It was two years ago
In the regional center of Surovikino, Volgograd Region, a T-34-76 tank was raised from the bottom of the Dobraya River, whose crew heroically died during the liberation of the city from German troops in December 1942.
According to experts, the combat vehicle produced by the Nizhniy Tagil Tank Plant in September 1942 is presumably one of ten legendary tanks that, as part of the first company of the 46th tank regiment of the 49th mechanized brigade, broke through the defense of enemy troops in Surovikino on December 12, 1942. …
“It was one of the outstanding episodes of the Battle of Stalingrad,” Mikhail Kudinov, director of the Volgograd Regional Center for Patriotic and Search Work, told V1.ru. - These tanks broke into Surovikino and, without the cover of the infantry, which was cut off from them, fought an hour-long battle in the area of the cannery. Before these combat vehicles were destroyed by the enemy, they managed to destroy about 400 Nazi soldiers with fire and tracks."
The tank in the Dobroi River was discovered during a search expedition in December 2010. The members of the expedition - representatives of the State Institution “Volgograd Regional Center for Patriotic and Search Work”, members of the “Poisk” organization and the “Horizon” consolidated divers detachment - decided to lift the tank before spring. As the search engines explain, in the conditions of the frozen river, it was even easier to do this than in the warm season. In addition, they wanted to coincide with this event on February 2 - the next anniversary of the victory of Soviet troops at Stalingrad.
According to the members of the expedition, the operation to raise the tank was a difficult task and took about a week.
“About two years ago, some private collectors tried to pull the tank out, but nothing came of it,” Dmitry Kufenko, head of the Poisk organization, told V1.ru. - These guys laid out a well of sandbags around the tank, prepared the shore, but for some reason they did not finish what they started. Either the finances are over, or the interest has disappeared. Our combined search detachment coped with this task with the help of a BRM tank tractor, which was provided by the leadership of the 20th motorized rifle brigade stationed in Volgograd. It was much more difficult to do this with another technique. The divers worked in water for a whole week at temperatures down to minus 15 degrees. All good fellows, we did it, and the car we raised will now certainly take a place in the exposition of any of the museums."
“The tank was at the water's edge, under the silt was about 60-70 centimeters of its hull,” said Alexander Gusarov, deputy head of the regional search and rescue base in the Volgograd region. - When he was hooked and dragged to the shore, the cables rang like guitar strings. Each of us literally froze everything in our chest: the tractor, dear, do not let us down! The tank buried itself on the shore, buried itself in it, they had to call an excavator and dig it out. In general, they pulled it out long and hard. They really wanted to find the so-called "mortal medallion", but, unfortunately, it did not work out. We have an assumption that the found remains belong to the gunner-radio operator. Nevertheless, there is a chance to restore the names of the tankers by the engine number and the serial number of the tank."
The tank raised from the river has no turret and aft armor plate. In addition, he had at least three holes from artillery shells hitting the combat vehicle with direct fire from close range. The rest of the armored colossus is pretty well preserved: the engine is broken, but it is in place, the tracks and wheels are intact. The cause of the death of the tank and its crew was the destruction of the ammunition load. The remains of one of the crew members were found, whose name, along with the names of his comrades in arms, the search engines intend to establish when working with the archives.
Meanwhile, the museum-reserve "Battle of Stalingrad" showed genuine interest in the potential exhibit.
“One of the museum's tasks is to replenish the collection, so it would be an malfeasance on our part to allow this tank to go somewhere to the side,” Alexei Vasin, director of the Battle of Stalingrad panorama museum, admitted to V1.ru. - Moreover, we do not have a single unit of armored vehicles that would participate in hostilities. The two T-34-85 tanks on display in front of the panoramic museum were produced in 1946. They have completely different tools.
The problem with this tank is that it lacks a turret, so it will have to be rebuilt. We are in close contact with colleagues from the Donskoy Museum, they have a tank turret that has not been received yet. Perhaps there are similar towers in the Volgograd region, we are still clarifying this information. At the moment, we are preparing a package of documents for contacting the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with a request to give us this tank. If everything is in order, after the car is restored, we will include it in the main exhibition. We need to gradually get rid of the "remakes", replacing them with real "combat" exhibits. " (with)
My photo gallery of this tank dates back to the same time:
The blow of the fatal "blank" fell on the starboard side, just above the rink behind the radio operator's place - exactly in the ammunition rack
The explosion of the BC tore off the tower, the suspension screens and the forehead cracked like glass
The tanks and the engine were hardly touched, only the top sheet was torn off
The 45mm frontal armor cracked like glass, tore out the nose beam, and the mechanical drive hatch was knocked out, despite the closed backs
It is terrifying to look at and understand that there were living people in the flame of this hellish fire. Our grandfathers
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