BT-7A

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Jeff Leach
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BT-7A

#1

Post by Jeff Leach » 27 Jan 2018, 10:49

Does anyone know what units recieved the BT-7A? or how many were to be distributed to each BT-7 battalion/regiment?

I have an account of at BT with 76 mm gun destroyed near Shipoten', Bessarabia on 04 July 1941. Unsure which Soviet unit the tank came from but possibilities are 11th Tank Division, 15th Motorized Division, 30th Tank Regiment (9th Cavalry Division) or 32nd Tank Regiment (5th Cavalry Division).

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Re: BT-7A

#2

Post by Art » 27 Jan 2018, 15:36

According to a known handbook Odessa Military District didn't have any BT-7A. 11 Tank Division had some T-34 which speaking hypothetically could be confused with BT.


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Re: BT-7A

#3

Post by Jeff Leach » 27 Jan 2018, 18:18

Here is the complete account. I had assumed it was a BT-7A because the Germans were using a 3.7 cm Pak 35/36.


'A German-Romanian motorized reconnaissance Group* encountered a Soviet BT Christie 10,5 bis 12 t oder schwerer Typ about 4 kilometers northwest of Shipoten' along the road leading from the dense mixed woodlands at about 17:00 on 06 July 1941. The Soviet tank was in over-Watch position providing protection for the Soviet forces** that were pulling back through the Woods and along the roads west of Bakhmut via the road through Shipoten' towards the east. The lead elements of the motorized reconnaissance Group were the German troops and these included a 3.7 cm Pak 35/36 from the 3./150th Antitank Company. This antitank gun engaged the Soviet tank at a distance of 580 meters. Visibility was good and the vehicle's speed was about 25 kilometers-per-hour. The antitank gun fired eight armored piercing rounds at the Soviet vehicle. The first four rounds struck the turret of the tank and richocheted off.After the first hits on the tank, it returned fire with its 76.2 cm main gun and its machine gun. The rounds that struck the tank didn't have any visible effect but the vehicle tried to escape by turning left while returning fire. While it was trying to turn the tank was struck by four more rounds and started to burn. Two crew members bailed-out of the turrets and were gunned down while trying to reach cover. The antitank gun fire two HE rounds at these fleeing crew members.

This was the first tank destroyed by the 3./150th Antitank Company during the Campaign in the east. The gun crew performed well. The guns fire was directed by NCO Homann and crew member no. 1, NCO Vogel. They remained calm and fired deliberate, well-aimed shots like they were on the training ground. The crew made no mistakes during the encounter. [T315 R944 Fr1030]

* The patrol appears to have had elements of the German 121st Infantry Regiment, 150th Antitank Battalion (Both 50th Infantry Division) and the (or part of the) advanced detachment of the Romanian 5th Infantry Division.

** The Soviet forces were most likely elements of Soviet 108th Cavalry Regiment (9th Cavalry Division) and the Soviet 95th Infantry Division. It is also possible there there were elements of the Soviet 2nd Mechanized Corps in the area. (more research is needed).

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Re: BT-7A

#4

Post by Virginian » 15 Feb 2018, 01:10

If the Germans got the gun type right then it could be a T-34/76 – the 2nd Mechanized Corps had 60 of them on 22 June. The other possibility, if it really had plural turrets is that it was actually a T-28, which also had a 76.2 mm gun. The corps also had T-28s on 22 June.

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Re: BT-7A

#5

Post by Jeff Leach » 15 Feb 2018, 09:16

Thanks for the suggestion.

1. The 2nd Mechanized Corps didn't have any T-28 according to Drig. It doesn't seem the 2nd Mechanized Corps used it KV-1s or T-34s during the first two week of the war at least (well there is no German mention of either tank). The 11th Tank Division was attacking the Skulyany bridgehead for about a week and it seems like a perfect opportunately to use either tank, especially the KV-1.

2.) I was under the impression that the 3.7 mm Pak was pretty much useless against the T-34.

3.) The size of the main gun is wrong and it was a 47 mm main gun on a BT-7 tank. This is what I am assuming at the moment.

I made another point to see if anyone has any information of a 37 mm Pak destroying a T-34 at several 100 meters.

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Re: BT-7A

#6

Post by Jeff Leach » 23 Jan 2020, 10:20

Further research revealed the vehicle referred to must have been a BT-7 from the 30th Tank Regiment (9th Cavalry Division) supporting the 108th Cavalry Regiment (9th Cavalry Division). The 30th Tank Regiment had at most 20 operational BT-7s at any one time.

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Re: BT-7A

#7

Post by Alex_Serbia » 17 Aug 2020, 12:05

According to the book Svirin M.N. The history of soviet self propelled artillery 1918-1945, in each mechanised brigade of 1938 format should be 28 tanks BT 7A-34 pcs in the war format.Later these brigades were cancelled aнd tanks transferred to tank or motorised rifle divisions.

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