The exact dimensions of the tank t 34 85. History of creation. The Great Patriotic War

T-34-85

Ironically, one of the greatest victories of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War - near Kursk was won at a time when Soviet armored and mechanized troops were qualitatively inferior to German ones (see "Armored Collection" No. 3, 1999). By the summer of 1943, when the most painful design flaws of the T-34 had been eliminated, the Germans had new "Tiger" and "Panther", significantly superior to ours in terms of armament and armor thickness. Therefore, during the Battle of Kursk, Soviet tank units, as before, had to rely on their numerical superiority over the enemy. Only in some cases, when the "thirty-fours" managed to get close to the German tanks, did the fire of their guns become effective. The question of a radical modernization of the T-34 tank was on the agenda.
It cannot be said that by this time attempts were not made to develop more advanced tanks. This work, suspended with the outbreak of war, resumed in 1942, as the current modernization was completed and the shortcomings of the T-34 were eliminated. Here, first of all, we should mention the project of the medium tank T-43.
This combat was created taking into account the requirements for the T-34 - strengthening its armor protection, improving the suspension and increasing the volume of the fighting compartment. Moreover, the design groundwork for the pre-war T-34M tank was actively used.
The new combat vehicle was 78.5% unified with the serial "thirty-four". The hull shape of the T-43 basically remained the same, as well as the transmission, chassis elements,. The main difference was the strengthening of the armor of the frontal, side and rear hull sheets up to 75 mm, the turret up to 90 mm. In addition, the place of the driver and him was transferred to the right side of the hull, and the place of the gunner-radio operator and the installation of the DT course machine gun were eliminated. In the forward part of the hull, on the left, they were placed in an armored enclosure; side tanks were seized. The tank received a torsion bar suspension. The most significant innovation, which sharply distinguished the T-43 from the T-34 in appearance, was a three-seat cast with an extended shoulder strap and a low-profile commander's cupola.
Since March 1943, two prototypes of the T-43 tank (they were preceded by the T-43-1, built at the end of 1942, which had a driver’s hatch plug and a commander’s cupola shifted to the rear of the tower) were tested, including front-line , as part of a separate tank company named after the NKSM. They found that the T-43, due to the mass increased to 34.1 tons, is somewhat inferior to the T-34 in terms of dynamic characteristics (decreased to 48 km / h), although it significantly surpasses the latter in smoothness. After the replacement of eight onboard fuel tanks (in the T-34) with one bow of a smaller capacity, the T-43's cruising range decreased by almost 100 km, respectively. Tankers noted the spaciousness of the fighting compartment and greater ease of maintenance of weapons.
After testing, at the end of the summer of 1943, the T-43 was adopted by the Red Army. Preparations for its serial production began. However, the results of the Battle of Kursk made significant adjustments to these plans.
At the end of August, a meeting was held at plant No. 112, which was attended by the People's Commissar for the Tank Industry V.A. Malyshev, the commander of the armored and mechanized troops of the Red Army, Ya.N. In his speech, V.A. Malyshev noted that the victory in the Battle of Kursk went to the Red Army at a high price. Enemy tanks fired at ours from a distance of 1500 m, while our 76-mm tank guns could hit "tigers" and "panthers" only from a distance of 500 - 600 m. and we are only half a kilometer away. We need to immediately install a more powerful gun in the T-34."
In fact, the situation was much worse than V.A. Malyshev described it. But attempts to rectify the situation have been made since the beginning of 1943.
As early as April 15, the State Defense Committee, in response to the appearance of new German tanks on the Soviet-German front, issued Decree No. -day deadline to submit your . In accordance with this document, the deputy commander of the BT and MB, Lieutenant General of the Tank Forces V.M. The test results were disappointing. So, the 76-mm armor-piercing tracer of the F-34 cannon did not penetrate the side armor of a German tank even from a distance of 200 m! The most effective means of combating the enemy’s new heavy vehicle turned out to be the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun 52K of the 1939 model, which pierced its 100-mm frontal armor from a distance of up to 1000 m.
On May 5, 1943, the State Defense Committee adopted Decree No. 3289ss "On strengthening the artillery armament of tanks and self-propelled guns." In it, the NKTP and the NKV were given specific tasks to create tank guns with anti-aircraft ballistics.
Back in January 1943, the design bureau of plant No. 9, led by F.F. Petrov, began to develop such a gun. By May 27, 1943, working drawings of the D-5T-85 cannon were produced, designed according to the type of German tank-propelled guns and distinguished by its low weight and short recoil length. In June, the first D-5Ts were made in metal. Around the same time, prototypes of other 85-mm tank guns were ready: TsAKB (chief designer V.G. Grabin) presented the S-53 guns (leading designers T.I. Sergeev and G.I. Shabarov) and S-50 (leading designers V.D. Meshchaninov, A.M. Volgevsky and V.A. Tyurin), and the artillery plant No. 92 - the LB-85 gun A.I. Savin. Thus, by the middle of 1943, four versions of the 85-mm gun, intended for arming a medium tank, were ready for testing. But what is it?
The T-43 disappeared quite quickly - this machine weighed 34.1 tons even with a 76-mm gun. Installing a more powerful, and therefore heavier, gun would entail a further increase in mass, with all the ensuing negative consequences. In addition, the transition of factories to the production of a new tank, although it had much in common with the T-34, would inevitably cause a decrease in production volumes. And it was holy! As a result, the serial production of the T-43 did not begin. In 1944, an 85-mm cannon was nevertheless installed on it on an experimental basis, and that was it.
In the meantime, the D-5T gun was quite successfully assembled in a promising heavy tank IS. To install the D-5T in the T-34 medium tank, it was necessary to increase the diameter of the turret ring and install a new turret. The design bureau of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, headed by V.V. Krylov, and the tower group of plant No. 183, led by A.A. Moloshtanov and M.A. Nabutovsky, worked on this problem. As a result, two very similar cast towers appeared with a clear diameter of 1600 mm. Both of them resembled (but did not copy) the turret of the experimental T-43 tank, which was taken as the basis for the design.
The progress of work was negatively affected by the promise of the TsAKB management to install the 85-mm S-53 cannon in the regular turret of the T-34 tank with a shoulder strap diameter of 1420 mm. V.G. Grabin ensured that plant No. 112 gave him a serial tank, on which the front part of the turret was redone in the TsAKB, in particular, the trunnions of the gun were moved forward by 200 mm. Grabin tried to approve this project from V.A. Malyshev. However, the latter had serious doubts about the appropriateness of such a decision, especially since the tests of the new gun in the old tower, carried out at the Gorokhovets training ground, ended in failure. Two people, who were in the turret, which had become even tighter, could not properly service the gun. and drastically decreased. Malyshev ordered M.A. Nabutovsky to fly to plant number 112 and sort everything out. At a special meeting, in the presence of D.F. Ustinov and Ya.N. Fedorenko, Nabutovsky completely criticized the Grabinsk project. It became obvious that there was no alternative to a tower with an extended shoulder strap.
At the same time, it turned out that the S-53 cannon, which won the competitive tests, could not be installed in a tower designed by the Sormovichi. When installed in this tower, the gun had a limited vertical aiming angle. It was required either to change the design of the tower, or to install another gun, for example, the D-5T, which would be freely assembled into a Sormovo tower.
According to the plan, the Krasnoye Sormovo plant was supposed to produce 100 T-34 tanks with the D-5T gun by the end of 1943, however, the first combat vehicles of this type left its workshops only at the beginning of January 1944, that is, in fact, before the official adoption of the new tank into armament. GKO Decree No. 5020ss, according to which the T-34-85 was adopted by the Red Army, saw the light only on January 23, 1944.
Tanks armed with the D-5T cannon differed markedly from the vehicles of a later release in appearance and internal structure. The tank turret was double, and the crew consisted of four people. On the roof of the tower there was a commander's turret with a double-leaf lid, which rotated on a ball bearing, strongly shifted forward. A viewing periscope MK-4 was fixed in the lid, which allowed for a circular view. For firing from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun, a TSh-15 telescopic articulated sight and a PTK-5 panorama were installed. Both sides of the tower had observation slots with triplex glass blocks. The radio station was located in the hull, and the input of its antenna was on the starboard side, just like the T-34 tank. consisted of 56 shots and 1953 rounds. , transmission and running gear remained practically unchanged. These tanks differed somewhat among themselves depending on the time of release. For example, early production vehicles had one turret, and most subsequent ones had two.
It should be noted that, apparently, the T-34-85 considered above in the statistical reporting does not appear. In any case, today there are significant discrepancies in the estimates of the number of cars produced, given in the literature. Basically, the numbers fluctuate in the range of 500 - 700 tanks. In fact, much less! The fact is that in 1943 283 D-5T guns were produced, in 1944 - 260, and in total - 543. Of this number, 107 guns were installed on IS-1 tanks, 130 (according to other sources, no more than 100) - on KV-85 tanks, several guns were used on prototypes of combat vehicles. Thus, the number of T-34 tanks fired with the D-5T gun is close to 300 units.
As for the S-53 gun, its installation in the Nizhny Tagil tower did not cause any difficulties. By a GKO decree of January 1, 1944, the S-53 was adopted by the Red Army. In March, the production of these guns began in the commissioning mode, and in May - in the stream. Accordingly, in March, the first T-34-85 tanks armed with S-53 left the workshops of plant No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil. Following the lead plant, factories No. 174 in Omsk and No. 112 Krasnoye Sormovo began to produce such machines. At the same time, the Sormovichi still installed D-5T guns on parts of the tanks.
Field tests, which continued despite the start of production, revealed significant defects in the S-53 recoil devices. Artillery Plant No. 92 in Gorky was instructed to carry out its revision on its own. In November-December 1944, the production of this gun began under the index ZIS-S-53 ("ZIS" - the index of the artillery plant No. 92 named after Stalin, "C" - the TsAKB index). In total, 11,518 S-53 guns and 14,265 ZIS-S-53 guns were manufactured in 1944-1945. The latter were installed both on the T-34-85 and T-44 tanks.
For "thirty-fours" with S-53 or ZIS-S-53 guns, the turret became triple, and the commander's turret was moved closer to its stern. The radio station was moved from the building to the tower. Viewing devices were installed only a new type - MK-4. The commander's panorama PTK-5 was seized. They also took care of the engine: the air cleaners "" were replaced with more efficient ones of the "Multicyclone" type. The rest of the units and systems of the tank remained practically unchanged.
As was the case with the T-34, the T-34-85 tanks had some differences from each other related to the manufacturing technology at different factories. The towers differed in the number and location of the casting seams, the shape of the commander's cupola. In the chassis, both stamped road wheels and cast ones with developed fins were used.
In January 1945, the two-leaf hatch cover of the commander's cupola was replaced with a single-leaf. On tanks of post-war production (Krasnoye Sormovo plant), one of the two fans installed in the aft part of the tower was moved to its central part, which contributed to better ventilation of the fighting compartment.
At the end of the war, an attempt was made to strengthen the armament of the tank. In 1945, field tests of prototypes of medium tanks T-34-100 with a turret shoulder strap widened to 1700 mm, armed with 100-mm guns LB-1 and D-10T, were carried out. On these tanks, the mass of which reached 33 tons, the course machine gun was withdrawn and the crew was reduced by one person; reduced tower height; the thickness of the bottom, the roof over the engine and the turret roof has been reduced; moved to the control compartment fuel tanks; the driver's seat is lowered; the suspension of the 2nd and 3rd road wheels is made in the same way as the suspension of the first rollers; five-roller drive wheels are supplied. The T-34-100 tank was not adopted for service - the 100-mm gun turned out to be "unbearable" for the "thirty-four". This work generally made little sense, since the new T-54 medium tank with a 100-mm D-10T cannon had already been adopted.
Another attempt to strengthen the armament of the T-34-85 was made in 1945, when the TsAKB developed a modification of the ZIS-S-53, equipped with a single-plane gyroscopic stabilizer - the ZIS-S-54. However, this artillery system did not go into the series.
But another version of the T-34-85 with weapons different from the base tank was mass-produced. We are talking about the flamethrower tank OT-34-85. Like its predecessor, the OT-34, this machine was equipped with an ATO-42 automatic piston tank flamethrower from plant No. 222 instead of a course machine gun.
In the spring of 1944, at the former plant No. 183, restored after the liberation of Kharkov, which was assigned No. 75, prototypes of the AT-45 heavy tractor, intended for towing guns weighing up to 22 tons, were manufactured. The AT-45 was designed on the basis of the units of the T-34-85 tank . It was equipped with the same V-2, but with power reduced to 350 hp. at 1400 rpm. In 1944, the plant manufactured AT-45 tractors, two of which were sent to the troops for testing in combat conditions. The production of tractors was stopped in August 1944 in connection with the preparation at plant No. 75 of the production of a new model of the T-44 medium tank. It would not be superfluous to recall that this tractor was not the first to be built on the basis of the thirty-four units. 500 hp it was supposed to reach speeds of up to 33 km / h with a hook pull of 15 tons. Prototypes of the AT-42 tractor were manufactured in 1941, but further work on their testing and production had to be curtailed due to the evacuation of the plant from Kharkov.
General production of T-34-85 tanks


Serial production of the T-34-85 in the Soviet Union was stopped in 1946 (according to some sources, it continued in small batches at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant until 1950). As for the number of T-34-85 tanks produced by one or another plant, then, as in the case of the T-34, there are noticeable discrepancies in the figures given in different sources.
This table shows data for 1944 and 1945 only. T-34-85 commander and OT-34-85 were not produced in 1946.
Production of T-34-85 tanks by NKTP plants


Comparing the data of the two tables shows a discrepancy in the number of tanks produced in 1944. And this is despite the fact that the tables are compiled according to the most common and most reliable data. In a number of sources, you can find other figures for 1945: 6208, 2655 and 1540 tanks, respectively. However, these numbers reflect the production of tanks for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of 1945, that is, approximately at the end of World War II. Differences in numbers make it impossible to accurately indicate the number of T-34 and T-34-85 tanks produced from 1940 to 1946. This number ranges from 61,293 to 61,382 units.
Foreign sources give the following figures for the production of T-34-85 in the USSR in the post-war years: 1946-5500, 1947-4600, 1948-3700, 1949-900, 1950 - 300 units. Judging by the number of zeros, these figures are likely to be very approximate. If we take as a basis the number of vehicles produced in 1946, which is doubled in these sources, and assume that all other figures are inflated in the same way, it turns out that 4750 T-34-85 tanks were produced in 1947-1950. This indeed seems to be true. Indeed, one cannot seriously assume that our tank industry has been idle for almost five years? The production of the T-44 medium tank ceased in 1947, and the factories began mass production of the new T-54 tank almost only in 1951. As a result, the number of T-34 and T-34-85 tanks manufactured in the USSR exceeds 65,000.
Despite the introduction of new T-44 and T-54 tanks into the troops, the "thirty-fours" made up a significant part of the tank fleet of the Soviet Army in the post-war years. Therefore, these combat vehicles were modernized in the course of major repairs in the 50s. First of all, the changes affected the engine, which as a result received the name V-34-M11. Two VTI-3 air cleaners with ejection dust extraction were installed; a nozzle was built into the cooling and lubrication systems; the GT-4563A generator with a power of 1000 W was replaced by a G-731 generator with a power of 1500 W.
To drive a car at night, the driver received BVN. At the same time, an FG-100 IR illuminator appeared on the right side of the hull. The observation device MK-4 in the commander's cupola was replaced by the commander's observation device TPK-1 or TPKU-2B.
Instead of the DT machine gun, a modernized DTM machine gun was installed, equipped with a PPU-8T telescopic sight. Instead of the PPSh submachine gun, the AK-47 was introduced into the laying of the personal weapons of the crew members.
Since 1952, the 9-R radio station was replaced by the 10-RT-26E radio station, and the TPU-Zbis-F intercom was replaced by TPU-47.
Other systems and units of the tank have not changed.
The vehicles upgraded in this way became known as T-34-85 of the 1960 model.
In the 60s, tanks were equipped with more advanced TVN-2 night vision devices and R-123 radios. In the chassis, road wheels were installed, borrowed from the T-55 tank.
Some of the tanks in the late 50s were converted into T-34T evacuation tractors, which differed from each other in the presence or absence of a winch or rigging equipment. The tower was dismantled in all cases. Instead, in the version of the maximum configuration, a cargo one was installed. Tool boxes were mounted on the fender liner. Platforms for pushing tanks were welded to the nose sheets of the hull using a log. On the right, in front of the hull, a boom crane with a lifting capacity of 3 tons was installed; in the middle part of the hull - a winch driven by an engine. Of the armament, only the course machine gun was preserved.
Part of the T-34T tractors, as well as linear tanks, were equipped with BTU bulldozers and STU snowplows.
To ensure the repair of tanks in the field, a self-propelled crane SPK-5, then SPK-5 / 10M, was developed and mass-produced (or rather, converted from linear tanks). Crane equipment with a lifting capacity of up to 10 tons made it possible to remove and install tank turrets. The car was equipped with a V-2-34Kr engine, which differed from the standard one by the presence of a power take-off mechanism.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a significant number of tanks, after the dismantling of weapons, were converted into chemical reconnaissance vehicles.
In 1949, Czechoslovakia acquired a license for the production of the T-34-85 medium tank. She was given design and technological documentation, provided technical assistance by Soviet specialists. In the winter of 1952, the first T-34-85 of Czechoslovak production left the workshops of the CKD Praha Sokolovo plant (according to other sources, the Stalin plant in the city of Rudy Martin). Thirty-fours were produced in Czechoslovakia until 1958. A total of 3185 units were manufactured, a significant part of which was exported. On the basis of these tanks, Czechoslovak designers developed the MT-34 bridge-layer, the CW-34 evacuation tractor and a number of other vehicles.
A similar license was acquired by the Polish People's Republic in 1951. The production of T-34-85 tanks was launched at the Burnar Labedy plant. The first four cars were assembled by May 1, 1951, while some of the components and assemblies were brought from the USSR. In 1953 - 1955, the Polish Army received 1185 tanks of its own production, and in total 1380 T-34-85 were produced in Poland.
Polish T-34s were upgraded twice under the T-34-85M1 and T-34-85M2 programs. During these upgrades, they received a pre-heater, the engine was adapted to operate on various types of fuel, mechanisms were introduced to facilitate tank control, otherwise the ammunition was placed. Thanks to the introduction of a remote control system for the course machine gun, the tank crew was reduced to 4 people. Finally, the Polish "thirty-fours" were equipped with underwater driving equipment.
On the basis of the T-34-85 tanks in Poland, several samples of engineering and repair and recovery vehicles were developed and produced.
In total, T-34-85 tanks (including those produced in Czechoslovakia and Poland) were manufactured over 35 thousand units, and if you add T-34 tanks here - 70 thousand, which makes the "thirty-four" the most massive combat vehicle in the world.
DESIGN DESCRIPTION
In terms of its layout, the location of the main components and assemblies, the T-34-85 tank is basically identical to the T-34 (for more details, see "Armored Collection" No. 3 for 1999).
The department of management was located in the bow of the tank. It housed the driver's and machine gunner's seats, the gearbox linkage, control levers and pedals, a DT machine gun in a ball mount, instrumentation, two compressed air cylinders, part of the ammunition and spare parts, TPU, etc.
In front of the driver's seat in the upper frontal sheet of the hull there was an entrance hatch, closed by an armored cover, in which observation devices were installed.
In front of the machine gunner's seat in the bottom of the tank was an emergency exit hatch, closed by a lid.
The fighting compartment occupied the middle part of the hull behind the control compartment and in the turret.
The latter housed the armament of the tank, sights, observation devices, turning and stopper of the tower, part of the ammunition, a radio station, TPU devices, the seats of the tank commander, gunner and loader.
The main part of the ammunition was in the fighting compartment on the bottom and near the sides. Behind the removable side inclined sheets were four fuel tanks.
The power compartment was located behind the combat one and was separated from it by a removable partition.
An engine was installed on a pedestal in front of the power compartment. On both sides of it were water radiators, two fuel tanks, two oil tanks and four batteries - two on each side. An oil cooler was mounted on the left water radiator.
In the aft part of the power compartment, behind the fan partition, there was a main clutch with a fan, side clutches with brakes, an electric starter, final drives, two fuel tanks and two air cleaners.


Tank body: 1 - final drive; 2 - breaker fist of caterpillar fingers; 3 - rack limiter balancer; 4 - arm stop balancer; 5 - cutout for balancer trunnion; 6 - hole for the axis of the balancer; 7 - guide wheel crank bracket; 8 - armored plug over the shank of the worm of the caterpillar tension mechanism; 9 - beam of the bow of the hull; 10-towing hook; 11 - towing hook latch; 12 - booms for attaching spare tracks; 13.16 - protective strips; 14 - armor protection of the machine gun; 15 - driver's hatch cover; 17 - headlight bracket: 18 - signal bracket; 19 - handrail; 20 - saw bracket; 21 - brackets for the external fuel tank.
FRAME the tank has not undergone fundamental changes compared to the T-34. All of them basically boiled down to simplifying the design. So, the front beam was removed from the bow, and the upper and lower frontal sheets were connected end-to-end. Bolts were welded to the upper frontal plate for attaching spare tracks. The hole for the antenna input in the right upper side plate was eliminated. In the aft part of the upper side plates, the fastenings of the external oil and fuel tanks were welded, and protective strips were welded to the upper edges, which protected the turret shoulder strap from being hit by bullets and shell fragments. On the upper stern sheet, brackets were installed for attaching smoke bombs of the BDSH.


Armor scheme of the T-34-85 tank
TOWER was a shaped steel casting. In front of it there were loopholes for installing a gun, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. Outside, four eyelets and three handrails were welded to the side walls of the tower, and six brackets for attaching a tarpaulin were welded on the back wall.
In the side walls of the tower on each side there was one hole for firing from personal weapons, which were closed with armor plugs and hecks. The early production tanks with the D-5T cannon had viewing slots above these holes, while the tanks of the 1944-1945 production period retained the viewing slot only on the right side of the turret, near the loader. The post-war T-34-85 did not have viewing slots in the turret.


Tank turret of the post-war production of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant: 1 - loader hatch cover; 2 - caps over fans; 3 - hole for installing a tank commander's observation device; 4 - hatch cover of the commander's cupola; 5 - commander's cupola; 6 - viewing slot; 7 - glass antenna input; 8 - handrail; 9 - hole for installing a gunner's observation device; 10 - hole for firing from personal weapons; 11 - eye: 12 - sight embrasure; 13 - visor; 14 - trunnion tide; 15 - machine gun embrasure; 16 - hole for installing the loader's observation device.
A cast cylindrical commander's cupola was installed in the roof of the tower on the left side. For all-round observation, five viewing slots were cut in the walls of the turret, covered with protective glasses. In the roof of the turret, which rotated on a ball bearing, there was a hatch with a double-leaf cover and a hole for a viewing device in one of the wings. For tanks produced in 1945 - 1946 with a turret with a single-leaf lid, a viewing device was installed in the non-tilting part of the turret roof.
To the right of the turret was a round hatch for the loader, which was closed with a lid. In addition, in the roof of the tower there were two holes for installing the gunner's and loader's MK-4 observation devices and two ventilation hatches closed with armored caps welded to the roof, under which the fighting compartment fans were installed.
The ball (but not ball, as they sometimes write) tower support was a radial-thrust ball bearing, its rings were the shoulder straps of the tower. When the tower rotated, the upper shoulder strap rolled on balls along the lower shoulder strap. On the inside of the lower shoulder strap, teeth were cut, with which the turret rotation mechanism was engaged. 11 grips attached to the upper shoulder strap with bolts protruded beyond the edge of the lower shoulder strap, protecting the tower from tipping over.
The tower was driven by an electric rotary mechanism or manually. When the electric drive was operating, the maximum turret rotation speed reached 4.2 rpm.
WEAPONS. On tanks of early releases, an 85-mm gun D-5T (or D-5-T85) was installed with a barrel length of 48.8 calibers (according to other sources - 52 calibers). The mass of the gun is 1530 kg. The maximum rollback length is 320 mm. The gun had a wedge gate, similar in design to the gate of the F-34 gun, and copy-type semi-automatics. The recoil devices consisted of a hydraulic recoil brake and a hydropneumatic knurler and were located above the barrel: on the right side - knurler, on the left - recoil.
Since March 1944, the T-34-85 tank was equipped with an 85-mm S-53 gun (and then ZIS-S-53) model 1944 with a barrel length of 54.6 calibers. The mass of the swinging part of the gun without armor is 1150 kg. The maximum rollback length is 330 mm. Vertical aiming from - 5 ° to + 22 °. The shutter of the gun is vertically wedge-shaped with copier-type semi-automatics.
The trigger mechanism of the gun consisted of electric and mechanical (manual) descents. The electric release lever was located on the handle of the flywheel of the lifting mechanism, and the manual release lever was located on the left shield of the gun guard.
Two 7.62-mm DT machine guns were installed in the tank, one of which was paired with a cannon, and the other was mounted in a ball mount in the frontal hull plate.
For direct fire from the D-5T cannon, the TSh-15 telescopic sight and the PTK-5 periscope were used, and the TSh-16 telescopic sight was used from the S-53 cannon.
For firing from 85-mm tank guns, regular ones from an 85-mm anti-aircraft gun, model 1939, were used:
- unitary with an armor-piercing tracer blunt-headed projectile (BR-365) with a ballistic tip with fuses MD-5 and MD-7;
- a unitary cartridge with an armor-piercing tracer sharp-headed projectile (BR-365K) with an MD-8 fuse;
- unitary cartridge with a fragmentation steel grenade (O-365K) with a KTM-1 fuse;
- a unitary cartridge with a sub-caliber armor-piercing tracer projectile BR-365P (adopted in February 1944).
The gun ammunition consisted of 55 artillery rounds (fragmentation - 36, armor-piercing - 14, sub-caliber - 5) and was placed in the hull and turret of the tank in three types of stowage: rack, collar and boxes.
Shelving for 12 shots was in the niche of the tower. It included shots with a fragmentation grenade.


Projectile characteristics
Clamp stacks were located: on the right side of the tower - for 4 artillery rounds; in the control compartment at the starboard side of the hull - for 2 artillery rounds; in the right rear corner of the fighting compartment - for 2 artillery rounds. On the right side of the turret, shots with armor-piercing shells were stacked, and in the control and combat compartment - with sub-caliber shells.
Six boxes located on the bottom of the fighting compartment housed 35 shots, of which: 24 - with a fragmentation grenade, 10 - with an armor-piercing projectile and 1 - with a sub-caliber one.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION. On the T-34-85 tank, a 12-cylinder four-stroke compressorless B-2-34 was installed. Rated was 450 hp. at 1750 rpm, operational - 400 hp at 1700 rpm, maximum - 500 hp at 1800 rpm. Cylinder diameter 150 mm. The stroke of the pistons of the left group is 180 mm, the right one is 186.7 mm. The cylinders were arranged in a V-shape at an angle of 60°. The compression ratio is 14 - 15. The weight of a dry engine with an electric generator without exhaust manifolds is 750 kg.
Fuel - diesel, grade DT or gas oil grade "E" according to OST 8842. Fuel tank capacity 545l. Outside, on the sides of the hull, two fuel tanks of 90 liters each were installed. External fuel tanks were not connected to the engine power system.
The fuel supply is forced, using a twelve-plunger fuel pump NK-1.
Lubrication system - circulating, under pressure. Oil circulation was carried out by a gear three-section oil pump. The capacity of the internal oil tanks is 76 l, the external one is 90 l.
The cooling system is liquid, closed, with forced circulation. Radiators - two, tubular, installed on both sides of the engine with an inclination towards it. Radiator capacity 95 l.
To clean the air entering the engine cylinders, two Multicyclone air cleaners were installed on the tank.
The engine was started by an electric starter ST-700 with a power of 15 hp. or compressed air (two cylinders were installed in the control room).
The transmission consisted of a multi-disk main clutch of dry friction (on steel), a gearbox, side clutches, brakes and final drives.
Gearbox - five-speed, with constant meshing gears. Side clutches are multi-disc, dry (steel on steel), brakes are floating, band, with cast-iron pads. Final drives are single-stage.
CHASSIS The tank, in relation to one side, consisted of five double rubber-coated road wheels with a diameter of 830 mm.


Chassis: 1 - leading; 2 - caterpillar; 3 - track roller; 4 - balancer; 5 - roller axle; 6 - guide wheel; 7 - axis of the balancer; 8 - dust cover suspension; 9 - traverse; 10 - shield; 11 - springs; 12 - trunnion.
Suspension - individual, spring.
The rear drive wheels had six rollers for engagement with the ridges of the caterpillar tracks.
The guide wheels are cast, with a crank mechanism for tensioning the tracks.
Caterpillars - steel, small-link, with ridge engagement, 72 tracks in each (36 with a ridge and 36 without a ridge). Track width 500 mm, track pitch 172 mm. The mass of one caterpillar is 1150 kg.
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT was done in a single line. Voltage 24 and 12 V. Sources: GT-4563A generator with a power of 1 kW and four storage batteries 6-STE-128 with a capacity of 128 Ah each. Consumers: ST-700 electric starter, tower slewing mechanism electric motor, fan electric motors, control devices, external and internal lighting equipment, electric signal, radio station umformer and TPU lamps.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. The T-34-85 was equipped with a short-wave transceiver simplex telephone radio station 9-RS and an internal tank intercom TPU-3-bisF.
COMBAT APPLICATION
In February - March 1944, T-34-85 tanks began to enter the troops. In particular, at about this time they were received by the formations of the 2nd, 6th, 10th and 11th Guards Tank Corps. Unfortunately, the effect of the first combat use of new tanks was not high, since the brigades received only a few vehicles. Most of them were "thirty-fours" with 76-mm guns. In addition, very little time was allotted in combat units for the retraining of crews. Here is what M.E. Katukov, who in the April days of 1944 commanded the 1st Tank Army, which fought heavy battles in Ukraine, wrote in his memoirs in his memoirs: “We lived through those difficult days and joyful moments. One of these is the arrival of tank replenishment. The army received, albeit in small numbers, new “thirty-fours”, armed not with the usual 76-mm, but with an 85-mm cannon. The crews who received the new "thirty-fours" had to be given only two hours of time to master them. We couldn't give more then. The situation on the ultra-wide front was such that the new tanks, which had more powerful weapons, had to be brought into battle as soon as possible.


Commander's turrets
Left: sample 1944 cylindrical shape with a double-leaf lid
Right: model 1945 with a rounded top edge and a single-leaf lid
One of the first T-34-85s with the D-5T cannon was received by the 38th Separate Tank Regiment. This unit had a mixed composition: in addition to the T-34-85, it also contained OT-34 flamethrower tanks. All combat vehicles of the regiment were built at the expense of the Russian Orthodox Church and bore the name "Dimitri Donskoy" on their sides. In March 1944, the regiment became part of the 53rd Combined Arms Army and took part in the liberation of Ukraine.
T-34-85s were used in significant numbers during the offensive in Belarus, which began at the end of June 1944. They already made up more than half of the 811 "thirty-fours" that took part in this operation. In mass order, the T-34-85 was used in hostilities in 1945: in the Vistula-Oder, Pomeranian, Berlin operations, in the battle near Lake Balaton in Hungary. In particular, on the eve of the Berlin operation, the staffing of tank brigades with combat vehicles of this type was almost one hundred percent.
It should be noted that during the re-equipment of tank brigades, some organizational changes took place in them. Since the crew of the T-34-85 consisted of five people, the personnel of the company of anti-tank rifles of the battalion of submachine gunners of the brigade were turned to the understaffing of the crews.
Until the middle of 1945, the Soviet tank units stationed in the Far East were armed mainly with outdated BT and T-26. By the beginning of the war with Japan, the troops received 670 T-34-85 tanks, which made it possible to equip the first battalions in all separate tank brigades and the first regiments in tank divisions with them. The 6th Guards Tank Army, transferred to Mongolia from Europe, left its combat vehicles in its former deployment area (Czechoslovakia) and already received 408 T-34-85 tanks from factories No. 183 and No. 174 on the spot. Thus, machines of this type took a direct part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, being the strike force of tank units and formations.
In addition to the Red Army, the T-34-85 tanks entered service with the armies of several countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition.
The first tank of this type in the Polish Army was the T-34-85 with a D-5T cannon, transferred on May 11, 1944 to the 3rd Training Tank Regiment of the 1st Polish Army. As for the combat units, the 1st Polish tank brigade received these tanks - 20 units - in September 1944 after the battles near Studzianki. In total, in 1944-1945, the Polish Army received 328 T-34-85 tanks (the last 10 vehicles were transferred on March 11). The tanks came from factories No. 183, No. 112 and repair depots. During the hostilities, a significant part of the combat vehicles was lost. As of July 16, 1945, I ode in the Polish Army, there were 132 T-34-85 tanks.
All these machines were rather worn out and required a major overhaul. To carry it out, special brigades were created, which, at the sites of recent battles, removed serviceable components and assemblies from wrecked Polish and Soviet tanks. It is interesting to note that during the repair, a certain number of "synthesized" tanks appeared, when the turret plate was changed on the early production T-34 and a turret with an 85-mm gun was installed.
The 1st separate Czechoslovak brigade received the T-34-85 in early 1945. It then included 52 T-34-85s and 12 T-34s. The brigade, being operationally subordinate to the Soviet 38th Army, took part in heavy battles for Ostrava. After the capture of Olomouc on May 7, 1945, the remaining 8 tanks of the brigade were transferred to Prague. The number of T-34-85 tanks transferred to Czechoslovakia in 1945 varies from 65 to 130 units in different sources.
At the final stage of the war, two tank brigades were formed in the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. The 1st tank brigade was armed by the British, and its MZAZ light tanks landed on the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia in July 1944. The 2nd Tank Brigade was formed with the help of the Soviet Union at the end of 1944 and received 60 T-34-85 tanks.
A small number of T-34-85s were captured by German troops, as well as troops of states allied with Germany. There were only a few of these tanks used by the Wehrmacht, which is understandable - in 1944-1945, the battlefield in most cases remained with the Red Army. The facts of the use of individual T-34-85s by the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division, the 252nd Infantry Division and some other units are reliably known. As for Germany's allies, in 1944 the Finns, for example, captured nine T-34-85s, six of which were operated by the Finnish army until 1960.
As is often the case in war, combat sometimes changed hands several times. In the spring of 1945, the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, which fought as part of the 18th Army in Czechoslovakia, captured the T-34-85 medium tank from the Germans. It is interesting to note that at that time the material part of the brigade consisted of T-70 light tanks, medium T-34 tanks and a battalion of captured Hungarian tanks. The captured vehicle became the first T-34-85 tank in this brigade.


Placement of ammo racks in the tank: 1 - stacking of artillery rounds on the right side of the turret; 2 - laying artillery rounds in the niche of the tower; 3 - laying artillery rounds in the right corner of the fighting compartment; 4 - laying machine-gun magazines to the left of the driver's seat; 5 - laying artillery rounds on the floor of the fighting compartment in boxes; 6 - laying machine-gun magazines on the lower bow of the hull: 7 - laying machine-gun magazines in the control compartment to the right of the machine gunner's seat; 8 - laying artillery rounds in the control department; 9 - laying machine-gun magazines on the right side of the tower.
After the end of World War II, the T-34-85 for quite a long time - almost until the mid-50s - formed the basis of the tank fleet of the Soviet Army: the T-44 entered service in limited quantities, and the T-54 was too slowly mastered by industry. As the troops were saturated with modern armored vehicles, the T-34-85 tanks were transferred to training units, and also placed in long-term storage. In the training units of a number of military districts, in particular in the Trans-Baikal and Far East, these combat vehicles were operated until the beginning of the 70s. To date, the author has no information about the presence of the T-34-85 in the troops, but there has not yet been a formal order from the Minister of Defense to remove the tank from service with the Russian Army.
As part of the Soviet Army, the T-34-85 tanks did not take part in hostilities in the post-war years. There are known facts of the combat use of "thirty-fours" in some "hot spots" in the CIS, for example, during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. And sometimes even tanks-monuments were used for this purpose.
Outside the Soviet Union, the T-34-85 took part in hostilities on almost all continents and up to the most recent time. Unfortunately, it is not possible to indicate the exact number of tanks of this type transferred to any other country, especially since these deliveries were carried out not only from the USSR, but also from Poland and Czechoslovakia.
After 1945, the T-34-85 at various times were in service in Austria, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, East Germany, Egypt, Israel (captured Egyptian) , Iraq, Cyprus, China, North Korea, Congo, Cuba, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, North Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Finland (captured Soviet), Czechoslovakia, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, South Africa (trophy Angolan), Yugoslavia, South Yemen. As of 1996, tanks of this type were still in the armies of Cuba (400 units, mainly in coastal defense), Albania (70), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Angola (58), Guinea-Bissau (10), Mali (18 ), Afghanistan and Vietnam.
The arena of the most widespread use of "thirty-fours" after the Second World War was Asia.
... At 5 o'clock in the morning on June 25, 1950, the T-34-85 of the 109th tank regiment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) crossed the 38th parallel - the Korean War began.
The creation of armored units of the KPA began back in 1945, when the 15th training tank regiment was formed, which was armed with American Stuart and Sherman tanks received from the Chinese, as well as two Soviet T-34-85. The training of Korean military personnel was carried out by 30 Soviet tank instructors. In May 1949, the 105th tank brigade was formed on the basis of the regiment. By the end of the year, all three of its regiments (107th, 109th and 203rd) were fully equipped with "thirty-fours", 40 vehicles each. By June 1950, the KPA had 258 T-34-85 tanks. In addition to the 105th brigade, 20 vehicles were in the 208th training tank regiment, and the rest in the newly formed 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 45th and 46th tank regiments (actually - battalions, 15 tanks each) and in the 16th and 17th tank brigades (actually regiments of 40-45 vehicles each). The superiority of the North Korean troops, in terms of the quantity and quality of armored vehicles, was complete, since the South Korean army did not have a single tank at all, and the 8th American army, stationed in South Korea and Japan, had at that time only four separate tank battalions, armed with M24 Chaffee light tanks.
The mountainous nature of the central part of the Korean Peninsula did not allow the use of large masses of tanks, so tank regiments were attached to the 1st, 3rd and 4th KPA infantry divisions, which attacked in the direction of Seoul. The success of the tank attacks was complete! South Korean infantry units were completely demoralized. Not only had many soldiers never seen tanks before in their lives, but they also quickly became convinced that their anti-tank weapons - 57-mm cannons and 2.36-inch bazookas - were powerless against the T-34-85. On June 28, 1950, Seoul fell.
A week later, a significant event occurred - on July 5, 33 T-34-85 tanks of the 107th KPA regiment attacked the positions of the 24th Infantry Division of the US Army. The Americans tried to beat off the tank attack with 105-mm howitzers and 75-mm recoilless guns. However, it turned out that high-explosive shells were ineffective, and there were only six 105-mm HEAT shells. They managed to knock out two tanks from a distance of 500 yards. During this battle, American infantrymen fired 22 shots at tanks from 2.36-inch bazookas - and all to no avail!
On July 10, 1950, the first tank battle took place between T-34-85s and M24s from Company A of the 78th Tank Battalion. Two M24s were hit, the "thirty-fours" had no losses. 75 mm American shells did not penetrate their frontal armor. The next day, Company A lost three more tanks, and by the end of July it had practically ceased to exist - it had two tanks left out of 14! Such results completely demoralized the American tankers and greatly upset the infantrymen, who now did not see any effective anti-tank weapons in the M24. The infantrymen experienced some relief only after the start of using the 3.5-inch "super bazooka". In the battles for Taejon, the 105th brigade lost 15 T-34-85s, seven of which were destroyed by super bazooka fire.
The thirty-four met a worthy opponent only on August 17, 1950. T-34-85s of the 107th Tank Regiment attacked the positions of the 1st US Marine Brigade in the Busan bridgehead. Accustomed to victories, the North Korean tankers, seeing the well-known M24s in front of them, confidently went into battle. However, they were mistaken - they were Pershings from the 1st Tank Battalion of the US Marine Corps. Three T-34-85s were hit by combined fire from 90-mm Pershing and Super Bazooka cannons. From that moment on, a turning point occurred in tank battles. North Korean tankers, well trained in offensive operations, were not ready to engage in single combat with American tanks in a positional struggle. The higher combat training of the American crews had an effect. By September 1950, a balance of power had been established in the Pusan ​​bridgehead. Having landed at Incheon, the Americans turned the tide of events in their favor.
A short route to Seoul opened from Incheon, in the area of ​​​​which there were only 16 T-34-85s from the 42nd tank regiment with unfired crews and 10-15 tanks of the 105th brigade. In the battles of September 16-20, almost all of these vehicles were destroyed.
The first battle of the T-34-85 with the Shermans took place on September 27. 10 "thirty-fours" attacked M4AZE8 of the 2nd platoon of company C of the 70th tank battalion. Three Shermans were knocked out in a matter of seconds. Then one T-34-85 ironed a transport convoy, smashing 15 trucks and jeeps into chips, and was hit by a point-blank shot from a 105-mm howitzer. Four more T-34-85s fell victim to bazooka fire, and two North Korean tanks knocked out the main forces of the 70th tank battalion that had approached from the rear.
By the end of the year, the DPRK troops lost 239 T-34-85 tanks, most of which were hit by bazooka fire and aircraft. In battles with tanks, according to American data, 97 T-34-85s were shot down. North Korean tanks only destroyed 34 American combat vehicles with return fire. At the same time, the T-34-85 clearly outperformed the M24 Chaffee in all respects. According to their characteristics, the "thirty-fours" were close to the M4AZE8, but had more powerful weapons. If the T-34-85 easily hit the Sherman at a direct shot with conventional armor-piercing shells, then the American tank achieved a similar result only when using sub-caliber and cumulative shells. Only the M26 Pershing and M46 Patton, which had more powerful armor protection and weapons, turned out to be too tough for the T-34-85 in Korea.
In 1959, the first tank unit of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was formed - the 202nd tank regiment, armed with T-34-85. In 1967-1975, these tanks were used in battles against American troops along with the more modern T-54, T-55, PT-76 and proved to be good. In any case, the last batch of "thirty-fours" arrived from the USSR in 1973. T-34-85 from the 273rd tank regiment of the Vietnam People's Army took part in the last battle of this war - the capture of Saigon in April 1975.
Subsequently, the T-34-85 fought in Kampuchea, and in 1979 they participated in repelling the offensive of Chinese troops in the northern provinces of the DRV. Some of the "thirty-fours" were converted by the Vietnamese into ZSU. Instead of regular towers, armored cabins with twin Chinese 37-mm Type 63 automatic anti-aircraft guns were installed on them. According to others, these combat vehicles were made in China.
The last Asian theater of operations where the T-34-85 fought was Afghanistan. Moreover, combat vehicles of this type in the 80s were used both by regular units of the Afghan army and by the Mujahideen.
In the most significant quantities, T-34-85 tanks were used during numerous wars in the Middle East.
The first 230 "thirty-fours" arrived in Egypt in 1953-1956. These were tanks of Czechoslovak production. Some of them were destroyed during the Anglo-French-Israeli intervention against Egypt in October - November 1956. Israeli tankers, who fought on Shermans and AMX-13s, knocked out 26 T-34-85s. There were no combat clashes between Egyptian and Anglo-French tanks.
A new large batch of T-34-85s - 120 vehicles - was delivered to the banks of the Nile from Czechoslovakia before the end of 1956. It was followed by the second (in 1962 -1963), and in 1965 - 1967 - the third, another 130 tanks. In the early 60s, deliveries of "thirty-fours" from the USSR and Czechoslovakia began to Syria.
During the "six-day" war of 1967, these tanks were in the first line of tank units along with the T-54. As you know, the Arabs were defeated in this war. In the Sinai Peninsula, Israeli troops knocked out and captured 251 T-34-85 tanks. The losses of the Syrians were much less, both due to the smaller number of armored vehicles involved, and because of the conditions for its use - the Golan Heights are not Sinai. It is interesting to note that in the Golan, former opponents fought against Israeli troops under the Syrian flag: German tanks Pz.lVAusf.l, received in the late 40s from Czechoslovakia and France, and T-34-85.
In the "Doomsday War" in 1973, T-34-85s were used on a much smaller scale and were mainly involved in auxiliary tasks. Like the Israeli Shermans, many of them underwent modernization and alterations on the eve of this war.
In an effort to strengthen the armament of the tank, the Egyptians managed to install a Soviet 100-mm BS-3 field gun on it. At the same time, the turret shoulder strap remained the same. True, only the front and lower parts of the standard tower were preserved.
Instead of everything else, a rather bulky superstructure of a simple form was built from light armor plates. A significant part of the armor plates on the sides and the roof of this new turret was hinged, which, on the one hand, facilitated the work of the crew in servicing the gun during firing, and on the other hand, solved the issue of ventilation of the fighting compartment. The combat weight of the vehicle has increased slightly, but the dynamic characteristics have not changed. Without stopping there, the Egyptian designers installed a 122-mm D-30 howitzer in a similar in design, but slightly larger tower! It goes without saying that both of these vehicles could not be used as tanks. It was only about their use as self-propelled artillery installations. Unfortunately, there is no data on the number of vehicles converted in this way, as well as on their participation in hostilities. The leading role in tank battles went to the modern T-55 and T-62.
Unlike the Egyptians, the Syrians took a different, simpler path. They decided to install the D-30 howitzer on the roof of the front of the hull, while firing was carried out backwards. At the same time, the tower, of course, was dismantled. Five steel boxes for shells were attached to the sides of the hull. A folding working platform for gun crew was mounted above the frontal armor plate. Inside the hull, places were equipped for storing ammunition and crew seats. Before installation on a tank prepared in this way, the lower one with a wheel drive was removed from the gun and the shield was cut off. The re-equipment of tanks was carried out at the artillery school in Katanah and the armored school in El Kabun.
Due to the weight reduced to 20 tons, the dynamic characteristics of the machine even increased. It became less specific. The same, of course, remained the ballistic characteristics of the D-30. The disadvantage of such a howitzer installation, which had circular fire in the towed version, can be attributed to a limited guidance sector. Formally, here too the gun could turn 360°, but fire was fired only in the 120° guidance sector at the stern of the tank. Ammunition ACS T-34-122 consisted of 120 shells (80 inside the vehicle and 40 in boxes on the sides of the hull).
The first in early 1972, these self-propelled guns received artillery battalions of the 4th and 91st tank brigades (18 vehicles each) of the 1st armored division. By the start of the 1973 war, both Syrian armored divisions (1st and 3rd) were armed with T-34-122s. In the course of hostilities, these vehicles were primarily used for surprise fire raids on areas and direct fire support for troops. At the end of the war, they had to repel attacks by Israeli tanks, and mostly without success, mainly due to insufficient training of crews for firing at moving targets.
Again, these self-propelled guns went into battle in Lebanon in 1976, and then in 1982. Here another drawback of these vehicles affected - on the narrow mountain roads, self-propelled guns often could not turn around to fire. This was the last war in which the T-34-122 took part. Soon, modern self-propelled artillery mounts 2S1 and 2SZ arrived from the USSR, with which they began to replace "thirty-fours" in the artillery units of armored divisions. At the same time, the latter were transferred to the reserve.
In addition to Egypt and Syria, in the Middle East, T-34-85s were used by both sides during the war between North and South Yemen in 1962-1967. During the Lebanese Civil War, they were used both by various Lebanese warring factions and by units of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which received 60 tanks from Hungary. Finally, Iraqi T-34-85s were used during the war with Iran in the 80s.
The battlefield for the "thirty-fours" was the African continent. They first took part in the fighting in Western Sahara in 1970. Ethiopia used them in Eritrea and against Somalia in 1977-1978. However, the T-34-85 were also part of the Somali army that invaded the Ethiopian province of Ogaden.
According to Western data, the first T-34-85s entered the FAPLA (Angola's army) units in 1975, even before the country's formal declaration of independence. In 1976, 85 tanks of this type were delivered there, which took part in battles with units of the UNITA movement and units of the South African army. At the same time, they were very effectively used against the South African Panar AML-90 armored vehicles. Several tanks subsequently ended up at the disposal of the rebels in Namibia, where they participated in the fighting against South African troops in 1981. At the same time, some of the tanks were hit by the fire of 90-mm cannons of the Ratel-90 armored vehicles, and a number of them were captured by the Yuarites.
The only country in Latin America that ever had T-34-85 tanks was Cuba. In 1960, she signed the first agreements with the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the supply of weapons and military equipment. Soon the first batch of tanks - about three dozen T-34-85 - arrived in Cuba.
Meanwhile, preparations were in full swing for the invasion of Cuba by the 2506 Brigade, formed from gusanos emigrants to overthrow Fidel Castro. The brigade had up to 10 M4 Sherman tanks (according to other sources - M41) and 20 armored vehicles. The landing began on April 17, 1961 in the Bay of Pigs near Playa Larga and Playa Giron, and at first only small detachments of the people's militia - "milisianos" resisted the invasion forces. By noon on April 17, when the intentions of the "gusanos" became clear, F. Castro arrived at the positions for direct command of the troops. An infantry regiment, a tank battalion and a division of 122-mm howitzers advanced to the landing area.
On the evening of April 17, the Milicianos, with the support of several T-34-85 tanks that arrived in time, tried to advance in the direction of Playa Larga. Unable to turn around in battle formation in the swampy terrain, the tanks moved in a column along the highway, preventing each other from firing. "Gusanos" let them get closer and knocked out the head "thirty-four" from three bazookas at once. The rest of the tanks withdrew, the infantry also returned to their original positions. By the morning of April 18, the entire tank battalion from Santa Clara arrived at the battlefield under its own power, and two more tank companies were transferred from Managua on trailers. After several hours of artillery preparation, eight battalions of the army and police went on the offensive. T-34-85 tanks and SU-100 self-propelled guns moved behind the infantry battle formations, supporting them with continuous fire. By 10.30 in the morning they took Playa Larga and went to, where they transferred fire to landing craft trying to approach the shore.
On April 19, at 17.30, units of the Cuban army and the people's militia stormed the village of Playa Giron, the last point of defense of the "2506 brigade". The first to enter the village was a company of T-34-85 tanks, in the lead vehicle was Fidel Castro himself, who personally led the attack. In Playa Girona, the last two "Sherman" counter-revolutionaries were hit. Government troops lost only one T-34-85 during the entire operation.
In the fighting on the European continent after World War II, the T-34-85 was used three times. The first time was in 1956 in Hungary. In Budapest, the rebels captured five tanks of the Hungarian People's Army, and they then took part in battles with units of the Soviet Army that entered the city.
In 1974, during the Turkish intervention in Cyprus, T-34-85 tanks delivered to the Greek Cypriots from Yugoslavia and Poland fought with Turkish troops.
The last case of combat use of T-34-85 tanks took place during the civil war in Yugoslavia in 1991-1997. Combat vehicles of this type were used here by all the opposing sides, since before the collapse of Yugoslavia they were available in the territorial defense forces of almost all union republics. "Thirty-fours" showed themselves well in combat, although they were the most obsolete tanks in this war. The crews tried to compensate for the weakness of their armor by hanging steel sheets or sandbags on the sides. True, the T-34-85 was mainly used not as tanks, but as self-propelled gun mounts, firing from a place.
A story about the use of T-34-85 tanks in Yugoslavia would not be complete without mentioning the attempt to thoroughly modernize them, undertaken in this country in the late 40s. The main reason for this event was the desire to modernize the tank and, in this form, launch its own mass production in Yugoslavia, and not acquire licenses for its production from the USSR, relations with which then deteriorated sharply.
The changes did not affect, perhaps, only the chassis, suspension and engine. The transmission has undergone some improvement. The most significant innovations were made to the design of the hull and turret. The upper part of the hull was somewhat expanded, and she received lateral cheekbones in the bow. Because of this, the course machine gun had to be moved closer to the axis of the machine. The roof of the engine compartment was replaced with a new one, and the three standard cylindrical fuel tanks were replaced with semi-cylindrical ones. The tank received a completely new streamlined cast turret. Since the Yugoslav industry of those was not able to produce such large castings, the tower was welded from six cast parts.
The ZIS-S-53 gun was also upgraded. A muzzle brake of the original form was installed on it. According to other sources, a 75-mm cannon, developed on the basis of the German KwK39, was installed on the tank. A 7.62-mm Browning M1919A4 anti-aircraft machine gun was mounted on the loader's rotating double-leaf hatch.
It should be noted that all these improvements really increased the projectile resistance of the hull and turret, but they could not significantly improve the characteristics of the vehicle. For this reason, and also due to technical difficulties, the massive "thirty-four" was never deployed. They made only 7 tanks, which took part in the parade on May 1, 1950 in Belgrade.
MACHINE EVALUATION
The medium tank T-34-85, in essence, is a major modernization of the T-34 tank, as a result of which a very important drawback of the latter was eliminated - the tightness of the fighting compartment and the impossibility of a complete division of labor of the crew members associated with it. This was achieved by increasing the diameter of the turret ring, as well as by installing a new triple turret much larger than that of the T-34. At the same time, the design of the hull and the layout of components and assemblies in it did not undergo any significant changes. Consequently, there were also disadvantages inherent in machines with aft engine and transmission.
As you know, the most widespread in tank building are two layout schemes with a bow and aft transmission. Moreover, the disadvantages of one scheme are the advantages of another.
The disadvantage of the layout with the aft location of the transmission is the increased length of the tank due to the placement in its hull of four compartments that are not aligned along the length or the reduction in the volume of the fighting compartment with a constant length of the vehicle. Due to the large length of the engine and transmission compartments, the combat with a heavy turret shifts to the nose, overloading the front rollers, leaving no room on the turret sheet for the central and even lateral placement of the driver's hatch. There is a danger of "sticking" the protruding gun into the ground when the tank moves through natural and artificial obstacles. The control drive is becoming more complicated, connecting the driver with the transmission located in the stern.


The layout of the tank T-34-85
There are two ways out of this situation: either increase the length of the control compartment (or combat), which will inevitably lead to an increase in the total length of the tank and a deterioration in its maneuverability due to an increase in the ratio L / B - the length of the supporting surface to the track width (in the T-34 - 85, it is close to optimal - 1.5), or radically change the layout of the engine and transmission compartments. What this could lead to can be judged by the results of the work of Soviet designers in the design of new medium tanks T-44 and T-54, created during the war years and put into service, respectively, in 1944 and 1945.
On these combat vehicles, a layout was used with a transverse (and not with a longitudinal, as in the T-34-85) placement of a 12-cylinder V-2 diesel engine (in the V-44 and V-54 variants) and a combined significantly shortened (by 650 mm ) engine compartment. This made it possible to lengthen the fighting compartment up to 30% of the hull length (24.3% for the T-34-85), increase the turret ring diameter by almost 250 mm, and install a powerful 100-mm cannon on the T-54 medium tank. At the same time, it was possible to shift the turret to the stern, allocating space on the turret plate for the driver's hatch. The exclusion of the fifth crew member (shooter from the course machine gun), the removal of the ammunition rack from the floor of the fighting compartment, the transfer of the fan from the engine crankshaft to the stern bracket and the reduction in the overall height of the engine ensured a decrease in the height of the T-54 tank hull (compared to the T-34- tank hull). 85) by about 200 mm, as well as a reduction in the booked volume by about 2 cubic meters. and increased armor protection by more than two times (with an increase in mass by only 12%).
Such a radical re-arrangement of the T-34 tank was not done during the war, and, probably, this was the right decision. At the same time, the diameter of the turret ring, while maintaining the same shape of the hull, was almost limiting for the T-34-85, which did not allow placing a larger-caliber artillery system in the turret. The possibilities of upgrading the tank in terms of armament were completely exhausted, unlike, for example, the American Sherman and the German Pz.lV.
By the way, the problem of increasing the caliber of the main armament of the tank was of paramount importance. Sometimes you can hear the question: why did you need to switch to an 85-mm cannon, could it be possible to improve the ballistic characteristics of the F-34 by increasing the barrel length? After all, the Germans did the same with their 75-mm gun on the Pz.lV.
The fact is that German guns have traditionally been distinguished by better internal ballistics (ours are just as traditionally external). The Germans achieved high armor penetration by increasing the initial speed and better working out of ammunition. We could adequately answer only by increasing the caliber. Although the S-53 cannon significantly improved the firing capabilities of the T-34-85, but, as Yu.E. Maksarev noted: “In the future, the T-34 could no longer directly, duel hit new German tanks.” All attempts to create 85-mm guns with an initial speed of over 1000 m / s, the so-called high-power guns, ended in failure due to rapid wear and destruction of the barrel even at the testing stage. For the "duel" defeat of German tanks, a transition to 100-mm caliber was required, which was carried out only in the T-54 tank with a turret ring diameter of 1815 mm. But in the battles of the Second World War, this combat vehicle did not take part.
As for the placement of the driver's hatch in the frontal hull sheet, one could try to follow the path of the Americans. Recall that on the Sherman, the driver's and machine gunner's hatches, originally also made in an inclined frontal hull sheet, were subsequently transferred to the turret sheet. This was achieved by reducing the angle of inclination of the front plate from 56° to 47° to the vertical. The T-34-85 had a 60° frontal hull plate. By reducing this angle also to 47 ° and compensating for this by some increase in the thickness of the frontal armor, it would be possible to increase the area of ​​​​the turret sheet and place the driver's hatch on it. This would not require a radical redesign of the hull design and would not entail a significant increase in the mass of the tank.
The suspension has not changed on the T-34-85 either. And if the use of better quality steel for the manufacture of springs helped to avoid their rapid subsidence and, as a result, a decrease in clearance, then it was not possible to get rid of significant longitudinal vibrations of the tank hull in motion. It was an organic defect of the spring suspension. The location of the habitable compartments in front of the tank only exacerbated the negative impact of these fluctuations on the crew and weapons.
A consequence of the layout scheme of the T-34-85 was the absence of a rotating tower poly in the fighting compartment. In battle, the loader worked, standing on the covers of the cassette boxes with shells laid on the bottom of the tank. When turning the tower, he had to move after the breech, while he was prevented by spent cartridges that fell right here on the floor. When conducting intense fire, the accumulated cartridge cases also made it difficult to access the shots placed in the ammunition rack on the bottom.
Summarizing all these points, we can conclude that, unlike the same "Sherman", the possibilities for modernizing the hull and suspension of the T-34-85 were not fully used.
Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the T-34-85, one more very important circumstance must be taken into account. The crew of any tank, as a rule, in everyday reality does not care at all at what angle of inclination the frontal or any other sheet of the hull or turret is located. It is much more important that the tank as a machine, that is, as a combination of mechanical and electrical mechanisms, works accurately, reliably and does not create problems during operation. Including problems associated with the repair or replacement of any parts, assemblies and assemblies. Here, the T-34-85 (like the T-34) was all right. The tank was exceptionally maintainable! It is paradoxical, but true - and the layout is “to blame” for this!
There is a rule: to arrange not to ensure convenient installation - dismantling of units, but based on the fact that the units do not need to be repaired until they completely fail. The required high reliability in operation is also achieved when designing a tank based on ready-made, structurally proven units. Since, when creating the T-34, practically none of the tank units met this requirement, its layout was also carried out contrary to the rule. The roof of the engine compartment was easily removable, the aft hull hinged, which made it possible to dismantle such large units as the engine and gearbox in the field. All this was of tremendous importance in the first half of the war, when more tanks went out of action due to technical malfunctions than from enemy influence (for example, on April 1, 1942, the active army had 1,642 serviceable and 2,409 serviceable tanks of all types, while while our combat losses in March amounted to 467 tanks). As the quality of the units improved, which reached the highest level for the T-34-85, the value of the maintainable layout decreased, but the language does not dare to call this a disadvantage. Moreover, the good one turned out to be very useful during the post-war operation of the tank abroad, primarily in Asia and Africa, sometimes in extreme climatic conditions and with personnel who had a very mediocre, if not more, level of training.
Despite all the shortcomings in the design of the "thirty-four", a certain balance of compromises was observed, which favorably distinguished this combat vehicle from other tanks of the Second World War. Simplicity, ease of operation and maintenance, combined with good armor protection, maneuverability and powerful enough weapons, became the reason for the success and popularity of the T-34-85 among tankers.
Bibliography:
M. Baryatinsky. Medium tank T-34-85. Armor collection 4.99

Encyclopedia of Tanks. 2010 .

The T-34-85 is a Soviet medium tank from the Great Patriotic War, the final modification of the T-34.

History of the T-34-85

By the second half of 1943, the most important Soviet tank, the T-34, was significantly inferior to enemy tanks. Although the Red Army managed to win the Battle of Kursk, this was done mostly because of numerical superiority and personal courage, but not because of a technical advantage. The victory cost the Soviet troops very dearly, and it was obvious that a new tank was needed, more armored and with a more powerful gun.

By that time, the T-43 tank had already been created, surpassing the T-34 in a number of parameters. However, it turned out that it was impossible to mount a more powerful 85-mm cannon on it, which would be ideal for breaking through German tanks - the tank would become too heavy. So work on the T-43 was stopped, instead providing a new T-34 gun and creating the final modification - T-34-85.

The T-34-85 was distinguished not only by a more powerful gun, but also by enhanced armor, as well as additional fuel tanks. Because of all this, the tank began to weigh 32 tons, but its speed and maneuverability did not change.

In December 1943, the T-34-85 entered serial production, and by the end of January 1944 it was being used in battles. The tank was produced until 1958, including for export. In total, more than 35 thousand T-34-85 units were produced.

TTX T-34-85

general information

• Classification - medium tank;
• Combat weight - 32.2 tons;
• The layout scheme is classic;
• Crew - 5 people;
• Years of production - 1943-1958;
• Years of operation - 1944 to 1993 (officially in the USSR and the Russian Federation);
• The number of issued - more than 35,000 pieces.

Dimensions

• Case length - 6100 mm;
• Length with gun forward - 8100 mm;
• Hull width - 3000 mm;
• Height - 2700 mm;
• Clearance - 400 m.

Booking

• Type of armor - steel rolled homogeneous;
• Forehead of the hull (top and bottom) - 45 / 60 ° mm / hail;
• Hull board (top) - 45 / 40 ° mm / hail;
• Hull board (bottom) - 45 / 0 ° mm / hail;
• Hull feed (top) - 45 / 48 ° mm / hail;
• Hull feed (bottom) - 45 / 45 ° mm / hail;
• Bottom - 20 mm;
• Hull roof - 20 mm;
• Tower forehead - 90 mm;
• Gun mask - 40 mm;
• The side of the tower - 75 / 20 ° mm / hail;
• Tower feed - 52 / 10 ° mm / hail;
• Tower roof - 15-20 mm.

Armament

• The caliber and brand of the gun is 85 mm ZIS-S-53;
• Gun type - rifled;
• Barrel length - 54.6 calibers;
• Gun ammunition - 56-60;
• Angles VN- 5 ... + 22 degrees;
• GN angles - 360 degrees. (manual turning mechanism or electromechanical drive);
• Sights - telescopic articulated TSh-16, periscope PTK-5, side level;
• Machine guns - 2 × 7.62 mm DT-29.

Mobility

• Engine type - V-shaped 12-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel with direct injection;
• Engine power - 500 hp;
• Highway speed - 55 km / h;
• Cross-country speed - 25 km / h;
• Power reserve on the highway - 250 km;
• Power reserve over rough terrain - 220 km;
• Specific power - 15.6 hp / t;
• Suspension type - Christie suspension;
• Specific ground pressure - 0.83 kg / cm²;
• Climbability — 30°;
• Overcoming wall - 0.75 m;
• Crossable moat - 3.4 m;
• Crossable ford - 1.3 m.

Modifications

• T-34-85 1943. Small-scale modification with a new three-man turret and 85 mm D-5-T85 gun. It was produced from January to March due to the unsatisfactory placement of the S-53 gun in the original turret;
• T-34-85. Main serial modification with 85-mm gun ZIS-S-53;
• OT-34-85. Instead of a course machine gun, he had an ATO-42 piston flamethrower;
• T-34-85 of 1947 with a new V-2-34M engine, a new radio station and optical instruments;
• T-34-85 of 1960 with a 520 hp V-54 or V-55 engine, redesigned interior, new electronic equipment, new radio station, increased ammunition load and undercarriage from the T-55;
• PT-34 is a tank trawl created on the basis of the T-34 of 1943.

Application

T-34-85 began to enter the troops in February 1944. Unfortunately, the first tank battles were not very successful - the crews were not given time for retraining, and very few tanks were provided.

One of the first T-34-85s was received by the 38th Tank Regiment, which also had OT-34s, flamethrower tanks based on the T-34. In March 1944, this regiment became part of the 53-1 combined arms army and participated in the liberation of Ukraine, where, in fact, the T-34-85 were first used on a large scale.

When the attack on Belarus began in June 1944, about four hundred T-34-85s took part in it. However, they were used much more massively in 1945, for example, in the battle at Lake Balaton and in the Berlin operation.

By the middle of 1945, the Soviet tank divisions in the Far East mainly had outdated equipment - light tanks BT-5, BT-7 and T-26. When the war with Japan began, 670 T-34-85s were sent there. Thus, these tanks actively participated in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, acting as the main strike force of tank units.

When even the power of the 85-mm gun was not enough to penetrate the armor of enemy tanks, work began on the T-34-100, as well as on the T-44. As a result, all of them led to the appearance of the T-54 tank, which replaced the T-34-85 in the first years after the war. However, the service of this tank did not end - it actively participated in the Korean War, in the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the Arab-Israeli wars. Officially, this tank was in service until 1993, and in some countries it is still in service!

The T-34-85 once took part in an interesting event in the 21st century. When there were anti-government demonstrations in Budapest in October 2006, demonstrators were able to launch museum T-34-85s along with BTR-152s, and used the vehicles in clashes with law enforcement officials.

tank memory

T-34-85 is one of the most popular tanks of the Great Patriotic War. Although most people have only heard of the T-34 tank, many museums have copies of the T-34-85. Also, it is this tank that most often stands on pedestals in many cities of Russia: in Novokuznetsk, Voronezh, Kharkov, Nizhny Novgorod and a number of others.

Tank in culture

The T-34-85 tank was widely reflected in culture, and they were often replaced by earlier T-34s, since it was not possible to find the originals.

Movies

There are quite a few films with the participation of the T-34-85. The most famous of them:

• Chief designer. A film about the creation of the T-34, in which the T-34-85 was shot instead of this tank;
• Fall of Berlin;
• In war as in war;
• The epic film "Liberation";
• Hot Snow;
• Eternal Call;
• Four tankers and a dog (despite the fact that in the course of the series the crew fights first on the T-34, and then on the T-34-85, the T-35-85 was shot all the time in the film with minor alterations);
• White tiger;
• Rescue Private Ryan. There is no mention of the T-34-85 here, however, it was these tanks that were camouflaged under the PzKpfw VI "Tiger" appearing in the plot.

Games

The T-34-85 is featured in numerous WWII games such as Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, World War II, Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory, and Sudden Strike: The Last Stand , "Call of Duty", "Blitzkrieg" as well as in the games "World of Tanks" and "".

Other

T-34-85 due to its popularity was produced by many different companies in the form of models. Also in Soviet times, this tank was on postage stamps.

In February - March 1944, T-34-85 tanks began to enter the troops. In particular, at about this time they were received by the formations of the 2nd, 6th, 10th and 11th Guards Tank Corps. Unfortunately, the effect of the first combat use of new tanks was not high, since the brigades received only a few vehicles. Most of them were "thirty-fours" with 76-mm guns. In addition, very little time was allotted in combat units for the retraining of crews. Here is what M.E. Katukov, who in the April days of 1944 commanded the 1st Tank Army, which fought heavy battles in Ukraine, wrote in his memoirs in his memoirs: “We lived through those difficult days and joyful moments. One of these is the arrival of tank replenishment. The army received, albeit in small numbers, new “thirty-fours”, armed not with the usual 76-mm, but with an 85-mm cannon. The crews who received the new "thirty-fours" had to be given only two hours of time to master them. We couldn't give more then. The situation on the ultra-wide front was such that the new tanks, which had more powerful weapons, had to be brought into battle as soon as possible.

One of the first T-34-85s with the D-5T cannon was received by the 38th Separate Tank Regiment. This unit had a mixed composition: in addition to the T-34-85, it also contained OT-34 flamethrower tanks. All combat vehicles of the regiment were built at the expense of the Russian Orthodox Church and bore the name "Dimitri Donskoy" on their sides. In March 1944, the regiment became part of the 53rd Combined Arms Army and took part in the liberation of Ukraine.

T-34-85s were used in significant numbers during the offensive in Belarus, which began at the end of June 1944. They already made up more than half of the 811 "thirty-fours" that took part in this operation. In mass order, the T-34-85 was used in hostilities in 1945: in the Vistula-Oder, Pomeranian, Berlin operations, in the battle near Lake Balaton in Hungary. In particular, on the eve of the Berlin operation, the staffing of tank brigades with combat vehicles of this type was almost one hundred percent.

It should be noted that during the re-equipment of tank brigades, some organizational changes took place in them. Since the crew of the T-34-85 consisted of five people, the personnel of the company of anti-tank rifles of the battalion of submachine gunners of the brigade were turned to the understaffing of the crews.

Until the middle of 1945, the Soviet tank units stationed in the Far East were armed mainly with obsolete BT and T-26 light tanks. By the beginning of the war with Japan, the troops received 670 T-34-85 tanks, which made it possible to equip the first battalions in all separate tank brigades and the first regiments in tank divisions with them. The 6th Guards Tank Army, transferred to Mongolia from Europe, left its combat vehicles in its former deployment area (Czechoslovakia) and already received 408 T-34-85 tanks from factories No. 183 and No. 174 on the spot. Thus, machines of this type took a direct part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, being the strike force of tank units and formations.

In addition to the Red Army, the T-34-85 tanks entered service with the armies of several countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition.

The first tank of this type in the Polish Army was the T-34-85 with a D-5T cannon, transferred on May 11, 1944 to the 3rd Training Tank Regiment of the 1st Polish Army. As for the combat units, the 1st Polish tank brigade received these tanks - 20 units - in September 1944 after the battles near Studzianki. In total, in 1944-1945, the Polish Army received 328 T-34-85 tanks (the last 10 vehicles were transferred on March 11). The tanks came from factories No. 183, No. 112 and repair depots. During the hostilities, a significant part of the combat vehicles was lost. As of July 16, 1945, I ode in the Polish Army, there were 132 T-34-85 tanks.

All these machines were rather worn out and required a major overhaul. To carry it out, special brigades were created, which, at the sites of recent battles, removed serviceable components and assemblies from wrecked Polish and Soviet tanks. It is interesting to note that during the repair, a certain number of "synthesized" tanks appeared, when the turret plate was changed on the early production T-34 and a turret with an 85-mm gun was installed.

The 1st separate Czechoslovak brigade received the T-34-85 in early 1945. It then included 52 T-34-85s and 12 T-34s. The brigade, being operationally subordinate to the Soviet 38th Army, took part in heavy battles for Ostrava. After the capture of Olomouc on May 7, 1945, the remaining 8 tanks of the brigade were transferred to Prague. The number of T-34-85 tanks transferred to Czechoslovakia in 1945 varies from 65 to 130 units in different sources.

At the final stage of the war, two tank brigades were formed in the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. The 1st tank brigade was armed by the British, and its MZAZ light tanks landed on the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia in July 1944. The 2nd Tank Brigade was formed with the help of the Soviet Union at the end of 1944 and received 60 T-34-85 tanks.

A small number of T-34-85s were captured by German troops, as well as troops of states allied with Germany. There were only a few of these tanks used by the Wehrmacht, which is understandable - in 1944-1945, the battlefield in most cases remained with the Red Army. The facts of the use of individual T-34-85s by the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division, the 252nd Infantry Division and some other units are reliably known. As for Germany's allies, in 1944 the Finns, for example, captured nine T-34-85s, six of which were operated by the Finnish army until 1960.

As is often the case in war, military equipment sometimes changed hands several times. In the spring of 1945, the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, which fought as part of the 18th Army in Czechoslovakia, captured the T-34-85 medium tank from the Germans. It is interesting to note that at that time the material part of the brigade consisted of T-70 light tanks, medium T-34 tanks and a battalion of captured Hungarian tanks. The captured vehicle became the first T-34-85 tank in this brigade.

After the end of World War II, the T-34-85 for quite a long time - almost until the mid-50s - formed the basis of the tank fleet of the Soviet Army: the T-44 entered service in limited quantities, and the T-54 was too slowly mastered by industry. As the troops were saturated with modern armored vehicles, the T-34-85 tanks were transferred to training units, and also placed in long-term storage. In the training units of a number of military districts, in particular in the Trans-Baikal and Far East, these combat vehicles were operated until the beginning of the 70s. To date, the author has no information about the presence of the T-34-85 in the troops, but there has not yet been a formal order from the Minister of Defense to remove the tank from service with the Russian Army.

As part of the Soviet Army, the T-34-85 tanks did not take part in hostilities in the post-war years. There are known facts of the combat use of "thirty-fours" in some "hot spots" in the CIS, for example, during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. And sometimes even tanks-monuments were used for this purpose.

Outside the Soviet Union, the T-34-85 took part in hostilities on almost all continents and up to the most recent time. Unfortunately, it is not possible to indicate the exact number of tanks of this type transferred to this or that country, especially since these deliveries were carried out not only from the USSR, but also from Poland and Czechoslovakia.

After 1945, the T-34-85 at various times were in service in Austria, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, East Germany, Egypt, Israel (captured Egyptian) , Iraq, Cyprus, China, North Korea, Congo, Cuba, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, North Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Finland (captured Soviet), Czechoslovakia, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, South Africa (trophy Angolan), Yugoslavia, South Yemen. As of 1996, tanks of this type were still in the armies of Cuba (400 units, mainly in coastal defense), Albania (70), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Angola (58), Guinea-Bissau (10), Mali (18 ), Afghanistan and Vietnam.

The arena of the most widespread use of "thirty-fours" after the Second World War was Asia.

At 5 am on June 25, 1950, T-34-85s of the 109th Tank Regiment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) crossed the 38th parallel and the Korean War began.

The creation of armored units of the KPA began back in 1945, when the 15th training tank regiment was formed, which was armed with American Stuart and Sherman tanks received from the Chinese, as well as two Soviet T-34-85. The training of Korean military personnel was carried out by 30 Soviet tank instructors. In May 1949, the 105th tank brigade was formed on the basis of the regiment. By the end of the year, all three of its regiments (107th, 109th and 203rd) were fully equipped with "thirty-fours", 40 vehicles each. By June 1950, the KPA had 258 T-34-85 tanks. In addition to the 105th brigade, 20 vehicles were in the 208th training tank regiment, and the rest in the newly formed 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 45th and 46th tank regiments (actually - battalions, 15 tanks each) and in the 16th and 17th tank brigades (actually regiments of 40-45 vehicles each). The superiority of the North Korean troops, in terms of the quantity and quality of armored vehicles, was complete, since the South Korean army did not have a single tank at all, and the 8th American army, stationed in South Korea and Japan, had at that time only four separate tank battalions, armed with M24 Chaffee light tanks.

The mountainous nature of the central part of the Korean Peninsula did not allow the use of large masses of tanks, so tank regiments were attached to the 1st, 3rd and 4th KPA infantry divisions, which attacked in the direction of Seoul. The success of the tank attacks was complete! South Korean infantry units were completely demoralized. Not only had many soldiers never seen tanks before in their lives, but they also quickly became convinced that their anti-tank weapons - 57-mm cannons and 2.36-inch bazookas - were powerless against the T-34-85. On June 28, 1950, Seoul fell.

A week later, a significant event occurred - on July 5, 33 T-34-85 tanks of the 107th KPA regiment attacked the positions of the 24th Infantry Division of the US Army. The Americans tried to beat off the tank attack with 105-mm howitzers and 75-mm recoilless guns. However, it turned out that high-explosive shells were ineffective, and there were only six 105-mm HEAT shells. They managed to knock out two tanks from a distance of 500 yards. During this battle, American infantrymen fired 22 shots at tanks from 2.36-inch bazookas - and all to no avail!

On July 10, 1950, the first tank battle took place between T-34-85s and M24s from Company A of the 78th Tank Battalion. Two M24s were hit, the "thirty-fours" had no losses. 75 mm American shells did not penetrate their frontal armor. The next day, Company A lost three more tanks, and by the end of July it had practically ceased to exist - it had two tanks left out of 14! Such results completely demoralized the American tankers and greatly upset the infantrymen, who now did not see any effective anti-tank weapons in the M24. The infantrymen experienced some relief only after the start of using the 3.5-inch "super bazooka". In the battles for Taejon, the 105th brigade lost 15 T-34-85s, seven of which were destroyed by super bazooka fire.

The thirty-four met a worthy opponent only on August 17, 1950. T-34-85s of the 107th Tank Regiment attacked the positions of the 1st US Marine Brigade in the Busan bridgehead. Accustomed to victories, the North Korean tankers, seeing the well-known M24s in front of them, confidently went into battle. However, they were wrong - they were M26 Pershings from the 1st Tank Battalion of the US Marine Corps. Three T-34-85s were hit by combined fire from 90-mm Pershing and Super Bazooka cannons. From that moment on, a turning point occurred in tank battles. North Korean tankers, well trained in offensive operations, were not ready to engage in single combat with American tanks in a positional struggle. The higher level of combat training of American crews affected. By September 1950, a balance of power had been established in the Pusan ​​bridgehead. Having landed at Incheon, the Americans turned the tide of events in their favor.

A short route to Seoul opened from Incheon, in the area of ​​​​which there were only 16 T-34-85s from the 42nd tank regiment with unfired crews and 10-15 tanks of the 105th brigade. In the battles of September 16-20, almost all of these vehicles were destroyed.

The first battle of the T-34-85 with the Shermans took place on September 27. 10 "thirty-fours" attacked M4AZE8 of the 2nd platoon of company C of the 70th tank battalion. Three Shermans were knocked out in a matter of seconds. Then one T-34-85 ironed a transport convoy, smashing 15 trucks and jeeps into chips, and was hit by a point-blank shot from a 105-mm howitzer. Four more T-34-85s fell victim to bazooka fire, and two North Korean tanks knocked out the main forces of the 70th tank battalion that had approached from the rear.

By the end of the year, the DPRK troops lost 239 T-34-85 tanks, most of which were hit by bazooka fire and aircraft. In battles with tanks, according to American data, 97 T-34-85s were shot down. North Korean tanks only destroyed 34 American combat vehicles with return fire. At the same time, the T-34-85 clearly outperformed the M24 Chaffee in all respects. According to their characteristics, the "thirty-fours" were close to the M4AZE8, but had more powerful weapons. If the T-34-85 easily hit the Sherman at a direct shot with conventional armor-piercing shells, then the American tank achieved a similar result only when using sub-caliber and cumulative shells. Only the M26 Pershing and M46 Patton, which had more powerful armor protection and weapons, turned out to be too tough for the T-34-85 in Korea.

In 1959, the first tank unit of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was formed - the 202nd tank regiment, armed with T-34-85. In 1967-1975, these tanks were used in battles against American troops along with the more modern T-54, T-55, PT-76 and proved to be good. In any case, the last batch of "thirty-fours" arrived from the USSR in 1973. T-34-85 from the 273rd tank regiment of the Vietnam People's Army took part in the last battle of this war - the capture of Saigon in April 1975.

Subsequently, the T-34-85 fought in Kampuchea, and in 1979 they participated in repelling the offensive of Chinese troops in the northern provinces of the DRV. Some of the "thirty-fours" were converted by the Vietnamese into ZSU. Instead of regular towers, armored cabins with twin Chinese 37-mm Type 63 automatic anti-aircraft guns were installed on them. According to others, these combat vehicles were made in China.

The last Asian theater of operations where the T-34-85 fought was Afghanistan. Moreover, combat vehicles of this type in the 80s were used both by regular units of the Afghan army and by the Mujahideen.

In the most significant quantities, T-34-85 tanks were used during numerous wars in the Middle East.

The first 230 "thirty-fours" arrived in Egypt in 1953-1956. These were tanks of Czechoslovak production. Some of them were destroyed during the Anglo-French-Israeli intervention against Egypt in October - November 1956. Israeli tankers, who fought on Shermans and AMX-13s, knocked out 26 T-34-85s. There were no combat clashes between Egyptian and Anglo-French tanks.

A new large batch of T-34-85s - 120 vehicles - was delivered to the banks of the Nile from Czechoslovakia before the end of 1956. It was followed by the second (in 1962 -1963), and in 1965 - 1967 - the third, another 130 tanks. In the early 60s, deliveries of "thirty-fours" from the USSR and Czechoslovakia began to Syria.

During the "six-day" war of 1967, these tanks were in the first line of tank units along with the T-54. As you know, the Arabs were defeated in this war. In the Sinai Peninsula, Israeli troops knocked out and captured 251 T-34-85 tanks. The losses of the Syrians were much less, both due to the smaller number of armored vehicles involved, and because of the conditions for its use - the Golan Heights are not Sinai. It is interesting to note that in the Golan, former opponents fought against Israeli troops under the Syrian flag: German tanks Pz.lVAusf.l, received in the late 40s from Czechoslovakia and France, and T-34-85.

In the "Doomsday War" in 1973, T-34-85s were used on a much smaller scale and were mainly involved in auxiliary tasks. Like the Israeli Shermans, many of them underwent modernization and alterations on the eve of this war.

In an effort to strengthen the armament of the tank, the Egyptians managed to install a Soviet 100-mm BS-3 field gun on it. At the same time, the turret shoulder strap remained the same. True, only the front and lower parts of the standard tower were preserved.

Instead of everything else, a rather bulky superstructure of a simple form was built from light armor plates. A significant part of the armor plates on the sides and the roof of this new turret was hinged, which, on the one hand, facilitated the work of the crew in servicing the gun during firing, and on the other hand, solved the issue of ventilation of the fighting compartment. The combat weight of the vehicle has increased slightly, but the dynamic characteristics have not changed. Without stopping there, the Egyptian designers installed a 122-mm D-30 howitzer in a similar in design, but slightly larger tower! It goes without saying that both of these vehicles could not be used as tanks. It was only about their use as self-propelled artillery installations. Unfortunately, there is no data on the number of vehicles converted in this way, as well as on their participation in hostilities. The leading role in tank battles went to the modern T-55 and T-62.

Unlike the Egyptians, the Syrians took a different, simpler path. They decided to install the D-30 howitzer on the roof of the front of the hull, while firing was carried out backwards. At the same time, the tower, of course, was dismantled. Five steel boxes for shells were attached to the sides of the hull. A folding working platform for gun crew was mounted above the frontal armor plate. Inside the hull, places were equipped for storing ammunition and crew seats. Before being installed on a tank prepared in this way, the lower wheeled machine was removed from the gun and the shield was cut off. The re-equipment of tanks was carried out at the artillery school in Katanah and the armored school in El Kabun.

Due to the weight reduced to 20 tons, the dynamic characteristics of the machine even increased. The specific pressure on the ground also became less. The same, of course, remained the ballistic characteristics of the D-30. The disadvantage of such a howitzer installation, which had circular fire in the towed version, can be attributed to a limited guidance sector. Formally, here too the gun could turn 360°, but fire was fired only in the 120° guidance sector at the stern of the tank. Ammunition ACS T-34-122 consisted of 120 shells (80 inside the vehicle and 40 in boxes on the sides of the hull).

The first in early 1972, these self-propelled guns received artillery battalions of the 4th and 91st tank brigades (18 vehicles each) of the 1st armored division. By the start of the 1973 war, both Syrian armored divisions (1st and 3rd) were armed with T-34-122s. In the course of hostilities, these vehicles were primarily used for surprise fire raids on areas and direct fire support for troops. At the end of the war, they had to repel attacks by Israeli tanks, and mostly without success, mainly due to insufficient training of crews for firing at moving targets.

Again, these self-propelled guns went into battle in Lebanon in 1976, and then in 1982. Here another drawback of these vehicles affected - on the narrow mountain roads, self-propelled guns often could not turn around to fire. This was the last war in which the T-34-122 took part. Soon, modern self-propelled artillery mounts 2S1 and 2SZ arrived from the USSR, with which they began to replace "thirty-fours" in the artillery units of armored divisions. At the same time, the latter were transferred to the reserve.

In addition to Egypt and Syria, in the Middle East, T-34-85s were used by both sides during the war between North and South Yemen in 1962-1967. During the Lebanese Civil War, they were used both by various Lebanese warring factions and by units of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which received 60 tanks from Hungary. Finally, Iraqi T-34-85s were used during the war with Iran in the 80s.

The battlefield for the "thirty-fours" was the African continent. They first took part in the fighting in Western Sahara in 1970. Ethiopia used them in Eritrea and against Somalia in 1977-1978. However, the T-34-85 were also part of the Somali army that invaded the Ethiopian province of Ogaden.

According to Western data, the first T-34-85s entered the FAPLA (Angola's army) units in 1975, even before the country's formal declaration of independence. In 1976, 85 tanks of this type were delivered there, which took part in battles with units of the UNITA movement and units of the South African army. At the same time, they were very effectively used against the South African Panar AML-90 armored vehicles. Several tanks subsequently ended up at the disposal of the rebels in Namibia, where they participated in the fighting against South African troops in 1981. At the same time, some of the tanks were hit by the fire of 90-mm cannons of the Ratel-90 armored vehicles, and a number of them were captured by the Yuarites.

The only country in Latin America that ever had T-34-85 tanks was Cuba. In 1960, she signed the first agreements with the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the supply of weapons and military equipment. Soon the first batch of tanks - about three dozen T-34-85 - arrived in Cuba.

Meanwhile, preparations were in full swing for the invasion of Cuba by the 2506 Brigade, formed from gusanos emigrants to overthrow Fidel Castro. The brigade had up to 10 M4 Sherman tanks (according to other sources - M41) and 20 M8 armored vehicles. The landing began on April 17, 1961 in the Bay of Pigs near Playa Larga and Playa Giron, and at first only small detachments of the people's militia - "milisianos" resisted the invasion forces. By noon on April 17, when the intentions of the "gusanos" became clear, F. Castro arrived at the positions for direct command of the troops. An infantry regiment, a tank battalion and a division of 122-mm howitzers advanced to the landing area.

On the evening of April 17, the Milicianos, with the support of several T-34-85 tanks that arrived in time, tried to advance in the direction of Playa Larga. Unable to turn around in battle formation in the swampy terrain, the tanks moved in a column along the highway, preventing each other from firing. "Gusanos" let them get closer and knocked out the head "thirty-four" from three bazookas at once. The rest of the tanks withdrew, the infantry also returned to their original positions. By the morning of April 18, the entire tank battalion from Santa Clara arrived at the battlefield under its own power, and two more tank companies were transferred from Managua on trailers. After several hours of artillery preparation, eight battalions of the army and police went on the offensive. T-34-85 tanks and SU-100 self-propelled guns moved behind the infantry battle formations, supporting them with continuous fire. By 10.30 in the morning they took Playa Larga and went ashore, where they transferred fire to landing craft trying to approach the shore.

On April 19, at 17.30, units of the Cuban army and the people's militia stormed the village of Playa Giron, the last point of defense of the "2506 brigade". The first to enter the village was a company of T-34-85 tanks, in the lead vehicle was Fidel Castro himself, who personally led the attack. In Playa Girona, the last two "Sherman" counter-revolutionaries were hit. Government troops lost only one T-34-85 during the entire operation.

In the fighting on the European continent after World War II, the T-34-85 was used three times. The first time was in 1956 in Hungary. In Budapest, the rebels captured five tanks of the Hungarian People's Army, and they then took part in battles with units of the Soviet Army that entered the city.

In 1974, during the Turkish intervention in Cyprus, T-34-85 tanks delivered to the Greek Cypriots from Yugoslavia and Poland fought with Turkish troops.

The last case of combat use of T-34-85 tanks took place during the civil war in Yugoslavia in 1991-1997. Combat vehicles of this type were used here by all the opposing sides, since before the collapse of Yugoslavia they were available in the territorial defense forces of almost all union republics. "Thirty-fours" showed themselves well in combat, although they were the most obsolete tanks in this war. The crews tried to compensate for the weakness of their armor by hanging steel sheets or sandbags on the sides. True, the T-34-85 was mainly used not as tanks, but as self-propelled gun mounts, firing from a place.

A story about the use of T-34-85 tanks in Yugoslavia would not be complete without mentioning the attempt to thoroughly modernize them, undertaken in this country in the late 40s. The main reason for this event was the desire to modernize the tank and, in this form, launch its own mass production in Yugoslavia, and not acquire licenses for its production from the USSR, relations with which then deteriorated sharply.

The changes did not affect, perhaps, only the chassis, suspension and engine. The transmission has undergone some improvement. The most significant innovations were made to the design of the hull and turret. The upper part of the hull was somewhat expanded, and she received lateral cheekbones in the bow. Because of this, the course machine gun had to be moved closer to the axis of the machine. The roof of the engine compartment was replaced with a new one, and the three standard cylindrical fuel tanks were replaced with semi-cylindrical ones. The tank received a completely new streamlined cast turret. Since the Yugoslav industry of those years was not able to produce such large castings, the tower was welded from six cast parts.

The ZIS-S-53 gun was also upgraded. A muzzle brake of the original form was installed on it. According to other sources, a 75-mm cannon, developed on the basis of the German KwK39, was installed on the tank. A 7.62-mm Browning M1919A4 anti-aircraft machine gun was mounted on the loader's rotating double-leaf hatch.

It should be noted that all these improvements really increased the projectile resistance of the hull and turret, but they could not significantly improve the characteristics of the vehicle. For this reason, and also because of technical difficulties, the mass modernization of the "thirty-fours" was never deployed. They made only 7 tanks, which took part in the parade on May 1, 1950 in Belgrade.

creations

Tank T-34-85 model 1960 is an improved model of the T-34-85 tank model 1944. T-34-85 of the period of the Great Patriotic War, developed in the design bureau of the Gorky plant No. 112 "Krasnoe Sormovo". The development was led by the chief designer of the plant Krylov V.V. Subsequently, the technical documentation for the car was approved by the head plant No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil (chief designer - Morozov A.A.). On January 23, 1944, by GKO resolution No. 5020, the tank was adopted by the Red Army. The production of these tanks was carried out at factories No. 112 Krasnoe Sormovo, No. 174 (Omsk) and No. 183 from March 1944 to December 1946. In the post-war period, 5742 tanks were produced by factories.

In 1947, the car was given the factory designation "Object 135". In the 1950s, it was modernized several times. Modernization measures were carried out at the overhaul plants of the USSR Ministry of Defense. These measures (the purpose of which was to improve the technical and combat characteristics, increase the reliability of the units and components of the tank, ease of maintenance) were developed by VNII-100 and TsEZ No. 1 on the instructions of the GBTU. The final development of the drawing and technical documentation for the modernization, approved in 1960, was carried out under the leadership of the chief designer Kartsev L.N. design bureau of plant No. 183 (Nizhny Tagil). The T-34-85 tank of the 1960 model of the year had a classic general layout scheme, the crew was five people. The internal equipment was located in 4 compartments: transmission, engine, combat and control. The armored hull, turret, armament, undercarriage, transmission and power plant did not undergo significant changes compared to the T-34-85 of the 1944 model.

Layout and equipment

The control compartment housed a machine gunner (on the right) and a driver (on the left), a DTM machine gun installed in a ball mount, tank controls, instrumentation, two hand-held fire extinguishers, two compressed air cylinders, a TPU apparatus, as well as spare parts and parts ammunition. The driver entered the car through a hatch, which was located in the upper front plate of the armored hull and was closed with an armored cover. The driver's hatch cover was equipped with two viewing devices that served to increase the horizontal viewing angle (they were turned towards the sides of the hull). To monitor the terrain and the road at night, the driver had a BVN night vision device. The BVN set consisted of the device itself, a high-voltage power supply, an FG-100 headlight with an infrared filter and spare parts. The BVN device and spare parts for it in the non-working position were stored in a stowage box located behind the driver's seat on the first ammunition box. An additional optical element with an infrared filter was attached to the bracket in the bow of the hull.

The BVN device, when used, was mounted in a removable bracket, which was mounted on bolts welded on the right side of the hatch to the upper front plate (with the hatch cover open). The device's power supply was mounted on a bracket, inside the tank on the left side, on the right side of the hull - the FG-100 headlight with an infrared filter. An optical element and a blackout attachment were removed from the left FG-102, and an optical element with an infrared filter was used instead. In front of the machine gunner's seat in the bottom of the control compartment there was a spare hatch, which was closed by an armored cover that folded down (one loop was used).

In the fighting compartment, which occupied the middle part of the hull and the internal volume of the tower, there were tank weapons with aiming mechanisms and sights, observation devices, communications equipment and part of the ammunition load, as well as jobs, the tank commander and gunner - to the left of the gun, the loader - to the right . On the roof of the tower above the commander's seat was a non-rotating commander's cupola. The side walls of the turret had five viewing slots (protected by glass), which provided the commander with an all-round view. In the roof of the turret there was an entrance hatch, which was closed with an armored cap. A viewing device TPKU-2B or TPK-1 was installed in the rotary base of the hatch. In the roof of the tower above the workplaces of the gunner and loader, one MK-4 periscope rotary device was installed. For the landing of the crew, in addition to the entrance hatch in the commander's turret, a hatch was used, made above the loader's workplace on the right side of the turret roof. The hatch was closed with a hinged armored cover on one hinge.

At the left side in the fighting compartment of the tank, a nozzle heater boiler was mounted, which was included in the engine cooling system. Behind the fighting compartment was the engine compartment. They were separated by a removable partition. The engine compartment housed the engine, four batteries and two radiators. In the left non-removable and upper removable sheets, a cutout was made for access to the heater supercharger, which is closed by a casing. In the door of the side sheet there was a window for the heater pipes. In the aft part of the hull there was a transmission compartment, separated by a partition from the engine compartment. It was equipped with a main clutch with a centrifugal fan, transmission units, air cleaners, fuel tanks and an electric starter.

Armament and sights

The main T-34-85 of the 1960 model was the ZIS-S-53 tank gun of 85 mm caliber with semi-automatic mechanical (copy) type and a vertical wedge gate. Barrel length - 54.6 caliber, height of the line of fire - 2.02 m. A DTM machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber was paired with the ZIS-S-53 cannon. In the vertical plane, the aiming of the twin installation was carried out in the range from -5 to +22 degrees using a sector-type lifting mechanism. The undamaged space when firing from a twin installation was 23 meters. To protect the lifting mechanism during the march from dynamic loads on the bracket, to the left of the gun, inside the turret there was a stopper for the stowed position of the gun, which secures the gun in two positions (elevation angles - 16 and 0 degrees). In the horizontal plane, the aiming of the twin installation was carried out by the MPB, located to the left of the gunner's seat in the tower. The design of the turret rotation mechanism provided rotation using an electric motor or manual drive. When using an electric motor drive (1.35-kilowatt electric motor MB-20B was used), the tower turned in both directions at two different speeds. The maximum speed of rotation of the tower in this case was 30 degrees per second.

On the part of the T-34-85 tanks of the last year of production, the two-speed electric drive for turning the turret was replaced by a new electric drive KR-31. This drive ensured the rotation of the tower from the gunner's seat or from the commander's seat. The turret was rotated by the gunner using the KR-31 rheostat controller. The direction of rotation of the tower in this case corresponded to the deviation of the handle to the right or left from the initial position. The rotation speed was set by the angle of the controller handle and varied from 2 to 26 degrees per second. The tank commander turned the turret using the commander's control system by pressing a button that was mounted in the left handle of the commander's viewing device. The tower was transferred along the shortest path until the axis of the barrel bore and the line of sight of the viewing device were aligned. Speed ​​- 20-24 degrees per second. In the stowed position, the turret was locked using a turret stopper mounted on the right side (near the loader's seat), in one of the grips of the turret's ball bearing.

To monitor the battlefield, determine the range to targets, aimed fire from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun, and correct fire, a TSh-16 tank articulated telescopic sight was used. The maximum range of aimed fire from a cannon is 5.2 thousand meters, from a coaxial machine gun - 1.5 thousand meters. To prevent fogging of the glass of the sight, it was equipped with an electric heater. When firing from a cannon from closed firing positions, a side level was used, fixed on the left shield of the cannon fencing, as well as a turret protractor (the pointer was attached to the left of the gunner's seat on the upper pursuit of the turret support). The maximum firing range of the cannon is 13.8 thousand meters. The trigger mechanism of the gun included an electric trigger and a manual (mechanical) trigger. The electric trigger lever was located on the handle of the handwheel of the lifting mechanism, the manual trigger lever was located on the left shield of the fence. Fire from a coaxial machine gun was carried out using the same electric trigger lever. Switching / turning on the electric triggers was carried out by toggle switches on the gunner's electric trigger panel.

The second DTM machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber was installed in a ball mount on the right side of the frontal top sheet of the T-34-85 tank hull. The machine-gun mount provided vertical aiming angles in the range from -6 to +16 degrees, horizontal angles - in the 12-degree sector. When firing from this machine gun, a PPU-8T optical telescopic sight was used. When firing from a frontal machine gun, the unaffected space was 13 meters. Gun ammunition consisted of 55 - 60 shots, DTM machine guns - 1890 rounds (30 disks). In addition, the fighting compartment had a stowage of: 7.62 mm AK-47 assault rifle (ammunition load of 300 rounds, 10 magazines), 20 F-1 hand grenades, 26 mm signal pistol (20 signal rounds).

Ammunition

For firing from a cannon, unitary shots were used with the following projectiles: a blunt armor-piercing tracer BR-365 with a ballistic tip; sharp-headed BR-365K; sub-caliber armor-piercing tracer BR-365P; as well as with a full-body fragmentation grenade 0-365K with a reduced and full charge. The armor-piercing tracer projectile had an initial velocity of 895 m/s, a fragmentation grenade with a full charge - 900 m/s and with a reduced charge - 600 m/s. The range of a direct shot at a target with a height of 2 meters when using an armor-piercing projectile is 900-950 meters, a sub-caliber armor-piercing tracer is 1100 meters.

The main rack stack, consisting of 12 shots (O-365K), was located in the niche of the tower. Clamp stowage, 8 shots, were placed: 4 shots (BR-365 or BR-365K) - on the right side of the hull in the fighting compartment; 2 shots (BR-365P) - at the corners of the partition in the fighting compartment; 2 shots (BR-365P) - in front of the fighting compartment on the right. The remaining 35 shots (24 O-365K, 10 BR-365 or BR-365K and 1 BR-365P) were placed in six boxes in the fighting compartment at the bottom.

Disks for machine guns were located in special. nests: in front of the machine gunner's seat on the front front sheet - 15 pcs, at the right side of the hull to the right of the machine gunner's seat - 7 pcs, to the left of the driver's seat on the bottom of the hull - 5 pcs, in front of the loader's seat on the right wall of the tower - 4 pcs. F-1 hand grenades and fuses in bags were located on the port side in stowage slots.

Cartridges for AK-47 (180 pieces), equipped in 6 magazines, were located: in special. a bag on the right side of the tower - 5 stores; on the cover of the machine in a special pocket - 1 magazine. The rest of the cartridges (120 pcs.) in a regular capping were placed at the discretion of the crew. 6 signal cartridges were in special. bag, to the left of the TSh sight on the left side of the turret, the remaining 14 rounds in the closure were placed at the discretion of the crew in free places in the fighting compartment.

Hull and tower

The armor protection of the tank is anti-ballistic, differentiated. The design of the hull and turret remained unchanged compared to the T-34-85 of the 1944 model. The hull of the tank was welded from rolled and cast armor with a thickness of 20 and 45 millimeters with separate bolted connections. A cast tower with a welded roof was mounted on the tank hull using a ball bearing. The maximum thickness in the frontal part is 90 millimeters. On the T-34-85 tank of the 1960 model, towers were installed with an improved ventilation system for the fighting compartment. The installation of two exhaust fans was demolished. At the same time, one fan, installed above the cut of the breech of the gun in front of the roof, served as an exhaust fan, and the second, installed in the aft part of the turret roof, served as an injection fan. This arrangement of fans made it possible to increase the efficiency of purging the fighting compartment and to exclude the passage of gases formed during the combustion of gunpowder through the crew workplaces. On the upper stern sheet of the hull for setting up a smoke screen, 2 smoke bombs BDSH-5 were installed with a reset mechanism and an electrical ignition system (from the commander's seat). In the stowed position (in the case of installing two additional barrels of fuel mounted on special brackets on the upper aft sheet), smoke bombs were mounted on the left upper side sheet, in front of an additional oil tank (on some machines, a third additional tank with a capacity of 90 liters was installed here) .

Engine and fuel system

On the T-34-85 tanks of the 1960 model, a 500-horsepower (at a crankshaft speed of 1800 rpm) V2-34M or V34M-11 diesel engine was installed. The engine was started using a 15-horsepower ST-700 electric starter (the main starting method) or compressed air (backup method) stored in two 10-liter air cylinders. To facilitate starting at low temperatures, a nozzle heater with a water-tube boiler is used, which is included in the cooling system, and a heater for heating the air that enters the engine cylinders. The heater was attached to the bulkhead of the engine compartment on a bracket. In addition to the injector heater, the heating system included oil heating radiators in both oil tanks, electrical equipment (electrical wires and glow plugs) and pipelines. The heating system ensured the preparation of the diesel engine for start-up by heating the coolant, as well as part of the oil in the tanks. In addition, to facilitate starting the engine at low temperatures, a device was used to remove frozen oil from the oil pipeline leading it to the injection part of the oil pump.

The fuel system had 8 fuel tanks located inside the hull and combined into 3 groups: a group of aft tanks, a group of right and left side tanks. The total capacity of the internal tanks is 545 liters. On the starboard side of the tank were installed two external additional fuel tanks of 90 liters each. External fuel tanks were not included in the fuel system. Two barrels with a capacity of 200 liters each were attached to an inclined fodder sheet. A drain tank was included in the fuel system, located on the partition of the engine compartment at the starboard side of the hull and used to drain the fuel pump crankcase through a special fuel pipeline. The tank spare parts and accessories included a small-sized MZA-3 refueling unit, which was placed in a transport position in a metal box fixed outside on the inclined left side of the hull. The cruising range of the T-34-85 tank of the 1960 model on the highway on internal (main) fuel tanks is 300-400 kilometers, on dirt roads - up to 320 kilometers.

The engine cooling system is forced, liquid, closed type. Each radiator core had a cooling surface of 53 meters. The capacity of the cooling system after installing the heating system (with constant inclusion in the system) with a nozzle heater was 95 liters. To reduce the time for preparing the engine for start-up at low temperatures, there is a filler neck in the cooling system. The hot liquid poured into this neck entered directly into the heads and the shirt space of the engine blocks, thereby accelerating its heating.

Air cleaning system

In the air cleaning system, two VTI-3 air cleaners of a combined type equipped with automatic ejection dust removal from the first stage of the dust collector were used. Ejectors connected to dust collectors were installed in the engine exhaust pipes. The air cleaner consisted of a housing, a cyclone apparatus with a dust collector, a cover and a casing with three wire cassettes.
Lubrication system

The circulation combined (spray and pressure) engine lubrication system with a dry sump (MT-16p oil was used) consisted of: an oil three-section gear pump, two oil tanks, a Kimaf oil wire-slotted filter, an equalizing tank, a tubular oil cooler, an oil pump pump MZN-2 with electric drive, thermometer, manometer and pipelines. Between the engine and oil tanks on each side were placed water radiators included in the cooling system. The oil cooler, which cools the oil leaving the engine, was attached with two bolts to the racks of the left water radiator. At low temperatures, the oil cooler was disconnected from the lubrication system with the help of a special pipeline (it was fumbling in spare parts). The oil in this case went directly into the surge tank, and then into the tanks.

The total filling capacity of the entire T-34-85 lubrication system of the 1960 model was 100 liters. Each oil tank contained 38 liters of oil. The lubrication system had a nozzle heater for heating the oil before starting the engine at low ambient temperatures and special radiators placed in the oil tanks. On the left side of the T-34-85 tank of the 1960 model, there was an external 90-liter oil tank that was not connected to the engine lubrication system.

Transmission and running gear

The units and assemblies of the undercarriage and transmission do not differ significantly from the T-34-85 of the 1944 model. The mechanical transmission of the tank consists of: a multi-disk main friction clutch of dry friction (steel on steel), a four- or five-speed gearbox, two multi-disk onboard clutches with floating, belt brakes with cast-iron linings, and two gear single-row final drives. The gearbox in the lower half of the crankcase had a drain valve to drain the oil. Between the tapered roller bearing of the gearbox input shaft and the adapter sleeve, in addition to the oil seal, there is an oil deflector. Lubricant leakage through the main shaft bearings was prevented by an oil deflector and sealing spring rings.

In the running gear of the T-34-85 of the 1960 model, an individual spring suspension was used, the nodes of which were located inside the tank hull. The suspension of the first track roller, located in the control department, was protected by a special shield. The suspension of road wheels 2 - 4 was located in special shafts obliquely. The caterpillar mover consisted of two large-section caterpillars, ten track rollers with external shock absorption, two guide wheels equipped with caterpillar tensioners and two drive wheels with ridge engagement. Two types of track rollers were installed on the machine: with cast or stamped discs with massive external rubber tires.

electrical equipment

The electrical equipment of the tank was made according to a single-wire circuit (a two-wire circuit was used in emergency lighting). The voltage of the on-board network is 24-29 V (MPB and starter circuit with a starting relay) and 12 V (other consumers). The main source of electricity was a 1.5-kilowatt generator G-731 with a relay-regulator RRT-30. Auxiliary - 4 rechargeable batteries 6STEN-140M, which were connected to each other in series-parallel, with a total capacity of 256 and 280 Ah, respectively. In front of the sloping side of the hull, behind the outdoor headlight, the C-58 signal was mounted on a bracket. An outdoor headlight with an infrared filter FG-100 was mounted on the right side slope of the sheet. The left headlight was equipped with a FG-102 blackout nozzle. In addition to the GST-64 rear position lamp, there was a similar position lamp located on the tower, near which the FG-126 headlight was located. In order to connect the MZN-3 small-sized filling unit and a portable lamp, an external socket was installed in the aft part of the hull.

Communication devices

In the tank turret, the R-123 radio station was used for external radio communications, and the R-124 tank intercom was used for internal communications. There was an outlet for communication with the landing commander. On command vehicles, radio stations 9RS and RSB-F were installed, as well as a tank intercom TPU-ZBis-F. Regular batteries were used to power the radios. The batteries were recharged using an autonomous charging unit, which included an L-3/2 engine.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the T-34-85 model 1960:
Combat weight - 32.5 - 33 tons;
Crew - 5 people;
DIMENSIONS:
Full length - 8100 mm;
Body length - 6100 mm;
Width - 3000 mm;
Height - 2700 mm;
Clearance - 400 mm;
WEAPONS:
- gun S-53 caliber 85 mm;
- two DTM machine guns of 7.62 mm caliber;
AMMUNITION:
- 56 shots;
- 1953 cartridge;
AIMING DEVICES:
- telescopic sight TSh-16;
- machine-gun telescopic sight PPU-8T;
BOOKING:
tower forehead - 90 mm;
turret board - 75 mm;
hull forehead - 45 mm;
hull board - 45 mm;
roof - 16-20 mm;
feed bottom - 40 mm;
feed top - 45 mm;
bottom front sheet - 20 mm;
rear bottom sheet - 13 mm;
ENGINE:
- V-2-34, 12-cylinder, diesel, liquid-cooled, 500 hp at 1700 rpm; tank capacity - 550 liters;
TRANSMISSION:
- mechanical, 5-speed gearbox (4 forward, 1 reverse), final drives, clutches;
UNDERCARRIAGE (on board):
5 double road wheels (diameter 830 mm), rear guide and front drive wheel; caterpillars - small-link, steel, ridge engagement, 72 tracks in each caterpillar;
SPEED:
on the highway - 54 km / h;
power reserve on the highway - 290-300 km;
cross-country - 25 km / h;
power reserve along the country road - 220-250 km;
OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME:
Rise - 35 degrees;
Descent - 40 degrees;
Wall height - 0.73 m;
The width of the moat is 2.50 m;
Ford depth - 1.30 m;
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION:
- intercom TPU-47;
- radio station 10-RT-26E.

Prepared from:
http://www.dogswar.ru
http://www.battlefield.ru/
http://www.aviarmor.net

ctrl Enter

Noticed osh s bku Highlight text and click Ctrl+Enter

Until now, disputes have not subsided about how many people were in the T-34-85 turret manufactured by plant No. 112, equipped with a D-5T gun.
For starters, it's worth taking a look at the Dimitry Donskoy convoy, just the crews are standing in front of their cars. I think it's pretty obvious.

However, one must understand that the demonstration of some photographs is not a serious matter. Therefore, let's still reveal the topic in more depth.

So, I already have the first T-34-85. In fact, the serial T-34-85 with D-5T looked almost the same. A new double tower on an extended pursuit, a radio operator in the hull, one fan in the tower.


TsAMO RF, fund 38, inventory 11355, case No. 2358, p. 9
The list of changes is attached, there is no crew increase in the list.

TsAMO RF, fund 38, inventory 11355, case No. 2358, p.1
So that there is no doubt - the same for the T-34-85 of plant No. 112 with the S-53 gun, a 3-man turret and external changes are evident (including an antenna on the roof of the turret)



TsAMO RF, fund 38, inventory 11355, case No. 2364, pp. 1 and 4

Thus, we can safely say that most of the T-34-85 with D-5T were equipped with 2-man towers. But not all.
I have this photo in my photo collection. The antenna on the roof of the tower is clearly visible.


The intrigue is that the photo, as it were, is not the same from a series of 5 cars that was equipped with an RSB-F radio. Moreover, the car following a tank with a 3-man turret does not have an antenna on the roof of the turret, that is, it has a double turret.

And finally. Where, in fact, did the information about the 5-locality T-34-85 with the D-5T come from. Where the antenna is located, you can see it perfectly, the album of NIIBT Polygon is a general pre...


TsAMO RF, fund 38, inventory 11377, case No. 289, p.14