Street Fighter

 "Tuesday, March 20th, 1945

Bulletin of street fighting experience, a daily publication of the Red Army newspaper For the Destruction of the Enemy

Guards Jr. Lieutenant-Technician M. Litvinov
Guards Jr. Lieutenant-Technician N. Deryugin

Self propelled artillery in street fighting

Self propelled artillery plays a considerable role in street fighting. Only an SPG can approach a fortified building with enemy machine gunners and destroy it at point blank range. The enemy has felt the blows from SPGs and hunts them, sending out Panzerfaust troops and shooting them on the approach. Completion of the SPGs' objectives requires considerable experience from the drivers.

In this article, we would like to share the experience of SPG drivers in street fighting.

IS-4 Report

 "To comrade I.V. Stalin

RE: experimental heavy tank designed at the Kirov factory

We report that the Kirov factory has designed a new heavy tank that has several distinct features from existing tanks:

• The upper front hull armour of this tank is rolled. The upper front plate is 120 mm thick at an angle of 61 degrees. The lower front plate is 160 mm thick at an angle of 29 degrees, compred to the cast 120/100/60 mm of armour of the IS tank.

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.

Start of the T-54

 "May 7th, 1945

I report that in mid-February of this year I ordered NKTP factory #75 to develop a mount for the 100 mm gun in the T-44 tank with a new 1700 mm wide turret ring. The design and working blueprints are complete.

On May 5th of this year I gave orders to produce experimental prototypes of the T-44 tank with a 100 mm gun. Trials of these tanks are scheduled for June 10th.

As for stowing 50 rounds of ammunition as requested in your letter, it is very difficult to achieve. 34-35 rounds is much more realistic. Additional orders were given to factory #75 to investigate the possibility of stowing 50 rounds.

I will inform you of the results of this work.

People's Commissar of Tank Production of the USSR, V. Malyshev"

CAMD RF F.38 Op.11355 D.3048 L.9
Printed in Glavnoye Bronetankovoye Upravleniye Lyudi, Sobytiya, Fakty v dokumentakh, 1944-1945 p.487

100 mm Guns

 "May 17th, 1945

I report to you on the work performed by the People's Commissariat and factories #92 and #9 on improving the firepower of T-34, T-44, and T-54 medium tanks.

Two types of 100 mm guns were produced for these tanks with turret rings widened to 1700 mm.

• 100 mm LB-1 gun produced at factory #92 (Gorkiy).
• 100 mm D-10T gun incorporating design elements of the D-10S SPG gun produced at factory #9 (Sverdlovsk)

Both guns were installed in turn into a T-34 tank with an expanded turret ring and tested at the Gorohovets proving grounds from April 6th to April 27th. Trials included firing 100 shots and 500 km of driving.

Regimental Support Gun

The history of vehicles and weapons developed and produced in Leningrad in the summer of 1941 and during the blockade is an interesting topic for researchers. One of the most interesting parts are the improvised armoured cars, guns, and SPGs. Some of them are widely known, but others remain in obscurity. One such vehicle that became the foundation of the blockade SU-26 SPG will be covered in this article.

Change in Ranks

The Red Army set a high standard for tank crew ranks in 1941, namely that commanders of nearly all tanks were officers. In 1945 Fedorenko petitioned the General Staff to roll that bar back a bit.

"October 17th, 1945

In order to fill the Armoured and Mechanized Forces of the Red Army with well rounded officers and NCOs, I consider the following to be reasonable:

1. As of January 1st, 1946, set the length of training courses at tank academies to 3 years. Graduates are to be awarded the rank of Lieutenant and assigned as tank or SPG platoon commanders.
2. Enroll privates and NCOs with at least one year of combat experience and at least 7 years of schooling or civilian youths with at least 9 years of schooling in these academies.
3. Commanders of medium and light tanks and SPGs can hold the rank of Sergeant, Senior Sergeant, or Starshina, depending on their training and duration of service.
4. As of January 1st, 1946, set the length of training courses for NCOs in training regiments to 1 year.
5. Until a sufficient number of NCOs are trained, it is permitted to retain officers as commanders of light and medium tanks and SPGs.

I ask for your decision.

Commander of the Armoured and Mechanized Forces, Marshal of the Armoured Forces, Ya. Fedorenko"

CAMD RF F. 38 Op.11389 D.46 L.40

Printed in Glavnoye Bronetankovoye Upravleniye Lyudi, Sobytiya, Fakty v dokumentakh, 1944-1945 p.716

Waking the Canadian Bear

The Canadian Ram tank was superior to its predecessor, the American Medium Tank M3, but the newer Sherman tank surpassed its Canadian brother. The solution was simple: Canada would build Sherman tanks. The decision was made to copy the Medium Tank M4A1 under the name Grizzly. Like its predecessor, the Grizzly never saw battle, but nevertheless remains an important part of Canadian military history.

Read about the development and production of the Grizzly in my latest article on Warspot.net.

Intermediate Revolution

Work on the Light Tank T37 officially began on September 27th, 1946. This was the first of the radically new tanks developed after WW2. The appearance of this vehicle was an important event, since it signalled the new vision for American tanks. All that was needed was to design new components that the tank could be built around. Because of this, it took three and a half years to finish the tank. It was finally finished in 1949, by which point there was already a replacement ready for it. This was the Light Tank T41, an improved T37. This vehicle was also not mass produced, but it served as a predecessor of the Light Tank M41 that remains in service in some nations to this day.

Where There's Smoke

 "Use of smoke in tank units as a method of improving survivability of a tank

Some experience gained from using smoke from the Churchill tank during penetration of heavily fortified defenses allows for some conclusions to be made.

The survivability of a tank and hence the survivability of a tank unit, i.e. the length of time that the former is kept in fighting order, becomes of utmost importance for commanders. Smoke is one of the biggest and most important aspects of keeping a tank alive. Each soldier is going to give the same answer: smoke is used to blind the enemy when approaching its front line and to blind individual strongholds inside the enemy's defenses. Our small experience lets us share some concrete examples.