Self-propelled guns of the Second World War. Self-propelled artillery installations The best self-propelled guns of the second world war

On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet self-propelled guns massively appeared relatively late, only at the end of 1942. But this delay was compensated by a whole series of successful machines, which were loved and respected by the soldiers. About the headache of German tanks and pillboxes - in this material.

Self-propelled artillery mount Su-76 on the streets of Vienna, 1945. A photo: V. Galperin / RIA Novosti www.ria.ru

This self-propelled artillery mount was created in 1942 on the basis of the T-70 light tank. In total, there were more than 13,000 self-propelled guns of this type! Such popularity is explained quite simply. Firstly, the Su-76 gun was a universal divisional gun ZIS-3 with a caliber of 76.2 mm, which at that time had already proved its usefulness. Its sub-caliber shells from a distance of half a kilometer could penetrate any enemy tanks, however, "Tigers" and "Panthers" were still recommended to hit the sides. Secondly, the open cabin of the vehicle helped the crew to interact more closely with the infantry, for example, in urban combat. Of the minuses - the almost complete absence of armor, only a few millimeters of steel separated the crew from the crazy machine-gun bursts. But still, this self-propelled gun was very popular, because its mobility was like that of the light tanks of the Red Army, and the gun was much stronger.

Su-85 and Su-100

Su-100 self-propelled guns on the site of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant before being sent to the front, 1942. A photo: TASS archive

The next milestone in the development of domestic self-propelled guns was the Su-85, which belonged to the class of tank destroyers. Su-85 was built on the basis legendary tank T-34 in 1943, and its gun was the 85 mm D-5S-85 cannon. I must say that it was the first self-propelled guns that could fight German tanks on equal terms. From a distance of more than a kilometer, the crew of the Su-85 could disable any enemy tank, for example, the "Panther" easily made its way into the gun mask with sub-caliber shells. Also, the self-propelled guns retained the maneuverability and speed of their "relative" T-34, and this mobility saved the lives of the Su-85 crews many times. And under fire, the self-propelled gun felt much more comfortable than the Su-76 - the sloping armor was no longer bulletproof and took a blow with dignity.

With the appearance of new tanks of the "Tiger-2" type and self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" among the Germans, the question arose of increasing the power of Soviet anti-tank self-propelled guns. It was decided to use the base of the T-34-85 tank and the 100 mm D-10S gun. In record time, by the winter of 1943, the Uralmashzavod design bureau presented a new Su-100 self-propelled gun to the commission. The main difference from the Su-85, of course, was a new, more powerful gun and sloped frontal armor 75 mm thick. Despite the short development time and a generally successful project, the Su-100 appeared at the front only in January 1945. Urban battles turned out to be the "horse" of self-propelled guns, which often "blew away" enemy firing points with one shot of a high-explosive projectile. Interestingly, after 70 years, the Su-100 is still in service or in storage in a good dozen countries of the world, once again proving its simplicity and reliability.

Su-152 and ISU-152

ISU-152 in Berlin, 1945. A photo: TASS

"St. John's Wort", "can openers" and many other nicknames were given to these mighty twins. The Su-152 received its baptism of fire in the great battle on Kursk Bulge, where she immediately established herself as an excellent fighter of German "cats". The self-propelled gun - the 152-mm ML-20S cannon - was equipped with all types of 152-mm shells, but in reality the crews needed only high-explosive fragmentation and concrete-piercing ones. One hit of such a multi-kilogram "core", generously stuffed with TNT, was enough to kill the entire enemy crew and rip off the turret. Often, such a hit also detonated the ammunition, disturbed by the shock wave - then everyone around could see a free salute.

An interview given to a front-line correspondent by the commander of the 399th self-propelled regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Kobrin, is known:

"... Imagine such a picture ... As I remember now: height 559.6. Commander Rybalko is with us. Klimenkov's self-propelled gun is right there - in the protection of the headquarters. business conversation. And suddenly German tanks are coming from the left. Eighteen pieces! They are marching in a column... What will happen? Rybalko's face changed a little - his cheeks were filled with jaundice. He orders Klimenkov, who was standing nearby: "Forbid the way for German tanks by fire!" - "There is a ban!" - answers Klimenkov and - to the car. And what do you think? The very first shell ignited the lead tank from eighteen hundred meters, the second began to crawl out from behind it - he knocked it out, the third climbed - he broke it, and then the fourth ... He stopped the Nazis, they backed away, thinking that there whole battery.

The monstrous power of the gun was widely used to suppress enemy firing points and pillboxes. Even if the concrete wall withstood the impact of the projectile, the people inside received concussions and ruptured eardrums.

Toward the end of the war, the ISU-152 self-propelled gun appeared, in many ways very similar to its predecessor. Its main difference is the chassis of the IS tank, and therefore greater mobility, useful for urban battles. The famous tanker Dmitry Loza recalled in his memoirs:

"The self-propelled gun, slapping on the asphalt with wide caterpillars, took up a position on one of the streets overlooking the southeastern side of the square ... The very curiosity that killed more virgins than love dragged us out to the street to see how the self-propelled guns would smash to pieces of German artillerymen with their cannon Tankers and paratroopers settled down near the "St. Beautiful houses with Venetian windows rise on both sides. A shot from a large-caliber self-propelled gun rang out. The air shook sharply. One and a half floors of the house, together with an enemy anti-tank gun and its servants, collapsed to the ground. And in our location, from a powerful air wave of a shot, thick windows burst with a crack in the houses located next to the self-propelled unit. Their heavy fragments rained down on the heads of the “spectators”, as a result, the arms and backs of ten people were injured, and two had broken collarbones. Fortunately, the tankers were in helmets, the paratroopers were in helmets, and their heads remained intact!

Like the Su-100, the ISU-152 is still serving in the armies of Vietnam and North Korea, still leading the soldiers in awe with its destructive power.

The TOP-10 of the best self-propelled artillery installations of the Second World War period included models of German, Soviet and American production. The evaluation criteria were the power and effectiveness of weapons, rate of fire, maneuverability, crew protection and mass production.

10. Marder III - Lightly armored German tank destroyer. Adopted at the end of 1942. It was mass-produced until the middle of 1944. High accuracy and rate of fire were offset by the low security of the crew. The 75 mm Pak 40 gun was mounted in an open wheelhouse.

9. M36 Jackson - American SAU. Serially produced from November 1943 to September 1945, a total of 2324 units were produced. Thanks to a powerful long-barreled 90-mm cannon, it turned out to be the only American ground weapon capable of effectively fighting Wehrmacht heavy tanks,

8. Sturmgeschütz III - the most massive self-propelled guns of the Wehrmacht. Serially produced in various modifications from 1940 to 1945. Equipped with a 75 mm gun. Serious disadvantages were the lack of a machine gun and the low muzzle velocity of the projectile. The self-propelled guns were defenseless in close combat and against tanks with good armor.

7. Panzerjager Tiger (P) Ferdinand - German heavy self-propelled guns. Armed with 88mm cannon. Developed in 1942-1943. One of the most heavily armed and heavily armored representatives of German armored vehicles.

6. ISU-152 - Soviet heavy self-propelled guns. Index 152 means the caliber of the main armament of the vehicle. Developed in 1943. The main use of the ISU-152 was fire support advancing tanks and infantry, the 152.4-mm howitzer-gun had a powerful high-explosive fragmentation projectile. These shells were very effective against both uncovered infantry and fortifications. Due to the low rate of fire, it was inferior to specialized self-propelled guns - tank destroyers.

5. Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer - German light self-propelled guns. Developed in 1943 - 1944. as a cheaper and mass replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III assault guns, but was later reclassified as a tank destroyer. The main armament was a 75 mm Panzerjägerkanone PaK 39/2 L/48 rifled gun.

4. SU-100 - Soviet anti-tank self-propelled artillery mount. Created in late 1943 - early 1944. The armored hull was structurally carried out as a single unit with the wheelhouse and was assembled by welding from rolled sheets and plates of armored steel with a thickness of 20, 45 and 75 mm. The main weapon of the SU-100 was the 100 mm D-10S rifled gun.

3. Panzerjager Tiger Ausf.B - German anti-tank self-propelled guns. It was used from the beginning of World War II to 1943. A total of 202 such machines were built. It was effectively used against Soviet T-34 and KV 1s tanks from distances of 500-600 m. Older models of Soviet armored vehicles were confidently hit from 700 meters. The armor effect of the 47-mm projectile was very weak, and even if the armor was pierced, the projectile did not cause damage to the crew and equipment.

2. M18 Hellcat - American SAU. During production from July 1943 to October 1944, 2,507 tank destroyers were produced. The frontal armor was 2.54 cm. It was equipped with 75 mm and 76 mm guns.

1. Jagdpanzer - heavy German self-propelled guns. Developed in 1943. Equipped with a powerful 88 mm Pak.43/3 (L/71) gun. She had good speed and maneuverability. It was distinguished by low mechanical reliability and relatively thin side armor.

The first months of the Great Patriotic War became a genuine and immense tragedy for the Soviet Union. The swift blows of the Wehrmacht troops in key directions, the encirclement, the overwhelming superiority of the Luftwaffe in the air - all this had to be experienced by the Red Army. The reality turned out to be sharply opposite to the film "If there is war tomorrow ...", which had an extremely negative effect on the morale and fighting spirit of the troops. German tanks played a huge and most important role in this whole picture, which was unsightly for the Soviet command. With a massive blow, they broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops on a narrow sector of the front and rapidly rushed further, capturing rear depots and communication centers, depriving the encircled Red Army units of all supplies, which they then mercilessly pursued with aviation, artillery and infantry. Fighting enemy tanks has become vital important part successful defense of the country, and there were almost no means against them. For a number of subjective reasons that deserve a separate discussion, before the war, the production of divisional guns of 76.2 mm caliber and anti-tank defense guns (AT) of 45 mm caliber was curtailed. The exploits of Soviet tankers on the T-34 and KV could not change the situation in any way due to actions alone, a shortage of ammunition and fuel. In addition, these pre-war tanks had many defects in their mechanisms, due to which they often had to be abandoned during the retreat. The only means the infantry had were hand grenades RGD-33.

All possible measures were taken to remedy the catastrophic situation. In the shortest possible time, the production of 45 mm anti-tank guns was resumed, new 76.2-mm ZiS-3 divisional guns and 57-mm ZiS-2 anti-tank guns designed by V. G. Grabin were put on the conveyor. Weapons designers Degtyarev and Simonov developed samples of anti-tank rifles of 14.5 mm caliber. Supreme Commander-in-Chief I. V. Stalin personally signed the instruction on the use of incendiary bottles. Already by the beginning of the autumn of 1941, this began to bring the first successes. But even before that, knowing full well the importance of mobility for anti-tank guns, on July 1, 1941, People's Commissar for Armaments Vannikov gave an urgent order to develop self-propelled guns to fight Nazi tanks. Gorky Plant No. 92 in the shortest time presented two prototypes of self-propelled guns - on the chassis of a light semi-armored artillery tractor T-20 "Komsomolets" (ZiS-30) and a truck (ZiS-31). Both variants were armed with a 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun. The best shooting results were shown by the ZiS-31 installation, but the choice of the state commission fell on the ZiS-30 due to its better cross-country ability. By this time, the plant that produced Komsomolets had switched completely to the production of light tanks, so the chassis had to be removed from active parts to convert them into self-propelled guns. In total, by December 1941, about 100 Komsomol members were converted, which took part in the final stage of the battle for Moscow. Despite all their shortcomings, they were liked in parts due to mobility, better equipment protection compared to the towed version, and the high efficiency of the ZiS-2 gun, which sometimes pierced German tanks of that period through and through. But due to the small number, losses and breakdowns of the ZiS-30 mechanisms, they quickly disappeared from the battlefields without having any significant impact on the course of events.

Immediately before the war, the Soviet designers of the Reactive Research Institute developed launchers for rockets of 132 and 82 mm caliber on the chassis of the ZiS-6 truck. July 1, 1941 was the date of the baptism of fire of a new weapon - the battery of Captain I. A. Flerov wiped out the Orsha railway junction with German echelons with manpower, military equipment and ammunition. The exceptional effectiveness of rocket artillery contributed to the rapid deployment of its production. But the chassis of the ZiS-6 truck was very vulnerable even to rifle and machine-gun fire, so already in August 1941, the design bureau of the Compressor plant began developing a jet system salvo fire(MLRS) based on the T-40 light tank. On September 13, the plant produced the first prototype, called BM-8-24. It was equipped with an artillery unit with guides for launching 24 M-8 rockets of 82 mm caliber. After the T-40 tanks were discontinued, the production of this vehicle was continued on the basis of the T-60. Compared to variants based on trucks, the BM-8-24 was distinguished by its high cross-country ability, protection from small arms fire, low altitude, which facilitates camouflage on the ground, and an increased horizontal angle of fire. However, after the production of the T-60 tank was discontinued, the production of the BM-8-24 self-propelled guns was also discontinued. But this modest-looking combat vehicle became the progenitor of a whole class of the most highly effective combat installations of our time (for example, the Pinocchio MLRS based on the T-72 tank). She also demonstrated all the advantages of self-propelled artillery during the counteroffensive near Stalingrad - the BM-8-24 turned out to be next to the advancing infantry in winter off-road conditions and greatly facilitated the assault on German fortified positions. Not a single serious artillery system (with the exception of 45-mm and 57-mm anti-tank guns, which were dragged by completely exhausted fighters and horses) could accompany the advancing infantry units, not to mention tank ones.

Despite the obvious need of the Red Army for self-propelled guns, until the very end of 1942, no new models of equipment of this class (except for the ZiS-30 and BM-8-24) entered service, although work on their creation did not stop. The reason for this was the acute shortage of tanks in the troops after the spring-summer offensive of the Wehrmacht in 1942, when the Red Army again suffered heavy losses, and the factories evacuated to the East had not yet gained production capacity. Produced at that time by the Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) (Mytishchi Machine-Building Plant (MMZ) was partially evacuated to Kirov and was only restoring the production of light tanks) T-60s were of little use for creating self-propelled guns on their basis. T-34, produced by factories No. 112 "Krasnoye Sormovo", Ural Tank No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil, No. 174 in Omsk, Ural plant heavy engineering (UZTM) and the Stalingrad Tractor (STZ), were urgently needed by the front. Allocation of their chassis for the needs of self-propelled artillery at that moment was simply impossible. The factories producing heavy tanks could not help in any way - the Leningrad plant named after S. M. Kirov was cut off by the blockade, and the products of the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ) - heavy tanks KV-1S - were entirely used to form guards heavy tank regiments of a breakthrough for the planned counteroffensive near Stalingrad.

A different situation developed on the other side of the front. KV and T-34 sowed fear in parts of the Wehrmacht. But this could not last long, German designers hastily improved their vehicles and created new ones to fight Soviet tanks. Combat experience has shown that the StuG III Ausf B self-propelled gun is unable to deal with the T-34 and KV. Therefore, it was urgently modernized by installing a long-barreled 75-mm StuK 40 gun and strengthening the armor. In the late autumn of 1941, a new modification was put into production under the designation StuG III Ausf F. 120 produced vehicles took part in the summer offensive of 1942. Another novelty was the self-propelled tank destroyer "Marder" (Marder - German "marten") on the tank chassis Pz Kpfw 38(t), armed... with the Soviet 76.2 mm F-22 cannon designed by V. G. Grabin. Having captured a significant number of such guns in battles and in warehouses, German engineers modernized them according to Soviet plans and received a powerful anti-tank weapon. This gun, along with the 88 mm FlaK 18 anti-aircraft gun, were for quite a long time the only guns that were guaranteed to hit the T-34 and the KV quite well. To create self-propelled guns, the chassis of the outdated Pz Kpfw I light tank was actively used. On its basis, the PanzerJäger tank destroyer and the Sturm infanterie Geschutz (SiG) I self-propelled howitzer were developed. Eastern Front they didn’t win special laurels, but they were well used by Rommel’s corps in Africa

The turning point of the war (November 1942 - August 1943)

On November 19, 1942, crushing volleys of Soviet artillery and guard rocket launchers heralded the start of a counteroffensive near Stalingrad. Since then, this day has become the professional holiday of the Soviet artillery soldier. During the operation to encircle and liquidate units of the German 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army, artillery played one of the most important roles. With her fire, she ensured a successful assault on the Stalingrad defensive contours and city blocks by the advancing infantry. However, all the materiel of cannon artillery at that time was towed and this had a negative effect on the interaction of artillery with other branches of the military. Therefore, even before the start of the offensive, by order of the People's Commissar of the tank industry No. 721 of October 22, 1942, a special design group was organized at UZTM to develop a medium self-propelled gun based on the T-34 tank, armed with a 122-mm gun. This group, headed by L.I. Gorlitsky (as well as designers G.F. Ksyunin, A.D. Neklyudov, K.N. parts of the 122-mm M-30 howitzer. Its layout scheme became typical for all Soviet medium and heavy self-propelled guns: the conning tower in front of the vehicle united the fighting compartment and the control compartment, and the engine-transmission unit was located at the rear of the vehicle. After testing the prototype, the State Defense Committee (GKO) on December 2, 1942 adopted Decree No. 4559 on the immediate serial production at UZTM of a new self-propelled gun, which received the designation SU-122. From December 1942 to August 1943, Uralmashzavod produced 638 SU-122 self-propelled guns. In the course of production, changes were repeatedly made to the design of the vehicle, aimed at improving manufacturability, combat qualities and the convenience of the crew.

In the meantime, GAZ, MMZ and the plant in Kirov that had joined them switched to the production of a more advanced model of the T-70 light tank. But she could not directly serve as a carrier for an artillery gun. Design Bureau GAZ, headed by N. A. Astrov and A. A. Lipgart, developed a chassis based on the T-70 specifically for self-propelled guns. In particular, it was necessary to lengthen the hull to accommodate it in the rear of the conning tower and add another road wheel on board. In the conning tower, the divisional 76.2-mm ZiS-3 gun designed by V. G. Grabin, which had proven itself in battles, was mounted. Initially, the self-propelled gun, called the SU-76, had a cabin completely covered with armor and two parallel six-cylinder automotive engine. But such power point turned out to be unreliable and difficult to manage. To solve this problem, Astrov and Lipgart, who had great experience work with automotive units in tank designs, proposed the use of two motors connected in series by crankshafts. This engine has already been used in lung structures tank T-70. At first, the resource of such a "spark" was low, but the developers overcame this difficulty, increasing it several times after modifying a number of components of the base engine. This installation "GAZ-203" with a capacity of 170 liters. With. was installed in an improved model of self-propelled guns SU-76M. For the convenience of the crew and better ventilation of the fighting compartment, the SU-76M has removed the armored roof and rear wheelhouse. In total, 360 SU-76s and 13292 SU-76Ms were produced during the war years. Thus, it became the second largest armored combat tracked vehicle of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic war. Despite all its shortcomings - a gasoline engine and bulletproof armor, the SU-76M also had many positive qualities inherited from the T-70 light tank. She had a softer and quieter move compared to the T-34; engine preheater, which greatly facilitated its start-up in severe winter conditions; convenient track tensioning mechanism; was unobtrusive in the field. The low specific pressure on the ground allowed her to operate in swampy areas, where other types of tanks and self-propelled guns would inevitably get stuck. This circumstance played a big positive role in the battles of 1944 in Belarus, where swamps played the role of natural barriers for the advancing Soviet troops. The SU-76M could pass along the hastily constructed roads along with the infantry and attack the enemy where he least expected the blows of Soviet self-propelled guns. The SU-76M also performed well in urban battles - its open cabin, despite the possibility of hitting the crew with small arms fire, provided best review and allowed very close interaction with the soldiers of the infantry assault squads. Finally, the SU-76M could destroy all medium tanks and equivalent Wehrmacht self-propelled guns with its fire.

The Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant did not stay away from the creation of self-propelled guns. Having received the terms of reference in December 1942 for the development of heavy self-propelled guns, the factory workers in just 25 days presented a metal prototype based on heavy tank KV-1S, armed with a powerful 152-mm howitzer gun ML-20 designed by F. F. Petrov. Using the same layout scheme as for the SU-122, ChKZ engineers managed to achieve greater efficiency in its use. In particular, instead of a pedestal installation of guns on the SU-122 new car, originally called the KV-14, received a frame one - the gun was attached to the frontal armor plate of the vehicle by means of a special frame. This design made it possible to significantly expand the usable volume of the fighting compartment and improve its habitability. Under the name SU-152, the self-propelled gun was immediately put into production after it was shown by the GKO. This was simply necessary in light of the tests of the captured German tank Pz Kpfw VI "Tiger", since regular 45-mm and 76-mm tank and anti-tank guns turned out to be ineffective against its armor. In addition, according to intelligence, the enemy was expected to have several more new models of tanks and self-propelled guns by the beginning of his massive summer offensive. According to this information, the new German vehicles will have armor comparable to or even more powerful than the armor of the Tiger.

Despite the heroic efforts of all tank factories in the country, the size of the fleet of self-propelled guns of the Red Army did not grow as fast as the top leadership of the army and the country would like. On the other hand, during the Moscow and Stalingrad counteroffensives, the Red Army captured many serviceable or slightly damaged Pz tanks Kpfw III and self-propelled gun StuG III. They were quite combat-ready or maintainable, but the lack of shells of 37, 50 and 75 mm calibers interfered. Therefore, it was decided to convert captured vehicles into self-propelled guns armed with domestic artillery systems. In total, about 1200 of these machines were converted. These self-propelled guns, armed with a 76.2 mm F-34 tank gun, were named SU-76I. Also, Soviet engineers developed a 122-mm howitzer on a captured chassis, but after creating several prototypes, this direction was closed due to the launch of the domestic SU-122 in a series.

The enemy, preparing for his summer offensive, also developed a number of new machines. On the basis of an experimental heavy tank designed by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, German designers created a heavy tank destroyer, originally named "Ferdinand" by Adolf Hitler himself in honor of its creator. The self-propelled gun was armed with a powerful 88-mm cannon and had the most powerful armor for that time up to 200 mm thick with rational tilt angles. However, later it was renamed "Elephant" (German Elefant - elephant) and under this name it is now more often mentioned in foreign, including German sources. Also on the chassis of the Pz Kpfw IV, the Bryummber assault mortar (German: Brummbar - bear) and the Hummel self-propelled howitzer (German: Hummel - bumblebee) were created. The next modification of the Ausf G was received by the StuG III family of assault guns. At the same time, attempts were made to install a more powerful artillery system on this chassis, which ended with the creation of the StuH 42 self-propelled gun. The Pz Kpfw II chassis also remained in business. Heavy and light howitzers were mounted on them. These artillery self-propelled guns received the designations SiG II and Vespe, respectively (German Wespe - wasp).

The battle of Kursk became the confrontation of all these machines. Soviet troops well (and in some places even enthusiastically) met the new self-propelled guns, although it took some time, experience, and, unfortunately, losses to learn how to use them correctly in battle. Summarizing them combat use, we can say that the SU-152 have proven themselves as fighters of enemy armored vehicles, earning the honorary nickname "St. John's wort". Only they could irrevocably disable the formidable "Tigers", "Panthers" and "Elephants" from one projectile. But there were only 24 of them on the Kursk Bulge as part of two heavy self-propelled artillery regiments, which was clearly not enough to counter the new Wehrmacht armored vehicles. In the future, they were no less successfully used from Karelia to the Crimea to destroy tanks, self-propelled guns and long-term fortifications of the enemy. In anti-tank defense, Soviet commanders also counted on the SU-122 medium self-propelled guns. Combat experience showed that it was quite suitable for this task, but this was hampered by its low rate of fire. The M-30 howitzer, like the ML-20 gun, has separate loading artillery rounds, which leads to a low rate of fire and a small amount of ammunition carried in self-propelled guns. This circumstance, quite justified for a heavy self-propelled gun, was considered a drawback in the design of the medium one, which is intended to accompany tanks, cavalry and motorized infantry. The consequence of this was the removal of the SU-122 from production already in August 1943 and its replacement with the SU-85. But this decision also had its drawback: the SU-122 was quite well suited to combat pillboxes and machine-gun nests in masonry buildings due to the effectiveness of its high-explosive fragmentation projectile, and an 85-mm projectile of the same type was often not powerful enough against such targets.

German self-propelled guns only confirmed their reputation as a formidable and dangerous adversary, especially the Elefant. As a tank destroyer, he had no equal until the advent of the "Jagdtiger" (because the "Jagdpanther" was weaker armored, and the quality of the German armor had seriously deteriorated by the end of the war). With his fire, he could hit from long distances (even over 2.5 km) any type of Soviet or Anglo-American armored vehicles, being practically invulnerable to most of them. In 1943, only the SU-152 could fight them, later its heirs ISU-152 and ISU-122, as well as the IS-2 heavy tank with the SU-100 medium self-propelled gun, were added to them. But even these vehicles were seriously inferior to the "Elephant" in terms of armor penetration at distances over 1.5 km. The ISU-152 had a relative advantage due to the heavy (43 kg) high-explosive projectile, which made it possible to disable the Elefant without penetrating its armor due to damage to the mechanisms from a powerful concussion, the disruption of its guns from the trunnions and the destruction of the crew from internal armor spalls. At the same time, the power of the high-explosive projectile did not depend on the distance to the target, however, the ISU-152 was several times behind the Elefant in the rate of fire. "Dueling" with him in most cases ended in victory for "Elephant". However, the Germans themselves were forced to use them in a different role - the "ram point" - against the Soviet layered defense on the Kursk Bulge, since the density and accuracy of Soviet artillery fire was simply deadly for other types of German armored vehicles. Here, the formidable self-propelled guns lost their advantages, and its large mass and sluggishness, along with the lack of a machine gun, were not very suitable for close combat with Soviet infantry. As a result, this led to the loss of about half of all vehicles involved. Some of them were destroyed by heavy artillery fire, including fire from SU-152 self-propelled guns; the other part was immobilized by explosions on minefields and destroyed by their own crews. Finally, several "Elephants" were burned by Soviet infantrymen with the help of KC incendiary bottles. However, despite all this, they remained the most dangerous weapon of the enemy, and for the destruction or capture of the Elephant, they were given an order without further ado.

The Battle of Kursk clearly demonstrated the value of self-propelled artillery in both defensive and offensive combat operations. However, from the first series of self-propelled guns, only the SU-76M, designed for close fire support of infantry in battle, was suitable for massive saturation of army units with them. Therefore, from mid-autumn 1943, factories in Mytishchi, Gorky and Kirov completely stopped production of light tanks T-70M and T-80 and switched to the production of only SU-76M. UZTM, fulfilling the requirements for the development of a medium self-propelled gun capable of successfully fighting enemy heavy tanks, from May to June 1943 presented several prototypes armed with 85-mm guns various designs. All these artillery systems were based on the ballistics of the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model (52-K). Thus, this anti-aircraft gun repeated the fate of its German "sister" FlaK 18, becoming the ancestor of a whole family of guns for tanks and self-propelled guns. In early August 1943, the Red Army adopted the SU-85-II variant, armed with the D5-S cannon, designed by plant No. 9, developed on its own initiative by a group of engineers from this plant, headed by F.F. Petrov. In the same month, the production of T-34 tanks and the previous model of the medium self-propelled guns SU-122 was curtailed at Uralmashzavod, and the SU-85 took their place on the conveyor. A total of 2329 self-propelled guns of this type were produced.

ACS ISU-152

Despite the brilliant debut of the SU-152 heavy self-propelled gun on the Kursk Bulge, after the military acceptance of about 620 vehicles, their production was stopped due to the withdrawal from production of the KV-1S tank, whose chassis served as the base for the SU-152. But ChKZ had already put into production a new heavy tank, the IS, and its base was immediately used to create a new heavy self-propelled gun armed with the same ML-20 howitzer gun and called the ISU-152. An important addition to its design was the anti-aircraft large-caliber 12.7-mm DShK machine gun. All the benefits of it turned out later, in urban assault battles, when self-propelled gunners destroyed enemy infantry covered with rubble, barricades and settled on the upper floors of buildings (especially armor-piercers armed with Panzerfausts, etc. with anti-tank weapons).

ACS ISU-122

The first ISU-152s were handed over to the army by December 1943 and were produced until the end of the war. But already in January 1944, it became clear that the existing barrels of the ML-20 howitzer guns were not enough to arm the newly produced heavy self-propelled guns. However, there were plenty of A-19 hull guns with a caliber of 122 mm, and, starting from February 1944, some of the heavy self-propelled guns began to be equipped with them. This modification was called ISU-122. The A-19 gun had a relatively low rate of fire of 1.5 - 2 rounds per minute, due to the piston design of the bolt; therefore, by the summer of 1944, a version of it was developed, equipped with a wedge gate. The upgraded gun, which received the D-25 index, began to be installed on IS-2 heavy tanks and ISU-122S self-propelled guns. Its practical rate of fire increased to 2 - 2.5 (in the best conditions up to 3) rounds per minute. Externally, the ISU-122S differed from the ISU-122 by the presence of a muzzle brake on the gun. All three types of heavy self-propelled guns were in parallel production until the end of the war. In total, until the end of the war, 4030 vehicles based on the IS tank were produced. Combat use once again confirmed the effectiveness of new types of Soviet self-propelled guns. Any representative of the Wehrmacht armored vehicles could be irrevocably disabled by one hit from a heavy self-propelled gun of the ISU family. ISU-152 gained great popularity in assault battles. Their fire made it possible to crush pillboxes, forts, resistance nodes in buildings of powerful and high-quality capital masonry and effectively counteract enemy tank counterattacks. The SU-85 medium self-propelled guns have earned a reputation as a truly effective weapon against new heavy German tanks at a distance of up to 1 km. The enemy quickly realized this and changed his tactics so as to fight against the SU-85 at long distances of 1.5 - 2 km. At this distance, the 85 mm sub-caliber projectile was already ineffective against 100-120 mm armor, and German guns caliber 75 and 88 mm could hit the 45 mm armor of the Soviet self-propelled gun. Therefore, along with good reviews the plant received requests from the front to strengthen the armor and armament of the vehicle. The adoption of the T-34-85 tank in December 1943 made the task of modernizing the medium self-propelled gun even more urgent. GKO, by its Decree No. 4851 of December 27, 1943, ordered UZTM to develop a medium self-propelled gun armed with a 100-mm gun based on a universal naval gun (submarines of the C and K series were equipped with them, light cruisers of the Kirov type had a six-gun anti-aircraft battery of such guns ). The Design Bureau of Plant No. 9, under the leadership of F.F. Petrov, developed the D10-S gun specifically for the new self-propelled guns. The designers of UZTM, headed by L. I. Gorlitsky, tried to take into account the wishes of the front-line soldiers to the maximum - the frontal armor protection of the self-propelled gun was strengthened to 70 mm, it was installed commander's cupola with viewing device Mk IV, two exhaust fans for better cleaning of the fighting compartment from powder gases.

SAU SU-100

On July 3, the State Defense Committee, by its resolution No. 6131, adopted new self-propelled guns under the index SU-100. In September, its production began, first in parallel with the SU-85, then the remaining 85-mm D5-S guns began to be installed in the SU-100 hull (a transitional version of the SU-85M, 315 vehicles were produced) and, finally, UZTM completely switched to the production of the SU- 100. Until the end of the war, 2495 self-propelled guns of this type were produced.

On the other side of the front, intensive work on the creation of new and modernization of existing self-propelled guns also did not stop. The continuous increase in the saturation of the Red Army with tanks and self-propelled guns, the constant increase in their armor protection and the power of weapons forced German designers to pay special attention to the class of self-propelled tank destroyers. Along with continuously produced and modernized from the beginning StuG wars III, starting in the autumn of 1943, were launched into a series of self-propelled guns based on another medium German tank Pz Kpfw IV: "Nashorn" (German: Nashorn - rhinoceros), JgdPz IV / 48 and JgdPz IV / 70. But the most formidable opponents were installations based on the German heavy tanks "Jagdpanther" and "Jagdtigr". A successful light self-propelled gun "Hetzer" was created on the chassis of the Pz Kpfw 38(t) tank. Toward the end of 1944, the production of self-propelled guns in Germany even exceeded the production of tanks. Individual German crews, using these vehicles, sometimes scored very large personal accounts of the affected enemy armored vehicles. But the quality of German self-propelled guns was no longer what it was at the beginning and in the middle of the war. Their role was played by the lack of components due to the bombing and loss of allied plants and their replacement with ersatz. The deliveries from Finland and Sweden of non-ferrous metals needed for alloying grades of armored steel have ceased. Finally, in the factory shops, many skilled workers were replaced by women or teenagers, and in some places by prisoners of war and "Ostarbeiters" (civilian population of the Soviet Union and Poland driven to work in Germany). All this led to the complete impossibility of the new technology to save the Third Reich, but it remained capable of inflicting heavy losses on Soviet and Anglo-American troops until its death or surrender. (Note that all these problems were also familiar to the Soviet Union. However, the design of Soviet machines was more technologically advanced than German ones. Their production could be established at any more or less serious machine-building plant with a significant use of low-skilled labor. You should also pay attention to the fact that female and adolescent labor was used in the USSR from the very beginning of the war, and by the middle of it, many of the workers and youth had become real masters of their craft. In Germany, however, universal labor service was introduced in 1943, and new machines were still calculated for highly skilled German workers, many of whom had long been drafted into the Wehrmacht or the Volkssturm. bombed anglo america nskoy aviation.).

SAU ZSU-37

Finally, the topic of equipping troops with self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (SPA) deserves a separate discussion. Here it is unequivocally necessary to recognize the correct position of the leaders of the Wehrmacht and the German Ministry of Armaments from the very beginning of the war. Already from the Polish campaign of 1939, the mobile strike groups of the Wehrmacht were equipped with anti-aircraft guns on the chassis of half-tracked transporters. Even such ZSUs inflicted very significant damage on Polish (and after French, English, etc.) bombers. Later in Germany, ZSUs on tank chassis were developed, the most popular of which was the Pz Kpfw IV base: on its basis, ZSU FlaK Pz IV, Ostwind, Wirbelwind were produced. A number of anti-aircraft self-propelled guns were produced based on the Pz Kpfw 38(t). There are known facts of conversion of captured T-34s into SPAAGs. As for the Red Army, the protection of its mobile formations on the march from air strikes must be recognized as extremely unsatisfactory. According to the state, the role of air defense systems in them was performed by towed 37-mm anti-aircraft guns 61-K. In places where the Red Army troops were concentrated, they were an effective weapon against enemy Stuka Ju.87 dive bombers and various low-altitude German attack aircraft, but they could not help on the march. This was well understood in the army leadership at all levels, and as at least some means, variations on the theme of "car" (GAZ-AAA, ZiS-6, Studebaker) + "anti-aircraft guns" (quadruple "Maxim", machine guns of caliber 25 and 37 mm). When guarding troops on the march along good roads they coped well with their task, but their cross-country ability left much to be desired, they were vulnerable even to rifle fire, and for more or less accurate shooting, you still had to use jacking up the carrier car. Significant assistance was supplied from the US ZSU M17 based on a lightly armored half-tracked transporter, armed with four 12.7-mm machine guns. However, there were few of them, and the range of effective machine gun fire left much to be desired. Therefore, in 1944, a specialized ZSU was developed on the SU-76 chassis. Instead of a conning tower, a spacious tower was placed in its rear part. circular rotation with a 37 mm 61-K assault rifle installed in it. Due to the large volume of the tower, it was possible to place a radio station, a sight with a rangefinder and a large portable ammunition load for the gun in it. This machine, which received the ZSU-37 index, was put into production and 70 self-propelled guns were produced before the end of the war.

It must be said that in the course of the war, Soviet designers developed a fairly large number of experimental self-propelled guns that were not mass-produced or served as prototypes for post-war mass-produced vehicles. In the list of these machines, you can add the option further development SU-76M, armed with an 85 mm gun and equipped with 90 mm frontal armor; self-propelled gun ESU-100 with electric transmission based on the serial SU-100; Self-propelled guns "Uralmash-1" with a rear-mounted fighting compartment and record-breaking armor protection on a special chassis using units of the T-44 tank and many other interesting designs.
Summing up, it must be noted that the Red Army, which did not have a single serial self-propelled gun at the beginning of the war, finished it with a large number(over 10,000 vehicles) ACS of various types and purposes. Starting with the turning point battle on the Kursk Bulge, Soviet self-propelled guns went through the entire difficult path of the war to Berlin and Prague. They made a significant contribution to the common victory over the Wehrmacht for all branches of the armed forces. This was the merit of absolutely everyone who was directly or indirectly related to the Soviet self-propelled artillery: crews of self-propelled guns, designers, workers, repairmen, and this list can go on and on. Many of them were awarded government awards and cash prizes. Of particular note ... the indirect contribution of German designers to the development of Soviet self-propelled artillery - after all, it was in the fiercest confrontation with Tigers, Panthers, Elefants and other enemy equipment that Soviet engineers created their own, worthy response to formidable German vehicles. However, according to the author, it would be wrong to raise the question of whose or which particular self-propelled guns were the best in the Second World War. The effectiveness of the vehicle, in addition to the declared performance characteristics, is determined by the training and experience of the crew, the commander of the unit, the quality of optics, communications and many other factors, up to the weather on the day of the combat operation. Naturally, it is simply impossible to find examples where all this would be equalized. Comparing only by "pure" performance characteristics is also not entirely correct - many parameters in the USSR and Germany were determined using different methods (for example, armor penetration), which forces us to bring the indicators to common standard which everyone can have their own. Moreover, the purpose of the comparison is to identify the strongest, but in practice everything can turn out to be completely different - there are cases when the weakest in class won by two orders of magnitude. For example, the StuG III, modest in its characteristics, knocked out the IS-2 quite well, and in the Battle of Kursk, the crew of one T-70 even managed to burn the Elefant! Both Soviet and German self-propelled guns in their classes could be considered among the best: this can be said about the heavy ISU-152 and Elefant, the medium SU-100 and Jagdpanther, the light SU-76M and Hetzer. Therefore, the creation of such first-class Soviet equipment and the equipping of troops with it in the extremely difficult conditions of the war should be unconditionally recognized as a feat of Soviet designers, technologists, engineers and workers, which was a significant contribution to the great Victory of the peoples of the Soviet Union and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition over Nazi Germany and its allies.

04/15/2015 7,021 0 Jadaha

Science and technology

Among the military equipment of the Wehrmacht there is one self-propelled gun, which forever entered the front-line folklore and became truly legendary. We are talking about self-propelled guns "Ferdinand", whose history is unique in itself.

Self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" was born quite by accident. The reason for its appearance was the rivalry between two machine-building enterprises of the Third Reich - the Henschel company and the Ferdinand Porsche concern. But the most remarkable thing is that this rivalry flared up due to an order for the construction of a new super-heavy and super-powerful tank. Ferdinand Porsche played the competition, but as a consolation prize, he was instructed to make a tank destroyer from the reserve for building a tank - hull, armor, chassis parts, which Hitler, who favored Porsche, gave the name of its creator ahead of time.

Unique design

The new self-propelled gun was the only one of its kind and absolutely did not resemble others that existed before and after it. First of all, she had an electric transmission - previously, armored vehicles with such units were not built in series.

The machine was driven by two Maybach HL 120 TRM carbureted 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engines with a displacement of 11867 cc. cm and a power of 195 kW / 265 hp. With. The total engine power was 530 hp. With. Carburetor engines set in motion Siemens Tour aGV type electric current generators, which, in turn, supplied electric power to Siemens D1495 aAC electric motors with a power of 230 kW each. The motors, through an electromechanical transmission, rotated the drive wheels located in the rear of the machine. In emergency mode or in the event of combat damage to one of the branches of the power supply, duplication of the other was provided.

Another feature of the new self-propelled gun was the most powerful of all the anti-tank guns that existed at that time 8.8 cm Pak 43/2 L / 71 caliber 88 mm, developed on the basis of the Flak 41 anti-aircraft gun. This gun pierced the armor of any tank of the anti-Hitler coalition at a point-blank range .

And most importantly - super-thick armor, which, according to the creator of the self-propelled guns, was supposed to make combat vehicle completely invulnerable. The thickness of the frontal armor reached 200 mm. She could withstand the hit of all the then existing anti-tank guns.

But for all this I had to pay for the huge weight of the new self-propelled gun. The combat weight of the Ferdinand reached 65 tons. Not every bridge could withstand such a weight, and it was possible to transport a self-propelled gun only on special reinforced eight-axle platforms.

TANK DESTROYER "FERDINAND" ("ELEPHANT")

Combat weight: 65 t

Crew: 6 people

Dimensions:

length-8.14 m,
width - 3.38 m,
height - 2.97 m,
clearance - 0.48 m.
Booking:
hull forehead and cabin - 200 mm,
board and feed - 80 mm,
roof - 30 mm,
bottom-20 mm.

Max Speed:

on the highway - 20 km / h
on the ground - 11 km / h.

Power reserve:

by highway - 150 km
by terrain - 90 km

Armament:

cannon 8,8 cm Cancer 43/2 L/71
caliber 88 mm.

Ammunition: 55 shells.

Armor-piercing projectile weighing 10.16 kg and initial speed 1000 m / s pierced 165 mm armor at a distance of 1000 m.
A sub-caliber projectile weighing 7 kg and an initial speed of 1130 m / s pierced 193-mm armor at a distance of 1000 m.

How was it organized?

The all-welded Ferdinand hull consisted of a frame assembled from steel profiles and armored plates. To assemble the hulls, heterogeneous armor plates were produced, the outer surface of which was harder than the inner one. Between themselves, the armor plates were connected by welding. Additional armor was attached to the frontal armor plate with 32 bolts. Additional armor consisted of three armor plates.

The body of the self-propelled gun was divided into the power compartment, located in the central part, the fighting compartment - at the stern and the control post - in front. The power section housed a gasoline engine and electric generators. Electric motors were located in the aft part of the hull. The machine was controlled by levers and pedals.

To the right of the driver was a gunner-radio operator. The review from the gunner-radio operator's position was provided by a viewing slot cut in the starboard side. The radio station was located to the left of the gunner-radio operator.

Access to the control post was through two rectangular hatches located in the roof of the hull. The rest of the crew were located in the rear of the hull: on the left - the gunner, on the right - the commander, and behind the breech - both loaders. There were hatches on the roof of the cabin: on the right - a two-leaf rectangular commander's hatch, on the left - a two-leaf round gunner's hatch and two small round single-leaf loader hatches.

In addition, in the rear wall of the cabin there was a large round single-leaf hatch designed for loading ammunition. In the center of the hatch was a small port through which automatic fire could be fired to protect the rear of the tank. Two more loopholes were located in the right and left walls of the fighting compartment.

Two Maybach HL 120 TRM carburetor engines were installed in the power department. Gas tanks were located along the sides of the power compartment. The motors, through an electromechanical transmission, rotated the drive wheels located in the rear of the machine. "Ferdinand" had three forward and three reverse gears.

Chassis "Ferdinand-Elephant" consisted (in relation to one side) of three two-wheeled carts, drive wheel and steering wheel. Each track roller had an independent suspension.

The main armament of the Ferdinands was the 8.8 cm Pak 43/2 L/71 anti-tank gun, 88 mm caliber. Ammunition 50-55 shots placed along the sides of the hull and cabin. Horizontal firing sector 30° (15° left and right), elevation/declination angle +187-8°. If necessary, up to 90 shells could be loaded inside the fighting compartment. The personal armament of the crew consisted of MP 38/40 assault rifles, pistols, rifles and hand grenades stored inside the fighting compartment.

In the spring of 1943, out of eighty-nine built self-propelled guns, two divisions of tank destroyers were formed: the 653rd and 654th. In June 1943, after training and combat coordination, they were sent to the Eastern Front.

On the eve of the start of the offensive of the German army near Kursk, the 653rd division included 45 Ferdinands, and the 654th division had 44 self-propelled guns. During the battles near Kursk, the divisions operated as part of the 41st tank corps. Together with him, the "Ferdinands" advanced in the direction of Ponyri, and later - on Olkhovatka.

The battles on the Kursk Bulge showed both the advantages and disadvantages of heavy tank destroyers. The advantages were thick frontal armor and a powerful gun, which made it possible to fight all types of Soviet tanks. But also during the fighting, it became clear that the Ferdinands had too thin side armor. Powerful self-propelled guns sometimes deepened into the defensive formations of the Red Army, and the infantry, covering the flanks, could not keep up with the machines. As a result soviet tanks and anti-tank guns fired freely on the sides of the German vehicles.

Numerous technical shortcomings were also revealed, caused by the too hasty adoption of the Ferdinands for service. The frames of the current generators were not strong enough - often the generators were torn off the frames. Caterpillar tracks constantly burst, every now and then the on-board communications refused. In addition, a formidable opponent of the German "menagerie" appeared at the disposal of the Red Army - the SU-152 "St. John's wort", armed with a 152.4-mm howitzer-cannon. On July 8, 1943, the SU-152 division from an ambush fired at the column of "Elephants" from the 653rd division. The Germans lost four self-propelled guns. It also turned out that the chassis of the Ferdinands is very sensitive to mine explosions. The Germans lost about half of the 89 Ferdinands in the minefields.

The 653rd and 654th divisions did not have sufficiently powerful tugboats capable of evacuating damaged vehicles from the battlefield, so many even slightly damaged Ferdinands had to be thrown onto the battlefield or blown up.

Name change

Based on the experience of the combat use of the Ferdinand near Kursk, it was decided to make changes to the design of the self-propelled gun. It was proposed to install a machine gun in the front sheet of the cabin. Without it, in close combat with infantry, the giant self-propelled gun was helpless. In December 1943 in Austrian city Linz on the 21st train echelon sent 48 surviving Ferdinands. There, at the Nibelungenwerke plant, they were re-equipped.

By that time, the Ferdinands had changed their name. November 29, 1943 Hitler proposed to change the names of the samples armored vehicles giving them "brutal" names. His naming proposals were accepted and legalized by order of February 1, 1944, and duplicated by order of February 27, 1944. In accordance with these documents, "Ferdinand" received a new designation - "Elephant" 8.8-cm Porsche assault gun. So "Ferdinand" turned into "Elephant" (elephant in German "elephant"). Although many until the end of the war continued to call the self-propelled gun "Ferdinand".

The M10 Wolverine self-propelled artillery mount had the abbreviation GMC (3-in. Gun Motor Carriage) M10 and belonged to the class of tank destroyers. AT american army this self-propelled gun received its unofficial nickname Wolverine (English wolverine), which was borrowed from the British allies, this tank destroyer was supplied to the UK under Lend-Lease. The M-10 self-propelled guns, like many self-propelled guns of the Second World War, were created on the chassis of a medium tank, in this particular case, the Sherman M4A2 (the M10A1 modification is based on the M4A3 tank). In total, from September 1942 to December 1943, the American industry produced 6706 of these anti-tank self-propelled guns.

Unlike German and Soviet self-propelled guns during the Second World War, in American self-propelled guns the gun was not installed in an armored tube, but in a rotating turret, just like on tanks. To arm the M-10 self-propelled guns, a 3-inch (76.2 mm) M7 gun was used, which was located in an open top tower. A special counterweight was mounted at the stern of it, which gave the tower a characteristic and easily recognizable silhouette. To combat armored targets, a caliber armor-piercing projectile without an M79 ballistic tip was used. This projectile at a distance of 1000 yards (900 m) at a meeting angle of 30 ° relative to the normal pierced 76 mm of armor. The full ammunition load of the self-propelled guns consisted of 54 shells. For self-defense and repelling air attacks, the self-propelled gun was equipped with a 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, which was mounted at the rear of the turret. The machine gun ammunition consisted of 300 rounds, in addition to this, the crew had personal weapons for self-defense.

History of creation

By the beginning of World War II, the American army was working at an emergency pace to create and put into service 2 tank destroyers - M3 and M6. At the same time, both vehicles were only a forced temporary measure and were ill-suited for fighting tanks. The army needed a full-fledged self-propelled gun - a tank destroyer. The development of such a machine in the United States began in November 1941. The project provided for the installation of guns on the base of the M4A1 tank with a cast hull and a gasoline engine, but already in December 1941 this project was revised in favor of another modification of the Sherman M4A2 tank, which differed from previous version welded body and diesel engine.

The prototype ACS was named T35. In January 1942, a wooden model was made, followed by the assembly of the first tank destroyers in metal. At the same time, the hull of the M4A2 tank underwent a number of changes - the machine lost its machine gun, the thickness of the frontal armor remained the same, and from the sides it was reduced to 1 inch. The armor in the transmission area was additionally reinforced with overlays of 2 armor plates, which were welded at an angle of 90 degrees. The 76.2 mm gun was mounted in a round open turret, which was borrowed from the T1 heavy tank prototype.

In the midst of work on the T35, the military put forward new requirements - sloping armor of the superstructure of the hull and a low silhouette of the vehicle. Constructors submitted 3 various options ACS, of which one received the T35E1 index was selected. New option the machine was based on the chassis of the M4A2 tank, the thickness of the armor decreased, additional slopes appeared at the superstructure; instead of a round tower, a tower from the M35 was installed. In January 1942, Chrysler's Fisher Tank Division began work on two prototypes of the T35E1. Both machines were ready by the spring of 1942. Their tests proved the advantage of the sloping hull armor, but the cast turret of the self-propelled guns caused criticism from the military. In this regard, it was decided to develop a new tower, which was made in the form of a hexagon, welded from rolled armor plates.

Tests of the T35E1 self-propelled guns were completed in May 1942. The machine was recommended for production after the elimination of a number of minor design comments.

The military demanded to reduce the reservation, for the sake of greater speed. The American concept of tank destroyers suggested that speed was more useful than good armor protection.
- Make a hatch to accommodate the driver.
- The differential should be covered with armor not from 3 parts, but from one.
- It should be possible to install additional armor on the forehead and sides of the hull, as well as the tower.

The standardized and improved T35E1 tank destroyer was put into production in June 1942 under the designation M10. The crew of the vehicle consisted of 5 people: the commander of the self-propelled guns (located on the right in the turret), the gunner (in the turret on the left), the loader (in the rear of the turret), the driver (in the front of the hull on the left) and the assistant driver (in the front of the hull on right). Despite the desire of the military to start production of the M10 as soon as possible, they had serious difficulties with the design of the hexagonal tower. In order not to delay the release, a temporary five-sided tower was made, which went into the series. As a result, all M10 tank destroyers were produced with it, and it was decided to abandon the hexagonal turret. It is also worth noting one drawback that the M10 Wolverine self-propelled guns had. The hatches of the driver and his assistant could not be opened at the moment when the gun was pointed forward, the gun mask prevented the opening of the hatches.

The main weapon of the self-propelled guns was a 3-inch 76.2-mm M7 gun, which had a good rate of fire - 15 rounds per minute. Pointing angles in the vertical plane ranged from -10 to +30 degrees, in the horizontal - 360 degrees. Tank destroyer ammunition consisted of 54 rounds. 6 combat-ready shots were placed in two stacks (3 in each) on the rear wall of the tower. The remaining 48 shots were in special fiber containers in 4 packs in sponsons. According to the state, the ammunition load was to consist of 90% armor-piercing shells and 10% high-explosive. It could also include smoke shells and buckshot.

Combat use

The M10 self-propelled guns were produced from 1942 to the end of 1943 and, first of all, entered service with tank destroyer battalions (54 self-propelled guns each). The American doctrine of warfare involved the use of tank destroyers to destroy enemy tanks, while their own tanks were supposed to be used to support infantry units in battle. M10 Wolverine became the most massive anti-tank self-propelled guns of the American army during World War II. The combat debut of tank destroyers took place in North Africa and was quite successful, since its three-inch gun could hit most of the German tanks operating in this theater of operations from long distances without any problems. At the same time, the low-speed and heavy chassis did not comply with the doctrine adopted in the United States, according to which faster and lighter self-propelled guns were to be used as tank destroyers. Therefore, already at the beginning of 1944, in parts of the M10 tank destroyers, they began to be replaced by more lightly armored and high-speed M18 Hellcat self-propelled guns.

Serious tests fell on the M10 self-propelled guns during the landing in Normandy and the subsequent battles. For the reason that the M10 had a more or less anti-tank 76.2 mm gun, they were actively involved in the fight against German tanks. It quickly became clear that the M10 could not successfully fight the new German tanks "Panther", "Tiger" and even more so with the Royal Tigers. Some of these self-propelled guns were handed over to the British under Lend-Lease, who quickly abandoned the American low-powered 76-mm gun and replaced it with their 17-pounder gun. The English modification of the M10 was named Achilles I and Achilles II. In the fall of 1944, these installations began to be replaced by more advanced M36 Jackson tank destroyers. At the same time, the M10s remaining in service continued to be used until the end of the war.

About 54 of these self-propelled guns were sent to the USSR under Lend-Lease, but nothing is known about their use in the Red Army. Also, these machines were received by the combat units of the Free French army. One of these machines, called "Sirocco", which was under the control of French sailors, became famous for knocking out the "Panther" on the Place de la Concorde in Paris in the last days of the Paris uprising.

The experience of combat use has shown that the M10 self-propelled gun turret, which is open from above, makes the vehicle very vulnerable to artillery and mortar fire, as well as to infantry attacks, especially during combat in the forest and urban areas. So even the most ordinary hand grenade could quite easily disable the crew of a self-propelled gun. Booking self-propelled guns also caused criticism, as they could not withstand the German anti-tank guns. But most big disadvantage there was a very low turret traverse speed. This process was not mechanized and was done manually. It took at least 2 minutes to make a full turn. Also, contrary to the accepted doctrine, American tank destroyers used up more high-explosive fragmentation shells than armor-piercing ones. Most often, self-propelled guns performed the role of tanks on the battlefield, although on paper they were supposed to support them.

The best way The M10 Wolverine proved itself in defensive battles, where they greatly outnumbered towed anti-tank guns. They were also successfully used during the Arden operation. Battalions armed with M10 tank destroyers turned out to be 5-6 times more effective than units armed with towed anti-tank guns the same caliber. In cases where the M10 reinforced the defense of infantry units, the ratio of losses and victories was 1:6 in favor of tank destroyers. It was in the battles in the Ardennes that self-propelled guns, despite all their shortcomings, demonstrated how much they were superior to towed artillery, from that moment on, an active process of re-equipping anti-tank battalions on self-propelled guns.

Tactical and technical characteristics: M10 Wolverine
Weight: 29.5 tons
Dimensions:
Length 6.828 m, width 3.05 m, height 2.896 m.
Crew: 5 people
Reservation: from 19 to 57 mm.
Armament: 76.2 mm rifled gun M7
Ammunition: 54 rounds
Engine: two-row 12-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engine with 375 hp.
Maximum speed: on the highway - 48 km / h
Power reserve: on the highway - 320 km.