Artillery. Large caliber. 122 mm howitzer 1910/30 "Obsolete" war hero

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

The hardest thing is to talk about the tools that have been heard for a long time. In the pre-war period, according to this indicator, the first place should be given, without hesitation, to a 122-mm divisional howitzer of the 1910/30 model.

Probably, there is no military conflict of that time, where these howitzers did not appear. Yes, and on the footage of the chronicle of the Great Patriotic War, these weapons are constant heroes of battles. Moreover, you can see them from both sides of the front. The command "fire" sounds in Russian, German, Finnish, Romanian. Opponents did not disdain to use trophies. Agree, this is a fairly important indicator of the reliability, quality and good combat characteristics of the gun.

First of all, it is necessary to explain the historical necessity of the appearance of this particular instrument. We have already talked about the problems of the Red Army at that time. As well as about the problems of the entire USSR. Deterioration of guns, lack of opportunities for the production of high-quality spare parts, moral and technical obsolescence of weapons.

Add to this the lack of engineering and design personnel in industry, the obsolescence of production technologies, the absence of much of what has already been used in the defense industry of Western countries.

And all this against the backdrop of an openly hostile encirclement of the country. Against the backdrop of an open preparation of the West for a war with the Soviet Union.

Naturally, the leadership of the Red Army and the USSR was well aware that without taking urgent measures to re-equip the Red Army, the country in a fairly near future would find itself not only among the outsiders of the world artillery powers, but would also have to spend huge amounts of money on the purchase of obviously outdated Western artillery systems. Modern artillery was needed here and now.

In service with the Red Army in the 1920s, there were two 48-line (1 line = 0.1 inch = 2.54 mm) field howitzers at once: model 1909 and 1910. Developed by the firms "Krupp" (Germany) and "Schneider" (France). In the mid-1920s, after the final transition to the metric system, it was these guns that became 122-mm howitzers.

Comparison of these howitzers is beyond the scope of the authors of this article. Therefore, the answer to the question of why the 1910 model howitzer was chosen for modernization will be voiced with only one comment. This howitzer was more promising and had more potential for further modernization in terms of range.

With equal, and sometimes better (for example, the mass of a heavy high-explosive grenade - 23 kg versus 15-17 for Western models), the howitzer decently lost in firing range to Western models (the German system 10, 5 cm Feldhaubitze 98/09 or the British Royal Ordnance Quick Firing 4.5 inch howitzer): 7.7 km vs.9.7 km.

In the mid-1920s, the understanding of the imminent possible lag of the Soviet howitzer artillery was transformed into a direct instruction to start work in this direction. In 1928, the design bureau of the Perm gun plant (Motovilikhinsky) was given the task to modernize the howitzer and increase its range to the level of the best samples. At the same time, the advantage in the weight of the grenades must be preserved.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Sidorenko became the head of the design group.

Artillery. Large caliber. 122 mm howitzer 1910/30

What is the difference between a 1930 howitzer and a 1910 howitzer?

First of all, the new howitzer is distinguished by a chamber, which was lengthened by boring the rifled part of the barrel by one caliber. This was done in order to ensure the safety of firing new grenades. The necessary initial velocity of a heavy grenade could only be obtained by increasing the charge. And this, in turn, increased the length of the ammunition by 0, 64 caliber.

And then simple physics. In the standard sleeve, either there was no room left for all the beams, or there was not enough volume to expand the gases formed during the combustion of gunpowder, if an increased charge was used. In the latter case, the attempt to fire the gun led to the rupture of the gun, since due to the lack of volume for the expansion of gases in the chamber, their pressure and temperature increased greatly, and this led to a sharp increase in the rate of chemical reaction of the combustion of gunpowder.

The next change in design is due to a decent increase in recoil when firing a new grenade. Reinforced recoil devices, the lifting mechanism and the carriage itself. The old mechanisms could not withstand the firing of long-range ammunition.

Hence the next modernization appeared. The increase in the range required the creation of new sighting devices. Here the designers did not reinvent the wheel. A so-called normalized sight was installed on the modernized howitzer.

The same sights were installed at that time on all modernized guns. The only differences were in the cutting of the distance scale and the mountings. In the modern version, the sight would be called a single or unified sight.

As a result of all the modernizations, the total mass of the gun in the firing position slightly increased - 1466 kilograms.

The modernized howitzers, which are now in various museums around the world, can be recognized by their markings. Embossed inscriptions are obligatory on the trunks: "Elongated chamber". On the carriage - "hardened" and "arr. 1910/30" on the spindle, adjusting ring and back cover of the rollback.

It was in this form that the howitzer was adopted in 1930 by the Red Army. Produced at the same plant in Perm.

Structurally, the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 (the main series according to the drawings "letter B") consisted of:

- a barrel made of a pipe fastened with a casing and a muzzle or a monoblock barrel without a muzzle;

- a piston valve opening to the right. The shutter was closed and opened by turning the handle in one step;

- a single-bar carriage, which included a cradle, recoil devices assembled in a sled, a machine tool, guidance mechanisms, a chassis, sights and a shield cover.

The gun was towed by horse (six horses) or mechanical traction. The front end and the charging box were necessarily used. The transport speed was only 6 km / h on wooden wheels. Springs and metal wheels appeared after being put into service, respectively, the towing speed increased.

There is one more merit of the modernized 122 mm howitzer. She became the "mother" of the Soviet self-propelled howitzer SU-5-2. The machine was created as part of the design of the triplex divisional artillery. On the basis of the chassis of the T-26 tank, SU-5 installations were created.

SU-5-1 is a self-propelled gun with a 76 mm cannon.

SU-5-2 - self-propelled gun with a 122 mm howitzer.

SU-5-3 is a self-propelled gun with a 152 mm mortar.

SU-5-2

The machine was created at the S. M. Kirov Experimental Machine Building Plant (plant No. 185). Passed factory and government tests. Was recommended for adoption. 30 self-propelled guns were built. However, they were used to solve tasks completely unusual for them.

Light tanks were intended for offensive operations. This means that the tank units need not howitzers, but assault guns. The SU-5-2 was used as an artillery support weapon. And in this case, the need for fast movements disappeared. Transportable howitzers were preferred.

Nevertheless, these machines, even with such a small number, are combat ones. In 1938, five self-propelled howitzers fought the Japanese near Lake Khasan as part of the 2nd mechanized brigade, the reviews of the brigade command were positive.

The SU-5-2 also took part in the 1939 campaign against Poland. But information about the hostilities has not been preserved. Most likely (given that the vehicles were part of the 32nd Tank Brigade), it never came to fights.

But in the first period of World War II, the SU-5-2 fought, but did not do much of the weather. In total, there were 17 cars in the western districts, 9 in the Kiev district and 8 in the Western special. It is clear that by the fall of 1941 most of them were destroyed or taken as trophies by the Wehrmacht.

How did the "classic" howitzers fight? It is clear that any weapon is best tested in battle.

In 1939, modernized 122-mm howitzers were used during the events at Khalkhin Gol. Moreover, the number of guns was constantly increasing. This is largely due to the excellent results of the work of the Soviet artillerymen. According to Japanese officers, Soviet howitzers were superior to anything they had encountered before.

Naturally, the new Soviet systems became the subject of the "hunt" for the Japanese. The defensive fire of Soviet howitzers completely discouraged Japanese soldiers from attacking. The result of this "hunt" was quite tangible losses of the Red Army. 31 guns were damaged or irretrievably lost. Moreover, the Japanese managed to capture a fairly large number of trophies.

So, during a night attack on the positions of the 149th rifle regiment, on the night of July 7-8, the Japanese captured Lieutenant Aleshkin's battery (6th battery of the 175th artillery regiment). While trying to recapture the battery, the battery commander was killed and the personnel suffered significant losses. Later, the Japanese used this battery in their own army.

The finest hour of the 122-mm howitzers of the 1910/30 model was the Soviet-Finnish war. For various reasons, it was with these guns that the howitzer artillery of the Red Army was presented. According to some reports, the number of howitzers only in the 7th Army (first echelon) then reached almost 700 (according to the other 624) units.

Just as it happened on Khalkhin Gol, howitzers have become a "tasty morsel" for the Finnish army. The losses of the Red Army in Karelia, according to various estimates, ranged from 44 to 56 guns. Some of these howitzers also became part of the Finnish army and were later used by the Finns quite effectively.

By the beginning of World War II, the guns described by us were the most common howitzers in the Red Army. According to various estimates, the total number of such systems reached 5900 (5578) guns. And the completeness of parts and connections was from 90 to 100%!

At the beginning of the war, only in the western districts there were 2,752 122-mm howitzers of the 1910/30 model. But at the beginning of 1942 there were less than 2000 of them (according to some estimates, 1900; there is no exact data).

Such monstrous losses played a negative role in the fate of these honored veterans. Naturally, new production was created for more advanced tools. Such systems were the M-30. They became the main howitzers already in 1942.

But still, at the beginning of 1943, howitzers of the 1910/30 model accounted for more than 20% (1400 pieces) of the total number of such weapons and continued their combat path. And we got to Berlin! Obsolete, splintered, repaired many times, but we got it! Although it is difficult to see them on the victory chronicle. And then they also appeared on the Soviet-Japanese front.

Many authors claim that the 122-mm howitzers of the 1910/30 model were outdated by 1941. And the Red Army was used "for poverty." But a simple but logical question arises: what criteria are used to determine old age?

Yes, these howitzers could not compete with the same M-30, which will be our next story. But the tool performed the assigned tasks with sufficient quality. There is such a term - necessary sufficiency.

So, these howitzers had exactly the required effectiveness. And in many respects the possibility of increasing the M-30 fleet in the Red Army was facilitated by the heroic work of these old but powerful howitzers.