T-35
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| Image:P68l.jpg | |
| T-35 General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Length | 9.7 m |
| Width | 3.2 m |
| Height | 3.4 m |
| Weight | 45 t |
| Suspension | |
| Speed | 30 km/h road 20 km/h off-road |
| Range | 150 km |
| Primary armament | 76.2 mm gun |
| Secondary armament | 2×45 mm guns 5 or 6×7.62 mm machineguns |
| Armour | mm |
| Power plant | M-17T 12-cylinder petrol 500 hp (370 kW) |
| Crew | 11 |
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited production and service with the Red Army. It was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to reach production but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable. Most of the T-35 tanks still operational at the time of Operation Barbarossa were lost due to mechanical failure rather than enemy action.
Outwardly it was large but internally the spaces were cramped with the fighting compartments separated from each other. Some of the turrets obscured the entrance hatches.
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Production history
The T-35 was developed from a 1930 concept for a multi-turreted, heavy tank 50 tons that could break through fortified defences armed with a 76 mm gun and five machine guns. This project was later cancelled.
Early in 1932, a new project was started: a 35 ton tank, partly based on the Tank Grote project, with a 76.2 mm tank gun. The first prototype was further enhanced with four smaller turrets, two with 37 mm guns and two with machineguns. This first prototype had severe defects in its transmission and was considered too complex and expensive for mass production. Therefore work on it was stopped and a new simpler prototype was built.
This new prototype received a new engine, new gearbox and improved transmission. The decision was also made to standardise the turrets used on the T-35 with those used on the T-28, a triple-turretted medium tank.
The experiences gained with these two prototypes were used for the production model T-35, the T-35A, which was again improved from the second prototype, with a longer chassis, improved hull and smaller turrets. In general, throughout its production run small improvements were made to the individual T-35A tanks. Production models had turrets similar to the ones on the BT-5. These were equipped with 45 mm guns. Some models had flamethrowers instead of one of the 45 mm guns.
Western and Russian historians disagree about the inspiration for the T-35's design. The former argue it was copied from the British Vickers A-6 Independent tank, but this is rejected by many Russian specialists. It is impossible to know the truth for certain, but there is strong evidence to support Western claims, not least failed Soviet attempts to purchase the A-6. At the same time, the influence of German engineers developing similar designs in the late 1920s at their Kama base in the Soviet Union cannot be discounted. What is clear is that borrowing military technology and ideas from other nations was common to the majority of the armed forces in the inter-war years. The Red Army, with its purchase of the British Vickers Carden Loyd Tankette, Vickers E-Light and Cruiser Mk II Medium tanks, and the American Christie suspension, was clearly one of the leading exponents of this practice.
Due to its high cost, the production run of the T-35A ended at just sixty-one tanks, bringing the total T-35 tanks produced to sixty-three including the two prototypes.
Combat history
The T-35 served with the 5th Separate Heavy Tank Brigade from 1935 until 1940. The T-35 saw action in the Winter War against Finland[1], but already in June of 1940, the question was raised whether to withdraw the T-35 from frontline service, with the option to either convert them to heavy self propelled artillery, or to assign them to the various military academies. The choice was made to use them up in combat instead and the surviving vehicles were collected together into the 67th and 68th Tank Regiments of the 34th Tank Division, which served with the 8th Mechanized Corps in the Kiev Special Military District.
During Operation Barbarossa, most of the T-35s lost by the 67th and 68th tank regiments were lost not to enemy action but through either mechanical failure or because they were abandonded and destroyed by their crews. The last recorded action of the T-35 took place during the early stages of the battle of Moscow. Four machines were used in training facilities in Soviet rear. One of them is now available for spectators in Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow.
Variants
- T-35-1 - Prototype
- T-35-2 - Prototype
- T-35A - Production model.
- T-35B - New engine. Only the prototype produced.
- SU-7 - Prototypes with a 254 mm gun, 305 mm howitzer, and 400 mm mortar. Weighed over 106 tons.
See also
- Char 2C, Vickers Independent A1E1 tank: tanks with similar design.
- List of tanks
- List of Soviet tanks.
Notes
^ According to Russian sources, the T-35 did not participate in the Soviet-Finnish conflict. The account mentioned above has its origin in a incident with the Soviet Russian prototype (multi-turreted) SMK tank. This was damaged by a Finnish landmine and all attempts to recover the 55-ton behemoth failed. The SMK was a design unknown to the Finns and they identified it as some variant of the T-35.
External links
- The T-35 Heavy Tank at the Russian Battlefield (battlefield.ru).
| Soviet Armored fighting vehicles of World War II |
|---|
| Light Tanks |
| T-26 | T-60 | T-70 | BT Fast Tanks |
| Medium Tanks |
| T-28 | T-34 | T-44 |
| Heavy tanks |
| T-35 | Kliment Voroshilov (KV) | Iosif Stalin (IS) |
| Tank destroyers and Self-propelled guns |
| SU-76 | SU-85 | SU-100 | SU-122 | SU-152 | ISU-122 | ISU-152 |
| Experimental |
| A-40 flying tank |
| Soviet armored fighting vehicle production during World War II |
