T-34 tankers

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Bob Forczyk
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T-34 tankers

#1

Post by Bob Forczyk » 13 Jan 2006, 19:32

Does anyone have names, unit, photo, etc of T-34 tankers who were recognized for performance during 1943?

Also, does anyone have information on T-34 training units, length of training, etc?

Thanks

Igorn
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#2

Post by Igorn » 13 Jan 2006, 19:50

Bob,

You can check this link: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 91&start=0

If you are looking for some particular info let me know.

Best Regards from Russia,


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Bob Forczyk
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Soviet Tankers 1943

#3

Post by Bob Forczyk » 13 Jan 2006, 22:18

Thank you very much. I am looking for info on Soviet tankers for an upcoming Osprey title. Several of these individuals are worth mentioning - do you know where I might find photographs of them? I'm particularly interested in T-34 kills of Panther tanks in the period July - December 1943. Do you know of any decent memoirs written by tankists from that period? Now that the World War Two generation is passing away, do Moscow newspapers typically have photos of old war heroes when they pass away - a possible source of photos and bio material?

Also, I'm looking for background material on their training. From German interrogation reports of several captured Soviet armor officers, I've been able to get some info but need more specifics. How much training did the average Soviet lieutenant or sergeant on a T-34 have by mid-1943?

Thanks,

Igorn
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#4

Post by Igorn » 14 Jan 2006, 17:25

Bob,

you can check this link: http://www.wio.ru/tank/ww2aces.htm ; you can find some pics of outstanding Soviet tankers.

I will send you some more info.

some more links:

http://www.soldat.ru/forum/index.html?p ... =page%3D12
http://armor.kiev.ua/Battle/WWII/tankas/



Best Regards from Russia,
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Igorn
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#5

Post by Igorn » 14 Jan 2006, 21:41

Bob,

you can also check http://www.iremember.ru/tankers/tankers_r.html. There a lot of first hand accounts and interviews with Soviet tankers there but available only in Russian language.

Best Regards from Russia,

Igorn
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Re: Soviet Tankers 1943

#6

Post by Igorn » 15 Jan 2006, 20:13

Bob Forczyk wrote: I'm particularly interested in T-34 kills of Panther tanks in the period July - December 1943. Do you know of any decent memoirs written by tankists from that period?
First of all, Panther and T-34 were in the different weight categories. T-34's weight was 32 tons. Panther weight was 44.8 tons.Therefore it is more relevant to compare Panther (44.8 tons) with IS-2 (46 tons) or IS-3(46.5 tons).

I would like to post an interesting interview with a Russian war veteran, which was recently published in a Russian newspaper. This veteran served in a tank regiment, which was armed with both T-34 and captured German Panther tanks and he had a unique experience and luck to crew and fight in both a T-34 and a Panther.

“ …First impression: Huge compared to T-34-76 with whom he fought before. Armor seemed to be thick and rational. It had a very comfortable chair for a crew mechanic. Much more comfortable compared to T-34. A Panther was easy to manage compared to T-34, had a good triplex. Our regiment was advancing forward to the front line and we had to move forward a lot.

Mobility. “… very poor compared to Russian tanks. Why poor? First, Panthers had chronic (constant) engine overheating. Second, they had gigantic (huge) gasoline and, especially, oil consumption. Third, a Panther had a miserable transmission. A Panther was a much more “shaky” tank compared to T-34. I don’t remember a single case when Panthers reached their destination at full numerical strength. Gearbox and clutch were constantly falling (failing). Maximum speed was supposed to be 30 kilometers per hour but in reality was 20-25 kilometers per hour. Initially, when we expected the same moving pace rate as T-34 but Panthers were chronically lagging behind and were never able to meet the advancing pace deadlines. When we realized that, we set realistic “moving pace” for Panthers. Crossing water or rivers was a big issue for Panthers. Due to the point that bridges could not sustain Panther’s heavy weight we had to cross small rivers by wading across. We did it in the following way. Our commander was asking our neighbors to allocate T-34, which was able to cross the river by the bridge and was standing on the other bank of the river when a Panther was wading across. And if a Panther get stuck and that happened almost always than a T-34 was pulling out a Panther to get out of the river by means of ropes. Then T-34 was moving forward and the waded Panther was replacing a T-34 as a mover and was pulling out of the river remaining Panthers.

Combat capabilities: Panthers and T-34’s were used together in combats only once or twice. Then they were used separately. We understood quickly that Panthers were making nervous our regiment
T-34 tank’s crew. Also we realized that these are two different tanks by purpose and functions. We used Panthers only to breakthrough the Germans fortified positions.

Regarding Panther’s engine. “… Engine was rubbish. It was not only constantly overheating but was also a weak for such a tank. Panther was moving uphill with great difficulties, especially after rain. It was impossible to break into trenches (sometimes was very important) like in T-34. We had cases of breaking clutches in the battlefield when Russian Panther’s crew applying old T-34 experience tried to jerk (spurt) into trenches. We were really afraid to get a shell hit in the motor room (engine). On T-34 it was a good luck to get a direct shell hit in the motor (engine). A tank is destroyed but crew was alive. It was good to have a rest and waited for a new tank. But with a Panther if a shell hit motor or gasoline tank it was an end. Tank exploded immediately with little chances for a crew to survive. That’s way we went to the battlefield only with full filled tanks to have more chances to survive.

Armor. Front armor was reliable. Turret in front was well protected. But a Panther side and stern armor was poor protected. German 75mm anti tank gun penetrated Panther’s side armor from 500-600 meters. 88mm German gun penetrated a Panther’s armor from a distance over one kilometer. Another big armor shortcoming was fragmentations rebound because of armor cracking over. We had wounded (sometimes heavy wounded) by armor fragments almost after every combat. T-34 had a more viscous (sticky) armor compared to a Panther and such wounds cases were very rare. And any single case was a subject to complaint or claim to the plant. Overall psychologically it was a difficult to fight in a Panther. Both armor and transmission were not reliable compared to Russian tanks. A tank was big. It was difficult to disguise it or hide it. The only hope was on the armor but armor was not firm and reliable.

Gun. Both a gun and optic were excellent. A Panther gun had a good long-range target destruction and precision. We could target and hit a handkerchief at a distance of 100 meters. His crew only once had an occasion to fight against a German tank. At a distance of nine hundred meters his Panther penetrated and hit a Pz-IV with two shots. With a first shot they hit a Pz-IV and it get fired. With the second shot a Pz-IV ammunition detonated and its crew died. According to him a gun armor penetration was good and from a distance of 1000 meters they could penetrate any German tank including Tiger (his regiment had such cases). T-34-76’s gun armor penetration at the same distance was worse. He didn’t notice any difference in terms of a Panther gun power in shooting and targeting pillboxes and anti-tank guns compared to T-34-76.

Radio and miscellaneous. Portable radio was very good. Good audibility and reception. No doubt better than on T-34-76. Field of vision from all places was better than on T-34-76 but equal to T-34-85. A turret was a very comfortable, even slightly more comfortable compared to T-34-85.

His conclusion about a Panther: an excellent gun, average armor reliability and very poor mobility and transmission. Repair ability was not good. Russian field workshops hated to repair Panthers. They fought on Panthers for a period of one month and than his regiment was reorganized and all Panthers were replaced by T-34-85 and he ended up a war on this tank. This veteran reckoned T-34-85 the best tank in the world and he liked it very much

Best Regards from Russia,

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Bob Forczyk
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Russian tanker

#7

Post by Bob Forczyk » 15 Jan 2006, 20:49

Igorn,
What was this veterans name and unit? What time period was he talking about - 1944? '45?
Thanks
Bob

Igorn
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Re: Russian tanker

#8

Post by Igorn » 17 Jan 2006, 18:53

Bob Forczyk wrote:Igorn,
What was this veterans name and unit? What time period was he talking about - 1944? '45?
Thanks
Bob
Bob,

You can find details on http://www.blitzfront.com/forums/index. ... f=26&t=299 and on http://eforum.com.ua/cgi-bin/ultimatebb ... 1&t=000239


It seems that this veteran was talking about events of late 1943 - early 1944. He served in 511 Tank Regiment of 67th Army. This tank regiment among others had 4 units of Pz-V (The Tank Company of Sr. Lt. Sotnikov), 2 units of T-34 and 17 units of Pz-III. You can see a pic of Panthers in Russian service.

Best Regards from Russia,
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