Video: T-35: Misunderstood or Useless?

The T-35 tank looked fearsome, but accomplished nothing in the summer of 1941. However, the battlefield was very different from what it was almost 10 years earlier when this tank was designed. I talk about how useful the T-35 was in its prime in my latest video.

There are Always Two

The tank was initially conceived as a mobile fortress; huge and slow. However, the army had to rein in their appetites from a 300 ton monster to just 28 tons. This didn’t mean that the idea of a mobile fortress died off. The mass of tanks continued to grow and the development of the K-Wagen clearly suggested that not only Lebedenko was thinking about Tsar-tanks. Only the prompt end of the First World War stopped these giants from reaching the battlefield. Although, the monstrous projects that were built by 1919 were about as useful as the rest of the Tsar family: a tank that doesn’t fight in addition to a bell that doesn’t ring and cannon that doesn’t shoot.

T-39, the first Soviet "large" heavy tank. Thankfully, clearer minds prevailed.

For obvious reasons, Soviet tank designers didn’t even think about a heavy breakthrough tank. Ironically, the most numerous tank in the Red Army at the time was the British Mark V that fit this role perfectly. The USSR began working on its own heavy tank in the early 1930s. It just so happened that they ended up with two designs over and over again for two decades. They choice was always made in favour of the lighter one, but it didn’t prevent work on the heavier one from moving forward.

T-34's Heart in a Tractor

The engine is the most complicated and most important component of any tracked fighting vehicle. It might even take more time to develop the engine than the rest of the tank put together. Even today, not all tank building nations have the ability to produce their own engines, and a successful design can define the development of tanks for years to come. The V-2 diesel engine put into production in 1939 was one such design. Last time we told the tale of the trials of this engine in the A-8 tank. This article will cast light on the second stage of the trials. This time, the new diesel engine was put to work on a heavy tractor.

Chief Designer of the 1930s

When one lists Soviet tank designers, M.I. Koshkin is usually remembered first as one of the main authors of the T-34. He is usually followed by A.A. Morozov, who succeeded Koshkin as the Chief Designer of factory #183 in Kharkov and in Nizhniy Tagil after the evacuation. Zh.Ya. Kotin, the author of many tanks from the KV-1 to the IS-2, also ranks highly. N.A. Astrov, the creator of the T-40, T-60, T-70, and other light vehicles is slightly less famous. However, if one explores an earlier period of Soviet tank building, one will see many other much less known names. Their obscurity is largely due to their complicated history.

One such history belongs to the main character of today's article, Semyon Aleksandrovich Ginzburg. He oversaw the creation of the most numerous and most successful Soviet tanks of the interbellum era: the T-26, BT, T-28, and T-35. As the Chief Engineer at factory #185 he directed the creation of a number of tanks and SPGs. His designs include the T-50 light tank and SU-12 (SU-76) SPG, which played a fatal role in his career. Let us recall this man, whose contribution to Soviet tank building was truly immense. The war for his tanks began back in 1936 and finished in August of 1945 in the Far East.

War Plans

The Red Army was undergoing a pretty radical reorganization in the summer of 1941. Fans of the theory that the USSR was about to attack Germany and Hitler merely delivered a preemptive strike will be disappointed to find out that not only did the Red Army not consider itself in any situation to fight a war in 1941, 1942 wasn't looking much better either. Compare the number of tanks on hand to the number of tanks required according to authorized strength.

Tank type	Authorized strength		On hand as of Jan 1st, 1941	% Authorized strength as of Jan 1st, 1941		Expected inventory as of Jan 1st, 1942	% Authorized strength as of Jan 1st, 1942
	Peacetime	Wartime		Peacetime	Wartime		Peacetime	Wartime
KV	2100	2100	243	11.5	11.5	1093	52	52
T-34	4200	4200	350	8.3	8.3	2850	67.8	67.8
BT	5487	8273	7752	141.5	93.7	7752	141.5	93.7
T-26	13,802	15,872	9987	72.3	62.9	9987	72.3	62.9
T-50						500
T-37/ T-38	2420	3681	3596	152	100	3596	182	116.7
T-40			100			800
Armoured cars	5298	6853	4461	84.2	65	6271	118	91.7

Total as of January 1st, 1941: 22,530 tanks (of those 59 T-35 and 443 T-28), 4461 armoured cars

Via Yuri Pasholok

New Tanks

"Decree of the Committee of Defense of the Council of People's Commissars #198ss

On the RKKA Tank Armament System

August 7th, 1938

Top Secret

Taking into account the experience of combat and study as well as the requirements for tanks on the modern battlefield, the Committee of Defense decrees that the following tank system will be adopted.

1. Tanks
1. Breakthrough tank (anti-tank gun destroyer): tracked type produced according to ABTU requirements developed at the tank meeting and approved by the People's Commissar of Defense (attachment #1).
1. The People's Commissar of Machinebuilding (NKMash) must deliver an experimental breakthrough tank by May 1st, 1939. Produce a wooden model and show it to the commission on September 1st, 1938.
2. The People's Commissar of Defense Industry (NKOP) must produce and deliver to the People's Commissar of Defense an experimental breakthrough tank for trials by July 1st, 1939. A model of this tank must be approved by the model commission by November 1st, 1938.
3. The NKO must test all experimental breakthrough tank prototypes and select the one most closely matching requirements for a breakthrough tank to accept into service in the RKKA.
4. As soon as the tank is put into production, remove the T-28 and T-35 from production.

Soviet Tank History: T-35

Another video is up. This time I'm taking a look at pre-war heavy tank development in the USSR and some tanks that could have been accepted into service instead of the T-35, as well as what aspects of the T-35's design migrated onto later Soviet heavy tanks.

1942 Lineup

"Wundsdorf Tank School

March 1st, 1942

Which Russian tanks will you encounter in 1942?

A significant amount of obsolete tanks:

1. Ford armoured reconnaissance car
2. T-37 amphibious tank
3. T-26 light tank
4. BT (Christie) light tank
5. T-28 heavy tank
6. T-35A heavy tank

Modern tanks:

1. T-60 light tank
2. T-40 amphibious tank
3. T-34 heavy tank
4. KV-1 heavy tank
5. KV-2 heavy tank

Future of Soviet Tanks

"February 21st, 1938

To People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, comrade Voroshilov

...

Using existing tanks in the Red Army

1. Existing 862 T-18 tanks should be used as mobile anti-tank guns in fortified regions in the event that modernization results in satisfactory results. Modernization work is currently being performed. If the modernization is unsuccessful, the T-18s should be removed from service and melted down. There are no spare parts for the T-18, and they are not being produced.

Up, Up, and Away!

"To director of factory #183, comrade Lyash

CC: ABTU Chief, comrade Bokis

NKOP Secretariat Chief, comrade Kryukov

We send you tactical-technical specifications based on the personal orders of the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, comrade K.E. Voroshilov and People's Commissar of Defense Industry, comrade M.L. Ruhimovich, for the experimental BT-7-B-IS tank that is capable of city fighting.

Tank Budgets

"Preparation of materiel

1. Tanks

Tank	Amount	Unit Cost	Total Cost
T-26 small tank	3500	40,000	140,000,000
T-26 infantry carrier	500	40,000	20,000,000
BT fast tank	2000	70,000	140,000,000
T-28 medium tank	825	100,000	82,500,000
T-35 large tank	150	125,000	18,750,000
T-75 tank	25	250,000	6,250,000
T-33 and T-41 reconnaissance tanks	3000	13,000	39,000,000
Total	10,000		446,500,000

Spare parts:

For tank	Total cost
T-18	3,200,000
T-24	350,000
T-26	30,000,000
BT	35,000,000
T-28	9,000,000
T-35	2,500,000
T-75	1,000,000
T-33 and T-41	4,000,000
T-27 tankette	7,500,000
Total spare parts	92,550,000

"

Via Nikita Barinov.

Unfortunately, the source doesn't say what year this budget came from. There are some hints though. The T-33 is a precursor of the T-37A tank. A prototype was built in the spring of 1932, but the tank did not do well in trials and was not accepted for mass production. Presumably, this budget was composed shortly before the decision to not produce the tank was made. The T-41 was also an amphibious reconnaissance tank, which underwent trials in the fall of 1932. The fact that Grotte's TG-1 tank is absent from the list altogether and the T-24 is only listed in the spare part production section agrees with this timeframe. This seems about the right time that something like a superheavy tank that cost twice as much as a T-35 would still be considered viable. 

Tougher Armour

"Order of the People's Commissar of the Defense Industry #337ss

Moscow

August 23rd, 1938

To carry out government order #198/ss/ov issued on August 7th, 1938, and to further improve tanks and armoured cars by increasing their armour, I order that:

The Chief of the 7th Directorate, comrade Tsvetaev, and the director of the Izhor factory, comrade Kazakov, must:

1. Accelerate experimental work on trials of tank armour 30-70 mm thick. Report on the results of the trials by September 20th, 1938.
2. Summarize all materials on experiments with spaced armour, and present final conclusions on the use of this armour by September 20th, 1938.
3. Produce and present the NKO with an armoured car on the ZIS-6 chassis with armour that protects from armour piercing bullets from the front at any range by December 1st, 1938.
4. Within a month, develop a plan for improvements to the armour of T-26, T-28, and BA-10 tanks and armoured cars, according to the attached list (## 1, 4, 5, 7, 8).
   When developing the plan, consider the necessary time to prepare for production.

German Intel: Red Army Tanks

Naturally, before you invade a country, you need to be aware of what their army is like. This is a German intelligence bulletin listing the tanks that were known to be in the Red Army. Black rectangles mark especially vulnerable areas.

"BA Ford" armoured car

This is a BA-10 armoured car. The German document correctly identifies it as being armed with one 45 mm gun and two machineguns, although the hull MG is very much overexaggerated in the drawing. The armour is also listed correctly (6-10 mm). The speed is a little low (50 kph instead of 52). The mass is listed as 5-7 tons, which is also a bit high (actual mass was 5.1 tons). The vehicle is shown to be vulnerable to armour piercing bullets at 250 meters and 20 mm shells at 700 meters.

Amphibious Tank T-37

The T-37 is correctly named, but its armour is overestimated (10 mm instead of 8) and so is the speed (45 kph instead of 40), but the rest seems about right. The vulnerability of the vehicle is the same as the BA-10.

Amphibious tank T-38

The data on the T-38 is largely the same as on the T-37, except it's 100 kg lighter (it was actually heavier, at 3.3 tons). The armour is still listed as 10 mm, even though it's still thinner (9 mm). Vulnerability is, naturally, the same.

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26A tank

This is the two-turreted T-26 mod. 1931 or 1932. The document can't decide, ascribing the tank an armament of one 37 mm gun and two machineguns, whereas in reality tanks with two turrets had either two machineguns or one 37 mm gun and one machinegun. The armour is listed as 14 mm, which is in between the mod. 1931's 13 mm and mod. 1932's 15 mm. The mass (8.55 tons) is more than either of the modifications (8 and 8.4 tons respectively). This tank is listed as invulnerable to armour piercing bullets, but still vulnerable to 20 mm shells at a range of 550 meters.

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26B Tank

This is the most common T-26, T-26 mod. 1933. Armour is too thin (14 mm instead of 15 mm) and mass is a bit high (9.55 tons instead of 9.4). Vulnerability is the same as the above tank.

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26B Flamethrower Tank

This is a KhT-130 chemical tank, the Red Army's most common flamethrower tank on the T-26 chassis. Data is the same as on the "T-26B".

Vickers-Armstrong's T-26C Tank

This is the last model of the T-26, T-26 mod. 1939. The mass is too low again (9.7 tons instead of 10.25), armour is still too thin at 14 mm. The armament is identified correctly. The vulnerability of the tank is the same as above.

BT (Christie tank)

Despite the Germans being aware that there are different kinds of BT tank, they are all rolled into the one BT entry. The mass is listed as 10.5 tons to 12 tons, and is a little off again, as the BT-2 weighed in at 11 tons and the BT-7 went up to 13.9 tons. Armour is listed as 6-16 mm; too thin for the BT-7, which went up to 22 mm. Armament is listed for all BT models, including the BT-7 with a 76 mm gun. The vehicle is vulnerable to 20 mm shells at 400 meters. 

T-28 Medium Tank

Here we have the classic T-28 with a KT-28 gun. Unlike with the T-26, there is only one T-28 model listed in the guide. The mass is a bit too high (28 tons vs. 25). Vulnerability is listed as 300 meters with the 20 mm gun, 700 meters with the Czech 37 mm gun, 450 meters with the German 37 mm gun, 1400 meters with the 50 mm tank gun, and 1500 meters with the 50 mm AT gun. The side is vulnerable at 500 meters to the 20 mm gun and at any range to any other gun.

T-35A Heavy Tank

The drawing might not look like it, but yes, this is the T-35. Armament is identified correctly, even though the drawing seems to be missing three turrets. Vulnerability is the same as in for the T-28.

T-35C Heavy Tank

The SMK (the only new Soviet tank the Germans seemed to be aware of) has been rolled into the T-35 family, which is not too absurd if you don't have very good intel. The drawing is of the early SMK with the T-35 suspension, but the tank already lost its third turret. This information is likely based on the SMK that was bogged down in Finland, as there was not much opportunity to examine the other two prototype heavy tanks.

The vulnerability of the tank is not too shabby either: impervious to bullets or 20 mm shells, vulnerable to 37 mm guns at 100 meters, and to 50 mm guns at 450 meters. The Germans bust out the heavy artillery here, noting that the tank is vulnerable at 500 meters to the 105 mm mod. 1918 cannon firing mod. 1939 shells.

And that's it, no T-34, no KV-1 or KV-2. Those tanks were indeed surprises for the German intelligence.