The submarine of the engineering troops. Part 1

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

Part one. Unusual quest

In 1957, General Viktor Kondratyevich Kharchenko, the head of the engineering committee of the CA Engineer Troops, arrived at the Kryukov Carriage Works. There was nothing unusual in this - from 1951 to 1953 V. Kharchenko was the head of the Scientific Research Institute of Engineering Troops. It was with this organization that the specialists of the plant worked closely (more precisely, department 50, and since 1956 - department of the chief designer No. 2 (OGK - 2).

Viktor Kondratyevich was the same age as the plant director Ivan Mitrofanovich Prikhodko, went through the entire war, fought on many fronts as part of engineering units. He knew the engineering troops, their problems and needs firsthand. He was a supporter of equipping them with new technology, engineering weapons.

Victor Kondratyevich Kharchenko

Director of the Kryukov plant Ivan Prikhodko

No one was surprised when Ivan Mitrofanovich invited the chief designer Yevgeny Lenzius and the group leaders to his office for a meeting. Those invited to the office saw Prikhodko and Kharchenko there, who looked like conspirators. It was evident that they knew something that everyone else did not know. After the greeting, Kharchenko said that the latest work of the plant workers in the field of amphibious vehicles evokes respect and delight (it was about the floating transporter K-61 and the self-propelled ferry GSP-55 designed by Anatoly Kravtsev).

Floating conveyor K - 61

Self-propelled tracked ferry GSP. Consists of two semi-ferries that combine on the water into one large ferry

“But you are capable of more,” continued Viktor Kondratyevich. - I am authorized to convey to you the proposal of the command of the engineering troops: to create a new machine - an underwater one. Rather, one that could swim not only on water, but also walk under water. A car that could scout the bottom of the water barrier for the subsequent crossing along the bottom of the reservoir. Further, the marshal explained that at the last exercises in the Kiev military district, the equipment of tanks for underwater driving was checked.

It turned out that the passage of tanks along the bottom is a very difficult and risky event: the drivers did not know the characteristics of the bottom, namely: what is the density of the soil, solid or muddy. Difficulties were also with the bottom topography: on many rivers there are whirlpools, underwater pits, etc., etc. In wartime, such a task looks even more difficult: the bottom can be mined, and carry out some work at gunpoint of the enemy - Not sure it's going to happen.

“So this is no longer a floating vehicle, but a submarine,” said Viktor Lysenko, deputy. the main constructor ().

Viktor Lysenko

- Practically, yes, - Kharchenko answered. - We have a lot of wishes about the new car. She must be able to swim on the surface of the reservoir and at the same time be able to determine and record the bottom profile with a depth mark. It must be armored and armed. It would be great if the crew could conduct reconnaissance secretly from the enemy: they could dive at the right moment, that is, dive to the bottom, move there both with the help of a diesel engine and autonomously on an electric motor from batteries, surface and go ashore. And the scout must also determine the density of the soil at the bottom in order to know whether the tanks will pass here or not. Obviously, the crew will include a diver. So you need to be able to get it out underwater. The bottom can be mined: the scout needs a mine detector.

They talked for a long time, clarifying what the scout "must be able to do". There are many unanswered questions. But one thing was clear: this was not just a conversation, this was a new and important task for designers.

A few days later, preliminary studies were carried out in the design department and presented to the customer. After that, a government decree was issued on the assignment of design and development work to the Kryukov Carriage Works.

The department of the chief designer-2 (OGK-2) started work. The amphibious tank PT-76 was taken as the base vehicle for the underwater engineer reconnaissance engineer (IPR-75). Internal gearboxes and water cannons were used. The onboard transmission and chassis were used both with the PT-76 and the tracked self-propelled ferry GSP - 55.

Floating tank PT-76, general view and internal structure

Determining the shape of the car's body turned out to be a daunting task. After all, she had to work on rivers at a current speed of up to 1.5 m / s. …

To determine the shape of the hull, the plant entered into an agreement with Moscow State University to conduct research on the behavior of a machine in water. At first, such experiments were carried out: the floating conveyor PTS-65 (the future floating tracked conveyor PTS) was sewn up, loaded with ballast and a fast flow was simulated. At the same time, the car became, as they say, on its hind legs. A different form was needed.

For this, a special tray was built in the laboratory through which water was driven at the required speed. In this thread, we tested different models of body shapes. According to the memoirs of the chief designer Yevgeny Lenzius, with the help of calculations and practical experiments, it was possible to choose the optimal shape of the body, which allowed the machine to be stable at any current strength. The work lasted more than a year and Moscow scientists even defended several dissertations on this topic.

Chief designer of the floating machines of the Kryukov plant Yevgeny Lenzius (left) in his office

To complete the scout with everything necessary, the organizations that developed and supplied the mine detector, periscope and other equipment were connected. The main consultant for the development of the machine was the Gorky Design Bureau for submarines "Lazurit". With its help, a scheme for dividing the hull into water-permeable and waterproof compartments was developed, a solution was found for the placement of ballast tanks, a scheme for filling and emptying them. The Kingstons ensured the ingress of water into the flooded compartments during the dive. The car had a supply of compressed air for the crew to work under water. In the absence of experience in welding armored hulls, it was decided to make the hull from structural steel in compliance with the thickness of the armor.

The prototype RPS-75 was manufactured in 1966. The machine was able to swim, walk on the bottom, submerge and ascend, determine the characteristics of the bottom of a water obstacle with an echo sounder. It moved along the bottom of the reservoir using a diesel engine (RDP system) at a depth of up to 10 m. When the depth reached more than 10 m, a special float closed the pipe from above, automatically stopped the engine and turned on an electric drive from batteries, which ensured operation under water for up to 4 hours.

But the reconnaissance aircraft did not enter the series, because it had a significant drawback: silver-zinc batteries emitted a lot of hydrogen, and therefore were very fire hazardous. In addition, due to the presence of water-permeable volumes in the hull, open for filling with water afloat and under water, the machine has lost its buoyancy and negative buoyancy *, i.e., underwater weight. Under water, she dolphin - jumped.

Thus, the idea, like in a submarine, proposed by the Lazurit Design Bureau, was not suitable here. But the Krukov designers had to go through this in order to find their own more optimal solution. The Commission recommended to clarify the technical and economic requirements for subsequent design. When compiling them, it was decided to equip the underwater reconnaissance with instruments and equipment that were mass-produced and put into service.

Thus, in the design bureau of the plant, the machine was being improved. It dealt with many aspects, including the booking of the car. At that time, the designers were considering the use of two types of armor - 2P and 54. It became obvious: if the car was made of 2P armor, then heat treatment of the entire hull would be required. This will require an oven to fit the entire body. There was only one such furnace in the camp - at the Izhora plant in Leningrad. But the residents of Kryukov did not receive permission to use it. Then it was decided to use armor plates of mark 54. They could be heat-treated, but after that quick welding of the hull was required so that the metal would not warp and lead. The whole body had to be welded in a day. To speed up the work, large subassemblies were made, and then the entire body was welded into a single whole.

When developing the base of the new vehicle, the experience of developing an infantry fighting vehicle - BMP was studied. It was just being created at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. The use of the transmission and chassis of the BMP was agreed with the developer. Thus, more progressive transmission, suspension and engine were agreed upon in comparison with the PT-76 tank.

BMP-1, the basic vehicle for the underwater reconnaissance

At the same time, the depth of the reservoir was increased, along the bottom of which the car could walk with the engine running. There were no so-called permeable containers in the scout, which made it possible to increase the weight of the machine when working under water. As a result, the car could move on land, float on water, dive both from the shore and while moving on water, move along the bottom of the reservoir due to the engine operation system under water - RDP. It could receive and release a diver, had a wide-grip mine detector and a device for measuring soil density, an echo sounder for measuring depths, and a hydrocompass for moving under water. The defensive armament consisted of a machine gun in a special turret.

View of the IPR - 75 from above. On the longitudinal axis of the body, the RDP rod is clearly visible

Underwater scout drawing (top and left side view)

Machine gun turret

The mine detector of an underwater reconnaissance was developed in a special design bureau of the city of Tomsk and provided a search for mines of the TM-57 type at a distance of 1.5 m from the vehicle at a depth of up to 30 cm in the ground. The width of the tested strip is 3, 6 m. The mine detector itself is located on a remote rod above the level land at a height of 0.5 m. With the help of a tracking device, the ground relief was copied. If the device detected an obstacle, a signal was sent to "hitchhiking", and the car stopped (a system similar to the DIM mine detector).

View of the right search element of the underwater reconnaissance mine detector

The sapper (diver) then clarifies the location of the mine and decides to remove or neutralize the mine. In the transport position, 2 mine detectors were located in the upper part of the hull along the vehicle. When searching for mines, they were transferred to the working position in front of the machine using hydraulics.

The Kazan Optical and Mechanical Plant developed a special periscope for the reconnaissance officer. The barrel of the periscope in the raised position was at eye level of the vehicle commander, and at the same time protruded a meter above the body of the vehicle. The periscope worked when the car was going at a shallow depth. At a depth of more than 1 m, it was retracted into the hull. The underwater reconnaissance body was divided into 2 parts by a sealed partition. In front were the crew and the airlock. The stern contains the engine, transmission and other systems. The layout of the car was so dense that the designers themselves wondered how they could squeeze so many devices and functions into it.

Longitudinal section of the IPR-75 body

The airlock was a compartment with kingstones at the top and bottom. From above, air is supplied or displaced. The camera is located in the crew compartment and is sealed from it. The scout is equipped with two hatches: the side hatches for entering (exiting) the crew compartment, and the top hatches on the roof of the vehicle, for getting out of the vehicle. Both hatches are hermetically sealed.

The passage by tanks of a water barrier along the bottom depends on the condition and density of the soil. There are soils with a dense upper shell, under which there are soft, weakly bearing layers. In such cases, the tracks of the tanks tear off the top layer, begin to slip, burrowing deeper and deeper under their weight. The same picture is observed when the soil is muddy. Therefore, the designers have developed a special mechanical device, which, without leaving the crew from the car, would give information about the bearing capacity of the soil. The device was called a penetrometer. There were no analogues to him in the world. Structurally, the device consisted of a hydraulic cylinder and a rod. The bar moved inside and could rotate around its axis. When determining the permeability of the soil, the fluid pressure was transmitted into the cylinder, and the rod was pressed into the soil, and then turned around its axis. Thus, the density of the soil and its bearing capacity for shear were checked.

For self-defense, the scout was armed with a serial PKB 7, 62 mm machine gun designed by M. Kalashnikov. By the way, Mikhail Timofeevich himself came to the plant to get acquainted with the machine and how and where his machine gun would be installed. Since the car went under water, a waterproof tower structure was required. But how can this be ensured? The solution was found quickly and simply - the machine gun was mounted on the turret of the turret, and the barrel was placed in a special casing, which was welded to the turret and had a plug at the end. She also provided sealing when working under water. When firing, the cap opened automatically. The tower itself could rotate 30 degrees in each direction relative to the vehicle axis.

Machine gun cover open

The body of the vehicle was made of armored steel, the crew compartment was protected from penetrating radiation. The scout had water propellers, consisting of screws in nozzles (right and left, respectively), which were located on land at the top of the car, and when entering the water, they were lowered on the sides.

Side and rear view of the propellers

IPR provides the following intelligence:

1. About the water barrier - the width, depth, current speed, the permeability of the bottom of the water barrier for tanks, the presence of anti-landing and anti-tank mines in metal hulls at the bottom.

2. About traffic routes and terrain - terrain passability, carrying capacity and other parameters of bridges, presence and depth of fords, presence of mine-explosive and non-explosive barriers, terrain slopes, soil bearing capacity, contamination of the terrain with toxic substances, levels of radioactive contamination of the terrain.

The crew of the vehicle consisted of 3 people: a commander-operator, a driver-mechanic and a reconnaissance diver. All of them were in the department of management. The airlock had an exit to the control compartment and to the outside and served for the scout diver's exit from the IPR in a submerged position, because when the MVZ was detected with the help of the RShM (river wide-grip mine detector), it was not possible to neutralize them without leaving the IPR. Therefore, when the MVZ was detected, the scout diver left the IPR through the airlock, with the help of a manual mine detector, carried out additional reconnaissance and neutralization of the MVZ and returned to the IPR, after which the scout continued to work.

During the tests of the underwater reconnaissance, like other new machines, there were many interesting, curious and dangerous cases. Evgeny Shlemin, deputy head of the experimental department, recalls such a case. A team of testers on an underwater reconnaissance aircraft RPS and a floating transporter PTS left for the Dnieper. The cars entered the water and headed to the place where the required depth was. The scout was managed by Ivan Perebeinos. He had to dive to a depth of about 8 m. Yevgeny Shlemin and his comrades at the PTS were in touch and on safety. RPS - the car is quiet, imperceptible: dived - and neither hearing nor spirit. And who knows for whom it is more difficult: for someone who risks a car and himself under water, or someone who is in the dark above.

Tester Ivan Perebeinos

Suddenly we received an alarming message over the connection: "Fire!" Shlemin ordered the assistant to turn on the winch, and the transporter directed it to the shore. Soon the scout emerged from the water, and smoke was pouring from the battery compartment. When they went ashore, they opened the hatch. A grimy but smiling Perebeinos emerged from it. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief: "Alive!" As it turned out later, the fire broke out due to the fact that the battery compartment was overfilled with hydrogen, which was abundantly emitted by silver-zinc batteries (later they were replaced with more reliable ones).

Another time, one of the test participants lost a wristwatch on the shore. At that time, not everyone had them, but the thing was valuable and necessary. Then Viktor Golovnya, responsible for the tests, suggested looking for them with the help of a mine detector that was included in the equipment set. The loss was quickly found, thereby confirming the high efficiency of the new machine and its equipment.

At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, the underwater reconnaissance engineer was a truly extraordinary machine. Once a demonstration of new engineering equipment was held at the Kubinka training ground. It was attended by high officials led by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev. First, they showed the process of assembling the bridge from the links of the PMP park.

- I must admit, - recalls the chief designer Evgeny Lenzius, who was at the show, - it was a spectacular sight. A lot of technology, people, all actions are clear, well-oiled. In less than half an hour, the bridge was ready, and tanks started to cross it.

Then they showed an underwater scout. The car carefully approached the water, entered it and swam. And suddenly, in front of everyone, she went under the water.

- Drowned ?! - the spectators were alarmed.

However, the generals were told that it was so conceived. A few minutes later, a periscope appeared over the water. Soon the car itself drove ashore about 200 meters from the dive site. The scout, like a dog that got out of the water, splashed in all directions with fountains of water from the ballast tanks and stopped. Everyone in the audience applauded. It became clear that the car had been given the green light.

The first few prototypes were manufactured at the Kryukov Carriage Works. Then they passed field tests on land, on water and under water. After all stages of testing in 1972, the vehicle (product "78") was adopted by the engineering troops. The documentation for the car was soon transferred to the Muromteplovoz plant in the city of Murom, Vladimir region, where, in 1973, the serial production of the IPR began.