The Soviet light combat vehicle, used in many conflicts of the 1930s and during the Second World War, had the T-26 index. This tank was produced in more quantity (more than 11,000 units) than any other of that period. In 1930, 53 versions of the T-26 were developed in the USSR, including a flamethrower tank, an engineering combat vehicle, a remotely controlled tank, a self-propelled gun, an artillery tractor and an armored personnel carrier. Twenty-three of them were mass-produced, the rest were experimental models.
British original
The T-26 had a prototype - the English tank Mk-E, which was developed by Vickers-Armstrong in 1928-1929. Simple and easy to maintain, it was intended for export to less technologically advanced countries: the USSR, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, China and many others. Vickers advertised its tank in military publications, and the Soviet Union expressed interest in this development. According to the contract signed on May 28, 1930, the company delivered 15 twin-turret vehicles (type A, armed with two Vickers machine guns of 7.71 mm caliber, water-cooled) to the USSR, together with full technical documentation for their serial production. The presence of two towers, capable of turning independently, made it possible to shoot both left and right at the same time, which at that time was considered a beneficial advantage for breaking through field fortifications. Several Soviet engineers participated in the assembly of tanks at the Vickers factory in 1930. Until the end of this year, the first four Mk-E type A arrived in the USSR.
Start of mass production
At that time, a special commission was working in the USSR, the task of which was to select a foreign tank for replication. The English tank Mk-E received in its documentation the provisional designation B-26. In the winter of 1930-1931, at the test site in the area of Poklonnaya Gora, two such machines were tested that they successfully withstood. As a result, already in February it was decided to start their production in the USSR under the T-26 index.
A tank from the first experimental batch equipped with Soviet-made turrets was tested for resistance to rifle and machine gun fire in late summer 1931. It was fired from a Maxim rifle and machine gun using conventional and armor-piercing cartridges from a distance of 50 m. It was found that the tank withstood shooting with minimal damage (only some rivets were damaged). Chemical analysis showed that the front armor plates were made of high-quality armor, while the roof and lower plates of the towers were made of ordinary steel. At that time, the armor produced by the Izhora plant, used for the first T-26 models, was inferior in English quality due to the lack of modern metallurgical equipment in the USSR.
Development of the first modifications in 1931
Soviet engineers did not just repeat the 6-ton Vickers. What did they bring in the T-26? The tank in 1931, like its British prototype, had a two-turret configuration with two machine guns, one on each turret. The main difference between them was that on the T-26 the towers were higher, with viewing gaps. The Soviet towers had a circular embrasure for the Degtyarev tank machine gun, in contrast to the rectangular one used in the original British design for the Vickers machine gun. The front of the case has also been slightly modified.
The T-26s hulls with two towers were assembled using 13-15 mm armored plates riveted to the frame from metal corners. This was enough to withstand machine gun fire. The light tanks of the USSR, produced at the end of 1932-1933, had both riveted and welded hulls. What can not be said about the new product. The Soviet T-26 tank developed in 1931 had two cylindrical towers mounted on ball bearings; each of the towers rotated independently by 240 °. Both towers could provide firing in the front and rear firing arcs (100 ° each). What was the main drawback of such a T-26? The two-tower version was too complex in design, which reduced its reliability. In addition, all the firepower of such a tank could not be used on one side. Therefore, in the beginning of the 30s all over the world abandoned this configuration of military vehicles.
Single-turret light tank T-26
Its characteristics were significantly improved compared to the two-tower configuration. Launched since 1933, it initially had a cylindrical turret with one model 20K cannon of 45 mm caliber and one Degtyarev machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber. This gun was an improved copy of the anti-tank gun model 19K (1932), which was one of the most powerful for its time. Very few tanks of other countries had similar weapons, if any. What other weapons was the new T-26 capable of carrying? The 1933 tank could have up to three additional 7.62 mm machine guns. This increase in firepower was intended to help crews defeat special anti-tank groups, since the original machine-gun weapons were deemed insufficient. The photo below shows one of the T-26 models, which has the Museum of Tanks in Kubinka, which is the largest collection of military vehicles in the world.
Next, let's talk about the technical specifications.
What engine did the T-26 tank have?
Its characteristics, unfortunately, were determined by the level of engine building in the 1920s. The tank was equipped with a 90-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine. from. (67 kW) air-cooled, which was a complete copy of the Armstrong-Sidley engine used in the 6-ton Vickers. It was located at the rear of the tank. The early Soviet-made tank engines were of poor quality, but it has improved since 1934. The engine of the T-26 tank did not have a speed limiter, which often led to overheating and breakdown of its valves, especially in the summer. An 182 liter fuel tank and a 27 liter oil tank were located next to the engine. He used high-octane, the so-called Grozny gasoline; refueling with second-rate fuel could damage the valves due to knocking. Subsequently, a more capacious fuel tank was introduced (290 liters instead of 182 liters). An engine cooling fan was installed above it in a special casing.
The T-26 transmission consisted of a single-plate dry clutch main clutch, a gearbox with five gears in the front of the tank, steering clutches, final gears and a group of brakes. The gearbox was connected to the engine through a drive shaft running along the tank. The gear shift lever was mounted directly on the box.
Modernization of 1938-1939
This year, the Soviet T-26 tank received a new conical tower with better resistance to bullets, but it still had the same welded hull as the 1933 model. This was not enough, which showed a conflict with the Japanese militarists in 1938, so the tank was modernized again in February 1939. Now he received a turret compartment with slanted (23 °) 20 mm side armored plates. The wall thickness of the tower increased to 20 mm when tilted by 18 degrees. This tank was designated as the T-26-1 (known as the T-26 model of 1939 in modern sources). Subsequent attempts to strengthen the front panel remained unrealized, as the production of the T-26 soon ceased in favor of other designs, such as the T-34.
By the way, the combat weight of the T-26 tanks in the period from 1931 to 1939 increased from 8 to 10.25 tons. The photo below shows the T-26 model of 1939. He, by the way, is also from the collection that the world's largest Museum of tanks in Kubinka has.
How did the fighting history of the T-26
The T-26 light tank first participated in the fighting during the Spanish Civil War. Then the Soviet Union, starting in October 1936, supplied its republican government with a total of 281 model 1933 tanks.
The first batch of tanks in republican Spain was delivered on October 13, 1936 to the port city of Cartagena; fifty T-26 with spare parts, ammunition, fuel and about 80 volunteers under the command of the commander of the 8th separate brigade Colonel S. Krivoshein.
The first Soviet vehicles delivered to Cartagena were designed to train republican tankers, but the situation around Madrid became more complicated, so the first fifteen tanks were brought into a tank company, the command of which was taken by Soviet captain Paul Arman (Latvian by origin, but raised in France) .
The company of Armana entered the battle on October 29, 1936, 30 km southwest of Madrid. Twelve T-26s advanced 35 km during a ten-hour raid and inflicted significant losses on the Francoists (they defeated about two squadrons of Moroccan cavalry and two infantry battalions; twelve 75-mm field guns, four CV-33 tankettes and twenty to thirty military trucks goods were destroyed or damaged) with the loss of three T-26 from gas bombs and artillery fire.
The first known case of a battering ram in a tank war occurred on the day when the tank of the platoon commander, Lieutenant Semyon Osadchy, collided with two Italian CV-33 wedges, dropping one of them into a small gorge. The crew of another wedge were killed by machine gun fire.
Captain Arman’s car was burned with a gas bomb, but the wounded commander continued to lead the company. His tank destroyed one and damaged two CV-33 wedges with gun fire. On December 31, 1936, Captain P. Arman received the Star of the Hero of the USSR for this raid and active participation in the defense of Madrid. On November 17, 1936, there were only five tanks in operational condition in the Arman company.
The T-26s were used in almost all military operations of the Civil War and demonstrated superiority over the German tank division of light tanks and Italian CV-33 wedges armed only with machine guns. During the battle of Guadalajara, the superiority of the T-26 was so obvious that the Italian designers were inspired to develop a similar first Italian medium tank, the Fiat M13 / 40.
“... and the samurai flew to the ground under the pressure of steel and fire”
These words of the song famous in the middle of the last century reflect the participation of T-26 light tanks in the Soviet-Japanese conflicts, which continued the fighting history of tanks. The first of these was a clash in July 1938 at Lake Hassan. The 2nd mechanized brigade and two separate tank battalions participating in it had a total of 257 T-26 tanks.
The 2nd mechanized brigade also had newly appointed new command personnel, 99% of its previous command personnel (including brigade commander P. Panfilov) were arrested as enemies of the people three days before being promoted to combat positions. This had a negative impact on the actions of the brigade during the conflict (for example, its tanks spent 11 hours to go through the 45-km march due to ignorance of the route). During the assault on the Bezymiannaya and Zaozernaya hills held by the Japanese, Soviet tanks met with a well-organized anti-tank defense. As a result, 76 tanks were damaged and 9 were burned. After the hostilities ended, 39 of these tanks were restored in tank units, while others were repaired in workshop conditions.
A small number of T-26s and flamethrower tanks based on them participated in battles against Japanese troops on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939. Our combat vehicles were vulnerable to Japanese tank destroyer teams armed with Molotov cocktails. With low quality welds, gaps remained in the armor plates, and flaming gasoline easily seeped into the fighting compartment and engine compartment. The 37 mm type 95 gun on a Japanese light tank, despite its mediocre rate of fire, was also effective against the T-26.
On the eve of the Second World War
On the eve of World War II, the Red Army numbered about 8,500 T-26s of all modifications. During this period, the T-26s were mainly in separate brigades of light tanks (each brigade was 256-267 T-26) and in separate tank battalions as part of rifle divisions (10-15 tanks each). This was the type of tank units that took part in the campaign in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus in September 1939. The battle losses in Poland amounted to only fifteen T-26s. Nevertheless, 302 tanks suffered technical malfunctions on the march.
They also participated in the Winter War of December 1939 - March 1940 with Finland. Light tank brigades were equipped with various models of these tanks, including two- and single-turret configurations made from 1931 to 1939. Some battalions were equipped with old vehicles, mainly from 1931-1936. But some tank units were equipped with a new model of 1939. In total, units of the Lenvoyenokrug counted 848 units of T-26 tanks at the beginning of the war. Together with BT and T-28, they were part of the main strike force during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line.
This war showed that the T-26 tank is already outdated and the reserves of its design are completely exhausted. Finnish anti-tank guns with a caliber of 37 mm and even 20 mm, anti-tank rifles easily pierced the T-26 thin anti-bullet armor, and the parts equipped with them suffered significant losses during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim line, in which flamethrower vehicles based on the T-26 chassis played significant role.
WWII - the last battle of the T-26's
T-26s formed the basis of the armored forces of the Red Army in the first months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. As of June 1 of this year, the spacecraft had 10,268 light T-26 tanks of all models, including armored combat vehicles on their chassis. Most of the combat vehicles in Soviet mechanized corps in the border military districts consisted of them. For example, the Western Special Military District had 1,136 such vehicles on June 22, 1941 (52% of all tanks in the district). In total, there were 4,875 such tanks in the western military districts as of June 1, 1941. However, some of them were not ready for battle due to lack of parts such as batteries, tracks and track wheels. Such shortcomings led to the abandonment of about 30% of the available T-26s. In addition, about 30% of the available tanks were produced in 1931-1934 and have already developed their service life. Thus, in the five Soviet western military districts there were about 3100-3200 T-26 tanks of all models in good condition (approximately 40% of all equipment), which was only slightly less than the number of German tanks intended for invading the USSR.
The T-26 (especially the 1938/1939 model) could withstand most German tanks in 1941, but was inferior to the Panzer III and Panzer IV models that participated in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. And all the tank units of the Red Army suffered heavy losses due to the complete air supremacy of the German Luftwaffe. Most of the T-26s were lost in the first months of the war, mainly during shelling of enemy artillery and air strikes. Many broke down for technical reasons and due to lack of spare parts.
However, in the first months of the war, many heroic episodes of the resistance of Soviet tankers on the T-26s to fascist invaders are also known. For example, the combined battalion of the 55th Panzer Division, consisting of eighteen T-26 single-turret and eighteen two-turret, destroyed seventeen German vehicles while covering the retreat of the 117th Infantry Division in the Zhlobin area.
Despite the losses, T-26s still constituted a significant part of the Red Army armored forces in the fall of 1941 (a lot of equipment arrived from the internal military districts - Central Asia, the Urals, Siberia, and partly from the Far East). During the war, the T-26s were replaced by significantly superior T-34s. They still participated in battles with the Germans and their allies during the Battle of Moscow in 1941-1942, in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus in 1942-1943. Some tank units of the Leningrad Front used their T-26 tanks until 1944.
The defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria in August 1945 was the last military operation in which they were used. In general, it should be noted that the history of tanks is a curious thing.