The world's only serial five-turret tank delighted the eye with impressive power. It is not surprising that the T-35 was given the role of a visible embodiment of the power of the USSR. The tank rumbled menacingly in parades and took a place on the medal "For Courage". Real combat use has become a sad fact of the biography of the tank. All released copies were lost in the summer - at the beginning of autumn 1941.
Forcing out the British Mk. V
Until 1924, the heavy tank in the Red Army was exclusively captured English Mk. V, both male (cannon) and female (machine-gun). By that time, the very scheme of a rhombus surrounded by caterpillars was hopelessly outdated, the leadership of the Red Army understood this like no one else - the young Soviet Republic was still surrounded by enemies, and it was necessary to arm, arm and arm again.
Heavy tanks in the USSR were designed to overcome heavily fortified defense lines and break into special fortified structures. The T-35 was intended for the last job.
The decision to equip with several towers was forced due to the level of development of technology and technology at that time. However, armored Serpents Gorynychi appeared on an experimental basis in many European countries - they tried to solve the problem of increasing firepower with a multi-turret. Only the T-35 was put into production. When developing it, they used the solutions "peeped" in England when meeting with the multi-turret Independent, as well as those used by the group of the German designer Grotte, who created the heavy TG-1.
Nevertheless, the firstborn of the Soviet heavy tank building was developed practically from scratch. In 1931, the T-35-1 was manufactured with forty-millimeter armor, three cannons (76 mm and two 37 mm) and three machine guns. Five hundred "horses" of the engine gave a speed of 28 km / h with a power reserve of 150 km. The crew consisted of ten people.
Two years later, a new modification was released, it paraded across Red Square. But the designers worked on another version, the T-35A, and it became serial. Notable for the shape of the towers, dimensions, modified armament and chassis.
In 1933, the T-35A entered service. The production is being established by the Kharkov steam locomotive plant. In 1934, the tank began to be supplied to the active army. The T-35 is constantly being modernized, the engine power grows, the armor becomes thicker, the turrets acquire a conical shape. The mass increased to 55 tons. The armament is located in two tiers. The main turret was armed with a KT-28 cannon, caliber 76, 2 mm. For aiming there is a 1932 periscope and a 1930 telescopic sight. On the right hand side of the gun was the DT machine gun. In the niche of the tower there is a slot for placing the second diesel fuel, the unused slot is covered by an armored damper. There is a machine gun in the stern. On the turret hatch, a diesel fuel was attached to the turret to solve air defense missions. Two small cannon turrets with two 45 mm 20K guns of the 1932 caliber were positioned diagonally. Forty-heels had paired DGs. The 76-mm cannon could fire 96 times, the forty-five-millimeter guns were equipped with 220 shells, the machine guns were fed with 10 thousand rounds.
The total equipment of the T-35 was equal to one T-28 medium tank and two light T-26 tanks. According to indirect data, the treasury cost as much as nine BTs (without specifying the index). For understanding, the BT-5 of 1934 cost 66, 83 thousand rubles; BT-2 1933 - 76, 2 thousand. Prices are given for the production of the Kharkov steam locomotive plant, where the T-35. The production of the heavy five-tower tank was discontinued in 1939. A total of 60 pieces were produced.
The T-35 was commanded by a senior lieutenant. Several heavy tank brigades were formed from the tanks, partly included in the Reserve of the High Command.
Cars don't go on a furious hike
The T-35 did not become a participant in a single conflict of the thirties, where the USSR was noted. In the Winter War, three heavy experimental vehicles fought, preparing to replace the T-35. One of them later became KV.
The T-35 was concentrated on the Soviet-Polish border, and from the first days it repelled the Nazi invasion. The realities of the battles showed that the T-35 was completely unsuitable for field work, the tank was unreliable, the losses from breakdowns were 5 times higher than the combat losses. The main loss of the T-35 is associated with the blasting or burning by their own crews due to fatal breakdowns. The infantry and tankmen of the Wehrmacht marveled a lot at the armored dinosaurs, there are a large number of photographs of T-35 frozen on the roads, simply abandoned by the crews. The five-turret land cruisers did not become any serious force. Several T-35s survived to the defense of Moscow, and the captured T-35 was seen even while defending Berlin.
The story is as follows. A pair of T-35s captured in the summer battles in Ukraine was sent to Vaterland. There one ended his days at the Kumersdorf training ground, shot with new anti-tank weapons. The second was defended in a hangar, from where it was removed during the advance of the Red Army and thrown against the "red hordes". The path of the captured T-35 was interrupted by a shot of a Soviet infantryman from a captured "Faustpatron".
