At the beginning of World War II, the T-34 tank was produced in two versions. Issued in small quantities, the T-34/5 was armed with the ZiS-4 artillery system. The T-34/76 tank was a medium and large-scale tank with an F-34 cannon. By the middle of the war, he became the main Soviet model. The rise of the T-34/76 tank, which occurred in July 2016 in the Voronezh region, helps to remind the current generation of its significance and legend. Largely thanks to this machine of the Red Army, the German enemy managed to break the ridge. In this article, we consider interesting facts about her.
Production
In 1941, the famous modification was made at three plants: in Kharkov, Stalingrad and at the "Red Sormovo" in Gorky. At the beginning of the war, on June 25, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution according to which Soviet industry was to significantly increase the production of tanks.
In fact, a new production system was being created. The leading role in it was given to the factory number 183 in Kharkov and its design bureau. The military assumed that other industrial facilities that produced the T-34/76 tank and made changes to its design would consult with this particular company. In practice, everything turned out differently. The turmoil of the war, the evacuation of the Kharkov plant in Nizhny Tagil and other circumstances led to the fact that only the tactical and technical characteristics of the model remained unchanged. In other details, the products of different plants could be slightly different. The name of the modification, however, was common. Number 76 was accepted due to the characteristic 76 mm gun.
Appearance in the army
The wartime forced to simplify and modernize the production somewhat in accordance with the changed market conditions. In September 1941, after a fever of the first months of the war, the T-34-76 tank began to enter the army in large numbers. Least of all this military equipment was in the northwestern theater of operations.
Firstly, this theater for a long time was only secondary (the main events unfolded in the Moscow direction). Secondly, the Leningrad Front was isolated from the rest of the USSR. Sending tanks to a blocked city on the Neva was extremely difficult. As a result, Lenfront's fleet mainly consisted not of a mass T-34/76, but of light T-26s and heavy HFs (Klim Voroshilov).
From tractors to tanks
By October 1, there were 566 tanks on the Western Front (65 of which were T-34/76). As can be seen from these figures, the proportion of modification has so far remained insignificant. Most of all, the T-34/76 tank was manufactured and manufactured in 1943, when it became the most popular and recognizable Soviet tank. Toward the end of the war he was supplanted by the following modification - T-34/85.
In the fall of 1941, the Stalingrad plant became the main producer of tanks. In the pre-war time, it was created as a tractor. During Stalin's industrialization, several such enterprises appeared, and all of them were built with an eye to a possible armed conflict. If in peacetime the Stalingrad plant produced tractors, then after the German attack, thanks to the peculiarities of production, it was quickly re-qualified as a tank one. Military equipment replaced the agricultural machinery.
Winter test
For the first time, the T-34/76 declared itself as a universal tank in the fall of 1941. In those days, the Germans, with all their strength, were eager for Moscow. The Wehrmacht hoped for a blitzkrieg and threw into the battle more and more new reserves. Soviet troops retreated to the capital. The fighting was already 80 kilometers from Moscow. Meanwhile, snow fell very early (in October) and snow cover appeared. Under these conditions, the light tanks T-60 and T-40C lost the ability to maneuver. Heavy models suffered from the shortcomings of their gearbox and transmission. As a result, at the most crucial stage of the war, it was decided to make the T-34/76 the main tank. By weight, this car was considered average.
For its time, the Soviet T-34/76 tank of the 1941 model was an effective and high-quality technique. The designers were especially proud of the V-2 diesel engine. Bulletproof armor (the most important protective element of the tank) performed all the tasks assigned to it and reliably guarded a crew of 4 people. The F-34 artillery system was distinguished by high-speed shooting, which allowed it to quickly deal with the enemy. These three characteristics were of primary concern to specialists. Other features of the tank changed in the last turn.
Hero Tankers
The tankers who fought on the T-34/76, glorified themselves with so many exploits that it is simply impossible to list them all. Here are just some examples of the courage of the crews during the Battle of Moscow. Sergeant Kaforin continued to fire on the enemy, even when all his comrades were killed and the tank was shot down. The next day he moved to another car, destroyed two infantry platoons, a machine gun nest and an enemy command post. The last time Sergeant Kaforin was shot down in the village of Kozlovo. He fired back until it burned down along with the tank.
In the same way, the crews of Lieutenant Timerbaev and political instructor Mamontov fought in the cars engulfed in fire. The commander of the tank company, Captain Vasiliev, was wounded, but continued to shoot back. He miraculously managed to get out of the car a few minutes before the explosion. Later Vasiliev received the well-deserved title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The Red Army soldiers of the 28th Tank Brigade were also particularly persistent.
Moscow defense
The armored forces played an extremely important role in disrupting the decisive German attack on Moscow. They acted in ambush, intercepted and defended the most important routes to the capital, holding roads until reinforcements arrived. However, the command often did not know how to handle the tanks. The inexperience and misunderstanding of the realities of the latest technology affected, while the personnel of the Red Army, on the contrary, hit the enemy with their courage and perseverance.
During this period, the most efficiently operated group was five tank brigades (brigades): 1st Guards, 27, 28, 23, and 33 brigades. They obeyed the 16th Army and covered the Volokolamsk direction. The attacks on the Germans were carried out mainly from ambushes. The incident that occurred on November 16 in the Moscow region of Sychi is indicative. Soviet troops defended the village. Tanks hid in ambush. Soon the enemy tried to establish control over the Owls. 80 German tanks crushed the detachments of the Red Army infantry and motorized rifle brigade. At the crucial moment, Soviet cars appeared from the ambush, which restored the status quo. Almost all German tanks and two more infantry companies were destroyed in the battle.
1943 model
The main battles of 1943 took place in the region of the South Russian steppes, where there was room for conducting maneuverable military operations and the use of a large mass of equipment. It was then that the T-34/76 tank became the main Soviet one. The model ceased to be produced in Stalingrad. Instead, its production was moved to Omsk, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk.
By the middle of the war, the next (albeit insignificant) modernization of the T-34/76 was completed. Stamped and hexagonal towers appeared, a new gearbox was introduced. Each design bureau puzzled over how to increase the gross production of the machine, while maintaining the quality of its operation. In fact, on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, the T-34/76 tank of the 1943 model remained an insignificant modification of its predecessor, which appeared at the beginning of the war.
disadvantages
Meanwhile, during the fighting during the counterattack of the Red Army, significant design flaws began to appear that distinguished the Soviet T-34/76 tank. Its quality began to concede to German competitors shortly after the defeat of the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad. The Reich realized that it was time for the country to prepare for a long total war (and not a blitzkrieg). Due to the deterioration of the welfare of the population, even more resources began to flow into military budgets. There are new modifications of German technology.
The primary problem for the T-34/76 was the lack of maneuverability of the tank. Without it, the model became extremely vulnerable. The reason for the flaw was the insufficient speed of transmission control. Already the T-34/76 tank of the 1942 model had a 4-speed gearbox, while foreign vehicles had 5-6-speed gearboxes. In addition, Soviet gearboxes were difficult to operate. From the driver, a lot of skills and forces were required in order to cope with it, while the German tankers did not know about such inconveniences.
New opponents
In preparation for the most important battle of Kursk, the Soviet command counted on the fact that Russian tanks would cope with the new German models without any serious, revolutionary changes in their design. This confidence was reinforced by new subcaliber armor-piercing ammunition, which appeared on the arsenal of the Red Army in April 1943. However, by that time the T-34/76 began to regularly lose duels with their main opponents in the person of the German Panthers.
The Kursk arc finally dispelled the illusions of the Kremlin. The latest Tigers, Ferdinands and Panthers turned out to be much better than Soviet technology, which was two to three years behind them. It seems that this difference is negligible. In fact, during the war, technological progress in the army gained tremendous speed, which is why even the smallest lag behind the enemy could become fatal.
Error handling
All of the above problems of the T-34/76 tank became the most serious challenge for Soviet designers. Work on the bugs began immediately. The factory in Sverdlovsk was the first to manufacture new gearboxes. New 5-speed gearboxes appeared, and the previous 4-speed ones were modernized. In production, they began to use improved wear-resistant steel. Specialists also tested the new transmission design (bearings, transmission units, etc. were updated). The Sverdlovsk team of inventors managed to introduce the main clutch servo drive into production, which significantly facilitated the work of the driver.
The upgraded chassis was another improvement that the updated T-34/76 got. Photos of cars from different series externally may not differ, but their main difference was in the internal structure. The wheels of the track rollers and sloth were reinforced, the reliability of the structure was increased, etc. In addition, all tanks began to undergo additional factory tests.
Back in business
In July 1943, for the first time, the improvements that the T-34/76 tank underwent for the first few months began to affect. The famous battle of Prokhorovka left behind interesting facts . The 5th Guards Tank Army made an unprecedented march-throw.
For three days, the corps with minimal casualties passed about 350 kilometers. Quite unexpectedly for the Germans, these formations imposed a battle and thwarted the German attack. The enemy lost about a quarter of their tanks.
End of operation
Another serious test for Soviet technology was the Belarusian offensive of 1944. Previously, here, as in northwestern Russia, news appeared about the presence of drowned military vehicles in the swamps . Including several times the lifting of the T-34/76.
In Belarus, machinery had to move along sandy and dirt roads of not the highest quality, or even through forests and swamps. At the same time, there was a catastrophic shortage of maintenance. Despite the difficulties, the new T-34/76 transmission coped with its task and withstood a voyage of 1,000 kilometers (50-70 kilometers per day).
After the Belarusian operation, this model finally gave way to the next, 85th modification. The last surviving T-34/76 tank was discovered at the bottom of the Don River in the Voronezh Region. He was raised to the surface in July 2016. The find will be exhibited in the museum.