Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

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Interbellum
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Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#1

Post by Interbellum » 26 Jan 2020, 06:02

Commander of light self-propelled gun SU-76M guards junior lieutenant A.M. Lifanov listens to a combat mission from guards lieutenant V.P. Lobachev, 1st Belorussian Front, Seelow, Brandenburg, April 1945.

14292 light assault self-propelled guns SU-76 (560 SU-76 + 13732 SU-76M) were produced in 1942-1945 by plant No. 38 in Kirov, Gorky Automobile Plant and plant No. 40 in Mytishchi (Moscow Oblast) - it was the second most produced Soviet armoured vehicle of WWII after the T-34 tank. The first two mixed self-propelled gun regiments (1433rd and 1434th) armed with SU-76 were sent to the Volkhov Front to participate in breaking the siege of Leningrad in January 1943. In March 1943 two more SPG regiments were formed (1485th and 1487th) which participated in combats on the Western Front (USSR). But first SU-76 SPGs suffered from transmission problems and the majority of them broke down when driving off-road during the first 10 days of army service in winter 1943, so the new improved SU-76M model was developed in several months. In 1943, each light SPG regiment was equipped with 21 SU-76M, there were 119 such regiments in the Red Army by 1945. Since the end of 1944, 70 SPG battalions (16 SU-76M in each) were formed to be included into rifle divisions. Also 4 light SPG brigades of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (60 SU-76M in each) were formed till the end of WWII. Quite maneuverable and fast, low noise on the move and reliable SU-76M was a multi purpose SPG: they were successfully used for counter battery struggle, infantry support in defensive and offensive, combat against tanks. In the end of WWII, during the battles in Poland and Germany, SU-76M SPGs armed with additional trophy MGs were often included into advance parties to pursue the retreating enemy. 130 SU-76M were given to the Polish People’s Army. These SPGs were used also during the Soviet-Japanese War in August 1945.
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Re: Colored photos of Soviet weaponry

#2

Post by Interbellum » 26 Jan 2020, 06:30

Fighter Yak-9T during the test flight over Novosibirsk aircraft plant No. 153 named after V.P. Chkalov, 1943.

16769 fighters Yak-9 were produced by 3 aircraft plants (plant No. 153 in Novosibirsk, No. 166 in Omsk and No. 82 in Moscow) in October 1942 - December 1948, it was the most mass produced Soviet fighter of WWII. These maneuverable and easy to pilot front fighters possessed high speed and climb rate, they were used in all operations of the Red Army since the Battle of Stalingrad. Fighters Yak-9T armed with the 37-mm gun able to penetrate 40 mm armour were used successfully against German tanks during the Battle of Kursk in summer 1943, also 1-2 direct hits from this NS-37 gun were enough to destroy every enemy fighter or bomber (pilots of usual Yak-9 often needed to repeat their attacks to knock down a robust German twin-engined bomber). Even more effective against ground targets and bombers were fighters Yak-9K armed with powerful 45-mm NS-45 gun and produced in small series. The most mass produced variant of Yak-9 was Yak-9D with additional two fuel tanks giving range of 1360 km to support advancing troops and to escort ground-attack aircraft and bombers in the absence of prepared airfields in the front line. In 1943 a high-altitude interceptor fighter Yak-9PD was developed during just 3 weeks to drive away the German reconnaissance aircraft Ju 86R-1, almost daily appeared over Moscow at an altitude of 13000 m. In 1944 the fighter-bomber Yak-9B came into series production (no any nation had a single-engine fighter able to carry 400 kg bombs on internal suspension that time). Yak-9R equipped with a photo camera were widely used by fighter reconnaissance regiments for close-range reconnaissance flights in the areas with strong anti-aircraft defense and fighter cover (already in 1943 more than 30% of all Soviet fighter combat flights were the reconnaissance missions in fact). Many Soviet pilots ended WWII on Yak-9U fighters with improved aerodynamics and equipped with the more powerful VK-107A engine providing up to 700 km/h speed.
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Re: Colored photos of Soviet weaponry

#3

Post by Interbellum » 26 Jan 2020, 07:09

4WD military utility truck Dodge WC51 (Dodge 3/4) tows 76.2-mm divisional anti-tank gun ZIS-3 with limber on the front road, 1944.

US 4WD military utility truck Dodge WC51 was one of the most popular Lend-Lease cars in the Red Army (USSR received in absolute majority WC51 and WC52 3/4-ton truck models only, command WC53 and ambulance WC54 models were extremely rare). Nicknamed as the Dodge 3/4, these quite reliable cargo-passenger all-terrain vehicles were widely used by all branches of Soviet armed forces, in particular by different artillery units to tow 57-mm anti-tank guns ZIS-2, 76.2-mm divisional guns ZIS-3 or 120-mm mortars. Soviet drivers liked them for powerful engine, high speed and stability on bad roads. For instance, the commander of Soviet 37th anti-tank artillery brigade wrote in his report that Dodge 3/4 was the best vehicle to tow 57-76-mm guns and had good cross-country ability, reliability, high speed, sufficient operational range and quite small dimensions which made it less vulnerable to enemy fire. Despite of its relatively low payload capacity (3/4 ton, 750 kg) it was possible to transport a gun crew and 0.2 of ammunition load for 57-mm anti-tank gun. The main disadvantage of Dodge 3/4 was extreme demands on the quality of fuel, its engine worked very poorly on the usual Soviet car gasoline, even leaded, and required expensive grades of aviation gasoline.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#4

Post by Interbellum » 28 Jan 2020, 17:33

Soviet 180-mm railway gun TM-1-180, captured by Finns on the Hanko Peninsula in December 1941, in battery position, Finland.

Railway gun TM-1-180 was one of the most modern and commonly used Soviet railway artillery systems intended for naval coastal defense as well as to solve a wide range of tasks in the interests of ground forces. Railway carrier TM-1-180 provided all-round fire and was armed with a naval 180-mm gun B-1-P (projectile weight - 97.5 kg, firing range - up to 37129 m). By the beginning of World War II, 5 Soviet coastal batteries were armed with 20 railway guns of this type (produced in Leningrad and Nikolaev since 1934): the 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th. During the war, 3 batteries (12th, 18th and 19th) operated on the Leningrad Front, 16th battery was moved to the Black Sea Fleet when the war began, and the 17th battery was blocked on the Hanko Peninsula so its railway gun carriers were damaged before evacuation of the Soviet garrison. In January 1942, the 12th, 18th and 19th batteries armed with TM-1-180 together with the 11th battery armed with TM-1-14 (356-mm railway guns), were united to form the 1st separate artillery battalion, which, together with 6 artillery battalions armed with 100-152-mm railway guns, became a part of the 101st naval railway artillery brigade - the most powerful artillery unit of the Leningrad Front. This brigade carried out the tasks of counter-battery fire against German artillery, support of Soviet ground troops, and protection of sea lanes between Leningrad and Kronstadt. In 1943, the railway guns of the 101st brigade participated in breaking the siege of Leningrad, and then were involved in Krasnoye Selo and Vyborg offensive operations, also in battles of Liepāja and Königsberg. In 1945, taken back from Finns and repaired railway guns TM-1-180 of the former 17th battery from the Hanko Peninsula entered service with the newly formed 292nd battery.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#5

Post by Interbellum » 29 Jan 2020, 11:04

Medium tank T-34-85 model 1945 on the street of Berlin, 3rd Guards Tank Army, May 1945.

The development of T-34-85 as a significant modernization of the T-34 medium tank and, in particular, its armament, began in summer 1943. At a meeting took place in the plant No. 112 (Gorky) in August 1943, the People's Commissar of Tank Industry V.A. Malyshev noted that the victory in the Battle of Kursk costed a high price to the Red Army. The new German Tiger and Panther tanks, noticeably superior to the Soviet T-34 in terms of gun power and armor thickness, fired at Soviet tanks from a distance of 1500 m, while the 76-mm gun of T-34 could only hit enemy heavy tanks from a distance of 500-600 m...V.A. Malyshev demanded to install a more powerful gun in the T-34 immediately. In fact, the situation was even much worser than the People's Commissar reported - the results of range field tests performed in April 1943 demonstrated that the 76-mm armor-piercing tracer shell of the F-34 tank gun did not penetrate the side armor of the captured Tiger tank even from a distance of 200 m! It was demonstrated also that 85-mm 52K model 1939 anti-aircraft gun, which penetrated 100-mm frontal armor of Tiger from a distance of up to 1000 m, was the most effective gun against German heavy tanks. So it was decided to arm T-34 with the 85-mm gun having the ballistics of that AA gun. The new 85-mm tank gun D-5T had excellent weight-and-dimensions specifications but its construction was very complicated and the gun practically could not be loaded on the move because of breech significantly pushed back to the turret rear. So only first 255 T-34-85 medium tanks were armed with D-5T gun as a provisional measure and produced by plant No. 112 in January-April 1944. All the following T-34-85s (produced in 1944-1946) were armed with another model of 85-mm tank gun (ZIS-S-53), which was much more simple and reliable, also the spacing between breech and turret rear plate was increased. One of the first tank units that received T-34-85 tanks in the beginning of 1944 was 38th independent tank regiment, its tanks with the inscription "Dmitry Donskoy" on turret sides were built at the expense of Russian Orthodox Church. T-34-85 medium tanks participated in all Soviet army operations 1944-1945 including, for instance, Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in Romania, Battle of Berlin and Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation in China.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#6

Post by Interbellum » 30 Jan 2020, 22:45

Crew of the 76-mm regimental gun model 1927 at the firing position, Kerch, Crimea, January 1944.

76-mm regimental guns model 1927 were used widely to support Soviet infantry in all interwar military conflicts: in battles of Khasan Lake in 1938 and of Khalkhin Gol River in 1939 with Japanese (17 guns were lost including 7 guns as irrecoverable losses), during the Soviet-Finnish War in 1939-1940 (67 guns were lost) and the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939. Before the Axis invasion of USSR, in June 1941, there were 4708 regimental guns model 1927 in the Red Army, including 2296 guns in forces of the western military districts. A lot of these guns were lost in 1941-1942, but combat losses were compensated by their mass production. 76-mm regimental gun model 1927 was produced in 1928-1941 by Putilov (Kirov) plant in Leningrad, and in 1942-1943 - by plant No. 172 in Perm. A total of about 18000 regimental guns model 1927 were produced. These already obsolete guns were continued to be used in the Red Army till the end of WWII together with the new 76-mm regimental guns model 1943 (5192 were produced in 1943-1946 by plant No. 172) which had split trail gun carriage, better manoeuvrability and wider angle of traverse, but weaker barrel ballistics (which was not a serious drawback for the gun designed to hit targets in the line-of-sight range). During the offensives, these light field guns were moved on wheels by their crews directly in the infantry formations in order to immediately suppress enemy firepower that impeded the progress of troops - artillery guns, mortars, machine gun nests, and various firing points. Regimental guns were intended almost exclusively for direct fire. Until July 1941, there were 6 such guns in each regimental artillery battery of rifle divisions, and then their amount was reduced to 4 guns per battery. In cavalry regiment there were 4 regimental guns, in motorized rifle regiment of mechanized and tank divisions - 4 regimental guns, and in the artillery battalion of rifle brigades - 4 regimental guns also.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#7

Post by Interbellum » 01 Feb 2020, 19:55

Crew of the 45-mm anti-tank gun model 1942 (M-42) in combat under the cover of a smoke screen, Central Front, June 1943.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#8

Post by OpanaPointer » 01 Feb 2020, 19:59

Interbellum wrote:
30 Jan 2020, 22:45
Crew of the 76-mm regimental gun model 1927 at the firing position, Kerch, Crimea, January 1944.

76-mm regimental guns model 1927 were used widely to support Soviet infantry in all interwar military conflicts: in battles of Khasan Lake in 1938 and of Khalkhin Gol River in 1939 with Japanese (17 guns were lost including 7 guns as irrecoverable losses), during the Soviet-Finnish War in 1939-1940 (67 guns were lost) and the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939. Before the Axis invasion of USSR, in June 1941, there were 4708 regimental guns model 1927 in the Red Army, including 2296 guns in forces of the western military districts. A lot of these guns were lost in 1941-1942, but combat losses were compensated by their mass production. 76-mm regimental gun model 1927 was produced in 1928-1941 by Putilov (Kirov) plant in Leningrad, and in 1942-1943 - by plant No. 172 in Perm. A total of about 18000 regimental guns model 1927 were produced. These already obsolete guns were continued to be used in the Red Army till the end of WWII together with the new 76-mm regimental guns model 1943 (5192 were produced in 1943-1946 by plant No. 172) which had split trail gun carriage, better manoeuvrability and wider angle of traverse, but weaker barrel ballistics (which was not a serious drawback for the gun designed to hit targets in the line-of-sight range). During the offensives, these light field guns were moved on wheels by their crews directly in the infantry formations in order to immediately suppress enemy firepower that impeded the progress of troops - artillery guns, mortars, machine gun nests, and various firing points. Regimental guns were intended almost exclusively for direct fire. Until July 1941, there were 6 such guns in each regimental artillery battery of rifle divisions, and then their amount was reduced to 4 guns per battery. In cavalry regiment there were 4 regimental guns, in motorized rifle regiment of mechanized and tank divisions - 4 regimental guns, and in the artillery battalion of rifle brigades - 4 regimental guns also.
Nice Dzhugashvili 'stache on that one guy.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#9

Post by OpanaPointer » 01 Feb 2020, 20:00

You know, reddit has a forum for this kind of thing.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#10

Post by Interbellum » 01 Feb 2020, 21:16

OpanaPointer wrote:
01 Feb 2020, 19:59
Interbellum wrote:
30 Jan 2020, 22:45
Crew of the 76-mm regimental gun model 1927 at the firing position, Kerch, Crimea, January 1944.

76-mm regimental guns model 1927 were used widely to support Soviet infantry in all interwar military conflicts: in battles of Khasan Lake in 1938 and of Khalkhin Gol River in 1939 with Japanese (17 guns were lost including 7 guns as irrecoverable losses), during the Soviet-Finnish War in 1939-1940 (67 guns were lost) and the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939. Before the Axis invasion of USSR, in June 1941, there were 4708 regimental guns model 1927 in the Red Army, including 2296 guns in forces of the western military districts. A lot of these guns were lost in 1941-1942, but combat losses were compensated by their mass production. 76-mm regimental gun model 1927 was produced in 1928-1941 by Putilov (Kirov) plant in Leningrad, and in 1942-1943 - by plant No. 172 in Perm. A total of about 18000 regimental guns model 1927 were produced. These already obsolete guns were continued to be used in the Red Army till the end of WWII together with the new 76-mm regimental guns model 1943 (5192 were produced in 1943-1946 by plant No. 172) which had split trail gun carriage, better manoeuvrability and wider angle of traverse, but weaker barrel ballistics (which was not a serious drawback for the gun designed to hit targets in the line-of-sight range). During the offensives, these light field guns were moved on wheels by their crews directly in the infantry formations in order to immediately suppress enemy firepower that impeded the progress of troops - artillery guns, mortars, machine gun nests, and various firing points. Regimental guns were intended almost exclusively for direct fire. Until July 1941, there were 6 such guns in each regimental artillery battery of rifle divisions, and then their amount was reduced to 4 guns per battery. In cavalry regiment there were 4 regimental guns, in motorized rifle regiment of mechanized and tank divisions - 4 regimental guns, and in the artillery battalion of rifle brigades - 4 regimental guns also.
Nice Dzhugashvili 'stache on that one guy.

Ahaha ))). I guess that this loader with big mustache is already quite old, perhaps above 40 years old, called up from reserve...And may be he was called up from Georgia or other Caucasian republics...

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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#11

Post by OpanaPointer » 02 Feb 2020, 12:58

Quite likely. When they call up the very old and very young we know they're worried.
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#12

Post by Interbellum » 02 Feb 2020, 15:42

OpanaPointer wrote:
02 Feb 2020, 12:58
Quite likely. When they call up the very old and very young we know they're worried.
You know there were a lot of volunteers also, a huge amount of people tried to increase or reduce their age to go to the front to fight for the homeland.

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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#13

Post by OpanaPointer » 02 Feb 2020, 15:54

Interbellum wrote:
02 Feb 2020, 15:42
OpanaPointer wrote:
02 Feb 2020, 12:58
Quite likely. When they call up the very old and very young we know they're worried.
You know there were a lot of volunteers also, a huge amount of people tried to increase or reduce their age to go to the front to fight for the homeland.
What was the motivation to post the obvious?
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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#14

Post by Interbellum » 02 Feb 2020, 16:03

OpanaPointer wrote:
02 Feb 2020, 12:58
Quite likely. When they call up the very old and very young we know they're worried.
What was the motivation to post this? Let’s discuss technical aspects of weaponry and their use!

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Re: Colorized photos of Soviet WWII weaponry

#15

Post by OpanaPointer » 02 Feb 2020, 16:17

Interbellum wrote:
02 Feb 2020, 16:03
OpanaPointer wrote:
02 Feb 2020, 12:58
Quite likely. When they call up the very old and very young we know they're worried.
What was the motivation to post this? Let’s discuss technical aspects of weaponry and their use!
I was talking logistics. I leave tactics to the amateurs.
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