Tank T 26 with a cylindrical turret. Add to favorites. Differences from the prototype
We continue the series of materials from the museum military history in Padikovo. Today our hero will be Soviet light tank T-26. The vehicle is unique and controversial, but nevertheless, the tank has gone through more than one war and is worthy of the most detailed disassembly, both outside and inside.
The T-26's combat path was very long and difficult. The Spanish Civil War, Hassan, Khalkhin Gol, the war with Finland, the Great Patriotic War. Last place The use of the T-26 became the field of defeat for the Japanese Kwantung Army in the Far East.
The predecessor of the T-26 was the T-18 tank, which was a copy of the French Renault FT-17. By 1929, there was an understanding of the need to create more modern car and about the general lag of Soviet tank building.
In 1930, a procurement commission was created under the leadership of I. Khalepsky and the head of the tank engineering design bureau, S. Ginzburg, whose task was to select and purchase samples of tanks, tractors and cars suitable for adoption by the Red Army.
In the spring of 1930, the commission visited Great Britain, which in those years was considered the world leader in the production of armored vehicles. Attracted the attention of the commission light tank Mk.E, created by Vickers-Armstrong in 1928-1929 and offered for export.
Vickers-Armstrong offered several versions of the tank, in particular the Model A with two single turrets with 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns and the Model B with a double turret with a 37 mm short-barreled gun and a 7.7 mm machine gun. Only a two-turret tank was purchased, designated B-26.
For the production of the T-26, due to the lack of alternatives, the Leningrad Bolshevik plant was chosen, which had previously been producing the T-18. In the spring of 1931, the plant department, which consisted of only 5 people, prepared for production and manufactured two reference copies of the tank. Working drawings were completed by May 1, and approved on June 16 technological process and production of equipment for mass production began.
The design of the tank was constantly improved during production. In addition to the introduction of new towers, in 1931 the engine was moved to the stern to provide it with Better conditions work, and from the beginning of 1932, new fuel and oil tanks were introduced, and from March 1 of the same year, a box began to be installed on the T-26 over the air outlet grille, which protected the engine from precipitation.
At the same time, two versions of tanks were produced - with machine gun armament and with machine gun-cannon armament, consisting of a DT-29 machine gun in the left turret and a 37-mm cannon in the right. At the end of 1932, machine-gun tanks began to be produced with ball mounts for the new DTU machine guns, but since the latter were soon discontinued, the tanks of these series turned out to be unarmed and subsequently they had to have their turret front plates replaced with ones suitable for mounting the old DT-29.
The gun tanks were equipped with a 37 mm Hotchkiss gun or its modified Soviet version, the Hotchkiss-PS.
In reality, work on the single-turret T-26 began only in 1932. Mastering the assembly of a conical turret from curved armor plates was difficult for Soviet industry, so the first turret of this type, created by the Izhora plant in the spring of 1932 and intended for the BT-2 tank, had a cylindrical shape. During testing of the riveted and welded versions of the turret, preference was given to the first, which was recommended for adoption after the identified deficiencies were refined and a niche was added to the rear for installing a radio station.
While work on the turret was going on, the issue of arming the tank was also being decided. In May 1932, to replace the 37 mm anti-tank guns a 45-mm gun mod. was adopted. 1932, which also became a candidate for tank armament. Compared to the 37 mm cannon, the 45 mm cannon had approximately the same armor penetration, but the fragmentation projectile was more effective as it was loaded with a larger charge explosive.
At the beginning of 1933 design bureau Plant No. 174 developed a twin installation of a 45-mm cannon and a machine gun, which successfully passed factory tests in March 1933. At the same time, it was decided to adopt a single-turret T-26 with a 45-mm cannon.
This is the tank we are considering today.
The main armament of the single-turret modifications was a 45-mm rifled semi-automatic gun mod. 1932 (20-K), and since 1934 - its modified version of the 1932/34 model. Semi-automatic gun model 1932/34. only worked when shooting armor-piercing shells, whereas when firing fragmentation shells, due to the shorter recoil length, it worked, providing only automatic closing of the bolt when a cartridge was inserted into it, while opening the bolt and extracting the cartridge case was carried out manually. The practical rate of fire of the gun was 7-12 rounds per minute.
The gun was placed in a coaxial mount with a machine gun, on trunnions in the front part of the turret. Guidance in the horizontal plane was carried out by rotating the turret using a screw rotating mechanism. The mechanism had two gears, the rotation speed of the turret was 2 or 4° per revolution of the gunner's flywheel. Guidance in the vertical plane, with maximum angles from −6 to +22°, was carried out using a sector mechanism.
Guidance of the twin installation was carried out using a panoramic periscope optical sight PT-1 mod. 1932 and telescopic TOP mod. 1930 PT-1 had a magnification of x2.5 and a field of view of 26°, and its sighting reticle was designed to fire at a range of up to 3.6 km with armor-piercing shells, 2.7 km with fragmentation shells and up to 1.6 km with coaxial machine gun.
For shooting at night and in low light conditions, the sight was equipped with illuminated scales and crosshairs. The TOP had a magnification of x2.5, a field of view of 15°, and an aiming reticle designed for firing at ranges of up to 6, 4, 3 and 1 km, respectively. Since 1938, a telescopic sight TOP-1 (TOS-1), stabilized in the vertical plane, with similar TOP optical characteristics, was installed on some tanks. The sight was equipped with a collimator device, which, when the gun oscillated in the vertical plane, automatically fired a shot when the position of the gun coincided with the aiming line. Gun arr. 1934, adapted for use with a stabilized sight, designated as mod. 1938 Due to the difficulty of using and training gunners, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the stabilized sight was removed from service.
T-26 turret from the inside:
The basic means of external communication on the T-26 was a flag alarm, and all double-turret tanks had only this. Some of the single-turret tanks produced, designated T-26RT, were equipped with a radio station model 71-TK-1 from the fall of 1933. The share of RT-26 was determined only by the volume of supplies of radio stations, which were primarily equipped with the vehicles of unit commanders, as well as some linear tanks. Maximum range communication in telephone mode was 15-18 km in motion and 25-30 km from a standstill, in telegraph mode - up to 40 km; in the presence of interference from the simultaneous operation of many radio stations, the communication range could be reduced by half.
For internal communication between the tank commander and the driver, early tanks used a speaking tube, which was later replaced by a flashing device. Since 1937, on tanks equipped with a radio station, the TPU-3 tank intercom was installed for all crew members.
Based on the T-26, it was developed a large number of vehicles for various purposes and self-propelled guns.
76.2 mm escort gun, intended for artillery preparation and support of tanks and as an anti-tank weapon.
76 mm (pictured) and 37 mm anti-aircraft automatic gun for support air defense mechanized units on the march.
TR-4 - armored personnel carriers TR-4 and TR-26, ammunition transporters TR-4-1 and TR-26, fuel and lubricants transporter TC-26.
T-26-T is an armored artillery tractor based on the T-26 chassis. The early version had an unprotected turret, the later T-26-T2 was fully armored. A small number of tanks were produced in 1933 for motorized artillery battery, for towing divisional 76.2 mm guns. Some of them remained until 1945.
ST-26 - engineer tank (bridge layer). Produced from 1933 to 1935. A total of 65 cars were assembled.
Along with BT, T-26 tanks formed the basis of the Soviet tank fleet before the start of the Great Patriotic War and in its initial period.
It should be noted that tanks of the T-26 type were popular at one time, but the lack of coordination in tank units (lack of a walkie-talkie) and the slow speed of the T-26 made it easy prey for enemy tanks. But a light tank does not fight tanks according to military doctrine that time.
Equipment according to the principle “I take everything with me.”
A light tank supports infantry, destroys enemy guns and machine guns, these are its main goals. Although the armor of the main German tanks T-1 and T-2 and the Czech T-38 was not a problem for the 45-mm T-26 gun.
Yes, the tank's armor was bulletproof. Despite the weak armor protection, the tank was durable due to the fact that the engine and tanks were located in the rear compartment behind the fence.
The armor protection of the T-26 was designed to provide maximum resistance to rifle bullets and shell fragments. At the same time, the T-26’s armor was easily penetrated by armor-piercing rifle bullets from a distance of 50-100 m.
On June 22, 1941, there were about 10 thousand T-26s in the Red Army. But non-bulletproof armor and low mobility of the tank were among the factors that led to the low effectiveness of the use of these tanks in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. The armor of most German tanks and self-propelled guns of that time was not invulnerable to 45 mm T-26 guns. Most of the T-26 tanks were lost by the Soviet side in the first six months of the war, far from being due to clashes with German tanks.
Today it is known that a significant part of the losses tank troops The Red Army in the summer of 1941 was non-combat in nature. Due to the suddenness of the outbreak of war, the maintenance engineering personnel were not drafted into the unit material support tank units. Also, tractors for evacuation of equipment and fuel tankers were not transferred to the Red Army. During forced marches, tanks broke down and were abandoned, abandoned due to lack of fuel.
The main reason for losses for the T-26 was the lack of proper leadership and supplies. Where there were no supply issues, the T-26 showed itself to be quite a worthy rival to the German light tanks. The T-1 and T-2 were not much superior to the T-26 in terms of armor and speed, but the T-26 was definitely superior to them in terms of armament.
Alas, but the reason big losses This tank became the human factor.
Combat vehicles of this model were the basis of the tank equipment of the Red Army in the period before the Great Patriotic War. When developing this tank, the design was taken as a basis English tank"Vickers 6-ton."
Initially, the tank, which was a modernized version of the English Vickers, was named TMM-1. This tank, unlike the English prototype, had a slightly modified hull design, since the vehicle was equipped with a liquid-cooled Hercules engine with a power of 95 hp. With. The tank's armament consisted of two Vickers machine guns mounted in the turrets and one Soviet machine gun DT, which was located on the right side of the body. Combat weight TMM-1 was about 8 tons, the thickness of the armor reached 13 mm (similar to the English model). The tank could reach speeds of up to 30 km/h and had a crew of 4 people. About a dozen of these combat vehicles were manufactured.
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Double-turret T-26 tank with machine gun armament, produced in the second half of 1933. |
In 1932, the TMM-2 sample was manufactured with one turret intended for a 37 mm caliber gun. The crew of this tank consisted of 3 people; the speed, armor thickness, and combat weight of the vehicle remained the same as that of the TMM-1. However, these options light tank were never put into mass production.
Serial production of the T-26 light tank from 1931 until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was carried out at the Bolshevik plant in Leningrad. The Krasny Putilovets plant also took part in the work on the T-26. The work of modernizing the tank was entrusted to a team of engineers headed by S. A. Ginzburg. T-26 light tanks were intended to support infantry, as well as perform independent tactical and operational combat missions.
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The first 15 T-26s took part in the autumn military parade of 1931. The armor of the T-26 was slightly stronger than that of the Vickers, which served as the basis for the development of the Soviet light tank, and accordingly the weight of the vehicle increased - from 8 to 8.2 tons. An engine with an air cooling system was installed on the T-26, while maximum speed remained the same - 30 km/h. T-26 tanks of the 1931 model were not equipped with radio stations.
Externally, the T-26 model 1931 was not much different from the Vickers, with the exception of the front part of the hull and the armament of the combat vehicle. The T-26 of this period was equipped with two DT machine guns. The turrets could rotate 240° and fire in one direction, but placing a gun in such turrets turned out to be difficult, as was firing directed at a single target. A significant disadvantage of the towers was that they often jammed, in addition, the towers significantly interfered with each other. Nevertheless serial production The T-26 model of 1931 continued until mid-1933. During this period, 1,626 twin-turreted T-26s were manufactured.
The T-26 tanks of the 1933 model had one cylindrical turret, and the weapons used were the same as on the BT-5 tank - a 45-mm cannon and two DT machine guns. The combat weight of such tanks was 9.4 tons, the height of the T-26 increased by 110 mm. The gun's ammunition consisted of 130 shells. 2,127 such tanks were produced.
In addition, the so-called “radium” tanks T-26RT with a cylindrical turret were produced, characteristic feature which included the presence of a handrail antenna and a radio station installed in a niche of the tower. The ammunition load of the guns of these tanks was less than that of other T-26 tanks - only 96 shells. 3938 of these tanks were manufactured.
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During the fighting in Spain and near Lake Khasan, it turned out that handrail antennas served as a guide for enemy fire, so such antennas were subsequently abandoned, replacing them with whip ones.
Interesting feature The T-26 model of 1933 had two headlights located above the gun. Thanks to their illumination, the tank could fire at enemy positions at night.
Beginning in 1935, the armor plates from which the hull of the T-26 tanks were made began to be joined by welding (previously they were connected by riveting). The ammunition load was slightly reduced - to 122 rounds on the T-26 and to 82 on the T-26RT. But the capacity of the fuel tanks was increased. As a result of modifications, the tank's weight increased to 9.6 tons.
In 1937, the T-26 appeared; there was an anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof of the tank’s turret. Also, these tanks were equipped with an internal intercom. The power of the engine used on the T-26 was increased, and the weight of the T-26 began to be 9.75 tons.
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The tanks of the 1937 model had welded turrets that were conical in shape, which enhanced their bulletproof protection. The capacity of the fuel tanks was again increased and the ammunition load was reduced (to 107 rounds on the T-26). Accordingly, the mass of the tank continued to grow - now it was 10.75 tons. Since 1938, the T-26 began to be equipped with a stabilizer for the gun sighting line in the vertical plane.
The armor plates of the turret boxes of the T-26 tanks of the 1939 model were located obliquely. In 1939, the rear turret machine gun was no longer installed. The tank's ammunition load has increased significantly: T-26 - 205 rounds, T-26RT - 165 rounds. The engine power was also increased.
During Soviet-Finnish war about 100 T-26s were equipped with mounted armored screens, resulting in the thickness of the frontal armor reaching up to 60 mm. In 1941, production of the T-26 was discontinued.
It should be noted that, in addition to the usual T-26s, chemical, or flamethrower, tanks were also produced in significant quantities. In addition to the flamethrower, such tanks also had conventional machine gun and cannon weapons.
The OT-130 was created in 1936 on the basis of the single-turret T-26. Instead of a cannon, a flamethrower was installed on the tank, the flamethrowing range of which reached 50 m. The fire mixture stock was 400 liters. The crew of OT-130 consisted of 2 people, the weight of the vehicle reached 10 tons.
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A - engine compartment; B - fighting compartment; B - management department; 1 - armored body; 2 - tower; 3 - engine; 4 - gearbox; 5 - side clutch; 6 - brakes; 7 - final drive (behind the armor plate); 8 - chassis; 9 - partition separating the fighting compartment from the engine compartment; 10- armored shutters over the oil radiator; 11 - air cap; 12- 45 mm gun 20K; 13 - accumulator battery; 14 - driver's folding front visor; 15- support rollers; 16 - suspension trolley; 17- muffler. |
Similar types of combat vehicles equipped with flamethrowers and large reserves of fire mixture were OT-131, OT-132 and OT-133, which also had machine gun armament. On the OT-133, in addition to the flamethrower, there were two machine guns, on previous versions there was a flamethrower and one machine gun. In 1940, based on the T-26, the OT-134 was created. The conical turret of this tank was equipped with a 45 mm caliber gun and a machine gun, and a flamethrower, the flamethrowing range of which reached 50 m, was located in the front upper plate of the hull. The combat weight of the OT-134 was 10.8 tons, the crew consisted of 2 people.
In 1933, based on the T-26, a bridge tank with a lifting capacity of 14 tons was designed. 65 such bridge layers were created in 1935. Also based on the T-26 in 1934, experimental samples of armored personnel carriers TR-26 and TR-4, intended for transportation of infantry soldiers, and TR-4-1, which was intended for transporting ammunition to tank units. In 1935-1936 On the basis of the T-26, two T-26Ts tank tankers were manufactured for transporting fuel.
Description
This light tank was created in the early 30s based on the double-turret English Vickers Mk.E mod.A tank. Later, after various design changes and modifications by Soviet designers were made, the tank became single-turret, and the armament and other parameters were seriously enhanced. For the first time, Soviet T-26 tanks entered battle in the Spanish Civil War back in 1936, where they performed well. By 1941, this tank with very weak armor could no longer play a significant role in battles with German technology. At the beginning of the war, compared to the newer T-34 and KV, it could already be called obsolete, but in 1941 the T-26 was still able to fight with some Wehrmacht tanks. First of all, this applies to Wehrmacht light tanks with machine gun armament..jpg)
The bulk of German equipment in June 1941 consisted of tanks "Pz.I", "Pz.II", "Pz.35(t)" and "Pz.38(t)", as well as medium tanks "Pz.III". The Pz.I had no chance at all in a head-on battle with the T-26, and General Halder even wrote that these tanks were a burden for German army. As for the "Pz.II", its gun was effective against the "T-26" only at a short distance of about 300m, and in a real battle with the "twenty-sixth" this German armored vehicle also experienced big problems. The Pz.35 also did not have any advantages over the T-26. But the "Pz38(t) and Pz.III" of later releases were superior to the "T-26" in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, for example, the frontal armor of the Pz.38(t) modification F was equal to 50mm and the T-26 gun did not penetrate its frontal projection at long distances, while the “German” gun could hit the “twenty-sixth” from these distances. The same applies to the latest modifications of the Panzer III. Another disadvantage of the T-26 compared to the German “troika” was that the crew of three people on the T-26 was heavily overloaded with work, while on German car the commander was relieved of the duties of a loader and this ensured more efficient control of the tank. The best German tank initial period war - the Pz.IV was superior to the T-26 in many characteristics, but some of these tanks of early modifications were penetrated by a shell from the T-26's 45-mm gun. Still, in 1941, the T-26 was no longer a competitor to most German vehicles. .jpg)
But the huge losses of these tanks were due not only to weak tactical and technical characteristics, but also to the rapid German “blitzkrieg”, which forced the retreating Red Army to abandon a large number of these vehicles behind enemy lines. The failures of the T-26 in the summer of 1941 were also affected by the fact that the German tank crews were better trained and had solid combat experience. Soviet tank crews have not yet had time to acquire the necessary experience in using tanks in conditions real war. The weak armor of the T-26 dictated special tactics using it in defense, mainly from ambushes. If this could be done, then these tanks, given their large number in the Red Army, could play a more significant role in battles initial stage war. To summarize, it’s worth saying that despite some capabilities in the fight against German tanks due to a good 45-mm gun, you still shouldn’t overestimate combat capabilities this light tank. The design of the early 30s has clearly outlived its usefulness and only the extensive combat experience of the crews and the infallible command that in real conditions almost impossible, it could have saved these tanks from the total defeat of the summer of 1941. The Soviet procurement commission, headed by I.A. Khalepsky, head of the newly created Department of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army, on May 28, 1930, entered into a contract with the English company Vickers for the production of 15 double-turret Vickers 6-ton tanks for the USSR. The first tank was shipped to the customer on October 22, 1930, and the last on July 4, 1931. Soviet specialists also took part in the assembly of these tanks. In particular, in July 1930, engineer N. Shitikov worked at the Vickers plant. Each combat vehicle manufactured in England cost Soviet Union at 42 thousand rubles. (in 1931 prices). For comparison, let’s say that the T-19 “main escort tank” made in August of the same year cost over 96 thousand rubles. In addition, the B-26 tank (British vehicles received this designation in the USSR) was easier to manufacture and operate, and also had better mobility. All these circumstances predetermined the choice of the UMM Red Army. Work on the T-19 was curtailed, and all efforts were devoted to development serial production B-26.
Supplement to the magazine "MODEL CONSTRUCTION"
In March 1932, the 45-mm was adopted by the Red Army. anti-tank gun 19K, developed at Plant No. 8. Following it, they designed the installation of 19K in a tank, which was called the “45-mm tank gun model 1932.” and factory index 20K. Compared to the PS-2, the 20K tank gun had a number of advantages. The armor penetration of armor-piercing projectiles increased slightly, the mass of the fragmentation projectile increased sharply (from 0.645 kg to 2.15 kg), and the mass of the explosive in the projectile increased from 22 g to 118 g. Finally, the rate of fire was increased due to the introduction of a vertical wedge semi-automatic bolt. True, the debugging of semi-automatics took about four years, and the first series of 20K guns were produced with 1/4 automatic, then with semi-automatic for armor-piercing and 1/4 automatic for high-explosive fragmentation shells, and only in 1935 guns with well-functioning semi-automatic operation for all types of ammunition began to arrive.
In December 1932, the Defense Committee ordered the NKTP to produce T-26 tanks (starting with the vehicle with serial number 1601) with a 45-mm cannon. A new turret was designed for this gun, coaxial with a DT machine gun, for the T-26 and BT-2 tanks. Firing tests showed its complete reliability. Production of turrets for the 45-mm cannon began at the end of 1932 at two factories - Izhora and Mariupol. The first produced towers of an improved type (welded with a large niche), and Mariupol produced the first 230 towers according to the first option (riveted with a small niche). Most of the riveted turrets were installed on the BT-5 tanks and only a very small number on the T-26.
1 - barrel: 2 - recoil brake cylinder: 3 - lifting mechanism rods: 4 - telescopic sight: 5 - cushion: 6 - sleeve catcher shield; 7 - canvas bag of the filler: 8 - sector of the lifting mechanism: 9 - bracket of the lifting mechanism: 10 - pedal trigger mechanism: 11 - footrest: 12 - bolt wedge: 13 - telescopic sight bracket: 14 - ball installation of a coaxial machine gun: 15 - lifting mechanism flywheel
The body of the welded tower had the shape of a cylinder with an outer diameter of 1320 mm with a developed aft niche. The niche had an oval shape and served as a counterweight to the gun and at the same time a place for storing ammunition or placing a radio station. In the rear sheet of the niche there was a hatch with a door for dismantling the gun. In the niches of riveted towers, the back wall was blank, without a door. In the roof of the tower there was a rectangular hatch for landing the crew, closed with two covers.
The armament of the single-turret tank consisted of a 45-mm tank gun model 1932 and a coaxial DT machine gun. Vertical guidance angles ranged from -8° to +25°.
The gun had a semi-automatic mechanical shutter with electromagnetic and manual releases, a trough-shaped cradle, a hydraulic recoil brake, a spring knurl and a sector lifting mechanism. Firing from a cannon and machine gun was carried out using foot releases, the pedals of which were located on the footrest under right foot gunner
Sights paired installation consisted of two optical sights, tank telescopic sight TOP mod. 1930 and a tank periscope panoramic sight PT-1 mod. 1932
In addition, the machine gun had its own open sight and could fire independently of the gun. When firing independently from a machine gun, the vertical firing sector was ±4.5°.
The ammunition consisted of 136 cannon rounds (for tanks with a radio station - 96 rounds) and 2898 rounds of ammunition (46 magazines).
The shots were placed in special boxes located on the floor on the left side fighting compartment. In these boxes, 54 shots were arranged in individual nests vertically in six rows of 9 shots. The boxes were closed at the top with hinged lids. which at the same time served as the flooring of the fighting compartment.
Another 30 rounds were placed horizontally in the niche of the fighting compartment.
Twelve shots were placed in the turret. The shells were held by special grips of six pieces to the right and left of the twin installation.
An additional 40 rounds for tanks without a radio station were placed in the turret niche.
Machine-gun magazines (discs) were placed in special iron boxes on the floor of the tank hull. The boxes were closed on top with hinged lids, which, together with the covers of the shell boxes, formed the general flooring of the fighting compartment. 40 disks were placed in the boxes, another 6 disks were located in a special rack on the wall of the tower on the right side.
In addition to the main machine gun, a spare machine gun was carried in the tank. It was placed on special brackets under the flooring of the fighting compartment on the left side of the tank.
The hull design of single-turret tanks of early production remained virtually unchanged compared to double-turret tanks. The only exception was the turret sheet, on which the turret was installed closer to the left side, and in the rear part on the right there was a ventilation hole covered with a lid.
This car has features like early models: transmission hatch, hinged to the right, headlight without armor casing, and later - stamped frontal shield of the turret and removable tires of the road wheels. NIBT Test site, 1940
1 - engine; 2 - main clutch; 3 - cardan shaft; 4 - gearbox; 5 - side clutch; 6 - control lever; 7 - gear shift lever; 8- drive wheel; 9 - guide wheel; 10-track roller; 11-caterpillar; 12 - 45 mm gun; /3 - flywheel of the gun lifting mechanism; 14 - gunner's seat; 15 - periscope sight; 16 - ventilation hole cap; 17 - radio station; 18 - antenna; 19- VKU; 20 - hole with louvres for cooling air inlet; 21 - oil cooler: 22 - hole for air outlet; 23 - muffler; 24 front cross pipe; 25 - rear transverse pipe; 26 - driver's seat; 27 - telescopic sight
In the fall of 1933, an access hatch to the transmission appeared in the upper inclined frontal plate of the hull. Initially, its lid opened towards the left side, and later - up against the direction of the tank. At the same time, the dimensions of the hatch have increased.
Already in 1933, radio stations 71-TK-1, which had handrail antennas, began to be installed on some tanks. And if in the first year of production of single-turret T-26s, the percentage of radio tanks was small (apparently due to the lack of the required number of radio stations). then later it amounted to half, and then exceeded the number of tanks without radio stations.
In 1934, the suspension was strengthened: the spring thickness was increased from 5.5 mm to 6 mm.
The headlight, which was fixedly mounted on the vertical frontal sheet of the turret box, was moved to the upper inclined sheet, made folding and in stowed position covered with an armored cap. The signal was transferred from the left side of the turret box to its front sheet.
Since 1935, tanks have been equipped with a 45-mm cannon mod. 1934. On this gun, semi-automatic mechanical type was replaced by semi-automatic inertial type. The latter worked fully only when firing armor-piercing shells; when firing fragmentation weapons - like a quarter of automatic weapons. those. opening the shutter and extracting the cartridges was done manually, and when the next cartridge was inserted into the chamber, the shutter closed automatically. This is due to various initial speeds armor-piercing and fragmentation shells.
In addition, the gun mod. 1934 differed from the previous design of the recoil device and lifting mechanism, and the bolt wedge was strengthened. the wire of the foot release was replaced with a cable, the fastening of the cradle with the mask was strengthened, and a number of other small improvements were made.
1 - armor cap: 2 - bracket: 3 - fastening bolt in stowed position: 4 - fastening bolt in firing position: 5 - strip with slot: 6 - rubber gasket
Since 1935, tank hulls and turrets began to be manufactured using electric welding. The gun's ammunition capacity was reduced to 122 rounds (for vehicles with a radio station - 82). capacity has been increased fuel tank. The tank's weight increased to 9.6 tons.
In 1936, a removable rubber band was introduced on the road wheels, the tension mechanism was changed, and a second DT machine gun was installed in the turret niche. At the same time, the cannon's ammunition load was reduced from 136 to 102 rounds (on tanks without a radio station), and the tank's mass increased to 9.65 tons. In 1937, they began to mount on parts of the vehicles anti-aircraft machine guns DT on P-40 turrets, and later on more advanced 56-U322B. Two so-called “combat lights” were installed on the gun, and a new VKU-3 and a TPU-3 intercom were introduced. The engine was boosted, and its maximum power increased from 90 to 95 hp. In 1937, only radio tanks were produced, and with radio stations 71-TK-Z.
The ammunition load of tanks with a radio station reached 147 rounds (107 for tanks without a radio) and 3087 rounds of ammunition.
The weight of the tank was 9.75 tons.
