"Katyusha" BM-13-16 on the ZIS-6 chassis
The fate of the developers:
On November 2, 1937, as a result of the “war of denunciations” within the institute, the director of RNII-3 I. T. Kleymenov and the chief engineer G. E. Langemak were arrested. On January 10 and 11, 1938, respectively, they were shot at the NKVD Kommunarka training ground.Rehabilitated in 1955.
By decree of the President of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev dated June 21, 1991, I. T. Kleimenov, G. E. Langemak, V. N. Luzhin, B. S. Petropavlovsky, B. M. Slonimer and N. I. Tikhomirov were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
BM-31-12 on the ZIS-12 chassis in the Museum on Sapun Mountain, Sevastopol
BM-13N on a Studebaker US6 chassis (with exhaust protection armor plates lowered) at the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow
Origin of the name Katyusha
It is known why BM-13 installations began to be called “guards mortars” at one time. The BM-13 installations were not actually mortars, but the command sought to keep their design secret for as long as possible. When, at range shooting, soldiers and commanders asked a GAU representative to name the “true” name of the combat installation, he advised: “Name the installation as usual artillery piece. This is important for maintaining secrecy."There is no single version of why the BM-13 began to be called “Katyusha”. There are several assumptions:
1. Based on the name of Blanter’s song, which became popular before the war, based on the words of Isakovsky “Katyusha”. The version is convincing, since for the first time the battery fired on July 14, 1941 (on the 23rd day of the war) at a concentration of fascists on Market Square in the city of Rudnya Smolensk region. Shot from high steep mountain- the association with the high steep bank in the song immediately arose among the fighters. The former sergeant of the 217th Headquarters Company is finally alive. separate battalion communications 144th rifle division 20th Army Andrei Sapronov, now a military historian, who gave it this name. Red Army soldier Kashirin, having arrived with him at the battery after the shelling of Rudnya, exclaimed in surprise: “What a song!” “Katyusha,” answered Andrei Sapronov (from the memoirs of A. Sapronov in the Rossiya newspaper No. 23 of June 21-27, 2001 and in the Parliamentary Gazette No. 80 of May 5, 2005). Through the communications center of the headquarters company, the news about a miracle weapon called “Katyusha” within 24 hours became the property of the entire 20th Army, and through its command - the entire country. On July 13, 2011, the veteran and “godfather” of Katyusha turned 90 years old.
2. There is also a version that the name is associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Kalinin plant (according to another source, by the Comintern plant). And front-line soldiers loved to give nicknames to their weapons. For example, the M-30 howitzer was nicknamed “Mother”, the ML-20 howitzer gun was nicknamed “Emelka”. Yes, and the BM-13 was at first sometimes called “Raisa Sergeevna,” thus deciphering the abbreviation RS (missile).
3. The third version suggests that this is what the girls from the Moscow Kompressor plant who worked on the assembly dubbed these cars.
Another, exotic version. The guides on which the projectiles were mounted were called ramps. The forty-two-kilogram projectile was lifted by two fighters harnessed to the straps, and the third usually helped them, pushing the projectile so that it lay exactly on the guides, and he also informed those holding that the projectile stood up, rolled, and rolled onto the guides. It was allegedly called “Katyusha” (the role of those holding the projectile and the one rolling it was constantly changing, since the crew of the BM-13, unlike cannon artillery, was not explicitly divided into loader, aimer, etc.)
4. It should also be noted that the installations were so secret that it was even forbidden to use the commands “fire”, “fire”, “volley”, instead they sounded “sing” or “play” (to start it was necessary to turn the handle of the electric coil very quickly) , which may also have been related to the song “Katyusha”. And for our infantry, a salvo of Katyusha rockets was the most pleasant music.
5. There is an assumption that the original nickname “Katyusha” was frontline bomber, equipped with rockets - an analogue of the M-13. And the nickname jumped from the plane to rocket launcher through shells.
IN German troops These machines were called "Stalin's organs" because of the external resemblance of the rocket launcher to the pipe system of this musical instrument and the powerful, stunning roar that was produced when launching rockets.
During the battles for Poznan and Berlin, the M-30 and M-31 single-launch installations received the nickname “Russian Faustpatron” from the Germans, although these shells were not used as an anti-tank weapon. With “dagger” (from a distance of 100-200 meters) launches of these shells, the guards broke through any walls.
BM-13-16 on the chassis of the STZ-5-NATI tractor (Novomoskovsk)
Soldiers loading Katyusha
If Hitler's oracles had looked more closely at the signs of fate, then surely July 14, 1941 would have become a landmark day for them. It was then that in the area of the Orsha railway junction and crossings across the Orshitsa River, Soviet troops first used combat vehicles BM-13, which received the affectionate name “Katyusha” in the army. The result of two salvos at the accumulation of enemy forces was stunning for the enemy. German losses fell under the “unacceptable” heading.
Here are excerpts from a directive to the troops of Hitler's high military command: "The Russians have an automatic multi-barrel flamethrower cannon... The shot is fired by electricity... During the shot, smoke is generated..." The obvious helplessness of the wording testified to the complete ignorance of the German generals regarding the device and technical characteristics new Soviet weapons- rocket mortar.
A striking example of the effectiveness of the Guards mortar units, and their basis was “Katyushas,” can be seen in the lines from the memoirs of Marshal Zhukov: “The rockets, by their actions, caused complete devastation. I looked at the areas where shelling was carried out and saw the complete destruction of defensive structures... "
The Germans developed a special plan to seize new Soviet weapons and ammunition. Late autumn In 1941 they managed to do this. The “captured” mortar was truly “multi-barreled” and fired 16 rocket mines. His firepower was several times more effective than the mortar in service fascist army. Hitler's command decided to create equivalent weapons.
The Germans did not immediately realize that the Soviet mortar they had captured was truly unique phenomenon, opening new page in the development of artillery, era jet systems volley fire(MLRS).
We must pay tribute to its creators - scientists, engineers, technicians and workers of the Moscow Jet Research Institute (RNII) and related enterprises: V. Aborenkov, V. Artemyev, V. Bessonov, V. Galkovsky, I. Gvai, I. Kleimenov, A. Kostikov, G. Langemak, V. Luzhin, A. Tikhomirov, L. Schwartz, D. Shitov.
The main difference between the BM-13 and a similar German weapons was an unusually bold and unexpected concept: mortar men could reliably hit all targets in a given square with relatively inaccurate rocket-propelled mines. This was achieved precisely due to the salvo nature of the fire, since every point of the area under fire necessarily fell into the affected area of one of the shells. German designers, realizing the brilliant “know-how” of Soviet engineers, decided to reproduce, if not in the form of a copy, then using the main technical ideas.
It was in principle possible to copy the Katyusha as a combat vehicle. Insurmountable difficulties arose when trying to design, test and establish mass production of similar missiles. It turned out that German gunpowder cannot burn in the chamber of a rocket engine as stably and steadily as Soviet ones. The analogues of Soviet ammunition designed by the Germans behaved unpredictably: they either sluggishly left the guides only to immediately fall to the ground, or at breakneck speed started flying and exploded in the air due to an excessive increase in pressure inside the chamber. Only a few successfully reached the target.
The point turned out to be that for effective nitroglycerin powders, which were used in Katyusha shells, our chemists achieved a spread in the values of the so-called heat of explosive transformation of no more than 40 conventional units, and the smaller the spread, the more stable the gunpowder burns. Similar German gunpowder had a spread of this parameter, even in one batch, above 100 units. This led to unstable operation of the rocket engines.
The Germans did not know that ammunition for the Katyusha was the fruit of more than ten years of activity by the RNII and several large Soviet research teams, which included the best Soviet gunpowder factories, outstanding Soviet chemists A. Bakaev, D. Galperin, V. Karkina, G. Konovalova, B Pashkov, A. Sporius, B. Fomin, F. Khritinin and many others. They not only developed the most complex formulations of rocket powders, but also found simple and effective ways their mass, continuous and cheap production.
At a time when at Soviet factories, according to ready-made drawings, the production of guards rocket mortars and shells for them was expanding at an unprecedented pace and literally daily increasing, the Germans had yet to conduct research and design work by MLRS. But history has not given them time for this.
When and where were Katyusha rockets first used in World War II?
"Katyusha" is an unofficial collective name for rocket artillery combat vehicles BM-8 (82 mm), BM-13 (132 mm) and BM-31 (310 mm). Such installations were actively used by the USSR during the Second World War.
On June 26, 1941, the assembly of the first two serial ones was completed at the Comintern plant in Voronezh. launchers BM-13 on a ZIS-6 chassis, and were immediately accepted by representatives of the Main Artillery Directorate. The next day, the installations were sent under their own power to Moscow, where on June 28, after successful tests, they were combined with five installations previously manufactured at the RNII into a battery for sending to the front. Experimental artillery battery of the seven vehicles under the command of Captain I. Flerov was first used against German army at the railway junction of the city of Orsha on July 14, 1941. The first eight regiments of 36 vehicles each were formed on August 8, 1941.The production of BM-13 units was organized at the Voronezh plant named after. Comintern and at the Moscow Kompressor plant. One of the main enterprises for the production of rockets was the Moscow plant named after. Vladimir Ilyich.
During the war, various variants of the rocket and launchers were created: BM13-SN (with spiral guides, which significantly increased firing accuracy), BM8-48, BM31-12, etc. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ КатюС?Р... (оружие)
On July 14, 1941, Major General of Artillery G. Cariofilli ordered the battery to strike the Orsha railway junction, and on this day the crews of the combat vehicles first saw the weapons entrusted to them in action. Exactly at 15:15, 112 rockets within a few seconds, in a cloud of smoke and flame, left the guides and roared towards the target. On crowded enemy trains railway tracks raged fire tornado. The fascist artillery, and then the aviation, returned fire at the positions of the battery, over which the dust had not yet settled and the smoke from the salvo had not yet cleared. But the position was already empty. Using the high mobility and maneuverability of combat vehicles, the rocket men were already far from the explosions of fascist shells and bombs.
After the start of Lend-Lease deliveries, the main chassis for the BM-13 (BM-13N) became the American Studebaker truck (Studebacker-US6).
An improved modification of the BM-13N was created in 1943, and until the end of World War II, about 1,800 of these guns were manufactured.
In 1942, M-31 shells of 310 mm caliber appeared, which were initially launched from ground-based installations. In April 1944, they created self-propelled gun with 12 guides, mounted on a truck chassis. It was named "BM-31-12".
Soviet industry in July 1941 - December 1944 produced about 30 thousand Katyusha combat vehicles and over 12 million rockets for them (all calibers).
Subsequently, by analogy with “Katyusha”, the nickname “Andryusha” was given by Soviet soldiers to another rocket artillery installation BM-31-12, but this nickname did not become so widespread and popular.
History of the creation of weapons
M-13 shell
Memorial Complex"Katyusha" in Orsha, not far from the site of one of its first combat uses. The BM-13 mock-up was assembled using original parts from a guards mortar and a real ZiS-6 truck.
Memorial complex in the village of Pishchalovo, Orsha district. Place of first use of the BM-13 "KATYUSHA" installation
Back in 1920, employees of the Riga VEF plant, under the leadership of Alexander Tipainis, developed an experimental prototype of the Oscars experimental rocket launcher. Despite the success of the prototype, no funds were allocated for further production and the project never reached the mass production stage. In January 1921, drawings and other important documentation fell into the hands of Soviet agents. In 1921, employees of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory N.I. Tikhomirov and V.A. Artemyev began developing rockets for aircraft.
In 1938-1941. at Research Institute No. 3 NKB (since 1938, former RNII) under the leadership of chief designer A. V. Kostikov, engineers: I. I. Gvai, V. N. Galkovsky, A. P. Pavlenko, R. I. Popov, N I. Tikhomirov, V. A. Artemyev, K. A. Kerimov and others created a multi-charge launcher mounted on a truck.
In March 1941, they were successfully carried out field testing installations designated BM-13 (combat vehicle with 132 mm caliber shells). The 132 mm M-13 rocket and the launcher based on the ZIS-6 BM-13 truck were put into service on June 21, 1941; It was this type of combat vehicle that first received the nickname “Katyusha”. The BM-13 installations were first tested in combat conditions at 10 a.m. on July 14, 1941. The battery of Captain Flerov, who took part in the creation of the BM-13, fired at enemy troops and equipment at the railway junction of the city of Orsha. Since the spring of 1942, the rocket mortar was installed mainly on English and American all-wheel drive chassis imported under Lend-Lease. The most famous among them was the Studebaker US6. During the Great Patriotic War, it was created significant amount variants of RS shells and launchers for them; In total, Soviet industry produced approximately 10,000 rocket artillery combat vehicles during the war years.
Origin of the nickname
There is no single version of why the BM-13 began to be called “Katyusha”. There are several assumptions. The most common and well-founded are two versions of the origin of the nickname, which are not mutually exclusive:
- Based on the title of Blanter’s song, which became popular before the war, based on the words of Isakovsky “Katyusha”. The version is convincing, since Captain Flerov’s battery fired at the enemy, firing a salvo at the Market Square of the city of Rudnya. This was one of the first combat uses of Katyushas, confirmed in historical literature. The installations were shooting from a high, steep mountain - the association with the high, steep bank in the song immediately arose among the fighters. Finally, until recently, Andrei Sapronov, a former sergeant of the headquarters company of the 217th separate communications battalion of the 144th Infantry Division of the 20th Army, was alive until recently, later a military historian, who gave it this name. Red Army soldier Kashirin, having arrived with him at the battery after the shelling of Rudnya, exclaimed in surprise: “What a song!” “Katyusha,” answered Andrei Sapronov (from the memoirs of A. Sapronov in the Rossiya newspaper No. 23 dated June 21-27, 2001 and in the Parliamentary newspaper No. 80 dated May 5, 2005). Through the communications center of the headquarters company, the news about a miracle weapon called “Katyusha” within 24 hours became the property of the entire 20th Army, and through its command - the entire country. On July 13, 2012, the veteran and “godfather” of Katyusha turned 91, and on February 26, 2013 he passed away. On desk he left his last job- a chapter about the first Katyusha salvo for the upcoming multi-volume history of the Great Patriotic War.
- The name may be associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Comintern plant. And front-line soldiers loved to give nicknames to their weapons. For example, the M-30 howitzer was nicknamed “Mother”, the ML-20 howitzer gun was nicknamed “Emelka”. Yes, and the BM-13 was at first sometimes called “Raisa Sergeevna,” thus deciphering the abbreviation RS (missile).
In addition to the two main ones, there are also many other, less well-known versions of the origin of the nickname - from very realistic to those of a purely legendary nature:
Similar nicknames
In addition to the popular nickname “Katyusha”, which became widely known throughout the world, in relation to Soviet rocket artillery combat vehicles during the Great Patriotic War, there were also a number of its analogues, less known.
There is an opinion, stated in English-language sources, that the BM-31-12 combat vehicle, by analogy with the Katyusha, received Soviet soldiers nickname "Andryusha", although the M-30 may have been called "Andryusha". Also very popular, it, however, did not receive such significant distribution and fame as the Katyusha, and did not spread to other models of launchers; even the BM-31-12s themselves were often called “Katyushas” rather than by their own nickname. Following “Katyusha”, Soviet soldiers also christened it with the Russian name German weapons of a similar type is the 15 cm Nb.W 41 (Nebelwerfer) towed rocket mortar, nicknamed “Vanyusha”. In addition, the M-30 high-explosive rocket, used from the simplest portable frame-type multiple rocket launchers, subsequently also received several humorous nicknames of a similar type: “Ivan Dolbay”, associated with high destructive force projectile, and “Luka” - on behalf of the character Luka Mudishchev from a pornographic poem of the 19th century, in connection with the characteristic shape of the head of the projectile; Due to the obvious obscene subtext of the joke, the nickname “Luka,” which had a certain popularity among soldiers, was practically not reflected in the Soviet press and literature and remained little known in general.
The mortar launchers were called “Marusya” (derived from MARS - mortar artillery rockets), and on Volkhov Front called "guitar".
Whereas in Soviet troops BM-13 combat vehicles and analogues received the stable nickname "Katyusha", in the German troops these vehicles were nicknamed "Stalin's organs" (German: Stalinorgel) - due to the association appearance package of rocket launcher guides with the pipe system of this musical instrument and because of the characteristic sound made when launching rockets. Soviet installations of this type became known under this nickname, in addition to Germany, also in a number of other countries - Denmark (Danish: Stalinorgel), Finland (Finnish: Stalinin urut), France (French: Orgues de Staline), Norway (Norwegian: Stalinorgel), The Netherlands (Dutch: Stalinorgel), Hungary (Hungarian: Sztálinorgona) and Sweden (Swedish: Stalins orgel).
It should be noted that among German soldiers the Soviet nickname “Katyusha” also spread - Katjuscha. From the memoirs of intelligence officer N.P. Rusanov, we know about the inadequate reaction of some German soldiers to this word:
When they brought him (the sergeant major) to his team, there was a Katyusha at the headquarters. As soon as the German heard this word “Katyusha”, he immediately shook all over, rushed to the side, so that the spruce was held back. How much laughter we boys had! .
see also
- "Andryusha" - combat vehicle BM-31-12
- Formations of rocket artillery of the Red Army (1941-1945)
- "Vanyusha" - Nebelwerfer rocket mortar
Notes
- Luknitsky P. N. Through the entire blockade. - L.: Lenizdat, 1988. - P. 193.
- Gordon L. Rottman.// FUBAR (F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition): Soldier Slang of World War II. - Osprey, 2007. - P. 278-279. - 296 p. - ISBN 1-84603-175-3.
- Katyusha- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
- Steven J. Zaloga, James Grandsen. Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. - London: Arms and Armor Press, 1984. - P. 153. - 240 p. - ISBN 0-85368-606-8.
- “Luka” and “Katyusha” against “Vanyusha”. “Equipment and weapons” No. 1 1995
- AKIMOV V.N., KOROTEEV A.S., GAFAROV A.A. and others. Weapon of victory - “Katyusha”. Weapon of Victory - “Katyusha” // Research Center named after M. V. Keldysh. 1933-2003: 70 years at the cutting edge of rocket and space technology. - M: "Mechanical Engineering", 2003. - P. 92-101. - 439 p.
- Pervushin A. I."Red space. Starships Soviet Empire". 2007. Moscow. "Yauza", "Eksmo". ISBN 5-699-19622-6
- MILITARY LITERATURE - [Military History]- Fugate B., Operation Barbarossa
- Andronikov N. G., Galitsan A. S., Kiryan M. M. et al. The Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945: Dictionary-reference book / Under. ed. M. M. Kiryana. - M.: Politizdat, 1985. - P. 204. - 527 p. - 200,000 copies.
- "K-22" - Battle cruiser / [under general. ed. N. V. Ogarkova]. - M.: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1979. - P. 124. - (Soviet Military Encyclopedia: [in 8 volumes]; 1976-1980, vol. 4).
- “Luka” and “Katyusha” against “Vanyusha”. Multiple launch rocket systems in the Great Patriotic War (undefined) . Independent Military Review (March 5, 2010). Retrieved November 29, 2011. Archived February 8, 2012.
- Warbot J. J."Etymology // Russian language. Encyclopedia. - 2nd ed., revised and supplemented. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia; Bustard, 1997. - P. 643-647.
- Lazarev L. L. The legend of the first "Katyusha"// Touching the sky. - M.: Profizdat, 1984.
- http://www.moscow-faq.ru/articles/other/2010/January/5070 http://operation-barbarossa.narod.ru/katuscha/m-31.htm
- Ivan Dolbay // Big dictionary Russian sayings / V. M. Mokienko, T. G. Nikitina. - M.: Olma Media Group.
- Luknitsky P. N. Through the entire blockade. - L.: Lenizdat, 1988. P. 193.
- Gordon L. Rottman. Stalinorgel // FUBAR (F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition): Soldier Slang of World War II. - Osprey, 2007. - P. 290. - 296 p. -
Katyusha is an unofficial name for barrelless field rocket artillery systems (BM-8, BM-13, BM-31 and others), which appeared during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. Such installations were actively used by the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Second World War. The popularity of the nickname turned out to be so great that post-war MLRS on automobile chassis, in particular BM-14 and BM-21 Grad, were often referred to colloquially as “Katyushas”.
Back in 1921, employees of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory N.I. Tikhomirov and V.A. Artemyev began developing rockets for aircraft.
In 1929-1933, B. S. Petropavlovsky, with the participation of other GDL employees, conducted official tests of rockets of various calibers and purposes using multi-shot and single-shot aircraft and ground launchers.
In 1937-1938, rockets developed by the RNII (GDL together with the GIRD in October 1933 formed the newly organized RNII) under the leadership of G. E. Langemak were adopted by the RKKVF. RS-82 rockets of 82 mm caliber were installed on I-15, I-16, and I-153 fighters. In the summer of 1939, RS-82 on I-16 and I-153 were successfully used in battles with Japanese troops on the Khalkhin Gol River.
In 1939-1941, RNII employees I. I. Gvai, V. N. Galkovsky, A. P. Pavlenko, A. S. Popov and others created a multi-charge launcher mounted on a truck.
In March 1941, field tests of the installations, designated BM-13 (combat vehicle with 132 mm caliber shells), were successfully carried out. The RS-132 132 mm rocket and a launcher based on the ZIS-6 BM-13 truck were put into service on June 21, 1941; It was this type of combat vehicle that first received the nickname “Katyusha”. During the Great Patriotic War, a significant number of variants of RS shells and launchers for them were created; In total, Soviet industry produced more than 10,000 rocket artillery combat vehicles during the war years
It is known why BM-13 installations began to be called “guards mortars” at one time. The BM-13 installations were not actually mortars, but the command sought to keep their design secret for as long as possible:
When, at a firing range, soldiers and commanders asked a GAU representative to name the “true” name of the combat installation, he advised: “Call the installation as an ordinary artillery piece. This is important for maintaining secrecy."
There is no single version of why the BM-13 began to be called “Katyusha”. There are several assumptions:
Based on the title of Blanter’s song “Katyusha”, which became popular before the war, based on the words of Isakovsky. The version is convincing, since for the first time Captain Flerov’s battery fired at the enemy on July 14, 1941 at 10 o’clock in the morning, firing a salvo at the Market Square of the city of Rudnya. This was the first combat use“Katyusha”, confirmed in historical literature. The installations were shooting from a high, steep mountain - the association with the high, steep bank in the song immediately arose among the fighters. Finally, the former sergeant of the headquarters company of the 217th separate communications battalion of the 144th Infantry Division of the 20th Army, Andrei Sapronov, is alive, now a military historian, who gave it this name. Red Army soldier Kashirin, having arrived with him at the battery after the shelling of Rudnya, exclaimed in surprise: “What a song!” “Katyusha,” answered Andrei Sapronov (from the memoirs of A. Sapronov in the Rossiya newspaper No. 23 of June 21-27, 2001 and in the Parliamentary Gazette No. 80 of May 5, 2005).
What kind of verses they didn’t come up with at the front based on their favorite song!
There were battles at sea and on land,
Shots roared all around -
Sang songs "Katyusha"
Near Kaluga, Tula and Orel.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Let the Fritz remember the Russian Katyusha,
Let him hear her sing:
Shakes out the souls of enemies,
And it gives courage to its own!
Through the communications center of the headquarters company, the news about a miracle weapon called “Katyusha” within 24 hours became the property of the entire 20th Army, and through its command - the entire country. On July 13, 2012, the veteran and “godfather” of Katyusha turned 91, and on February 26, 2013 he passed away. On the desk he left his latest work - a chapter about the first salvo of Katyusha rockets for the multi-volume history of the Great Patriotic War, which is being prepared for publication.
There is also a version that the name is associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Kalinin plant (according to another source, by the Comintern plant). And front-line soldiers loved to give nicknames to their weapons. For example, the M-30 howitzer was nicknamed “Mother”, the ML-20 howitzer gun was nicknamed “Emelka”. Yes, and the BM-13 was at first sometimes called “Raisa Sergeevna,” thus deciphering the abbreviation RS (missile).
The third version suggests that this is how the girls from the Moscow Kompressor plant, who worked on the assembly, dubbed these cars. [source not specified 284 days]
Another, exotic version. The guides on which the projectiles were mounted were called ramps. The forty-two-kilogram projectile was lifted by two fighters harnessed to the straps, and the third usually helped them, pushing the projectile so that it lay exactly on the guides, and he also informed those holding that the projectile stood up, rolled, and rolled onto the guides. It was allegedly called “Katyusha” (the role of those holding the projectile and the one rolling it was constantly changing, since the crew of the BM-13, unlike cannon artillery, was not explicitly divided into loader, aimer, etc.) [source not 284 days indicated]
It should also be noted that the installations were so secret that it was even forbidden to use the commands “fire”, “fire”, “volley”, instead they were sounded “sing” or “play” (to start it was necessary to turn the handle of the electric generator very quickly), that , may also have been related to the song “Katyusha”. And for our infantry, a salvo of Katyusha rockets was the most pleasant music. [source not specified 284 days]
There is an assumption that initially the nickname “Katyusha” had a front-line bomber equipped with rockets - an analogue of the M-13. And the nickname jumped from an airplane to a rocket launcher via shells. [source not specified 284 days]
An experienced squadron of SV bombers (commander Doyar) in the battles on Khalkhin Gol was armed with RS-132 missiles. SB (fast bomber) bombers were sometimes called "Katyusha". It seems that this name appeared during civil war in Spain in the 1930s.
In the German troops, these machines were called “Stalin’s organs” because of the external resemblance of the rocket launcher to the pipe system of this musical instrument and the powerful stunning roar that was produced when launching missiles. [source not specified 284 days]
During the battles for Poznan and Berlin, the M-30 and M-31 single-launch installations received the nickname “Russian Faustpatron” from the Germans, although these shells were not used as an anti-tank weapon. With “dagger” (from a distance of 100-200 meters) launches of these shells, the guards broke through any walls.
"Katyusha"- the popular name for rocket artillery combat vehicles BM-8 (with 82 mm shells), BM-13 (132 mm) and BM-31 (310 mm) during the Great Patriotic War. There are several versions of the origin of this name, the most likely of which is associated with the factory mark “K” of the manufacturer of the first BM-13 combat vehicles (Voronezh Comintern Plant), as well as with the popular song of the same name at that time (music by Matvey Blanter, lyrics by Mikhail Isakovsky).
(Military encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes -2004 ISBN 5 - 203 01875 - 8)
The fate of the first separate experimental battery ended in early October 1941. After baptism of fire near Orsha, the battery successfully operated in the battles of Rudnya, Smolensk, Yelnya, Roslavl and Spas-Demensk. Over the course of three months of hostilities, Flerov’s battery not only inflicted considerable material damage on the Germans, it also contributed to raising the morale of our soldiers and officers, exhausted by continuous retreats.
The Nazis started to buy new weapons real hunt. But the battery did not stay long in one place - after firing a salvo, it immediately changed position. The tactical technique - salvo - change of position - was widely used by Katyusha units during the war.
At the beginning of October 1941, as part of a group of troops on the Western Front, the battery found itself in the rear of the Nazi troops. While moving to the front line from the rear on the night of October 7, she was ambushed by the enemy near the village of Bogatyr, Smolensk region. Most of battery personnel and Ivan Flerov died after shooting all the ammunition and blowing up their combat vehicles. Only 46 soldiers managed to escape from the encirclement. The legendary battalion commander and the rest of the soldiers, who had fulfilled their duty to the end with honor, were considered “missing in action.” And only when it was possible to discover documents from one of the Wehrmacht army headquarters, which reported what actually happened on the night of October 6-7, 1941 near the Smolensk village of Bogatyr, Captain Flerov was excluded from the lists of missing persons.
For heroism, Ivan Flerov was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, in 1963, and in 1995 he was awarded the title of Hero Russian Federation posthumously.
In honor of the battery’s feat, a monument was built in the city of Orsha and an obelisk near the city of Rudnya.
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