tower, on the outside, fastenings for tarpaulin are welded.
Tower roof: flat, 6-sided, cut from a flat armor plate (thickness 20 mm). There are hatch cutouts in the roof:
- for installing two periscopic observation devices, for the loader and gunner;
- ventilation, for the installation of two fighting compartment fans, covered with armored caps with windows for air passage;
- antenna output;
- hatch for entry and exit of loader and gunner;
- cutout for installing a commander's cupola;
Commander's turret. Serves to provide all-round visibility to the tank commander. Cylindrical in shape, cast from armor and welded around the perimeter to the roof of the gun turret. There are five slots in the walls of the turret, covered with transparent triplex armored glass, through which, with the help of viewing devices, the commander has an all-round view, both with a rotating and stationary gun turret. The turret roof rotates on a ball bearing. On its roof there is a hatch for the tank commander and a periscope observation device, similar to the devices installed on the roof of a gun turret, is installed.
Due to individual characteristics production of different factories, and depending on the time of production, turrets, T-34-85 tanks equipped with S-53 and ZIS-S-53 guns differed in: the number, configuration and location of casting and welds; the shape of the commander's cupola (in January 1945, only the single-leaf commander's cupola hatch cover was introduced into production); the shape and location of the protective strips of the turret shoulder strap. The post-war towers of plant No. 112 had a spaced arrangement of ventilation hoods, the front fan was an exhaust fan, the rear one was a discharge fan.
Turret layout, with S-53 cannon (ZIS-S-53)
The main armament of the tank is installed inside the turret: a cannon and one coaxial machine gun. Vertical aiming of the gun is done manually, using a sector lifting mechanism located to the left of the gun. The vertical elevation angle of the gun is 22°. The vertical descent angle is 5°, while the unhittable (dead) space for the cannon and coaxial machine gun on the surface of the earth is 23 meters. The height of the gun's line of fire is 2020 mm. The rotation of the turret is carried out by a rotation mechanism located to the left of the gun, using a manual drive, with an angular speed of 0.9°, per revolution of the flywheel, or an electromechanical drive, with an angular speed of 25÷30°/sec. The main stowage for 16 (on some vehicles - 12) shots is located in the aft niche and on the racks. On the right wall of the tower, 4 shots are secured in clamps. To ensure the “rollback” of the gun, after firing, free space is provided behind the breech. Inside the turret, on the left side, there are reinforced: a bracket for the turret rotation mechanism and mounting brackets for the radio station and tank intercom devices (TPU). Inside the tower, on the left rear and aft walls, there are mounting brackets for the transceiver and the radio power supply. The following seats are attached to the turret and rotate with it: the tank commander; gunner and loader. The loader's seat is suspended on three belts, two of them are attached to the turret ring, and the third to the gun cradle. The seat height adjustment is made by changing the length of the belts. The tower does not have a floor that rotates with it, which is attributed to its design disadvantage. When firing, the loader worked standing on the lids of cassette boxes with shells placed on the bottom of the hull. When turning the turret, he is forced to move after the breech of the gun, kicking the fallen spent cartridges, which, during intense fire, accumulated and made it difficult to access the shots placed in the ammunition rack on the bottom of the hull.
Armament
Ammunition for the S-53 cannon |
|||||||||
Shot brand |
Projectile type |
Projectile brand |
Shot weight, kg |
Projectile weight, kg |
Explosive mass, g |
Fuse brand |
Muzzle velocity, m/s |
Direct shot range at a target 2 m high |
Year of adoption |
Armor-piercing shells |
|||||||||
armor-piercing blunt-headed with a ballistic tip, tracer |
MD-5 or MD-7 |
||||||||
armor-piercing sharp-headed, tracer |
|||||||||
armor-piercing sharp-headed with protective and ballistic tips, tracer |
post-war period |
||||||||
armor-piercing sub-caliber, coil type, tracer |
|||||||||
armor-piercing sub-caliber streamlined, tracer |
post-war period |
||||||||
High-explosive fragmentation shells |
|||||||||
steel solid-body anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade |
KTM-1 or KTMZ-1 |
||||||||
steel fragmentation grenade with adapter head |
KTM-1 or KTMZ-1 |
||||||||
steel solid-body fragmentation grenade, with reduced charge |
KTM-1 or KTMZ-1 |
||||||||
Practical equipment |
|||||||||
practical solid, tracer |
|||||||||
Penetration table |
||||||
Projectile Distance, m |
||||||
(meeting angle 90°) |
||||||
(meeting angle 60°) |
||||||
(meeting angle 90°) |
||||||
(meeting angle 60°) |
||||||
(meeting angle 90°) |
||||||
(meeting angle 60°) |
||||||
1It should be remembered that at different times and in different countries different methods for determining armor penetration were used. As a consequence, direct comparison with similar data from other guns is often impossible. |
||||||
Engine and transmission
The T-34-85 tank was equipped with a 12-cylinder four-stroke uncompressor diesel engine V-2-34. The rated engine power was 450 hp. at 1750 rpm, operational - 400 hp. at 1700 rpm, maximum - 500 hp. at 1800 rpm. Cylinder diameter 150 mm. The piston stroke of the left group is 180 mm, the right one is 186.7 mm. The cylinders were arranged in a V-shape at an angle of 60°. Compression ratio 14 - 15. Dry engine weight with electric generator without exhaust manifolds 750 kg. Fuel - diesel, grade DT or gas oil grade "E" according to OST 8842. The capacity of the fuel tanks is 545 l. Outside, on the sides of the hull, two fuel tanks of 90 liters each were installed. External fuel tanks were not connected to the engine power system. The fuel supply is forced, using a twelve-plunger fuel pump NK-1. Lubrication system - circulation, under pressure. Oil circulation was carried out by a three-section gear oil pump. The capacity of internal oil tanks is 76 l, external - 90 l. The cooling system is liquid, closed, with forced circulation. There are two tubular radiators, installed on both sides of the engine and tilted towards it. Radiator capacity 95 l. To clean the air entering the engine cylinders, two Multicyclone air cleaners were installed on the tank. The engine was started by an ST-700 electric starter with a power of 15 hp. or compressed air (two cylinders were installed in the control compartment). The transmission consisted of a multi-disc main dry friction clutch (steel on steel), a gearbox, final clutches, brakes and final drives. The gearbox is five-speed, with constant mesh gears. Onboard clutches are multi-disc, dry (steel on steel), brakes are floating, band, with cast iron linings. Final drives are single-stage.
Combat use
The Great Patriotic War
Despite a number of very serious improvements to the T-34, its combat characteristics in the second half of the war could not be considered completely satisfactory against the backdrop of improvements in German tanks and anti-tank weapons.
Lowly vulnerable in 1941 to almost any German tanks and anti-tank weapons (even in the old version, which was weaker armed and armored), the T-34 at the end of the war was no longer able to withstand on equal terms heavy German tanks and assault guns (which, however, were all they had far from an absolute advantage in all combat situations, not to mention the fact that they belonged to a different class in terms of mass, high cost of production, and often lost in mobility, not to mention their quantitative disadvantage and technological difficulties at the end of the war, which affected, for example, on the quality of their armor). The T-34 also turned out to be insufficiently protected from German infantry anti-tank weapons, which by that time included the latest anti-tank rocket launchers, although German tanks suffered no less from fire from American-made bazooka-type grenade launchers. As a result, in 1945, approximately 90% of hits to the T-34 resulted in armor penetration. This had to be compensated for by their massive and competent use, and the leading role in the fight against enemy tanks passed to a noticeable extent to heavy tanks, such as the IS-2, and self-propelled guns; nevertheless, the T-34, while remaining the Soviet main tank, played an invaluable positive role in the second half of the war, which is partly explained by improved control of tank forces, better interaction with other branches of the military, especially with aviation, as well as very good mobility and still remaining Quite decent armor and firepower. Not the least role was played by the increased reliability of the tank by this time, and, of course, mass production. By the end of the war, the T-34 was the most numerous tank in the USSR army.
After 1945
After World War II, the T-34-85 was actively exported to many countries around the world and was used in a number of military conflicts. Tanks remained in service with some countries, such as Iraq, until the end of the 20th century.
- Korean War (1950-1953, China, North Korea). The Korean War was a real test for the T-34 crews, who had to operate in the conditions of enemy air supremacy, against well-equipped American Army and Marine Corps units with anti-tank weapons. North Korean T-34-85s were used most intensively in the first two months of the war, but after the losses suffered, their participation in battles was rarely noted and only in small groups of 3-4 tanks. During the entire period of the war there were 119 tank battles, of which 104 were carried out by US Army tanks and another 15 by USMC tank crews. During these battles, North Korean tankers on the T-34-85 managed to knock out 34 American tanks (16 M4A3E8 Sherman, 4 M24 Chaffee, 6 M26 Pershing and 8 M46 Patton), 15 of which were lost irrevocably. In turn, the Americans claim destruction in tank battles 97 T-34-85 (another 18 are supposedly recorded).
The North Korean T-34-85 caused significant losses American aviation. Against the backdrop of this fact, the incident that occurred on July 3, 1950, when four F-80C Shooting Star jet fighter-bombers, led by the commander of the 80th Air Force, Mr. Amos Sluder, looked unexpected, went to the Pyeongyo-Ri area to attack enemy vehicles moving to the front line. Having discovered a column of approximately 90 vehicles and tanks, the Americans went on the attack, using unguided rockets and fire from onboard 12.7-mm machine guns from low altitude. An unexpected response came from the North Korean T-34s, which opened fire on the low-flying aircraft with 85-mm guns! A successfully fired shell exploded in front of the pilot's plane and damaged the fuel tanks with shrapnel, causing a fire on board. Mr. Verne Peterson, who was walking as a wingman, reported to Major Sluder on the radio: “Boss, you’re on fire! You better jump." In response, the commander asked to indicate the direction to the South, where he was going to continue to pull, but at the same moment the plane collapsed and fell to the ground like a burning torch. Major Amos Sluder became the first 5th Air Force pilot to die in action on the Korean Peninsula.
- Suez Crisis (1956, Egypt)
- Hungarian uprising (1956, USSR, rebels)
- Vietnam War (1957-1975, Northern Vietnam). Used in small quantities in Laos and South Vietnam. No meetings of the T-34-85 with American units were recorded.
- Operation Bay of Pigs (1961, Cuban Army)
- 1962 military coup in Yemen (1962, Republican forces). On September 26, 1962, 6 T-34-85 tanks were used by the Free Officers to blockade the residence of Imam Mohammed Al-Badr. Having taken the Bashayar Palace into a semicircle, the tanks began shelling the upper floors of the building, causing a fire. After ten hours of siege, the palace garrison and the imam's family fled using a secret exit from the basement. Another 20 T-34-85 tanks took up positions in the capital's Sharar Square to prevent possible actions by the monarchists.
- Six-Day War (1967, Egypt, Syria). Egypt lost 251 T-34-85s, accounting for almost a third of its total tank losses.
- Turkish invasion of Cyprus (1974, Greek Cypriots)
- Angolan Civil War (1975-2002, government army)
- Civil war in Afghanistan (1978-1992, government army, mujahideen)
- Sino-Vietnamese War (1979, Vietnam)
- Lebanon War (1982, Palestine Liberation Organization)
- War in Croatia (1991-1995) (1991-1995, Croatia, Yugoslavia?)
- Bosnian War (1992-1995, Bosnian Serbs)
Countries that had a tank in service
After World War II, the T-34 was in service with the next 40 countries, and in 1996 it was still in service with the countries marked with an asterisk*. (Zaloga & Kinnear 1996:34).
Countries of Europe and America
Middle Eastern and Asian countries
African countries
Serial variants, modernization and modifications of the T-34-85 tank
- T-34-85 Modification 1943 A small-scale modification of the T-34 with an 85-mm D-5-T85 cannon and a new solid-cast three-man turret. It was produced from January to March 1944 by plant No. 112, due to the fact that the placement of the S-53 cannon in the turret of the original version turned out to be unsatisfactory.
- T-34-85. Serial modification of the T-34 tank, produced in large series in 1944-46. A new cast turret with an increased ring diameter was installed. Armor protection increased to 90 mm (front of the turret and hull). The main armament is an 85-mm ZIS-S-53 cannon, a radio station is installed in the turret. Subsequently, the tank was modernized several times (last time in 1969). In the 50s it was mass-produced in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
- OT-34-85 is a modification of the T-34-85 with the installation of an ATO-42 piston flamethrower instead of a machine gun.
- T-34-85 Modification 1947- The tank is equipped with a new V-2-34M engine, a new radio station and optical instruments.
- - The tank has a new V-54 engine (520 hp), the internal design of the vehicle has been slightly changed, and a new chassis.
- PT-34- Modification created on the basis of the T-34 Model 1943 as a tank trawl.
Comparison of the main Soviet medium tanks of the Second World War |
||||||
T-34 Modification 1940 |
T-34 Modification 1941 |
T-34 Modification 1942 |
T-34 Modification 1943 |
|||
85 mm ZIS-S-53 |
85 mm ZIS-S-53 |
|||||
76 shells |
77 shells |
77 shells |
100 shells |
60 shells |
58 shells |
|
Power reserve |
||||||
Yugoslav modernization of the T-34-85 tank
After the war, on the initiative of the leadership of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOLA), an attempt was made to establish mass production of a modernized, Yugoslav version of the T-34-85. As a result of modernization, the following design changes were made:
- In the front part of the hull, bevels are implemented in order to reduce the area of the frontal surface of the upper frontal sheet. The bevels weakened the body and complicated the technology of its production, but it was expected. that Yugoslav factories will master the technology of welding armor plates;
- The roof of the tower was made convex, the commander's cupola was eliminated, but four periscopic viewing devices were installed, the cylindrical bases of the hatches were mated to the roof by welding, weakening the structure of the tower;
- The volume of the rear niche of the turret has been increased in order to increase the ammunition capacity;
- The turret ventilation scheme has been changed; the fan hood is located on the roof of the aft part of the turret;
- The ZIS-S-53 gun is equipped with a muzzle brake;
- A Yugoslavian-made diesel engine was installed, changes were made to the transmission;
A total of 7 tanks were modernized...
In 1950, modernized tanks took part in the May Parade and were subsequently used as training tanks. In the early 1950s, modernization work was curtailed. One tank is preserved in the open exhibition of the military museum in Kalemegdan (Belgrade).
Vehicles based on T-34
During the war, the famous “self-propelled guns” SU-85, SU-100 and SU-122 were built on the basis of the T-34-85. The SU-85 and SU-100, designed to fight enemy tanks, were armed with 85 and 100 mm rapid-fire cannons, respectively. SU-122 belonging to the class assault guns carried a 122 mm howitzer with a low rate of fire (the separately loaded gun also had a manual piston-type bolt, which negatively affected the rate of fire) and was mainly used as shock artillery against infantry and tanks (with some restrictions it could also be used as self-propelled howitzer). Vehicles based on the T-34-85 remained in service with some countries until the end of the 20th century.
In Egypt, the T-34-85 was equipped with a 100 mm M1944/BS-3 gun and was called the “T-100 tank destroyer”
On October 26, 2006, during anti-government protests in Budapest, demonstrators managed to start the engines of the museum's T-34-85 and BTR-152, and used them in clashes with the police.
T-34-85 in computer games
T-34-85 can be seen in the following computer games:
- Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offensive and Call of Duty: World at War
- "T-72: Balkans on Fire";
- "Company of Heroes: Eastern Front" (amateur modification);
- « Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory";
- online game “Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45”;
- MMO game "World of Tanks"
- Real-time strategy "Order of War".
- "Tanks of the Second World War: T 34 against the Tiger"
- "ArmA 2"
- "ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead"
- "Blitzkrieg"
- "Caribbean crisis"
- "T-34 vs Tiger"
The most famous tank created in the USSR. According to popular opinion, it is the leader in the “Best Tanks of World War II” category. Direct descendant of BT light tanks. The prototype of the T-34 were experimental light tanks - the wheeled-tracked A-20 and the tracked A-32. In the summer of 1939, comparative tests of the A-20 and A-34 vehicles were carried out at the Kharkov training ground, during which the similarity of their performance characteristics was revealed. Both tanks showed approximately equal speed on the tracks. After passing the tests, it was decided to build a new tank, with the index A-34, based on the A-32 prototype.
Birth of the T-34.
During February-March 1940, two T-34 prototypes made the transition from Kharkov to Moscow under their own power. Chief designer M. Koshkin and designer Alexander Aleksadrovich Morozov took direct part in the run. Seriously ill, Koshkin himself sat down at the levers of the T-34 more than once. The disease progressed and on September 26, 1940 M. Koshkin died. He was posthumously awarded the State Prize for his contribution to the creation of the T-34.
On March 17, 1940, the T-34, among other types of military equipment, was presented to the leadership of the state and army. The tanks generally made a favorable impression, and it was decided to begin production of new vehicles at KhPZ No. 183. The target of 150 vehicles, initially set, was soon quadrupled. But due to production difficulties, only 115 medium tanks could be produced until 1941. In the forties, the cost of the T-34 was 429,596 rubles according to KhPZ reports and 510,000 rubles according to the People's Commissariat of Medium Engineering.
Start of production.
In the winter of 1940, three production T-34s went on a Kharkov-Kubinka-Smolensk run to identify design flaws. The officers of the BT Research Institute who carried out the tests found so many shortcomings that the report they submitted was not left to the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal G.K. Kulik has no choice but to give the order to stop the production and acceptance of the T-34. In return, it was decided to speed up the development of a new medium tank, the A-43, with torsion bar suspension and improved armor.
Head of ABTU Ya. Fedorov, with whom G.K. agreed. Kulik proposed to leave the BT-7M in production and speed up work on the T-50. The management of the Kharkov plant did not agree with such an unforestable assessment and the proposal to put an end to their brainchild and insisted on continuing production, proposing to temporarily reduce the warranty mileage of the car, which was supposed to be a thousand kilometers, by three times. The dispute was stopped by Voroshilov, who, although at that time he lost the high position of People's Commissar, but as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee and as an old Bolshevik, he did not lose his influence, both on Stalin and on the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Molotov. It was his recommendation that allowed the continuation of production of the T-34 until it was replaced in production by the T-43M.
Less than six months later, the Second World War showed the correctness of this decision. T-34, the production of which was launched in Stalingrad and Kharkov, allowed a short time organize their production at enterprises in rear areas during the war. From the moment it was put into production until the start of the war, the new T-34 was manufactured in quantities of about 1,225 units. With the beginning of the mobilization of industry, the Gorky plant "Krasnoye Sormovo" (factory No. 112) joined the production of the tank.
Machine evaluation.
In accordance with the 1940 states, the “thirty-fours” were to be included in all newly organized mechanized corps. Each of the two tank divisions of the mechanized corps was supposed to include 375 tanks, of which 210 were medium tanks. Each mechanized division had 275 tanks, of which seventeen T-34s. The rest are light tanks T-26 and BT, in tank divisions 63 more heavy KV tanks entered. It follows from this that just to replenish equipment, according to the staff, the thirty newly formed corps required not much more than 8,760 medium tanks of a new design.
Serious shortcomings of the T-34 tank, identified even in pre-war times, included poor visibility and the commander’s workload, which did not allow him to control the tank throughout the battle. Crew constraint, structural “dampness” of components and assemblies. But let’s be fair, it took the Germans much more time to fine-tune the design. Tanks that took comparable time to fine-tune did not differ in design reliability or design completeness. In the autumn of '41, in conditions of extreme shortage of V-2 engines, some T-34s were equipped with an M-17 carburetor engine. Although the T-34 lost somewhat in average speed. Several dozen vehicles were equipped with a 57-mm cannon instead of the standard gun. These tanks served as part of the twenty-first tank brigade, which took part in the defense of Moscow throughout the autumn of forty-one.
The decision is quite controversial, since the fragmentation effect of a three-inch projectile was much higher than that of a fifty-seven millimeter one. The quality of the 57-mm shells was poor, and the BS of the standard T-34 gun turned out to be quite sufficient for German combat vehicles. The issue of equipping the T-34 with a 57-mm cannon quickly lost relevance, since the production of such guns was soon discontinued.
The high cost of the machine, during the forty-first year, was reduced by approximately half, to 249,256 rubles. The vast majority of T-34s produced in 1940 were lost in the battles of 1941. Whereas the tanks produced during the forty-first and forty-second years were used for quite a long time. For the longest time, on the Leningrad Front, the T-34s there took part in the Vyborg offensive in about forty-four. During the forty-second year, the industry produced 12,527 vehicles for the front. At the same time, the cost was further reduced:
| KhPZ(No. 183) |
"Krasnoe Sormovo" |
UZTM | №173 |
| 165 810 | 209 700 | 273 800 | 312 700 |
Mainly, the cost of the T-34 was reduced by simplifying the machine in production. In the forty-first year alone, several thousand improvements were made to simplify the design and production technology. In addition, one should not forget about widespread use in the production process of low-skilled labor. Layout of the T-34 tank produced in 1940-41.
Layout of the T-34 tank produced in 1942.
Diagram of the T-34 tank produced in 1941, plant No. 183.
Diagram of the T-34 tank produced in 1942, plant No. 183.
Diagram of the T-34 tank, 1942, plant No. 183, hexagonal turret.
Interesting fact. In 1942, GABTU refused to pay for T-34s manufactured by the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, due to a high percentage of defects. To resolve the conflict, the plant management had to turn directly to L. Beria. In general, even I. Stalin gave an objective assessment of the products of this plant as “Sormovo freaks.”
The T-34, which was produced in 1942, differed from the vehicles of previous years of production, not only in appearance. Which is due to the production conditions: production unfolded under conditions of evacuation, when enterprises began to work literally in the open air; the overwhelming majority of employed workers were women and children - unskilled workers: approximately 50% were women, 15% were old people and 15% were children; the technologies necessary for production were not implemented.
All this determined a decrease in the combat qualities of vehicles produced in 1942-43. Often the weight of the T-34 was higher than the nameplate, and the engines developed much less power. Tanks weighing 31-32 tons, with an engine power of 320-360 hp, came off the assembly line. Whereas according to the passport it was supposed to have a weight of 28.5 tons and an engine of five hundred horsepower. As a result, T-34 tanks developed a speed on the highway of about thirty-five kilometers per hour instead of the required fifty. The checkpoint added to the problems. Often T-34 tanks could only move in second or fourth gear; in the rest the engine simply stalled. The time between overhauls has decreased.
However, the statement that the T-34 tank was bad is not true. Not one of the tanks of the Second World War was without shortcomings. The point is this. While some nations were able to produce armored vehicles in practically peaceful, or even peaceful, conditions, the USSR launched production under conditions of evacuation. And therefore he was in the worst conditions among the states participating in the Second World War. 
For example, even the German tank industry, not to mention the Allies, was in much more advantageous conditions. Prague, where tanks and self-propelled guns were produced for German army, were not bombed at all, and the last products left the workshops already in 1945 during the Prague Uprising.
Therefore, military acceptance officers could not pursue a strict policy of rejecting T-34s that did not meet the passport specifications. The front required tanks, and such actions could only help the enemy. In 1942, the question of the very existence of the state seriously arose, and therefore there was not much choice. T-34-76 T-34-76 T-34-76 Main dimensions: Ammunition of shells, Ammunition load, pcs. Reservations: Lower frontal sheet, Liner, mm/deg. Change box re- Mechanics Mechanics Number of gears, forward/ Onboard Onboard 71-TK-Z Performance characteristics of the T-34 tank.
release
1941
release
1942
release
1943Combat weight, i.e.
28,12
28,12
28,2 - 30,9
Crew, people
4
4
4
Length with gun forward, mm5920
5920
5920
Width, mm
3000
3000
3000
Height, mm
2400
2400
2520
Ground clearance, mm
400
400
400
Gun, type, caliber, mm
F-34, 76mm
F-34, 76mm
F-34, 76mm
things77
77
100
Machine gun, quantity, type,
caliber, mmDT, 2 x 7.62
DT, 2 x 7.62
DT, 2 x 7.62
(with walkie-talkie/without walkie-talkie) 2646/2394
2646/2394
3600
Upper frontal sheet,
mm/deg45/60
45/60
mm/deg45/53
45/53
40/40
45/40
Board, mm/deg
45/0
45/0
Turret front, mm/deg
45
(52 cast)52
Tower side, mm/deg
45
(52 cast) 52
Maximum speed
highway, km/h 55
55
Cruising range, km (highway/country road)
300/250
300/250
Climbability, degrees
30
30
Roll, deg.
25
25
Wall, m
0,75
0,75
Brod, m
1,3
1,3
Engine, type, brand
Diesel,
V-2-34Diesel,
V-2-34
Power, l/s
500
500
Fuel tank capacity,
l (internal/external)460/134
540/270
dacha, type
cheskaya
four-
step-
melting
cheskaya
four-
step-
melting
back4/1
4/1 or 5/1
Rotation mechanism, type
friction
they
friction
they
Radio station
71-TK-Z
or 9P
T-34 tank production diagram
T-34 tank armor scheme
On the T-34, produced in 1942, turrets of different shapes were installed. If at first, the turrets of the first tanks differed slightly from the turrets produced in 1941, then by the end of the year the T-34 received a cast turret.
The statement that the T-34 used almost boiler steel instead of armor steel is not true. The truth is that due to a shortage of armor, a number of vehicles had non-standard armor parts in their armored hull structure. In some cases, T-34s had two, and sometimes three types of rollers. The quality of the armor decreased somewhat due to the loss of nickel and manganese deposits, which were located in occupied Ukraine. But soon the quality of the armor was improved to acceptable, thanks to supplies from the Arctic. In addition, Lend-Lease supplies of copper, aluminum, nickel and other materials that were in constant shortage helped correct the situation.
Production centers.
In total, during 1940-44. industry produced 350,312 T-34s with a 76-mm cannon. Of these, 1170 tanks are armed with a flamethrower. Price fluctuations in the forty-third year ranged from 136 to 141 thousand rubles at plant No. 183 and up to 210,700 rubles. at plant No. 174. The T-34 tank with a 76-mm cannon was produced at the following factories:
- Kharkov plant (evacuated to Nizhny Tagil, retained the number and received the name UTZ named after Comintern);
- "Krasnoe Sormovo", plant No. 112 in Gorky;
- UZTM, in the city of Sverdlovsk;
- Stalingrad tractor (until the end of 04.1942);
Conclusion.
T-34 tanks produced in 1942 - 1943 were part of tank units until the end of the war and took part in offensive operations of that period. In 1945, some of these tanks were transferred to the Far East and Transbaikalia. There, T-34s took part in the Manzhur operation. Tanks of this modification were finally withdrawn from the states in the late forties.
Description of the design of the T-34 tank.
Cases.
Kharkov buildings. The armored hull of the T-34 tank underwent many changes throughout production. The armor for the hull came from Mariupol. The edges of the armor plates were connected to each other “in a quarter”, which ensured a tight connection. The welding, exclusively done by hand, caused a lot of criticism in terms of its quality, but from the looks of it, it looked pretty good. If we take the appearance of the first experimental series armored hull as a point of reference, then changes to the design were made in May 1940.
Initially, the production technology consisted of the following cycle - tempering of the armor plate, heat treatment prior to sheet bending, end processing, surface grinding, stamping, hardening. A rather complicated process that resulted in a lot of defects. To simplify, Mariupol engineers recommended dividing the front sheet into two sheets, connecting them with a beam. The beam was made by stamping from armor plate. And this led to an increase in the weight of the T-34 tank by one hundred kilograms. 
The deep stamping above the mechanical drive hatch was, in some cases, replaced with a separate part and welded to the front plate. Welded joints completely replaced riveted ones at the end of the summer of 1940. This type of armored hull was produced throughout the production period before the evacuation, and was the standard for other factories.
Stalingrad corps. Initially, the armored hulls were assembled from the same parts as the Kharkov-made hulls. However, there were still differences. So the blinds on the top covers of the MO were replaced with grilles that were simpler in design. The second innovation was the towbar, first without a cable lock, then with a lock. The hook was first secured with rivets and then by welding.
The stamping above the hatch was significantly reduced. One of the three observation devices was removed, and the remaining two were directed forward. To reduce the sharply increased dead zone, an all-round viewing device was added to the driver.
After the Mariupol plant went into evacuation, plant No. 264 became the main contractor for the production of armored hulls. The technical equipment of the plant (Stalingrad Shipyard) did not allow cutting armor plates in the required quantity using Mariupol technology. To correct the situation, it was necessary to introduce a “spike” connection of armor plates. The “quarter” connection remained only when connecting the BO roof to the front sheet. 
The transmission compartment hatch of the T-34 tank is only cast. Externally, such hatches differed only in that they were slightly higher and wider, although the dimensions of the hatch cutout remained the same. The mechanical drive hatch has changed slightly, the cutout for surveillance devices has become flatter. The “horseshoe” of the ball installation was replaced with a ring.
At the next stage of changes, they abandoned the tenon connection of the hull roof with the side sheets. This type of armored hull is found on later T-34 tanks. This type of body is characterized by fastening the armor protection of the exhaust pipes with eight bolts, and not seven as before.
Sormovo buildings. Production of armored hulls at Krasnoye Sormovo from assembly from Kharkov components. The early Sormovo buildings are outwardly indistinguishable from the Kharkov ones. Since the beginning of the development of production of T-34 armored hulls, work has begun to adapt the technology to local conditions. This approach found understanding on the part of the management and the corresponding resolution of the People's Commissariat of Defense gave the plant a free hand in this direction. The plant was allowed to make any changes to the specifications and drawings, provided that nodal compatibility was not violated.
However, in October, only twenty T-34 tanks left the workshop. These vehicles were equipped with M-17 carburetor engines; whether they differed in appearance from diesel tanks is unknown. All vehicles had early-type hulls; components for them were supplied by related factories.
The first differences were akin to the differences in the Stalingrad-type armored hulls, although not similar. The most noticeable difference is the round transmission access hatch and the straight bottom sheet of the stern. The large loops of the upper stern, which overlapped the lower sheet, are the most striking difference between the Sormovo T-34 tanks. These loops were placed in a small cutout, the geometric dimensions of which were not constant, and sometimes this cutout was completely absent.
Unlike their Stalingrad colleagues, the Sormovo team used a characteristic triangular-shaped connection to connect the BO roof with the upper frontal sheet, as well as the lower frontal sheet with the bottom. Also, a protrusion protecting the observation device mounted on the front sheet had a characteristic triangular shape. The mesh covering the blinds was secured using three loops. A towing device for towing was developed and installed on serial T-34 tanks artillery piece behind the tank. This was a purely Sormovo innovation.
At the next stage, we abandoned the stamping of the mechanical drive above the hatch, as well as the third observation device. Also at this time, an armored machine gun mask appeared. After working out a new method of installing the gun, it became possible to abandon the rear hatch in the turret. One more characteristic feature there were many metal strips welded to the body, which, according to the designers, served to prevent jamming of the T-34 tank components with fragments of shells. As well as many different handrail brackets. 
In 1943, a fundamental decision was made to unify the T-34 hulls. Deliveries of cut from the Urals began and tank hulls from various factories became more similar to each other. The round hatch in the stern was increased in diameter and moved to the right. After mastering automatic welding in the production of T-34 armored hulls, they abandoned the finger jointing of sheets.
Ural buildings. Having gone through several stages of evolution, Nizhny Tagil launched the production of a new type of armored hulls. The main credit for this goes to the introduction of automatic welding, namely the Paton Institute, which was evacuated to UVZ. The use of automatic welding, for which straight long seams are preferred, led to the abandonment of finger joints between armored parts, with the exception of the front of the hull with the sides of the tank.
UZTM joined the production of armored hulls in the spring of 1942. In the initial period, some of the cases were made using simplified technology, which was associated with technological problems. In the summer of this year, the task became significantly more complicated - the plant was required to launch the entire production of the T-34. Also, during this period, the Chelyabinsk plant joined the medium tank production program.
Design documentation for the T-34 tank was delivered to both plants from Novy Tagil, while to Omsk from both Nizhny Tagil and Sverdlovsk. As a consequence of all this, and the fact that UZTM (and not the only one) sent components to other factories, the armored hulls of these factories did not have well-recognized features, unlike the previous ones. 
Only a few external features are known. For example, the handrails of the “prefabricated structure” of Chelyabinsk tanks, similar to those installed on the KV. But the same handrails are sometimes found on cars produced by other factories, with the exception of Omsk. The mesh of the blinds, in addition to stamping, was produced bent, which is more typical for UZTM.
It is known for sure that ChKZ from 10.10.42. began installing the mounting bracket for the tank stove on 10/22/42. handrails for paratroopers, and since January, the protection of the machine gun began to cover the entire barrel, and not a third. A plate with a number was rolled onto the front beam of the T-34 tank; very often only by this plate can one reliably determine the place of manufacture of the vehicle.
T-34 towers.
Kharkov towers. Only about 10 turrets of the first production version were produced, two of them were intended for tanks that were assembled for display to members of the government. The turret ports, as well as the surveillance devices, are located exactly along the axis of the tower. The tower hatch is flat with a device for all-round observation in the center. Some of these T-34 tanks were used for training purposes, and some were sent to the army.
The towers of the next series were already different in their design. The military demanded an increase in internal volume, for which they had to shift the fold line of the side sheet. As a result, the observation devices moved to a plane directed at a slight angle forward. About 16 T-34s with such turrets were produced between the end of August and the beginning of September 1941. Another requirement of the military - to move the radio into the housing from the tower - was fulfilled during the production process.
At the next stage, the hatch above the commander’s head was enlarged, and it was stamped. The armored parts of the turret were produced by a plant in Mariupol. The cast tower was also mastered here. The cast turret was 200 kg heavier, but did not have any advantages in terms of projectile resistance. The main advantage is a reduction in the production cycle, an increase in the production of T-34 tanks.
The most noticeable difference of this type is that in the aft niche the bevel of the top cover and the rear hatch for installing an enlarged gun were eliminated. The armor of the T-34 surveillance devices was initially carried out integrally with the turret, then it was abandoned in order to unify the welded structure with the turret. The all-round viewing device was removed from the top hatch, the hole under which was welded with a plug.
The production of welded and cast towers took place in parallel. When installing the F-34 gun into the turret, protective ridges were welded on both sides of the mantlet.
At the same time, new changes were approved. The diameter of the T-34 turret ring has been changed from 1764 to 1785 millimeters, and the height of the turret itself has been increased by thirteen. Molded ridges appeared on both sides of the mask. Fan hinges have been introduced, as well as a six-bolt mount for the lump hatch. In the T-34 turrets of early production, the hinges were fastened to the cover with rivets, and to the turret roof with bolts to allow dismantling. Towers of this type were produced minimally until June 1941.
The latest T-34s, which were manufactured in Kharkov, did not have a cutout in the hatch for an all-round observation device, and only one observation device on board. Starting in October 1941, the Kharkov plant began its work in the Urals. 
Sormovo. The production of Krasny Sormovo towers began similarly to other factories, with the use of components from Mariupol. However, the developed foundry production made it possible to almost immediately move on to the production of our own towers of our own design. In addition to its own production, the program involves related factories Kuznetsk, Kulebak, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, as well as the Novotagil Iron and Steel Works.
The towers of the Sormovsky plant differed from those of the Mariupol plant in more rational forms, primarily the contours of the front part, they were more pointed, as well as the shape of the casting joint. This measure is similar to the “kerchiefs” of the Stalingrad plant. Probably, from February 1942, the T-34 turrets began to be equipped with a hatch of increased thickness with stamping, and the strengthening of the gun mantlet armor also dates back to this time.
It was decided to abandon the hatch in the stern. The dismantling of the gun was rarely carried out under military conditions, and the aft hatch increased the time required for production. The method of installing the T-34 gun without a rear hatch was previously worked out, both in factory and field conditions.
Since March, Sormovo thirty-fours have been produced without a stern hatch, but with jack retaining bonnets and two stops under the mantlet ridges. The protective strip complemented the stops and prevented the turret from sliding forward during installation. In the middle of '42, handrails were installed on the turret and hull.
At the same time, cast armor was adopted for the T-34 commander’s panorama and the observation device on the roof. On the front part they began to put a casting number, first of three digits, then of four. Towers of this type remained in production until 1943, when other factories switched to hexagonal ones.
Nizhny Tagil. The first T-34s assembled in Nizhny Tagil were equipped with turrets assembled from Mariupol parts. The process of mastering our own was complicated by the loss of technical documentation during the evacuation. This episode is mentioned more than once in memoirs, and it is quite likely that this was the case. So the documentation had to be restored in an extremely short time.
It was not possible to mold the entire tower on the existing molding tables. Before obtaining the necessary equipment for this, we decided to mold it from several elements. The resulting T-34 turret differed from the previous one in a number of innovations tested in Stalingrad, as well as its own innovations.
T-34s of this period were equipped with turrets produced by Kulebaki and, according to a number of evidence, produced by UZTM. The Nizhny Tagil tower contained a number of clearly visible differences, such as:
- armoring of on-board observation devices, which provided a larger viewing angle;
- cut shape of the upper part of the gun mask;
- longer overlays for the gun mantlet of the T-34 tank.
This type was in production from the beginning until the winter of '42, when it was replaced by a hexagonal tower. As an exception, repair T-34s could use parts larger than later years release.
Some T-34s with early turrets were equipped with a 57-mm cannon, and quite a few turrets were used as bunkers. There were turrets produced for armored boats and armored trains, with their own minor differences in design. 
Stalingrad production. Initially, the Stalingrad towers were made from parts brought from Mariupol, and in appearance they should not differ from the Kharkov ones. At the end of the summer of '42, improvements developed but not implemented due to the evacuation in Kharkov production were introduced into production. The scarce observation device for the loader was often not installed at all, and a blank was put in its place. The fan cover began to hinge forward, then it was replaced by a fixed cross-shaped cover.
Until the autumn of '42, the configuration of the towers remained the same. Since September '42, work began on developing a new version of cutting armor plates for towers and hulls, which were completed by the end of the year. When applied to T-34 turrets, this method involved eliminating the bending of the side plates in the rear part.
The main feature of these towers was:
- the size of the rear wall of the T-34, which was secured with 8 bolts, was increased;
- cross-shaped fan cover;
- armoring of on-board observation devices improves visibility (both types of armor were used until the reserve was exhausted);
- three parts of the lower rear part of the tank turret, instead of two;
- a characteristically shaped observation device for a turret gunner.
Some T-34s had a hatch with stamping of increased thickness (both types of hatches were used until the reserve was exhausted). The hatch hinges were welded to simplify the design, although this complicated its dismantling.
At the next stage of changes, the rear wall of the turret was made permanent, similar to the Sormovo T-34. Stops were welded onto the T-34 hull, and in the rear part there were jack stands, in case it was necessary to lift the turret to dismantle the gun. This option went into production in May 1942.
The gun mantlet, instead of the right and left parts, consisted of an upper part with a curve, as well as a flat lower part. The front part also became flat, resulting in a prominent lower cheekbone. The gun mantlet shield is shorter at the bottom. There were two types of masks:
- mask of the first type with a smaller angle of inclination (did not exist for long);
- mask with a shortened shield, produced starting in the spring of '42.
In addition to the T-34 with welded turrets, STZ produced T-34 with cast ones. At first these towers were produced in Mariupol. Then, from the end of forty-one, towers presumably from the Kulebak plant arrived. The production of our own cast turrets was mastered in the summer of forty-two; in July, cars with cast turrets began to leave the factory workshops. There were two options - the first had a more rounded outline of the cheekbones, and the second externally repeated the welded tower.
At this point, the development of the Sormovo towers was stopped. 
Hexagonal towers of the Sormovo plant.
Factory No. 112 arrived at the production of hexagonal turrets only in 1943. By equipping a batch of tanks of the transition series with Ural-made turrets (stamped and cast), Sormovo mastered the production of its own turret of an original shape.
A characteristic feature of Sormovo-made towers is the rather clumsy cutting of the sprues. The tank commander's observation turret was made of strips of metal rolled into a ring.
The turret is cylindrical in shape with a chamfer at the top. The weld seam is covered with a cover plate. This sign is typical for all turrets of this type. Tides around weapon ports are also characteristic. The external difference between the commander's cupolas of the flamethrower vehicles was the antenna insertion at the rear of the wall.
Factory No. 122 produced hexagonal turrets of several types, because in the winter of 1944 he mastered the production of the T-34-85. On the roofs of the later hexagonal turrets, which were produced together with the T-34-85 turrets, there were no eye bolts, which were replaced with hooks welded to the sides of the turret, similar to the T-34-85.
Stamped towers.
Towers of this type owe their appearance to the order of the State Defense Committee to double the production of towers at UZTM by October of the forty-second year. Production capacity did not allow us to speed up the production of cast towers. Therefore, an unusual decision was made - to use a 100,000-ton press from the Shleman company for their production. 
Under the control of chief engineer Gorlitsky L.E. a team of designers designed a stamped tower. It was previously planned to use stampings from 60 mm rolled steel, but due to its acute shortage, they began to use 45 mm for the production of the turret.
The shelling of the turret showed that the new type of turret was even superior to cast ones in terms of shell resistance.
From 10/1/1942, stamped turrets, together with cast ones, were used to equip vehicles of our own production.
Since December of this year, the interior space of the tower has been slightly increased. The volume of production of stamped towers made it possible to send part of the products to the manager. "Krasnoe Sormovo" and No. 183.
All the changes introduced in the cast towers were also implemented in the stamped ones. This applies to the jumper between the two hatches, as well as the eye bolts and the observation turret equipped with a hatch with two doors.
Typical for stamped T-34 turrets was the placement of the armored fan cowl - a forward slot, as well as recesses for observation devices on the roof.
After the curtailment of the production program for T-34 tanks at UZTM, from 2050 to 2062 cast and stamped turrets were sent to related factories.
Tank T-34 on video.
- Tank T-34 video test drive
- "Strike Force: Tank of the Great Victory" video
- "Film "Chief Designer"
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the T-34 tank was produced in two modifications. The T-34/5, produced in small quantities, was armed with the ZiS-4 artillery system. The T-34/76 tank was a medium and large-scale tank with an F-34 cannon. By the middle of the war it had become the main Soviet model. The raising of the T-34/76 tank, which took place in July 2016 in the Voronezh region, helps remind the current generation of its significance and legendary status. It was largely thanks to this machine that the Red Army managed to break the back of the German enemy. In this article we will look at interesting facts about it.
Production
In 1941, the famous modification was produced at three factories: in Kharkov, Stalingrad and at Krasnoye Sormovo in Gorky. At the beginning of the war, June 25, in the Council people's commissars The USSR adopted a resolution according to which Soviet industry had to significantly increase the production of tanks.
In fact, a new production system was being created. The leading role in it was given to plant No. 183 in Kharkov and its design bureau. The military assumed that other industrial facilities that produced the tank and made changes to its design would consult with this particular enterprise. In practice, everything turned out differently. The turmoil of the war, the evacuation of the Kharkov plant to Nizhny Tagil and other circumstances led to the fact that only performance characteristics models. In other details, products from different factories could differ slightly. The name of the modification, however, was generic. Number 76 was adopted because of the distinctive 76 mm gun.
Appearance in the army
Wartime forced us to somewhat simplify and modernize production in accordance with changing market conditions. In September 1941, after the fever of the first months of the war, the T-34-76 tank began to enter the active army en masse. The least amount of this military equipment was found in the northwestern theater of military operations.
Firstly, this theater of operations was only secondary for a long time (the main events unfolded in the Moscow direction). Secondly, the Leningrad Front found itself isolated from the rest of the USSR. Sending tanks to a blockaded city on the Neva was extremely difficult. As a result, the Lenfront fleet mainly consisted not of the mass-produced T-34/76, but of light T-26s and heavy KVs (Klim Voroshilov).
From tractors to tanks
By October 1, there were 566 tanks on the Western Front (65 of which were T-34/76). As can be seen from these figures, the share of modifications has so far remained insignificant. The T-34/76 tank was produced and produced most of all in 1943, when it became the most popular and recognizable Soviet tank. Towards the end of the war, it was supplanted by the next modification - the T-34/85.
In the fall of 1941, the Stalingrad plant became the main tank manufacturer. In pre-war times, it was created as a tractor. During Stalin's industrialization, several such enterprises appeared, and all of them were built with an eye to a possible armed conflict. If in peacetime the Stalingrad plant produced tractors, then after the German attack, due to the peculiarities of production, it was quickly retrained as a tank plant. Military equipment replaced agricultural machinery.
Winter test
The T-34/76 first announced itself as a universal tank in the fall of 1941. In those days, the Germans were rushing towards Moscow with all their might. The Wehrmacht hoped for a blitzkrieg and threw more and more reserves into battle. Soviet troops retreated to the capital. The fighting was already taking place 80 kilometers from Moscow. Meanwhile, snow fell very early (in October) and snow cover. Under these conditions, the T-60 and T-40S light tanks lost their ability to maneuver. Heavy models suffered from shortcomings in their gearbox and transmission. As a result, at the most decisive stage of the war, it was decided to make the T-34/76 the main tank. In terms of weight, this car was considered average.
For its time, the Soviet T-34/76 tank of the 1941 model was an effective and high-quality vehicle. The designers were especially proud of the V-2 diesel engine. The anti-ballistic armor (the most important protective element of the tank) fulfilled all the tasks assigned to it and reliably protected the crew of 4 people. The F-34 artillery system was distinguished by its high-speed firing, allowing it to quickly deal with the enemy. It was these three characteristics that the specialists were primarily concerned with. The remaining features of the tank were changed very last.
Tank Heroes
The tankers who fought on the T-34/76 glorified themselves with so many exploits that it is simply impossible to list them all. Here are just some examples of the bravery of the crews during the Battle of Moscow. Sergeant Kaforin continued to fire at the enemy, even when all his comrades were killed and the tank was hit. The next day, he switched to another vehicle, destroyed two infantry platoons, a machine gun nest and an enemy command post. The last time Sergeant Kaforin was shot down was in the village of Kozlovo. He fired back until he burned down along with the tank.
In the same way, the crews of Lieutenant Timerbaev and political instructor Mamontov fought in vehicles engulfed in fire. Commander tank company Captain Vasiliev was wounded, but continued to fire back. He miraculously managed to get out of the car a few minutes before the explosion. Later, Vasiliev received the well-deserved title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The Red Army soldiers of the 28th Tank Brigade were also particularly persistent.
Defense of Moscow
Armored troops played an extremely important role in thwarting the decisive German offensive on Moscow. They acted in ambushes, intercepted and defended the most important routes to the capital, holding the roads until reinforcements arrived. At the same time, the command often did not know how to handle tanks. Inexperience and lack of understanding of the realities of the latest technology affected, while the Red Army personnel, on the contrary, amazed the enemy with their courage and tenacity.
During this period, the most effective group was one that included five tank brigades (tbr): 1st Guards, 27, 28, 23 and 33 tbr. They were subordinate to the 16th Army and covered the Volokolamsk direction. The attacks on the Germans were carried out mainly from ambushes. An indicative case occurred on November 16 in the town of Sychi near Moscow. Soviet troops took up defensive positions in the village. The tanks disappeared into ambush. Soon the enemy tried to establish control over Sychy. 80 crushed Red Army infantry detachments and a motorized rifle brigade. At the most crucial moment, Soviet vehicles emerged from the ambush and restored the status quo. Almost all German tanks and two more infantry companies were destroyed in the battle.
Model 1943
The main battles of 1943 took place in the area of the southern Russian steppes, where there was scope for conducting maneuverable military operations and using large mass technology. It was then that the T-34/76 tank became the main Soviet tank. The model ceased to be produced in Stalingrad. Instead, its production was moved to Omsk, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk.
By the middle of the war, another (albeit minor) modernization of the T-34/76 was completed. Stamped and hexagonal turrets appeared, and a new gearbox was introduced. Each design bureau was racking its brains over how to increase the gross production of the machine while maintaining the quality of its functioning. In fact, on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, the T-34/76 tank of the 1943 model remained a minor modification of its predecessor, which appeared at the beginning of the war.
Flaws
Meanwhile, during the fighting during the counter-offensive of the Red Army, significant design flaws that distinguished the Soviet T-34/76 tank began to appear. Its quality began to be inferior to its German competitors shortly after the defeat of the Wehrmacht at Stalingrad. The Reich realized that it was time for the country to prepare for a long total war (and not a blitzkrieg). Due to the deterioration of the population's well-being, even more resources began to flow into military budgets. New modifications of German technology have appeared.
The primary problem for the T-34/76 was the tank's insufficient maneuverability. Without it, the model became extremely vulnerable. The cause of the flaw was insufficient speed of transmission control. Already the T-34/76 tank of the 1942 model had a 4-speed gearbox, while foreign vehicles had 5-6-speed gearboxes. In addition, Soviet gearboxes were difficult to operate. It required a lot of skill and strength from the driver to cope with it, while the German tank crews were not aware of such inconveniences.
New opponents
Preparing for the most important Battle of Kursk, Soviet command hoped that domestic tanks will cope with new German models without any serious, revolutionary changes in their design. This confidence was reinforced by new sub-caliber armor-piercing ammunition, which appeared in service with the Red Army in April 1943. However, by that time the T-34/76 began to regularly lose duels with their main opponents, the German Panthers.
Finally dispelled the Kremlin’s illusions. The newest Tigers, Ferdinands and Panthers turned out to be much better than Soviet technology, which was two or three years behind them. It seems that this difference is insignificant. In fact, during the war, technological progress in the army gained enormous speed, which is why even the slightest lag behind the enemy could become fatal.
Work on mistakes
All of the above problems of the T-34/76 tank became the most serious challenge for Soviet designers. Work on bugs began immediately. The plant in Sverdlovsk was the first to start producing new gearboxes. New 5-speed gearboxes have appeared, and the previous 4-speed ones have been modernized. Production began to use improved wear-resistant steel. The specialists also tested a new transmission design (bearings, transmission units, etc. were updated). The Sverdlovsk team of inventors managed to introduce into production a servo drive for the main clutch, which significantly facilitated the work of the driver.
The modernized chassis turned out to be another improvement that the updated T-34/76 tank acquired. Photos of cars from different series may not differ in appearance, but their main difference was in the internal structure. The track roller disks and idler were strengthened, the reliability of the design was increased, etc. In addition, all tanks began to undergo additional factory tests.
Back in business
In July 1943, the improvements that the T-34/76 tank had undergone over the past few months began to show for the first time. Interesting facts were left behind by the famous 5th Guards Tank Army, which made an unprecedented forced march.
In three days, the corps covered about 350 kilometers with minimal losses in personnel. Quite unexpectedly for the Germans, these formations forced a battle and thwarted the German attack. The enemy lost about a quarter of his tanks.
End of operation
Another serious test for Soviet technology was the Belarusian offensive of 1944. Previously, here, as in northwestern Russia, there were news about drowned people being found in the swamps. Including the recovery of the T-34/76 tank several times.
In Belarus, equipment had to move along sandy and dirt roads of not the highest quality, or even through forests and swamps. At this time Maintenance was sorely lacking. Despite the difficulties, the new T-34/76 transmission coped with its task and withstood a voyage of 1000 kilometers (50-70 kilometers per day).
After the Belarusian operation, this model finally gave way to the next, 85th modification. The last surviving T-34/76 tank was discovered at the bottom of the Don River in the Voronezh region. It was brought to the surface in July 2016. The find will be exhibited in the museum.
Loading...
