T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

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kgmarik
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Location: Republic of Korea

T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

#1

Post by kgmarik » 06 Dec 2016, 06:20

Hello. I recently started a study of my own about Soviet-Japanese border wars, especially about combat equipments like AFVs, guns, and aircrafts. Here, I have a question about Soviet T-26 light tanks.

It seems that obr.1933 was the most numerous model which participated in border conflicts of 1938-1939. Some flame tanks(KhT-26, KhT-130) and other variants(ST-26, SU-5-2; only in Lake Khasan) were also deployed in those battles.

I suspect older obr.1931/1932 (twin-turreted model) or newer obr.1938 might have been deployed as well, but I'm not sure about that because I cannot find sources for confirmation. Were these early/late models deployed in the Far East front in 1938-1939 too? Any help would be appreciated.

sjashford
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Location: Kent, UK

Re: T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

#2

Post by sjashford » 15 Jan 2017, 17:21

I've been hung up on Khalkin Gol since reading Alvin Coox's Nomonhan about 1990. This has led to me looking at Khasan also. In 2009 I visited the Khalkin Gol battlefield.
In my research I have only encountered the T-26 model 1933, and KhT-26.
The only evidence of any T-26 that I saw in Mongolia was the turret of the KhT-26 as a monument on the battlefield.
Within my photo gallery I have found a photo of a 33 towing a 39; thinking timelines I find it difficult to believe that this actually dates from either of the 2 combats,


sjashford
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#3

Post by sjashford » 15 Jan 2017, 17:57

Sorry, had to compress the photos!
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GregSingh
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Re: T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

#4

Post by GregSingh » 16 Jan 2017, 01:06

I've seen a Soviet report (in a secondary source) showing 14 T-26 tanks in 82 Rifle Division (in addition there were 14 T-37 and 2 BA-20 arm.cars) as of 20th of July 1939.
Another report after hostilities ended mentioned loss of 8 T-26.

Perhaps Art will provide additional info.

BobTheBarbarian
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Location: USA

Re: T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

#5

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 21 Jan 2017, 01:07

I can help a bit on this:

According to Maksim Kolomiets' data as reported by AMVAS on his RKKA in WWII site, Soviet tank and armored vehicle losses during the battle at Khalkhin Gol amounted to the following:

BT-7: 57 (including 27 BT-7RT)
BT-7A: 2
BT-5: 157 (including 30 BT-5RT)
T-26: 8
HT/OT-26: 10
HT/OT-130: 2
T-37: 17
BA-3: 8
BA-6: 44
BA-10: 41
FAI: 21
BA-20: 19
T-20 'Komsomolets' : 9
SU-12: 2

On 20 July 1939, a month before the battle reached its culminating point, the 1st Army Group possessed a total of 370 BT, 24 T-26, 15 T-37, 93 BA-20, 80 FAI, 9 BA-3, 62 BA-6, and 80 BA-10s. Of those numbers, 75 BT, 3 T-26, 2 T-37, 5 BA-20, 6 FAI, 2 BA-3, 8 BA-6, and 11 BA-10s were undergoing repairs.

So based on this it did not appear that there were any twin-turreted models (at Khalkhin Gol at least), only the later versions. By and large the Soviet tank force was comprised of BTs.

More data can be seen here: http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/ ... n_cut1.pdf
The Miracle of Lanciano: Jesus' Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist: https://web.archive.org/web/20060831022 ... tents.html

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BobTheBarbarian
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Location: USA

Re: T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

#6

Post by BobTheBarbarian » 23 Jan 2017, 18:48

An update: According to Niehorster OrBats there were a total 149 twin turreted T-26s in the Far East Front (http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/41_oob/f ... front.html) and 156 in the Transbaikal MD (http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/41_oob/i ... aikal.html) on 1 June 1941. Can't say what the situation was for 1938/39, but it was probably comparable, i.e, ~300 in total.
The Miracle of Lanciano: Jesus' Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist: https://web.archive.org/web/20060831022 ... tents.html

Divine Mercy Sunday: 4/16/23 https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message

kgmarik
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Joined: 06 Dec 2016, 03:33
Location: Republic of Korea

Re: T-26 tanks at Lake Khasan/Khalkhin Gol

#7

Post by kgmarik » 19 Mar 2018, 14:01

Thank you all!

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