Movie description:
World War II spurred progress in tank building. In just 6 years, tanks have made a greater breakthrough than in the previous twenty. A significant part of the tanks acquired anti-shell armor, powerful long-barreled guns (caliber up to 152 mm),
at the end of the war, the first night (infrared) sights appeared (although experiments on placing them on a tank were carried out in the USSR even before the war), the radio equipment of tanks began to be considered necessary. The tactics of using tanks also reached high degree perfection, in the first period of the war (1939 - 1941), German military leaders demonstrated to the whole world how the use of tank formations makes it possible to carry out operations on the operational and strategic encirclement and quickly win the war (the so-called "blitzkrieg"). However, other states (Great Britain, France, Poland, the USSR, etc.) created their own theories of the tactics of using tanks, in many respects similar to the German one.
During the Second World War, the first place in the "world ranking table" of tank builders was occupied by German and, in part, Soviet designers. The German school focused on increasing the armor and length of guns, improving surveillance devices (including infrared night vision devices), improving habitability, while the Soviet school took advantage of manufacturability and mass production, making major changes to the design of the basic types of tanks (T-34, KV and IS) only when absolutely necessary. The Soviet tank school also created quite successful models of other types of armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery mounts and tank destroyers. The American school, with some initial backwardness in terms of layout and manufacturability, nevertheless made up for lost time by the end of the war due to the deployment of mass production of several selected models, good quality steel and gunpowder, as well as radio equipment (at least two walkie-talkies per tank). The most successful German tanks were Pz.IV (the most massive), "Tiger", and, with some reservations, "Panther" and "Royal Tiger". The best Soviet tanks that took part in World War II were recognized medium tank T-34 (in various versions, including its late version T-34-85 with various modifications of 85 mm guns) and the IS-2 heavy tank. the best American tank was recognized as the M4 Sherman, which was widely supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

Particularly unfavorable for the Red Army was the ratio of armored losses in initial period Great Patriotic War(June-November 1941) and in the turning point battle in the Battle of Kursk (July-August 1943).

The main opinion about the best combat qualities of the PzKpfwIII and other models of the Nazi Tiger tank was based on superiority in firepower - for a long time its 88-mm cannon had no analogues in the armies of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Although, as the practice of hostilities showed, the Tigers were not absolutely invulnerable and indestructible.

What were their benefits

Hitler's "Tigers" had powerful armor from all sides (from 80 to 100 mm), its Soviet "forty-five" did not penetrate even when firing at close range. Our tank 76-mm guns could hit the Tiger only when they hit the side armor.

The firepower of the 88-millimeter gun "Tigers" was such that the tank could conduct aimed fire from a distance of 2.2 thousand meters and hit any armored object. Only with the advent of the Soviet heavy tank "IS-2", which had a straightened armor plate, did the tankers of the Red Army have the opportunity to compete with the Nazis.

In general, until 1943, the Tigers had no competitors in the tank armies of the anti-Hitler coalition. Therefore, on the fronts of the Second World War (fascist heavy tanks participated in the battles in the USSR, Africa, Italy, and other countries), the soldiers of the opposing side often experienced the so-called "tigrophobia" in tank attacks - fear of the invulnerability of the advancing "Tigers".

Military historians have calculated that in general, the Nazi "Tigers" on the fronts of the Second World War destroyed about 10 thousand enemy tanks, while the tank units of the Third Reich lost almost 10 times less than units this heavy military equipment.

The first pancake is lumpy

Hitler's "Tigers" in the war with the USSR took the first battle on the Eastern Front in August 1942. Soon three of the four heavy tanks broke down, they were evacuated to the rear. The Tigers were repaired only a month later (this process was quite laborious). During the next attack, three of the four "Tigers" were hit, and one was sucked into the swamp. The Germans managed to remove equipment from him and cut off the gun. In January 1943, one of the wrecked "Tigers" was towed to their rear for study by tankers of the Red Army.

Why weren't they made anymore after the war?

Despite the excellent armor protection and lethal firepower The "Tigers", including their improved models "Tiger II", the Royal Tiger, released in 1944, had a number of significant drawbacks. They were very "gluttonous" - a kilometer of the way "ate" 15 liters of fuel. In conditions of slush or snow drifts, leaded gasoline was much more required.

Another significant problem was the repair of the Tiger. The mechanics of a heavy tank in rough terrain constantly failed, and repair often required the use of special equipment. For example, when replacing a gearbox, a crane was needed to lift the 11-ton Tiger turret. Mud and ice clogged the tracks of the tracks, stalling the course. Hitler's heavy tanks were bulky and in combat conditions, at the slightest breakdown, they were often simply thrown or exploded by their crews, because there was no way to quickly repair them. In addition, spare parts for the "Tigers" were very expensive - each tank cost about a million Reichsmarks, it was the monthly salary of 7 thousand German workers of that time. [S-BLOCK]

With the help of information received from captured Germans, representatives of the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition relatively quickly found out weak sides Hitler's "invulnerable" heavy tanks - with successful mining, the tracks of the "Tigers" were disabled, the viewing slots and ventilation holes of the PzKpfw were vulnerable ...

The production of "Tigers" turned out to be very laborious and costly. In addition, as practice has shown, these heavy tanks are extremely difficult to repair in combat conditions. Therefore, after the surrender of Germany, the allies did not even consider the issue of industrial production of heavy tanks based on the surviving PzKpfw models.

Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf E in section

Steering wheel, comfortable seat, high ceiling - the allies could only dream of such comfort

The instructions advised to let the "Tiger" as close as possible, and then damage his gun

On June 13, 1944, the advance detachment of the 7th British armored division (perhaps the most famous formation in the entire Allied army) was located in the French town of Villiers Bocage. The famous "desert rats", equipped with the latest British and American armored vehicles, fought for a long time and participated in the defeat of the African corps of Field Marshal Rommel. The few combat-ready units of the Nazis dared to move only at night: during the day, everything that moved along the roads was destroyed by Anglo-American aviation.

007 - License to Kill

Michael Wittmann, company commander of the 101st SS heavy tank battalion, also knew about this. Therefore, the tank ace decided to save the remaining vehicles of his company. He went on reconnaissance himself, on his "Tiger" under the number 007.

Intelligence turned into a real massacre. Taking the British by surprise, Wittmann's crew methodically shot one target after another. Tankers of the legendary British division tried to organize resistance, but in vain. Not even a quarter of an hour had passed before the battalion was routed. On the streets of the French town, 12 armored personnel carriers, 6 medium and 3 light tanks were burning out ... The only survivor managed to bypass the "Tiger" from the side, using the building as a cover. From a distance of less than 200 m, the gunner fired four 17-pound shells into his side. A return shot followed, bringing down half of the building on the Sherman and filling it up. It took Wittmann less than 5 minutes to destroy the forward detachment of the division. Having replenished the fuel supply and ammunition, Wittmann's crew, accompanied by three other "Tigers" and infantry, returned to the town and collided with a column of tanks that were in a hurry to help the defeated battalion. By evening, the Allies missed 25 Shermans, Cromwells and Comets. Historians call this battle the most productive for one crew in the history of tank battles. Wittmann's fame was rightfully shared by his tank Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf E, better known as Tiger ("Tiger") - the best heavy tank of the Second World War.

"Tiger" long-armed

The Versailles Treaty of 1919 banned Germany from developing artillery systems. large caliber. Rheinmetall did not have the right to create guns with a caliber of more than 70 mm, and even more stringent restrictions were imposed on the Krupp concern. Therefore, in the second world war German tanks entered armed with low-powered short-barreled guns, suitable only for destroying infantry. Powerful guns and the reinforced armor of the Soviet T-34s and KVs were an unpleasant surprise for the Wehrmacht.

The only tool that could easily cope with all armored vehicles allies, there was an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun 8.8 Flak 36. The tankers prayed that if its projectile hit, the tank would be pierced through. Otherwise, the projectile began to ricochet inside the fighting compartment, turning the crew into minced meat. The result of a hit with an 88mm shell had such a demoralizing effect that a special order for the American 4th Panzer Division forbade opening a wrecked tank and trying to pull anyone out of it. A special service was engaged in this far from the front line.

The gun was developed by Krupp at the facilities of the Swedish company Bo force (the Germans sent their engineers there to get around the Versailles restrictions). In 1933 it was accepted into service as the 8.8 cm Flak 18 L/56. The last number in the name meant the length of the barrel in calibers, and the number 18 was the imaginary year of development. The Germans pretended that the gun was designed before the end of the First World War.

The stunning success of the 88-mm anti-tank gun on the Eastern Front and in North Africa prompted German engineers to take up the development of a tank gun based on it. Soon a new gun with a barrel length of 56 calibers was put into service under the abbreviation 8.8 KwK 36 L / 56. All 1355 "Tigers" released by Germany were equipped with just her.

Appeared on the Eastern Front at the end of 1942, the "Tiger" could hit heavy soviet tank KB at distances beyond the limits for the latter. So, for example, on February 12, 1943, during one of the battles to break the blockade of Leningrad, three "Tigers" of the 1st company of the 502nd heavy tank battalion destroyed 10 KB. At the same time, the Germans suffered no losses.

At the end of August 1943, while holding a meeting at Plant No. 112, the people's commissar for the tank industry, Malyshev, noted that the victory in the Battle of Kursk had come at a high cost to the Red Army. According to him, the "Tigers" and "Panthers" fired from a distance of 1500 m, while the Soviet 76-mm tank guns could hit them only from a distance of 500-600 m. In fact, the situation was much worse. During the tests of the captured "Tiger" at the Kubinka training ground on April 25, 1943, the 76-mm armor-piercing tracer projectile of the F-34 gun did not penetrate the side armor of a German tank even from a distance of 200 m. And the Tiger's sub-caliber projectile sometimes pierced the armor of the T-34 and from 4 km.

The descent in the German cannon was not shock-mechanical, in which the striker hits the primer, but an electric, igniting propellant charge using a red-hot electric shock element. For a shot, the KwK gunner had to smoothly press the button behind the flywheel vertical aiming. A two-chamber muzzle brake not only reduced recoil, but also prevented dust from rising from the ground when fired, which improved visibility and did not unmask the tank.

By the way, the Soviet 85mm S-53 cannon, which appeared as a response to the KwK 36, adopted by the modernized T-34-85, also turned out when the anti-aircraft gun was reworked. However, even after that, the T-34 could not directly, duel hit the new German tanks. All attempts to create 85-mm guns with an initial projectile velocity of over 1000 m / s (the so-called high-power guns) ended in failure due to rapid wear and destruction of the barrel even at the testing stage.

If we add to the hefty ballistic qualities of the KwK 36 TZF 9 sights with Zeiss optics, which the Allied gunners could only dream of, then we get almost a sniper gun.

Maybach instead of a heart

The hull and undercarriage of the Tiger were developed by Erwin Aders and Henschel und Sohn, taking into account the experience of creating previous prototypes, which had been worked on since 1937. Ferdinand Porsche also proposed his own version, the design of which was advanced and promising. He applied an electric transmission: two gasoline engines rotated the generators, and the tracks were set in motion with the help of traction electric motors. But such a transmission promised a lot of difficulties in combat conditions, therefore, despite the fact that the Porsche was the Fuhrer's favorite, Aders' Tiger was adopted, although a simple language does not dare to call its design. Suffice it to say that Maybach developed the engine and transmission. Does this mean anything to you?

The Tiger engine (12-cylinder V-shaped gasoline Maybach HL-210 with 650 hp) was located in the rear of the hull. A cardan shaft went forward from it to a fully automatic gearbox (8 forward and 4 reverse gears), which in those days was unusual not only on tanks, but also on executive cars.

The turret, like the gun developed by Krupp, is interesting from a technological point of view and has no analogues in the history of tank building. To minimize the number of welded joints, it was made from a single sheet of armor, which bent in the form of a horseshoe. Then a sheet of frontal armor and a roof were welded to it. Under the floor of the tower there was a mechanism for turning it and part of the ammunition load. (There was no police in the T-34 turret, and during the turn, the loader ran across the floor littered with spent cartridges.)

Critics called the layout German tanks(with a front-mounted transmission) "irrational": the cardan shaft passing through the fighting compartment forces the tank to be made higher. But the German designers had their own reasons: the front location of the transmission made it possible for its maintenance and minor repairs in combat conditions (however, in order to replace the transmission elements, it was necessary to remove the tower). With this arrangement, the fighting compartment, along with the turret, "moves" back, and, due to the location of the turret in the middle part of the hull (and not in front, like in Soviet tanks), it was easier to install a powerful long-barreled gun in it, and the driver's hatch could be placed in the roof of the hull . (The T-34 and other Soviet tanks already had a turret hanging over the driver's seat, and the hatch was made in the front plate. Therefore, when an enemy shell hit, our tanker had less chance of surviving than the driver of the Tiger.)

The "Tigers" are also scolded for the "irrational" placement of armor plates - almost vertical, while in the T-34 and KV they are located at an angle. Didn't Erwin Aders realize that the projectile would ricochet off sloped armor?

In the photograph of any German armored personnel carrier, including those that appeared before the T3-4 was known in Germany, it can be seen that they were assembled from armor plates located at an angle. Therefore, the German designers knew the principles of rebound, but did not use this when creating the Tiger. The fact is that in the terms of reference issued by him, the 100-mm thickness of the frontal armor was regulated, and by the time the tank was created, none of the existing guns of the enemies could penetrate it. The German gunners were not supposed to let the enemy get very close.

At the same time, vertical armor plates made it possible to obtain maximum internal volume.

War on comfort

Of course, in any tank during the Second World War it was crowded. But the crews of the "Tigers" worked in more comfortable conditions than their counterparts on both sides of the front line. Aders understood that in a battle where the immediate reaction of the crew decides a lot, exhausted and tired tankers are less likely to survive.

From the very beginning, it was clear that the Pz VI would not become a truly mass machine: the possibilities of German industry were limited. Therefore, the best of the best will fight on it, and special care must be taken of them. So, the engine room, where the engine and fuel tanks were located, was separated from the combat armored partition. And if the main nightmare of the tankers began - a fire, then the crew had a chance to escape. The tank also had an automatic fire extinguishing system.

Driving tanks in those days was a hard job that required high qualifications. Tiger is an exception. Instead of traditional levers, the driver had a steering wheel, reminiscent of a conventional car steering wheel. It was only necessary to turn it - hydraulic servos did the rest. A smooth ride that executive cars could envy was provided by a unique chassis design. Alternating road wheels arranged in a checkerboard pattern redistributed the mass well to the wide tracks, and the independent torsion bar suspension successfully dealt with vibrations. (The spring-suspended T-34 was never able to get rid of the longitudinal vibrations of the hull, which greatly interfered with aimed shooting.) On the other hand, the staggered distribution of the rollers had drawbacks. It was enough for the "Tiger" to stand in the cold for several hours, as the dirt accumulated between the skating rinks turned into a monolith. They say that our troops purposely delayed the attack until sunset in order to hit the frost when the Tigers were immobilized.

It is generally accepted that the "Tiger" was heavy and clumsy. Heavy - yes. But the maneuverability was excellent, which was used in battle by Michael Wittmann. The "Tiger" turret rotated slowly (a full turn in 1 minute), but at the command of Wittmann, the driver turned the entire body in the right direction. In neutral gear, when the tracks rotated in different directions, the tank could turn around on the spot.

Outside the battlefields, shortcomings came to light: almost 57 tons of weight - problems with overcoming bridges, with the evacuation of wrecked vehicles; large dimensions - difficulties with transportation railway; the complexity of the mechanisms responded with many breakdowns. But fighting qualities atoned for everything. So why did these miracle machines fail to turn the tide of the military campaign?

Museum piece

For all its technical excellence, the "Tiger" was extremely difficult to manufacture. The price of one tank reached 800 thousand Reichsmarks - for this money you could buy three Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. Therefore, only 1350 Tigers were produced during the entire war. For comparison, the circulation of the main enemy of the Tiger, the T-34, was about 70 thousand. Here is such arithmetic.

August 8, 1944 Michael Wittmann took his last fight. "Tiger" was surrounded, with different parties it was attacked by American Shermans. Three successful hits on the tower with close range— and Wittmann's crew is no more.

During his career, the German ace destroyed 138 tanks, most of them on the Tiger. By a strange coincidence, in the same August of the 44th, when Wittmann died, the release of the Tigers was discontinued. Instead, the Tiger II, or the "Royal Tiger", began to enter the troops - a completely different machine. In all respects, he was more powerful than his predecessor, but did not possess even a tenth of his formidable image. After the end of the war, the few surviving "Tigers" were melted down. Of all the Pz VIs produced, only five have survived to this day. One of them can be seen in the Tank Museum in Kubinka.

The second selection of test drives with Ivan Zinkevich, this time vehicles exclusively from the period of the Great Patriotic War (including the IS-3 tank).

Tank "Panther" Ausf. G/Panzerkampfwagen V Panther

In this issue, Ivan Zenkevich will talk about famous tank"Panther", which is essentially a German processing of the T-34 tank. It is this copy that is the only Panther tank in the world with a native propulsion system.

Armored personnel carrier OT-810

The father of the OT-810 was the German Hanomag Sd Kfz 251; after the war, the Czechoslovaks created their own modernized Sd Kfz 251, which was used until 1995.

Tank Maus / Panzerkampfwagen VIII "Maus"

This tank is the apotheosis German tank building, the propulsion system was based on three engines: one gasoline engine turned the generator, and the generated current went to electric motors that set the 188-ton car in motion.

Mortar Karl Gerat "Adam"

The German military industry produced a total of six such large mortars, weight - 126 tons, 600 mm, at a distance of 7 km. the projectile flies for 49 seconds, its weight is 2 tons, and the initial speed is 225 m/s.

Tank T-30

This tank is the progenitor of modern infantry fighting vehicles, MTLBs and other light combat vehicles. Initially, this is a modernized T-40 tank, deprived of the ability to force rivers and lakes.

Tank T-34

Tank T-34-76 Soviet medium tank, symbolic tank, whose name will live forever on the pages of history books and in the memory of our descendants. The simple and reliable design of this tank has become a model for comparison and imitation. See the end of the video about the unique and heroic fate of the tank (from the video).

Armored car BA-3

The hull of this BA-3 was completely welded, which was an advanced innovation for those times. The combat vehicle was created on the basis of the Soviet GAZ-AA truck, a lightweight turret and a cannon from the T-26 tank and a machine gun served as weapons.

SU-100

It was this SU-100 that was filmed in the movie "". The SU-100 was developed in response to the emergence of new German heavy tanks "Tiger" and "Panther"

Panzer IV tank

The German medium tank that became the most bulk tank Nazi Germany during the Second World War, was mass-produced in several versions from 1937 to 1945. This instance (on video) Panzer IV managed to fight in the 5th Guards Tank Brigade.

Tank LT vz.38/ Pz. Kpfw.38

This tank was developed for the Czechoslovak army in the mid-30s. Many people were interested in the tank European countries, but in 1939 Germany monopolized all interest in its favor. It entered service with the Wehrmacht under the new name Pz. Kpfw.38 became a good vehicle for infantry support and reconnaissance.

TANK KV-2

This tank is an example of the first self-propelled artillery mount with a powerful 152-mm howitzer, it was created to destroy the enemy’s fortified defense lines and was actively used in Finnish war 1939-1940. This copy was assembled on the basis of the IS-2 tank, since the original KV-2 has not survived to this day.

Tank T-26

The T-26 is essentially an exact licensed copy of the 6-ton Vickers tank, the Soviet designers improved this tank as best they could, but at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War it had already begun to become obsolete.

Tank T-38

This tank is an upgrade of the earlier T-37 amphibious tank. The T-38 is essentially a steel floating boat, everything in it is adapted for navigation - both a propeller with a rudder and a streamlined hull.

Tank T-60

Small in size, with good armor and a simple gasoline car engine, this tank was intended for infantry support and reconnaissance. At the beginning of the war, it was not difficult to arrange the production of this useful, necessary machine.

Tank MS 1

The small escort tank, the first mass-produced Soviet tank of its own design, was based on the French FT-17 tank. There is only one such tank in the world on the move.

A pickup truck based on the "Lutorka", this car was found in the battlefields in the "Vyazemsky boiler", it was almost completely destroyed by a shell explosion.

Tank T-70

It was designed in just six months at the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of Nikolai Ostrov, it was produced from 1941 to 1943. good tank to start the war, it was very reliable and heavily armed, much less noisy than diesel tanks, they were often used in reconnaissance.

Tank BT-7

Test drive of the BT-7 high-speed tank at the Stalin Line Museum (Minsk). The car from the review was pulled out of the river, where the crew drove it after the battles so that the enemy would not get it, after decades the tank was raised from the river and brought to working condition.

Katyusha BM-13 (ZIL-157)

Despite the fact that in the review "Katyusha" is not from the time of the war, they will tell you a lot interesting features this type of rocket weapon.

Tank IS-2

The IS-2 heavy breakthrough tank was created as a counterweight to the German Tigers and Panthers, the IS-2 crews were formed exclusively from officers, and the 122-mm cannon could destroy any enemy tank at a distance of up to 3 kilometers, the armor reached 120 mm.

TANK IS-3

The last tank created during the Great Patriotic War, fully developed during its years, but put into production only in May 1945. It was cutting edge for its time. fighting machine combining powerful armor, reliable chassis and strong weapons. The most massive and heaviest tank of the Soviet Union.

GAZ AA

This car was produced from 1932 to 1950, the legendary lorry created on the basis of the Ford AA truck. In the Soviet Union, the design of this car was even more simplified and was brought to a minimum - if necessary, a lorry could be disassembled a few hours before the screw. With a low weight, the lorry had excellent cross-country ability and carrying capacity.

ZIS 42

Already the first months of the Great Patriotic War showed that the Red Army really lacked fast and passable artillery tractors, and such a tractor was developed. ZIS 42 was created on the basis of the ZIS-5V truck. Of more than 6,000 of these unique machines, only one has been restored by enthusiasts.

Willys MB

During the war, more than 50 thousand Jeeps were delivered from the USSR from the USA.

GAZ MM

A modernized "one and a half", instead of two headlights - one, instead of wooden doors they have canvas substitutes, an angular but still elegant design.

GAZ-67

Despite the similarity with the "Willis", this front-line car was completely designed in the USSR, it could be repaired using only 3 wrenches.

ZIS-5

A truck without rear-view windows, without brake lights, which runs on any fuel.

Studebaker "Katyusha" (Studebaker) BM-13M

Studebakers on the front roads have proven themselves only with better side, a rocket launchers began to fire more closely due to the heavier and denser fit of this truck.

M4 Sherman "Sherman"

The workhorse of the Allies, this tank was supplied under Lend-Lease to the USSR from the winter of 1943, it fought on all fronts of World War II - from Pacific Ocean to Belarus.

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Friends, on May 1, 2012, I published material about, in which, the author of a wonderful folk automobile magazine, as part of the Dinosaur Hunter program, publish test runs on one or another technique. Ivan recently released two wonderful material, look.

KV-1S - Soviet heavy tank of the Great Patriotic War period. Abbreviation HF means "Klim Voroshilov" - the official name of serial Soviet heavy tanks produced in 1940-1943, and the index 1C means "fast". In the popular MMO game, we know about KVASE (unofficial tank name) that it is a Soviet heavy tank of the sixth level and has good mobility and weapons, but mediocre armor and high fire hazard.
The predecessor of the heavy tank IS-1, medium KV-13 and light MT-25.

Ivan filmed his video together with "simply a good man» , one of the players in WoT with the nickname Flash, that's what material he has.

Medium German tank PANTHER, version D / Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf. G

"Panther" (German: Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, PzKpfw V "Panther") - a German medium tank of the Second World War, was developed by MAN in 1941 as the main tank of Germany. According to the German classification, the Panther was considered a medium tank, and in the Soviet tank classification, the Panther was considered a heavy tank under the T-5 index. In World of Tanks, the Panther is a tier 7 German medium tank. Main advantages: accurate gun with the best armor penetration among classmates, good review, as well as a large margin of safety. The main disadvantages are weak booking, sluggishness, large dimensions and a tendency to critical damage.
Predecessor of the middle Panther tank II and heavy tank Pz.Kpfw. Tiger II