Military equipment from the Great Patriotic War, installed as monuments and museum exhibits in St. Petersburg.

Charity wall newspapers educational project"Briefly and clearly about the most interesting" (website website) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They are delivered free of charge to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The publications of the project do not contain any advertising (only logos of the founders), politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, well illustrated. They are conceived as an information "slowdown" of students, the awakening of cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without claiming to be academically complete in the presentation of the material, publish Interesting Facts, illustrations, interviews with well-known figures of science and culture and hope thereby to increase the interest of schoolchildren in educational process. Please send comments and suggestions to: [email protected] We thank the Department of Education of the Administration of the Kirovsky District of St. Petersburg and everyone who selflessly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. We thank the project "Book of Memory", the Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps, the Museum and Exhibition Complex "Sestroretsky Frontier" and Sergey Sharov for the materials provided in the issue. Many thanks to Alexei Shvarev and Denis Chaliapin for valuable comments.

This issue is dedicated to military equipment that fought on the fields of the Great Patriotic War, and now installed as monuments on the territory of St. Petersburg. With the help of these tanks, ships, aircraft and guns, the Armed Forces Soviet Union won over Nazi Germany, driving the enemy from the territory of our country and freeing the peoples of Europe. These combat vehicles(and some of them remained in single copies) are worthy of being carefully preserved, studied, remembered and proud of them. The issue was prepared in cooperation with the Book of Memory project, whose task is to find and systematize all the monuments dedicated to the events of the Second World War of 1939-1945 in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Post-war monuments remain behind the scenes of the newspaper: the T-80 tank on the Oil Road, the “rocket train” in the Museum of Railway Engineering, Submarine"S-189" on the Lieutenant Schmidt embankment, the MIG-19 aircraft in the Aviators' Park, the Triton-2M submarine in Kronstadt and some others. And we plan to devote a separate newspaper to the military equipment installed on pedestals in the Leningrad Region. Also in a separate issue we will talk about the extensive collection of the Artillery Museum on Kronverksky Island.

Admiralteisky district

1. 305 mm railway artillery mount

Photo: Vitaly V. Kuzmin

The Museum of Railway Technology at the former Varshavsky railway station exhibits many unique exhibits. One of the most interesting is a huge weapon. The explanatory plate says: “Railway artillery installation TM-3-12. Gun caliber - 305 mm. The maximum firing range is 30 km. Rate of fire - 2 shots per minute. Weight - 340 tons. Built at the Nikolaev State Plant in 1938. In total, 3 installations of this type were built, while guns dismantled from the battleship Empress Maria were used. Participated in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. From June to December 1941, they took part in the defense of the Soviet naval base on the Hanko Peninsula (Finland). Disabled by Soviet sailors during the evacuation of the base, subsequently restored by Finnish specialists using the guns of the Russian battleship Alexander III. They were in service until 1991, decommissioned in 1999. The installation arrived at the museum in February 2000.” The same artillery transporter is in the Moscow Museum on Poklonnaya Hill. Address: Obvodny Canal Embankment, 118, Museum of Railway Engineering.

2. Railway armored platform

This 22-ton armored platform was made in 1935. During the Great Patriotic War, such armored platforms equipped with anti-aircraft guns or machine guns were used to protect trains from attacks by enemy aircraft. Address: Obvodny Canal Embankment, 118, Museum of Railway Engineering.

Vasileostrovskiy district

3. Icebreaker "Krasin"

Photo: website, Georgy Popov

The icebreaker "Krasin" (until 1927 - "Svyatogor") was built in 1916 in England by order Russian government. For several decades, it was the most powerful Arctic icebreaker in the world. In 1928, the Krasin rescued the surviving members of the expedition to the North Pole on the airship Italia, which crashed off the coast of Svalbard. After that, "Krasin" became known throughout the world. During the Second World War, the famous icebreaker acquired naval artillery and paved the way for the "polar convoys". That was the name of the caravans of ships with military and civilian cargo that our allies (USA and Great Britain) sent to the USSR. Dozens of ships led "Krasin" through the ice of the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea and the White Sea. Over 300 Krasinsk residents received government awards for courage and bravery shown during the escort during the war years. Since 2004, the icebreaker has been a branch of the Museum of the World Ocean. Address: Lieutenant Schmidt embankment near the 23rd line of Vasilyevsky Island.

4. Towers of the main caliber of the cruiser "Kirov"

Photo: website, Georgy Popov

The Soviet light artillery cruiser "Kirov" was built at the Baltic Shipyard No. 189 in Leningrad and launched in 1936. On the very first day of the war, it repelled an air raid on Riga with an anti-aircraft caliber, then massive air raids on the Main Base of the Baltic Fleet in Tallinn. After the relocation of the Baltic Fleet squadron to Kronstadt and until the end of the war, the Kirov remained the flagship (this is the name of the ship on which the commander is located). Actively participated in the defense of Leningrad. In total, during the war, "Kirov" repelled the attacks of 347 enemy aircraft. In 1942-44, he occupied a position mainly between the Palace Bridge and the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, from where he conducted live firing. At the end of the war, with its main caliber, it supported the offensive operations of our army. 100-kilogram shells fired from triple guns 10 meters long hit the target at a record distance of 40 kilometers for those times. More than a thousand crew members were awarded government awards for heroism and courage. In 1961, the Kirov was retrained as a training ship and regularly made trips with cadets in the Baltic Sea. After the ship was excluded from the lists of the fleet in 1974, it was decided to install its two bow 180-mm towers and propellers as a Memorial to the feat of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. Installed in 1990. Address: Sea embankment, 15-17.

5. Torpedo boat project "Komsomolets"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Leonid Maslov

Although this boat on a granite pedestal is post-war, it was installed in memory of the feat of sailors of torpedo boats of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Great Patriotic War. Similar torpedo boats of the Komsomolets project of the Baltic Fleet sank 119 enemy ships and vessels during the war years. Installed in 1973. Address: Harbour, the territory of the exhibition complex "Lenexpo", Bolshoy Prospekt Vasilievsky Island, 103.

6. Submarine "Narodovolets"

Photo: website, Georgy Popov

This diesel-electric torpedo submarine was built at the Baltic Shipyard No. 189 in Leningrad in 1929. At first, such boats were called "Narodovolets", then they were renamed "D-2" (according to the first letter of the name of the lead ship - "Decembrist"). The boat took a direct part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. The first ships sunk by her were a transport with a cargo of coal and a sea ferry. After the end of the war, the boat continued to serve in the Baltic Fleet, and then was based in Kronstadt as a training station. In 1989, after restoration work, the boat was installed on the shore as a monument to the heroic submariners, scientists, designers and shipbuilders of the Great Patriotic War. The Submarine Museum opened in 1994. Address: Shkiperskiy protok, 10.

Vyborgsky district

7. "Katyusha"

This legendary "Katyusha" ( jet system volley fire on the basis of a 6-wheeled 4-ton off-road truck "ZIS-6") - a monument of military and labor glory of the Karl Marx Machine-Building Association, on whose territory it was installed. At the enterprise, which traditionally produced spinning machines for cotton and wool, with the beginning of the war they began to make ammunition and weapons, including Katyushas. On a granite pedestal there is an inscription: "To you who left here for the front, to you who remained to forge the weapons of Victory, to the soldiers and workers of the Great Patriotic War, this monument will be erected." To the right and left behind the car are bronze groups of soldiers and workers. The monument was opened in 1985. Address: Bolshoi Sampsonievsky prospect, 68.

8. Cannon "ZIS-3" on Courage Square

Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva

A memorial composition consisting of the legendary ZIS-3 cannon of the 1942 model and four anti-tank "hedgehogs". The flowers on the pedestal are planted in the form of the inscription "Remember". The 76-mm ZIS-3 divisional gun became the most massive Soviet artillery gun produced during the Great Patriotic War (a total of 103,000 guns were fired). This gun is also recognized by experts as one of the best guns of the entire Second World War due to its outstanding qualities, economy and simplicity. IN postwar period"ZIS-3" was in service with the Soviet Army for a long time, and was also actively exported to a number of countries, in some of which it is still in service. The memorial was opened in 2011. Address: Courage Square.

Kalininsky district

9. Cannon "ZIS-3" on Metallistov Avenue

Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva

During the war years, in the building of the North-West Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief), there was a school of MPVO (local air defense) and artillery courses. In honor of this, a 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon was installed on a granite slab in the park in front of the building, which participated in the defense of Leningrad. Eight stars are drawn on the shield of the gun - according to the number of enemy aircraft shot down. To the left of the gun, on a separate granite pedestal, there is a symbolic open book, on the pages of which St. Isaac's Cathedral is depicted during the Siege and the Victory salute. Address: Metallistov Avenue, 119.

Kirovsky district

10. Tank "IS-2" on the territory of the Kirov plant

Photo: website, Georgy Popov

On the territory of the Kirovsky Zavod association there is an IS-2 tank, produced at the end of the war in Chelyabinsk. On a pedestal of granite blocks there is a bronze plaque with the text: “1941–1945. This heavy tank was installed here in memory of the glorious deeds of the tank builders of the Kirov Plant. "IS-2" was the most powerful and most armored of the Soviet serial tanks of the war period and one of the strongest tanks at that time in the world. These tanks have been produced since 1943 at the Chelyabinsk Kirov plant, created in the shortest possible time on the basis of equipment evacuated from Leningrad. Tanks of this type played a big role in the battles of 1944-1945, especially distinguishing themselves during the storming of cities. After the end of the war, the IS-2s were modernized and were in service with the Soviet and Russian army up until 1995. The memorial was opened in 1952. Address: Stachek Avenue, 47.

11. KV-85 tank on Stachek Avenue

Photo: website, Georgy Popov

This copy (one of the two known surviving ones) of the KV-85 tank was installed in 1951 at the initiative of the tank designer Joseph Kotin. "Tank-winner" is part of the Kirovsky Val memorial, which is part of the "Green Belt of Glory of Leningrad". The heavy tank "KV" ("Klim Voroshilov") was produced at the Chelyabinsk Tank Plant from 1939 to 1942 and had no equal for a long time. Index "85" means the caliber of the gun in millimeters. Shells fired from standard German anti-tank guns bounced off him, leaving no damage to his armor. It was produced only in August-October 1943. A total of 148 machines of this type were manufactured. The forerunner of the IS heavy tank. Address: Stachek Avenue, 106–108.

12. Izhora Tower on Korabelnaya Street

Near the well-preserved bunker (Long-term firing point), the so-called "Izhora Tower" was installed - a machine-gun armored turret for the Maxim heavy machine gun of the 1910-1930 model. The tower was found by search engines on the Karelian Isthmus near the Yatka River. Armor thickness - 3 centimeters, weight about 500 kilograms. Such machine-gun armored turrets were produced by the Izhora plant and were actively used on the defense lines of Leningrad. The memorial appeared here in 2011 with the support of the administration of the Kirovsky district. Address: Korabelnaya street, in the square at the intersection with Kronstadtskaya street.

Kolpinsky district

13. "Izhora Tower" in Kolpino

Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov

The same armored tower was installed in Kolpino as part of the memorial "To the Armored Workers of the Izhora Plants". The armored tower had lain in the Sinyavino swamps for more than 50 years and was found by the Zvezda search team. It has marks from artillery shell fragments. The inscriptions on the stone, also brought from Sinyavino, read: “A low bow to all the creators of the armor of Russia at the Izhora factories” and “The memorial sign“ To the armored workers of the Izhora factories ”was installed in the year of the 100th anniversary of the birth of M.I. Koshkin, the general designer of the tank“ T-34"". Mikhail Koshkin insisted that the turret of his famous tank should also be made of heavy-duty armor cast using the Izhora technology. The memorial was erected in 1998. Address: Kolpino, at the intersection of Proletarskaya Street and Tankistov Street.

Krasnogvardeisky district

14. 406-mm gun at the Rzhev range

The barrel length of this unique B-37 cannon is 16 meters, a two-meter projectile for it weighs more than a ton, and the firing range is 45 kilometers. A plate is attached to the armored turret: “406-mm gun mount of the Navy of the USSR. This gun of the Red Banner NIMAP (Scientific and Testing Naval Artillery Range) from August 29, 1941 to June 10, 1944 took an active part in the defense of Leningrad and the defeat of the enemy. With well-aimed fire, it destroyed powerful strongholds and nodes of resistance, destroyed military equipment and manpower of the enemy, supported the actions of the units of the Red Army of the Leningrad Front and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in the Nevsky, Kolpinsky, Uritsko-Pushkinsky, Krasnoselsky and Karelian directions. Clarification from the NIMAP website: “In January 1944, during the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad, 33 shells were fired at the enemy from this gun. One of the shells hit the building of power plant No. 8, occupied by the enemy. As a result of the hit, the building was completely destroyed. A crater from a 406-mm projectile with a diameter of 12 m and a depth of 3 m was found nearby. This experimental installation was the most powerful Soviet artillery system used during the Second World War. It was planned to equip four Sovetsky Soyuz-type battleships laid down in 1939–1940 with such guns in three-gun turrets. In connection with the outbreak of war, none of the ships of this project could not be built.

15. 305-mm gun at the Rzhev range

Photo: aroundspb.ru, Sergey Sharov

This naval cannon was made at the Obukhov plant in 1914 on a Zhuravl-type proving ground. Four of these guns were one of the batteries of the Krasnaya Gorka fort during the Great Patriotic War. Two such former Russian guns are today in Finland, and only one has survived in Russia - this. Text on the memorial plaque: "From August 29, 1941 to June 10, 1944, a 305-mm naval gun mount fired on Nazi troops during the defense of Leningrad." The most powerful weapon ever mass-produced on ships of the Russian or Soviet navy. The Rzhev test site called "experimental artillery battery" was established more than a century and a half ago with the aim of testing new types of guns. Over time, the battery turned into the main artillery range of Tsarist Russia, and then the Soviet Union. The Scientific and Testing Naval Artillery Range (NIMAP) today occupies a significant area northeast of St. Petersburg. This is where the unique artillery pieces who participated in the defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. So far, the territory of the landfill is closed to the public, but the issue of assigning the status of monuments of history and culture of the Russian Federation to these famous guns is being discussed.

16. Anti-aircraft gun "52-K"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov

The 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model "52-K" is an exhibit of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. This blockade military weapon, together with the memorial sign "Regulator" is part of the memorial complex "Road of Life - 1st kilometer". The memorial was erected in 2010. Address: Ryabovskoe highway, near the house 129.

Krasnoselsky district

17. Aircraft, tank and anti-aircraft guns in the village of Khvoyny

Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov

The village of Khvoyny is a "piece" of the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg, surrounded on all sides by the territory of the Gatchinsky district of the Leningrad region. This is the current military unit, but the passage to the memorial is free. On a stele with a bas-relief depicting besieged Leningrad, a quote from the speech of L.I. Brezhnev (the leader of the USSR in 1966-1982) when Leningrad was awarded the "Gold Star of the Hero": patriotism, which was the heroic 900-day defense of besieged Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. It was one of the most outstanding, most amazing mass feats of the people and the army in the entire history of wars on earth. Nearby on the site there is a T-34/85 tank (1944) with the inscription "For the Motherland", a 130-mm anti-aircraft gun KS-30 (1948) and a model of the Yak-50P aircraft. Under the anti-aircraft gun there is a memorial plaque with the inscription: “To the anti-aircraft gunners who defended Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Leningrad was saved by the courage of the brave. Eternal glory heroes."

Kronstadt district

18. Torpedo boat project "Komsomolets"

Photo: wikipedia.org, Vasyatka1

Post-war torpedo boat of the Komsomolets project, similar to the one installed in Gavan. Here, in the area of ​​the former Litke base, torpedo boats were based during the war. The armament of the boat is clearly visible - two 450-mm torpedo tubes and aft twin installation of 14.5-mm machine guns. "To sailors-katerniks of the Baltic" - it is written on the plate. A square was laid out around the monument, lindens were planted. Historical reference of the newspaper "Kronstadt Vestnik": "During the Great Patriotic War, in the fighting of surface ships in the waters of the shallow Gulf of Finland, which was completely littered with mines, the Baltic boat crews of torpedo boat brigades mainly participated. They were fearless and daring, and their attacks inflicted great damage on the enemy. And many commanders of these small but formidable ships became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Both during the war and decades after it, minesweeping brigades worked in the Gulf of Finland, stuffed with mines, which included special flat-bottomed boats - minesweepers. More than ten such ships and more than a hundred sailors perished in the course of operations to clear the fairways. In memory of the courage and dedication of boat sailors, this sign is established. The memorial was opened in 2009. Address: Kronstadt, Gidrostroiteley street, 10.

19. Artillery installation of the battleship "Gangut"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Oleg Ivanov

76-mm two-gun artillery mount 81-K of the battleship "Gangut" (after 1925 the battleship was called the "October Revolution"). "Gangut" was laid down in 1909 at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg under the leadership of the outstanding Russian shipbuilder A.N. Krylov. He took part in the First World War. During the Great Patriotic War, he participated in the defense of Leningrad, was damaged by German artillery fire and aviation. Since 1954 she was used as a training ship, in 1956 she was expelled from the Navy and dismantled. The text of the plate on the gun: "Two-gun installation of foreman of the 1st class Ivan Tambasov." The monument was opened in 1957. Address: Kronstadt, Kommunisticheskaya street, intersection with Obvodny Canal. Nearby are two anchors of the famous battleship.

20. Cutting the submarine "Narodovolets"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Leonid Kharitonov

Part of the fencing of the cabin of a diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Narodovolets (D-2) series. Text on the memorial plaque: “The firstborn of the Soviet submarine shipbuilding. Laid down in 1927 in Leningrad. Entered service in 1931. From 1933 to 1939 she was part of the Northern Military Flotilla. From 1941 to 1945, she conducted active military operations against the fascist invaders at the KBF (Red Banner Baltic Fleet). During the war, she sank 5 enemy ships with a total displacement of 40,000 tons. It is located in the closed territory of the 123rd Red Banner Submarine Brigade.

resort area

21. Artillery semi-caponier "Elephant"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva

Caponier (from the French word "deepening") - a defensive structure for conducting flank (side) fire in both directions. Accordingly, the semi-caponier is designed to fire at the enemy in only one direction along the fortress wall. In the photo - artillery semi-caponier No. 1 (call sign - "Elephant") of the Forward Line of the Karelian fortified area ("KaUR"), built to protect the old Soviet-Finnish border. Caponier is the main exhibit of the Sestroretsky Frontier Museum and Exhibition Complex. During the Great Patriotic War, the "Elephant" shot through the lowland from the Kurort to Beloostrov, the approaches to the Sestra River and the railway bridge with artillery fire. The interior of the semi-caponier has been restored in the museum, and a collection of search finds has been placed. The outdoor exposition includes various types of small fortifications: two reinforced concrete firing points delivered from the area of ​​Beloostrov and Mednoye Lake, the Izhora tower already known to us, an observation tower of the 1938 model, firing points based on the towers of the tanks T-28, KV -1", "T-70", "BT-2", Finnish machine-gun armored cap, gouges, hedgehogs, barriers and other interesting exhibits. Address: Sestroretsky Frontier Museum and Exhibition Complex, Sestroretsk, not far from the intersection of the Primorskoye Highway with the Kurort-Beloostrov railway.

22. Firing point from the body of the tank "T-28"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva

This is a copy of the firing point discovered by search engines on the Karelian Isthmus. It was built from the hull of a three-turreted T-28 medium tank, produced in 1933–1940 at the Kirov Plant in Leningrad. The tank was turned over, put on wooden foundation and covered with earth. The entrance was through the removed grille. This procedure was described in the book "Manual for Engineers: Fortifications" in the chapter "Using an inverted tank hull to set up a machine-gun blockhouse." Museum and Exhibition Complex "Sestroretsky Frontier".

23. Firing point with the tower of the tank "KV-1"

Photo: Sergey Sharov

This is a copy of the turret of the KV-1 tank, which was installed on a concrete casemate built in 1943 on the Karelian Isthmus. Such turret artillery mounts with 76-mm cannons mounted in the turrets of KV tanks were intended to strengthen the anti-tank defense of fortified areas. Museum and Exhibition Complex "Sestroretsky Frontier".

24. Defensive-offensive armor sliders

Photo: Sergey Sharov

Two armored sliders are on display at the Sestroretsky Frontier Museum and Exhibition Complex. It is known about one of them that he was armed with a casemate artillery mount based on a 76-mm tank gun of the 1938 model of the year and had the call sign "Halva" (in the photo he is in the background). In the book of B.V. Bychevsky “City-Front” there is such a description: “... The creation of the so-called “armor belt” around Leningrad began. Developed mass production technology various types prefabricated pillboxes. Somehow they brought a front-line machine gunner to the Izhora plant to check the newly made squat structure of armor plates. The machine gunner climbed under the cap, examined it inside and got out. “You know what, friend,” he turned to the welder, “let's cut a wider hole in the bottom. We will make a frame of logs for this thing and put it right on the trench.” “Or maybe weld a towing hook to the wall? suggested the welder. - Go on the offensive and take it with you. A tractor or a tank will boldly drag it!” “And that’s true,” the machine gunner rejoiced. “It will be kind of like a slider for us: both for defense and for the offensive.” That is how we christened this structure that day - “defensive-offensive armored slider”. Under this name, she became widely known throughout the Leningrad front. Museum and Exhibition Complex "Sestroretsky Frontier".

Moskovsky district

25. T-34-85 tanks of the Pulkovsky Frontier memorial

Photo: lenww2.ru, Alexey Sedelnikov

The Pulkovsky Frontier memorial is included in the Green Belt of Glory. It was here that in 1941-1944 the front line of the defense of Leningrad passed. The memorial includes a mosaic panel dedicated to the combat and labor exploits of Leningraders, a birch alley and concrete anti-tank gouges. On both sides of the memorial there are two tanks "T-34-85" with tail numbers 112 and 113. "T-34-85" - Soviet medium tank period of the Great Patriotic War, adopted in 1944 and forming the basis of the tank forces of the Soviet army until the mid-1950s. The installation of a more powerful 85-mm gun significantly increased the combat effectiveness of the tank compared to its predecessor, the T-34-76. The memorial was opened in 1967. Address: 20th kilometer of Pulkovskoye Highway.

Nevsky district

26. Tank "T-34-85" on the territory of the plant "Zvezda"

Photo: lenww2.ru, Olga Isaeva

The T-34-85 tank was installed on the territory of the Zvezda machine-building plant, which until recently bore the name of K.E. Voroshilov. A bronze plaque was fixed on the pedestal: "In memory of the military and labor feat of the Voroshilovites." It was founded in 1932 in Leningrad on the basis of the Machine-Building Department of the oldest enterprise in the country - the Bolshevik plant (now the Obukhovsky Plant) and initially specialized in the production of tanks. In the pre-war period and during the Great Patriotic War, the plant produced about 14.5 thousand tanks. During the war, evacuated factory workers created almost 6,000 T-34 tanks in Omsk and more than 10,000 tank engines in Barnaul. In the workshops of the plant in besieged Leningrad tanks were repaired, mines and armored shields were produced. The monument was opened in 1975. Address: Babushkina street, 123, on the territory of OAO Zvezda.

27. Firing point with the tower of the tank "KV-1"

A model of the turret of the KV tank was installed at the bunker of the Izhora defensive line. As the press service of the city administration reported, “during the war, a similar tower was located in the same place, as evidenced by the tank’s rotary mechanism built into the upper part of the pillbox. Enthusiasts, relying on historical drawings, restored the tank's turret, returning the pillbox to its original appearance. The memorial was restored in 2013. Address: Rybatskoye, Murzinskaya street, not far from the intersection with Obukhovskoy oborony avenue.

Petrogradsky district

28. Cruiser "Aurora"

Photo: wikipedia.org, George Shuklin

Avrora, a cruiser of the 1st rank of the Baltic Fleet, was launched in 1900 at the New Admiralty shipyard, one of the oldest shipbuilding enterprises in Russia. Emperor Nicholas II ordered the name of the ship "Aurora" (the Roman goddess of dawn) in honor of the sailing frigate "Aurora", which became famous during the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky during the Crimean War of 1853-1856. During the Great Patriotic War, the cruiser was in Oranienbaum and defended Kronstadt from air raids. Nine 130-mm guns removed from the cruiser (along with part of the crew) became part of the Duderhof battery, which heroically fought against German tanks. Monuments and memorials included in the "Green Belt of Glory" were erected on the positions of the guns of the Aurora battery. Since 1948, the Aurora has been permanently moored at the Nakhimov Naval School. In 2010, the cruiser was withdrawn from the Navy and is a branch of the Central Naval Museum. In September 2014, the Aurora was towed to the repair dock of the Kronstadt Marine Plant, where it will remain until 2016.

29. "Three-inch" of the late XIX century in the Artillery Museum

Photo: VIMAIViVS

3-inch (76-mm) experimental rapid-fire field gun model 1898 in the outdoor display of the Artillery Museum. This is one of the first famous "three-inch", famous as one of the best guns of its time. Previously, guns were loaded from the muzzle, which was long and inefficient. Thanks to the efforts of outstanding Russian artillery scientists, a completely new gun was developed at the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg. So, for the first time in these guns, a quick-acting piston valve with locking, impact and ejection mechanisms and a fuse, an elastic carriage and opener, a recoil brake and a protractor were used for the first time. The excellent qualities of the new gun were confirmed on the fields of the Russian-Japanese (1904-1905) and the First World War (1914-1918). After modernization in 1930, these guns were actively used throughout the Great Patriotic War, being effective tool fighting German light tanks. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.

30. Guns of the 1930s in the Artillery Museum

Photo: Sergey Sharov

305 mm howitzer model 1939 (foreground) and 210 mm gun model 1939. These powerful guns were created by the famous Soviet designer Ilya Ivanov. The collection of cannons from the 1930s of the Artillery Museum is of particular interest - with these guns, so familiar to us from war films, the Red Army entered the Great Patriotic War. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that they were created in record time. Among the guns of the same period, the famous divisional ones should be noted (76-mm guns of the 1936 and 1939 model, chief designer Vasily Grabin), and corps, army guns (107-mm cannon model 1940 and 152-mm howitzer-gun model 1937, chief designer Fyodor Petrov). There is also a gun here (a 122-mm howitzer of the 1938 model), which was in service with our country until the 1980s. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.

31. Artillery 1941-1945 in the Artillery Museum

Photo: Sergey Sharov

These systems were created directly during the Great Patriotic War. During this period, excellent samples were made using the high-speed method, taking into account the experience of the combat use of artillery. Many of them are associated with the name of the famous Soviet designer Fyodor Petrov. The photograph shows one of his developments, a 152-mm howitzer of the 1943 model D-1. It is hard to imagine, but it took less than three weeks to create it, and it was in service for more than thirty years. It is adjacent to the first powerful 100-, 122- and 152-mm self-propelled artillery mounts - a thunderstorm of German tanks and self-propelled guns. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.

Photo: Sergey Sharov

The 57-mm anti-tank gun of the 1943 model "ZIS-2" (left) is the most powerful weapon of this caliber during the Great Patriotic War. This gun had the ability to penetrate 145 mm of armor, so it could hit all German tanks. A special place among the guns of the war years is occupied by the 76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model - the famous ZIS-3 (in the center). It became more compact and as much as 400 kg lighter, and also significantly surpassed its predecessor of the 1939 model in all other respects. In it, for the first time, a muzzle brake was used for divisional guns - a special device that made it possible to reduce the recoil of the barrel. Guns of this design were cheap to manufacture (three times cheaper than before). They were very maneuverable and reliable. All this has found clear confirmation in combat conditions. The formidable and beautiful cannon earned respect even from enemies. Wolff, Hitler's artillery consultant, thought it was the best gun of World War II, "one of the most ingenious designs in the history of cannon artillery." Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.

Photo: Sergey Sharov

It will be interesting to know that Soviet anti-aircraft artillery successfully hit not only air, but also ground targets, including tanks. This 14.5-mm quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mount designed by Leshchinsky "ZPU-4" destroyed both aircraft (at altitudes up to 2000 meters), and lightly armored ground targets and enemy manpower. Its rate of fire is 600 rounds per minute. In the courtyard of the museum, almost all anti-aircraft guns, created and in service in the pre-war and war years. These are 25- and 37-mm automatic anti-aircraft guns model 1940 and 1939 and an 85-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1939, which proved themselves well during the Great Patriotic War. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.

Photo: pomnite-nas.ru, Dmitry Panov

Heavy self-propelled artillery mount based on the IS tank - ISU-152 model 1943. The main armament of the self-propelled gun was the 152-mm howitzer-gun "ML-20", the firepower of which made it easy to deal with the "Tigers" and "Panthers" - the main enemy tanks. For this, the famous self-propelled gun received the nickname "St. John's wort". In the post-war period, the ISU-152 underwent modernization and was in service with the Soviet army for a long time. The development of the ISU-152 was led by Joseph Kotin, chief designer of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, built on the basis of the evacuated Leningrad Kirov Plant. Address: Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, Kronverksky Island.

32. Historical tools in the Peter and Paul Fortress

Photo: website, Georgy Popov

152-mm howitzers of the 1937 model "ML-20" in the Peter and Paul Fortress on the square near the Naryshkin bastion. “These howitzers in 1992-2002 served as signal guns for the Peter and Paul Fortress and fired the traditional midday shot every day,” the information plate says. Every Saturday (from the end of May to October) five minutes before noon, a guard of honor ceremony is held here. The ML-20 howitzer occupies an honorable place among the best cannon artillery designs. It was these guns that were installed on the "St. John's Wort" - powerful self-propelled artillery mounts. Address: Peter and Paul Fortress.

Frunze district

33. Firing point with the tower of the tank "KV-1"

Photo: kupsilla.ru, Denis Chaliapin

In the summer of 2014, a firing point covered with earth and construction debris was accidentally discovered by a local resident. Historians became interested in the find, achieved the assignment of the status of a monument to the fortification and raised money for its restoration. An exact copy of the turret of the KV-1 heavy tank was made, which was solemnly installed in its original place. This bunker was part of the Izhora defensive line built in 1943. Local historian Denis Chaliapin of Kupchinsky commented on the opening of the monument: “The tank tower, installed on a concrete casemate (which in itself is the rarest case) on one of the central thoroughfares of the city, will definitely be noticed by everyone passing along the avenue. Thus, Kupchino will receive a unique monument that can rightfully become one of the symbols of the region.” The monument was opened in 2015. Address: Glory Avenue, opposite the house 30.

The second selection of test drives with Ivan Zinkevich, this time vehicles exclusively from the period of the Great Patriotic War (including the IS-3 tank).

Tank "Panther" Ausf. G/Panzerkampfwagen V Panther

In this issue, Ivan Zenkevich will talk about the famous Panther tank, which is essentially a German adaptation of the T-34 tank. It is this copy that is the only Panther tank in the world with a native propulsion system.

Armored personnel carrier OT-810

The father of the OT-810 was the German Hanomag Sd Kfz 251; after the war, the Czechoslovaks created their own modernized Sd Kfz 251, which was used until 1995.

Tank Maus / Panzerkampfwagen VIII "Maus"

This tank is the apotheosis of German tank building, the propulsion system was based on three engines: one gasoline engine turned the generator, and the generated current went to the electric motors that set the 188-ton car in motion.

Mortar Karl Gerat "Adam"

The German military industry produced a total of six such large mortars, weight - 126 tons, 600 mm, at a distance of 7 km. the projectile flies for 49 seconds, its weight is 2 tons, and the initial speed is 225 m/s.

Tank T-30

This tank is the progenitor of modern infantry fighting vehicles, MTLBs and other light combat vehicles. Initially, this is a modernized T-40 tank, deprived of the ability to force rivers and lakes.

Tank T-34

Tank T-34-76 Soviet medium tank, symbolic tank, whose name will live forever on the pages of history books and in the memory of our descendants. The simple and reliable design of this tank has become a model for comparison and imitation. See the end of the video about the unique and heroic fate of the tank (from the video).

Armored car BA-3

The hull of this BA-3 was completely welded, which was an advanced innovation for those times. The combat vehicle was created on the basis of the Soviet GAZ-AA truck, a lightweight turret and a cannon from the T-26 tank and a machine gun served as weapons.

SU-100

It was this SU-100 that was filmed in the movie "". The SU-100 was developed in response to the emergence of new German heavy tanks "Tiger" and "Panther"

Panzer IV tank

The German medium tank, which became the most massive tank of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, was mass-produced in several versions from 1937 to 1945. This instance (on video) Panzer IV managed to fight in the 5th Guards Tank Brigade.

Tank LT vz.38/ Pz. Kpfw.38

This tank was developed for the Czechoslovak army in the mid-30s. Many European countries were interested in the tank, but in 1939 Germany monopolized all interest in its favor. It entered service with the Wehrmacht under the new name Pz. Kpfw.38 became a good vehicle for infantry support and reconnaissance.

TANK KV-2

This tank is an example of the first self-propelled artillery mount with a powerful 152-mm howitzer, it was created to destroy the enemy's fortified defense lines and was actively used in the Finnish War of 1939-1940. This copy was assembled on the basis of the IS-2 tank, since the original KV-2 has not survived to this day.

Tank T-26

The T-26 is essentially an exact licensed copy of the 6-ton Vickers tank, the Soviet designers improved this tank as best they could, but at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War it had already begun to become obsolete.

Tank T-38

This tank is an upgrade of the earlier T-37 amphibious tank. The T-38 is essentially a steel floating boat, everything in it is adapted for navigation - both a propeller with a rudder and a streamlined hull.

Tank T-60

Small in size, with good armor and a simple gasoline car engine, this tank was intended for infantry support and reconnaissance. At the beginning of the war, it was not difficult to arrange the production of this useful, necessary machine.

Tank MS 1

The small escort tank, the first mass-produced Soviet tank of its own design, was based on the French FT-17 tank. There is only one such tank in the world on the move.

A pickup truck based on the "Lutorka", this car was found in the battlefields in the "Vyazemsky boiler", it was almost completely destroyed by a shell explosion.

Tank T-70

It was designed in just six months at the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of Nikolai Ostrov, it was produced from 1941 to 1943. A good tank to start a war, it was very reliable and heavily armed, much less noisy than diesel tanks, they were often used in reconnaissance.

Tank BT-7

Test drive of the BT-7 high-speed tank at the Stalin Line Museum (Minsk). The car from the review was pulled out of the river, where the crew drove it after the battles so that the enemy would not get it, after decades the tank was raised from the river and brought to working condition.

Katyusha BM-13 (ZIL-157)

Despite the fact that in the review "Katyusha" is not from the time of the war, you will be told many interesting features of this type of jet weapon.

Tank IS-2

The IS-2 heavy breakthrough tank was created as a counterweight to the German Tigers and Panthers, the IS-2 crews were formed exclusively from officers, and the 122-mm cannon could destroy any enemy tank at a distance of up to 3 kilometers, the armor reached 120 mm.

TANK IS-3

The last tank created during the Great Patriotic War, fully developed during its years, but put into production only in May 1945. For its time, it was an advanced combat vehicle that combined powerful armor, reliable chassis and strong weapons. The most massive and heaviest tank of the Soviet Union.

GAZ AA

This car was produced from 1932 to 1950, the legendary lorry created on the basis of the Ford AA truck. In the Soviet Union, the design of this car was even more simplified and was brought to a minimum - if necessary, a lorry could be disassembled a few hours before the screw. With a low weight, the lorry had excellent cross-country ability and carrying capacity.

ZIS 42

Already the first months of the Great Patriotic War showed that the Red Army really lacked fast and passable artillery tractors, and such a tractor was developed. ZIS 42 was created on the basis of the ZIS-5V truck. Of more than 6,000 of these unique machines, only one has been restored by enthusiasts.

Willys MB

During the war, more than 50 thousand Jeeps were delivered from the USSR from the USA.

GAZ MM

A modernized "one and a half", instead of two headlights - one, instead of wooden doors they have canvas substitutes, an angular but still elegant design.

GAZ-67

Despite the similarity with the "Willis", this front-line car was completely designed in the USSR, it could be repaired using only 3 wrenches.

ZIS-5

A truck without rear-view windows, without brake lights, which runs on any fuel.

Studebaker "Katyusha" (Studebaker) BM-13M

Studebakers on the front roads have proven themselves only with better side, and rocket launchers began to fire more accurately due to the heavier and denser fit of this truck.

M4 Sherman "Sherman"

The workhorse of the Allies, this tank was supplied under Lend-Lease to the USSR from the winter of 1943, it fought on all fronts of World War II - from the Pacific Ocean to Belarus.

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ARMED FORCES OF THE MAIN PARTICIPANTS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR COUNTRY Number of armed forces (million people) By the beginning of 1941 By the beginning of 1945 Germany 7.2 9.4 Japan 1.7 7.2 Italy 1.5 - USA 1.8 11, 9 Great Britain 3.2 4.5 USSR 5.2 9.4 China (Kuomintang) 2.5 4.0 China (Communist) 0.4 0.9

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CORRELATION OF FORCES OF THE USSR AND GERMANY IN THE MOSCOW DIRECTION IN AUTUMN 1941 Combat forces and means Red Army German troops Personnel (thousand people) 120 1800 Number of tanks 990 1700 Number of guns and mortars (thousand) 7.6 14 Number of aircraft 667 1390

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Lend-lease (from the English "lend" - to lend and "lease" - to lease) is a kind of lending program for allies by the United States of America through the supply of machinery, food, equipment, raw materials and materials. Under the Lend-Lease Act, the United States could supply machinery, ammunition, equipment, and so on. countries whose defense was vital to the States themselves. All deliveries were free. All machinery, equipment and materials spent, expended or destroyed during the war were not subject to payment. Property left after the end of the war and suitable for civilian purposes had to be paid for.

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The share of Lend-Lease deliveries in the total amount of products manufactured and delivered to the USSR

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Aircraft 22,150 Tanks 12,700 SUVs and ATVs 51,503 Trucks 375,883 Motorcycles 35,170 Tractors 8,071 Rifles 8,218 Automatic weapons 131,633 Pistols 12,997 Freight wagons 11,155 Locomotives 1,981 Cargo ships and other anti-submarine ships 905

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Il-2 is the most massive combat aircraft in history, more than 36 thousand units were produced. In the Red Army, the aircraft received the nickname "humped" (for the characteristic shape of the fuselage). The designers called the aircraft they developed a "flying tank". The ground forces of the Wehrmacht had a bad reputation for the aircraft and earned several honorary nicknames, such as "butcher", "iron Gustav" Il-2 took part in the battles in all military operations of the Great Patriotic War, as well as in the Soviet-Japanese War. In February 1941, mass production began. The first serial Il-2s were manufactured in Voronezh at plant number 18 (in November 1941 the plant was evacuated to Kuibyshev). IL-2 was mass-produced at aircraft factories No. 1 and No. 18 in the city of Kuibyshev, at aircraft factory No. 30 in Moscow.

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The development was started by the designers and engineers of the special design bureau of the NKVD, SKB-29, in the middle of 1938. Created on the basis of an experimental twin-engine high-altitude fighter "100", the Pe-2 made its first flight on December 22, 1939 and began to be mass-produced at the end of 1940. The Pe-2 also served as a flying laboratory for testing rocket boosters. The first flight with an active rocket launcher took place in October 1943. The speed increased by 92 km/h. Experiments with various variants of the Pe-2 with rocket launchers continued until 1945

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The first three serial Tu-2s, produced by plant No. 166, hit the Kalinin Front in September 1942. The machines were part of the 3rd Air Army. Front-line pilots highly appreciated the Tu-2. They emphasized the high efficiency of the aircraft, capable of dropping large bombs on the target, powerful defensive weapons, ease of piloting and high flight qualities. For the creation and organization of serial production of the Tu-2 bomber A.N. Tupolev was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree in 1943, in 1944 - the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree and the Order of Suvorov of the 2nd degree, and was also promoted to Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service. In 1945, Tupolev became a Hero of Socialist Labor.

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Yak-7 Soviet single-engine fighter aircraft of the Great Patriotic War. It was developed at plant number 301 shortly after the start of the war on the initiative of the OKB brigade A. S. Yakovlev, who was at this plant to help in the development of the Yak-7UTI. The Yak-7 has been produced since 1941, a total of 6399 aircraft of 18 different modifications were built, including training and combat ones. By the end of 1942, it began to be rapidly replaced by a more advanced Yak-9, which later became the most massive Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War.

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The La-5 fighter appeared under circumstances that were not quite ordinary, if not dramatic, for a design team led by S.A. Lavochkin. Fighter LaGG-Z. for the release and improvement of which this design bureau was responsible, due to insufficient efficiency, they were removed from production. And the very existence of KB is now in question. Of course, the designers were well aware of the nature of LaGG's shortcomings and were already carrying out design work on its radical modification. Along with the need for a sharp improvement in flight data, the main thing in this matter was the efficiency and the requirement for the continuity of the LaGG-Z design and its new modification. Only if these conditions were met was it possible to transfer the plant to the production of a new aircraft before the Yak fighter was on the assembly line (as planned). And the design bureau of S.A. Lavochkin coped with this task successfully.

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For the production of armored vehicles in the Urals, the military-production complex "Tankograd" was created. Thousands of planes and tanks left the assembly lines of defense enterprises. This made it possible to form air and tank armies who played decisive role in the offensive of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1943-1945.

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T-34 - was the main tank of the Red Army until the first half of 1944, when it was replaced by the T-34-85 modification tank. From 1942 to 1945, the main production of the T-34 was deployed at powerful machine-building plants in the Urals and Siberia, and continued into the post-war years. The leading plant for modifying the T-34 was the Ural Tank Plant No. 183. The T-34 tank had a huge impact on the outcome of the war and on further development world tank building. Due to the combination of its combat qualities, the T-34 was recognized by many specialists and military experts as one of best tanks Second World War. When it was created, Soviet designers managed to find the optimal balance between the main combat, tactical, ballistic, operational, running and technological characteristics. The T-34 tank is the most famous Soviet tank and one of the most recognizable symbols of World War II.

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Serial production of the T-44 began in 1944, but during the Great Patriotic War it was carried out on a limited scale in order to prevent a reduction in the production of the T-34-85 during large-scale offensive operations. T-44

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In general, the tank fully justified the expectations of the command as a means of qualitatively strengthening units and subunits designed to break through well-fortified enemy lines in advance, as well as storm cities. Is -2

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OT-34 - was created on the basis of the T-34. Unlike the line tank, it was armed with an ATO-41 automatic gunpowder piston flamethrower, located in place of the course machine gun, which, for example, in comparison with the solution for the KV-8, made it possible to save the 76-mm gun. OT-34

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Katyusha - appeared during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the unofficial name of the barrelless systems of field rocket artillery (primarily and initially - BM-13, and later also BM-8, BM-31 and others). Such installations were actively used by the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Second World War. The popularity of the nickname turned out to be so great that post-war MLRS on automobile chassis, in particular the BM-14 and BM-21 Grad, were often called Katyushas in colloquial speech. Subsequently, by analogy with Katyusha, a number of similar nicknames ("Andryusha ”, “Vanyusha”) was given by Soviet fighters to other installations (BM-31 and others) of rocket artillery, but these nicknames did not receive such wide distribution and popularity and, in general, are much less known.

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Balance of forces in the Stalingrad direction in November 1942 Forces and means Red Army Germany and its allies Personnel (thousand people) 1134.8 1011.5 Number of tanks 1560 675 Number of guns and mortars 14934 10290 Number of aircraft 1916 1219

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The balance of forces in the Orel-Kursk direction in early July 1943 Forces and means Soviet troops German troops Personnel (thousand people) 1336 900 Number of tanks and self-propelled guns 3444 2733 Number of guns and mortars 19100 10000 Number of aircraft 2172 2050

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PRODUCTION OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT IN THE LARGEST COUNTRIES IN 1943-1944 COUNTRY PRODUCTION OF TANKS (thousand units) PRODUCTION OF AIRCRAFT (thousand units) 1943 1944 1943 1944 GERMANY 19.8 27.3 25.2 38.0 JAPAN 1.0 1.0 16.3 28.3 USSR 24.0 29 .0 35.0 40.3 UK 8.6 7.5 23.7 26.3 USA 29.5 17.6 85.9 96.4

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Of the divisional guns, the most common was the 76 mm ZIS-3 gun. In the initial period of the war, the 76-mm F-22 gun and the 76-mm USV gun were also used. The corps artillery was represented by 122 mm A-19 guns, a 152 mm howitzer of the 1909/30 model, and a 152 mm ML-20 howitzer-gun. Anti-tank guns included 45 mm 53-K, 45 mm M-42 and 57 mm ZIS-2 anti-tank guns. Anti-aircraft artillery used 37-mm 61-K anti-aircraft guns, as well as 76-mm 3-K and 85-mm 52-K guns.

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Before the war, increased attention was paid to the development of automatic weapons - the ABC self-loading rifle was followed by the SVT and AVT. However, the main small arms The Soviet army had a Mosin rifle. In addition, the PPSh submachine gun also received some distribution. Nagan revolvers and TT pistols were used as officer weapons. Main light machine gun there was a DP, and the Maxim machine gun, developed before the First World War, was used as an easel machine gun. The DShK heavy machine gun, also used as an anti-aircraft gun, also received some distribution.

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Mosin rifle. 7.62-mm (3-line) rifle of the 1891 model of the year (Mosin rifle, three-line) - a magazine rifle adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in 1891. It was actively used from 1891 until the end of the Great Patriotic War, during this period it was repeatedly modernized. The name of the three-ruler comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three Russian lines (an old measure of length equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm - respectively, three lines are equal to 7.62 mm). On the basis of the rifle of the 1891 model and its modifications, a number of samples of sports and hunting weapons, both rifled and smoothbore, were created.

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Shpagin submachine gun. The 7.62-mm Shpagin submachine gun of the 1941 model (PPSh) is a Soviet submachine gun developed in 1940 by designer G.S. Shpagin and adopted by the Red Army on December 21, 1940. PPSh was the main submachine gun of the Soviet armed forces in the Great Patriotic War. After the end of the war, in the early 1950s, the PPSh was decommissioned by the Soviet Army and gradually replaced by the Kalashnikov assault rifle, it remained in service with the rear and auxiliary units, parts of the internal troops and railway troops for a little longer. In service with paramilitary security units was at least until the mid-1980s. Also, in the post-war period, PPSh was supplied in significant quantities to countries friendly to the USSR, long time was in service with the armies of various states, was used by irregular formations and throughout the twentieth century was used in armed conflicts around the world.

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Pistol arr. 1933 (TT, Tulsky, Tokareva) - the first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, developed in 1930 by the Soviet designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev. The TT pistol was developed for the 1929 competition for a new army pistol, announced to replace the Nagant revolver and several foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army by the mid-1920s. The German cartridge 7.63 × 25 mm Mauser was adopted as a regular cartridge, which was purchased in significant quantities for the Mauser S-96 pistols in service.

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At the arms show military equipment and fortifications of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War, a fairly complete collection of Soviet armored vehicles of the war period, English and American armored vehicles supplied to the Soviet Union in 1941-1945 under Lend-Lease, as well as armored vehicles of our main opponents during the war years - Germany and Japan .

During the Second World War, armored forces, as the experience of their combat use showed, played a decisive role in battles, performing a wide range of tasks in all types of combat, both independently and together with other branches of the military. They grew both quantitatively and qualitatively, rightfully becoming the main striking force of the armies of various states. During the six years of World War II, about 350,000 armored combat vehicles took part in the battles on both sides: tanks, self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS), armored vehicles (BA) and armored personnel carriers (APCs).

Soviet military thought in the prewar years assigned an important role to tanks. They were supposed to be used in all types of hostilities. As part of rifle formations, they were intended to break through the tactical defense zone as a means of direct infantry support (NPP), operating in close cooperation with other branches of the military. Most of the tanks were in service with tank and mechanized formations, which had the task of developing success in the operational depth after breaking through the defense.

During the first five-year plans in the Soviet Union, the necessary production base for the mass production of tanks was created. Already in 1931, the factories gave the Red Army 740 vehicles. For comparison: in 1930, the troops received only 170 tanks, and in 1932 - 3121 vehicles, including 1032 T-26 light tanks, 396 BT-2 light fast tanks and 1693 T-27 tankettes. No other country built such a number of tanks at that time. And this pace was practically maintained until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

In 1931 - 1941, 42 samples of various types of tanks were created in the USSR, of which 20 samples were adopted and put into mass production: tankettes T-27; light infantry escort tanks T-26; light wheeled-tracked high-speed tanks of mechanized units BT-5/BT-7; light reconnaissance amphibious tanks T-37/T-38/T-40; medium tanks of direct infantry support T-28; heavy tanks of additional quality reinforcement when breaking through the fortified T-35 lanes. At the same time, attempts were made in the Soviet Union to create self-propelled artillery installations. However, it was not possible to fully work out and put into mass production the self-propelled guns.

In total, 29,262 tanks of all types were manufactured in the Soviet Union during these ten years. In the 1930s in our country, when developing light tanks, preference was given to wheeled-tracked vehicles, which then formed the basis of the tank fleet of the Red Army.

The fighting during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 1939 showed that tanks with bulletproof armor were already outdated. Soviet tankmen and technicians who visited Spain came to the conclusion that it was necessary to increase the thickness of the frontal armor of the hull and turret to 60 mm. Then the tank will not be afraid of anti-tank guns, which the ground forces of various countries began to equip. For such a relatively heavy machine, as tests have shown, a purely caterpillar mover was optimal. This conclusion of Soviet designers formed the basis for the creation of a new medium tank T-34, which rightfully won the glory of the best tank in the world during the Great Patriotic War.

At the turn of the 1930s - 1940s, domestic tank builders developed a clear idea of ​​​​the prospects for the development of armored vehicles. Various measures were taken in the Soviet Union to strengthen the Armed Forces. As a result, the Red Army received new medium (T-34) and heavy (KV-1 and KV-2) tanks, which had anti-cannon armor, powerful weapons and high mobility. In terms of combat qualities, they surpassed foreign models and fully met modern requirements.

The development of tanks, engines, weapons in the USSR was carried out by design teams led by N.N. Kozyreva (T-27), N.N. Barykova (T-26 and T-28), A.O. Firsova (BT), N.A. Astrov (T-37), O.M. Ivanova (T-35), M.I. Koshkin and A.A. Morozova (T-34), Zh.Ya. Kotin (KV and IS-2), M.F. Balzhi (IS-3), I.Ya. Trashutin and K. Chelpan (V-2 diesel engine), V.G. Grabina (tank guns, V.A. Degtyarev (tank machine guns), E.I. Maron and V.A. Agntsev (tank sights).

By 1941, mass production of tanks was organized in the USSR, meeting all the requirements of that time. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, and then during the war, tanks were produced by about two dozen factories in the country: the Leningrad Kirov Plant, the Moscow Plant named after. S. Ordzhonikidze, Kharkov Locomotive Plant, Stalingrad Tractor Plant, Gorky Krasnoe Sormovo Plant, Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (“Tankograd”), Ural Tank Plant in Nizhny Tagil, etc.

Mass deliveries of armored vehicles made it possible to start organizing mechanized corps in the Red Army in the mid-1930s, which was 5-6 years ahead of the appearance of similar units in the armed forces of Germany and other countries. Already in 1934, a new type of troops was created in the Red Army - armored troops (from December 1942 - armored and mechanized troops), which to this day are the main striking force of the Ground Forces. At the same time, the 5th, 7th, 11th and 57th special mechanized corps were deployed, converted in August 1938 into tank corps. However, the armored forces were in the process of reorganization. In 1939, these formations were disbanded due to an incorrect assessment of the combat experience of using tanks in Spain. In May 1940, the armored forces of the Red Army consisted of: one T-35 tank brigade; three brigades T-28; 16 BT tank brigades; 22 T-26 tank brigades; three armored brigades; two separate tank regiments; one training tank regiment and one training battalion of armored units. Their total number was 111,228 people. The ground forces also included six motorized divisions. Each of them had one tank regiment. In total, the motorized division had 258 light tanks in the state.

The study of the combat experience of using armored and mechanized troops during the outbreak of World War II allowed Soviet military specialists to develop a scientifically based theory of the combat use of tank and mechanized formations and units, both in combined arms combat and in independent operations. This theory was further developed during the Great Patriotic War.

The fighting that took place near the river. Khalkhin-Gol units and formations of the Red Army clearly proved that much can be achieved by the active use of mobile tank formations. Powerful tank formations were widely used by Germany during the first period of World War II. All this proved that it was urgent to return to the creation of large armored formations. Therefore, in 1940, the restoration of 9 mechanized corps, 18 tank and 8 mechanized divisions began in the Red Army, and in February - March 1941, the formation of another 21 mechanized corps began. To fully equip the new mechanized corps, 16,600 tanks of only new types were required, and in total - about 32,000 tanks.

On June 13, 1941, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General N.F. Vatutin in his "Information on the deployment of the Armed Forces of the USSR in case of war in the West" noted: "In total, there are 303 divisions in the USSR: rifle divisions- 198, tank divisions - 61, motorized divisions - 31 ... "Thus, instead of the 42 previous tank brigades and six motorized divisions in the Red Army, a week before the start of the war, there were 92 tank and motorized divisions. However, due to such a rapid reorganization of the troops, less than half of the formed corps received the necessary weapons and military equipment in full. In the tank units, there was an acute shortage of tank commanders and technical specialists, since the commanders who came from rifle and cavalry formations had no practical experience in the combat use of tank troops and the operation of armored vehicles.

On June 1, 1941, the tank fleet of the Soviet ground forces consisted of 23,106 tanks, including 18,690 combat-ready. In the five western border districts - Leningrad, Baltic Special, Western Special, Kiev Special and Odessa - on June 22, 1941, there were 12,989 tanks, of which 10,746 were combat-ready and 2,243 needed repairs. Of the total number of vehicles, about 87% were light tanks T-26 and BT. Relatively new samples there were light T-40s with machine guns, medium T-34s (1105 units), heavy KV-1 and KV-2 (549 units).

In the battles of the first period of the Great Patriotic War with Wehrmacht strike groups, units of the Red Army lost a large amount of their military equipment. Only in 1941, during the Baltic defensive operation (June 22 - July 9), 2523 tanks were lost; in Belorusskaya (June 22 - July 9) - 4799 cars; in Western Ukraine (June 22 - July 6) - 4381 tanks. Compensation for losses became one of the main tasks of Soviet tank builders.

During the course of the war, the relative number of light tanks in the active army was continuously decreasing, although in 1941-1942 their output increased in quantitative terms. This was explained by the need to supply the troops with the largest possible number of combat vehicles in a short time, and it was relatively easy to establish the production of light tanks.

At the same time, they were modernized, and first of all, armor was strengthened.

In the autumn of 1941, the T-60 light tank was created, and in 1942, the T-70. Their introduction into serial production was facilitated by the low cost of production, due to the use of automotive units, as well as the simplicity of design. But the war showed that light tanks were not effective enough on the battlefield due to the weakness of weapons and armor. Therefore, from the end of 1942, their production was noticeably reduced, and in the late autumn of 1943 it was discontinued.

The vacated production facilities were used to produce light self-propelled guns SU-76, created on the basis of the T-70. Medium tanks T-34 from the first days took part in the hostilities. They had an undeniable superiority over the German Pz tanks. Krfw. III and Pz. Krfw. IV. German specialists had to urgently upgrade their machines.

In the spring of 1942, the Pz tank appeared on the Eastern Front. Krfw. IV modification F2 with a new 75-mm cannon and reinforced armor. In a duel, he won the T-34, but was inferior to him in maneuverability and maneuverability. In response, Soviet designers increased the T-34's cannon and the thickness of the turret's frontal armor. By the summer of 1943, the Germans equipped tank units with new tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts (Pz. Krfw. V "Panther"; Pz. Krfw.VI "Tiger"; self-propelled guns "Ferdinand", etc.) with more powerful armor protection, fire from their 75 - and 88-mm long-barreled guns hit our armored vehicles from a distance of 1000 meters or more.

The new Soviet tanks T-34-85 and IS-2, armed with 85-mm and 122-mm guns (respectively), by the beginning of 1944 were able to restore the advantage of Soviet armored vehicles in terms of armor protection and firepower. All this taken together allowed the Soviet Union to gain an unconditional advantage over Germany, both in terms of the quality of armored vehicles and the number of samples produced.

In addition, starting in 1943, the Red Army began to receive a large number of self-propelled artillery mounts. The need for them was revealed in the first months of hostilities, and already in the summer of 1941 at the Moscow Automobile Plant. I.V. Stalin, in a hurry, a 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun of the 1941 model was mounted on semi-armored artillery tractors T-20 Komsomolets. These self-propelled units received the designation ZIS-30.

On October 23, 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to start work on the creation of two types of self-propelled guns: light ones - for direct fire support of infantry and medium ones, armored like a T-34 medium tank - to support and escort tanks in battle. Tank builders for a light self-propelled gun equipped with a 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon used the base of the T-70 tank. This machine was well developed and relatively easy to manufacture. It was also taken into account that the supply of light tanks to the front was gradually reduced. Then came: the medium self-propelled guns SU-122 - a 122 mm howitzer based on the T-34 tank and the heavy SU-152 - a 152 mm howitzer gun based on the KV-1S tank. In 1943, the Supreme High Command decides to transfer self-propelled artillery installations from the GAU to the jurisdiction of the Commander of Armored and Mechanized Forces. This contributed to a sharp increase in the quality of self-propelled guns and the growth of their production. In the same year, 1943, the formation of self-propelled artillery regiments for tank, mechanized and cavalry corps began. In the offensive, light self-propelled guns accompanied the infantry, medium and heavy self-propelled guns fought tanks, assault guns, anti-tank artillery enemy, destroying defensive structures.

The role of self-propelled guns has increased in the context of the widespread use of Panther and Tiger tanks by the enemy. To combat them, Soviet troops received SU-85 and SU-100 vehicles.

The 100-mm gun mounted on the SU-100 self-propelled guns surpassed the 88-mm guns of German tanks and self-propelled guns in terms of the power of armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation shells, not inferior to them in rate of fire. During the war, self-propelled artillery mounts proved to be a highly effective formidable weapon and, at the suggestion of tankers, the designers developed self-propelled guns based on heavy IS-2 tanks, and armor-piercing shells were added to the ammunition load of heavy self-propelled mounts ISU-122 and ISU-152, which allowed, on final stage war, hit almost all types of German tanks and self-propelled guns. Light self-propelled guns were developed in the design bureau under the leadership of S.A. Ginzburg (SU-76); L.L. Terentiev and M.N. Shchukin (SU-76 M); medium - in design bureaus under the leadership of N.V. Kurina, L.I. Gorlitsky, A.N. Balashova, V.N. Sidorenko (SU-122, SU-85, SU-100); heavy - in the design bureau under the leadership of Zh.Ya. Kotina, S.N. Makhonina, L.S. Troyanova, S.P. Gurenko, F.F. Petrov (SU-152, ISU-152, ISU-122).

In January 1943, the formation of tank armies of a homogeneous composition began in the Red Army - the 1st and 2nd tank armies appeared, and by the summer of that year, the Red Army already had five tank armies, which consisted of two tank and one mechanized corps. Now armored and mechanized troops included: tank armies, tank and mechanized corps, tank and mechanized brigades and regiments.

During the war, Soviet armored vehicles were not inferior to Wehrmacht equipment, and often surpassed it both qualitatively and quantitatively. Already in 1942, 24,504 tanks and self-propelled guns were produced in the USSR, i.e. four times more than the German industry produced in the same year (5953 tanks and self-propelled guns). Given the failures of the first period of the war, this was a real feat of Soviet tank builders.

Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service Zh.Ya. Kotin noted that an invaluable feature of the Soviet school of tank building played a huge role in this - the maximum possible simplicity of design, the desire for the complex only if the same effect cannot be achieved by simple means.

The number of Soviet tanks participating in operations was constantly increasing: 780 tanks participated in the Battle of Moscow (1941-1942), Battle of Stalingrad(1942 - 1943) - 979, in the Belarusian strategic offensive operation (1944) - 5200, in the Berlin operation (1945) - 6250 tanks and self-propelled guns. According to the chief General Staff Red Army General of the Army A.I. Antonova, “... the second half of the war was marked by the predominance of our tanks and self-propelled artillery on the battlefields. This allowed us to carry out operational maneuvers on a huge scale, to surround large enemy groupings, to pursue him until complete destruction.

In total, in 1941 - 1945, the Soviet tank industry gave the front 103,170 tanks and self-propelled guns (the latter - 22,500, of which more than 2,000 were medium-sized, and more than 4,200 were heavy), Of this amount, light tanks accounted for 18.8%, medium - 70.4% (T-34 with a 76-mm cannon - 36,331, and with an 85-mm cannon - another 17,898 tanks) and heavy - 10.8%.

During the fighting, about 430,000 combat vehicles were returned to service after repairs in the field or at the factory, that is, each tank manufactured by the industry was repaired and restored on average more than four times.

Along with the mass production of armored vehicles during the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army received tanks and self-propelled guns that came from Great Britain, Canada and the USA under Lend-Lease. The transportation of armored vehicles was carried out mainly along three routes: the northern one - across the Atlantic and the Barents Sea, the southern one - across the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and Iran, to the east - through Pacific Ocean. The first transport with tanks arrived in the USSR from Great Britain in September 1941. And by the beginning of 1942, the Red Army received 750 British and 180 American tanks. Many of them were used in the battle near Moscow in the winter of 1941-1942. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union, according to Western sources, 3805 tanks were shipped to Great Britain, including 2394 Valentine, 1084 Matilda, 301 Churchill, 20 Tetrarch, 6 Cromwell. To these should be added 25 Valentine bridge tanks. Canada provided the USSR with 1,388 Valentine tanks. In the United States, 7172 tanks were loaded on ships under Lend-Lease, including 1676 light MZA1, 7 light M5 and M24, 1386 medium MZAZ, 4102 medium M4A2, one M26, as well as 707 anti-tank self-propelled guns (mainly M10 and M18), 1100 anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (M15, M16 and M 17), and 6666 armored personnel carriers. However, not all of these machines took part in the hostilities. So, under the blows of the German fleet and aviation, along with the ships of the Arctic convoys, 860 American and 615 British tanks were sent to the seabed. With a fairly high degree of certainty, we can say that 18,566 armored vehicles were delivered to the USSR during the four years of the war, of which: 10,395 tanks, 6,242 armored personnel carriers, 1,802 self-propelled guns and 127 armored vehicles, which were used in units, formations and training units of the Red Army.

Soviet tankers during the Great Patriotic War showed examples of the effective use of armored weapons, although the enemy was strong and had very powerful military equipment. The motherland duly noted the feat of Soviet tankmen: in their ranks there were 1150 Heroes of the Soviet Union (including 16 twice Heroes), and more than 250,000 were awarded orders and medals. On July 1, 1946, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the professional holiday "Tankman's Day" was established - to commemorate the great merits of armored and mechanized troops in defeating the enemy during the Great Patriotic War, as well as for the merits of tank builders in equipping the country's Armed Forces with armored vehicles. It is deeply symbolic that the legendary T-34 tank was often installed on the pedestals of monuments in honor of the liberation of Soviet cities from Nazi captivity, and many of the Soviet tanks of that time took their place of honor in many domestic museums.

IN modern form armored forces represent the main strike force of the Ground Forces, being a powerful means of armed struggle, designed to solve the most important tasks in various types military operations. The significance of tank troops as one of the main arms of the Ground Forces will continue in the foreseeable future. At the same time, the tank will retain its role as the leading universal combat weapon of the Ground Forces. In the post-war years, numerous modern models of tanks, self-propelled artillery mounts, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and airborne combat vehicles, which embodied the latest achievements of domestic science and technology, were put into service with the armored forces.

german army- our main enemy during the Great Patriotic War, had very powerful armored forces (Panzerwaffe). The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 forbade Germany to have tank troops and produce armored vehicles. However, in violation of its terms, already at the end of the 1920s, the Germans began to secretly work in the field of tank building, and with the coming to power of Hitler in January 1933, all the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty were discarded, and in Germany, the creation of a mass army began at an accelerated pace. A special place in it was intended for tanks.

The initiator of the construction of armored forces and the theorist of their use in the war was General G. Guderian. According to his views, tanks should have been used massively as part of large shock mechanized formations in cooperation with other branches of the armed forces, primarily with aviation. Having broken through the enemy defenses, and without waiting for the infantry, the tanks must enter the operational space, smash the rear, disrupting communications and paralyzing the work of enemy headquarters. He listed the advantages of tanks in the following order: mobility, weapons, armor and communications.

The German Panzerwaffe became the basis of the "blitzkrieg" during the Second World War, constituting the main strike force of the Ground Forces of the Third Reich. The Wehrmacht abandoned the division of tanks according to purpose - into infantry and cruising. Tanks, consolidated into large formations, were supposed to perform any functions if necessary: ​​both infantry escort tanks and success development tanks. Although the complete rejection of relatively small tank units designed for close interaction with infantry formations and units also cannot be considered successful. In the Wehrmacht, they switched (similar to the Red Army) to the division of tanks into light, medium and heavy. But if in the USSR only the mass of the tank was such a criterion, then in Germany tanks were divided into classes for a long time, both in terms of mass and armament. For example, the original tank Pz. Krfw. IV was considered as a heavy combat vehicle, based on its armament - a 75-mm gun - and was considered as such until the summer of 1943.

All tanks that entered service with the Wehrmacht received the letter abbreviation Pz. Krfw. (short for Panzegkampfwagen - armored fighting vehicle) and serial number. Modifications were designated by letters of the Latin alphabet and the abbreviation Ausf. - (abbr. Ausfuhrung - model, option). Command tanks were designated Рz.Bf.Wg. (Panzerbefehlswagen). Simultaneously with this type of designation, a through system was also used for all Wehrmacht mobile vehicles. According to the through system, most of the Wehrmacht armored vehicles (with some exceptions) received the designation Sd. Kfz. (abbr. Sonderkraftfahrzeug - special purpose vehicle) and serial number.

Self-propelled artillery mounts, considered as a means of reinforcing infantry and tanks on the battlefield, were designated differently, since the Wehrmacht and the SS troops had a large number of their classes and types. Assault guns had their own designation system, self-propelled howitzers, ZSU and anti-tank installations had their own. At the same time, the official designation of almost any self-propelled guns, as a rule, included information about the tank chassis on the basis of which it was created. Like tanks, most self-propelled artillery mounts also had through indexes with serial numbers in the SD system. Kfz. The classification of Wehrmacht self-propelled artillery installations differed in several main classes: assault guns (Sturmgeschutz; StuG); assault howitzers (Sturmhaubitze; StuH); self-propelled carriages and chassis (Selbstfahrlafetten; Sf.); assault infantry guns (Sturminfanteriengeschutz; StuIG); assault tanks (Sturmpanzer; StuPz.); tank destroyers / self-propelled anti-tank guns (Panzerjager, Pz.Jg; Jagdpanzer Jgd.Pz); howitzer self-propelled guns (Panzerhaubitze; Рz.Н); self-propelled anti-aircraft installations (Flakpanzer, Fl.Pz). The disorder with classification and designations was aggravated by the fact that machines of one of the types, after modernization and changes in their design, acquired completely different properties, the so-called. 75mm StuG assault gun. III, which after the installation of a 75-mm long-barreled gun in it, actually turned into a tank destroyer, but continued to be listed as an assault gun. The Marder self-propelled anti-tank guns also underwent a change in designation, instead of the original Pak Slf (self-propelled anti-tank gun) they became known as the Panzerjager (tank destroyer).

The first mass-produced German tank was the light Pz. Krfw. I, which entered the troops in 1934. The following year, the second light tank Pz appeared. Krfw. II. These machines were tested in combat conditions during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939.

The creation of medium tanks in Germany was delayed due to unsettled tactical and technical requirements for them, although some firms started developing a prototype with a 75-mm gun back in 1934. Guderian considered it necessary to have two types of medium tanks: the main one (Pz. Krfw. III) with a 37-mm cannon and a support tank with a 75-mm short-barreled gun (Pz. Krfw. IV). Production of tanks Rz. Krfw. III and Pz. Krfw. IV began only in 1938.

After the capture of the Czech Republic, in March 1939, the Wehrmacht received more than 400 modern Czech tanks LT-35 (Pz. Krfw. 35 (t)). In addition, the German tank forces were significantly strengthened by the LT-38 tanks (Pz.Krfw. 38 (t)), which were produced in occupied Moravia, but already under German orders, which had higher combat characteristics than the Pz tanks. Krfw. I and Rz. Krfw. II.

On September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht tank fleet in combat, training parts and at the bases totaled 3195 vehicles. There were about 2800 of them in the active army.

German losses in armored vehicles during the Polish campaign were small (198 destroyed and 361 damaged) and were quickly replenished by industry. As a result of the September (1939) battles, Guderian demanded to strengthen the armor and firepower of tanks and increase the production of Pz. Krfw. W and Rz. Krfw. IV. By the beginning of the campaign in France (May 10, 1940), 5 German tank corps had 2580 tanks. The British and French tanks were superior to the enemy in terms of armor and armament, but the German tank troops had higher training and combat experience, and were also better controlled. They were used massively, while the allies were tank battles in small groups, sometimes not having close interaction either among themselves or with the infantry. The victory went to the German shock groups.

To attack the Soviet Union, the German command, consisting of 17 tank divisions, concentrated 3582 tanks and self-propelled guns. These included 1698 light tanks: 180 Rz. Krfw. I; 746 Rz. Krfw. II; 149 Rz. 35(t); 623 Rz. 38(t) and 1404 medium tanks: 965 Рz. Krfw. III; 439 Rz. Krfw. IV, as well as 250 assault guns. The troops had another 230 command tanks that did not have cannon weapons. The fighting on the Soviet-German front revealed a number of technical shortcomings of German tanks. Their cross-country ability and mobility on the ground turned out to be low. In terms of armament and armor, they were significantly inferior to the Soviet T-34 and KV. It became clear to the Wehrmacht command that the troops needed stronger vehicles. While the development of new medium and heavy tanks was underway, the re-equipment of the Pz began. Krfw. IV (a long-barreled 75-mm cannon was installed with simultaneous strengthening of its armor). This temporarily equalized it with Soviet tanks in terms of armament and armor. But according to the rest of the data, the T-34 retained its superiority.

Even at the height of World War II, the Germans did not immediately begin to speed up the production of military equipment, but only when the specter of defeat loomed before them. At the same time, in the course of hostilities, the material part of the German tank forces was continuously improved qualitatively and grew quantitatively. Since 1943, the Germans began to massively use the Pz medium tank on the battlefields. Krfw. V "Panther" and heavy Rz. Krfw. VI "Tiger". In these new tanks of the Wehrmacht, weapons were better worked out, and their disadvantage was, first of all, a large mass. Thick armor did not save the Wehrmacht vehicles from the shells of Soviet guns mounted on T-34-85 and IS-2 tanks and SU-100 and ISU-122 self-propelled guns. In order to gain superiority over the Soviet IS-2 tank, in 1944 a new heavy tank Pz.Krfw was created. VI In "Royal Tiger". It was the heaviest production tank of World War II. During the war, German industry began to produce more and more self-propelled artillery mounts for various purposes. As the Wehrmacht moved to defensive operations, the proportion of self-propelled artillery grew in comparison with tanks. In 1943, the production of self-propelled guns exceeded the production of tanks, and in recent months the war outnumbered him three times. On the Soviet-German front at different times there were approximately 65 to 80% of the armored vehicles of the Wehrmacht.

If the armored vehicles of Germany, created in the period 1934 - 1940, were mainly distinguished by high reliability, simplicity and ease of maintenance and operation, ease of control, then the equipment created during the war years could no longer boast of such indicators. Haste and haste in the development and launch of the tanks Pz.Krfw.V "Panther", Pz.Krfw.VI Ausf.E "Tiger" and Pz.Krfw.VI Ausf. B ("Royal Tiger") had a negative impact on their reliability and performance, especially the Panther and Royal Tiger tanks. In addition, the Wehrmacht also used captured armored vehicles, but in rather limited quantities. Captured tanks, as a rule, were outdated and of little value to the front (except for the Czechoslovak LT-38 model). The Wehrmacht used them in secondary theaters of operations, for the occupying forces and the fight against partisans, as well as for the training of tankers.

Captured equipment was also used for conversion into self-propelled artillery mounts, armored personnel carriers for the delivery of ammunition, etc. All the factories of the European states occupied by the Germans also worked for the German Wehrmacht. Two large Czech factories "Skoda" (Pilsen) and SKD (Prague), renamed VMM, produced tanks and self-propelled guns based on them until the end of the war. In total, Czech factories produced more than 6,000 tanks and self-propelled guns. French tank-building factories were involved mainly in the conversion of captured French tanks, their repair or the manufacture of some spare parts for them, but not a single new tank or self-propelled guns was assembled there. In Austria, annexed during the Anschluss of 1938 to the Third Reich, during the Second World War, the Niebelungwerke tank assembly plant (Steyr-Daimler-Puch) was established in St. Valentine. Its products were included in the total production of factories in Germany. After the capitulation of Italy in 1943, its territory was partially occupied by German troops. Some tank-building factories in northern Italy, for example, Fiat-Ansaldo (Turin), continued to produce tanks and self-propelled guns for German formations operating in Italy. In 1943 - 1945 they produced more than 400 cars. In total, from September 1939 to March 1945, German industry produced about 46,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, with the latter accounting for more than 22,100 units. In addition to these vehicles, in Germany during the Second World War, tracked, wheeled and half-tracked armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, tractor-transporters were also produced.

The first English Mk V tanks arrived in Japan in 1918, and in 1921 - Mk A tanks and French Renault FT 17. In 1925, two tank companies were formed from these vehicles. The Japanese began their own tank building only in 1927, when several prototypes of multi-turreted tanks weighing about 20 tons were created. In the same years, the British Vickers-6-ton tanks and the Karden-Loyd MkVI tankette, the French Renault NC1 tanks were purchased (the latter were in service until 1940 under the designation "Otsu"). On their basis, Japanese firms began developing tankettes and light tanks.

In 1931-1936, a medium tank type 89 was produced in small batches. This designation of military equipment was adopted in the armed forces based on the Japanese chronology, according to which the Japanese year 2589 corresponded to 1929 of the Gregorian calendar. In 1933, the leadership of Japan and the military command decided to mechanize the Japanese army and issued corresponding orders to industry. At first, Japanese designers preferred wedges. The first of these was the Type 92 (1932), followed by the Type 94 ultra-small tank (1934) and the Type 97 "Te-ke" small tank (1937). In total, more than 1000 tankettes were built until 1937. However, further production of this class of vehicles ceased due to their low combat qualities, although it was in Japan that the wedge design reached its greatest development.

Since the mid-1930s, the Japanese tank building industry has completely switched to the development of light and medium vehicles. In 1935, the most massive light tank "Ha-go" was created, and in 1937 - the medium "Chi-ha". The latter, until the end of World War II, was the main model of the Japanese armored forces. In 1937, the pace of tank production increased in connection with deliveries to the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. At the same time, the Ha-go and Chi-ha machines were modernized. In the mid-1930s, the command of the Japanese army for the first time showed interest in the production of amphibious tanks, which were necessary for the implementation of amphibious assault operations in a future war. At this time, samples of floating tanks are being developed.

Japanese tank building in the 1920s and 1930s is characterized by a thorough study of foreign experience; hobby for wedges; concentration of efforts on the creation of light and medium tanks for arming the Kwantung Army in China, as well as, starting from 1933, the use of diesel engines in tanks. Japanese tanks were tested in combat during the fighting in the 1930s - early 1940s on Far East against Chinese and Mongolian troops, as well as units of the Red Army. The experience gained in the combat use of tanks forced Japanese designers, first of all, to look for ways to increase their firepower and armor protection. In total, in 1931 - 1939, the Japanese industry produced 2020 tanks. 16 samples were developed, including 7 serial ones.

With the outbreak of war in Europe, the production of tanks in Japan was gaining momentum: in 1940, 1023 vehicles were manufactured, in 1941 - 1024. Taking into account the country's insular position, the Japanese military leadership did not seek to build up its tank and troops. In the manual for training troops published in 1935, it was noted: "The main purpose of tanks is to fight in close cooperation with the infantry." From a tactical point of view, tanks were considered only as a means of supporting infantry and were reduced to small units. Their main tasks were considered to be: combating firing points and field artillery and making passages for infantry in barriers. Tanks could be sent on “close raids” beyond the front line of the enemy’s defense to a depth of no more than 600 m. At the same time, having violated his defense system, they had to return to their infantry and support its attack. The most maneuverable type of fighting was "deep raids" with cavalry, motorized infantry in vehicles, sappers and field artillery. In defense, tanks were used to carry out frequent counterattacks (mostly at night) or to fire from an ambush. The fight against enemy tanks was allowed only when absolutely necessary. In November 1941, according to the operational plan of the headquarters, the main forces of the fleet and aviation were involved in the capture of the Philippine Islands, Malaya, Burma and other territories, and 11 infantry divisions and only 9 tank regiments were allocated from the ground forces.

By December 1941, the tank fleet of the Japanese army consisted of about 2,000 vehicles: mainly Hago light tanks and tankettes, there were several hundred Chi-ha medium tanks. Since 1940, the main tanks "Ha-go" and "Chi-ha" have been modernized. As a result, the Ke-nu light tank and the Chi-he medium tank were built in appreciable quantities during the war years. In 1942, the designers created the Ka-mi amphibious tank, which experts consider to be the best example in the history of Japanese tank building. But its release was extremely limited. In the same year, a limited number of self-propelled artillery mounts went into the Japanese army to fight the allied tanks and support their troops.

Japanese tanks had weak weapons and armor, satisfactory mobility, and were also not reliable enough and did not have good means observation and communication. In terms of armament, protection and other characteristics, these vehicles lagged behind the models of other warring countries. Therefore, by the end of the war, Japanese instructions already considered tanks as one of the most effective anti-tank weapons, and tanks were often buried in the ground in defense. The main feature of Japanese tank building was the widespread use of diesel engines. During the war, Japanese tank building experienced a constant shortage of raw materials (steel) and skilled labor. Max level tank production in Japan reached in 1942 and then began to fall. In total, Japanese industry produced 2377 tanks and 147 self-propelled guns in 1942-1945.

The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War is persistently working to identify and collect material evidence of the heroic and tragic past. With each subsequent year after the war, it becomes more and more difficult to carry out work on completing their collections with new models of armored vehicles. Currently, the museum has tanks and other armored vehicles. domestic production pre-war, war and post-war periods of production. This makes it possible to reveal the main stages of domestic tank building, to show the hard work of workers, engineers, designers, technologists, production organizers, all home front workers in achieving Victory in incredibly difficult conditions.

The collection of armored vehicles of the USSR, Great Britain, USA, Germany and Japan has been created by the museum staff since 1990. Great assistance in this work was provided by the Main Armored Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the leadership of the Border Troops of the FSB of Russia, military-patriotic public associations, search groups, veteran organizations of tankers. The museum recreates the missing samples of armored vehicles by building their models from the preserved fragments found by the search teams. In this way, the layout of the heavy tank KV-1, models of Japanese tanks was recreated. A number of exhibits were restored by specialists of the 38th Research and Testing Institute of Armored Vehicles of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation before they were placed at the arms exhibition.

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Introduction

During the Second World War, for the first time in the history of mankind, the largest clashes of military equipment took place, which largely determined the outcome of the military confrontation. The Great Patriotic War in terms of the quality of tank forces, their material support and managing them is both the past and, in part, the present. The fragments of that war and that era are still flying and injuring people, so the issues raised by military historians are of interest to modern society.

Many are still concerned about the question of which tank was the best tank of the Second World War. Some carefully compare tables performance characteristics(TTX), they talk about the thickness of the armor, the armor penetration of shells and many other figures from the TTX tables. Different sources give different figures, so disputes begin about the reliability of the sources. Behind these disputes, it is forgotten that the numbers in the tables themselves do not mean anything. Tanks are not designed to duel with their own kind in perfectly identical conditions.

I have long been interested in armored vehicles of the Great Patriotic War. Therefore, in my work, I would like to systematize all the information received, dwell in more detail on the characteristics of medium and heavy armored vehicles of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, analyze and compare the collected data. In my work, I mainly refer to the book by Mernikov A.G. "The Armed Forces of the USSR and Germany in 1939 - 1945" and the electronic resource "Tanks yesterday, today, tomorrow".

After I got acquainted with the literature, where I learned the history of tank building, analyzed the quantitative and tactical - specifications tanks of the times of the Great Patriotic War, learned about many technical innovations of the leading countries, I decided to sociological research. A survey was conducted, the participants of the survey were students of my 5 "B" class. Respondents had to answer the questions: “What tanks of the Great Patriotic War do you know? What tanks were used in the battle on the Kursk Bulge? What tank was considered the best in the Soviet Union? What tank was created by the Germans to surpass the T-34? (Appendix A). The survey showed that more than half of my classmates do not know which tanks participated in the Kursk Bulge (57%) (Appendix B Diagram 2), many do not know which tank was created by the Germans to surpass the T-34 (71%) (Appendix B Diagram 4).

We all say that we are patriots of our country. But is it patriotism when a schoolboy cannot name which tanks were used in the battle on the Kursk Bulge. I hope that with my project, I encouraged my classmates to research activities concerning the Great Patriotic War. Create the same works, and, perhaps, in the near future all the gaps, secrets and ambiguities of this war will be open and available to everyone!

The relevance of this work lies in the fact that tanks during the world wars played a huge role. And we must remember these machines, their creators. IN modern world people forget about the terrible days of these wars. My scientific work is aimed at remembering these military pages.

Purpose of the work: comparison of the quantitative and performance characteristics of Soviet and German tanks during the Great Patriotic War.

Tasks: 1. Conduct a comparative analysis of medium and heavy tanks of the USSR and Germany during the Great Patriotic War.

2. Systematize the information received about the medium and heavy tanks of the USSR and Germany during the Great Patriotic War in the form of tables.

3. Assemble the model of the T-34 tank.

Object of study: tanks of the Great Patriotic War.

Subject of study: medium and heavy tanks of the Soviet Union and Germany during the Great Patriotic War.

Hypothesis: there is a version that Soviet tanks of the Great Patriotic War had no analogues.

problem-search;

research;

practical;

The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the younger generation, to which I belong, and my peers, do not forget about the role of tanks, with the help of which our country stood against the fascist occupation. So that our generation will never allow hostilities on our Earth.

Chapter 1. Comparative characteristics of medium tanks of the USSR and Germany during the Great Patriotic War

A light tank is a tank that falls into the corresponding category of combat vehicles according to one of the classification criteria (mass or armament). When classifying by mass, a light tank is considered to be a combat vehicle no heavier than the conditional boundary value between the categories of light and medium tanks. When classifying according to armament, all tanks armed with automatic cannons (or machine guns) up to 20 mm caliber inclusive (or non-automatic up to 50 mm), regardless of weight or armor, fall into the category of light vehicles.

Different approaches to the classification of tanks led to the fact that in different countries the same vehicles were considered to belong to different classes. The main purpose of light tanks was considered to be reconnaissance, communications, direct support of infantry on the battlefield, and counter-guerrilla warfare.

Medium tanks included tanks with a combat weight of up to 30 tons and armed with a large-caliber cannon and machine guns. Medium tanks were intended to reinforce the infantry when breaking through a heavily fortified enemy defensive line. Medium tanks included T-28, T-34, T-44, T-111, Pz Kpfw III, Pz Kpfw IV and others.

Heavy tanks included tanks with a combat weight of more than 30 tons and armed with large-caliber guns and machine guns. Heavy tanks were intended to reinforce combined-arms formations when breaking through heavily fortified enemy defenses and attacking his fortified areas. Heavy tanks included all modifications of the KV, IS-2, Pz Kpfw V "Panther", Pz Kpfw VI "Tiger", Pz Kpfw VI Ausf B "King Tiger" and others.

The Panzerkampfwagen III is a German medium tank of the Second World War, mass-produced from 1938 to 1943. The abbreviated names of this tank were PzKpfw III, Panzer III, Pz III.

These combat vehicles were used by the Wehrmacht from the first day of World War II. The latest records of the combat use of the PzKpfw III in the regular composition of the Wehrmacht units date back to the middle of 1944, single tanks fought until the surrender of Germany. From mid-1941 to early 1943, the PzKpfw III was the basis of the armored forces of the Wehrmacht (Panzerwaffe) and, despite the relative weakness compared to contemporary tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, made a significant contribution to the successes of the Wehrmacht of that period. Tanks of this type were supplied to the armies of Germany's Axis allies. Captured PzKpfw IIIs were used by the Red Army and the Allies with good results.

Panzerkamfwagen IV - surprisingly, this tank was not the main tank of the Wehrmacht, although it was the most massive (8686 vehicles were made). The creator of the T-IV (as it was called in the Soviet Union) was Alfred Krupp, great person Germany. He provided a lot of jobs for people, but that's not the point. It was mass-produced from 1936 to 1945, but began to be used only from 1939. This tank was constantly upgraded, armor increased, more and more powerful guns were installed, etc., which allowed it to withstand enemy tanks (even against the T-34). At first, it was armed with the KwK 37 L/24 gun, later, in 1942, with the KwK 40 L/43 and in 1943 with the Kwk 40 L/47.

T-34 - everyone famous tank. My personal opinion: handsome, and probably everyone shares this opinion with me. It was created at the Kharkov plant No. 183, under the leadership of M. I. Koshkin in 1940. An interesting feature of this tank was that it had a V-2 aircraft engine. Thanks to this, he could accelerate to 56 km / h, for tanks this is a lot but, to be honest, he is not the fastest tank. The T-34 was the main tank of the USSR and was the most massive tank of the Second World War, from 1940 to 1956 84,000 tanks were made, 55,000 of which were made during the war (for comparison: German T-IVs, tigers and panthers were made from strength 16000). The T-34 was created with the L-11 76mm gun, a year later it was equipped with the F-34 76mm, and in 1944 the S-53 85mm.

From the very first hours of the war, T-34 tanks took part in the battles and showed unsurpassed fighting qualities. The enemy, not knowing anything about our new tanks, was not ready to meet them. His main tanks T-III and T-IV could not fight with thirty-fours. The guns did not penetrate the armor of the T-34, while the latter could shoot enemy vehicles from the extreme distances of a direct shot. A year passed before the Germans countered them with more or less equivalent fire power and armored vehicles.

Our answer to the panther - T-34-85 - the best tank of the Great Patriotic War. I can add that in this modification an extended turret and the S-53 gun were installed. And that's it, there is nothing more to add, the corps did not change throughout the war. From 1944 to 1945, 20,000 tanks were made (this is 57 tanks per day).

Mobility is the ability of a tank to overcome a given distance in a certain time without additional means of support (Appendix C, table 1).

The T-34-76 is the best tank in the MOBILITY category.

Security is the ability of a tank to keep the crew and equipment of the tank when hit by shells, fragments, large-caliber bullets (Appendix C, table 2).

T-34-85 is the best tank in the category - "SECURITY".

German Pz. IV designs 1943-1945 the best tank in the category - " Firepower» (Appendix C, table 3).

Analyzing the technical characteristics of medium tanks, we can conclude that our medium tanks have superiority over German tanks in terms of speed, caliber, ammunition (Appendix C, table 4) .

T-34 is the best medium tank of World War II.

Chapter 2. Comparative characteristics of heavy tanks of the USSR and Germany during the Great Patriotic War

The Panther is the main heavy tank of the Wehrmacht, created by MAN in 1943 and is one of the best tanks of that time (but the T-34 cannot be surpassed). Visually, it is somewhat similar to the T-34 and not surprising. In 1942, a commission was assembled to study Soviet tanks. Having collected all the pros and cons of our tanks, they assembled their version of the T-34. If Daimler-Benz, sorry, stupidly copied our beauty, then MAN made a truly German tank (engine at the back, transmission at the front, rollers in a checkerboard pattern) and only added a couple of little things. At least tilted the armor. The first time the panther was used in the Battle of Kursk, after which it was used in all "theaters of war". Serially produced from 1943 to 1945. About 6000 tanks were made. All panthers had a KwK 42 L/70 75mm gun.

Tiger - the first heavy tank of the Wehrmacht. The Tiger was the most non-mass tank (1354 vehicles were made from 1942 to 1944). There are two possible reasons such a small production. Either Germany could not afford more tanks, one tiger cost 1 million Reichsmarks (about 22,000,000 rubles). Which was twice as expensive as any German tank.

Requirements for a tank weighing 45 tons were received in 1941 by two well-known companies, namely Henschel (Erwin Aders) and Porsche (Ferdinand Porsche) and prototypes were ready by 1942. Unfortunately for Hitler, Ferdinand's project was not accepted for service due to the need for scarce materials for production. The design of Aders was taken into service, but the tower was borrowed from Ferdinand for two reasons. Firstly, the Henschel tank turret was only in development, and secondly, the Porsche turret had a more powerful KwK 36 L / 56 88mm gun, in common “eight eight”. The first 4 tigers without any test and without any crew training were sent to the Leningrad Front (they wanted to test during the battle), I think it’s easy to guess what happened to them ... Heavy vehicles got stuck in a swamp.

The armor of the "Tiger" turned out to be quite powerful - albeit without a slope, but 100 mm thick frontal sheets. The undercarriage consisted of eight staggered double rollers on one side on a torsion bar suspension, which ensured the smooth running of the tank. But, although the Germans, following the example of the KV and T-34s, used wide tracks, the specific pressure on the ground still turned out to be quite large, and on soft soil the Pz Kpfw VI burrowed into the ground (this is one of the disadvantages of this tank).

The Tigers suffered their first losses on January 14, 1943. On the Volkhov front, Soviet soldiers knocked out and then captured an enemy vehicle, after which it was sent to the training ground, where all its strengths and weaknesses were studied and instructions were developed to combat this "beast".

KV-1 (Klim Voroshilov), Soviet heavy tank. Initially, it was simply called KV (before the creation of KV-2). There was misconception that the tank was created during the Finnish campaign to break through the Finnish long-term fortifications (Mannerheim Line). In fact, the design of the tank began as early as the end of 1938, when it was clear that the concept of multi-turreted tanks was a dead end. The KV was created in the late 1930s and was successfully tested in combat. Not a single enemy gun could penetrate the armor of the KV. For this, the KV-2 was created with a 152-mm M-10 howitzer. From 1940 to 1942, 2769 tanks were created.

IS-2 (Joseph Stalin) is a Soviet heavy tank designed to fight the German "beasts". The need for a tank more powerful than the KV was caused by the increased effectiveness of the German anti-tank defense and the expected mass appearance of heavy German tanks "Tiger" and "Panther" on the front. Work on the new model since the spring of 1942 led special group designers (lead designer N.F. Shashmurin), which included A.S. Ermolaev, L.E. Sychev and others.

In the fall of 1943, the project was completed and three prototypes of the machine were made. After testing, the commission of the State Defense Committee proposed to take the tank into service, in December 1943, its mass production began.

The tank had an 85-mm semi-automatic gun designed by F.F. Petrov and weighed a little more than the KV-1S (44 tons), but had thicker armor, rationally distributed over the hull and turret (differentiated armor thickness). The hull was welded from a cast frontal part and rolled sheets of sides, stern, bottom and roof. The tower is cast. Installation of small-sized planetary turning mechanisms designed by A.I. Blagonravova made it possible to reduce the width of the IS-1 hull by 18 cm compared to the KV-1S.

However, by that time, the 85-mm gun was also installed on the T-34-85. It was not practical to produce medium and heavy tanks with the same armament. The team led by F.F. Petrov, presented calculations and schemes for placing a 122-mm gun in a tank. Petrov took as a basis the 122-mm hull gun of the 1937 model with a slightly shortened barrel and installed it on the cradle of the 85-mm gun. At the end of December 1943, factory tests of the tank with the new gun began. After a number of improvements (including the replacement of a piston valve with a wedge to increase the rate of fire), the 122-mm tank semi-automatic gun of the 1943 model was put into service and installed in the IS-2.

Thanks to well-thought-out design solutions, its dimensions did not increase compared to the KV, and its speed and maneuverability turned out to be higher. The machine was distinguished by ease of operation and the ability to quickly replace units in field conditions.

The 122 mm cannon had 1.5 times more muzzle energy than the 88 mm Tiger cannon. Armor-piercing projectile weighed 25 kg, had initial speed 790 m / s and at a distance of 500 m it pierced armor up to 140 mm thick. The IS-2 received its baptism of fire in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation in February 1944.

In the second quarter of 1944, sighting devices were improved, and the gun mantlet was widened. From the middle of 1944, the IS-2 began to be produced with a modified hull - now its frontal part has become the same as that of the T-34. The driver, instead of the inspection hatch, received a viewing slot with a triplex. The tank was named IS-2M.

If we compare the IS-2 tank with the KV-1, then the IS-2 turned out to be faster, easier to operate and repair in the field. The IS-2 was equipped with the D-25T 122mm gun, which was 1.5 times superior to the German "eight-eight" in muzzle energy, and was more penetrating. But with poor speed.

The Germans, knowing in advance about the imminent appearance of new types of tanks in the Soviet Union, in 1942 began to design a new, more armored tank, which was the Königstiger (Tiger II) - the royal tiger, like the IS-2, is one of the most powerful serial heavy tanks and the last tank of Nazi Germany. The situation with its design is almost the same as with the first tiger. Only if in the first case the body was from Henschel, and the tower from Porsche, then in this case the royal tiger is the full merit of Aders. This monster was armed with a KwK 43 L / 71 gun, which was more penetrating than the Soviet D-25T. I would like to add that in the second tiger all the mistakes of the first were corrected. Produced from 1944 to 1945, only 489 tanks were made.

Analyzing the data (Appendix C, Table 5), we can conclude that the tiger, compared to the KV-1, was better armored (except for the bottom and roof), had better speed and armament. But the KV was superior to the Tiger in the power reserve. The situation with Tiger 2 and IS is the same as with Tiger with HF. Therefore, I believe that the Tiger is the best heavy tank of the Second World War (as unpatriotic as it sounds).

Conclusion

Thus, with the words from the march of the tankers "The armor is strong, and our tanks are fast" I half agree. In the category of medium tanks, we have the superiority of the T-34 unconditionally. But in the category of heavy tanks, in my opinion, the best is the German P-VI Tiger.

Any war is a clash not only of troops, but also of the industrial and economic systems of the belligerents. This question must be remembered when trying to evaluate the merits of certain types of military equipment, as well as the successes of the troops achieved on this equipment. When evaluating the success or failure of a combat vehicle, one must clearly remember not only its technical characteristics, but also the costs that were invested in its production, the number of units produced, and so on. In other words, an integrated approach is important.

Second World War gave impetus to the development of tank building in all participating countries, and in particular the USSR, Germany and Great Britain. Tank troops were and remain the main strike force in ground operations. The best combination of mobility, security and firepower allows them to solve a wide range of tasks. All this means that tank troops will not only not die out in the foreseeable future, but will also be actively developed. Now Russian tanks are some of the best tanks in the world and come in different countries peace.

List of references and sources

1. Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945. Events. People. Documents: Brief ist. Directory / Under the general. Ed. O. A. Rzheshevsky; Comp. E. K. Zhigunov. - M.: Politizdat, 1990. - 464 p.: ill., maps.

2. Guderian G., Memoirs of a soldier: trans. with him. / G. Guderian. - Smolensk: Rusich, 1999.-653 p.

3. History of military art: Textbook for higher military educational institutions / Ed. ed. I.Kh.Bagramyan. - M.: Military publishing house of the USSR Ministry of Defense, 1970. - 308 p.

4. Mernikov A.G. Armed forces of the USSR and Germany 1939-1945. / A.G. Mernikov-Minsk: Harvest, 2010.- 352 p.

5. The USSR in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945: A Brief Chronicle / I. G. Viktorov, A. P. Emelyanov, L. M. Eremeev and others; Ed. S. M. Klyatskina, A. M. Sinitsina. - 2nd ed. . - M.: Military Publishing, 1970. - 855 p.

6. Tank yesterday, today, tomorrow [electronic resource] / Encyclopedia of tanks. - 2010. Access mode http://de.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc_tech/4239/ Tank, free. (Accessed: 03/10/2017)

7. Battle of Kursk [electronic resource] / Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia. Access mode https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle of Kursk#cite_ref-12, free. (Accessed: 03/10/2017)

8. Tank T-34 - from Moscow to Berlin [electronic resource]. Access mode http://ussr-kruto.ru/2014/03/14/tank-t-34-ot-moskvy-do-berlina/, free. (Accessed: 03/10/2017)

Annex A

QUESTIONNAIRE.

What tanks of the Great Patriotic War do you know? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What tanks were used in the battle on the Kursk Bulge?The Battle of Kursk was on July 12, 1943.

1. T-34, BT-7 and T-26 against Pz-3, Pz-2

   T-34, Churchill and KV-1 against Pz-5 "Panther" and Pz-6 "Tiger"

   A-20, T-43 and KV-2 against Pz4, Pz2

What tank was considered the best in the Soviet Union?

1. What tank was created by the Germans to surpass the T-34?

   1. Pz-5"Panther"

Which tank do you think is the best?

1. Soviet tank T - 34;

   German tank Pz-5 "Panther";

   Soviet tank KV - 2;

   German tank Pz-6 "Tiger";

   Soviet tank IS.

Annex B

SURVEY RESULTS.

Diagram 1.

Diagram 2.

Diagram 3.

Diagram 4.

Diagram 5.

Appendix C

Table 1

	Characteristics	Soviet medium tanks		german medium tanks
			T-34-85
	Crew (people)
reference	Weight (tons)	26 tons. 500 kg.		19 tons 500 kg.
	Engine type	diesel	diesel	petrol	petrol
	Engine, power (hp)
	Specific power (power to weight). How many hp accounted for one ton of tank weight.
	Maximum highway speed (km. per hour)
	Power reserve (km.)
	Specific ground pressure (grams per sq.cm)
Evaluation, points

Table 2.

	Characteristics	Soviet medium tanks		german medium tanks
			T-34-85
	Forehead of the tower, mm.
	Side of the tower, mm.
	Tower top, mm.				18
	Forehead of the hull, mm.
	Side wall of the case, mm.
	Bottom, mm.
	Height, see
	Width, see
	Length, cm.
	Target volume, cubic meters	49	66	40	45
Evaluation, points

Table 3

	Characteristics	Soviet medium tanks		german medium tanks
		T-34-76	T-34-85
	Tool name		ZIS-S-53
	Start of installation, year	since 1941	from March 1944	since 1941	since 1943	1937-1942	1942-1943	1943-1945
	Manufactured tanks during the war, pcs.	35 467	15 903	597	663	1 133	1 475	6 088
	Caliber, mm
	Barrel length, calibers
	Barrel length, m.
	Practical rate of fire, vys./m.
	Armor-piercing shells, angle of impact 60°
	at a distance of 100 meters, mm. armor
	at a distance of 500 meters, mm. armor
	at a distance of 1000 meters, mm. armor
	at a distance of 1500 meters, mm. armor
	at a distance of 2000 meters, mm. armor
	High-explosive fragmentation shells max. range, km
	number of fragments, pcs.
	damage radius, m
	quantity of explosive, gr.
	Full rotation of the tower, seconds
	telescopic sight	TMFD-7
	increase, times
	machine guns	2x7.62 mm	2x7.62 mm	2x7.92 mm	2x7.92 mm	2x7.92 mm	2x7.92 mm	2x7.92 mm
	Ammunition cartridges
	Ammunition shells
Evaluation, points

Table 4

Technical characteristics of medium tanks

Name	"Panther"	Pz.kpfw IV ausf H
	KwK 42 L/70 75 mm,	KwK 40 L/48 75mm
Ammunition	79 shots	87 shots	100 shots	60 shots
Booking	mask-110mm	forehead - 80mm board -30mm feed -20mm bottom -10mm forehead - 50mmboard - 30mmfeed -30mmroof -15mm	Hull and turret: Mask-40mm forehead - 45mmboard - 45mmfeed - 45mmroof -20mmbottom -20mm	feed -45mm bottom - 20mm mask-40mm forehead - 90mmboard - 75mmfeed -52mmroof-20mm
Engine
Speed
Power reserve

Table 5

Technical characteristics of heavy tanks

Name	"Panther"	Pz.kpfw VI Tiger II
	KwK 42 L/70 75 mm,	KwK 43 L/71 88mm
Ammunition	79 shots	84 shots	114 shots	28 shots
Booking	forehead - 80mmboard - 50mm feed - 40mm bottom - 17mm mask-110mm forehead - 110mmboard - 45mmfeed -45mmroof - 17mm	forehead - 150mmboard -80mmfeed -80mm bottom - 40mm mask-100mm forehead - 180mmboard -80mmfeed -80mmroof -40mm	forehead -75 mmboard -75mm feed -60mm bottom -40 mm mask-90mm forehead - 75mmboard -75mmfeed -75mmroof - 40mm	stern -60mm bottom -20 mm forehead -100 mmboard -90 mmfeed -90mmroof-30mm
Engine
Speed
Power reserve