Weapons 03/03/20 T-35: both fought against Hitler, the Soviet five tower tank
the Most famous Soviet tank largely ensured our country the victory in the great Patriotic war became the legendary T-34. However, on the medal “For courage” depicts not he, and practically unused in the battle, but Ivan externally five tower tank T-35.
the Fortress
paradoxically, T-35, which Soviet artists liked to portray the promotional materials of the great Patriotic war 1941, two years was discontinued. Only the USSR was released in 61 machine this model of heavy tanks. Its main difference from other combat vehicles of the USSR was the presence of five battle towers. During military parades of the 1930-ies, indeed, the T-35 looked like the indestructible Hulk. At the same time, it should be noted that if your tower many tanks the Germans unsuccessfully tried to put to mass production only in the end of the war, the Soviet Union, they have been widely produced starting in 1933. However, as surprising as it sounds, but the most powerful tank of the Soviet Union in the period from 1933 to 1939, when he was removed from production in the hostilities did not participate. To see him was only possible on the red square during parades or exercises.
To the front, separate samples of this fighting machine were sent only after the beginning of the great Patriotic war. But on the battlefield they proved very important. Heavy, clumsy, often breaking the T-35 fairly quickly broke down or were destroyed by the enemy. At the same time, the smaller specimens of this tank remained in the army, the greater grew the number of his image on campaign posters calling to fight to the last drop of blood. The T-35 was supposed to embody the might of the Soviet army, although in reality she never was.
the Birth of a legend
However, the blame for the almost complete inability to fight in the great Patriotic war is not on the crew or the designers, and the rapid evolution of military technology, in which the T-35 quickly became outdated. The appearance of this combat vehicle was due to work in the USSR in 1930 year German tank designer, Edward Grotte. A talented inventor with a group of assistants worked in the Soviet Union on the creation of the first Russian heavy tank. However, shortly before completion, the designer was politely sent home, and his work was continued by Soviet military engineers. As a result, by 1932, there appeared the T-35-1, weighing 42 tons. The armor of the tank reached 40 mm, the crew consisted of 11 people. As the weapons on the military machine was equipped with five battle towers, two cannons and three machine guns. The test tank was completely satisfied military, but the designer has decided to modify slightly their offspring. First, by 1933, there was a tank T-35-2, and then departed in a series of T-35A. The latest version of the tank had an improved suspension and heavily modified from the original design for the machine-gun towers. In 1934 a heavy tank entered the army. At the time of its inception five tower tank T-35 firepower was the most formidable tank in the world. Five spinning towers of combat vehicles were armed with machine guns and could carry a pie fight. In turn, also placed on towers three guns could create significant gaps in manpower and equipment the enemy. The main disadvantages of the tank was thin armor and low movement speed because of the huge weight of the tank. However, by 1941, over the past seven years since its inception, the tank is obsolete, though still gave the impression of a serious military machine.
Military use
In the early days of the war the red Army had 48 T-35. Basically, they were on the balance of the 67th and 68th tank regiments, and the 34th division of the Kiev military OKRuga. The war has barely begun, the red Army command tried to apply for appointment, never fought tanks before. To no avail. Thirty-five of them broke down on the way to the front, and only seven died during the fighting. However, in fairness it should be noted that two of the T-35 proved themselves during the battle of Moscow. But most of the T-35 due to a technical fault were abandoned by their crews. At the same time, one can note one interesting fact. When the Germans captured the first captured T-35, he was immediately sent to Berlin for study. In the capital of the Third Reich tank was until may 1945, when repaired was used by the Germans during the defense of the city, but was quickly downed by Soviet troops. This episode was the last in the history of combat use of T-35. However, it failed, as a combat car, this tank played a significant propaganda role during the campaign in the years of the great Patriotic war.
Russian Seven
Source:
© Russian Seven
Featured articles Share: Comments Comments on the article “T-35: both fought against Hitler, the Soviet five-tower tank” Please log in to leave a comment! br>
Share on Tumblr
