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134-586: The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II . When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons . The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front , and had a long-lasting impact on tank design. The tank was praised by multiple German generals when encountered during Operation Barbarossa , although its armour and armament were surpassed later in

268-468: A German report of May 1942 noted the ineffectiveness of their 50 mm gun as well, noting that "Combating the T-34 with the 5 cm KwK tank gun is possible only at short ranges from the flank or rear, where it is important to achieve a hit as perpendicular to the surface as possible." However, a Military Commissariat Report of the 10th Tank Division, dated 2 August 1941 reported that within 300–400 m

402-465: A firepower upgrade with the introduction of the greatly improved T-34-85 variant. Its production method was continuously refined and rationalized to meet the needs of the Eastern Front, making the T-34 quicker and cheaper to produce. The Soviets ultimately built over 80,000 T-34s of all variants, allowing steadily greater numbers to be fielded despite the loss of tens of thousands in combat against

536-457: A five-speed box on the last of the 1943 model of the T-34. The tracks of early models were the most frequently repaired part. A.V. Maryevski later remembered: The caterpillars used to break apart even without a bullet or shell hits. When earth got stuck between the road wheels, the caterpillar, especially during a turn – strained to such an extent that the pins and tracks themselves couldn't hold out. Medium tank The first tanks to carry

670-403: A journey of approximately 80 kilometers. Of the 32 tanks, no less than 19 got stuck in the mud or suffered mechanical breakdowns. The original 76mm armed T-34 suffered from the unsatisfactory ergonomic layout of its crew compartment compared to the later 85mm variant. The two-man turret crew arrangement required the commander to aim and fire the gun, an arrangement common to most Soviet tanks of

804-510: A lack of data at higher combat ranges. In late 1950 a T-34-85 tank was captured by UN forces in the Korean War . An evaluation of the tank was conducted by the US which found that the sloped armour of the T-34 was desirable for deflecting shells. They also concluded that the armour was deemed as satisfactory as armour strength was comparable to US armour of similar hardness and that the quality of

938-549: A lack of similar motor transport. On 23 July, the Japanese launched another large-scale assault, sending the 64th and 72nd Infantry Regiments against Soviet forces defending the Kawatama Bridge. Over a period of two days, Japanese artillery supported the attack with a massive barrage that consumed more than half of their ammunition stores. The attack made some progress but failed to break through Soviet lines and reach

1072-430: A limited post-war arms race of progressively more heavily armed and armoured designs. With the rise of more sophisticated anti-tank missile weapons, to which heavy tanks had demonstrated high vulnerability, these too were eventually phased out. With advances in technology, aspects such as mobility, armour and weaponry pushed the medium tank to form the core of a country's armoured fighting capability, eventually merging into

1206-663: A major offensive on 20 August 1939 to clear the Japanese from the Khalkhin Gol region and to end the fighting. Zhukov, using a fleet of at least 4,000 trucks (IJA officers, with hindsight, disputed this, saying he instead used 10,000 to 20,000 motor vehicles) transporting supplies from the nearest base in Chita (600 km (370 mi) away) assembled a powerful armored force of three tank brigades (the 4th, 6th and 11th), and two mechanized brigades (the 7th and 8th, which were armored car units with attached infantry support). This force

1340-725: A medium tank) or the Tiger I ; the Soviets used the IS-2 heavy tank and the U.S. used the M26 Pershing as the heavy tanks of their forces instead. Dimensions, road speed and engine horsepower of the various models did not vary significantly, except for the T-43, which was slower than the T-34. The heavily sloped armour design made the tank better protected than the armour thickness alone would indicate. The shape also saved weight by reducing

1474-691: A potential war against the USSR (particularly contingent on German advances towards Moscow), the Japanese never launched an offensive against the Soviet Union. In 1941, the two countries signed agreements respecting the borders of Mongolia and Manchukuo and pledging neutrality towards each other. In the closing months of World War II, the Soviet Union annulled the Neutrality Pact and invade the Japanese territories in Manchuria, northern Korea, and

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1608-916: A reconnaissance aircraft, with further 385 fighters and 51 bombers requiring repairs due to combat damage. VVS ( Soviet Air Forces ) personnel losses were 88 killed in aerial combat, 11 killed by anti-aircraft artillery, 65 missing, six killed in air-strikes and four died of wounds (174 total) and 113 wounded. The Japanese combat losses were 97 fighters, 25 bombers and 41 other (mostly reconnaissance), while 128 fighters, 54 bombers and 38 other required repairs due to combat damage. The Japanese Air Force suffered 152 dead and 66 severely wounded. USSR: Bomber sorties 2,015, fighter sorties 18,509; 7.62 mm machine gun rounds fired 1,065,323; 20 mm (0.80 in) cannon rounds expended 57,979; bombs dropped 78,360 (1,200 tons). Japan: Fighter/bomber sorties 10,000 (estimated); 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine gun rounds fired 1.6 million; bombs dropped 970 tons. While this engagement

1742-518: A result of the T-34's two-man turret, weak optics and poor vision devices, the Germans noted: T-34s operated in a disorganized fashion with little coordination or else tended to clump together like a hen with its chicks. Individual tank commanders lacked situational awareness due to the poor provision of vision devices and preoccupation with gunnery duties. A tank platoon would seldom be capable of engaging three separate targets but would tend to focus on

1876-465: A rubber mat. There were nine ready rounds of ammunition stowed in racks on the sides of the fighting compartment. Once these rounds had been used, the crew had to pull additional ammunition out of the floor boxes, leaving the floor littered with open bins and matting and reducing their performance. The main weakness [of the two-man turret of a T-34 Model 1941] is that it is very tight. The Americans couldn't understand how our tankers could fit inside during

2010-534: A second prototype, a more heavily armed and armoured "universal tank" that reflected the lessons learned and could replace both the T-26 and the BT tanks. Koshkin named the second prototype A-32, after its 32 mm (1.3 in) of frontal armour. It had an L-10 76.2 mm (3 in) gun, and the same Model V-2-34 diesel. Both were tested in field trials at Kubinka in 1939, with the heavier A-32 proving to be as mobile as

2144-462: A serious threat to the T-34-76, being able to penetrate the frontal turret of a T-34-76 at a range of 1,200 m (3,900 ft) at any angle. A Wa Pruef 1 report estimated that, with the target angled 30° sideward, a Panther tank could penetrate the turret of a T-34-85 from the front at ranges up to 2000 m, the mantlet at 1200 m, and the frontal hull armour at 300 m. According to

2278-434: A single target selected by the platoon leader. As a result, T-34 platoons lost the greater firepower of three independently operating tanks. The Germans also noted that the T-34 was very slow to find and engage targets, while their own tanks could typically get off three rounds for every one fired by the T-34. As the war progressed the Germans created heavier tank designs like the Tiger I or Panther which were both immune to

2412-494: A slightly different figure of 8,629 killed and 9,087 injured. The former Japanese Minister of Agriculture and Forestry estimated a total of 35,000 to 36,000 casualties The Soviets initially claimed to have inflicted 29,085 casualties on the Japanese, but later increased this to 61,000 for the official histories. In recent years, with the opening of the Soviet archives, a more accurate assessment of Soviet casualties has emerged from

2546-723: A successor to the BT tank series, they combined its excellent mobility with thick, sloped armour and the unprecedented firepower of a 76.2 mm high-velocity gun. The result was the T-34 medium tank , whose superb capabilities shocked the German Wehrmacht when it invaded the Soviet Union. The lessons of Blitzkrieg , first employed by the Germans and eventually adopted by other nations, found their best expression in formations of mutually-supporting medium tanks and motorised infantry . The traditional view of infantry and cavalry tank roles

2680-461: A very large advantage in technology, numbers and firepower, yet still suffered huge losses, which Grigorenko blamed on poor leadership. The battle was the first victory for the soon-to-be-famous Soviet general Zhukov, earning him the first of his four Hero of the Soviet Union awards. The two other generals, Grigori Shtern and Yakov Smushkevich , had important roles and were also awarded the Hero of

2814-403: A winter when they wear sheepskin jackets. The electrical mechanism for rotating the turret is very bad. The motor is weak, very overloaded and sparks horribly, as a result of which the device regulating the speed of the rotation burns out, and the teeth of the cogwheels break into pieces. They recommend replacing it with a hydraulic or simply manual system. Due to not having a turret basket the crew

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2948-775: Is little known in the West, it played an important part in subsequent Japanese conduct in World War II. The battle earned the Kwantung Army the displeasure of officials in Tokyo, not so much due to its defeat, but because battles were initiated and escalated without direct authorization from the Japanese government. This defeat combined with the Chinese resistance in the Second Sino-Japanese War , together with

3082-799: The Battle of Lake Khasan in July 1938 and the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, an undeclared border war with Japan on the frontier with occupied Manchuria , the Soviets deployed numerous tanks against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Although the IJA Type 95 Ha - Go light tanks had diesel engines , the Red Army's T-26 and BT tanks used petrol engines which, while common in tank designs of

3216-587: The Battle of Stalingrad , using a technique very similar to Khalkhin Gol, in which the Soviet forces held the enemy fixed in the center, built up an undetected mass force in the immediate rear area, and launched a pincer attack on the wings to trap the German army. Although their victory and the subsequent negotiation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact secured the Far East for the duration of

3350-460: The Cruiser tank class, while other tank doctrines formed around the medium tank making the main advance. In this later use, medium tanks represent the designer's intent of producing a successful balance of firepower, mobility, and protection. Medium tanks aim to be suitable to the widest variety of roles, with less reliance on other types of tank during normal operations. Background: History of

3484-530: The Kwantung Army of Japan, consisting of some of the best Japanese units in 1939. However, the western region of Manchukuo was garrisoned by the relatively newly formed 23rd Infantry Division at Hailar under General Michitarō Komatsubara and included several Manchu army and border guard units all under the direct command of the Sixth Army . The 23rd was the newest and least experienced division in

3618-590: The Leopard 1 and T-72 each of which weigh around 40 short tons, while third and subsequent generations have increased markedly in weight and have included some of the heaviest main battle tanks such as the M1 Abrams which is over 60 short tons. In the 1990s the "medium" main battle tanks still proved useful, such as the Canadian Leopard 1 tanks deployed to Kosovo in 1999 which were much better suited to

3752-585: The Mongolian People's Republic . The Japanese maintained that the border between Manchukuo and Mongolia was the Khalkhin Gol (English "Khalkha River") which flows into Lake Buir . In contrast, the Mongolians and their Soviet allies maintained that the border ran some 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of the river, just east of Nomonhan village. The principal occupying army of Manchukuo was

3886-551: The Pantherfibel (the Panther tank manual for its crew), the T-34's glacis could be penetrated from 800 m and the mantlet from 1500 m at 30° sideward angle. A Waffenamt-Prüfwesen 1 report estimated that with the T-34 angled 30 degrees sidewards and APCBC round, the Tiger I 's 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 would have to close in to 100 m (110 yd) to achieve a penetration in the T-34's glacis, and could penetrate

4020-520: The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchukuo and other territories after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima . Combat losses include aircraft shot down during aerial combat, written off due to combat damage or destroyed on the ground. Non-combat losses include aircraft that were lost due to accidents, as well as write-offs of warplanes due to the end of their service life. Thus Soviet combat losses amount to 163 fighters, 44 bombers, and

4154-542: The Soviet-German War , the Red Army always remained cautious about the possibility of another, larger Japanese incursion as late as early 1944. In December 1943, when the American military mission proposed a logistics base be set up east of Lake Baikal, the Red Army authorities, were according to Coox, "shocked by the idea and literally turned white". The Red Army kept a large force in the Far East even during

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4288-663: The State Defense Committee only after troops praised the weapon's performance in combat against the Germans. Production of this first T-34 series – the Model 1940 – totalled only about 400, before production was switched to the Model 1941, with the F-34 gun, 9-RS radio set (also installed on the SU-100 ), and even thicker armour. Subassemblies for the T-34 originated at several plants: Kharkiv Diesel Factory N.75 supplied

4422-529: The Wehrmacht 's rapid advances forced the evacuation and relocation of Soviet tank factories eastwards to the Ural Mountains , an undertaking of immense scale and haste that presented enormous logistic difficulties and was extremely punishing to the workers involved. Alexander Morozov personally supervised the evacuation of all skilled engineers and laborers, machinery and stock from KhPZ to re-establish

4556-625: The interwar period included the British Vickers Medium Mark II and the Soviet multi-turreted T-28 . In the period leading up to World War II, the British stopped using the term Medium for their tanks as the new philosophy of ' Cruiser tank ' and ' Infantry tank ' which defined tanks by role rather than size came into use. There were medium tanks that focused on anti-infantry capabilities (such as in World War II:

4690-460: The main battle tank . Simpler and more economical self-propelled guns , and later anti-tank guided missiles , came to fulfil some fire-support and anti-tank roles, thus shifting the tactical approach how tanks were used. Although the term "medium tank" classification has largely fallen out of use after World War II, the term is informally used to describe some first and second-generation main battle tanks which fall between 20 and 50 tons, such as

4824-606: The 37 mm Pak 36's armour-piercing shot could defeat the frontal armour. According to an examination of damaged T-34 tanks in several repair workshops in August to September 1942, collected by the People's Commissariat for Tank Industry in January 1943, 54.3% of all T-34 losses were caused by the German long-barreled 5 cm KwK 39 gun. As the war went on, the T-34 gradually lost some of its initial advantages. The Germans responded to

4958-409: The 4-speed gearbox could only use 4th gear on road, being limited to 3rd on terrain. In the first batch of T-34s, shifting from 2nd to 3rd required a force of 46-112 kg. In September 1941, however, changes were made which lowered the effort to under 31 kg by changing the 3rd gear ratio, which lowered top speed in 3rd gear from 29 km/h to 25 km/h, but made shifting easier. Using the 5-speed gearbox allowed

5092-479: The 71-TK-3 radio set), due to their expense and short supply – the rest of the tank crews in each company signalled with flags. The L-11 gun did not live up to expectations, so the Grabin Design Bureau at Gorky Factory N.92 designed the superior 76.2 mm F-34 gun . No bureaucrat would approve production of the new gun, but Gorky and KhPZ started producing it anyway; official permission came from

5226-459: The 76mm gun of the T-34 when fired upon from the front. This meant that they could only be penetrated from the sides at ranges of a few hundred metres. Due to low anti-tank performance, the T-34 was upgraded to the T-34-85 model. This model, with its 85 mm (3.35 in) ZiS gun , provided greatly increased firepower compared to the previous T-34's 76.2mm gun. The 85 mm gun could penetrate

5360-472: The 7th Infantry, 24th Engineer Regiment, and a battalion from the 13th Field-Artillery Regiment, all under the overall command of Lieutenant General Yasuoka Masaomi . This force would attack Soviet troops on the east bank of the Khalkhin Gol and north of the Holsten River . The two Japanese thrusts were to join on the wings. The order of battle was thus: The northern task force succeeded in crossing

5494-662: The A-20. A still heavier version of the A-32, with 45 mm (1.77 in) of front armour, wider tracks, and a newer L-11 76.2 mm gun, was approved for production as the T-34. Koshkin chose the name after the year 1934, when he began to formulate his ideas about the new tank, and to commemorate that year's decree expanding the armoured force and appointing Sergo Ordzhonikidze to head tank production. Valuable lessons from Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol regarding armour protection, mobility, quality welding, and main guns were incorporated into

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5628-643: The German Wehrmacht . Replacing many light and medium tanks in Red Army service, it was the most-produced tank of the war, as well as the second most-produced tank of all time (after its successor, the T-54/T-55 series). With 44,900 lost or damaged during the war, it also suffered the most tank losses ever. Its development led directly to the T-44 , then the T-54 and T-55 series of tanks, which in turn evolved into

5762-705: The German-Soviet war, T-34s comprised about four percent of the Soviet tank arsenal, but by the end it made up at least 55% of tank production (based on figures from; Zheltov lists even larger numbers Following the end of the war, a further 2,701 T-34s were built prior to the end of Soviet production. Under licence, production was restarted in Poland (1951–55) and Czechoslovakia (1951–58), where 1,380 and 3,185 T-34-85s were made, respectively, by 1956. Altogether, as many as 84,070 T-34s are thought to have been built, plus 13,170 self-propelled guns built on T-34 chassis. It

5896-596: The Germans had increased the hull armour on the Panzer IV to 80 mm (3.1 in) which provided good protection at normal combat distances. The F-34 also fired an adequate high explosive round. The gun sights and range finding for the F-34 main gun (either the TMFD-7 or the PT4-7 ) were rather crude, especially compared to those of their German adversaries, affecting accuracy and the ability to engage at long ranges. As

6030-505: The Japanese Type 95 tank's 37 mm gunfire, despite the low velocity of that gun, or "at any other slightest provocation". The use of riveted armour led to a problem whereby the impact of enemy shells, even if they failed to disable the tank or kill the crew on their own, would cause the rivets to break off and become projectiles inside the tank. After these battles, Koshkin convinced Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to let him develop

6164-407: The Japanese enter the war on Hitler's side ... our cause is hopeless." The Japanese similarly considered the result not a failing of tactics, but one that simply highlighted a need to address the material disparity between themselves and their neighbours. They made several reforms as a result of this battle: Tank production was increased from 500 annually to 1,200 in 1939. A mechanized headquarters

6298-528: The Japanese war effort, but the European colonial powers were weakening and suffering early defeats in the war with Germany; only the US Pacific Fleet stood in the way of seizing the oil-rich Dutch East Indies. Because of this, Japan's focus was ultimately directed to the south, leading to its decision to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December of that year. Despite plans being made for

6432-501: The KhPZ plant. Koshkin died of pneumonia (exacerbated by the drive from Kharkiv to Moscow) at the end of that month, and the T-34's drivetrain developer, Alexander Morozov , was appointed Chief Designer. The T-34 posed new challenges for the Soviet industry. It had heavier armour than any medium tank produced to date, and there were problems with defective armour plates. Only company commanders' tanks could be fitted with radios (originally

6566-500: The Khalkhin Gol, driving the Soviets from Baintsagan Hill, and advancing south along the west bank. However, Zhukov, perceiving the threat, launched a counterattack with 450 tanks and armored cars. The tanks consisted of primarily BT tanks with a handful of T-26s , while the armored cars were BA-10s and BA-3/6s , which were similar in armor (6–15 mm (0.24–0.59 in)) and armament (main: 45 mm (2 in) gun 20K mod, secondary: two 7.62 mm (0.30 in) machine guns) to

6700-514: The Khalkin Gol, destroy Soviet forces on Baintsagan Hill on the west bank, then make a left turn and advance south to the Kawatama Bridge. The second prong of the attack would be the task of the IJA 1st Tank Corps (1st TC) ( Yasuoka Detachment ), consisting of the 3rd and 4th Tank Regiments , plus a part of the 64th Infantry Regiment , a battalion from the 28th Infantry Regiment , detached from

6834-473: The Kwantung Army without obtaining permission from Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) headquarters in Tokyo. In an effort to prevent the incident from escalating, Tokyo promptly ordered the JAAF not to conduct any more air-strikes against Soviet airbases. Throughout June there were reports of Soviet and Mongolian activity on both sides of the river near Nomonhan and small-scale attacks on isolated Manchukoan units. At

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6968-608: The Mongolian side of the border were destroyed, leaving remnants of the 23rd Division on the Manchurian side. The Soviets had achieved their objective. The Soviet Union and Japan agreed to a cease-fire on 15 September; it took effect the following day at 1:10 pm. Japanese records report 8,440 killed, 8,766 wounded, 162 aircraft lost in combat, and 42 tanks lost (of which 29 were later repaired and redeployed). Roughly 500 to 600 Japanese and Manchus were taken prisoner during

7102-514: The Mongolians and drove them back across the river Khalkhin Gol. On 13 May, the Mongolian force returned in greater numbers and the Manchukoans failed to dislodge them. On 14 May, Lt. Col. Yaozo Azuma led the reconnaissance regiment of the 23rd Infantry Division, supported by the 64th Infantry Regiment of the same division, under Colonel Takemitsu Yamagata , into the territory and the Mongolians withdrew. Soviet and Mongolian troops returned to

7236-521: The Soviet Union. Additionally, the Kwantung Army, which had long been stationed in Manchuria far from the Japanese Home Islands, had become largely autonomous and tended to act without approval from, or even against the direction of, the Japanese government. The battles began on 11 May 1939. A Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70 to 90 men had entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses. On that day, Manchu cavalry attacked

7370-613: The Soviet Union. They would, however, both be executed in the 1941 Purges . Zhukov himself was promoted and transferred west to the Kiev district. The battle experience gained by Zhukov was put to good use in December 1941 at the Battle of Moscow . Zhukov used his experience to launch the first successful Soviet counteroffensive against the German invasion. Many units of the Siberian and other trans-Ural armies were part of this attack, and

7504-482: The Soviet light tanks. The Soviet armored force, despite being unsupported by infantry, attacked the Japanese on three sides and nearly encircled them. The Japanese force, further handicapped by having only one pontoon bridge across the river for supplies, was forced to withdraw, recrossing the river on 5 July. Meanwhile, the 1st Tank Corps of the Yasuoka Detachment (the southern task force) attacked on

7638-408: The Soviets launched three aggressive probing assaults, one on 3 August and the others on 7/8 August. All three were disastrously thrown back, with around 1,000 combined dead and several tanks knocked out on the Soviet side compared to just 85 Japanese casualties. The Japanese counterattacked and routed elements of the Mongolian 8th Cavalry Division, seizing a hilly sector of the battlefront. Despite

7772-402: The Soviets lost a large amount of material including 253 tanks, 250 aircraft (including 208 in combat), 96 artillery pieces, and 133 armored cars. Of the Soviet tank losses, 75–80% were destroyed by anti-tank guns, 15–20% by field artillery, 5–10% by infantry-thrown incendiary bombs, 2–3% by aircraft, and 2–3% by hand grenades and mines. The large number of Soviet armor casualties are reflected in

7906-491: The T-34 by fielding large numbers of improved anti-tank weapons such as the towed 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun, while hits from 88 mm-armed Tigers, anti-aircraft guns and 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank guns usually proved lethal. In 1942 the German Panzer IVs were refitted with the 7.5 cm KwK 40 due to the inadequate anti-tank performance of previous German tank designs against the T-34. The upgunned Panzer IV posed

8040-433: The T-34 to use 4th gear on terrain, with which it could reach 30 km/h. The T-34-76's ground pressure was around 0.72 kg/cm². Its wide tracks allowed for superior performance on dirt roads and off-road when compared to contemporary tanks. There were, however, still examples of T-34s getting stuck in mud. For example, in 1944 February 4, the 21st Guards Tank Brigade with 32 T-34, was ordered to proceed by road to Tolstoye Rogi,

8174-423: The T-34's armour proved problematic for the Germans in the initial stages of the war on the Eastern Front. In one wartime account, a single T-34 came under heavy fire upon encountering one of the most common German anti-tank guns at that stage of the war: "Remarkably enough, one determined 37 mm gun crew reported firing 23 times against a single T-34 tank, only managing to jam the tank’s turret ring." Similarly,

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8308-577: The T-34-85, with a larger 85 mm gun intended to deal with newer German tanks. Comparisons can be drawn between the T-34 and the U.S. M4 Sherman tank. Both tanks were the backbone of the armoured units in their respective armies, both nations distributed these tanks to their allies, who also used them as the mainstay of their own armoured formations, and both were upgraded extensively and fitted with more powerful guns. Both were designed for mobility and ease of manufacture and maintenance, sacrificing some performance for these goals. Both chassis were used as

8442-647: The United States was Tsuji Masanobu". Tsuji later wrote that his experience of Soviet fire-power at Nomonhan convinced him not to attack the Soviet Union in 1941. On 24 June 1941, two days after the war on the Eastern Front broke out, the Japanese army and navy leaders adopted a resolution "not intervening in German Soviet war for the time being". In August 1941, Japan and the Soviet Union reaffirmed their neutrality pact. The United States and Britain had imposed an oil embargo on Japan, threatening to stop

8576-519: The Ural Factory and the new Omsk Factory N.174. The Ordzhonikidze Ural Heavy Machine Tool Works (UZTM) in Sverdlovsk absorbed workers and machines from several small machine shops in the path of German forces. While these factories were being rapidly moved, the industrial complex surrounding the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory in Stalingrad continued to work double shifts throughout the period of withdrawal (September 1941 to September 1942) to make up for production lost, and produced 40% of all T-34s during

8710-450: The adoption of all-steel, internally sprung road wheels, and a new clutch was added to an improved five-speed transmission and engine, improving reliability. Over two years, the unit production cost of the T-34 was reduced from 269,500  Rbls in 1941, to 193,000 Rbls, and then to 135,000 Rbls. In 1943, T-34 production had reached an average of 1,300 per month; this was the equivalent of three full-strength tank divisions . By

8844-405: The armour. It was recommended to increase and improve the quality of welds and armour. Analysis of destroyed T-34 tanks in the Korean War found that the 76 and 90 mm armour-piercing rounds of the M41 Walker Bulldog and M46 Patton could penetrate the T-34 at most angles from 800 yd (730 m). The maximum range at which the tanks could penetrate the T-34 could not be determined due to

8978-436: The battle (estimated at 28,000–40,000 troops, despite Soviet claims that they were facing 75,000) and other sources put Japanese casualties at 25,000 dead. According to the records of the Bureau 6A hospital, the Japanese casualties amounted to 7,696 killed, 8,647 wounded, 1,021 missing, and 2,350 sick, for a total of 19,714 personnel losses, including 2,895 Manchu casualties. The Kwantung Army headquarters and their records give

9112-416: The battles. Due to a military doctrine that prohibited surrender, the Japanese listed most of these men as killed in action, for the benefit of their families. Some sources put the Japanese casualties at 45,000 or more killed, with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. However, these estimates for Japanese casualties are considered inaccurate as they exceed the total strength of the Japanese forces involved in

9246-454: The bleakest days of the war in Europe. For example, on July 1, 1942, Soviet forces in the Far East consisted of 1,446,012 troops, 11,759 artillery pieces, 2,589 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 3,178 combat aircraft. Despite this, the Soviet operations chief of the Far Eastern Front, General A. K. Kazakovtsev, was not confident in his army group's ability to stop an invasion if the Japanese committed to it (at least in 1941–1942), commenting: "If

9380-417: The border between Mongolia and Manchuria . The battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army. After the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories that bordered those areas. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of Mongolia signed an Mutual Assistance Pact in March 1936, allowing the former to send troops to Mongolia. In

9514-445: The border between Siberia and Manchuria. The Mongolian troops mainly consisted of cavalry brigades and light artillery units, and proved to be effective and agile, but lacked armor and manpower in sufficient numbers. From May 1938, the commander of the Soviet forces and of the Far East Front was Komandarm Grigori Shtern . On 2 June 1939, Comcor Georgy Zhukov was told by Commissar of Defence Kliment Voroshilov that Stalin

9648-455: The bridge. The Japanese disengaged from the attack on 25 July due to mounting casualties and depleted artillery stores. By this point they had suffered over 5,000 casualties between late May and 25 July, with Soviet losses being much higher but more easily replaced. The battle drifted into a stalemate. With war apparently imminent in Europe, and to avoid fighting a two front war, Zhukov planned

9782-532: The combat zone. Accompanying Zhukov was Comcor Yakov Smushkevich with his aviation unit. Zhamyangiyn Lhagvasuren , Corps Commissar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army , was appointed Zhukov's deputy. On 27 June the Japanese Army Air Force 's 2nd Air Brigade struck the Soviet airbase at Tamsak-Bulak in Mongolia. The Japanese won this engagement, but the strike had been ordered by

9916-457: The day. The two-man turret was "cramped and inefficient" and was inferior to the three-man (commander, gunner, and loader) turret crews of German Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks. The Germans noted the T-34 was very slow to find and engage targets while the Panzers could typically get off three rounds for every one fired by the T-34. Early in the war, the commander fought at a further disadvantage;

10050-406: The decision to move these divisions from Siberia was aided by the Soviet spy Richard Sorge in Tokyo, who alerted the Soviet government that the Japanese were looking south and were unlikely to launch another attack against Siberia in the immediate future. A year after defending Moscow against the advancing Germans, Zhukov planned and executed the Red Army 's offensive, i.e. Operation Uranus , at

10184-467: The decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union , Mongolia , Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhin Gol , which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident ( ノモンハン事件 , Nomonhan jiken ) after Nomonhan , a nearby village on

10318-464: The dire situation of the Soviet army in the Far East. The first major Soviet-Japanese border incident, the Battle of Lake Khasan , occurred in 1938 in Primorye . Clashes between Japanese and Soviet forces occurred frequently along the border of Manchuria. In 1939, Manchuria was a puppet state of Japan known as Manchukuo , and Mongolia was a communist state allied with the Soviet Union , known as

10452-553: The disputed region, however, and Azuma's force again moved to evict them, but the Soviet-Mongolian forces surrounded Azuma's force on 28 May and destroyed it. The Azuma force suffered eight officers and 97 men killed and one officer and 33 men wounded, for 63% total casualties. Both sides increased their forces in the area. Soon Japan had 30,000 men in the theater. Zhukov, the new corps commander, arrived on 5 June, bringing more motorized and armored forces (I Army Group) to

10586-558: The early 1930s: the T-26 was based on the British Vickers 6-Ton , and the BT tanks were based on a design from American engineer J. Walter Christie . In 1937, the Red Army had assigned engineer Mikhail Koshkin to lead a new team to design a replacement for the BT tanks at the Kharkiv Komintern Locomotive Plant (KhPZ). The prototype tank, designated A-20, had a modified BA-20 engine and

10720-459: The end of 1945, over 57,300 T-34s had been built: 34,780 T-34 tanks in multiple variants with 76.2 mm guns in 1940–44, and another 22,609 of the revised T-34-85 model in 1944–45. The single largest producer was Factory N.183 (UTZ), building 28,952 T-34s and T-34-85s from 1941 to 1945. The second-largest was Krasnoye Sormovo Factory N.112 in Gorky, with 12,604 in the same period. At the start of

10854-494: The end of the month, the commander of the 23rd Japanese Infantry Division, Lt. Gen. Michitarō Komatsubara, received permission to "expel the invaders". The Japanese planned a two-pronged assault. The first attack would be made by three regiments plus part of a fourth: the 71st and the 72nd Infantry Regiment (23rd Division), a battalion of the 64th Infantry Regiment and the 26th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Shinichiro Sumi (7th Infantry Division). This force would advance across

10988-537: The entire Kwantung Army. In addition to this, the 23rd Division was equipped with outdated equipment. Japanese army experts rated the combat capability of the 23rd Division as "below medium", comparable to a garrison division on occupation duty in China. The Soviet forces consisted of the 57th Special Corps , deployed from the Transbaikal Military District . They were responsible for defending

11122-409: The fact that no more major fighting would take place until 20 August, Japanese casualties continued to mount at a rate of 40 wounded per day. Kwantung Army staff officers were becoming increasingly worried over the disorganized state of the 6th Army headquarters and supply elements. The growing casualty count meant that the green 23rd Division would have to take, train and assimilate new replacements "on

11256-863: The factory at the site of the Dzerzhinsky Ural Railcar Factory in Nizhny Tagil , renamed Stalin Ural Tank Factory N.183. The Kirovsky Factory, evacuated just weeks before the Germans surrounded Leningrad, moved with the Kharkiv Diesel Factory to the Stalin Tractor Factory in Chelyabinsk , soon to be nicknamed Tankograd ("Tank City"). The workers and machinery from Leningrad's Voroshilov Tank Factory N.174 were incorporated into

11390-554: The first fighter-bomber offensive in Soviet Air Force history. Approximately 50,000 Soviet and Mongolian soldiers of the 57th Special Corps attacked the east bank of the Khalkhin Gol. Three infantry divisions and a tank brigade crossed the river, supported by massed artillery and by the Soviet Air Force. Once the Japanese were pinned down by the attack of Soviet center units, Soviet armored units swept around

11524-506: The flanks and attacked the Japanese in the rear, achieving a classic double envelopment . When the Soviet wings linked up at Nomonhan village on 25 August, they trapped the Japanese 23rd Infantry Division. On 26 August, a Japanese counterattack to relieve the 23rd Division failed. On 27 August the 23rd Division attempted to break out of the encirclement but failed. When the surrounded forces refused to surrender, they were again hit with artillery and air attacks. By 31 August, Japanese forces on

11658-435: The forward-opening hatch and the lack of a turret cupola forced him to observe the battlefield through a single vision slit and traversable periscope . German commanders liked to fight "heads-up", with their seat raised and having a full field of view – in the T-34 this was impossible. Soviet veterans condemned the turret hatches of the early models. Nicknamed pirozhok ("stuffed bun") because of its characteristic shape, it

11792-581: The foundation for a variety of support vehicles, such as armour recovery vehicles, tank destroyers , and self-propelled artillery. Both were an approximately even match for the standard German medium tank, the Panzer IV , though each of these three tanks had particular advantages and weaknesses compared with the other two. Neither the T-34 nor the M4 was a match for Germany's heavier tanks, the Panther (technically

11926-432: The frontal armour of the Panther at an angle of 30 degrees sidewards, the T-34-85 could not penetrate its turret at 500 m (550 yd). This meant that the T-34 would have to resort to using tungsten rounds or firing on the weaker sides of the Panther to destroy it. The greater length of the 85 mm gun barrel – 4.645 m (15 ft 2.9 in) – made it necessary for crews to be careful not to plough it into

12060-453: The frontal turret of a T-34-85 at 1,400 m, the mantlet at 400 m, and the nose at 300 m Ground trials by employees of NIBT Polygon in May 1943 reported that the 88 mm KwK 36 gun could pierce the T-34 frontal hull from 1,500 meters at 90 degrees and cause a disastrous burst effect inside the tank. The examined hull showed cracks, spalling, and delamination due to the poor quality of

12194-414: The ground on bumpy roads or in combat. Tank commander A.K. Rodkin commented: "the tank could have dug the ground with it in the smallest ditch [filling the barrel with dirt]. If you fired it after that, the barrel would open up at the end like the petals of a flower", destroying the barrel. Standard practice when moving the T-34-85 cross-country in non-combat situations was to fully elevate the gun, or reverse

12328-497: The initial short-barrel gun Panzer IV , and the initial 75 mm gun M4 Sherman ), and medium tanks which were more focused on the anti-tank role, mounting high-velocity tank guns . The French cavalry tanks ( Chars de Cavalerie ) such as the SOMUA S35 focused on speed in addition to power and protection of the other designs. They were similar to what other countries called medium tanks. When Soviet tank designers were preparing

12462-448: The job". By contrast, Tokyo's oft-stated desire that it would not escalate the fighting at Khalkhin Gol proved immensely relieving to the Soviets, freed to hand-pick select units from across the military to be concentrated for a local offensive without fear of Japanese retaliation elsewhere. Zhukov decided it was time to break the stalemate. At 05:45 on 20 August 1939, Soviet artillery and 557 aircraft attacked Japanese positions,

12596-573: The later T-62 , that form the armoured core of many modern armies. T-34 variants were widely exported after World War II, and as recently as 2023 more than 80 were still in service. In 1939, the most numerous Soviet tank models were the T-26 infantry tank and the BT series of fast tanks. The T-26 was slow-moving, designed to keep pace with infantry on the ground. The BT tanks were cavalry tanks : fast-moving and light, designed for manoeuver warfare . Both were Soviet developments of foreign designs from

12730-424: The manpower losses for Soviet tank crews. A total of 1,559 Soviet "Tank Troops" were killed or wounded during the battles. Mongolian casualties were 556–990, with at least 11 armored cars destroyed and 1,921 horses and camels lost. Nomonhan was the first use of airpower on a massive scale in a high-intensity battle to obtain a specific military objective. The combatants remained at peace until August 1945, when

12864-418: The material used was "high-grade". Similarly, casting was seen as high quality although casting defects were found in the side armour of the tank that negatively affected armour strength. The abundance of gaps in the joints of the armour was seen as an undesirable feature of the tank due to the risk of injury from "entry of bullet splash and shell fragments". The 76.2 mm (3.00 in) F-34 gun, fitted on

12998-578: The military command and concerns about high production cost were finally overcome by anxieties about the poor performance of Soviet tanks in the Winter War in Finland, and the effectiveness of German tanks during the Battle of France . The first production T-34s were completed in September 1940, completely replacing the production of the T-26, the BT series and the multi-turreted T-28 medium tank at

13132-746: The model V-2-34 engine, Leningrad Kirovsky Factory (formerly the Putilov works) made the original L-11 gun, and the Dinamo Factory in Moscow produced electrical components. Tanks were initially built at Plant N.183, in early 1941 at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory (STZ), and starting in July at Krasnoye Sormovo Factory N.112 in Gorky . After Germany's surprise invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 ( Operation Barbarossa ),

13266-599: The name "Medium" appeared in the First World War with the British Medium Mark A Whippet . It was smaller, lighter and faster than the British heavy tanks of the time and only carried machine guns. The medium tank doctrine came into use in the interwar period . Its existence outlasted the super-heavy tank and the heavy tank and gradually transitioned into the main battle tank . Medium tanks of

13400-661: The new T-34 tank, which represented a substantial improvement over the BT and T-26 tanks in all four areas. Koshkin's team completed two prototype T-34s in January 1940. In April and May, they underwent a grueling 2,000-kilometre (1,200 mi) drive from Kharkiv to Moscow for a demonstration for the Kremlin leaders, to the Mannerheim Line in Finland , and back to Kharkiv via Minsk and Kiev . Some drivetrain shortcomings were identified and corrected. Resistance from

13534-423: The night of 2 July, moving in the darkness to avoid the Soviet artillery on the high ground of the river's west bank. A pitched battle ensued in which the Yasuoka Detachment lost over half its armor, but still could not break through the Soviet forces on the east bank and reach the Kawatama Bridge. After a Soviet counterattack on 9 July threw the battered, depleted Yasuoka Detachment back, it was dissolved and Yasuoka

13668-422: The period. As the factory became surrounded by heavy fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942, the situation there grew desperate: manufacturing innovations were necessitated by material shortages, and stories persist of unpainted T-34 tanks driven out of the factory directly to the battlefields around it. Stalingrad kept up production until September 1942. Soviet designers were aware of design deficiencies in

13802-583: The plate joins and welds, as well as the use of soft steel combined with shallow surface tempering. Leak issues were noted: "In a heavy rain lots of water flows through chinks/cracks, which leads to the disabling of the electrical equipment and even the ammunition". Earlier models of the T-34, until the Model 1942, had cast turrets whose armour was softer than that of the other parts of the tank, and offered poor resistance even to 37 mm anti-aircraft shells. Early T-34s also suffered from poor quality welds, leading to instances of shells which would not have penetrated

13936-400: The point of view of operating them, the German armoured machines were almost perfect, they broke down less often. For the Germans, covering 200 km was nothing, but with T-34s something would have been lost, something would have broken down. The technological equipment of their machines was better, the combat gear was worse. The T-34 gearbox had four forward and one reverse gear, replaced by

14070-555: The poor roads and soft ground than the French armoured cars there, but were still able to move along narrow streets and over lighter bridge classifications than the much heavier M1 Abrams tanks used by the Americans. The role of medium tanks started with a prioritisation of speed. Medium tanks could travel faster, but needed help to cross trenches, where heavy tanks were large enough to cross unaided. In British use, this evolved into

14204-549: The resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies . Masanobu Tsuji , the Japanese colonel who had helped instigate the Nomonhan incident, was one of the strongest proponents of the attack on Pearl Harbor . General Ryūkichi Tanaka , Chief of the Army Ministry's Military Service Bureau in 1941, testified after the war that "the most determined single protagonist in favor of war with

14338-543: The same year, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in response. Following Japan's full invasion of China in July 1937, the Soviet Union sent the 57th Special Corps led by Ivan Konev to Mongolia. On June 13, Genrikh Lyushkov , a Soviet NKVD major general who knew Stalin personally, defected to Japan for fear of the Great Purge . He took with him a large number of secret documents that allegedly revealed

14472-835: The signing of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact (which deprived the Army of the basis of its war policy against the USSR), moved the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo away from the policy of the North Strike Group favored by the Army, which wanted to seize Siberia for its resources as far as Lake Baikal . Instead, support shifted to the South Strike Group , favored by the Navy, which wanted to seize

14606-418: The southern part of Sakhalin island. Following the battle, the Soviets generally found the results unsatisfactory, despite their victory. Though the Soviet forces in the Far East in 1939 were not plagued by fundamental issues to the same extent as those in Europe during the 1941 campaigns, their generals were still unimpressed by their army's performance. As noted by Pyotr Grigorenko , the Red Army went in with

14740-739: The tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , interwar period Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in the Cold War Background: History of the tank , Tank classification Battles of Khalkhin Gol 61,860–73,961 498–550 tanks 385–450 armored cars 900 aircraft (participated) ~30,000 - 40,000 73 tanks 19 tankettes 400 aircraft (participated) The Battles of Khalkhin Gol ( Russian : Бои на Халхин-Голе ; Mongolian : Халхын голын байлдаан ) were

14874-477: The tank under normal circumstances to penetrate anyway. They also suffered from rushed manufacturing, leading to inconsistent protection. In addition, close examination of the T-34 at the Aberdeen Testing Ground showed that a variety of alloys were used in different portions of the armour on the T-34. " Mn - Si - Mo steels were employed for the thinner rolled armour sections, Cr -Mo steels for

15008-455: The tank's life, however, this advantage was greatly reduced by the numerous teething troubles the design displayed: a long road trip could be a lethal exercise for a T-34 tank at the start of the war. When in June 1941, the 8th Mechanised Corps under Dmitry Ryabyshev marched 500 km towards Dubno, the corps lost half of its vehicles. A.V. Bodnar, who was in combat in 1941–42, recalled: From

15142-405: The tank, but most of the desired remedies would have slowed tank production and so were not implemented: the only changes allowed on the production lines through to 1944 were those to make production simpler and cheaper. New methods were developed for automated welding and hardening the armour plate, including innovations by Prof. Evgeny Paton . The design of the 76.2 mm F-34 gun Model 1941

15276-510: The thicker rolled armour sections, Mn-Si- Ni -Cr-Mo steels were employed for both rolled and cast steel components from 2" to 5" in thickness, and Ni-Cr-Mo steels were employed for some of the moderately thick cast armour sections". The armour was heat-treated in order to prevent penetration by armour-piercing shells, but this also caused it to be structurally weak, as the armor was very hard and thus brittle, resulting in strikes by high explosive shells causing spalling . Despite these deficiencies,

15410-544: The thickness required to achieve equal protection. A few tanks also had appliqué armour of varying thickness welded onto the hull and turret. Tanks thus modified were called s ekranami ( Russian : с экранами , "with screens"). The USSR donated two combat-used Model 1941 T-34s to the United States for testing purposes in late 1942. The examinations, performed at the Aberdeen Proving Ground , revealed problems with overall armour build quality, especially of

15544-474: The time, often burst into flames when hit by IJA tank-killer teams using Molotov cocktails . Poor-quality welds in the Soviet armour plates left small gaps between them, and flaming petrol from the Molotov cocktails easily seeped into the fighting and engine compartment; portions of the armour plating that had been assembled with rivets also proved to be vulnerable. The Soviet tanks were also easily destroyed by

15678-493: The turret front of a Tiger I tank from 500 m (550 yd) and the driver's front plate from 300 m (330 yd) at the side angle of 30 degrees, and the larger turret enabled the addition of another crew member, allowing the roles of commander and gunner to be separated and increasing the rate of fire and overall effectiveness. The D-5T was capable of penetrating the Tiger I's upper hull armour at 1,000 metres. When firing on

15812-631: The turret. During the Korean War, the USA captured a T-34-85. US engineering analysis and testing concluded that the T-34-85 could penetrate 4.1 in (100 mm) at 1,000 yd (910 m), performing similarly to the HVAP rounds of the M41. The Americans also concluded the maximum range of the gun was 2–3 km (1.2–1.9 mi), but the effective range was only up to 1,900 m (1.2 mi). The T-34

15946-562: The unreliable tank tracks of the early 1930s, and allowed tanks to exceed 85 kilometres per hour (53 mph) on roads, but gave no advantage in combat and its complexity made it difficult to maintain. By 1937–38, track design had improved and the designers considered it a waste of space, weight, and maintenance resources, despite the road speed advantage. The A-20 also incorporated previous research (BT-IS and BT-SW-2 projects) into sloped armour : its all-round sloped armour plates were more likely to deflect rounds than perpendicular armour. During

16080-532: The vast majority of T-34s produced through to the beginning of 1944, was able to penetrate any early German tank's armour at normal combat ranges. When firing APCR shells, it could pierce 92 mm (3.6 in) at 500 m (1,600 ft) and 60 mm (2.4 in) of armour at 1,000 m (3,300 ft) The best German tanks of 1941, the Panzer III and Panzer IV, had no more than 50 or 60 mm (2.0 or 2.4 in) of flat frontal armour. However by 1942

16214-531: The war. Its main strength was its cost and production time, meaning that German panzer forces would often fight against Soviet tank forces several times their own size. The T-34 was also a critical part of the mechanized divisions that formed the backbone of the deep battle strategy . The T-34 was the mainstay of the Soviet Red Army armoured forces throughout the war. Its general specifications remained nearly unchanged until early 1944, when it received

16348-456: The work of Grigoriy Krivosheev , who in 1993 cited 7,974 killed and 15,251 wounded. In the newer, 2001 edition, the Soviet losses are given as 9,703 killed and missing (6,472 killed and died of wounds during evacuation, 1,152 died of wounds in hospitals, eight died of disease, 2,028 missing, 43 non-combat dead), 15,251 wounded, and a further 701 to 2,225 sick, totaling between 25,655 and 27,179 casualties. In addition to their personnel losses,

16482-504: Was [ sic ] could be injured by getting caught in the drive mechanism, this could leave them out of combat for a while, the lack of a turret basket also caused general discomfort to the crew, having to manually turn. Most of the problems created by the cramped T-34/76 turret, known before the war, were corrected with the provision of a bigger cast three-man turret on the T-34-85 in 1944. The T-34's wide track and good suspension gave it excellent cross-country performance. Early in

16616-453: Was allocated to the Soviet left and right wings. The entire Soviet force consisted of three rifle divisions, two tank divisions and two more tank brigades (in all, some 498 BT-5 and BT-7 tanks), two motorized infantry divisions, and over 550 fighters and bombers. The Mongolians committed two cavalry divisions. In comparison, at the point of contact, the Kwantung Army had only the 23rd Infantry Division, which with various attached forces

16750-647: Was dissatisfied with the local commander and he was to go to Mongolia, take command of the 57th Special Corps and eliminate Japanese provocations by inflicting a decisive reverse on the Imperial Japanese Army. (When summoned to Moscow on 1 June, Zhukov had feared he was to be arrested and interrogated by the NKVD .) In 1939, the Japanese Cabinet sent instructions to the Kwantung Army to strengthen and fortify Manchukuo's borders with Mongolia and

16884-459: Was equivalent to two light infantry divisions. Its headquarters had been at Hailar, over 150 km (93 mi) from the fighting. Japanese intelligence, despite demonstrating an ability to track the build-up of Zhukov's force, failed to precipitate an appropriate response from below. Thus, when the Soviets finally did launch their offensive, Komatsubara was caught off-guard. To test the Japanese defences prior to their main assault on 20 August,

17018-465: Was established in early 1941, and the new Type 1 47 mm anti-tank gun was introduced as a response to the Soviet 45 mm. These cannons were mounted on Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, resulting in the Type 97 ShinHoTo Chi-Ha ("New Turret") variant, which became the IJA's standard medium tank by 1942. IGHQ also dispatched General Tomoyuki Yamashita to Germany in order to learn more about tank tactics, following

17152-459: Was heavy and hard to open. The complaints of the crews urged the design group led by Alexander Morozov to switch in August 1942 to using two hatches in the turret. The loader also had a difficult job due to the lack of a turret basket (a rotating floor that moves as the turret turns); the same fault was present on all German tanks prior to the Panzer IV. The floor under the T-34's turret was made up of ammunition stored in small metal boxes, covered by

17286-442: Was powered by a Model V-2-34 38.8 L V12 Diesel engine of 500 hp (370 kW), giving a top speed of 53 km/h (33 mph). It used the coil-spring Christie suspension of the earlier BT-series tanks, using a "slack track" tread system with a rear-mounted drive sprocket and no system of return rollers for the upper run of track, but dispensed with the heavy and ineffective convertible drive. T-34 tanks equipped with

17420-404: Was reduced from an initial 861 parts to 614. The initial narrow, cramped turrets, both the cast one and the one welded of rolled armour plates bent to shape, were since 1942 gradually replaced with the somewhat less cramped hexagonal one; as it was mostly cast with only a few, simple flat armour plates welded in (roof etc.), this turret was actually faster to produce. Limited rubber supplies led to

17554-477: Was relieved. The two armies continued to spar with each other over the next two weeks along a four-kilometre (2.5 mi) front running along the east bank of the Khalkhin Gol to its junction with the Holsten River. Zhukov, whose army was 748 km (465 mi) away from its base of supply, assembled a fleet of 2,600 trucks to supply his troops, while the Japanese suffered severe supply problems due to

17688-545: Was rendered obsolete. Both the Soviet Union and the United States benefited from their industrial capacity to manufacture a well-balanced medium tank in very large numbers — around 57,000 T-34 and 49,234 M4 Sherman tanks were built during the war. During and after World War II, the roles of light tanks were gradually taken over by less-expensive armoured cars and specialised reconnaissance vehicles. Heavy tanks, having shown their limitations in combat, experienced

17822-480: Was specified with 20 mm (0.8 in) of armour , a 45 mm (1.77 in) gun, the production model used a Model V-2-34 engine, a less-flammable diesel fuel in a V12 configuration designed by Konstantin Chelpan . It also had an 8×6-wheel convertible drive similar to the BT tank's 8×2, which allowed it to run on wheels without caterpillar tracks . This feature had greatly saved on maintenance and repair of

17956-670: Was the most-produced tank of the Second World War, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series. The T-34 had well-sloped armour, a relatively powerful engine and wide tracks. The initial T-34 version had a powerful 76.2 mm gun, and is often called the T-34/76 (originally a World War II German designation, never used by the Red Army). In 1944, a second major version began production,

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