How the designer Vasily Grabin managed to create a weapon that became the most massive in the history of world artillery
Soviet soldiers, primarily artillerymen of divisional and anti-tank artillery regiments, called her affectionately - "Zosia" for simplicity, obedience and reliability. In other units, for the rate of fire and high combat characteristics, it was known under the popular version of the decoding of the abbreviation in the title - "Stalin salvo". It was she who was most often called simply "Grabin's gun" - and no one needed to explain what specific weapon was in question. And the Wehrmacht soldiers, among whom it was difficult to find someone who would not know this gun by the sound of a shot and a burst and would not be afraid of its rate of fire, this gun was called "Ratsch-Bumm" - "Ratchet".
In the official documents, however, this gun was referred to as the "76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model." It was this gun that was the most massive in the Red Army, and, perhaps, the only one that was used with equal success in both divisional and anti-tank artillery. It was also the world's first artillery piece, the production of which was put on the assembly line. Due to this, it became the most massive cannon in the history of world artillery. In total, 48,016 guns were produced in the USSR in the version of the divisional gun and another 18,601 - in the modification of the self-propelled gun SU-76 and SU-76M. Never again - neither before nor after - have so many units of the same weapon been produced in the world.
This gun - ZIS-3, got its name from the place of its birth and production, the plant named after Stalin (aka Plant No. 92, aka "New Sormovo") in Gorky. She became one of the most recognizable symbols of the Great Patriotic War. Its silhouette is so famous that any Russian person who has barely seen it will immediately understand what era we are talking about. This cannon is found more often than any other Soviet artillery pieces as monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. But none of this could have happened if it were not for the stubbornness and belief in his own righteousness of the creator of the ZIS-3 artillery designer Vasily Grabin.
"Your guns are not needed!"
The ZIS-3 is rightly called legendary - also because the history of its creation is fanned by many legends. One of them says that the first copy of the ZIS-3 went outside the gates of the plant number 92 on the day the war began, June 22, 1941. But, unfortunately, it was not possible to find documentary evidence of this. And it is quite surprising that Vasily Grabin himself does not say a word about such a symbolic coincidence in the fate of his most famous weapon. In his book of memoirs "Weapon of Victory", he writes that on the day the war began, he was in Moscow, where he learned the tragic news from Molotov's radio message. And not a word about the fact that on the same day something significant happened in the fate of the ZIS-3 cannon. But the exit of the first gun outside the gates of the plant is not an event that could have happened in secret from the chief designer.
Vasily Grabin. Photo: RIA Novosti
But it is absolutely certain that exactly one month after the German attack, on July 22, 1941, the divisional gun ZIS-3 was presented in the courtyard of the People's Commissariat of Defense to the Deputy People's Commissar, former head of the Main Artillery Directorate, Marshal Grigory Kulik. And it was he who almost put an end to the fate of the future legend.
Here is what Vasily Grabin himself recalled about this show: “Considering that putting each new gun into gross production and rearmament of the Red Army is a complicated, lengthy and expensive process, I emphasized that in relation to the ZIS-3 everything is solved simply and quickly, because it is a 76-millimeter barrel superimposed on the carriage of the 57-millimeter ZIS-2 anti-tank gun, which is in our bulk production. Therefore, the production of the ZIS-3 will not only not burden the plant, but, on the contrary, will facilitate the matter by the fact that instead of two F-22 USV and ZIS-2 cannons, one will go into production, but with two different barrel pipes. In addition, the ZIS-3 will cost the plant three times less than the F-22 USV. All this taken together will allow the plant to immediately increase the production of divisional guns, which will not only be easier to manufacture, but more convenient to maintain and more reliable. Finishing, I proposed to adopt the ZIS-3 divisional cannon instead of the F-22 USV divisional cannon.
Marshal Kulik wanted to see the ZIS-3 in action. Gorshkov gave the command: "Settlement, to the gun!" People quickly took their places. Various new commands followed. They were carried out just as clearly and quickly. Kulik ordered to roll out the gun to an open position and begin a conventional "firing at tanks." In a matter of minutes, the cannon was ready for battle. Kulik pointed out the appearance of tanks from different directions. Gorshkov's commands sounded (Ivan Gorshkov is one of the leading designers of the Grabinsk design bureau in Gorky. - RP): "Tanks on the left … in front", "tanks on the right … behind." The gun crew worked like a well-oiled mechanism. I thought: "The work of Gorshkov justified itself."
The Marshal praised the calculation for its clarity and speed. Gorshkov gave the command: "Hang up!", ZIS-3 was installed in its original position. After that, many generals and officers approached the gun, grabbed the flywheels of the guidance mechanisms and worked with them, turning the barrel in different directions in azimuth and in the vertical plane."
All the more surprising, the reaction of Marshal Kulik to the results of the demonstration turned out to be impossible for the designer. Although, probably, it could have been predicted, bearing in mind that back in March of the same year, the same Kulik, when Grabin carefully probed the soil about the possibility of starting the production of the ZIS-3, decisively stated that the Red Army does not need new or additional divisional divisions. cannons. But the beginning of the war apparently obliterated the March conversation. And here in the office of the marshal the following scene takes place, which Vasily Grabin literally cites in his book of memoirs "Weapon of Victory":
“Kulik got up. He smiled slightly, looked around the audience and stopped him on me. I appreciated this as a positive sign. Kulik was silent for a while, preparing to express his decision, and said:
- You want the plant to have an easy life, while blood is shed at the front. Your guns are not needed.
He fell silent. It seemed to me that I misheard or he made a slip. I could only say:
- How?
- And so, not needed! Go to the factory and give more of those guns that are in production.
The Marshal continued to stand with the same triumphant air.
I got up from the table and went to the exit. Nobody stopped me, nobody told me anything."
Six years and one night
Perhaps everything would be much simpler if the ZIS-3 was a weapon developed by the Grabin Design Bureau on the instructions of the military. But this cannon was created in the order of the initiative from below. And the main reason for its appearance, as far as one can judge, was the categorical opinion of Vasily Grabin that the Red Army lacks high-quality divisional guns, convenient and easy to manufacture and use. An opinion that was fully confirmed in the first months of the war.
Like everything ingenious, the ZIS-3 was born, one might say, simply. “Some artist (this phrase is attributed to the English painter William Turner. - RP), when asked how long he painted the picture, answered:“All my life and two more hours,”Vasily Grabin wrote later."In the same way, we could say that the ZIS-3 cannon has been worked on for six years (since the formation of our design bureau) and one more night."
Production of ZiS-3 at a military plant. Photo: TASS photo chronicle
The night that Grabin writes about was the night of the first tests of the new gun at the factory range. Figuratively speaking, it was assembled, as a designer, from parts of other guns already produced by the Gorky plant. Carriage - from the 57mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun, which was put into service in March 1941. The barrel is from the F-22 USV divisional gun in service: the semi-finished product was modified for new tasks. Only the muzzle brake was completely new, which was developed from scratch by the designer of the design bureau Ivan Griban in a few days. During the evening, all these parts were collected together, the gun was fired at the range - and the factory workers unanimously decided that there should be a new gun, which received the factory index ZIS-3!
After this fateful decision, the design bureau began to fine-tune the novelty: it was necessary to turn a set of dissimilar parts into a single organism, and then develop documentation for the production of the weapon. This process lasted until the summer of 1941. And then the war said its word in favor of the release of a new weapon.
Knock Stalin
Until the end of 1941, the Red Army lost almost 36.5 thousand field guns in battles with the Wehrmacht, of which a sixth - 6463 units - were 76-mm divisional guns of all models. "More guns, more guns!" - demanded the People's Commissariat of Defense, the General Staff and the Kremlin. The situation was becoming disastrous. On the one hand, the plant named after Stalin, aka No. 92, could not provide a sharp increase in the production of guns already in service - it was very labor-intensive and complex. On the other hand, a technologically simple and suitable for mass production ZIS-3 was ready, but the military leadership did not want to hear about the launch of a new gun instead of the already produced ones.
Here, a small digression is necessary, dedicated to the personality of Vasily Grabin himself. The son of an artilleryman of the Russian Imperial Army, an honors graduate of the Military-Technical Academy of the Red Army in Leningrad, at the end of 1933 he headed the design bureau, created on his initiative on the basis of the Gorky plant No. 92 "New Sormovo". It was this bureau that, in the pre-war years, developed several unique weapons - both field and tank ones - that were put into service. Among them were the ZIS-2 anti-tank gun, the F-34 tank guns on the T-34-76, the S-50, which was used to arm the T-34-85 tanks, and many other systems.
The word “multitude” is the key word here: the Grabin design bureau, like no other, developed new weapons in ten times less time than it was then customary: three months instead of thirty! The reason for this was the principle of unification and reduction in the number of parts and units of guns - the same one that was most clearly embodied in the legendary ZIS-3. Vasily Grabin himself formulated this approach as follows: “Our thesis was as follows: a gun, including each of its units and mechanisms, should be small-link, should consist of the smallest number of parts, but not due to their complication, but due to the most rational constructive scheme, providing simplicity and the least labor intensity during machining and assembly. The design of the parts must be so simple that they can be processed with the simplest fixtures and tools. And one more condition: mechanisms and units must be assembled separately and consist of units, which in turn are assembled independently. The main factor in all the work was the economic requirements with the unconditional preservation of the service and operational qualities of the gun."
The unique capabilities of the Grabin Design Bureau, coupled with Grabin's tenacity (the competitors, whom he had enough, called it stubbornness) in defending his position, allowed the designer to quickly gain trust in the highest echelons of power. Grabin himself recalled that Stalin addressed him directly several times, involving him as the main consultant on complex artillery issues. The ill-wishers of Grabin argued that he simply knew how to give the "father of nations" the necessary remarks in time - that, they say, is the whole reason for Stalin's love.
One way or another, as far as we know, Grabin used his special relationship with the all-powerful General Secretary not for the satisfaction of his own ambitions, but in order to give the army those guns that he was convinced she really needed. And in the fate of the legendary ZIS-3, this stubbornness, or stubbornness, of Grabin and his relationship with Stalin played a decisive role.
"We will accept your gun"
On January 4, 1942, at a meeting of the State Defense Committee, Grabin was in for a real defeat. All his arguments in favor of replacing the pre-war 76-mm divisional guns in the production with the new ZIS-3 by the secretary general were brusquely and unconditionally swept aside. It got to the point that, as the designer recalled, Stalin grabbed a chair by the back and slammed his feet on the floor: “You have a design itch, you want to change and change everything! Work as you did before! " And the next day, the chairman of the State Defense Committee called Grabin with the words: “You are right … What you have done cannot be immediately understood and appreciated. Moreover, will they understand you in the near future? After all, what you have done is a revolution in technology. The Central Committee, the State Defense Committee and I highly appreciate your achievements. Calmly finish what you have started. " And then the designer, who had gathered the impudence, once again told Stalin about the new cannon and asked permission to show him the weapon. He, as Grabin recalls, reluctantly, but agreed.
The show took place the next day in the Kremlin. Vasily Grabin himself best described how it happened in his book "The Weapon of Victory":
“Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov and other members of the State Defense Committee came for inspection, accompanied by marshals, generals, senior officials of the People's Commissariat of Defense and the People's Commissariat of Armaments. Everyone was dressed warmly, except for Stalin. He went out light - in a cap, greatcoat and boots. And the day was unusually frosty. This worried me: in the bitter frost, it is impossible to carefully examine the new gun in such light clothes.
Everyone except me reported on the gun. I just made sure that someone did not confuse anything. Time passed, and there was no end in sight to the explanations. But then Stalin moved away from the others and stopped at the cannon's shield. I approached him, but did not manage to utter a word, as he asked Voronov (Colonel-General Nikolai Voronov, chief of artillery of the Red Army. - RP) to work on the guidance mechanisms. Voronov took hold of the flywheel handles and began to rotate them diligently. The top of his hat was visible above the shield. “Yes, the shield is not for Voronov's height,” I thought. At this time, Stalin raised his hand with outstretched fingers, except for the thumb and little finger, which were pressed to the palm, and turned to me:
- Comrade Grabin, the lives of the soldiers must be protected. Increase the height of the shield.
He did not have time to say how much to increase, when he immediately found a "good advisor":
- Forty centimeters.
- No, just three fingers, it's Grabin and he sees well.
After finishing the inspection, which lasted several hours - during this time everyone got acquainted not only with the mechanisms, but even with some details - Stalin said:
“This cannon is a masterpiece in the design of artillery systems. Why didn't you give such a beautiful gun before?
“We were not yet prepared to deal with constructive issues in this way,” I replied.
- Yes, that's right … We will accept your gun, let the military test it.
Many of those present were well aware that there were at least a thousand ZIS-3 cannons at the front and that the army appreciated them highly, but no one said this. I was silent too."
Triumph of will in Soviet style
After such a triumph and the unambiguously expressed will of the leader, the tests turned into a mere formality. A month later, on February 12, the ZIS-3 was put into service. Formally, it was from that day that her front-line service began. But it was not by chance that Grabin recalled the “thousand ZIS-3 cannons” that had already fought by that time. These cannons were assembled, one might say, by smuggling: only a few people knew that the assembly contained not serial samples, but something new. The only "treacherous" detail - the muzzle brake, which other produced guns did not have - was made in the experimental workshop, which did not surprise anyone. And on the finished barrels, almost no different from the barrels for other weapons and lying on the carriages of the ZIS-2, they were placed late in the evening, with a minimum number of witnesses.
But when the gun had already officially entered service, it was necessary to fulfill the promise given by the leadership of the design bureau and the plant: to increase the production of guns by 18 times! And, oddly enough to hear it today, the designer and director of the plant kept their word. Already in 1942, the release of guns increased 15 times and continued to increase. It is best to judge this by the dry numbers of statistics. In 1942, the Stalin plant produced 10 139 ZIS-3 guns, in 1943 - 12 269, in 1944 - 13 215, and in the victorious 1945 - 6005 guns.
ZiS-3 during a battle on the territory of the Krasny Oktyabr plant in Stalingrad. Photo: TASS photo chronicle
About how such a production miracle turned out to be possible can be judged from two episodes. Each of them very clearly demonstrates the capabilities and enthusiasm of the KB and plant workers.
As Grabin recalled, one of the most difficult operations in the production of the ZIS-3 was cutting the window under the bolt wedge - there was a faster wedge bolt on the gun. This was done on slotting machines by workers of the highest qualifications, as a rule, by already gray-haired craftsmen, who already had no marriage. But there were not enough machine tools and craftsmen to increase the production of weapons. And then it was decided to replace the slotting with a broach, and the broaching machines at the plant were developed by themselves and in the shortest possible time. “For the broaching machine, they began to prepare a worker of the third category, in the recent past a housewife,” Vasily Grabin later recalled. - The preparation was purely theoretical, because the machine itself was not yet operational. The old men grooving, while debugging and mastering the machine, looked at it ironically and secretly laughed. But they didn't have to chuckle for long. As soon as the first usable breeches were received, they were alarmed in earnest. And when the former housewife began to issue one breech after another, and without marriage, it finally shocked them. They doubled the output, but still could not keep up with the broach. Old men grooving with admiration looked at the broach, despite the fact that she "ate" them."
And the second episode concerns the trademark distinction of the ZIS-3 - the characteristic muzzle brake. Traditionally, this part, experiencing colossal loads at the time of the shot, was done as follows: the workpiece was forged, and then highly skilled workers processed it for 30 (!) Hours. But in the fall of 1942, Professor Mikhail Struselba, who had just been appointed to the post of deputy director of plant No. 92 for metallurgical production, proposed casting a muzzle brake blank using a chill mold - a reusable expandable mold. The processing of such a casting took only 30 minutes - 60 times less time! In Germany, this method was never mastered until the end of the war, continuing to forge muzzle brakes in the old fashioned way.
Forever in the ranks
In Russian military museums there are more than a dozen copies of the legendary ZIS-3 cannon. On account of some of them - 6-9 thousand kilometers each, traversed along the roads of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and European countries, dozens of destroyed tanks and pillboxes, hundreds of soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht. And this is not surprising at all, given the reliability and unpretentiousness of these guns.
Padded gun ZiS-3. Photo: dishmodels.ru
And more about the role of the ZIS-3 76-mm divisional gun in the Great Patriotic War. In 1943, this gun became the main one both in divisional artillery and in anti-tank artillery regiments, where it was a regular gun. Suffice it to say that in 1942 and 1943, 8143 and 8993 guns were supplied to anti-tank artillery, and 2005 and 4931 guns, respectively, to divisional artillery, and only in 1944 the ratio becomes approximately equal.
The post-war fate of the ZIS-3 was also surprisingly long. Its production was discontinued immediately after the Victory, and a year later the 85-mm divisional gun D-44 was adopted, which replaced it. But, despite the appearance of a new cannon, the Zosya, which had proven itself on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, was in service for more than a dozen years - however, not at home, but abroad. A considerable part of these weapons were transferred to the armies of the "fraternal socialist countries" who used them themselves (for example, in Yugoslavia, this weapon fought until the end of the Balkan wars of modern times) and sold to third countries in need of cheap but reliable weapons. So even today, in a video chronicle of hostilities somewhere in Asia or Africa, you can no, no, and even notice the characteristic silhouette of the ZIS-3. But for Russia, this cannon was and will remain one of the main symbols of the Victory. Victory, at the cost of an unprecedented strain of strength and courage both at the front and in the rear, where the victors' weapons were forged.
