Number of people in the crew of the tank. History of tank troops. Power plant with transmission

Today we will talk about legendary tank Great Patriotic War, which was developed in Kharkov, under the leadership of Koshkin M.I. - T-34. It was produced since 1940, and already in 1944 it became the main medium tank of the USSR. It is also the most massive ST of the Second World War.

T-34

Crew
The crew of the tank consists of 4 people (driver, gunner-radio operator, loader and commander), in a word, the classic layout.

Frame
The hull itself ST - T34, welded and assembled from rolled plates and sheets of homogeneous steel. The thickness reached from 13 to 45 mm. The armor protection of the tank is projectile-proof, equally strong, made with rational angles of inclination, but the frontal part was made of armor plates converging in a wedge 45 mm thick: the upper one, located at an angle of 60 ° to the vertical and the lower one, located at an angle of 53 °.

Tower
The tank turret was double. On the T-34 of the first issues, a welded tower made of rolled plates and sheets was installed. The walls of the tower were made of 45-mm armor plates, located at an angle of 30 °, the forehead of the tower was a 45-mm, curved in the shape of a half cylinder, a plate with cutouts for mounting guns, a machine gun and a sight. However, starting from 1942, the towers began to be produced in an improved form, which was distinguished by a larger width, a smaller inclination of the sides and stern. (“Hexagonal” or “turret nuts”)

Armament
The T-34 was mainly equipped with a 76 mm gun - 30.5 calibers / 2324 mm, starting speed armor-piercing projectile - 612 m / s.

However, in 1941 it was replaced by a 76 mm cannon - 41.5 calibers / 3162 mm, and the muzzle velocity of an armor-piercing projectile - 662 m/s.

Both guns used the same ammunition. The ammunition load of the gun on the T-34 of the 1940-1942 release consisted of 77 shots, placed in suitcases on the floor of the fighting compartment and in stacks on its walls. On the T-34 produced in 1942-1944 with an "improved turret", the ammunition load was increased to 100 rounds. The ammunition could include shots with caliber, sub-caliber armor-piercing, high-explosive fragmentation, shrapnel and grapeshot shells.

Auxiliary armament of the tank consisted of two 7.62 mm DT machine guns.

walkie-talkie
Initially, a short-wave telephone radio station 71-TK-3 was installed on the T-34, but a little later it was replaced with a newer 9-P, which could provide a communication range of as much as 15-25 km while standing still, and when moving, the range decreased to 9 -18 km by phone. It is worth noting that since 1943, 9-R was replaced by 9-RM, which worked in an extended frequency range.
71-TK-3

9-R

Engine
The engine was the same - a V-shaped 12-cylinder four-stroke liquid-cooled diesel engine model V-2-34. The maximum engine power is 500 hp. with. at 1800 rpm, nominal - 450 l. with. at 1750 rpm, operational - 400 l. with. at 1700 rpm. However, due to the shortage of V-2 engines, 1201 of the T-34s produced in 1941-1942 were equipped with M-17T or M-17F carburetor aircraft engines of the same power.

Chassis
For the chassis, they took the Christie suspension, which was taken from the BT series of tanks. It consisted of 5 double road wheels, the diameter of which was 830mm. The caterpillars of this ST were steel, which consisted of alternating ridge and "flat" tracks.

The legendary T-34 tank was recognized best tank World War II, which had a huge impact on the outcome of the war. What is most interesting, the T-34 was released even with a different gun - a flamethrower, which could burn everything up to 100m in its path.

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Germany, 1945 In the American occupation zone, the interrogation of Wehrmacht prisoners of war was going on sluggishly. Unexpectedly, the attention of the interrogators was attracted by a long, full of horror story about a crazy Russian tank that killed everything on its own ...

Germany, 1945 In the American occupation zone, the interrogation of Wehrmacht prisoners of war was going on sluggishly. Suddenly, the attention of the interrogators was attracted by a long, full of horror story about a crazy Russian tank that killed everything in its path. The events of that fateful day from the summer of 1941 were so strongly imprinted in the memory of a German officer that they could not be erased over the next four years of a terrible war. He remembered that Russian tank forever.

June 28, 1941, Belarus. German troops break into Minsk. The Soviet units are retreating along the Mogilev highway, one of the columns is closed by the only remaining T-28 tank, led by senior sergeant Dmitry Malko. The tank has a problem with the engine, but a full supply of fuel and lubricants and ammunition.

During an air raid in the area of ​​n. Berezino village, from close explosions of bombs, the T-28 hopelessly stalls. Malko receives an order to blow up the tank and continue to move to the city of Mogilev in the back of one of the trucks with other fighters of a mixed composition. Malko asks for permission under his responsibility to postpone the execution of the order - he will try to repair the T-28, the tank is completely new and has not received significant damage in the fighting. Permission received, the column leaves. During the day, Malko really manages to bring the engine into working condition.

Shielding of the T-28 tank, 1940

Further, the plot includes an element of chance. A major and four cadets suddenly come out to the parking lot of the tank. Major - tanker, artillery cadets. This is how the full crew of the T-28 tank is unexpectedly formed. All night they are considering a plan to get out of the encirclement. The Mogilev highway was probably cut by the Germans, and another way must be found.

... The original proposal to change the route is expressed aloud by cadet Nikolai Pedan. The daring plan is unanimously supported by the newly formed crew. Instead of following a location collection point retreating units, the tank will rush in the opposite direction - to the West. They will break through in battle through the captured Minsk and leave the encirclement along the Moscow highway to the location of their troops. Unique combat capabilities T-28s will help them carry out such a plan.

Fuel tanks are filled almost to the caps, ammunition - although not full, but senior sergeant Malko knows the location of the abandoned ammunition depot. The radio does not work in the tank, the commander, gunners and the driver mechanic stipulate in advance a set of conditional signals: the commander's leg on the driver's right shoulder - right turn, on the left - left; one push in the back - first gear, two - second; foot on head - stop. The three-tower bulk of the T-28 is advanced along a new route in order to severely punish the Nazis.

The layout of the ammunition in the T-28 tank

In an abandoned warehouse, they replenish ammunition beyond the norm. When all the cassettes are full, the fighters pile shells directly on the floor of the fighting compartment. Here, our amateurs make a small mistake - about twenty shells did not fit the 76 mm L-10 short-barreled tank gun: despite the coincidence of calibers, these ammunition were intended for divisional artillery. 7,000 rounds of machine gun rounds were loaded into the chase in the side machine gun turrets. Having had a hearty breakfast, the invincible army moved towards the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, where the Fritz had been in charge for several days.

2 hours before immortality

On a free highway, the T-28 rushes to Minsk at full speed. Ahead, in a gray haze, the outlines of the city appeared, the pipes of the thermal power plant, factory buildings towered, a little further one could see the silhouette of the Government House, the dome of the cathedral. Closer, closer and irreversible... The fighters looked ahead, anxiously awaiting the main battle of their lives.

Unstopped by anyone, the "Trojan horse" passed the first German cordons and drove into city ​​limits, - as expected, the Nazis mistook the T-28 for captured armored vehicles and did not pay any attention to the lone tank.

Although we agreed to keep secrecy to the last opportunity, we still could not resist. The first unwitting victim of the raid was a German cyclist, pedaling merrily right in front of the tank. His flickering figure in the viewing slot got the driver. The tank roared its engine and rolled the unlucky cyclist into the asphalt.

The tankers passed the railway crossing, the tracks of the tram ring and ended up on Voroshilov Street. Here, at the distillery, a group of Germans met on the way of the tank: Wehrmacht soldiers carefully loaded crates with bottles of alcohol into the truck. When fifty meters remained before the anonymous alcoholics, the right turret of the tank started working. The Nazis, like skittles, fell at the car. After a couple of seconds, the tank pushed the truck, turning it upside down. From the broken body, the savory smell of celebration began to spread around the district.

Having met no resistance and alarms from the panic-scattered enemy, soviet tank in "stealth" mode, he went deep into the city boundaries. In the area of ​​the city market, the tank turned onto the street. Lenin, where he met a column of motorcyclists.

The first car with a sidecar independently drove under the armor of the tank, where it was crushed along with the crew. The death rush has begun. Only for a moment, the faces of the Germans, twisted with horror, appeared in the driver’s viewing slot, then disappearing under the tracks of the steel monster. The motorcycles at the tail of the column tried to turn around and run away from the approaching death, alas, they came under fire from the turret machine guns.

Having wound the unlucky bikers on the tracks, the tank moved on, driving along the street. Soviet, tankers planted fragmentation projectile into a group of German soldiers standing near the theater. And then there was a slight hitch - when turning onto Proletarskaya Street, the tankers suddenly discovered that the main street the city is chock-full of manpower and equipment of the enemy. Opening fire from all barrels, practically without aiming, the three-turreted monster rushed forward, sweeping all obstacles into a bloody vinaigrette.

The T-34-85 tank was developed and put into service in December 1943 in connection with the appearance of enemy T-V"Panther" and T-VI "Tiger" with strong anti-ballistic armor and powerful weapons. The T-34-85 was created on the basis of the T-34 tank with the installation of a new cast turret with an 85-mm gun.

On the first production vehicles, an 85-mm D-5T cannon was installed, which was subsequently replaced by a ZIS-S-53 cannon of the same caliber. Its armor-piercing projectile weighing 9.2 kg from a distance of 500 and 1000 meters pierced 111-mm and 102-mm armor, respectively, and sub-caliber projectile from a distance of 500 meters it pierced armor 138 mm thick. (The thickness of the Panther's armor was 80 - 110 mm, and the "Tiger" - 100 mm.) A fixed commander's turret with viewing devices was installed on the roof of the tower. All vehicles were equipped with a 9RS radio station, a TSh-16 sight, and means for setting smoke screens. Although due to the installation of more powerful cannon and increased armor protection, the weight of the tank increased slightly, thanks to the powerful diesel engine, the tank's mobility did not decrease. The tank was widely used in all the battles of the final stage of the war.

Description of the design of the T-34-85 tank

ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION.
On the T-34-85 tank, a 12-cylinder four-stroke uncompressed diesel V-2-34 was installed. The rated power of the engine was 450 hp. at 1750 rpm, operational - 400 hp at 1700 rpm, maximum - 500 hp at 1800 rpm. The mass of a dry engine with an electric generator without exhaust manifolds is 750 kg.
Fuel - diesel, brand DT. Fuel tank capacity 545 l. Outside, on the sides of the hull, two fuel tanks of 90 liters each were installed. outdoor fuel tanks not connected to the engine power system. The fuel supply is forced, using the fuel pump NK-1.

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. The engine was started by an electric starter or compressed air(two cylinders were installed in the control room).

The transmission consisted of a multi-disk main clutch of dry friction (steel on steel), a gearbox, side clutches, brakes and final drives. Gearbox - five-speed.

CHASSIS.
As applied to one side, it consisted of five double rubber-coated road wheels with a diameter of 830 mm. 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.
Made in single wire. Voltage 24 and 12 V. Consumers: electric starter ST-700, electric motor of the rotary mechanism of the tower, electric motors of fans, control devices, equipment for external and internal lighting, 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.

From the history of the creation (modernization) of the medium tank T-34-85

The production of the T-34 tank armed with an 85-mm cannon began in the fall of 1943 at the plant number 112 "Krasnoe Sormovo". In a cast triple tower new form an 85-mm D-5T gun designed by F.F. Petrov and a DT machine gun coaxial with it were installed. The turret ring diameter was increased from 1420 mm to 1600 mm. On the roof of the tower there was a commander's cupola, the double-leaf cover of which rotated on a ball bearing. A viewing periscope device MK-4 was fixed in the lid, which made it possible to conduct a circular one. For firing from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun, a telescopic articulated sight and a PTK-5 panorama were installed. Ammunition consisted of 56 rounds and 1953 rounds. The radio station was located in the hull, and the output of its antenna was on the starboard side - just like the T-34-76. Power plant, transmission and chassis practically did not change.

	Crew	The weight	Length	Height	Armor	Engine	Speed	A gun	Caliber
	people				mm	hp	km/h		mm
T-34 mod. 1941		26,8	5,95					L-11
T-34 mod. 1943		30,9	6,62		45-52			F-34
T-34-85 mod. 1945			8,10		45-90			ZIS-53

All changes in the design of the T-34 tank could only be made with the consent of two instances - the Office of the Commander of the Armored and Mechanized Troops of the Red Army and the Main Design Bureau (GKB-34) at plant No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil.

The layout of the medium tank T-34-85.

1 - gun ZIS-S-53; 2 - armored mask; 3 - telescopic sight TSh-16; 4 - gun lifting mechanism; 5 - observation device MK-4 loader; 6 - fixed gun guard; 7 - observation device MK-4 commander; 8 - glass block; 9 - folding fence (gilzoulavtvatep); 10 - fan armored cap; 11 - rack ammunition in the niche of the tower; 12 - covering tarpaulin; 13 - clamp stowage for two artillery rounds; 14 - engine; 15 - main clutch; 16 - air cleaner "Multicyclone"; 17- starter; 18 - smoke bomb BDSH; 19 - gearbox; 20 - final drive; 21 - batteries; 22 - stacking shots on the floor of the fighting compartment; 23 - gunner's seat; 24 - VKU; 25 - suspension shaft; 26 - driver's seat; 27 - laying machine-gun magazines in the department of management; 28 - clutch lever; 29 - main clutch pedal; 30 - cylinders with compressed air; 31 - driver's hatch cover; 32 - DT machine gun; 33 - collar stacking shots in the control compartment.

The TsAKB (Central Artillery Design Bureau), headed by V. G. Grabin, and the Design Bureau of Plant No. 92 in Gorky offered their versions of the 85-mm tank gun. The first developed the S-53 cannon. V. G. Grabin made an attempt to install the S-53 cannon in the T-34 turret of the 1942 model without widening the turret ring, for which the frontal part of the turret was completely redone: the cannon trunnions had to be pushed forward by 200 mm. Shooting tests at the Gorokhovetsky training ground showed the complete failure of this installation. In addition, the tests revealed design flaws both in the S-53 cannon and in the LB-85. As a result, the armament and mass production adopted a synthesized version - the ZIS-C-53 gun. Its ballistic characteristics were identical to the D-5T gun. But the latter was already mass-produced and, in addition to the T-34, was installed in the KV-85, IS-1 and in the D-5S variant in the SU-85.

GKO Decree of January 23, 1944 tank The T-34-85 with the ZIS-S-53 cannon was adopted by the Red Army. In March, the first cars began to roll off the assembly line of the 183rd plant. On them, the commander's cupola was moved closer to the rear of the tower, which saved the gunner from having to sit literally in the commander's lap. The electric drive of the turret traverse mechanism with two speeds was replaced by an electric drive with commander's control, which ensures the rotation of the turret both from the gunner and from the crew commander. The radio station was moved from the building to the tower. Viewing devices began to install only a new type - MK-4. The commander's panorama PTK-5 was seized. The rest of the units and systems remained largely unchanged.

Tank turret manufactured by the Krasnoye Sormovo plant.

1 - hatch cover loader; 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.

The undercarriage of the tank consisted of five rubber-coated road wheels on board, a rear drive wheel with ridge gearing and a guide wheel with a tensioner. The track rollers were suspended individually on cylindrical coil springs. The transmission included: a multi-plate main dry friction clutch, a five-speed gearbox, side clutches and final drives.

In 1945, the double hatch cover of the commander's cupola was replaced with a single-leaf one of two fans. installed in the stern of the tower, moved to its central part, which contributed to better ventilation of the fighting compartment.

The production of the T-34-85 tank was carried out at three plants: No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil No. 112 "Krasnoe Sormovo" and No. 174 in Omsk. In just three quarters of 1945 (that is, until the end of World War II), 21,048 tanks of this type were built, including the T-034-85 flamethrower version. Part of the combat vehicles was equipped with a PT-3 roller mine trawl.

General production of T-34-85 tanks

	1944	1945	Total
T-34-85	10499	12110	22609
T-34-85 com.
OT-34-85
Total	10663	12551	23 214

The crew of the most massive medium tank of World War II, the T-34, consisted of four people: a tank commander, a driver, a turret commander, and a machine gunner. The commander of the T-34 also performed the duties of a gunner (that is, he fired), which actually deprived the crew of the commander. The situation changed only with the advent of the T-34-85 in 1943.

In the Red Army, drivers were trained for 3 months, radio operators and loaders - for a month. The formation of the crew took place right at the factory, after receiving the tank. The fighters went to the factory site and fired 3-4 shells and 2-3 machine-gun discs, after which they marched on railway station where cars were loaded onto platforms. Arriving at the front, such crews often disintegrated without entering into battle. Then they were replaced by experienced tankers who lost their vehicles in battles and, according to the charter, were sent to serve in the infantry.

The crew of the tank was not permanent: after leaving the hospital, the wounded tankers rarely returned to their crew and even to their regiment. Accounting for personal victories in the Soviet tank forces was practically not kept, and the data that are available are in most cases not complete: the number of victories could be large.

The data was often underestimated, which was due to the existence of the payment system. For each destroyed German tank, the commander, gunner and driver received 500 rubles each, the loader and radio operator received 200 rubles each. As for collective tank victories, only a few cases are known when Soviet tank crews destroyed a certain number of German tanks and guns.

In Soviet military historiography there is no complete list aces tankers ( like that that existed in the German tank forces). The most reliable data are available only for specific tank battles.

The Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper was inclined to overestimate the data: judging solely by them, the Red Army should have destroyed all the tanks of the Wehrmacht in the autumn of 1941.

1. Dmitry LAVRINENKO - lieutenant, fought on the T-34 tank, destroyed 52 tanks and assault guns.
2. Zinovy ​​KOLOBANOV - senior lieutenant, KV tank; 22 tanks.
3. Semyon KONOVALOV - Lieutenant, KV tank; 16 tanks and 2 armored vehicles.
4. Alexey SILACHEV - lieutenant, 11 tanks.
5. Maxim DMITRIEV - lieutenant, 11 tanks.
6. Pavel GUDZ - Lieutenant, KV tank; 10 tanks and 4 anti-tank guns.
7. Vladimir KHAZOV - senior lieutenant, 10 tanks.
8. Ivan DEPUTATOV - lieutenant, 9 tanks, 2 assault guns.
9. Ivan LYUBUSHKIN - senior sergeant, T-34 tank; 9 tanks.
10. Dmitry SHOLOKHOV - senior lieutenant, 8 tanks.

The most productive Soviet ace of tank troops is Dmitry Lavrinenko. Participated in 28 battles. On October 6-10, 1941, in the battles near Orel and Mtsensk, his crew destroyed 16 German tanks. Later, Colonel General Heinz Guderian wrote: “South of Mtsensk, the 4th Panzer Division was attacked by Russian tanks, and it had to go through a difficult moment. For the first time, the superiority of the Russian T-34 tanks manifested itself in a sharp form. The division suffered heavy losses. The planned rapid attack on Tula had to be postponed. In November 1941, during the defense held by Lavrinenko's platoon, 8 German tanks moved into battle. The lieutenant knocked out the tank in front with one shot, after which the remaining 6 shots also hit the target. A tanker died in November 1941 during the defense of Moscow.

Zinovy ​​Kolobanov is the second in the row of aces-tankers. August 19, 1941 in Leningrad region his KV-1 destroyed 22 German tanks. Four KV-1 tanks led by Kolobanov ambushed a German convoy. From the first two shots, two leading German vehicles caught fire, which stopped those that followed. The cars that were at the end of the column continued to move forward, squeezing it. In this situation, Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov struck German car in the end. The column was trapped. The KV tank, in which Kolobanov was located, withstood 135 hits by German shells and did not fail.

Separately, they talk about aces-tankers who destroyed heavy german tanks T-VI N "Tigers". Here, the crews of T-34 tanks from the 1st Tank Army of General Mikhail Efimovich Katukov are considered the first.

On July 7, 1943, 8 T-34 vehicles of the Guard Lieutenant Vladimir Bochkovsky from the Katukov army fought a defensive battle, first with seven Tigers, and later with three more approaching tank columns, led by T-VI N. Soviet tanks fought from shelters, which gave the Nazis a reason to think that the defense was holding much large quantity tanks. In this battle, Guard Lieutenant Georgy Bessarabov burned three T-VI N.

Only towards the end of the day did the German tankers realize that only a few vehicles were fighting against them and resumed their attacks. Bochkovsky's tank was hit when he tried to tow another vehicle that had been hit earlier. The crews of wrecked tanks and 4 more motorized riflemen continued to hold the line. As a result, Bessarabov's tank managed to escape. The next morning, a company of 5 vehicles again appeared before the German tanks.

In two days of fighting, the tankers destroyed 23 enemy tanks, including several Tigers.

THE BIGGEST TANK BATTLE IN THE HISTORY OF WAR OF THE XX CENTURY

In the Great Patriotic War, which took place on the territory of the state, which occupied 1/6 of the land, tank battles became decisive. During battles involving armored forces, opponents found themselves in equally difficult conditions, and in addition to the possibilities military equipment, were forced to demonstrate endurance personnel.

The largest military clash with the participation of armored forces has long been considered the battle in the area of ​​​​Prokhorovka station (Belgorod region) on July 12, 1943. It took place during the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk under the command of Lieutenant General of the tank forces of the Red Army Pavel Rotmistrov and SS Gruppenführer Paul Hausser from the enemy side. According to Soviet military historians, 1,500 tanks participated in the battle: 800 from the Soviet side and 700 from the German side. In some cases, it is indicated total figure- 1200. According to the latest data, only about 800 armored vehicles participated in this battle from both sides.

Meanwhile, modern historians argue that the largest tank battle in the history of World War II and in the entire history of wars of the 20th century was the battle near the Belarusian town of Senno, 50 kilometers southwest of Vitebsk. This battle took place at the very beginning of the war - on July 6, 1941, 2,000 armored vehicles were involved in it: the 7th and 5th mechanized corps of the Red Army (under the command of Major General Vinogradov and Alekseenko) had about 1,000 tanks of old types , also about 1,000 tanks were at the disposal of the German troops. The Soviet army suffered the greatest losses in this battle: all Soviet tanks were destroyed, the loss of personnel amounted to about 5,000 dead soldiers and officers - it was for this reason that Soviet historiography did not cover the scale of the battle near Senno. True, the writer Ivan Stadnyuk in his novel "War" writes that our corps had 700 tanks, that they were tasked with delivering a counterattack to a depth of 140 km from the area southwest of Vitebsk. in the direction of Senno and Lepel and destroy the enemy Lepel grouping - 57 mechanized corps.

PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE

The battle of Senno was preceded by fighting in the Vitebsk direction, as a result of which, according to the plans of the Wehrmacht command, the road to Moscow was to become completely open. The basis for such a conclusion was the fact that by the beginning of July 1941 Minsk had been taken and the main forces of the Soviet Western front. July 3, head of the German general staff Franz Halder wrote in his diary: “In general, it can already be said that the task of defeating the main forces of the Russian land army completed in front of the Western Dvina and the Dnieper ... Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the campaign against Russia was won within 14 days ... "However, on July 5, German units were stopped on the way to Vitebsk - the famous Barbarossa plan began to fail. The fighting in the Vitebsk direction, which ended in the Battle of Senno, played an important role in this disruption, paralyzing the movement of German troops for a whole week.

As a result of the July battles north and west of Orsha, the Red Army tankers of the 20th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Pavel Alekseevich Kurochkin dealt a significant blow to German units, throwing them 30 - 40 kilometers away from the city of Lepel. German troops suddenly found themselves in difficult situation, going from the offensive to the defense, which was broken through by two Soviet tank wedges.

According to military theory, the tank wedge could be stopped by the same tank wedge: therefore, in the counteroffensive, the German command was forced to use the approaching 47th motorized corps and other tank formations. A large German airborne assault was thrown into the Senno area. At this time, units of the 20th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Pavel Alekseevich Kurochkin moved forward, confident in the successful completion of the operation.

Here is an excerpt from the memoirs of a participant in that battle: “Soon tanks appeared ahead. There were many, many. An ominous mass of armored monsters with black crosses on their sides moved towards us. It's hard to convey state of mind that embraced young, unfired fighters ... ”It was difficult to keep Senno: the next day the city changed hands three times, but by the end of the day it was still under the control of Soviet troops. The tankers had to withstand 15 German attacks a day: according to the recollections of the participants in the battle, it was "a real pitch hell!"

After the first, most difficult day of the battle, the Red Army tank corps were surrounded. Stocks of fuel and ammunition ran out, the T-26, BT-5, BT-7 tanks, which were in service with the Red Army, could not withstand the impact of shells of any of the calibers, and a tank that stopped on the battlefield turned into a pile of metal in a few minutes. Due to outdated gasoline engines, Soviet tanks literally burned out "like candles."

The supply of fuel and ammunition to the tanks was not organized in the required volume, and the tankers had to pour fuel from the tanks of vehicles, almost incapacitated, into those that carried out the offensive.

On July 8, the German command decided to use in battle with the defenders of the city all the forces located in the Senno area, and considered reserve.

As a result, the Soviet units had to leave the city and retreat to the Vitebsk-Smolensk highway, where they occupied the next line of defense. Part of the Soviet tanks still continued to advance on Lepel, hoping to successfully complete the operation, but already on July 9, the German corps captured Vitebsk. Thus, even before the start of the crossing of the Dnieper, the road to Smolensk and Moscow was open to the Wehrmacht. The continuation of the counterattack of the Red Army troops did not make sense. On July 10, the Soviet command gave the order to blow up the tanks left without crews and fuel, and leave the encirclement.

They retreated at night, many did not manage to escape. Those who survived later took part in the battle of Smolensk. It was during the Smolensk battle that the most famous participant in the battle of Senno, the son of Joseph Stalin, Yakov Dzhugashvili, a junior officer of the 14th howitzer artillery regiment, was captured. The son also fought in the same corps. Secretary General communist party Spain - Lieutenant Ruben Ruiz Ibarruri.

RESULTS OF THE BATTLE

The largest battle in the history of wars of the 20th century ended in the defeat of the Red Army for a number of reasons. The main among them, according to historians, is poor preparation for the operation: lack of time to obtain intelligence data and poor communication, as a result of which the fighters had to act intuitively. In addition, most Soviet tankers entered this battle without preparation. The order to conduct a counterattack came unexpectedly: at this time, many units railway followed to the Kyiv military district, and some echelons even managed to unload.

For most of the Red Army tankers who did not yet have combat experience, the battle of Senno became a "baptism of fire". German tankers, on the other hand, had by that time been hardened in European battles.

Among the reasons that determined the outcome of the battle, an important one is the lack of air support for Soviet tanks, while the German Air Force inflicted sufficient damage on them. In his report, Major General of the Tank Troops Arseniy Vasilyevich Borzikov wrote: “The 5th and 7th mechanized corps are fighting well, the only bad thing is that their losses are very large. Moreover, the most serious - from enemy aircraft, which uses incendiary watering ... "Heavy weather in which the battle was fought also affected its result: the heavy rains that took place the day before turned dirt roads into the mud, which made it difficult for both the offensive and the retreat of Soviet tanks.

But the German troops also suffered significant losses in the largest tank battle. Evidence of this is the captured memorandum of the commander of the German 18th tank division Major General Nering: “The loss of equipment, weapons and vehicles is unusually large and significantly exceeds the captured trophies. This situation is intolerable, we can be defeated until our own death ... "

25 soldiers of the Red Army - participants in the battle of Senno were presented for state awards.

Soviet tankers fought heroically in a tank battle in 1941 at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War near Dubno, Lutsk and Rovno as part of the 6th mechanized corps with the first tank group of Nazi troops.

It is well known that the victory of the Soviet Armed Forces in the last war was the result of joint heroic efforts and high military skill of all types and branches of the armed forces. A great contribution to the common victory over the enemy was also made by the Soviet tank troops, which were the main striking and maneuvering force of the ground forces of the Red Army.

Taking a mental look at the battles of the Great Patriotic War, it is impossible not to notice that not one of them was carried out without the participation of tank troops. In addition, the number of tanks participating in battles continuously increased throughout the war. If in the counteroffensive near Moscow only 670 tanks operated as part of the Soviet troops, and in general in the Battle of Moscow (1941/1942) - 780 tanks, then in Battle of Stalingrad 979 tanks were involved. There were already 5,200 of them in the Belarusian operation, 6,500 in the Vistula-Oder operation, and 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in the Berlin operation.

The decisive role was played by tank troops in the Battle of Stalingradjf942 - 1943, Battle of Kursk 1943, in the liberation of Kyiv in 1943, in the Belarusian operation of 1944, the Jassy-Kishenev operation of 1944, the Vistula-Oder operation of 1945, Berlin operation 1945 and more others

The massive use of tanks in cooperation with other branches of the armed forces and aviation led to exceptionally high dynamism, decisiveness and maneuverability of combat operations, and gave the operations of the last war a spatial scope.

“The second half of the war,” said Army General A.I. Antonov in his report at the XII session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 22, 1945 - was marked by the predominance of our tanks and self-propelled artillery on the battlefields. This allowed us to carry out operational maneuvers on a huge scale, to surround large enemy groups, to pursue him until complete destruction)

As is known, according to their main combat mission, tanks must always act ahead of other branches of the armed forces. During the war, our tank troops. brilliantly fulfilled the role of the armored vanguard of the Red Army. Using a large strike force and high mobility, tank units and formations rapidly broke through into the depths of the enemy’s defenses, cut through, surrounded and smashed the groupings from the move, forced water barriers, violated enemy communications, captured important objects in his rear

Advancing at high speed and great depth, tank troops were most often the first to break into cities and villages temporarily occupied by the Nazi invaders. It is not for nothing that people today say that during the war years the rumble of tank tracks and the thunder of their cannon shots for millions of people who were in Nazi captivity sounded like a hymn of liberation. Perhaps there is no such large locality on the former theater of war, the name of which would not have been written on the battle flag of the tank brigade or corps that took part in its liberation. Eternal symbols of people's love and appreciation for the courage and heroism of Soviet tankers today stand tanks monuments in many cities of our country and abroad.

During the Great Patriotic War, 68 tank brigades received the title of guards for military merit, 112 were awarded honorary titles, and 114 were awarded orders. The brigades that received five and six orders include the 1st, 40th, 44th, 47th, 50th, 52nd, 65th and 68th Guards tank brigades.

During the Great Patriotic War, 1142 tank soldiers were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and 17 of them twice, hundreds of thousands were awarded orders and medals.

Separately, I would like to dwell on the work of the country's tank industry. As a result of the measures taken by the Soviet government to organize the production of tanks and the heroic efforts of home front workers, the number of tanks in the active army increased rapidly. If on December 1, 1941 there were only 1730 units, then by May 1, 1942 it became 4065, and by November - 6014 tanks, which already in the spring of 1942, it was possible to begin the formation of tank, and later mechanized corps, 2 tank armies of mixed composition were also created, which included tank, mechanized and rifle formations.

On the basis of combat experience in 1942, the people's commissar of defense issued an order dated November 16, which demanded the use of tank brigades and regiments for direct support of the infantry, and tank and mechanized corps as success development echelons in order to disunite and encircle large enemy groups. Since 1943, the formation began tank armies homogeneous composition; in the tank and mechanized corps, the number of tanks was increased, self-propelled artillery, mortar and anti-aircraft units were included. By the summer of 1943, there were already 5 tank armies, which, as a rule, had 2 tank and 1 mechanized corps. In addition, there were a large number of individual tank mechanized corps. At the end of World War II, the Red Army had 6 tank armies.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the tank industry of the USSR produced more than 100,000 tanks. The loss of tank troops during this period amounted to 96.5 thousand combat vehicles.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 1, 1946, the professional holiday Day of the tanker in commemoration of the great merits of armored and mechanized troops in defeating the enemy during the Great Patriotic War, as well as for the merits of tank builders in equipping the Armed Forces of the country with armored vehicles.

The holiday is celebrated on the second Sunday of September.

Immediately after the end of the Great Patriotic War, tank troops stationed in Eastern Europe, were one of the most important factors in deterring the ruling circles of Great Britain and the United States from carrying out military operation against the USSR.

According to the country's defense plan for 1947, the Armed Forces were tasked with ensuring the integrity of the borders in the West and East, established by international treaties after World War II, and being ready to repel possible enemy aggression. In connection with the creation of NATO, since 1949, a gradual increase in the size of the Soviet Armed Forces began: the country was drawn into an arms race. In the fifties, the Soviet army was armed with up to

60,000 tanks of the T-54/55 type. They formed the basis of the Soviet army. Panzer troops were part of the armored strategy.

As a result of the arms race, by the beginning of the 1960s, 8 tank armies were deployed in the western theater alone (of which 4 were the GSVG). Tanks of new series entered service: T-64 (1967), T-72 (1973), T-80 (1976), which became the main battle tanks Soviet army. They had a different configuration according to the type of engines and other important components, which greatly complicated their operation and repair in the army.

According to the USSR Ministry of Defense, as of January 1, 1990, there were 63,900 tanks, 76,520 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers in service. In the period 1955 - 1991. Soviet tank troops were the strongest in the world.

In accordance with the agreement on customary armed forces in Europe on November 19, 1990 Soviet Union pledged to reduce conventional armaments in European territory to the level of 13,300 tanks, 20,000 armored vehicles, 13,700 artillery pieces. The treaty finally put an end to the possibility of the Soviet throw, marking the end of the era of tank confrontation.

AT modern form tank troops - "the main striking force ground forces powerful tool armed struggle designed to solve the most important tasks in various types military operations." ... Thus, the importance of tank troops as one of the main branches of the Ground Forces and their main striking force maintained for the foreseeable future. At the same time, the tank will retain the role of the leading unique weapon Ground forces.

By Decree of the President of Russia No. 435F of April 16, 2005 and Order of the Minister of Defense of Russia No. 043 of May 27, 2005, modernized tanks of the T-72BA, T-80BA, T-80 U-E1 and T-90A types were put into service. For the period 2001 - 2010, 280 tanks were produced. In 2008 - 2010, one of the priority tasks for the development of the Ground Forces was their equipment - primarily formations and units constant readiness- modern T-90 tanks. The main problems of the tank troops are the significant diversity of the tank fleet, the need to increase the firepower of the tanks. Their security and mobility.

In 2010-2011, a decision was made to stop purchasing T-90, BTR-90, BTR-80, BMD-4, BMP-3 and any other domestic armored vehicles for a period of 5 years, until the creation of the Armata platform. Since 2012, the purchase of any domestically produced armored vehicles has been frozen for 5 years. At present, the tank forces of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces outnumber the tank forces of the United States, whose tank fleet includes about 6250 Ml Abrams tanks.

The Russian Federation is armed with more than 20,000 tanks.

On July 3, 1941, a Soviet T-28 tank drove into Minsk, which had been in the hands of the Germans for a week, at low speed. Already intimidated by the occupying authorities, the locals watched in surprise as a three-turreted vehicle armed with a cannon and four machine guns boldly moved towards the city center.

Encounters along the way German soldiers did not react in any way to the tank, mistaking it for a trophy. One cyclist decided to have some fun and rode ahead for a while. But the T-28 driver got tired of it, he revved a little, and only memories remained of the German. Further, the Soviet tankers met several officers smoking on the porch of the house. But in order not to declassify themselves ahead of time, they were not touched.

Finally, near the distillery, the crew noticed how a Nazi unit, guarded by an armored car, was loading crates of alcohol into a truck. A few minutes later, only the wreckage of a car and an armored car, and a bunch of corpses remained from this idyllic picture.

While the news of what had happened at the vodka factory had not yet reached the German authorities, the tank calmly and carefully crossed the bridge over the river and stumbled upon a column of cheerful and self-confident motorcyclists. Having missed several Germans, the driver pressed the pedal, and the steel hulk crashed into the middle of the enemy column. Panic broke out, which was aggravated by cannon and machine gun shots. And the tank was stuffed to the eyeballs with ammunition in the morning in a former military town ...

Having finished with the motorcyclists, the tank rolled to Sovetskaya Street (the central street of Minsk), where along the way it treated the Nazis who had gathered at the theater with lead. Well, on Proletarskaya tankers literally blossomed with smiles. Directly in front of the T-28 were the rear of some German unit. Many trucks with ammunition and weapons, fuel tanks, field kitchens. And the soldiers - those do not count at all. In a few minutes, this place turned into a real hell with exploding shells and burning gasoline.

Now next in line is the Gorky Park. But on the way, the Soviet tankers decided to fire anti-tank gun. Three shots from the T-28 gun calmed the impudent ones forever. And in the park itself, the Germans, who heard explosions in the city, vigilantly looked out for Soviet bombers in the sky. The same remains of them as of their predecessors: a burning cistern, broken weapons and corpses.

But the moment came when the shells ran out, and the tankers decided to leave Minsk. Everything went well at first. But on the very outskirts, a disguised anti-tank battery hit the tank. The driver kept full throttle, but only a minute was not enough for the brave men. A projectile that hit the engine set fire to the T-28 ...

The crew that got out of the burning car tried to escape, but not everyone managed to get away. The crew commander, a major, and two cadets were killed. Nikolai Pedan was captured and, having gone through all the torments of German concentration camps, was released in 1945.

Fedor Naumov, the loader, was sheltered by local residents and then transferred to the partisans, where he fought, was wounded and transferred to the Soviet rear. And the driver, senior sergeant Malko, went out to his own people and fought the whole war in tank troops.

The heroic T-28 stood throughout the occupation in the capital of Belarus, recalling and local residents and to the Germans about the courage of the Soviet soldier.