The T-34 76 tank is rightfully considered one of the best tanks of World War II, incorporating all the best qualities of these combat vehicles. It was recognized as the best for its time not only by the Soviet military, but even by their opponents who directly encountered this tank in combat conditions.

From the history of the T-34 tank

In 1941, German tank crews could not do anything against the T-34 76 tank with its excellent armor and serious firepower. In addition to optimal characteristics for wartime, the tank was distinguished by a fairly simple design, high manufacturability and adaptability to combat in different conditions. The tank was easily repaired field conditions, which undoubtedly became his huge advantage. Before the introduction of Tigers, Panthers and Ferdinands into German service, the Soviet T-34 was a mortal threat to the Germans. The T-34 entered into the toughest battles and often emerged victorious.

Development of T-34 76

The T-34 was designed and assembled at the design bureau of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant. Not only the famous design bureau M.I. was involved in it. Koshkin, the Adolf Dick design bureau also participated in the work. The technical project in this bureau was prepared a whole month late, which is why A. Dick was arrested. As a result, only M. Koshkin became responsible for the project. In the process of work, the designers created two options for tank propulsion: wheeled-tracked and tracked; in the end, preference was given to the second. In March 1940, two samples of the new tank were delivered to the Kremlin’s Ivanovo Square to demonstrate it. military commission and the government. It is worth noting that for this purpose, the new combat vehicles covered as much as 750 kilometers from Kharkov to Moscow under their own power, moving off-road, and thereby demonstrating excellent maneuverability. At the end of March, Soviet industry began producing tanks.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the T-34 tank was the best vehicle in the world, mobile, easy to manufacture, with projectile-proof armor and a powerful 76 mm gun, capable of penetrating any German tank of the 1941 model. The Germans' 37-mm cannons were practically powerless against the T-34. Since 1941, the Wehrmacht began producing Panzer III, most of which were equipped with a 50 mm cannon, which was already more effective against the armor of the T 34. But penetration was ensured at a distance of no more than six hundred meters, and only if they fired a sub-caliber projectile, but the gun The T-34 could penetrate the armor of early modifications of the Panzer III from two thousand meters. Later, Panzer modifications with 60 and 50 millimeters of armor appeared, but the T-34 penetrated it with armor-piercing shells from a distance of one and a half thousand meters. Even the later and strengthened Panzer III Ausf.M and Ausf.L models with 70 mm armor could be penetrated by the Thirty-Four from a distance of five hundred meters.

It is also worth noting the 45 mm armor of the T-34, which, due to its inclined design, often provoked ricochets when fired from long distances, which made it very difficult to fight this tank. But the T-34 also had disadvantages - poor visibility and a not very reliable transmission. In addition, the fighting compartment was quite cramped and greatly hampered the work of the crew.

Tank structure

First, about the T-34 76 in general terms:

• The combat weight of the tank was more than thirty tons;
• Gun - L 11 and F 34 caliber 76.2 mm;
• Engine power - 500 horsepower;
• Maximum speed - 55 kilometers per hour;
• Crew - four people;
• About 20,000 were produced.

Frame

In 1940, the T-34 hull was made from rolled armor plates. In the front part of the front plate there is a driver's hatch with a hinged lid. Further, in the upper part of the hatch cover, there is a central viewing device for the driver, and on the left and right there are side viewing devices installed at an angle of sixty degrees to the longitudinal axis of the car. On the right is the embrasure of the forward machine gun in a ball joint. The machine gun does not have an armored mask. The rear inclined sheet of the hull is removable and is attached to the side sheets with bolts. It has a rectangular hatch for access to the transmission compartment. On the side of the hatch there are two oval openings with exhaust pipes, protected by armored caps.

Tower

The tank's turret is welded, cone-shaped from rolled armor plates. The roof of the tower had a common hatch for crew members. A viewing device for all-round visibility is mounted on the hatch. In front of the hatch on the left side there was a PT-6 periscope sight, and on the right there was a ventilation hatch.

Cannons

The tank was initially equipped with a 76.2 mm L-11 model gun with a 30.5-caliber barrel. It had a number of shortcomings, so it was soon replaced by the more successful F-32 cannon. After some time, the design bureau developed a modification of this weapon, which was seriously superior to the previous version. The gun was named F-34, the length of its barrel increased to 41 caliber, which significantly increased the penetrating power of the gun. There was a 7.62 mm DT machine gun coaxial with the cannon, and a TOD-6 telescopic sight was used for direct fire of the gun.

Chassis

The tank had five pairs of large diameter road wheels. The guides and support rollers were rubber-coated, and the caterpillar chain was fine-linked from thirty-seven flat and thirty-seven ridge tracks. On the outside, each track had lug spurs. Two spare tracks and two jacks were attached to the rear of the hull. Four pairs of rollers on board had individual spring suspension; the springs were placed at an angle and were welded to the sides in the housing.

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 period of the Great Patriotic War. 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 tower provided an increase in volume fighting compartment, the ability to accommodate a more powerful 85-mm cannon, 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 its mass entry into the tank forces. Soviet army, the latest T-54 medium 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 mass appearance The Germans had new models of armored vehicles with reinforced armor; the effectiveness of 76.2 mm guns became sharply insufficient. In the battle on the 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 carried not from the fire Soviet tanks, and from the action 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, some design developments were implemented in the T-43 project pre-war project 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 this the most important indicator 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 Heavy Engineering Plant" (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.

Total 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 of exclusively linear T-34-85 tanks was carried out 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 features similar to tanks with the 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:

1. different arrangement of ammunition - 55 rounds;
2. the number of crew members has been reduced to 4 people, thanks to a new system for aiming and loading the frontal machine gun;
3. additional mechanisms have been installed to make it easier to control the tank;
4. equipment has been installed to ensure overcoming water obstacles along the bottom;
5. the configuration of the tower has been slightly changed;
6. the angular speed of rotation of the tower has been increased, up to (25÷30)°/sec;
7. installed: another radio station - “10RT-26E”; another tank intercom - TPU-47; other observation devices for the commander - TPK-1, or TPK-U25;
8. a night vision device has been installed for the driver;
9. The volume of additional fuel tanks has been increased, providing an increase in cruising range to 650 km;
10. 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:

1. Slightly different tower configuration;
2. different shape and location of additional fuel tanks.

List of sources used:

1. I. Shmelev. T-34 tank. Monograph. Magazine: "Technique and Armament". 11-12.1998
2. 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. WITH right side roof of the power transmission compartment, a hatch is made, 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, the chief designer of the TsAKB, V. G. Grabin, proposed his project for modernizing the “thirty-four”, for the installation of his own, more compact S-53 gun, in the standard turret serial tank T-34 (model 1943), and handed it over for approval to the People's Commissar of Armaments D.F. Ustinov and the 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 implemented design solutions 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, if shells hit the frontal armor, the cannon 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.

During three days 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 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. For some reason, Soviet tank crews classified the turret configuration of the T-34-85 tank as “Conical”, and the turret of the T-54 tank 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:

1. for installing two periscopic observation devices, for the loader and gunner;
2. ventilation, for the installation of two fighting compartment fans, covered with armored caps with windows for air passage;
3. antenna output;
4. hatch for entry and exit of loader and gunner;
5. 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 in different time and in different countries Various 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 last role The reliability of the tank, which had increased by this time, and, of course, the mass production also played a role. 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. Over the entire period of the war, 119 tank battles took place, of which 104 were conducted 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 to have destroyed 97 T-34-85s in tank battles (another 18 are supposedly recorded).

American aircraft inflicted significant losses on the North Korean T-34-85. 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 Cannon also had a manual piston-type shutter, 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 a 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"

About the T-34 tank and Comrade Stalin

If you carefully study the history of the creation of military equipment and superimpose it on general history those years, then the whole history of those years becomes more convex, voluminous and integral. Because in the history of the creation of weapons, in dates and documents, sometimes all the fuss, right up to the betrayal of one’s country in those years, is better visible. If you look at the biographies of those who created the weapons of Victory, and those who filled the army with rubbish under the Tukhachevskys, you will get an interesting picture. Before 1937, there were often specialists from the old, “pre-revolutionary” school, with “real higher education”, about the “loss” of which “debunkers of Stalinism” are so moaning today. And after that - young people, Komsomol members, “directors of confectionery factories.” These were already “Stalinist specialists” who, after the war, also created nuclear missile weapons.

With knowledge from the educational institutions of the “Stalinist” educational system, without currying favor with the West, they created the “Great Epoch”. In the same aviation, all the designers, except, probably, Tupolev and Polikarpov, received their education in Soviet schools - Yakovlev, Ilyushin, Lavochkin... . And their planes won the war. In the development of small arms, “continuity” has been preserved. The Russian weapons school of Fedorov, Tokarev, Degtyarev was continued by the Simonovs, Sudaevs, and Kalashnikovs. By the way, for some reason no one “repressed” the old “specialists” in small arms during the “terrible Stalinist times”. They all went to prison, but somehow these guys got out? Or maybe because gunsmiths and shooters simply did not write denunciations against each other? How the same rocket designers wrote denunciations against each other.

The designers of the BT and T-26 tanks, “specialists” of the old school, simply remade and modernized licensed American Christie and English Vickers. They also created strange three- and five-turret tanks T-28 and T-35 (“similar” to the English M-III model of ’32), with the same armor as light tanks and wedges. But the T-34 and KV with ISami were created by people already from the Soviet school, and these tanks determined the future development of the entire world tank building. Now the West and the whole world “copied” our tanks. And the “Stalinist specialists” did it.

"T-34"

Let's return to some myths associated with the weapon of Victory. IN Soviet time a fairy tale appeared that in 1939, Komsomol designers M.I. Koshkin, having received an order from the People's Commissariat of Defense for the production of a medium, wheeled-tracked tank, with projectile-proof armor and a 45 mm cannon, managed to “secretly” and “semi-legally” produce another and a tracked version of a similar vehicle, with thicker armor and a 76 mm cannon—T-34. But in fact, at the beginning of September 1938, the commission of the ABTU of the Red Army, chaired by military engineer 1st rank Ya.L. Skvirsky ordered plant N 183 to develop and manufacture one version of a wheeled-tracked tank (A-20) with a 45-mm cannon and two tracked tanks with 76-mm cannons. Those. this was an order to the plant from the state represented by the Auto Armor Tank Directorate of the Red Army.

On the one hand, this myth was launched in order to hide the trace of the “Tukhachevsky case” in the history of the T-34. On the other hand, they indirectly showed the inertia and backwardness of Stalin’s “favorites”, the “red horsemen” Voroshilov and Budyonny, who allegedly advocated the creation of “cavalry” tanks of the BT type. And at the same time they kicked Stalin, who “hindered” the development of the Red Army by listening to his “favorites” and not the “great strategists” of the Tukhachevskys.

In the books of M. Baryatinsky “T-34. The best tank of the Second World War" and "T-34 in battle" it is said that in 1937 the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, where since January 37 the chief designer of one of the three tank design bureaus (KB-190) was M.I. Koshkin, the task was set to develop modifications of the same BT-7. A light and wheeled-tracked tank, made under license from the American Christie. The tank is absolutely dead-end, with no prospects for either increasing the thickness of the armor or increasing the caliber of the gun. Koshkin began to resist and disrupted this work, arguing that it was necessary to develop a more powerful, but easier to manufacture and operate, medium tank on a caterpillar track, with non-tractor type road wheels like the (“medium”) T-28. A fundamentally new tank is needed, and not try to endlessly “modernize” the same light armored vehicles, trying to make a “medium” one out of them.

Strange as it may seem, Koshkin was not imprisoned or shot for “sabotage” and disruption of government orders in that same “terrible 1937”. Koshkin also “disrupted” the work on developing a modification of the BT tank - BT-IS, which was carried out at the same plant by a group of adjuncts of the VAMM named after. Stalin, 3rd rank military engineer A.Ya. Dick, assigned to the Koshkin Design Bureau at KhPZ. Apparently Koshkin found competent “patrons” in the People’s Commissariat of Medium Engineering? Or did he initially act on orders from above? It seems that there was a behind-the-scenes struggle between supporters of the eternal “modernization” of light armored vehicles (and in fact, marking time and a waste of “people’s” public funds) and supporters of a fundamentally new (breakthrough) middle-class tank, different from monsters with three turrets, type T -28.

As a result, on Sept. The 37th KhPZ was proposed to produce by 1939 samples of the same wheeled-tracked type tank BT-20, with “reinforced” armor compared to the BT-7 by as much as 3-5 mm and heavier by a whole ton. (This tank, like the BT-IS, differed from the BT-7 only in the appearance of the hull, it had inclined sheets of frontal and side armor, it already looked “from afar” like the future thirty-four, but the propulsion system remained the same, wheeled and tracked) .

For this purpose, a separate reinforced design bureau was formed at KhPZ, headed by A.Ya. Dikom, subordinate directly to the chief engineer of the plant. They seconded more than 40 military graduate students from VAMM and ABTU, and attracted plant designers headed by A.A. Morozov. Koshkin was not in this design bureau (apparently he himself refused to work with a wheeled-tracked vehicle, or was he removed?)

The rest of the story is dark. After this design bureau ceased to exist in November 1937, and a wave of arrests of “saboteurs and saboteurs” took place throughout the plant, right up to the director of the plant I.P. Bondarenko, chief engineer, chief metallurgist, head of the diesel department and other specialists, M.I. Koshkin, together with the new management of the plant, is organizing a new design bureau. With almost the same composition of designers. It would be nice to look through those criminal cases. But as a result of such a strange purge from “enemies of the people” at the plant, which received a government order for a new tank, work on the technical project of this BT-20 was disrupted for a month and a half.

The project was nevertheless approved by the ABTU and considered at a meeting of the Defense Committee on approximately March 30, 1938, in the minutes of which they wrote: “The proposal of Comrade Pavlov (the head of the ABTU and the future commander of the ZapOVO in June 41st) to recognize the creation of a tracked tank by the N183 plant appropriate with reinforced armor in the frontal part up to 30 mm. The tank turret should be adapted to accommodate a 76-mm gun...”

However, on May 13, 1938, the head of the ABTU, D. G. Pavlov, approved the updated performance characteristics of the same wheeled-tracked BT-20, albeit with thicker armor and increased angles of inclination of the hull and turret. The mass of the tank increased to 16.5 tons and it finally became “average”.

Koshkin, it seems, did not stop fighting for a tracked version of the medium tank all this time, and in August 1938 the USSR Defense Committee adopted a resolution “On the Tank Weapon System”, which stated that by July 1939 it was necessary to develop models of tanks with a gun and armor and mobility must fully meet the conditions of a future war. And it was then, in September 1938, that KhPZ received the task of developing two new models. One wheeled-tracked A-20, and a tracked version of the A-20G. The frontal armor of these vehicles was still 20 mm. At the beginning of 1939, all three factory tank design bureaus were merged into one, and M.I. Koshkin became the chief designer. Within three (!) months, by May 1939, the first samples were ready. By August 23, 1939, the tanks had passed factory and field tests. The A-20G was called A-32, and its side armor was already 30 mm, and this was the very “amateur performance” of Koshkin’s team. The A-32 also differed from the A-20 in having a wider track, a hull width of 15 cm, and had one more road wheel, which meant it had a weight reserve. Moreover, due to the absence of mechanisms and drives on the tank for movement on wheels located along the sides, the weight of the A-32 differed from the weight of the A-20 by only a ton. The A-32 completed the required test run on tracks of 3121 km, and the A-20 2931 km (plus another 1308 km on wheels).

On September 23, 1939, these samples were shown at the Kubinka training ground. Voroshilov K.E. was present. - People's Commissar of Defense, Zhdanov, Mikoyan, Voznesensky, Pavlov D.G. - head of ABTU, and tank designers. New KV, SMK, T-100, and modernized BT-7M, T-26 were also tested and presented. Based on the test results, and due to the fact that the A-32 had a weight reserve and already had sides 30 mm thick, it was proposed to increase the frontal armor of the A-32 to 45 mm. The factory hastily began assembling new T-32s with reinforced armor. The track and body of these vehicles have become even wider. And on December 19, 1939, the Decree of the KO under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 443ss was already issued “On the adoption of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery tractors and their production in 1940” by the Red Army, in which the name T-34 appeared.

Already in January-February 1940, the first two T-34 vehicles were assembled and factory tests immediately began (one had the hatch of the mechanic’s forward-facing cabin above his head, and the other had the hatch in front of the mechanic). And a government show in the Kremlin for Stalin had already been scheduled for March 17 (!). However, due to frequent breakdowns of the same new diesel engines, the tanks did not have time to reach the required 3,000 km.

Then there was the story of transporting these tracked samples to Moscow under their own power in March 1940, with breakdowns and repairs along the way to one of the tanks. But on the morning of March 17, tanks stood on Ivanovskaya Square in the Kremlin. Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Kalinin, Beria and others approached them. The head of the ABTU, D.G. Pavlov, presented the cars to Stalin. After demonstration runs along the paving stones, the tanks stopped in the same place. The leader liked the tanks, and he gave the command to provide the necessary assistance to the plant to eliminate the shortcomings of the tanks, which were persistently pointed out to him by the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense for Armaments G.I. Kulik and the head of ABTU D.G. Pavlov. At the same time, Pavlov very boldly told Stalin: “We will pay dearly for the production of insufficiently combat-ready vehicles.”

After the demonstration to Stalin, the tanks were fired at at the training ground from a 45-mm cannon (the main caliber of anti-tank artillery of those years in all European countries) from 100 meters and “the dummy remained intact,” the armor survived and the engine did not stall. This was on the 20th of March 1940. On March 31, there was a meeting with People's Commissar Voroshilov with Kulik, Pavlov, Likhachev (People's Commissar of Medium Engineering), Koshkin, and a protocol was signed on the production of the T-34 (with a hatch in the front plate in front of the driver) in series, in Kharkov and at STZ , for the production of 600 T-34s in 1940. It was decided to eliminate the shortcomings during production. But in the fall of the same 1940, two T-IIIs purchased in Germany were tested in Kubinka. And although, after comparative tests, the T-34 was superior to the German tank in armament (37 mm versus 76 mm for the T-34) and armor protection, but in terms of comfort, engine noise, smoothness, and even speed on gravel roads, it LOST!?!

GABTU D.G. Pavlova presented a report on comparative tests to Deputy People's Commissar for Armaments, Marshal G.I. Kulik. That report approved and suspended the production and acceptance of the T-34 until “all the shortcomings” were eliminated (how honest and principled our generals were then!). K.E. intervened. Voroshilov: “Continue to make cars, hand them over to the army. Factory mileage should be limited to 1000 km...” (that same “stupid horseman”). At the same time, everyone knew that the war would not happen today or tomorrow. Months were spent. Pavlov was a member of the country’s military council, but he was a very “principled officer.” Maybe for this “courage and integrity” Stalin agreed with the appointment of the hero of the Soviet Union D.G. Pavlov to the “main” district—ZapOVO? But the way Pavlov boldly and principledly commanded in this district, surrendering Minsk on the fifth day, has already become a fact of history. At the same time, Pavlov himself was a professional tank driver, fought with tanks in Spain, and received a Hero of the Soviet Union award for this war. About his proposal to create tracked tank with anti-ballistic armor with the installation of a 76 mm cannon on this tank (the caliber of the guns of heavy tanks of those years!) was even recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the CO under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in March 1938, two years earlier. That is, Pavlov should have understood better than others what kind of tank was in front of him. And it was this man who did everything in his power to disrupt the acceptance of this tank for service.

But in fact, M.I. Koshkin is not the father of the T-34. Rather, he is his “stepfather” or “cousin” father. Koshkin began his career as a tank designer at the Kirov plant, in the design bureau of medium and heavy tanks. In this design bureau he worked on “medium” tanks T-28, T-29 with bulletproof armor. The T-29 already differed from the T-28 in the type of chassis, rollers and experimental torsion bar suspension instead of spring suspension. Then this type of suspension (torsion bars) was used on heavy tanks “KV” and “IS”. Then Koshkin was transferred to Kharkov, to the design bureau of light tanks, and apparently with the prospect of starting work on the design of “medium” ones, but on the basis of the light “BT”. He had to fulfill the army's order, making the light wheeled-tracked tank BT-20 (A-20), to ensure that at least on its basis they made a tracked version of this vehicle - A-20G, and bring it to that same T-34 . Born from blueprints for a light tank, the T-34 had problems with “crowding” in the tank and other shortcomings. Also from the light BT, Koshkin got the chassis (on some T-34s they even installed rollers from the BT tank, although they were already of the required design) and spring suspension. Almost in parallel with the “creation and modernization” of the T-34, Koshkin also designed another medium tank, the T-34M, which had other chassis rollers, similar to the rollers from heavy KVs, with a torsion bar suspension rather than a spring one (an example of the “universalization” of tank production , which the Germans later used with might and main in the production of their tanks during the War), a more spacious hexagonal turret with a commander’s cupola (it was later installed on the T-34 in ’42). This tank was even approved by the Defense Committee in January 1941. In May 1941, fifty of these turrets were already manufactured at the Mariupol Metallurgical Plant, the first armored hulls, rollers, and torsion bar suspension were manufactured (the “suspension from BT” remained on the T-34). But they never made an engine for it. But the outbreak of the war put an end to this model. Although the Koshkinskoye Design Bureau was intensively developing a new, “native” T-34M tank, a “better” one, the outbreak of the War required the expansion of the machines already put on the assembly line, those that exist. And then throughout the war there was constant modification and improvement of the T-34. Its modernization was carried out at every plant where the T-34 was assembled, constantly striving to reduce the cost of the tank. But still, the emphasis was placed, first of all, on increasing the number of tanks produced and throwing them into battle, especially in the fall and winter of 1941. “Comfort” was dealt with later.

In 1942, the “Koshkinites” again tried to offer the army a new medium tank to replace the T-34 (which had a bunch of “disadvantages”), the T-43, with a chassis already similar to the T-34 chassis, but with a different hull and a larger turret, with the prospect of installing guns of larger caliber. But Stalin simply banned work on this tank, giving the command all efforts to improve the existing T-34. Baryatinsky is surprised by this decision. Like, if A.A. Morozov, who became chief designer after Koshkin, "named" the new tank "Joseph Stalin", like Kotin and Dukhov, who created the new tank "IS" to replace the "KV", then Stalin would probably have given permission for the production of the T-43. It was as if Stalin was a red-haired maiden, thrilled by such flattery. At the same time, Baryatinsky himself cites the results of the tests and the conclusions of the commissions on the medium T-43 with the same 76 mm gun, and variants of the medium T-34 with thicker armor and a 76 mm gun longer length. It still turned out that when meeting with the heavy “Panthers” and “Tigers”, which appeared already in 1942, this did not give anything. To fight the German “menagerie” on equal terms, a completely new heavy tank of a similar class and preferably with a more powerful gun was needed. And on the already existing and used T-34 it was easier and cheaper to install a new turret from the T-43 with an 85 mm cannon to combat the main tank Pz-IV and other armored vehicles. Therefore, Stalin agreed to replace the heavy KVs with similar, but more powerful ISs, but did not allow the replacement of medium T-34s with medium T-43s, since this did not give anything in principle, but led to unnecessary costs. This is the path the Germans had to take. They spent time and money on developing completely new “supertanks” (which Hitler strongly opposed before the War and what he did during the war), without being able to endlessly modernize their already existing Pz-III, Pz-IV. And the story of using “universal” rollers for tanks continued, but only after the War. After the T-34 there were T-44, T-54, T-55, which had one type of single-row roller. The design bureaus of heavy tanks with double-row rollers in the Urals created the T-62. The design bureau in Kharkov, where the “Koshkinites” returned after the War, led by Morozov, created the T-64 also with two rows of rollers, as they wanted back in 1941, on the T-34M.

So the story with the T-34 is just an example of the foresight of its creators, who laid a huge foundation for future modernizations, without significant costs, at the main base of the tank. And also, an example of the wisdom and economic calculation of the head of the country, choosing between the good and the “best” (which is sometimes the enemy of the good). And it did not allow designers to be “distracted” by promising, but at that moment ruinous for the country, samples. This is what Stalin spoke to designer A.A. Morozov: “You have created a good car (T-43). But currently our army already has a good T-34 tank. Now the task is to improve its combat qualities and increase production. Until the plant and design bureau fulfill these requirements active army, it is necessary to prohibit the distraction of designers for new developments.” Then you will make your own wonderful tank. And now the front needs the T-34.

Similar decisions were made after the war, with the copying of the next American “flying fortress” B-29. When Tupolev announced that he had a ready-made design for his two-fin long-range bomber, the “dropout seminarian” ordered to simply copy the already flying B-29. This gave time gain in the race for survival with America. And then we’ll somehow sort out “copyrights” and our new planes. So the TU-4 appeared quite quickly, and Tupolev’s designers began designing jet cars. Or the story of how Korolev, at a reception with Stalin, tried to dream about flying to Mars. But the “close-minded Leader” did not appreciate the dreams of the Great Designer and forbade him to even think about astronautics and spaceships!

When various authors try to use such examples to show, to put it mildly, the “shortsightedness” of the tyrant who stifled the flight of thought of our designers of new equipment (tanks, planes, missiles), it would not hurt them to simultaneously give comments about the economic state in which it was at that moment a country. And what would happen to the country if, instead of working on a rocket with a “bomb,” Korolev would be busy with a flight to Mars. Would the Americans give our designers time for this “flight of thought”?

T-34

– the best tank of the Second World War became the most best tank Second World War. His appearance at the front shocked the enemy tankers, and all further developments of the German anti-tank weapons were aimed primarily at combating T-34.

During the Spanish Civil War, it became clear that tanks, with all their outstanding characteristics are very vulnerable to anti-tank gun fire. Strictly speaking, this was not surprising: when the tanks were designed, the main means of destroying tanks were heavy machine guns and anti-tank rifles, and the main opponent in future war Poland and Romania were thought of. However, military equipment did not stand still, and light tanks faced a very formidable opponent. In addition, being equipped with gasoline engines, tanks often caught fire in battle. In this regard, on October 13, 1937, the Armored Directorate of the Red Army (ABTU) issued tactical and technical requirements to plant No. 183 for a new tank under the designation BT-20, after which the design bureau of the Kharkov plant, headed by Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin, began to develop a wheeled-tracked tank with anti-ballistic armor and a diesel engine.

In September 1938, based on the results of consideration of the model of the BT-20 tank by the commission of the ABTU of the Red Army, chaired by Ya.L. Skvirovsky, a decision was made to manufacture three tanks (one wheeled-tracked and two tracked) and one armored hull for shelling tests (later A-32). Thus, further work in KB-24 on the project of the BT-20 tracked-wheeled tank was stopped, and all the designers’ efforts were aimed at developing two new tanks - and A-32.

Car slightly superior in its combat characteristics to the BT, it still had two advantages: a diesel engine and increased projectile resistance due to the armor plates of the hull located at large angles. Since the mass was higher than , the tank also had three pairs of driving wheels. The car turned tank type: the drive wheels slowed down on the side in which the tank was turning.
The high-speed diesel engine V-2 was developed by Kharkov designers K. F. Chelpan, I. Ya. Trashutin, Ya. E. Vikhman, I. S. Ber. It turned out to be the first specially designed high-power tank diesel engine in history. The engine had a number of advantages: it was highly efficient compared to a carburetor engine and could withstand overloads more easily. In addition, the use of diesel fuel reduced the likelihood of fire.

Working on , Koshkin and his colleagues were convinced that the wheeled-tracked propulsion system becomes bulky and unreliable when the mass of the tank is large enough (and this is inevitable when the thickness of the armor increases). According to the designers, the future; a massive tank with shell-proof armor must be purely tracked. And now, on the initiative of the design bureau M.I. Koshkin, another machine is being developed - the T-32. Its mass - 19 tons - turned out to be only a ton more than that of , but a 76-mm cannon with a length of 30 calibers was installed on the vehicle and the thickness of the frontal armor was increased to 30 mm.

Both tanks were tested simultaneously in the summer and autumn of 1938. The commission that accepted the cars spoke positively about the work of the Kharkov residents. It was noted that and T-32 are suitable for arming the Red Army. However, a recall is a recall, and tests have shown that the T-32 has a large margin of reliability, because of this the weight of the vehicle can be increased by several tons. M.I. Koshkin decided to use the opportunity to strengthen the armor of the frontal parts to 45 mm, and the side armor to 40 mm. This is what this tank is called: T-34- and was adopted by the army on December 19, 1939, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense.

In February–March 1940, two prototypes T-34 made a test run from Kharkov to Moscow and back. In the difficult conditions of a snowy winter, the chief designer (then already seriously ill) himself took control of the control levers more than once. The disease progressed, and on September 26, 1940, Mikhail Ilyich died. USSR State Prize, first degree, for the creation of a tank T-34 was awarded to him posthumously.

T-34 1940 ode to the release with the L-11 gun

In July 1940, serial production of new tracked vehicles began, and by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the industry supplied the army with 1,225 such tanks. T-34 in terms of combat and maneuverability, it surpassed all foreign medium and even heavy tanks of that time. High specific engine power, rational armor inclination angles, significant armament, large power reserve, low specific ground pressure (in the first samples - 0.6 kg/cm 2) - these are the main advantages of the vehicle. Let's add to this the simplicity of the design, which facilitated mass production. T-34, their maintenance and repair in the field.

Tank body T-34 model 1939 was welded from rolled armor sheets, which were given rational angles of inclination. The upper and lower frontal sheets, 45 mm thick, were located at an angle of 60°, the upper part of the side had a bevel of 45°, and the lower part was vertical. The angle of inclination of the feed sheets is 45°. The armor of the sides and stern was 45 mm, the hull roof - 20 mm, the bottom - 15 mm. The driver's hatch was located on the front plate of the hull. A central driver's viewing device was mounted in the upper part of the hatch cover. The driver's side viewing devices were installed in the front hull plate to the left and right of the hatch at an angle of 60° to the longitudinal axis of the tank. To the right of the hatch there was an embrasure for installing a forward machine gun, covered with an armored cap. The upper stern plate of the hull was removable and bolted to the side plates. It had a rectangular hatch for access to the units in the aft part of the transmission compartment and two oval holes for exhaust pipes. From the outside, these openings were protected by armored caps. The front part of the hull roof (above the fighting compartment) was welded to the front and side sheets. The rear part above the engine-transmission compartment was removable, bolted to the side sheets and partitions, and equipped with armored hatches for access to the engine and blinds.

Until 1942, the T-34 was produced with one turret hatch

Welded tower T-34 originally was oval in shape. Subsequently, hexagonal towers were also produced. The forehead and sides were protected by 45 mm armor, the rear by 40 mm, and the turret roof by 16 mm. The rear sheet of the tower niche (door) was bolted; it also had a hole for firing a revolver. At the back of the lid there was a hatch for the entry and exit of the crew. An all-round viewing device was installed in the hatch cover, and a PT-6 periscope sight and a fan cowl were installed in the front part of the roof. Some of the tanks were equipped with cast turrets with a wall thickness of 52 mm and a 20 mm roof. The bases of the side viewing devices were cast integrally with the turret body. The rear removable sheet of the niche remained the same as in the welded turret. The L-11 cannon (later F-34) was coaxial with a machine gun. The TOD-6 telescopic sight was intended for direct fire on the tank. The elevation angle of the gun reached +30°, the descent angle was –5°. The gun's ammunition consisted of 77 rounds. Tanks with a radio station were equipped with 46 machine-gun discs (2898 rounds), while tanks without radio stations had 75 (4725 rounds).

The turning mechanism of the turret had manual and electric drives, the lifting mechanism of the gun was a sector type with a manual drive. The V-2 engine, mounted on a sub-engine frame, and the power transmission were located in the rear of the tank. Engine with an operating power of 400 hp. With. at 1700 rpm allowed the tank to reach a speed of 47 km/h. The fuel range reached 300 km. The tank's suspension is individual spring. The suspension springs, with the exception of the first rollers, were placed obliquely in special shafts welded to the sides of the hull. The suspensions of the first rollers in the bow were protected by steel casings. The chassis included five large-diameter dual rubber-coated road wheels (830 mm) per side. The guide wheels were also rubberized. The drive wheels were mounted on the splines of the driven shafts of the final drives. The gearing is ridge, using rollers. The fine-link caterpillar chain was assembled from 74 tracks (37 flat and 37 ridged) with a width of 550 mm. On the outside of the tracks there were lug spurs. Spare tracks were mounted on the fenders in the rear. Radio stations 71-TK-Z were not installed on all tanks, but only on command tanks. The antenna input is on the right side of the hull, in the front.
During the war, the thirty-four was constantly improved and improved. From the second half of 1941, it began to be equipped with a more powerful 76-mm gun of the 1940 model. The armor-piercing projectile of this gun (barrel length 41 caliber) weighing 6.3 kg had an initial speed of 662 m/s and pierced armor 69 and 61 mm thick at a right angle from 500 and 1000 m, respectively.
Among other improvements, we mention a new caterpillar with developed tracks, cast turrets, transceiver radio stations were installed on all vehicles (at first only commanders had them). The body parts were welded automatically. Internal shock absorption of the road wheels was used. In the winter of 1942/43 T-34 began to install hexagonal turrets and increased the capacity of fuel tanks, and cars produced in 1943 had a five-speed gearbox, air filters and a lubrication system. In addition, a commander's cupola was installed on them to improve observation. Over time T-34 improved the use of engine power and increased the vehicle's overhaul mileage.

In the same 1943, tanks began to appear en masse in Hitler’s army. (about him- ) And ( about him – ) with powerful armor. Therefore, naturally, the question arose about strengthening weapons T-34. In a short time, the designers created a new turret for the vehicle with increased armor thickness specifically for the 85-mm ZIS-S-53 cannon of the 1944 model with a barrel length of 51.5 calibers. Its 9.2 kg armor-piercing projectile had an initial speed of 792 m/s and penetrated 111 mm and 102 mm armor from distances of 500 and 1000 m, respectively. A sub-caliber projectile hit 138 mm armor from a distance of half a kilometer.

T-34-76 1942 with stamped rollers

This improved machine, designated T-34 -85 (about him – ) was put into service on December 15, 1943. And literally that same winter, it began to arrive in active units. The mobility of the new tank, despite a slight increase in mass, has not decreased.
The tank, created in the design bureau of M.I. Koshkin, turned out to be the most versatile; it participated in all tank battles of the Great Patriotic War, demonstrating its excellent qualities and superiority over enemy vehicles. T-34 It is also the most popular tank in the world.

T-34-76 latest issues with a commander's cupola, transferred to the Polish Army

Medium tank T-34 produced in 1940: 1 – installation of the L-11 cannon, 2 – ventilation hatch, 3 – all-round viewing device, 4 – eye, 5 – plug for the opening for firing from a revolver, 6 – V-2 engine, 7 – main clutch, 8 – starter, 9 – side clutch, 10 – gearbox, 11 – sub-engine frame, 12 – engine bulkhead, 13 – commander’s seat, 14 – ammunition rack, 15 – driver’s seat, 16 – control levers, 17 – main clutch pedal, 18 – control panel, 19 – compressed air cylinders, 20 – tow rope, 21 – alarm hatch, 22 – turret hatch lock, 23 – spare parts boxes, 24 – hatch cover above the engine, 25 – mesh above the transmission, 26 – brake light -signal, 27 – spare track, 28 – coaxial machine gun embrasure, 29 – PT-6 periscopic sight, 30 – TOD-b sight embrasure, 31 – side viewing device, 32 – headlight, 33 – driver’s central viewing device, 34 – cover driver's side viewing device, 35 – eye, 36 – removable armor plate for dismantling the gun, 37 – final drive housing, 38 – armored exhaust pipe casing, 39 – transmission compartment hatch, 40 – balancer axis, 41 – trunnion, 42 – armor cap hubs, 43 – bandage, 44 – movable cassette, 45 – springs, 46 – rod, 47 – roller, 48 – roller axis, 49 – machine gun sight. Sections of viewing devices are given along the visual axis.

See also:

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:

1. Weakening of the upper frontal armor plate, the presence of a driver's hatch and a large cutout for a machine gun ball mount.
2. 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.
3. 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 organizational forms the use of 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. That's it tank brigades steel of 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 with both 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 French tank"Renault" 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 power unit compartment (PS), in the middle of which the engine is mounted 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 turret. The maximum rotation speed of the turret from the electric motor is 25-30 g/sec. When operated manually, the turret rotates by 0.9" per turn of the flywheel. Vertical aiming is carried out manually using a sector lifting mechanism, which is also located to the left of the gun. The cannon can be fired using a 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, during a major overhaul, instead of the 9RS radio station, the 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, soft forehead protectors were placed above the protective glass and on the inner surface of the armor above the periscopes, 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. There are four distance scales in the sight's field of view (for different types 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. The first serial Polish-made tanks left the factory floors in 1951. But these were not one-to-one our T-34s. 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 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.