Battery of 152 mm D-1 howitzers of 1943 model. firing at the defending German troops. Belarus, summer 1944.
A very famous photograph, thanks to the figure of the wounded officer in the foreground.
In Soviet photo albums, the photo is called "Stand to the Death", which seems illogical, since it is suitable for a fierce defense (as, for example, in September-October 1942 in Stalingrad), and in Belarus, Soviet troops did not stand, but attacked, for 2 months, sweeping away the Wehrmacht Army Group "Center" and losing 5 times fewer people than the Germans.
The main purpose of the 152 mm howitzer was the armament of the Red Army for the possibility of overcoming various obstacles by infantry units. The D1 howitzer was required in the corps artillery and RVGK units (part of the reserve). When a 152 mm howitzer gun entered the Soviet troops in 1943-44, one artillery regiment consisted of five artillery batteries. In total, there were 20 guns in the artillery regiment in the state. The D-1 howitzer joined the A-19, ML-20, etc. guns in service. In the RVGK units, the staffs of the artillery units were slightly different:
- howitzer regiment consisted of 48 howitzer guns;
- heavy howitzer brigade consisted of 32 howitzers;
- respectively, brigades and regiments could make up artillery divisions if necessary.
History of creation
According to the armament concept existing in the USSR in the 30s, the 152 mm howitzer, adopted in 1938, was intended to break into the enemy's fortified defenses. However, for a number of reasons, this howitzer was practically not produced either in the pre-war years or at the beginning of the Second World War. It is known that the beginning of work on the creation of a 152 mm howitzer D-1 can be considered the calculations of the design bureau under the leadership of F. Petrov at the end of 1942. Then, preliminary calculations were made to install a 152 mm gun barrel on the carriage part of the M-30 122 mm howitzer. All work was carried out on the enthusiasm of the designers, no orders were received for the development of such a weapon.
Only in mid-April 1943, the State Defense Committee makes a decision on the production of samples of the 152 mm howitzer and the conduct of state tests. The start of testing was required to begin at the beginning of May 1943. And although there were no completely ready-made drawings by that time, the designers made incredible efforts and on April 1, 1943, five ready-made 152 mm howitzers were sent to the test site. In the same month, having successfully passed state tests, the D-1 howitzer was adopted as a 152 mm howitzer of the 1943 model. As F. Petrov noted in his notes, a 152 mm howitzer barrel was placed on the carriage of a 122 mm howitzer, thanks to the use of a muzzle brake in the design.
Howitzer device:
- bed of sliding type;
- breech (breech);
- shield armor plate;
- recoil roller and recoil roller making up recoil devices;
- howitzer barrel;
- muzzle brake;
- wheel travel;
- suspension of the course;
The howitzer carriage consisted of - frame, suspension and wheel travel, the barrel group consisted of a breech, recoil devices, a barrel with a muzzle brake. For quick design and production, howitzers used mechanisms and solutions from other guns:
- gun barrel from a 152 mm howitzer of the 1938 model;
- improved carriage of howitzer caliber 122 mm M-30;
- sighting device from howitzer caliber 122 mm M-30;
- bolt from a 152 mm howitzer model 1937 ML-20.
Thanks to this, the production of guns was able to be adjusted in just 1.5 months. In mid-1943, the howitzer began to enter the Soviet Army reserve units. The set of the howitzer included ammunition - fragmentation, high-explosive fragmentation, concrete-piercing shells. During the war, concrete-piercing ammunition was used even against enemy armored vehicles. High-explosive fragmentation ammunition had a range of 12.4 kilometers, fragmentation action along the front from the crash site of 70 meters, to a depth of 30 meters. High-explosive action - a funnel with a diameter of 3, 5 and a depth of 1, 2 meters.
To increase the mobility and transport capabilities of the howitzer, the traditional front end is abandoned. This made it possible to reduce the weight of the howitzer and the transfer time from one position to another to 120 seconds. Improvements to the carriage, and this also affected the cradle and the suspension and wheel travel, led to an increase in speed characteristics up to 40 km / h. The combat use of the received howitzers took place mainly at the end of the war - in 1944-45. Howitzers were actively used for firing from closed positions against various targets - manpower, fortifications, barriers, tanks, important objects. The D-1 howitzer has established itself as an accurate and reliable assistant. During the war, there were attempts to improve the gun. Designer F. Petrov made a tank modification of the howitzer, replacing the 85 mm gun with 152 mm on the SU-85 self-propelled gun. They even made a prototype of a new self-propelled gun, called the D-15 or SU-D-15. However, the self-propelled gun did not receive further development.
Evaluating the new howitzer, we can say with confidence that it, at least at one time, was not inferior to similar world models, and this despite the fact that it was created in the shortest possible time and from the parts of the guns already in service in the Red Army. For the Soviet Army, this was a howitzer gun, necessary in terms of power, having a good effective range and mobility. After the war, the howitzer became widespread in the Warsaw Treaty countries and friendly states. Some of them made their own upgrades to the Soviet howitzer. It's just a pity that during the Second World War, the howitzer was not produced in a very large series, less than 500 copies were produced per year. The presence of the new howitzer in the units of the Soviet Army had a positive effect on the imminent approach of the great Victory Day.
Main characteristics:
- weight hike / battle - 3.64 / 3.6 tons;
- ground clearance - 37 centimeters;
- barrel calibers / mm - 27.7 / 4207;
- barrel bore calibers / mm - 23.1 / 3527;
- vertical angles - from 63.5 to -3 degrees;
- horizontal angles - 35 degrees;
- line of fire - 124-127.5 centimeters;
- rate of fire of the gun - up to 4 rds / min;
- range of fire - up to 12.4 kilometers;
- the mass of the OFS - 40 kilograms;
- maximum transport speed - up to 40 km / h.
- staffing calculation of the gun - 8 people.
