Weapon stories. Strange ACS SU-100Y

2024 Author: Matthew Elmers | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:49

Yes, not always the participants in our stories were released in thousands of batches and therefore are known to everyone, well, or at least to the broad masses. Many of these objects have not survived to this day at all, which in itself is an omission.

Today we will tell you about the SPG, which, fortunately, can be seen in Kubinka. On display at the Military Historical Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment. A machine that is often confused with the KV-2 tank. Moreover, it was this machine that defended Moscow in 1941. But information about the combat path, exploits, and other merits has been lost.

The experimental SPG, which was the SU-100Y, was almost a museum piece by the beginning of the war. Yes, not having time for the Finnish one, the self-propelled gun released in one copy was transferred to Kubinka. There was no museum there at that time, but there was a research ground for armored forces.

And then the war itself came to the self-propelled gun. And the SU-100Y went to the front in the literal sense. She was enlisted in a special purpose self-propelled artillery battalion and fought.

The latest reliable information about the combat use of this machine is the same as that of many soldiers. "It took up positions in the area of the Kubinka station and fired at the enemy from closed positions."

So, today we will tell you about the SU-100Y. About a self-propelled unit that surprises most of those who learn its history. Not foreigners - Russians!

100 is not a caliber, but a chassis

Let's start to amaze you. The name of the ACS, which you have read, is completely untrue, but nevertheless it exists. The car is really called SU-100Y. Not Y, but Y. SU-100 igrek! But that's not all. The number 100 is not the caliber of the gun, as was customary at the time! This is the chassis!

So, the SU-100Y was created on the basis of the T-100 tank. This is the fruit of competition (this word sounds strange in the story about the Stalinist period of the USSR) tank design bureaus.

When we wrote about the tests of Soviet heavy tanks during the 1940 winter campaign, the T-100 was among the three experimental vehicles. The tank was created, with great probability, precisely for operations in swampy areas. Many consider the disadvantage of this machine a rather large body length.

Let's think about it. The T-100 could pass where similar vehicles simply got bogged down in mud, in swamps, in small rivers. The length of the hull provided such cross-country ability and speed. But she, the length of the car, played a negative role. The tank could not compete with other test subjects in maneuverability. Here you can argue which is more important.

But the main drawback of the T-100 was the engine. The carburetor GAM-34 (the "down-to-earth" version of the AM-34, which was installed, for example, on the TB-3), which required expensive aviation fuel, was outperformed by the KV diesel engine in all respects. A Soviet tank had to be repaired "on the knee", but here is a machine that required engineers.

In short, engineers, designers, and the military could not say with complete certainty which tank we needed. KV and T-100 were questionable. And this gave hope to the tank design bureaus for the production of their machines.

Exactly such sentiments were at the plant No. 185, where the T-100 was being developed. And then there was the assignment personally from the head of the GABTU RKKA D. Pavlov. The fact is that already at the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war, the Red Army was faced with the problem of the lack of engineering vehicles.

Hence the demand of the Military Council of the North-Western Front to create a special engineering tank (mid-December 1939). The order was sent to plant No. 185. The work was in full swing.

At the end of 1939 g.using the T-100 base, the T-100Z tank was developed with an M-10 howitzer of 152, 4-mm caliber installed in the main tower and an engineering tank with anti-cannon armor.

The T-100Z is a vehicle actively promoted by Army Commander Kulik. And the engineering tank was intended for building bridges, transporting sappers and explosives, as well as evacuating damaged tanks from the battlefield.

But then the troops began to receive demands for the need for a machine capable of breaking into the enemy's engineering fortifications. We needed howitzers or large-caliber guns that could destroy pillboxes and fortified areas. Moreover, howitzers were not a priority.

And three weeks later, D. Pavlov's task appeared. Create a large-caliber tank or SPG based on the T-100 tank! The head of the GABTU of the Red Army demanded to put on the T-100 chassis a 152-mm cannon or a cannon of a different caliber with high initial speeds, which would break the Finnish fortifications.

The design bureau of plant No. 185 could not disperse efforts to design several machines at once. Therefore, the director of the plant N. Barykov was forced to appeal to the Military Council of the North-Western Front with a request to cancel the December order. At the beginning of January 1940, such a decision was made.

Describing the history of the creation of a fairly large number of equipment and weapons of the Red Army of that time, one is amazed at the ability of leaders to independently make decisions and take responsibility for themselves. Indeed, under the pressure of democratic propaganda, we have developed a firm opinion that most decisions were made at the highest level, and the initiative of any plan was punishable.

It is from these positions that we cannot understand the execution of General Pavlov in 1941. There are many things we cannot understand. Carried out the order. It means that the person who gave this order or did not give this order is to blame. And then, in the 40s, it was not so.

How else to explain the decision of N. Barykov, only the director of the plant, to develop a new tank? Even before the approval of his request to cancel the order of the Front Military Council! Agree, it's not realistic to create a new tank in a week. But this is today. And then it was real.

The documentation for the new car was transferred to the Izhora plant on January 8 (!), 1940. So, they designed and created by their own decision! Or (as an option, we did not agree), the strike group of engineers and designers reworked the existing projects as soon as possible. The new vehicle was named T-100 X.

Further, one more confirmation of the independence of the leaders of that time. The armored hull at the Izhora plant was created by February 14. Initially, it was planned to install a naval tower with a 130-mm B-13 cannon on the tank chassis. But the car turned out to be technologically complex.

The designers of the plant have created their own wheelhouse. More simple and technologically advanced. Although they left a huge height for a tank. The machine with a new wheelhouse received a new name T-100Y. True, the car turned from a tank into a SU. The new wheelhouse was motionless.

Even the Kirovsky plant was noted for the creation of this machine. The fact is that the conning tower had a corresponding reservation. This means a large mass. It was necessary to strengthen the suspension. This is exactly what they did at Kirovsky. They created a new torsion bar suspension. And again as soon as possible.

And here again Pavlov, the head of the GABTU of the Red Army, intervened in the work.

At a meeting of designers and plant directors, he proposed to further strengthen the new machine in terms of weapons. Install a cannon or howitzer of 203 mm caliber on the SPG. Even the name for the new car was ready T-100V. However, the project did not meet with the enthusiasm of the designers and was not implemented.

Advantages and disadvantages of the SU-100Y

The new SU-100Y left the workshop on March 14, 1940. And almost immediately was sent to the front for military trials. And then the unexpected happened. It turned out that the delivery of such a car is also a problem. The car is very tall. After all, the felling is made to the height of a man!

In short, the SU-100Y did not have time to go to war. So it is problematic to call the shooting of the Finnish fortifications for trial participation in the war. But the SU-100Y regularly destroyed everything that was provided as targets.

However, even such incomplete tests revealed, as it should be, the advantages and disadvantages of the SU-100Y. The gun had excellent armor penetration and accuracy. The shells had a high armor-piercing effect. The high cross-country ability of the T-100 has also been preserved. In general, the car is interesting for its class. Tenacious.

However, low maneuverability and limited mobility were noted. The car went forward well (32 km / h on the highway and 12 km / h on rough terrain), but in reverse gear it crawled like a turtle (4 km / h).

The military attributed the disadvantages of the gun to the small angles of vertical and horizontal guidance.

In addition, it is noted that the gun ammunition is not sufficiently protected. And loading the gun takes time. But most importantly, the size of the ACS, especially the height, made its use in the first and even the second echelon problematic.

This is how the story of the only car that later defended Moscow ended.

Experimental tank, experimental vehicle. But, unlike the T-100, it was miraculously preserved after many historical troubles.

And now we will watch the SU. Watch, feel, pull and tell.

Let's start with the case. Almost completely copied from the T-100. Reservation in a circle of 60 mm. The bottom and roof of the hull are worse armored - 20 mm. There are repair hatches on the roof of the hull in the area of the engine compartment and in the stern. In the bottom there is a hatch for the evacuation of the crew.

The deckhouse is completely closed, all-welded. Armor plates 60 mm thick. Steel rolled armor.

The department of management also corresponds to the T-100. The driver's seat and dashboard are located in the center of the control compartment in the bow of the hull.

Radio communication was provided by a 71-TK-3 radio station with a whip antenna. The TPU-6 was used to communicate with the crew members.

Let's move on to weapons. So, the B-13 IIc cannon. Marine, used on leaders, destroyers and coastal batteries. Caliber 130 mm. Barrel length 55 calibers. The muzzle velocity is over 800 m / s. The rate of fire is 10-12 rounds per minute. The firing range is about 20 km.

True, this gun has one, but significant, advantage over similar weapons. She used two types of projectiles. Armor-piercing PB-46A were the main shells of this gun.

But these were shells of naval guns, designed to defeat ships that have a completely different principle of booking. So it is not surprising that the B-13 shells pierced almost any enemy armored vehicles and their engineering structures.

The second type of projectile is no less effective. This is OF-46. The high-explosive fragmentation action of the projectile is provided by a decent amount of explosives - 2.5 kg. For comparison, the 122-mm land-based D-25T projectile has a charge weighing 160 grams. Projectile weight 36 kg. Ammunition load of 30 shells and powder charges for them.

To combat enemy infantry, the ACS is equipped with three 7.62 mm DT machine guns. Machine guns are located on the sides of the vehicle and in the stern. The total ammunition load of machine guns is 1890 rounds.

The SU-100Y's proximity to the sea is emphasized not only by the gun, but also by the engine. Exactly the same GAM-34 was installed on the G-5 torpedo boats. Power 890 HP Allowed, as we have already said, to develop a speed that is good for such a heavy car, but required precise maintenance and tuning, and good gasoline.

To start the engine, an ST-70 starter with a capacity of 15 hp was used. The engine could also be started using compressed air (this remained from the aviation essence of the engine).

The fuel was stored in four aluminum tanks with a total capacity of 1270 liters. This amount of gasoline provided a mileage of 210 kilometers on a paved road. The SU could cover 50-70 kilometers on rough terrain.

The transmission includes a five-speed three-way gearbox. The box provides five speeds forward and one backward.

The chassis was completely borrowed from the T-100. The same 8 road wheels on each side. The same external cushioning. The same five carrier rollers. Front sloth, drive wheel in the back. The caterpillar is fine-link, pinned engagement.