The tradition of using armored mobile trains in the USSR goes back to the time of the Civil War. In those days, they were used for combat support of military formations and in separate tactical independent operations. At the same time, armored trains were valued for speed and mobility, firepower and strong armor. Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War were often used as a traction force for transporting trains with important cargoes.
In the fall of 1920, the Bolshevik army included more than 100 armored trains. But by 1924 their number was much smaller, since the military command of the artillery, on whose balance the trains were transferred, did not consider them an effective weapon and treated like ordinary guns on platforms.
Armored trains in WWII
Armored trains in the Great Patriotic War were equipped with divisions. For example, the Kuzma Minin and Ilya Muromets armored trains were part of the 31st independent Gorky armored train division. The compound also included: a black locomotive S-179, an armored railcar BD-39, a pair of BA-20 armored cars, three motorcycles and a dozen cars, and an airborne mortar company. In total, the division had about 340 people.
Armored trains during the Great Patriotic War were used from the very beginning until the Victory. In addition to supporting infantry units that fought along the railway, defeating the enemy at railway stations, guarding the coast and firing counter-battery fire on enemy artillery.
These trains were so successfully used in the early months of the war that their production was started in several cities at once. The design of the armored trains varied greatly. It depended on the capacity of the construction company manufacturing this military transport, on the availability of armored steel and a set of weapons. By the beginning of the war, the bulk of the trains were produced by the Bryansk train plant. This factory manufactured not only artillery armored railway platforms, but also trains equipped with air defense equipment.
Anti-aircraft anti-aircraft armored trains in the Great Patriotic War made a significant contribution to the protection of railway stations from attacks by enemy aircraft, knocking them with different-caliber anti-aircraft guns and machine guns DShK.
Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War. How much was made?
On June 22, 1941, the Russian army consisted of 34 light and 19 heavy armored trains, which had 53 armored locomotives, more than 100 artillery sites, about 30 air defense platforms and 160 armored vehicles designed to move along railway lines. Also available were nine armored tires and several armored motor cars.
In addition to the army, the NKVD troops also owned armored trains. In their submission were 23 armored trains, 32 gun platforms, 7 armored vehicles and more than 30 armored cars.
The main armored trains of the Red Army
The armored train BP-43, designed in the 42nd year, became the most famous type of armored train during the years of World War II.
This train included the armored locomotive PR-43, which was located in the middle of the connection, two artillery sites in the head of the armored train and the same number at the end, two anti-aircraft platforms and 2-3 sites carrying ammunition, repair materials for the train and the railway track. Also, the armored train had a pair of armored vehicles BA-20 or BA-64, adapted to move along railways.
For the army, 21 armored trains of this type were made, and almost the same for the NKVD.
Technical data of armored vehicles
Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War, “heavy” models, were equipped with 107-mm guns that could hit a distance of up to 15 kilometers. Armored plates, up to 10 cm thick, provided protection against artillery shells, whose caliber reached 75 mm.
One refueling of water, fuel oil and coal was enough for an armored train to drive about 120 kilometers at a speed of 45 km / h. One gas station - 10 tons of coal and 6 tons of fuel oil. The curb weight of the armored train reached 400 tons.
The combat team included: command, a command platoon, two platoons of artillery tower gun and airborne machine gun crews, a platoon of anti-aircraft gunners, a detachment responsible for the movement and traction of an armored train, and a platoon of an armored car crew, which included 2-5 vehicles moving on rails .
Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War. German models
Before Operation Barbarossa, the German command planned to introduce several armored trains adapted to the Russian railway track. There were few of them; the General Staff of the German ground forces assigned them a minor role in the conduct of hostilities. For example, until 1942 they guarded rear lines from partisans. And much later, after studying the successful tactics of using such mechanisms by the Soviet troops, the Germans began to use armored trains in combat battles.
In total, the German army on the Eastern Front had about 12 armored trains and a couple of dozen armored railcars. There were cases when the Germans used captured Soviet trains.
German armored vehicles
German armored trains No. 26-28 possessed three tank or artillery platforms and two infantry cars, No. 29-31 had two tank platforms and one infantry platform. Since the end of 1943, an armored platform began to cling to armored trains. Locomotives of such compositions had only an armored cabin.
As the fighting showed, German armored trains were not only technically backward and primitive, but their firepower was very weak. Therefore, the command of the German forces kept them in the rear for the fight against partisan formations.
The historical fact of the duel of the Soviet and German armored trains
The combat power of Soviet armored trains seriously helped the army defeat Nazi Germany. However, the mechanism itself, no matter how high a technological level it occupies, can do nothing without a team managing it. So, the drivers of armored trains during the Great Patriotic War also contributed to the overall victory. To prove this, it is enough to recall one episode from the war.
In 1944, two armored trains met near Kovel in Ukraine: the Soviet “Ilya Muromets” and the German “Adolf Hitler”. The engineers of the Russian armored train, skillfully using the terrain, were able to put the composition so that the Germans did not see him and shot at random. At the same time, our gunners saw the German train quite well. After a short artduel, the German armored train was destroyed, which at that time was very symbolic and predicted the imminent death of all fascists. Our team did not receive a single hit. This happened thanks to the skillful actions of the drivers of the armored train. Indeed, in military science it is known that brute force does not guarantee victory in battle. The maneuverability and skill of conducting military operations is also necessary.
Armored trains and the battle of Stalingrad
In the spring of 1942, the German army came close to the Volga River and to the city of Stalingrad. All possible forces were thrown to his defense. In the defense of Stalingrad, the great Russian armored trains play a very prominent role.
One of the very first armored trains arriving at the city was the NKVD armored train at number 73. Throughout September, he did not leave the fighting. The Germans tried to destroy it with aircraft, artillery and mortars, four platforms were destroyed, but the armored train withstood and was able to not only fight back, but also deliver a powerful retaliatory strike against the accumulation of enemy troops.
On September 14, enemy aircraft, about 40 of them, flew into an armored train near Mamaeva Kurgan. Due to the bomb falling into the platform with ammunition, a powerful explosion occurred, which destroyed most of the armored train. The surviving team removed all available weapons from the train and moved to the river. A little later, another armored train with the same number appeared at the front - the former soldiers of the 73rd armored train created it in Perm. They became his new crew.
On August 5, armored train No. 677, which was reassigned to the 64th Army, also arrived at the Stalingrad Front. He kept a railway crossing near the village of Plodovitoe. At this point, the "steel fortress" was able to repel numerous German tank attacks. Thanks to him, the point “47th kilometer” remained with the Russian troops. A little later, supporting the counterattack of the 38th Archery Division, the armored train was under the fire of bombers, who bombarded it with incendiary bombs. After the battle, he had to move to the rear for repairs, as he received more than 600 holes and dents.
Also, the battle of Stalingrad was attended by armored trains No. 1, 708, the 40th division and the famous "steel fortress" "Kirov".
The famous Soviet armored trains in WWII
In the early years of the war, the Germans were amazed at the power and design of our armored trains. They did not believe for a long time that the Russians built them. They thought that the trains were imported from America. But in fact, all armored trains in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were built in the Soviet Union. By the time of the German invasion, the history of the creation of mobile "fortresses" in the Union totaled more than one decade. In the Civil War, armored trains were actively used by different parties. Their maneuverability, protection and weapons were constantly improving. Therefore, the Nazis were astonished at the skillful use of this type of weapon in battles with them.
We will mention the most famous armored trains during the Second World War.
Armored train "Kuzma Minin"
This armored composition turned out to be the most successful design. It was built in the winter of 1942 in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod).
The composition of the armored train included: a locomotive sheathed with armored plates, two artillery platforms, two covered platforms, which were armed with two 76-mm tank guns and machine guns paired with them. Also, anti-aircraft platforms were installed in front and behind the armored train, and in the center there was a platform with an M-8 launcher. The thickness of the frontal armor was 45 mm, and the top - 20 mm.
The train’s guns could fire up to 12 km, destroying enemy equipment, and machine guns and a launcher hit the enemy’s manpower.
The power of the armored train of the Great Patriotic War, the photo of which is located below, is amazing. It really is a "steel fortress on rails"
Armored train "Ilya Muromets"
Built "Ilya of Muromets" in 1942 in the city of Murom. Its defense consisted of 45 mm sheets. Over the entire period of the war, he did not receive any serious damage. His military career passed through all strategically important points of the WWII and ended in Frankfurt an der Oder. On the account of this armored train of the Great Patriotic War there are 7 enemy aircraft, 14 artillery and mortar batteries, more than 35 strong points, about 1000 German soldiers and officers.
For courage and combat merit of the armored train "Ilya Muromets" and "Kuzma Minin", which were part of the 31st separate unit, were awarded the Order of A. Nevsky. In 1971, "Ilya Muromets" in the city of Murom was installed on a life-long parking lot.
Other armored trains in the Soviet army
The above battle trains were not the only ones of their kind. Other armored formations that played an important role in the Second World War are also known in history. This also applies to the Baltiets armored train built at the Izhora plant. He had 6 tank guns, 2 120 mm mortars and 16 machine guns. He actively participated in the defense of Leningrad, covering approaches to the city immediately from 15 firing points.
Also during the battle of Leningrad, the armored train "People's Avenger", built in the same city, distinguished itself. He was armed with two air defense guns and two tank guns, and another 12 machine guns "Maxim".
Armored compositions after the war
Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War, photos of which are presented in this article, are the heroes of their time. They made a huge contribution to the victory of our people over fascist Germany. However, by the end of the war, it became clear that improved artillery would now be able to destroy such mechanisms as light armored vehicles. In addition, the doctrine of modern warfare implied greater maneuverability and tactical mobility of military units, and armored trains are strongly tied to railway tracks, which seriously reduces their mobility.
At the same pace as artillery, aviation also developed, for which the destruction of an armored train did not become something complicated, and anti-aircraft guns of an armored composition could no longer provide reliable protection. Until 1958, the development and design of such mechanisms still continued. But then they were withdrawn from service.
Meanwhile, the experience and knowledge of mounting military guns on trains has not gone into oblivion. At the end of the 80s, the BZHRK (missile system on the railway platform) began to be on combat duty to protect the integrity of the state. In appearance, they do not differ from civilian trains, but inside they have installed strategic missile launch systems. Some of them had nuclear warheads.
So the "grandchildren" continued the glorious work of their "grandfathers" to protect our homeland.