The older generation of Russians remembers well the words from the once popular song: “We are peaceful people, but our armored train is on the siding.” In it, the armor is not just a military unit, but a symbol of the military power of the state. Is it any wonder that in our days this word does not lose popularity, and even one very famous printing house is named by it. The railway armored train is an era in history, and the memory of it is indelible. Where did these wheeled fortresses come to us from?
The first experiments using armored trains
The idea to use the train as a mobile artillery battery appeared in France in 1826, when the news of the creation of the first railway in England spread around the world. But no one took it seriously, and the first railway armored train entered the battle only in 1848, when the Austrian army had to defend its capital from the Hungarians.
However, this experience, although successful, had no continuation, and the idea was fully realized already overseas during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Its initiator was an American general of Russian descent Ivan Vasilievich Turchaninov, better known by his American name John Basil Turchin.
By installing guns on the railway platforms and thoroughly blinding (covering) them with sandbags, he unexpectedly attacked the positions of the hostile army of the northerners located near the railway tracks. The effect was so overwhelming that the use of artillery platforms became a regular practice, and subsequently, when the railway armored train was adopted by many armies of the world, they became its integral part.
Further development of a new type of weapon
In Europe, the idea to sheathe rail cars with armor plates, and to place artillery and machine-gun crews inside, came up with the French engineer Mougins. But the problem was that the narrow-gauge railway tracks of those years were unsuitable for heavy trains to move along them, and their use was possible only if there was a specially constructed track, which complicated the implementation of the project.
In the usual form for us, the railway armored train, the history of which by that time was already almost half a century, was used in the Boer War of 1899-1902. The Boers widely used guerrilla warfare tactics, suddenly attacking trains with ammunition and food, and thereby disrupting the supply of enemy units. Under these conditions, armored fortresses on wheels proved to be a very effective means of protecting communications of the English army. Since then, the railway armored train, the armament of which has been constantly improved, has become an indispensable participant in all wars and major military conflicts.
Highest decree
In the years preceding the outbreak of World War I, almost all European armies had armored trains in their arsenal, and with the outbreak of hostilities their widespread intensive production began. In 1913, Emperor Nicholas I commanded the highest to begin the production of armored vehicles on the basis of technical developments made by Russian engineers K. B. Krom and M. V. Kolobov. Two years later, at the height of the war, five of these trains entered service with the railway units formed by that time, and soon two more were added to them.
Civil War Armored Trains
It is well known that the railway armored train has become one of the symbols of the Civil War. This is not accidental, since it was during this period that it acquired special significance in view of the intense struggle for control over the supply routes of the front. Armored and bristled with guns trains were in service with almost all the warring parties. But such an intensive application soon became apparent and their main disadvantages.
Due to their bulkiness, armored trains were a convenient target for enemy artillery, and with the development of military equipment - for aviation. In addition, their mobility depended entirely on the state of the railway lines, so that to completely stop the train, it was enough to destroy them in front and behind the train.
In this regard, each railway armored train, the use of which inevitably provoked the enemy to take such measures, was equipped with a platform with spare rails, sleepers and the necessary fasteners, and the workers included railway workers. Curious data has been preserved: repair crews were able to recover almost up to forty meters of the track within an hour almost manually. This labor productivity allowed to resume the movement of the composition with minimal delays.
Armored trains in service with the Red Army
In the Red Army, armored trains found the same widespread use as their opponents. At the beginning of hostilities, these were mainly trains left after the First World War, but since they were lacking for the needs of the front, the production of the so-called "surrogate" models began, which were ordinary passenger or freight trains with armored plates hung on them and equipped guns. The creation of such an armored train did not require additional drawings and took extremely little time. Only in 1919 was it possible to establish the release of real combat personnel. By the end of the Civil War, there were already one hundred and twenty units in service with the Red Army.
At the end of the war, many of them were re-equipped for peaceful purposes, which led to a significant reduction in the rolling stock of railway troops. However, in the thirties, work continued on their release, but taking into account the changing requirements. In particular, separate armored areas and armored cars, as well as armored tires, were widely used. During the Great Patriotic War, they were often equipped with anti-aircraft guns and machine guns and were intended to protect echelons from enemy air attacks.
Components of armored trains
What did the classic armored train consist of? The photos presented in the article demonstrate quite powerful designs. First of all, such a train was equipped with a locomotive, the function of which was performed by an armored locomotive, and subsequently a locomotive. In addition, the presence of several armored wagons or platforms with weapons placed on them was mandatory. It could be artillery systems, reinforced with machine gun calculations, and later rocket launchers. Very often, the railway armored train included airborne platforms on which manpower was stationed to transfer it to the war zone.
Despite its name, armored trains were not always protected solely by armor. Sometimes the cobbled-in wagons were used, i.e. ensuring their protection with the help of tightly packed sandbags and sheet iron. In the same way, protective parapets for gun and landing platforms were made. During World War II, German armored trains also included platforms with tanks, whose task was to support the landing.
Features of armored trains in the forties
At the same time, a specially developed type of armored trains appeared, specially designed to protect important strategic objects (bridges, factories, weapons depots, etc.), located at a distance from the front line, but within the reach of enemy aircraft. Their feature was a design optimized to repel air attacks. They consisted of an armored locomotive and armored platforms with various anti-aircraft weapons. Armored cars in them, as a rule, were absent.
In the early forties, the Soviet army had a division of armored trains and a battalion, which were armed with armored railcars. With the outbreak of war, their number increased significantly, and it included railway anti-aircraft batteries, also placed on trains. Their task, as in previous years, was reduced mainly to protecting communications and ensuring uninterrupted adherence to echelons. It is known that in those years more than two hundred armored trains operated on the railways.
Railway troops in the post-war period
In the postwar years, the value of armored trains decreased due to the rapid development of armored vehicles. Until 1953, they were used mainly in Ukraine, in the course of military operations against the UPA, which often carried out attacks on various railway facilities. However, in 1958, the USSR Council of Ministers issued a decree on stopping the further development of this type of troops, and by the end of the fifties armored trains were completely withdrawn from service.
Only in the seventies, in connection with the aggravation of relations with China, they considered it expedient to equip the Trans-Baikal and Far Eastern military districts with five armored trains that continuously ran along the state border. They were later used to resolve conflicts in Baku (1990) and Nagorno-Karabakh (1987-1988), after which they were sent to a permanent residence base.
Rocket base on rails
The modern railway armored train does not resemble its predecessors, who earned fame during the years of past wars. Nowadays, it is a train equipped with combat missile systems capable of hitting any intended targets with atomic warheads and in the shortest possible time relocate their location.
Despite the fact that this is a fundamentally new technical design, it nevertheless retained the familiar name - an armored train. The train, which is essentially a missile base, due to its mobility is a significant difficulty for its detection, even using satellites.