Mistimed Improvement

A notable event in the history of Soviet tank building took place in December of 1942. The SU-35, the first Soviet medium SPG, was put into production. There was the SG-122 that predated it, but it was a conversion of the German StuG III. The SU-35, however, was an entirely domestic design. Due to the urgency, the SU-35 was put into production without a second prototype. The SPG went into production straight from the drawing board. Nevertheless, the issue of modernization was raised at the highest levels in January of 1943. The result of the ensuing work was the SU-122M. However, this assault SPG's fate was not as fortunate: it never made it to production.

Assault Gun from the Urals

December of 1942 was a key month in the history of Soviet SPGs. Work on light and medium SPGs reached the stage of preparation for production. The Ural Factory of Heavy Machinebuilding (UZTM) was chosen to produce medium SPGs. There were two reasons for this. In addition to the fact that development of the U-35 SPG was coming to an end in Sverdlovsk, there was a strong manufacturing base here. Local production of T-34s, which started here in late September of 1942, ensured a supply of chassis for SPGs.

Taking into account the factory's abilities, GKO decree #2559 "On organization of production of SPGs at the Uralmash factory and factory #38" was signed on December 2nd, even before the start of U-35 trials. According to this document, UZTM was expected to deliver the first two SU-35 SPGs (later renamed SU-122) in December of 1942.

DP Autoloader

Ever tried loading Degtaryev disk magazines by hand? I have, and it's not exactly a pleasant experience. Various devices exist to ease this process. Sadly, they weren't perfect.

ZIS-19

"Report on factory trials of an experimental prototype of the ZIS-19 37 mm tank gun

Basis: order #52 issued on February 20th, 1942, to the I.V. Stalin, Order of Lenin, factory #92

1. History of the issue

On orders from comrade Stalin, the department of the factory Chief Engineer created a 37 mm gun for installation into the turret of the T-60 tank. Ballistics and ammunition are from the 37 mm AA gun used by the Red Army.

From December 20th, 1941, to January 12th, 1942, the department designed blueprints, indexed with the code ZIS-19.

From January 12th to January 19th, an experimental prototype of the ZIS-19 system was built and installed in the turret of a mass production T-60 tank.

SU-152 Production

"Deliveries for contract USA-936 signed on October 18th, 1943

Customer: GBTU USA
Producer: Kirov factory (Chelyabinsk)

1. SU-152 SPGs

SPGs must be built according to blueprints approved by the GAU Artillery Committee in journal entry #0254 on September 8th, 1943, the GBTU USA, and the NKTP

Delivery in the 3rd quarter of 1943			By month
Amount	Unit cost	Total	July	August	September
248	250,000	62,000,000	80/2,000,000	84/2,100,000	84/2,100,000
Delivery in the 4th quarter of 1943			October	November	December
126	250,000	31,500,000	84/2,100,000	42/1,050,000
Total
374	250,000	93,500,000

Kirov factory director, Zaltsmann

GBTU USA Chief, Major-General of the Tank Engineering Forces, Alymov"

CAMD RF 38-11369-178

MKb.42(H) Trials

"To the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshall of the Soviet Union, comrade I.V. Stalin

I report that the Main Artillery Directorate performed trials of the captured German 7.92 mm MKb.42(H) carbine, a new type of small arms. As a result of trials, the following characteristics were obtained, compared in the following table with the domestic submachinegun model 1943 (PP-43) and the Simonov light machinegun.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my readers who celebrate it!

The Best French Pre-War Tank

France entered WWII with a rather controversial set of tanks. While most nations began to produce medium tanks, the French army was in a catastrophic position with medium tanks. The prioritization of light Renault R 35 and "battle" (in practice, heavy) Char B1 bis tanks resulted in only 50 medium tanks available for infantry.

Unexpectedly, France built a large number of medium tanks, but for cavalry, and they were officially referred to as armoured cars. These were SOMUA S 35, tanks whose combined characteristics made them the best tanks the French had before the war.

The First Classic Tank

France was the second country in the world to equip itself with tanks. The French were about half a year behind the British, but their designs were a lot more progressive. The French army had the most tanks at the end of WWI, and quality came along with this quantity. At this point, the Renault FT was the backbone of the French armoured force. This was the most numerous tank of its time, the first mass produced light tank, and the first tank in the world of a layout that was later deemed classic. What is the story of the creation of the Renault FT?

Shooting from Horseback

Yuri Pasholok got his hands on a pile of old military manuals recently, including Shooting from Horseback. It's a somewhat lengthy book, so I'm not going to translate all of it, just interesting bits.

"Peculiarities of firing from horseback

If firing a rifle from horseback is done mainly during patrols and other cases when there is no time to dismount, firing a revolver or pistol is often done by a cavalryman.

In battle, commanding fire from horseback is either very difficult or downright impossible. The soldier must rapidly and independently determine how to act, with a blade or revolver, and if the latter, fire, select targets, find an aiming points, etc. Actions of a cavalryman are further complicated by allied cavalry mixing with enemy cavalry. The cavalryman must fire in a way that does not injure his allies.