Weapons and military equipment of the Second World War. Development of weapons and military equipment during the Second World War. Artillery semi-caponier "Elephant"
Photo. Multi-purpose all-wheel drive army vehicle
Willys-MV (USA, 1942)
Unloaded weight 895kg. (2150lbs)
Engine carburetor liquid cooling 42 hp / 2500 rpm 4-cycle. 2200cm²
Gearbox: 3 speeds + 1 reverse
Maximum speed on the highway: 104 km/h.
Fuel consumption 14l/100kl.
Tank 57l.
Photo. Anti-tank gun. M-42. 45 mm. Caliber 45mm. Barrel length 3087mm. Maximum rate of fire is 15-30 rounds per minute.
Photo. Katyusha. BM-13 rocket launcher. Created in 1939 design bureau of A. Kostyukov. Performance characteristics: Caliber: 132mm. Weight without shells: 7200 kg. Number of guides: 16 Firing range: 7900m.
Photo. 122 mm. Howitzer. Model 1938 Created in 1938 design group of F. Petrov. Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 2400 kg. Firing range: 11800m. Maximum elevation angle + 63.5°. Rate of fire 5-6 rounds/min.
Photo. 76 mm. Divisional Cannon. Model 1942 Created in 1938-1942. design bureau of V. Grabin. Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 1200 kg. Firing range: 13290m. Maximum elevation angle + 37°. Rate of fire 25 rounds/min.
Photo. 57 mm. Anti-tank gun. Model 1943 Created in 1938-1942. design bureau of V. Grabin. Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 1250 kg. Firing range: 8400m. Maximum elevation angle + 37°. Rate of fire 20-25 rounds/min.
Photo. 85 mm. Anti-aircraft gun. Model 1939 Created in 1939 G. D. Dorokhin. Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 4300 kg. Firing range in height: 10500m. Horizontal: 15500m. Maximum elevation angle + 82°. Rate of fire 20 rounds/min.
Photo. Barrel 203 mm. Howitzers. Model 1931 Designers F. F. Pender, Magdesnev, Gavrilov, Torbin. Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 17700 kg. Firing range: 18000m. Maximum elevation angle + 60°. Rate of fire 0.5 rounds/min.
Photo. 152 mm. Howitzer gun M-10. Model 1937 Created in 1937 design group of F. Petrov Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 7270 kg. Firing range: 17230m. Maximum elevation angle + 65°. Rate of fire 3-4 shots/min
Photo. 152 mm. Howitzer D-1. Model 1943 Created in 1943 design group of F. Petrov Tactical and technical characteristics: Weight: in combat position 3600 kg. Firing range: 12400m. Maximum elevation angle + 63.30°. Rate of fire 3-4 rounds/min.
Photo. Field kitchen. KP-42 M.
Photo. Heavy Tank IS-2. Created in 1943 design group of Zh. Ya. Kotin, N. L. Dukhova Tactical and technical characteristics: Combat weight: 46 tons. Reservation: hull forehead; 120mm; hull side; 90mm; tower 110mm. Speed: 37 km/h Highway range: 240 km. Armament: 122mm cannon; 3 machine guns 7.62mm; 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun Ammunition: 28 shells, 2331 rounds Crew: 4 people
Photo. Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Mount ISU-152 Created in 1944. Tactical and technical characteristics: Combat weight: 47t. Reservation: hull forehead; 100mm; hull side; 90mm; cutting 90mm. Speed: 37 km/h Highway range: 220 km. Armament: 152mm howitzer gun; 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun Ammunition: 20 shells Crew: 5 people
Photo. Heavy Tank IS-3 Developed under the direction of designer M. F. Blazhi. Adopted into service in 1945. Tactical and technical characteristics: Combat weight: 45.8 tons. Speed: 40 km/h Cruising range on the highway: 190 km. Power: 520hp Armament: 122mm D-25T cannon, model 1943. 7.62mm DT machine gun, 12.7mm DShK machine gun. Ammunition: 20 shells Crew: 4 people.
Information from the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad, in the city of Volgograd.
USSR technology
USSR tank: T-34 (or “thirty-four”)
The tank was put into service on December 19, 1939. This is the only tank in the world that retained its combat capability and was in mass production until the end of the Great Patriotic War. The T-34 tank deservedly enjoyed the love of soldiers and officers of the Red Army, and was the best vehicle in the world tank fleet. He played a decisive role in the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, the Kursk Bulge, Berlin and other military operations.
Soviet technology of World War II
Tank USSR: IS - 2 “Joseph Stalin”
IS-2 is a Soviet heavy tank during the Great Patriotic War. The abbreviation IS means “Joseph Stalin” - the official name of serial Soviet heavy tanks produced in 1943-1953. Index 2 corresponds to the second production model of the tank of this family. During the Great Patriotic War, along with the designation IS-2, the name IS-122 was used equally, in this case the index 122 means the caliber of the main armament of the vehicle.
USSR weapons: 76-mm divisional gun model 1942
The ZIS-3 became the most popular Soviet artillery gun produced during the Great Patriotic War. Thanks to its outstanding combat, operational and technological qualities, this weapon is recognized by experts as one of the best weapons of the Second World War. In the post-war period, the ZIS-3 was in service with the Soviet Army for a long time, and was also actively exported to a number of countries, in some of which it is still in service today.
USSR military equipment: Katyusha
Katyusha is the unofficial collective name for the BM-8 (82 mm), BM-13 (132 mm) and BM-31 (310 mm) rocket artillery combat vehicles. Such installations were actively used by the USSR during the Second World War.
Military equipment from the Great Patriotic War, installed as monuments and museum exhibits in St. Petersburg.
Wall newspapers of the charitable educational project “Briefly and clearly about the most interesting things” (website website) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They are delivered free of charge to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The project's publications do not contain any advertising (only founders' logos), are politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, and well illustrated. They are intended as informational “inhibition” of students, awakening cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without pretending to provide academic completeness of the material, publish interesting facts, illustrations, interviews with famous figures of science and culture and thereby hope to increase the interest of schoolchildren in the educational process. Send feedback and suggestions to: pangea@mail.. We thank the Education Department of the Kirovsky District Administration of St. Petersburg and everyone who selflessly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. We thank the “Book of Memory” project, the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Signal Corps, the Sestroretsk Frontier Museum and Exhibition Complex and Sergei Sharov for the materials provided in the issue. Many thanks to Alexey Shvarev and Denis Chaliapin for their valuable comments.
This issue is dedicated to military equipment that fought on the fields of the Great Patriotic War, and is now installed as monuments in St. Petersburg. With the help of these tanks, ships, planes and guns, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany, driving the enemy out of the territory of our country and liberating the peoples of Europe. These combat vehicles (and some of them remained in single copies) deserve to be carefully preserved, studied, remembered and proud of them. The issue was prepared in collaboration with the “Book of Memory” project, whose task is to find and systematize all monuments dedicated to the events of the Second World War of 1939–1945 in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. “Behind the scenes” of the newspaper there are still post-war monuments: the T-80 tank on the Oil Road, the “rocket train” in the Museum of Railway Equipment, the S-189 submarine on the Lieutenant Schmidt embankment, the MIG-19 aircraft in Aviator Park , the submarine "Triton-2M" in Kronstadt and some others. We plan to dedicate a separate newspaper to military equipment installed on pedestals in the Leningrad region. Also in a separate issue we will talk about the extensive collection of the Artillery Museum on Kronverksky Island.
Admiralteysky district
1. 305 mm railway artillery mount
Photo: Vitaly V. Kuzmin
The Museum of Railway Equipment at the former Warsaw Station displays many unique exhibits. One of the most interesting is a huge weapon. The explanatory plaque says: “Railway artillery mount TM-3-12. Gun caliber – 305 mm. The maximum firing range is 30 km. Rate of fire – 2 shots per minute. Weight – 340 tons. Built at the Nikolaev State Plant in 1938. A total of 3 installations of this type were built, using guns dismantled from the battleship Empress Maria. They took part in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940. From June to December 1941, they took part in the defense of the Soviet naval base on the Hanko Peninsula (Finland). They were disabled by Soviet sailors during the evacuation of the base, and subsequently restored by Finnish specialists using the guns of the Russian battleship Alexander III. They were in service until 1991, decommissioned in 1999. The installation arrived at the museum in February 2000.” The same artillery transporter stands in the Moscow museum on Poklonnaya Hill. Address: Obvodny Canal Embankment, 118, Museum of Railway Equipment.
2. Railway armored platform
This 22-ton armored platform was manufactured in 1935. During the Great Patriotic War, such armored platforms, equipped with anti-aircraft guns or machine guns, were used to protect trains from attacks by enemy aircraft. Address: Obvodny Canal Embankment, 118, Museum of Railway Equipment.
Vasileostrovsky district
3. Icebreaker "Krasin"
Photo: website, Georgy Popov
The icebreaker "Krasin" (until 1927 - "Svyatogor") was built in 1916 in England by order of the Russian government. For several decades, she was the most powerful Arctic icebreaker in the world. In 1928, Krasin rescued the surviving members of the expedition to the North Pole on the airship Italia, which crashed off the coast of Spitsbergen. After this, “Krasin” became known throughout the world. During World War II, the famous icebreaker acquired naval artillery and paved the way for “polar convoys.” This was the name given to caravans of ships with military and civilian cargo that our allies (the USA and Great Britain) sent to the USSR. The Krasin sailed dozens of ships through the ice of the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea and the White Sea. Over 300 Krasin residents received government awards for the courage and bravery shown during the piloting during the war years. Since 2004, the icebreaker has been a branch of the Museum of the World Ocean. Address: Lieutenant Schmidt embankment at the 23rd line of Vasilyevsky Island.
4. Main caliber turrets of the cruiser "Kirov"
Photo: website, Georgy Popov
The Soviet light artillery cruiser Kirov was built at the Baltic Shipyard No. 189 in Leningrad and launched in 1936. On the very first day of the war, he repelled an air raid on Riga with anti-aircraft caliber, then massive air raids on the Main Base of the Baltic Fleet in Tallinn. After the relocation of the Baltic Fleet squadron to Kronstadt and until the end of the war, the Kirov remained the flagship (this is the name given to the ship on which the commander is located). He actively participated in the defense of Leningrad. In total, during the war, Kirov repelled attacks by 347 enemy aircraft. In 1942–44, he occupied a position mainly between the Palace Bridge and the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, from where he conducted live fire. At the end of the war, it supported the offensive operations of our army with its main caliber. 100-kilogram shells fired from triple 10-meter-long guns hit the target at a then-record distance of 40 kilometers. More than a thousand crew members were awarded government awards for heroism and courage. In 1961, the Kirov was retrained as a training ship and regularly made trips with cadets along the Baltic Sea. After the ship was removed from the lists of the fleet in 1974, it was decided to install its two bow 180-mm turrets and propellers as a Memorial to the feat of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. Installed in 1990. Address: Morskaya embankment, 15-17.
5. Torpedo boat of the Komsomolets project
Photo: lenww2.ru, Leonid Maslov
Although this boat on a granite-lined pedestal is post-war, it was installed in memory of the feat of the sailors of the torpedo boats of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Great Patriotic War. Similar torpedo boats of the Komsomolets project of the Baltic Fleet sank 119 enemy ships and vessels during the war years. Installed in 1973. Address: Gavan, territory of the Lenexpo exhibition complex, Bolshoi Avenue of Vasilyevsky Island, 103.
6. Submarine "Narodovolets"
Photo: website, Georgy Popov
This diesel-electric torpedo submarine was built at Baltic Shipyard No. 189 in Leningrad in 1929. At first, such boats were called “Narodovolets”, then they were renamed “D-2” (after the first letter of the name of the lead ship - “Decembrist”). The boat took a direct part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. The first ships sunk by it were transports loaded with coal and a sea ferry. After the end of the war, the boat continued to serve in the Baltic Fleet, and was then based in Kronstadt as a training station. In 1989, after restoration work, the boat was installed on the shore as a monument to submarine heroes, scientists, designers and shipbuilders of the Great Patriotic War. The submarine museum opened in 1994. Address: Shkipersky Protok, 10.
Vyborg district
7. "Katyusha"
This legendary “Katyusha” (a multiple launch rocket system based on a 6-wheeled, 4-ton off-road truck “ZIS-6”) is a monument to the military and labor glory of the Karl Marx Machine-Building Association, on whose territory it was installed. At the enterprise, which traditionally produced spinning machines for cotton and wool, with the beginning of the war they began to make ammunition and weapons, including Katyushas. On the granite pedestal there is an inscription: “To you who left here for the front, to you who remained to forge the weapon of Victory, to the soldiers and workers of the Great Patriotic War, this monument was erected.” To the right and left behind the car are bronze groups of soldiers and workers. The monument was opened in 1985. Address: Bolshoi Sampsonievsky Avenue, 68.
8. ZIS-3 cannon on Muzhestva Square
Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva
A memorial composition consisting of the legendary ZIS-3 cannon of the 1942 model and four anti-tank hedgehogs. Flowers on the pedestal are planted in the form of the inscription “Remember”. The 76-mm ZIS-3 divisional gun became the most popular Soviet artillery gun produced during the Great Patriotic War (a total of 103,000 guns were produced). This gun is also recognized by experts as one of the best weapons of the entire Second World War - due to its outstanding qualities, efficiency and simplicity. In the post-war period, the ZIS-3 was in service with the Soviet Army for a long time, and was also actively exported to a number of countries, in some of which it is still in service today. The memorial was opened in 2011. Address: Courage Square.
Kalininsky district
9. ZIS-3 gun on Metallistov Avenue
Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva
During the war, in the building of the North-West Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief), there was a school of local air defense (local air defense) and artillery courses. In honor of this, a 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon, which took part in the defense of Leningrad, was installed in the park in front of the building on a granite slab. Eight stars are painted on the cannon shield - according to the number of enemy aircraft shot down. To the left of the gun, on a separate granite pedestal, there is a symbolic open book, the pages of which depict St. Isaac's Cathedral during the Siege and the Victory salute. Address: Metallistov Avenue, 119.
Kirovsky district
10. Tank "IS-2" on the territory of the Kirov plant
Photo: website, Georgy Popov
On the territory of the Kirov Plant association there is an IS-2 tank produced at the end of the war in Chelyabinsk. On a pedestal made of granite blocks there is a bronze plaque with the text: “1941–1945. This heavy tank is installed here in memory of the glorious deeds of the tank builders of the Kirov Plant.” "IS-2" was the most powerful and best armored of the Soviet serial tanks during the war and one of the strongest tanks in the world at that time. These tanks were produced since 1943 at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant, created in the shortest possible time on the basis of equipment evacuated from Leningrad. Tanks of this type played a big role in the battles of 1944–1945, especially distinguishing themselves during the assault on cities. After the end of the war, the IS-2 was modernized and was in service with the Soviet and Russian armies until 1995. The memorial was opened in 1952. Address: Stachek Avenue, 47.
11. Tank KV-85 on Stachek Avenue
Photo: website, Georgy Popov
This example (one of two known surviving ones) of the KV-85 tank was installed in 1951 on the initiative of the tank designer Joseph Kotin. “The Victorious Tank” is part of the “Kirov Val” memorial, which is part of the “Green Belt of Glory of Leningrad”. The KV heavy tank (Klim Voroshilov) was produced at the Chelyabinsk Tank Plant from 1939 to 1942 and for a long time had no equal. The index “85” means the caliber of the gun in millimeters. Shells fired from standard German anti-tank guns bounced off him without leaving any damage to the armor. It was produced only in August-October 1943. A total of 148 vehicles of this type were manufactured. The predecessor of the IS heavy tank. Address: Stachek Avenue, 106–108.
12. “Izhora Tower” on Korabelnaya Street
Near the well-preserved bunker (Long-term firing point) there is the so-called “Izhora Tower” - an armored machine-gun turret for a heavy machine gun of the Maxim system of the 1910-1930 model. The tower was found by searchers on the Karelian Isthmus near the Yatka River. The thickness of the armor is 3 centimeters, weight is about 500 kilograms. Such machine-gun armored turrets were produced by the Izhora plant and were actively used on the defense lines of Leningrad. The memorial appeared here in 2011 with the support of the Kirov district administration. Address: Korabelnaya Street, in the park at the intersection with Kronstadt Street.
Kolpinsky district
13. “Izhora Tower” in Kolpino
Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov
The same armored turret was installed in Kolpino as part of the memorial to the “Armored Soldiers of the Izhora Plants”. The armored tower lay in the Sinyavinsky swamps for more than 50 years and was found by the Zvezda search team. It has marks from artillery shell fragments. The inscriptions on the stone, also brought from Sinyavino, read: “A low bow to all the creators of Russian armor at the Izhora factories” and “The memorial sign “To the armored workers of the Izhora factories” was installed in the year of the 100th anniversary of the birth of M.I. Koshkin, the general designer of the tank.” T-34"". Mikhail Koshkin insisted that the turret of his famous tank also be made of heavy-duty armor cast using Izhora technology. The memorial sign was installed in 1998. Address: Kolpino, at the intersection of Proletarskaya street and Tankistov street.
Krasnogvardeisky district
14. 406-mm gun at the Rzhev training ground
The barrel length of this unique B-37 cannon is 16 meters, a two-meter projectile weighs more than a ton, and the firing range is 45 kilometers. A sign is attached to the armored turret: “406-mm gun mount of the Navy of the USSR. This weapon of the Red Banner NIMAP (Scientific Test Naval Artillery Range) took an active part in the defense of Leningrad and the defeat of the enemy from August 29, 1941 to June 10, 1944. With accurate fire, it destroyed powerful strongholds and centers of resistance, destroyed military equipment and manpower of the enemy, supported the actions of units of the Red Army of the Leningrad Front and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Nevsky, Kolpinsky, Uritsk-Pushkinsky, Krasnoselsky and Karelian directions.” Clarification from the NIMAP website: From this gun “in January 1944, during the breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad, 33 shells were fired at the enemy. One of the shells hit the building of power plant No. 8, occupied by the enemy. As a result of the hit, the building was completely destroyed. A crater from a 406-mm shell with a diameter of 12 m and a depth of 3 m was discovered nearby.” This experimental installation was the most powerful Soviet artillery system used during World War II. It was planned to arm four battleships of the Sovetsky Soyuz type, laid down in 1939–1940, with such guns in three-gun turrets. Due to the outbreak of war, none of the ships of this project could be built.
15. 305-mm gun at the Rzhev training ground
Photo: aroundspb.ru, Sergey Sharov
This naval cannon was manufactured on a Zhuravl-type testing machine at the Obukhov plant in 1914. Four such cannons made up one of the batteries of the Krasnaya Gorka fort during the Great Patriotic War. Two similar former Russian guns are currently in Finland, and only one has survived in Russia - this. Text on the plaque: “A 305-mm naval gun mount fired at Nazi troops during the defense of Leningrad from August 29, 1941 to June 10, 1944.” The most powerful weapon ever serially installed on ships of the Russian or Soviet navy. The Rzhev testing ground, called the “experimental artillery battery,” was established more than a century and a half ago with the purpose of testing new types of guns. Over time, the battery turned into the main artillery range of Tsarist Russia and then the Soviet Union. The Scientific Test Naval Artillery Range (NIMAP) today occupies a significant area northeast of St. Petersburg. Unique artillery pieces that took part in the defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War are stored here. For now, the territory of the test site is closed to visitors, but the issue of assigning these famous guns the status of monuments of history and culture of the Russian Federation is being discussed.
16. Anti-aircraft gun "52-K"
Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov
The 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model “52-K” is an exhibit of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. This blockade military weapon, together with the “Traffic Controller” memorial sign, is part of the “Road of Life – 1st Kilometer” memorial complex. The memorial was installed in 2010. Address: Ryabovskoe highway, near house 129.
Krasnoselsky district
17. Plane, tank and anti-aircraft gun in the village of Khvoyny
Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov
The village of Khvoyny is a “piece” of the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg, surrounded on all sides by the territory of the Gatchina district of the Leningrad region. This is an active military unit, but access to the memorial is free. On the stele with a bas-relief depicting besieged Leningrad, there is a quote from the speech of L.I. Brezhnev (leader of the USSR in 1966-1982) when presenting Leningrad with the “Golden Star of the Hero”: “...Legends of hoary antiquity and tragic pages of the not so distant past pale before that an incomparable epic of human courage, perseverance and selfless patriotism, such as the heroic 900-day defense of besieged Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. This was one of the most outstanding, most stunning mass feats of the people and army in the entire history of wars on earth.” Nearby on the site is a T-34/85 tank (1944) with the inscription “For the Motherland”, a 130-mm KS-30 anti-aircraft gun (1948) and a model of the Yak-50P aircraft. Under the anti-aircraft gun there is a memorial plaque with the inscription: “To the anti-aircraft gunners who defended Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Leningrad was saved by the courage of the brave. Eternal glory to the heroes."
Kronstadt district
18. Torpedo boat of the Komsomolets project
Photo: wikipedia.org, Vasyatka1
Post-war torpedo boat of the Komsomolets project, similar to the one installed in Gavan. Here, in the area of the former Litke base, torpedo boats were based during the war. The boat's armament is clearly visible - two 450 mm torpedo tubes and a stern twin mount of 14.5 mm machine guns. “To the Baltic boat sailors,” it says on the sign. There is a park around the monument and linden trees are planted. Historical information from the newspaper “Kronstadt Bulletin”: “During the Great Patriotic War, the Baltic boats of torpedo boat brigades mainly took part in the combat operations of surface ships in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Finland, which was completely strewn with mines. They were fearless and daring, and their attacks caused great damage to the enemy. And many commanders of these small but formidable ships became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Both during the war and decades after it, trawling teams, which included special flat-bottomed boats - minesweepers, worked in the mine-strewn Gulf of Finland. During operations to clear the fairways, more than ten such ships and more than a hundred sailors were killed. This sign is erected in memory of the courage and dedication of the boat sailors.” The memorial was opened in 2009. Address: Kronstadt, Gidrostroiteley street, 10.
19. Artillery installation of the battleship "Gangut"
Photo: lenww2.ru, Oleg Ivanov
76-mm two-gun artillery mount 81-K of the battleship "Gangut" (after 1925 the battleship was called "October Revolution"). "Gangut" was laid down in 1909 at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg under the leadership of the outstanding Russian shipbuilder A.N. Krylov. Took part in the First World War. During the Great Patriotic War, it took part in the defense of Leningrad and was damaged by German artillery fire and aircraft. Since 1954 it was used as a training ship, in 1956 it was expelled from the Navy and dismantled. The text of the plate on the gun: “Two-gun installation of the 1st class petty officer Ivan Tambasov.” The monument was opened in 1957. Address: Kronstadt, Kommunisticheskaya street, intersection with the Obvodny Canal. Nearby are two anchors of the famous battleship.
20. The cabin of the submarine “Narodovolets”
Photo: lenww2.ru, Leonid Kharitonov
Part of the fencing of the diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Narodovolets series (D-2). Text on the plaque: “The first-born of Soviet submarine shipbuilding. Laid down in 1927 in Leningrad. It entered service in 1931. From 1933 to 1939 it was part of the Northern Military Flotilla. From 1941 to 1945, she conducted active military operations against the fascist invaders in the Red Banner Baltic Fleet (KBF). During the war, she sank 5 enemy ships with a total displacement of 40 thousand tons.” Located in the closed territory of the 123rd Red Banner Submarine Brigade.
Resort area
21. Artillery semi-caponier “Elephant”
Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva
Caponier (from the French word “deepening”) is a defensive structure for conducting flanking (side) fire in both directions. Accordingly, the semi-caponier is designed to fire at the enemy in only one direction along the fortress wall. In the photo - artillery semi-caponier No. 1 (call sign - “Elephant”) of the forward line of the Karelian fortified area (“KaUR”), built to protect the old Soviet-Finnish border. The caponier is the main exhibit of the Sestroretsk Frontier museum and exhibition complex. During the Great Patriotic War, the “Elephant” swept with artillery fire the lowland from Kurort to Beloostrov, the approaches to the Sestra River and the railway bridge. The museum has restored the interior of the half-caponier and houses a collection of search finds. The outdoor exhibition includes various types of small fortifications: two reinforced concrete firing points delivered from the area of Beloostrov and Copper Lake, the already familiar Izhora tower, an observation tower of the 1938 model, firing points based on the turrets of the T-28 and KV tanks -1", "T-70", "BT-2", Finnish machine-gun armored cap, gouges, hedgehogs, barriers and other interesting exhibits. Address: Museum and exhibition complex “Sestroretsky Frontier”, Sestroretsk, not far from the intersection of Primorskoye Highway with the Kurort-Beloostrov railway.
22. Firing point from the hull of the T-28 tank
Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva
This is a copy of a firing point discovered by search engines on the Karelian Isthmus. It was built from the body of a three-turreted T-28 medium tank, produced in 1933–1940 at the Kirov plant in Leningrad. The tank was turned over, placed on a wooden foundation and covered with earth. The entrance was through the removed radiator grille. This procedure was described in the book “Manual for Engineering Troops: Fortifications” in the chapter “Using an inverted tank hull to construct a machine gun blockhouse.” Museum and exhibition complex "Sestroretsky Frontier".
23. Firing point with the turret of the KV-1 tank
Photo: Sergey Sharov
This is a copy of the turret of the KV-1 tank, which was installed on a concrete casemate built in 1943 on the Karelian Isthmus. Such tower artillery installations with 76-mm cannons mounted in the turrets of KV tanks were intended to strengthen the anti-tank defense of fortified areas. Museum and exhibition complex "Sestroretsky Frontier".
24. Defensive-offensive armored sliders
Photo: Sergey Sharov
Two armored sliders are on display at the Sestroretsky Frontier museum and exhibition complex. It is known about one of them that he was armed with a casemate artillery mount based on a 76-mm tank gun of the 1938 model and had the call sign “Halva” (he is in the background in the photo). In B.V. Bychevsky’s book “City-Front” there is the following description: “...The creation of the so-called “armor belt” around Leningrad began. We have developed a technology for mass production of various types of prefabricated pillboxes. Once they brought a front-line machine gunner to the Izhora plant to check the squat structure that had just been made from armor plates. The machine gunner climbed under the hood, examined it inside and climbed out. “You know what, friend,” he turned to the welder, “let’s cut a wider hole in the bottom. We’ll make a frame out of logs for this thing and put it right on the trench.” “Or maybe we could also weld a towing hook to the wall? - suggested the welder. - Go on the offensive and take it with you. You can safely drag a tractor or a tank!” “And that’s true,” the machine gunner rejoiced. “He will be kind of like a slider for us: both for defense and offense.” That’s how we christened this design that day - “defensive-offensive armored slider.” Under this name she became widely known throughout the Leningrad Front.” Museum and exhibition complex "Sestroretsky Frontier".
Moskovsky district
25. T-34-85 tanks of the Pulkovo Frontier memorial
Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov
The Pulkovo Frontier Memorial is included in the Green Belt of Glory. It was here that the front line of the defense of Leningrad passed in 1941–1944. The memorial includes a mosaic panel dedicated to the military and labor exploits of Leningraders, a birch alley and concrete anti-tank pillars. On both sides of the memorial are two T-34-85 tanks with side numbers 112 and 113. T-34-85 is a Soviet medium tank of the Great Patriotic War period, adopted for service in 1944 and forming the basis of the tank forces of the Soviet Army until the mid-1950s. The installation of a more powerful 85-mm cannon significantly increased the tank's combat effectiveness compared to its predecessor, the T-34-76. The memorial was opened in 1967. Address: 20th kilometer of Pulkovskoe highway.
Nevsky district
26. Tank "T-34-85" on the territory of the Zvezda plant
Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva
The T-34-85 tank was installed on the territory of the Zvezda machine-building plant, which until recently was named after K.E. Voroshilov. On the pedestal there is a bronze plaque: “In memory of the military and labor feats of the Voroshilovites.” It was founded in 1932 in Leningrad on the basis of the Mechanical Engineering Department of the country's oldest enterprise - the Bolshevik plant (now the Obukhov Plant) and initially specialized in the production of tanks. In the pre-war period and during the Great Patriotic War, the plant produced about 14.5 thousand tanks. During the war, evacuated factory workers created almost 6 thousand T-34 tanks in Omsk and more than 10 thousand tank engines in Barnaul. In the workshops of the plant in besieged Leningrad, tanks were repaired, mines and armor shields were produced. The monument was opened in 1975. Address: Babushkina street, 123, on the territory of JSC Zvezda.
27. Firing point with the turret of the KV-1 tank
At the bunker of the Izhora defensive line there is a model of the KV tank turret installed. As the press service of the city administration reported, “during the war, a similar tower was located in the same place, as evidenced by the tank’s rotating mechanism mounted in the top of the pillbox. Enthusiasts, relying on historical drawings, restored the tank’s turret, returning the pillbox to its original appearance.” The memorial was restored in 2013. Address: Rybatskoye, Murzinskaya street, near the intersection with Obukhovskaya Defense Avenue.
Petrogradsky district
28. Cruiser "Aurora"
Photo: wikipedia.org, George Shuklin
Aurora, a 1st rank cruiser of the Baltic Fleet, was launched in 1900 at the New Admiralty shipyard, one of the oldest shipbuilding enterprises in Russia. Emperor Nicholas II ordered the ship to be named “Aurora” (the Roman goddess of dawn) in honor of the sailing frigate “Aurora”, which became famous during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the Crimean War of 1853–1856. During the Great Patriotic War, the cruiser was stationed in Oranienbaum and protected Kronstadt from air raids. Nine 130-mm guns removed from the cruiser (along with part of the crew) became part of the Duderhof battery, which heroically fought with German tanks. Monuments and memorials included in the “Green Belt of Glory” were built at the positions of the Aurora battery guns. Since 1948, the Aurora has been permanently moored at the Nakhimov Naval School. In 2010, the cruiser was withdrawn from the Navy and is a branch of the Central Naval Museum. In September 2014, the Aurora was towed to the repair dock of the Kronstadt Marine Plant, where it will remain until 2016.
29. “Three-inch” of the late 19th century in the Artillery Museum
Photo: VIMAIViVS
A 3-inch (76 mm) experimental rapid-fire field gun of the 1898 model on the outdoor display of the Artillery Museum. This is one of the first famous “three-inch” guns, which became famous as one of the best guns of its time. Previously, guns were loaded from the muzzle, which was time consuming and ineffective. Thanks to the efforts of outstanding Russian artillery scientists, a completely new weapon was developed at the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg. Thus, these guns were the first to use a high-speed piston bolt with locking, impact and ejection mechanisms and a fuse, an elastic carriage and opener, a recoil brake and an inclinometer. The excellent qualities of the new gun were confirmed on the fields of the Russian-Japanese (1904–1905) and the First World War (1914–1918). After modernization in 1930, these guns were actively used throughout the Great Patriotic War, proving to be an effective means of combating light German tanks. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.
30. Guns from the 1930s in the Artillery Museum
Photo: Sergey Sharov
305 mm howitzer model 1939 (in the foreground) and 210 mm cannon model 1939. These powerful weapons were created by the famous Soviet designer Ilya Ivanov. The collection of cannons from the 1930s at the Artillery Museum is of particular interest - with these guns, so familiar to us from war films, the Red Army entered the Great Patriotic War. Their uniqueness also lies in the fact that they were created in record time. Among the guns of the same period, it is worth noting the famous divisional (76-mm cannon of the 1936 and 1939 model, chief designer Vasily Grabin), and corps, army guns (107-mm cannon of the 1940 model and 152-mm howitzer-gun of the 1937 model, chief designer Fedor Petrov). There is also a weapon here (122-mm howitzer model 1938), which was in service with our country until the 1980s. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.
31. Artillery 1941–1945 in the Artillery Museum
Photo: Sergey Sharov
These systems were created directly during the Great Patriotic War. During this period, excellent samples were produced using the high-speed method, taking into account the experience of combat use of artillery. Many of them are associated with the name of the famous Soviet designer Fedor Petrov. The photograph shows one of his developments, a 152-mm howitzer of the 1943 model D-1. It’s hard to imagine, but less than three weeks were spent on its creation, and it was in service for more than thirty years. Next to it are the first powerful 100-, 122- and 152-mm self-propelled artillery units - a threat to German tanks and self-propelled guns. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.
Photo: Sergey Sharov
The 57-mm anti-tank gun of the 1943 model “ZIS-2” (left) is the most powerful weapon of this caliber during the Great Patriotic War. This gun had the ability to penetrate 145 mm of armor, so it could hit all German tanks. A special place among the guns of the war years is occupied by the 76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model - the famous ZIS-3 (center). It became more compact and as much as 400 kg lighter, and also significantly surpassed its predecessor of the 1939 model in all other respects. For the first time, a muzzle brake was used for divisional guns - a special device that made it possible to reduce the recoil of the barrel. Guns of this design were inexpensive to produce (three times cheaper than before). They were very maneuverable and reliable. All this was clearly confirmed in combat conditions. The formidable and beautiful gun earned respect even from enemies. Hitler's artillery consultant Wolf believed that it was the best gun of the Second World War, "one of the most ingenious designs in the history of barrel artillery." Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.
Photo: Sergey Sharov
It will be interesting to know that Soviet anti-aircraft artillery successfully hit not only air targets, but also ground targets, including tanks. This 14.5-mm quad anti-aircraft machine gun mount designed by Leshchinsky “ZPU-4” destroyed both aircraft (at altitudes up to 2000 meters) and lightly armored ground targets and enemy personnel. Its rate of fire is 600 rounds per minute. In the courtyard of the museum, almost all anti-aircraft guns that were created and were in service in the pre-war and war years are displayed. These are 25- and 37-mm automatic anti-aircraft guns of the 1940 and 1939 model and an 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model, which proved themselves well during the Great Patriotic War. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.
Photo: pomnite-nas.ru, Dmitry Panov
Heavy self-propelled artillery unit based on the IS tank - ISU-152, model 1943. The main armament of the self-propelled gun was the 152-mm howitzer-cannon “ML-20”, the firepower of which made it easy to deal with “Tigers” and “Panthers” - the main enemy tanks. For this, the famous self-propelled gun received the nickname “St. John’s wort”. In the post-war period, the ISU-152 underwent modernization and was in service with the Soviet army for a long time. The development of ISU-152 was carried out under the leadership of Joseph Kotin, chief designer of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, built on the basis of the evacuated Leningrad Kirov Plant. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.
32. Historical weapons in the Peter and Paul Fortress
Photo: website, Georgy Popov
152-mm howitzers of the 1937 model “ML-20” in the Peter and Paul Fortress on the square near the Naryshkin Bastion. “In 1992–2002, these howitzers served as signal guns for the Peter and Paul Fortress and carried out the traditional midday shot every day,” the information plaque says. Every Saturday (from late May to October) a guard of honor ceremony is held here five minutes before noon. The ML-20 howitzer takes pride of place among the best cannon artillery designs. These are the guns that were installed on the Zverovoi, powerful self-propelled artillery units. Address: Peter and Paul Fortress.
Frunze district
33. Firing point with the turret of the KV-1 tank
Photo: kupsilla.ru, Denis Chaliapin
A firing point covered with earth and construction debris was accidentally discovered by a local resident in the summer of 2014. Historians became interested in the find, achieved the status of a monument for the fortification, and raised money for its restoration. An exact copy of the turret of the KV-1 heavy tank was made, which was solemnly installed in its original place. This bunker was part of the Izhora defensive line, built in 1943. Kupchinsky local historian Denis Shalyapin commented on the opening of the monument: “A tank turret installed on a concrete casemate (which in itself is a rare case) on one of the central highways of the city will be noticed by everyone passing along the avenue. Thus, Kupchino will receive a unique monument, which can rightfully become one of the symbols of the region.” The monument was opened in 2015. Address: Slavy Avenue, opposite house 30.
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ARMED FORCES OF THE MAIN PARTICIPANTS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR COUNTRY Number of armed forces (millions of people) By the beginning of 1941 By the beginning of 1945 Germany 7.2 9.4 Japan 1.7 7.2 Italy 1.5 - USA 1.8 11, 9 Great Britain 3.2 4.5 USSR 5.2 9.4 China (Kuomintang) 2.5 4.0 China (communists) 0.4 0.9
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RELATIONSHIP OF FORCES OF THE USSR AND GERMANY IN THE MOSCOW DIRECTION IN THE AUTUMN 1941 Combat forces and means Red Army German troops Personnel (thousands) 120 1800 Number of tanks 990 1700 Number of guns and mortars (thousands) 7.6 14 Number of aircraft 667 1390
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Lend-Lease (from the English “lend” - to lend and “lease” - to rent) is a unique program for lending to allies by the United States of America through the supply of equipment, food, equipment, raw materials and materials. According to the Lend-Lease law, the United States could supply equipment, ammunition, equipment, etc. countries whose defense was vital for the States themselves. All deliveries were free of charge. All machinery, equipment and materials spent, used up or destroyed during the war were not subject to payment. Property left over after the end of the war that was suitable for civilian purposes had to be paid for.
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Share of Lend-Lease deliveries in the total quantity of products produced and supplied to the USSR
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Aircraft 22,150 Tanks 12,700 SUVs and all-terrain vehicles 51,503 Trucks 375,883 Motorcycles 35,170 Tractors 8,071 Rifles 8,218 Automatic weapons 131,633 Pistols 12,997 Boxcars 11,155 Locomotives 1,981 Gru calling ships 90 Anti-submarine ships, etc. 105
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Il-2 is the most popular combat aircraft in history, more than 36 thousand were produced. In the Red Army, the plane received the nickname “humpback” (for the characteristic shape of the fuselage). The designers called the aircraft they developed a “flying tank.” The aircraft had a bad reputation among the Wehrmacht ground forces and earned several honorary nicknames, such as “butcher”, “iron Gustav.” The Il-2 took part in battles during all military operations of the Great Patriotic War, as well as in the Soviet-Japanese War. In February 1941, mass production began. The first production IL-2s were manufactured in Voronezh at plant No. 18 (in November 1941 the plant was evacuated to Kuibyshev). Il-2 was mass-produced at aircraft factories No. 1 and No. 18 in the city of Kuibyshev, and at aircraft factory No. 30 in Moscow.
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Development was started by the designers and engineers of the special NKVD design bureau, SKB-29, in mid-1938. Created on the basis of the experimental twin-engine high-altitude fighter "100", the Pe-2 made its first flight on December 22, 1939 and began mass production at the end of 1940. The Pe-2 also served as a flying laboratory for testing rocket boosters. The first flight with a functioning rocket launcher took place in October 1943. The speed increased by 92 km/h. Experiments with various versions of the Pe-2 with rocket launchers continued until 1945
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The first three production Tu-2s, produced by plant No. 166, reached the Kalinin Front in September 1942. The vehicles ended up as part of the 3rd Air Army. Front-line pilots rated the Tu-2 very highly. They emphasized the high efficiency of the aircraft, capable of dropping large bombs on a target, powerful defensive weapons, ease of piloting and high flight performance. For the creation and organization of serial production of the Tu-2 bomber A.N. Tupolev was awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st degree, in 1943, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree, in 1944, and was also promoted to major general of the engineering and technical service. In 1945, Tupolev became a Hero of Socialist Labor.
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Yak-7 Soviet single-engine fighter aircraft of the Great Patriotic War. It was developed at Plant No. 301 shortly after the start of the war on the initiative of the A. S. Yakovlev Design Bureau brigade located at this plant to assist in the development of the Yak-7UTI. The Yak-7 has been produced since 1941; a total of 6,399 aircraft of 18 different modifications were built, including training and combat ones. By the end of 1942, it began to be replaced at an accelerated pace by the more advanced Yak-9, which later became the most popular Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War.
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The La-5 fighter appeared under circumstances that were not entirely ordinary, if not dramatic, for the design team headed by S.A. Lavochkin. LaGG-Z fighter. for the production and improvement of which this design bureau was responsible, due to insufficient efficiency it was removed from production. And the very existence of the design bureau is now in question. Of course, the designers perfectly understood the nature of the LaGG's shortcomings and were already carrying out design work on its radical modification. Along with the need to dramatically improve flight data, the main thing in this matter was efficiency and the requirement for continuity of the LaGG-Z design and its new modification. Only if these conditions were met was it possible to transfer the plant to the production of a new aircraft before the Yak fighter appeared on the assembly line (as planned). And S.A. Lavochkin’s design bureau coped with this task successfully.
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To produce armored vehicles, the Tankograd military production complex was created in the Urals. Thousands of planes and tanks rolled off the assembly lines of defense enterprises. This made it possible to form air and tank armies, which played a decisive role in the offensive of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1943-1945.
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T-34 was the main tank of the Red Army until the first half of 1944, when it was replaced by the T-34-85 modification tank. From 1942 to 1945, the main production of the T-34 was launched at powerful machine-building plants in the Urals and Siberia, and continued in the post-war years. The leading plant for modifying the T-34 was the Ural Tank Plant No. 183. The T-34 tank had a huge impact on the outcome of the war and on the further development of world tank building. Thanks to the totality of its combat qualities, the T-34 was recognized by many specialists and military experts as one of the best tanks of the Second World War. During its creation, Soviet designers managed to find the optimal balance between the main combat, tactical, ballistic, operational, running and technological characteristics. The T-34 tank is the most famous Soviet tank and one of the most recognizable symbols of World War II.
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Serial production of the T-44 began in 1944, but during the Great Patriotic War it was carried out on a limited scale in order to prevent a reduction in the production of the T-34-85 during large-scale offensive operations. T-44
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In general, the tank fully met the expectations of the command as a means of qualitatively strengthening units and subunits intended to break through well-fortified enemy lines in advance, as well as storm cities. Is -2
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OT-34 - was created on the basis of the T-34. Unlike a linear tank, it was armed with an automatic powder piston flamethrower ATO-41, located in place of the forward machine gun, which, for example, compared to the solution for the KV-8, allowed the 76-mm cannon to be retained. OT-34
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Katyusha is an unofficial name for barrelless field rocket artillery systems that appeared during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (primarily and initially - BM-13, and subsequently also BM-8, BM-31 and others). Such installations were actively used by the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Second World War. The popularity of the nickname turned out to be so great that post-war MLRS on automobile chassis, in particular BM-14 and BM-21 Grad, were often called “Katyusha” colloquially. Subsequently, by analogy with “Katyusha”, a number of similar nicknames (“Andryusha ", "Vanyusha") was given by Soviet soldiers to other installations (BM-31, etc.) of rocket artillery, but these nicknames did not become so widespread and popular and, in general, are much less known.
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Balance of forces in the Stalingrad direction in November 1942 Forces and means Red Army Germany and its allies Personnel (thousands of people) 1134.8 1011.5 Number of tanks 1560 675 Number of guns and mortars 14934 10290 Number of aircraft 1916 1219
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Balance of forces in the Orel-Kursk direction at the beginning of July 1943 Forces and means Soviet troops German troops Personnel (thousands of people) 1336 900 Number of tanks and self-propelled guns 3444 2733 Number of guns and mortars 19100 10000 Number of aircraft 2172 2050
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PRODUCTION OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT IN THE LARGEST COUNTRIES IN 1943-1944. COUNTRY PRODUCTION OF TANKS (thousand units) PRODUCTION OF AIRCRAFT (thousand units) 1943 1944 1943 1944 GERMANY 19.8 27.3 25.2 38.0 JAPAN 1.0 1.0 16.3 28.3 USSR 24.0 29 .0 35.0 40.3 UK 8.6 7.5 23.7 26.3 USA 29.5 17.6 85.9 96.4
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Of the divisional guns, the most common was the 76 mm ZIS-3 cannon. In the initial period of the war, the 76-mm F-22 cannon and the 76-mm USV cannon were also used. Corps artillery was represented by 122-mm A-19 cannons, a 152-mm howitzer of the 1909/30 model, and also a 152-mm ML-20 howitzer-gun. Anti-tank guns included 45 mm 53-K, 45 mm M-42 and 57 mm ZIS-2 anti-tank guns. Anti-aircraft artillery used 37-mm 61-K anti-aircraft guns, as well as 76-mm 3-K and 85-mm 52-K cannons.
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Before the war, increased attention was paid to the development of automatic weapons - the ABC self-loading rifle was followed by the SVT and AVT. However, the main small arms of the Soviet army was the Mosin rifle. In addition, the PPSh submachine gun has also gained some popularity. Nagan revolvers and TT pistols were used as officer weapons. The main light machine gun was the DP, and the Maxim machine gun, developed before the First World War, was used as an easel machine gun. The DShK heavy machine gun, also used as an anti-aircraft gun, has also gained some popularity.
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Mosin rifle.7.62-mm (3-line) rifle model 1891 (Mosin rifle, three-line) - a repeating rifle adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in 1891. It was actively used in the period from 1891 to the end of the Great Patriotic War, and was modernized many times during this period. The name three-ruler comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three Russian lines (the old measure of length was equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm - respectively, three lines are equal to 7.62 mm). Based on the 1891 model rifle and its modifications, a number of models of sporting and hunting weapons, both rifled and smooth-bore, were created.
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Shpagin submachine gun. 7.62-mm submachine gun model 1941 of the Shpagin system (PPSh) is a Soviet submachine gun developed in 1940 by designer G. S. Shpagin and adopted by the Red Army on December 21, 1940. The PPSh was the main submachine gun of the Soviet armed forces in the Great Patriotic War. After the end of the war, in the early 1950s, the PPSh was removed from service with the Soviet Army and gradually replaced by the Kalashnikov assault rifle; for a little longer it remained in service with rear and auxiliary units, units of internal troops and railway troops. It was in service with paramilitary security units at least until the mid-1980s. Also, in the post-war period, PPSh was supplied in significant quantities to countries friendly to the USSR, was in service with the armies of various states for a long time, was used by irregular forces and was used in armed conflicts around the world throughout the twentieth century.
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Pistol arr. 1933 (TT, Tula, Tokarev) - the first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, developed in 1930 by Soviet designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev. The TT pistol was developed for the 1929 competition for a new army pistol, announced to replace the Nagan revolver and several models of foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army by the mid-1920s. The German 7.63×25 mm Mauser cartridge was adopted as a standard cartridge, which was purchased in significant quantities for the Mauser S-96 pistols in service.
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The exhibition of weapons, military equipment and fortifications of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War presents a fairly complete collection of Soviet armored vehicles from the war period, British and American armored vehicles supplied to the Soviet Union in 1941 - 1945 under Lend-Lease, as well as armored vehicles of our main opponents in years of war - Germany and Japan.
During the Second World War, armored forces, as shown by the experience of their combat use, played a decisive role in battles, performing a wide range of tasks in all types of combat, both independently and together with other branches of the military. They grew both quantitatively and qualitatively, rightfully becoming the main striking force of the armies of various states. During the six years of World War II, about 350,000 armored combat vehicles took part in battles on both sides: tanks, self-propelled artillery units (SPG), armored vehicles (AV) and armored personnel carriers (APC).
Soviet military thought in the pre-war years assigned an important role to tanks. They were intended to be used in all types of combat operations. As part of rifle formations, they were intended to break through the tactical defense zone as a means of direct infantry support (INS), operating in close cooperation with other branches of the military. Most of the tanks were in service with tank and mechanized formations, which had the task of developing success in operational depth after breaking through the defense.
During the first five-year plans, the necessary production base for the mass production of tanks was created in the Soviet Union. Already in 1931, the factories provided the Red Army with 740 vehicles. For comparison: in 1930, the troops received only 170 tanks, and in 1932 - 3,121 vehicles, including 1,032 T-26 light tanks, 396 BT-2 light fast tanks and 1,693 T-27 tankettes. No other country built such a number of tanks at that time. And this pace was practically maintained until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
In 1931 - 1941, 42 samples of various types of tanks were created in the USSR, of which 20 samples were accepted for service and put into mass production: T-27 tankettes; light infantry escort tanks T-26; light wheeled-tracked high-speed tanks of mechanized formations BT-5/BT-7; light reconnaissance amphibious tanks T-37/T-38/T-40; T-28 medium tanks for direct infantry support; heavy tanks provide additional high-quality reinforcement when breaking through fortified T-35 zones. At the same time, attempts were made in the Soviet Union to create self-propelled artillery units. However, it was not possible to fully develop and put into mass production the self-propelled guns.
In total, 29,262 tanks of all types were manufactured in the Soviet Union over these ten years. In the 1930s in our country, when developing light tanks, preference was given to wheeled-tracked vehicles, which then formed the basis of the Red Army's tank fleet.
The fighting during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 1939 showed that tanks with bulletproof armor were already outdated. Soviet tank crews and technical specialists who visited Spain came to the conclusion that it was necessary to increase the thickness of the frontal armor of the hull and turret to 60 mm. Then the tank will not be afraid of anti-tank guns, which have begun to be equipped with the ground forces of various countries. For such a relatively heavy vehicle, as tests have shown, a purely tracked propulsion system was optimal. This conclusion of Soviet designers formed the basis for the creation of the new T-34 medium tank, which rightfully won the glory of the best tank in the world during the Great Patriotic War.
At the turn of the 1930s - 1940s, domestic tank builders developed a clear idea of the prospects for the development of armored vehicles. In the Soviet Union, various measures were taken to strengthen the Armed Forces. As a result, the Red Army received new medium (T-34) and heavy (KV-1 and KV-2) tanks, which had ballistic armor, powerful weapons and high mobility. In terms of combat qualities, they were superior to foreign models and fully met modern requirements.
The development of tanks, engines, and weapons in the USSR was carried out by design teams under the leadership of N.N. Kozyreva (T-27), N.N. Barykova (T-26 and T-28), A.O. Firsova (BT), N.A. Astrova (T-37), O.M. Ivanova (T-35), M.I. Koshkin and A.A. Morozova (T-34), Zh.Ya. Kotin (KV and IS-2), M.F. Balzhi (IS-3), I.Ya. Trashutin and K. Chelpan (V-2 diesel engine), V.G. Grabin (tank guns, V.A. Degtyarev (tank machine guns), E.I. Marona and V.A. Agntsev (tank sights).
By 1941, mass production of tanks was organized in the USSR, meeting all the requirements of that time. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, and then during the war, tanks were produced by about two dozen factories in the country: the Leningrad Kirov Plant, the Moscow Plant named after. S. Ordzhonikidze, Kharkov Locomotive Plant, Stalingrad Tractor Plant, Gorky Plant "Krasnoe Sormovo", Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant ("Tankograd"), Ural Tank Plant in Nizhny Tagil, etc.
Massive supplies of armored vehicles made it possible to begin organizing mechanized corps in the Red Army in the mid-1930s, which was 5-6 years ahead of the emergence of similar formations in the armed forces of Germany and other countries. Already in 1934, a new branch of troops was created in the Red Army - armored forces (since December 1942 - armored and mechanized troops), which to this day are the main striking force of the Ground Forces. At the same time, the 5th, 7th, 11th and 57th special mechanized corps were deployed, transformed into tank corps in August 1938. However, the armored forces were in the process of reorganization. In 1939, these formations were disbanded due to an incorrect assessment of the combat experience of using tanks in Spain. In May 1940, the Red Army's armored forces consisted of: one T-35 tank brigade; three T-28 brigades; 16 BT tank brigades; 22 T-26 tank brigades; three motorized armored brigades; two separate tank regiments; one training tank regiment and one training battalion of motorized armored units. Their total number was 111,228 people. The ground forces also included six motorized divisions. Each of them had one tank regiment. In total, the motorized division had 258 light tanks.
The study of combat experience in the use of armored and mechanized troops during the outbreak of World War II allowed Soviet military specialists to develop a scientifically based theory of the combat use of tank and mechanized formations and units, both in combined arms combat and in independent actions. This theory was further developed during the Great Patriotic War.
The fighting that took place near the river. Khalkhin Gol units and formations of the Red Army clearly proved that much can be achieved by the active use of mobile tank formations. Powerful tank formations were widely used by Germany during the first period of World War II. All this proved that it was urgently necessary to return to the creation of large armored formations. Therefore, in 1940, the restoration of 9 mechanized corps, 18 tank and 8 mechanized divisions began in the Red Army, and in February - March 1941, the formation of another 21 mechanized corps began. To fully staff the new mechanized corps, 16,600 tanks of only new types were required, and in total - about 32,000 tanks.
On June 13, 1941, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin in the “Certificate on the deployment of the Armed Forces of the USSR in case of war in the West” noted: “In total, there are 303 divisions in the USSR: rifle divisions - 198, tank divisions - 61, motorized divisions - 31...” Thus, instead of the previous 42 tank divisions, brigades and six motorized divisions in the Red Army a week before the start of the war, there were 92 tank and motorized divisions. However, as a result of such a rapid reorganization of the troops, less than half of the formed corps fully received the necessary weapons and military equipment. In tank units, there was an acute shortage of tank commanders and technical specialists, since the commanders who came from rifle and cavalry formations did not have practical experience in the combat use of tank forces and the operation of armored vehicles.
As of June 1, 1941, the tank fleet of the Soviet ground forces consisted of 23,106 tanks, including 18,690 combat-ready. In the five western border districts - Leningradsky, Baltic Special, Western Special, Kiev Special and Odessa - as of June 22, 1941, there were 12,989 tanks, of which 10,746 were combat-ready and 2,243 required repairs. Of the total number of vehicles, about 87% were light tanks T-26 and BT. Relatively new models there were light T-40 with machine gun armament, medium T-34 (1105 units), heavy KV-1 and KV-2 (549 units).
In the battles of the first period of the Great Patriotic War with the shock groups of the Wehrmacht, parts of the Red Army lost a large amount of their military equipment. In 1941 alone, during the Baltic defensive operation (June 22 - July 9), 2,523 tanks were lost; in Belorusskaya (June 22 - July 9) - 4799 cars; in Western Ukraine (June 22 - July 6) - 4381 tanks. Replacing losses became one of the main tasks of Soviet tank builders.
During the war, the relative number of light tanks in the active army continuously decreased, although in 1941-1942 their production increased in quantitative terms. This was explained by the need to supply the troops with the largest possible number of combat vehicles in a short time, and it was relatively simple to organize the production of light tanks.
At the same time, their modernization was carried out, and first of all, strengthening of the armor.
In the fall of 1941, the T-60 light tank was created, and in 1942, the T-70. Their introduction into serial production was facilitated by the low cost of production, thanks to the use of automotive units, as well as the simplicity of the design. But the war showed that light tanks were not effective enough on the battlefield due to the weakness of their weapons and armor. Therefore, from the end of 1942, their production decreased markedly, and in the late autumn of 1943 it was discontinued.
The freed production capacity was used to produce light self-propelled guns SU-76, created on the basis of the T-70. Medium tanks T-34 took part in hostilities from the first days. They had an undoubted superiority over the German Pz tanks. Krfw. III and Pz. Krfw. IV. German specialists had to urgently modernize their machines.
In the spring of 1942, the Pz tank appeared on the Eastern Front. Krfw. IV modification F2 with a new 75 mm cannon and reinforced armor. In a duel, it outperformed the T-34, but was inferior to it in maneuverability and maneuverability. In response, Soviet designers strengthened the T-34's gun and the thickness of the turret's frontal armor. By the summer of 1943, the Germans equipped tank units with new tanks and self-propelled artillery units (Pz. Krfw. V "Panther"; Pz. Krfw.VI "Tiger"; self-propelled guns "Ferdinand", etc.) with more powerful armor protection, fire from 75 of them - and 88-mm long-barreled guns hit our armored vehicles from a distance of 1000 meters or more.
The new Soviet tanks T-34-85 and IS-2, armed with 85 mm and 122 mm guns (respectively), by the beginning of 1944 were able to restore the advantage of Soviet armored vehicles in armor protection and firepower. All this taken together allowed the Soviet Union to gain an unconditional advantage over Germany, both in the quality of armored vehicles and in the number of models produced.
In addition, starting in 1943, the Red Army began to receive a large number of self-propelled artillery units. The need for them became apparent in the first months of hostilities, and already in the summer of 1941 at the Moscow Automobile Plant named after. I.V. Stalin hastily mounted a 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun of the 1941 model on semi-armored T-20 Komsomolets artillery tractors. These self-propelled units received the designation ZIS-30.
On October 23, 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to begin work on the creation of two types of self-propelled guns: light ones - for direct fire support of infantry and medium ones, armored like the T-34 medium tank - to support and escort tanks in battle. Tank builders for a light self-propelled gun equipped with a 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon used the base of the T-70 tank. This machine was well developed and relatively easy to manufacture. It was also taken into account that the supply of light tanks to the front was gradually declining. Then they appeared: the medium self-propelled gun SU-122 - a 122 mm howitzer based on the T-34 tank and the heavy SU-152 - a 152 mm howitzer gun based on the KV-1S tank. In 1943, the Supreme High Command decided to transfer self-propelled artillery units from the GAU to the jurisdiction of the Commander of Armored and Mechanized Forces. This contributed to a sharp increase in the quality of self-propelled guns and an increase in their production. In the same year, 1943, the formation of self-propelled artillery regiments for tank, mechanized and cavalry corps began. During the offensive, light self-propelled guns accompanied the infantry, medium and heavy self-propelled guns fought against enemy tanks, assault guns, and anti-tank artillery, and destroyed defensive structures.
The role of self-propelled guns has increased in conditions of widespread use by the enemy of the Panther and Tiger tanks. To combat them, Soviet troops received SU-85 and SU-100 vehicles.
The 100-mm gun mounted on the SU-100 self-propelled guns was superior to the 88-mm guns of German tanks and self-propelled guns in terms of the power of armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation shells, and was not inferior to them in rate of fire. During the war, self-propelled artillery mounts showed themselves to be highly effective formidable weapons and, at the suggestion of tankers, the designers developed self-propelled guns based on heavy IS-2 tanks, and the ammunition load of the heavy self-propelled guns ISU-122 and ISU-152 received armor-piercing shells, which made it possible, at the final stage of the war , hit almost all types of German tanks and self-propelled guns. Light self-propelled guns were developed at the design bureau under the leadership of S.A. Ginzburg (SU-76); L.L. Terentyev and M.N. Shchukin (SU-76 M); medium - in the design bureau under the leadership of N.V. Kurina, L.I. Gorlitsky, A.N. Balashova, V.N. Sidorenko (SU-122, SU-85, SU-100); heavy - in the design bureau under the leadership of Zh.Ya. Kotina, S.N. Makhonina, L.S. Troyanova, S.P. Gurenko, F.F. Petrova (SU-152, ISU-152, ISU-122).
In January 1943, the formation of tank armies of a homogeneous composition began in the Red Army - the 1st and 2nd tank armies appeared, and by the summer of that year the Red Army already had five tank armies, which consisted of two tank and one mechanized corps. Now armored and mechanized troops included: tank armies, tank and mechanized corps, tank and mechanized brigades and regiments.
During the war, Soviet armored vehicles were not inferior to those of the Wehrmacht, and often surpassed them both qualitatively and quantitatively. Already in 1942, the USSR produced 24,504 tanks and self-propelled guns, i.e. four times more than what German industry produced in the same year (5953 tanks and self-propelled guns). Considering the failures of the first period of the war, this was a real feat of Soviet tank builders.
Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service Zh.Ya. Kotin noted that an invaluable feature of the Soviet school of tank building played a huge role in this - the maximum possible simplicity of design, the desire for the complex only if the same effect cannot be achieved by simple means.
The number of Soviet tanks participating in operations was constantly increasing: 780 tanks took part in the Battle of Moscow (1941–1942), 979 in the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943), 5200 in the Belarusian Strategic Offensive Operation (1944), and 5200 in the Berlin Operation (1945) - 6250 tanks and self-propelled guns. According to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Army General A.I. Antonov, “...the second half of the war was marked by the predominance of our tanks and self-propelled artillery on the battlefields. This allowed us to carry out operational maneuvers of enormous scope, encircle large enemy groups, and pursue them until they are completely destroyed.”
In total, in 1941 - 1945, the Soviet tank industry gave the front 103,170 tanks and self-propelled guns (the latter - 22,500, of which medium - more than 2,000, and heavy - more than 4,200), of which light tanks accounted for 18.8%, medium - 70.4% (T-34 with a 76-mm cannon 36,331, and with an 85-mm cannon - another 17,898 tanks) and heavy - 10.8%.
During the battles, about 430,000 combat vehicles were returned to service after being repaired in the field or in the factory, that is, each industrial tank was repaired and restored on average more than four times.
Along with the mass production of armored vehicles during the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army received tanks and self-propelled guns from Great Britain, Canada and the United States under Lend-Lease. Transportation of armored vehicles was carried out mainly along three routes: northern - through the Atlantic and the Barents Sea, southern - through the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and Iran, eastern - through the Pacific Ocean. The first transport with tanks arrived in the USSR from Great Britain in September 1941. And by the beginning of 1942, the Red Army received 750 British and 180 American tanks. Many of them were used in the Battle of Moscow in the winter of 1941 - 1942. In total, during the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union, according to Western sources, 3805 tanks were shipped to Great Britain, including 2394 Valentine, 1084 Matilda, 301 Churchill, 20 Tetrarch, 6 Cromwell. To these should be added 25 Valentine bridge tanks. Canada provided the USSR with 1,388 Valentine tanks. In the USA, 7172 tanks were loaded onto ships under Lend-Lease, including 1676 light MZA1, 7 light M5 and M24, 1386 medium MZAZ, 4102 medium M4A2, one M26, as well as 707 anti-tank self-propelled guns (mainly M10 and M18), 1100 anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (M15, M16 and M 17), and 6666 armored personnel carriers. However, not all of these vehicles took part in the fighting. Thus, under the attacks of the German fleet and aviation, along with the ships of the Arctic convoys, 860 American and 615 British tanks were sent to the seabed. With a fairly high degree of certainty, we can say that during the four years of the war, 18,566 units of armored vehicles were delivered to the USSR, of which: 10,395 tanks, 6,242 armored personnel carriers, 1,802 self-propelled guns and 127 armored vehicles, which were used in units, formations and training units of the Red Army.
During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet tank crews showed examples of the effective use of armored weapons, although the enemy was strong and had very powerful military equipment. The Motherland duly noted the feat of Soviet tank crews: in their ranks there were 1,150 Heroes of the Soviet Union (including 16 twice Heroes), and more than 250,000 were awarded orders and medals. On July 1, 1946, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the professional holiday “Tankman’s Day” was established to commemorate the great merits of armored and mechanized forces in defeating the enemy during the Great Patriotic War, as well as for the merits of tank builders in equipping the country’s Armed Forces with armored vehicles. It is deeply symbolic that the legendary T-34 tank was often installed on the pedestals of monuments in honor of the liberation of Soviet cities from Nazi captivity, and many of the Soviet tanks of that time took their place of honor in many domestic museums.
In its modern form, armored forces represent the main striking force of the Ground Forces, being a powerful means of armed warfare, designed to solve the most important tasks in various types of combat operations. The importance of tank forces as one of the main branches of the Ground Forces will remain in the near foreseeable future. At the same time, the tank will retain its role as the leading universal combat weapon of the Ground Forces. In the post-war years, numerous modern models of tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and airborne combat vehicles, which embodied the latest achievements of domestic science and technology, entered service with the armored forces.
The German army, our main enemy during the Great Patriotic War, had very powerful armored forces (Panzerwaffe). By the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was prohibited from having tank troops and producing armored vehicles. However, in violation of its terms, already at the end of the 1920s, the Germans began to secretly carry out work in the field of tank building, and with Hitler coming to power in January 1933, all restrictions of the Versailles Treaty were discarded, and the creation of a mass army began at an accelerated pace in Germany. A special place in it was reserved for tanks.
The initiator of the construction of armored forces and the theorist of their use in war was General G. Guderian. According to his views, tanks were to be used en masse as part of large mechanized strike formations in cooperation with other branches of the military, primarily with aviation. Having broken through the enemy defenses, and without waiting for the infantry, the tanks must enter the operational space, destroy the rear, disrupting communications and paralyzing the work of the enemy headquarters. He listed the advantages of tanks in the following order: mobility, weapons, armor and communications.
The German Panzerwaffe became the basis of the “blitzkrieg” during the Second World War, constituting the main striking force of the Ground Forces of the Third Reich. The Wehrmacht abandoned the division of tanks by purpose - into infantry and cruising. Tanks, assembled into large formations, were supposed to perform any functions if necessary: both infantry escort tanks and success development tanks. Although the complete abandonment of relatively small tank units intended for close interaction with infantry formations and units also cannot be considered successful. The Wehrmacht switched (similarly to the Red Army) to dividing tanks into light, medium and heavy. But if in the USSR such a criterion was only the mass of the tank, then in Germany tanks for a long time were divided into classes, both by weight and by armament. For example, originally the Pz tank. Krfw. The IV was considered a heavy fighting vehicle based on its armament - a 75 mm cannon - and was considered such until the summer of 1943.
All tanks entering service with the Wehrmacht received the letter abbreviation Pz. Krfw. (short for Panzegkampfwagen - armored fighting vehicle) and serial number. Modifications were designated by letters of the Latin alphabet and the abbreviation Ausf. – (abbr. Аusfuhrung - model, variant). Command tanks were designated Pz.Bf.Wg. (Panzerbefehlswagen). Simultaneously with this type of designation, an end-to-end system was used for all Wehrmacht vehicles. According to the end-to-end system, most of the Wehrmacht's armored vehicles (with some exceptions) received the designation Sd. Kfz. (abbr. Sonderkraftfahrzeug - special purpose vehicle) and serial number.
Self-propelled artillery units, considered as a means of strengthening infantry and tanks on the battlefield, were designated differently, since the Wehrmacht and SS troops had a large number of their classes and types. Assault guns had their own designation system, self-propelled howitzers, self-propelled howitzers and anti-tank guns had their own. At the same time, the official designation of almost any self-propelled gun, as a rule, also included information about the tank chassis on the basis of which it was created. Like tanks, most self-propelled artillery units also had end-to-end indexes with serial numbers in the Sd system. Kfz. The classification of self-propelled artillery units of the Wehrmacht varied according to several main classes: assault guns (Sturmgeschutz; StuG); assault howitzers (Sturmhaubitze; StuH); self-propelled carriages and chassis (Selbstfahrlafetten; Sf.); assault infantry guns (Sturminfanteriengeschutz; StuIG); assault tanks (Sturmpanzer; StuPz.); tank destroyers/self-propelled anti-tank guns (Panzerjager, Pz.Jg; Jagdpanzer Jgd.Pz); howitzer self-propelled guns (Panzerhaubitze; Pz.N); anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (Flakpanzer, Fl.Pz). The confusion with classification and designations was aggravated by the fact that machines of one of the types, after modernization and changes in their design, acquired completely different properties, the so-called. 75 mm StuG assault gun. III, which, after mounting a 75 mm long-barreled gun, actually turned into a tank destroyer, but continued to be listed as an assault gun. The Marder self-propelled anti-tank guns also underwent changes in designation; instead of the original “Pak Slf” (self-propelled anti-tank gun), they began to be called “Panzerjager” (tank destroyer).
The first serial German tank was the light Pz. Krfw. I, entered the army in 1934. The following year, the second light tank Pz appeared. Krfw. II. These vehicles were tested in combat conditions during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 1939.
The creation of medium tanks in Germany was delayed due to unsettled tactical and technical requirements for them, although some companies began developing a prototype with a 75-mm cannon back in 1934. Guderian considered it necessary to have two types of medium tanks: the main one (Pz. Krfw. III) with a 37 mm gun and a support tank with a 75 mm short-barreled gun (Pz. Krfw. IV). Production of Pz tanks. Krfw. III and Pz. Krfw. IV began only in 1938.
After the capture of the Czech Republic, in March 1939, the Wehrmacht received more than 400 modern Czech tanks LT-35 (Pz. Krfw. 35 (t)). In addition, the German tank forces were significantly strengthened by the LT-38 (Pz.Krfw. 38(t)) tanks produced in occupied Moravia, but under German orders, which had higher combat characteristics than the Pz tanks. Krfw. I and Pz. Krfw. II.
On September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht tank fleet in combat, training units and bases consisted of 3,195 vehicles. There were about 2800 of them in the active army.
German losses in armored vehicles during the Polish campaign were small (198 destroyed and 361 damaged) and were quickly replaced by industry. Following the results of the September (1939) battles, Guderian demanded that the armor and firepower of tanks be strengthened and the production of Pz increased. Krfw. Ш and Рz. Krfw. IV. By the beginning of the campaign in France (May 10, 1940), 5 German tank corps had 2,580 tanks. British and French tanks were superior to enemy models in terms of armor and armament, but German tank forces had higher training and combat experience, and were also better controlled. They were used en masse, while the Allies fought tank battles in small groups, sometimes without close interaction either with each other or with the infantry. Victory went to the German strike forces.
To attack the Soviet Union, the German command, consisting of 17 tank divisions, concentrated 3,582 tanks and self-propelled guns. These included 1698 light tanks: 180 Рz. Krfw. I; 746 Rz. Krfw. II; 149 Rz. 35(t); 623 Rz. 38(t) and 1404 medium tanks: 965 Рz. Krfw. III; 439 Rz. Krfw. IV, as well as 250 assault guns. The troops had another 230 command tanks that did not have cannon armament. The battles on the Soviet-German front revealed a number of technical shortcomings of German tanks. Their cross-country ability and mobility on the ground turned out to be low. In terms of armament and armor, they were significantly inferior to the Soviet T-34 and KV. It became clear to the Wehrmacht command that the troops needed stronger vehicles. While the development of new medium and heavy tanks was underway, the rearmament of the Pz began. Krfw. IV (a long-barreled 75-mm cannon was installed with simultaneous reinforcement of its armor). This temporarily put it on par with Soviet tanks in terms of armament and armor. But according to other data, the T-34 retained its superiority.
Even at the height of World War II, the Germans did not immediately begin to speed up the production of military equipment, but only when the specter of defeat loomed before them. At the same time, during the fighting, the material part of the German tank forces was continuously improved qualitatively and grew quantitatively. Since 1943, the Germans began to massively use the Pz medium tank on the battlefield. Krfw. V "Panther" and heavy Pz. Krfw. VI "Tiger". These new Wehrmacht tanks had better developed weapons, but their disadvantage was, first of all, their large mass. Thick armor did not save Wehrmacht vehicles from shells from Soviet guns mounted on T-34-85 and IS-2 tanks and SU-100 and ISU-122 self-propelled guns. To gain superiority over the Soviet IS-2 tank, a new heavy tank Pz.Krfw was created in 1944. VI B "Royal Tiger". It was the heaviest production tank of World War II. During the war, German industry began to produce self-propelled artillery systems for various purposes in increasing quantities. As the Wehrmacht transitioned to defensive operations, the proportion of self-propelled artillery compared to tanks increased. In 1943, the production of self-propelled guns exceeded the production of tanks, and in the last months of the war it exceeded it three times. At various times, approximately 65 to 80% of the Wehrmacht's armored vehicles were located on the Soviet-German front.
If German armored vehicles, created in the period 1934 - 1940, were mainly distinguished by high reliability, simplicity and ease of maintenance and operation, and ease of operation, then the equipment created during the war could no longer boast of such indicators. Haste and haste during the development and launch of production of the Pz.Krfw.V “Panther”, Pz.Krfw.VI Ausf.E “Tiger” and Pz.Krfw.VI Ausf tanks. B (“Royal Tiger”) had a negative impact on their reliability and performance characteristics, especially the Panther and Royal Tiger tanks. In addition, the Wehrmacht also used captured armored vehicles, but in rather limited quantities. Captured tanks, as a rule, were outdated and did not represent much value for the front (except for the Czechoslovak model LT-38). The Wehrmacht used them in secondary theaters of war, for occupation forces and counter-partisans, as well as for training tank crews.
Captured equipment was also used for conversion into self-propelled artillery units, armored personnel carriers for delivering ammunition, etc. All the factories of the European states occupied by the Germans also worked for the German Wehrmacht. Two large factories in the Czech Republic, Skoda (Pilsen) and SKD (Prague), renamed VMM, produced tanks and self-propelled guns of their own design until the end of the war. In total, Czech factories produced more than 6,000 tanks and self-propelled guns. Tank factories in France were involved mainly in converting captured French tanks, repairing them, or manufacturing some spare parts for them, but not a single new tank or self-propelled gun was assembled there. In Austria, annexed to the Third Reich during the Anschluss of 1938, the Niebelungwerke tank assembly plant (Steyr-Daimler-Puch) was created in St. Valentine during the Second World War. Its products were included in the total production of German factories. After the surrender of Italy in 1943, its territory was partially occupied by German troops. Some tank factories in northern Italy, for example the Fiat-Ansaldo company (Turin), continued to produce tanks and self-propelled guns for German formations operating in Italy. In 1943 - 1945 they produced more than 400 vehicles. In total, from September 1939 to March 1945, German industry produced about 46,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, with the latter accounting for more than 22,100 units. In addition to these vehicles, during the Second World War, Germany also produced tracked, wheeled and half-track armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, and tractor-transporters.
The first English Mk V tanks arrived in Japan in 1918, followed by Mk A tanks and French Renault FT 17 tanks in 1921. In 1925, two tank companies were formed from these vehicles. The Japanese began their own tank building only in 1927, when several prototypes of multi-turret tanks weighing about 20 tons were created. During these same years, British Vickers-6-ton tanks and the Carden-Loyd MkVI wedge, and French Renault NC1 tanks were purchased (the latter were in service under the designation "Otsu" until 1940). On their basis, Japanese firms began developing wedges and light tanks.
In 1931-1936, the Type 89 medium tank was produced in small series. This designation of military equipment was adopted in the armed forces based on the Japanese chronology, according to which the Japanese year 2589 corresponded to 1929 of the Gregorian calendar. In 1933, the Japanese leadership and military command decided to mechanize the Japanese army and issued corresponding orders to industry. At first, Japanese designers preferred wedges. The first of these was the Type 92 (1932), followed by the Type 94 midget tank (1934) and the Type 97 Te-ke small tank (1937). In total, more than 1000 wedges were built before 1937. However, further production of this class of vehicles ceased due to their low combat qualities, although it was in Japan that the wedge design reached its greatest development.
Since the mid-1930s, the Japanese tank industry has completely switched to the development of light and medium vehicles. In 1935, the most popular light tank, the Ha-Go, was created, and in 1937, the medium-sized Chi-Ha tank was created. The latter, until the end of World War II, was the main model of Japanese armored forces. In 1937, the rate of tank production increased due to deliveries to the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. At the same time, the “Ha-go” and “Chi-ha” machines were being modernized. In the mid-1930s, the command of the Japanese army first showed interest in producing amphibious tanks, which were necessary for carrying out amphibious operations in a future war. At this time, samples of amphibious tanks are being developed.
Japanese tank building in the 1920s and 1930s was characterized by a careful study of foreign experience; passion for wedges; concentrating efforts on creating light and medium tanks to arm the Kwantung Army in China, as well as, starting in 1933, using diesel engines in tanks. Japanese tanks were tested in combat during combat operations in the 1930s and early 1940s in the Far East against Chinese and Mongolian troops, as well as units of the Red Army. The experience gained in the combat use of tanks forced Japanese designers, first of all, to look for ways to increase their firepower and enhance armor protection. In total, in 1931 - 1939, Japanese industry produced 2020 tanks. 16 samples were developed, including 7 serial ones.
With the outbreak of the war in Europe, tank production in Japan picked up pace: in 1940, 1023 vehicles were produced, in 1941 - 1024. Given the island position of the country, the Japanese military leadership did not seek to build up its tanks and troops. A troop training manual published in 1935 noted: “The main purpose of tanks is combat in close cooperation with infantry.” From a tactical point of view, tanks were considered only as a means of supporting infantry and were reduced to small units. Their main tasks were considered to be: fighting fire points and field artillery and making passages for infantry in obstacles. Tanks could be sent on “close raids” beyond the front line of the enemy’s defense to a depth of no more than 600 m. At the same time, having disrupted his defense system, they had to return to their infantry and support their attack. The most maneuverable type of combat operations were “deep raids” together with cavalry, motorized infantry on vehicles, sappers and field artillery. In defense, tanks were used to carry out frequent counterattacks (mostly at night) or to fire from ambush. Fighting enemy tanks was allowed only when absolutely necessary. In November 1941, according to the operational plan of the headquarters, the main forces of the fleet and aviation were involved in the capture of the Philippine Islands, Malaya, Burma and other territories, and 11 infantry divisions and only 9 tank regiments were allocated from the ground forces.
By December 1941, the Japanese army's tank fleet consisted of about 2,000 vehicles: mostly light Ha-Go tanks and wedges, and several hundred medium Chi-Ha tanks. Since 1940, the main tanks “Ha-go” and “Chi-ha” have been modernized. As a result, the Ke-nu light tank and the Chi-he medium tank were built in noticeable quantities during the war. In 1942, designers created the Ka-mi amphibious tank, which experts consider the best example in the history of Japanese tank building. But its release was extremely limited. In the same year, to combat Allied tanks and support their troops, the Japanese army sent self-propelled artillery units in limited quantities.
Japanese tanks had weak weapons and armor, satisfactory mobility, and were also not reliable enough and did not have good means of observation and communication. In terms of armament, protection and other characteristics, these vehicles lagged behind those of other warring countries. Therefore, by the end of the war, Japanese instructions already considered tanks as one of the most effective anti-tank weapons, and tanks were often dug into the ground in defense. The main feature of Japanese tank building was the widespread use of diesel engines. During the war, Japanese tank building experienced a constant shortage of raw materials (steel) and skilled labor. Tank production in Japan reached its maximum level in 1942 and then began to fall. In total, Japanese industry produced 2,377 tanks and 147 self-propelled guns between 1942 and 1945.
The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War is persistently working to identify and collect material evidence of the heroic and tragic past. With each subsequent year after the war, it becomes more and more difficult to complete the work of completing our collections with new models of armored vehicles. Currently, the museum has tanks and other armored vehicles of domestic production from the pre-war, war and post-war periods of production. This makes it possible to reveal the main stages of domestic tank building, to show the intense work of workers, engineers, designers, technologists, production organizers, and all home front workers in achieving Victory in incredibly difficult conditions.
The collection of armored vehicles of the USSR, Great Britain, USA, Germany and Japan has been created by museum staff since 1990. Great assistance in this work was provided by the Main Armored Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the leadership of the Border Troops of the FSB of Russia, military-patriotic public associations, search groups, and veteran tank crew organizations. The museum is recreating missing examples of armored vehicles by constructing mock-ups of them from surviving fragments found by search teams. In this way, the model of the KV-1 heavy tank and models of Japanese tanks were recreated. A number of exhibits were restored by specialists from the 38th Research Testing Institute of Armored Vehicles of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation before being placed at the weapons exhibition.