Armoured Long Livers

 "Order of the Minister of the Armed Forces to the Commander of the Armoured and Mechanized Forces, Marshal of the Armoured Forces P.S. Rybalko on using unneeded armoured vehicles and spare parts for them

#452102
June 10th, 1947

Minister of the Armed Forces General of the Army comrade Bulganin permitted the use of unneeded armoured vehicles and spare parts for them in the following manner:

• 131 MK-3 [Valentine] tanks, 63 SU-122 SPGs and 282 SU-85 SPGs in need of repairs are to be converted into prime movers for use in the Armoured and Mechanized Forces instead of tractors.
  Functional SU-85 SPGs can be used for training and converted into prime movers as they break down.

85 mm for Dummies

 "To Commanders of Army Artillery and Commanders of Tank Armies

USSR NKO

Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army

Artillery Committee

December 25th, 1943

#800868

Moscow

The Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army learned that troops do not always correctly use ammunition for 85 mm tank and SPG guns. I ask you to explain the following to the troops:

85 mm tank and SPG guns are equipped with ammunition from the 85 mm AA gun:

1. BR-365 armour piercing-tracer rounds
2. O-365K steel cased HE rounds with KTM-1 fuses.

Extended Magazines

"USSR NKO

Commander of Armoured and Mechanized Forces of the Red ARmy

July 19th, 1944

#511127

Trials were held to establish the possibility of increasing the amount of ammunition carried in SPGs, which increases the ammunition capacity of the ISU-152 and ISU-122 by 7 rounds and the SU-85 by 5 rounds if necessary.

Additional ammunition is to be carried in the following ways:

Muzzle Brake Requirements

"USSR NKO

GBTU KA

Tank Usage Directorate

July 4th, 1944

#542526

To Assistant Commanders in charge of Armoured and Mechanized Warfare of Fronts

Copy for the Assistant Commanders in charge of Armoured and Mechanized Warfare of the 1st Baltic Front

A report by the Usage Department of the Armoured and Mechanized Warfare of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in February and a report of the NKTP inspector's group at the 1st Belorussian Front in May indicated vases where the gearbox of the T-34 tank with an 85 mm gun broke when the gun was fired on the move.

Video: SPG or Tank Destroyer?

In this week's video, I take a look at a commonly asked question: what's the difference between a self propelled gun and a tank destroyer? Was the SU-152 either or both? Watch and find out!

SU-85 Production

"Order of the People's Commissar of Tank Production of the USSR #477ss

Moscow

August 9th, 1943

On the organization of 85 mm SPGs on the T-34 chassis at the Uralmash factory

To carry out State Committee of Defense order #3892ss issued on August 8th, 1943, I order that:

1. Uralmash factory director comrade Muzrukov must prepare for production of SU-85 SPGs designed at the Uralmash factory on the T-34 tank chassis and armed with the factory #9 D-5 gun.
2. The following quota for SU-85 SPGs at the Uralmash factory is established:
1. August: 100 units. Production begins on August 25th according to the daily table approved by me on August 8th.
2. September: 150 units.

T-34-85 Reliability, 1945

The service life of the T-34 tank continued to increase throughout the war. The engine could be expected to put out 250 hours of service by 1945, with individual drivers able to get to 300. These were not individual occurrences, as the 2nd Guards Tank Army's experience shows.

King Tiger Penetration Trials

"10th Tarnopol Order of Lenin Independent Guards Tank Destroyer Brigade

September 3rd, 1944

#0302

To: Commander of artillery of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Colonel General of Artillery, Barentsov

CC: Commander of artillery of the 13th Army, Commander of artillery of the 5th Guards Army

I report that on September 1st and 2nd, 1944, I performed penetration trials against the "T-B King Tiger" tank using 57 and 76 mm guns, a 57 mm SPG, an 85 mm gun on a SU-85, and a 152 mm gun-howitzer on an ISU.

Results of penetration trials:

From Medium Assault Gun to Medium Tank Destroyer

Development of armoured vehicles in many nations proceeds in parallel. A clear example of this is the creation of German and Soviet medium SPGs. Initially, Soviet SPGs were built as tank destroyers. Later, under the influence of the German StuG III Ausf. B, the medium assault gun program was launched, which gave birth to the SU-122. By this time, the Germans had modernized the StuG III and transformed it into primarily a tank destroyer. This SPG was known as the StuG 40. In the USSR this process took longer, as there was no gun to combat German heavy tanks until the spring of 1943. That is when the SU-85 appeared, the most numerous Soviet medium SPG used in the war.

Long Awaited Tank Destroyer

History often moves in a spiral. The story of Soviet medium SPGs illustrates this fact well. In the summer of 1940, when development of SPGs on the T-34 chassis began, a tank destroyer was one of them. In the spring of 1942, the concept of the SPG changed, and the SU-122 was born. However, in May of 1943 a mobile means of defeating enemy tanks in the medium weight category was needed. On August 8th, 1943, more than three years after the request for a medium tank destroyer came through, the SU-85 was finally accepted into service with the Red Army. How well did Soviet industry deal with the vehicle that came to replace the SU-122, and how did it perform the tasks given to it on the battlefield?

Lessons Learned

"Secret

To Comrade Beria

January 27, 1944

Based on the recommendations given by the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Army General comrade Malinovskiy, we report that:

1. Item 1 in comrade Malinovsky's letter proposed installation of spaced armour 30-50 mm thick on the SU-85 and SU-122 SPGs.
   We consider that it would be unacceptable to install 30-50 mm thick spaced armour on the SU-85 and SU-122 SPGs on the T-34 chassis due to excess weight and overloading of the front suspension, which would radically reduce the lifespan of the transmission and running gear.
   An experimental SPG with a 100 mm gun is being built which will have 75 mm of front armour. Trials will show how feasible this undertaking is.

Big Guns

"To the Chief of the 16th Department of the GAU Artillery Committee, Colonel comrade Zhevanik

I report on the work that I performed during my trip to Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk from May 3rd to May 28th, 1943.

1. Kalinin factory #8.

Based on directions by Lieutenant General of Artillery Hohlov, I organized work to design and produce an experimental 85 mm tank gun. To achieve this, I supplied factory #8 with a copy of the tactical-technical requirements and necessary blueprints with the aid of the GAU military representative at factory #9. I negotiated with the factory's director, comrade Fratkin, as well as the chief engineer and chief designer. Based on this meeting, comrade Fratkin gave the order on May 4th to quickly begin work on designing the gun with the aim of completing blueprints by May 10th.

Tank Destroyer Ace

"Award Order

1. Name: Kurochkin, Viktor Aleksandrovich
2. Rank: Lieutenant
3. Position and unit: SU-85 commander, 1893rd Fastov Self Propelled Artillery Regiment
   Is nominated for the Order of the Red Banner.
4. Year of birth: 1923
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party affiliation: VLKSM
7. Participation in the Civil War, subsequent combat in defense of the USSR, and Patriotic War: from August 1943 until present on the 1st Ukrainian Front.
8. Wounds and contusions in the Patriotic War: none
9. In the Red Army since: 1942
10. Recruited by: Ulyanovsk Recruitment Office, Ulyanovsk Oblast
11. Prior awards: none
    

A Different Angle

There is a strangely prevalent opinion in some circles that everything there was to know about WWII was already known, and that any new information is completely unnecessary revisionism. Those people are naturally wrong, as illustrated pretty conclusively by Yuri Pasholok. Something as fundamental as a measurement went uncorrected for decades.

SU-85 Organization

"Order of the People's Commissar of Defense #0032

On the inclusion of SU-85 self propelled gun regiments into independent tank destroyer artillery brigades in the Reserve of the Stavka of the Supreme Command

August 2nd, 1944

In order to increase the firepower and mobility of fire of independent tank destroyer artillery brigades in the Reserve of the Supreme Command, I order that:

1. In the 15 independent tank destroyer artillery brigades that are in the Reserve of the Stavka of the Supreme Command, a self propelled artillery regiment with 21 SU-85 SPGs is to be added.
   The overall counts of the brigade will include 1852 men.
2. The Commander of the Armoured and Mechanized Forces of the Red Army must form and transfer to the Commander of Artillery of the Red Army 15 SU-85 SPG regiments in the following timeline:
1. 5 regiments by July 20th 1944.
2. 5 regiments by August 5th, 1944.
3. 5 regiments by August 20th, 1944.
   Select 15 officers to fill the position of deputy commander of the technical branch.
3. Chiefs of the NKO Central Directorates are to fill the brigades with personnel, armament, transport, and materiel.

People's Commissar of Defense

Marshal of the Soviet Union

I. Stalin"

RGVA 4-11-83 pp. 67-68

Lethality in Berlin

Some interesting data from the 2nd Guards Tank Army gathered during their fighting in Berlin. Analysis of tanks that were badly damaged enough to have to be written off from their unit was performed at the repair base. There, a decision was made: either the tank is irreparable and is destined for the scrap heap or is salvageable, but only after refurbishment, and is thus sent to the factory. Unfortunately there are no notes that tell us why each specific type of tank typically became unsalvageable, but only a general rule of thumb: if the ammunition rack is hit, the tank blows up and is a complete loss. If the ammunition does not go off, then the tank will probably be suitable for refurbishment, even if there was a fire.

Type	Total	T-34		IS-2		M4A2		SU-76		SU-85		SU-100		ISU-122
		Irrep.	Maj.	Irrep.	Maj.	Irrep.	Maj.	Irrep.	Maj.	Irrep.	Maj.	Irrep.	Maj.	Irrep.	Maj.
75 mm shell	39	6	8	-	-	3	16	2	2	-	2	-	-	-	-
88 mm shell	27	7	3	7	-	4	4	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	1
100 mm shell	9	2	2	3	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
22 mm AA gun	5	-	1	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Artillery total	80	15	14	10	-	12	21	2	2	-	2	1	-	1	-
Faust	47	16	2	2	1	13	8	3	-	-	-	1	-	1	-
Aircraft	4	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-
Mines	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	-
Total	135	33	16	12	1	25	31	5	3	-	2	3	-	4	-