Many of our compatriots, mainly, of course, from among the older generation, remember the wonderful film created in the late 60s about the Great Patriotic War under the telling title "War as in War", where a short and tragic page from life was shown quite reliably one of the crews of the SU-85 self-propelled artillery mount. What kind of military equipment was it, which, due to their ignorance, many civilians often call mainly a tank, and experts call it simply and briefly "SPG"?
ACS SU-152 of Major Sankovsky - commander of one of the batteries of the ACS of the 13th Army. Its crew destroyed 10 enemy tanks in the first battle during the Battle of Kursk [/center]
Yes, the self-propelled guns are really the tank's sister, but, nevertheless, this is far from a tank, the self-propelled gun does not have a turret and such a powerful reservation as a tank, and the tactics of using an self-propelled gun itself also differs from a tank one, according to the military manuals of that time, the main tasks of self-propelled guns there was artillery fire support for its troops from closed firing positions, the fight against enemy tanks and direct fire support of the infantry on the battlefield, firing direct fire, in fact, it also happened that self-propelled guns were thrown into battle just like tanks, due to the absence or lack of the latter.
The main advantage of the self-propelled guns is its gun, and the guns of the self-propelled guns were much more powerful than tank guns and had a much greater firing range, thus, being tankers in terms of service conditions and some similar features of actions in battle, nevertheless, the units and subdivisions of the self-propelled guns belonged to years of the Second World War to artillery, and even now they are. After the war, in the Soviet Army, officers for self-propelled artillery, taking into account the specifics of this weapon, were trained in a special separate artillery school in the city of Sumy in Ukraine.
At the beginning of the war, the Red Army practically did not have self-propelled guns in its armament, so there were some almost prototypes and nothing more, but the Germans had complete order in this matter, at the beginning of the invasion of the territory of the USSR they already had the so-called assault guns StuG. Sturmgeshütz, which was the main and most massive self-propelled gun of the German army, from 1940 to 1945, the Germans produced and sent 8636 of these self-propelled guns to the troops, most of them armed with 75-mm guns. It is also known from German sources that it was these self-propelled guns that they had the main anti-tank weapon and the main means of supporting the infantry on the battlefield, the same German sources claim that almost 20 thousand Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns were destroyed during the entire war with the help of these assaults, figure huge and, apparently, it is close to reality.
They had many other types of self-propelled guns and assault guns, but their number was not so significant compared to assaults, and the production of the most advanced remakes such as "Ferdinands-Elephant", "Jagdpanther" and "Jagdtigers" was generally a piece of equipment among the Germans, otherwise and did fit the definition of prototypes.
German heavy self-propelled guns "Jagdpanther" on the march in the French city of Burgteruld-Enfreville
German heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtigr" from the 653rd battalion of tank destroyers, abandoned by the Germans in Neustadt (Neustadt an der Weinstraße)
Assault gun StuG III Ausf. F 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht near Kharkov
All these assaults from the Germans were consolidated into battalions, each of which included three batteries, each containing 6 such assault guns, and in total the German tank forces at the initial stage of the war had 6 StuG battalions, which consisted of only 108 guns. They were all dispersed as part of the North, Center and South armies. Having a rather low size and having received, after the next modernization, a long-barreled 75 mm gun and protective side screens, this assault gun quite successfully and very effectively fought against Soviet tanks, even against the T-34 and KV, carefully sneaking up, skillfully using the folds of the terrain, German assaults, unable to take a Soviet medium tank head-on, as if bumblebees stung and hit it in the stern and sides, thus incapacitating not only the T-34, but also the KV, smashing the last track, but it was still a self-propelled gun for direct infantry support, even her ammo and that 80% consisted of fragmentation shells.
Our first self-propelled guns, finally, appeared only at the beginning of 1943 - this is the famous SU-76M, it was intended for fire support of infantry on the battlefield and was used as a light assault gun or tank destroyer. The vehicle turned out to be so successful that it almost completely replaced all light tanks, which in the initial period of the war so unsuccessfully supported our infantry on the battlefield.
Soviet self-propelled artillery mounts SU-76M in Vienna, Austria
Soviet infantry with the support of ACS SU-76 attacking German positions in the Konigsberg area
In total, 360 SU-76s and 13292 SU-76Ms were produced during the war years, which amounted to almost 60% of the production of all self-propelled artillery during the Great Patriotic War.
The SU-76 received its baptism of fire at the Kursk Bulge, the main armament of this ACS was its ZIS-3 universal divisional gun.
The sub-caliber projectile of this gun at a distance of half a kilometer was able to penetrate armor up to 91 mm thick, so this gun could hit any place in the hull of German medium tanks, as well as the sides of the "Tigers" and "Panthers", but only from a distance of no further than at 500 meters, therefore, in order to hit a German tank, the crew first had to choose a good position, disguise themselves, and after several shots, immediately leave it and move to a spare one, otherwise they would not survive, it was not for nothing that the soldiers gave the nickname to their weapon “Death to the enemy, kaput the calculation! " So they fought, the infantry fell in love with this simple machine, since it is always calmer to go on the attack when a tank cannon crawls next to you, ready at any moment to suppress the revived firing point, or even to repulse the attack of tanks.
These self-propelled guns showed themselves especially well during the assault on populated areas, where there were many ruins and limited passages, where tanks and more powerful self-propelled guns could not pass because of their size, and fire support for the infantry, oh, as was necessary here on as always, the ubiquitous and irreplaceable SU-76 came to the infantry.
This miracle weapon did not have a roof, but this, on the contrary, was a big plus, since the conning tower had an excellent view of the battlefield, and if necessary, it was possible to easily leave the wrecked car, so that during the rain the fighters covered their control system from above instead of the roof with a tarpaulin top like a convertible, inside there was always a DT machine gun, ammo shells for guns, personal weapons and personal belongings of the crew, dry rations and, of course, a photo of the beloved girl of the SPG driver, usually attached to the side wall near the dashboard.
With all the positive qualities of this Soviet assault weapon, war is war, according to the recollections of the front-line soldiers, because of their gasoline engines, when hit by enemy shells, these SU-76s burned quickly and brightly, the main thing was to quickly jump out of the SPG, if, of course, you were lucky, you survived and you can run away to the side, otherwise you will suffer from the explosion of your own BC. During a battle in the city of self-propelled gunners, the SU-76 was waiting for another attack, it was necessary to constantly twist around his head at all 360 degrees, otherwise some snotty Volkssturmist could easily throw one or several grenades from the window of the house directly into the conning tower, if, Of course, you miss and you will not have time to shoot him in time, otherwise there will be trouble, the BC may explode and again everyone will need to jump out of the car, such are the harsh realities of war.
By the spring of 1943, the Soviet command came to the disappointing conclusion that the Red Army did not have, now it turns out that tanks and other anti-tank weapons capable of reliably hitting the German BTT from a distance of more than 500 meters, carried away by the number, our tank builders completely forgot about the quality and further improvement of their armored vehicles, and the Germans, it turns out, did not sit with folded hands, but, having made the right conclusions over the past two years of the war, carried out a significant modernization of all the armored vehicles they had at that time, plus, in addition, they also developed new more powerful and modern types of tanks and self-propelled guns. As a result, the tank forces of the Red Army had to go into battle near Kursk with what they had at that time in their armament, and this is mainly on the T-34-76, KV, and even with a bunch of different light tanks such as T-70, etc.. NS.
Commander-in-Chief I. V. Stalin personally examines the "Hypericum" SU-152
Soviet self-propelled artillery mounts SU-152 at a firing position. Western front
The Soviet heavy self-propelled artillery unit SU-152 moves to a new position. 2nd Baltic Front, 1944
The interior of the SPG SU-152. In the foreground is the massive breech of the 152-mm ML-20 howitzer cannon with an open piston bolt. Behind her, at his workplace, is the commander of the vehicle, in front of the open landing hatch of which a PTK-4 panorama is installed. Kursk Bulge
By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, only a few separate heavy self-propelled regiments (OTSAP) SU-152 had been delivered to the troops. Each such regiment was armed with 21 self-propelled guns, consisting of 4 batteries of 5 vehicles, plus one commander. These heavy self-propelled guns were intended mainly for the destruction of field and long-term fortifications, fighting tanks at long distances, and supporting infantry and tanks in the offensive. Only these self-propelled guns were able to fight on equal terms with all types of German tanks.
Acting on the defensive, mainly from ambushes, the SU-152s showed that there is no enemy equipment that they could not destroy. 152-mm armor-piercing shells broke the German medium tanks Pz Kpfw T-III and Pz Kpfw T-IV, the armor of the new "Tigers" and "Panthers" also could not oppose anything to these shells. Often, in the absence of armor-piercing shells, high-explosive or concrete-piercing shells were fired at enemy tanks. When it hit the turret, a high-explosive projectile tore it off the shoulder strap. There were times when these towers literally flew in the air. Finally, the SU-152 was the only Soviet combat vehicle capable of successfully countering the formidable German self-propelled gun Ferdinand, or, as it was also called, the Elephant. What was this monster about which there were so many legends and rumors?
So, from German sources it is known that he was armed with an 88-mm rifled gun, his ammunition unit consisted of 50-55 armor-piercing shells weighing 10, 16 kg and an initial speed of 1000 m / s, which pierced at a distance of 1000 m 165 -mm armor, and a sub-caliber projectile of this ACS weighing 7.5 kg and an initial speed of 1130 m / s - pierced 193-mm armor, which ensured "Ferdinand" unconditional defeat of any of the then existing tanks, the frontal armor of the elephant itself reached 200 mm.
German self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" on the Kursk Bulge
German heavy self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" and its crew
The set on fire German self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" is on fire. Kursk Bulge area
Fortunately for us, the Germans did not have a lot of such miraculous weapons near Kursk, only two divisions, in one at the beginning of the battle there were 45, and in the second - 44 "Ferdinand", a total of only 89 units. Both divisions were in the operational subordination of the 41st Panzer Corps and took part in heavy battles on the northern face of the Kursk Bulge against Rokossovsky's troops in the area of Ponyri station and the village of Teploe, so the stories about hundreds of Ferdinads-Elephant fighters who fought are a myth and nothing more.
According to the results of a survey by representatives of the GAU and NIBT of the Red Army Polygon immediately after the end of the main phase of the battle on July 15, 1943, it is known that most of the Ferdinands were blown up in minefields, and a total of 21 units were found. damaged and knocked out, of which five had damage to the undercarriage caused by hits from shells with a caliber of 76 mm or more. In two German self-propelled guns, the barrels of the guns were shot through by shells and bullets of anti-tank rifles. One car was destroyed even by a direct hit from an aerial bomb, and another was destroyed by a 203-mm howitzer shell hitting the roof of the wheelhouse.
And only one German monster of this type received a hole in its side in the area of the drive wheel directly from the fire of tanks, as it turned out, during the battle, seven T-34 tanks and a whole battery of 76-mm guns were continuously firing at it from different directions at once. it turns out that one elephant fought against almost a company of tanks and a battery of anti-tank equipment? And it was the other way around, this was when one "Ferdinand", which had no damage to the hull and chassis, was set on fire with just an ordinary Molotov cocktail thrown by our infantrymen, a successful throw with a penny bottle and a combat vehicle worth several million German Reichmarks was turned into a heap gland.
The only worthy opponent of heavy German self-propelled guns on the Kursk fields was the Soviet SU-152 "St. John's Wort". It was the regiment of our "Hunters" SU-152 that met the attacking "Ferdinands" of the 653rd division on July 8, 1943, knocking out four enemy vehicles. "St. John's Wort" was inferior to "Ferdinand" in rate of fire and armor, so the German crew managed to fire two or even all three shots, since the shells of the German self-propelled guns weighed from 7, 5 to 16 kg, and we weighed all 43 kg! !!, Those who served in tankers know how it is not easy to manually load a 115-mm or even 100-mm tank cannon, get a shell from the ammunition rack and then send it to the breech of the gun, and all this in a closed, dark and confined space BO, and what it was like for the SU-152 loader, he had to first put the projectile into the tray, then the charge, the ammunition at the gun of this SU was separate, and only after all these manipulations it was possible to send a ready artillery shot into the breech of the gun, and gunner to find a target, aim and fire a shot so that, unfortunately, our self-propelled guns did not always have time to respond to a shot in time, but a forty-kilogram projectile of any type, successfully launched from the SU-152, and later from the ISU-152, hit everything and everyone, even high-explosive the projectile sent to the same "Ferdinand", without piercing its armor, nevertheless, was able to shake it to the ground, the gun of the German self-propelled guns tore off the mounts, and the crew lost the ability to navigate in space, there was only one thing to do, it was to send this elephant to repairs in the Reich, and the crew, either in a hospital or in a madhouse.
Heavy assault gun "Ferdinand", hull number "723" from the 654th division (battalion), knocked out in the area of the state farm "1st May". Shell hits destroyed the caterpillar and jammed the weapon. The vehicle was part of the "strike group of Major Kal" as part of the 505th heavy tank battalion of the 654th division
In total, in July - August 1943, the Germans lost 39 Ferdinands. The last trophies went to the Red Army already on the outskirts of Orel - at the railway station several damaged Elephants prepared for evacuation were captured.
The first battles with "Ferdinand" on the Kursk Bulge were, in fact, the last, where these self-propelled guns were used in large numbers. From a tactical point of view, their use left much to be desired. Created for the destruction of Soviet medium and heavy tanks at long distances, the Germans used them only as an advanced "armor shield", blindly ramming engineering barriers and anti-tank defenses, while suffering heavy losses, thus, it turned out that the Germans themselves were and did not understand how it is necessary to correctly apply this modern, expensive and very powerful weapon of that time.
But still more powerful than an elephant, the most powerful anti-tank weapon of the Second World War was recognized as the German tank destroyer, the so-called "Jagdtigr", it was created on the basis of the T-VI "Royal Tiger" tank. The armament of the tank destroyer was a 128-mm semi-automatic anti-aircraft gun, the Jagdtigr could hit enemy tanks at a distance of almost 2,500 meters !!! The armor of the tank destroyer was very strong, for example, the frontal armor of the hull reached 150 mm, and the cabin was almost 250 mm !!! side walls of the hull and deckhouse - 80 mm. The release of this machine began in mid-1944, but there were not many such monsters, literally pieces, so, in March 1945. against our allies on the Western Front there were only a little more than 20 units of them, the murderous effect of these "tigroids" was felt by American tankers, when the Germans easily hit their Shermans from a distance of almost three kilometers, this miracle of military technology can strike, according to experts, even some types of modern tanks.
[size = 1] Column of Soviet self-propelled guns on the march in East Prussia. In the foreground is the SU-85, in the background - the SU-85M (distinguishable by the details of the gun mantlet)
The camp of the Soviet troops in Krasnoe Selo. In the foreground are two SU-85 self-propelled guns. Behind them is a truck and another combat vehicle (tank or self-propelled gun). In the background to the right is a T-34 tank and trucks
In 1944, a real destroyer of German tanks finally appeared in service with the Red Army - this is the famous SU-100, which replaced the good, but already outdated SU-85.
Since November 1944, the medium self-propelled artillery regiments of the Red Army began to re-equip with new self-propelled guns. Each regiment had 21 vehicles. At the end of 1944, the formation of the SU-100 self-propelled artillery brigades of 65 self-propelled guns in each began. The regiments and brigades of the SU-100 took part in the hostilities of the final period of the Great Patriotic War.
The finest hour of this self-propelled gun came at the beginning of 1945, in the hardest battles near Lake Balaton, when the German Fuhrer put everything on the line and threw all the color of his tank troops into battle. It was during the Balaton operation in March 1945. The SU-100 was used in large numbers when repelling the last major German counteroffensive in Hungary.
ACS SU-100 Lieutenant Alferov in ambush. Lake Velence area
The Pz. Kpfw VI Ausf. B "Tiger II", tactical number 331, commander of the 3rd company Rolf von Westernhagen of the 501st heavy tank battalion, which operated as part of the 1st SS Panzer Corps. Shot down by a SU-100 battery under the command of Captain Vasiliev (1952 Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment). The number (93) of the Soviet trophy team is visible on board. Hungary, Lake Balaton region
Our self-propelled gunners acted very competently and skillfully, mainly from ambushes, like a predatory animal on a hunt, the SU-100 from shelters and ambushes with its powerful gun pierced through almost all German armored vehicles, which the Germans threw to break through in order to achieve success at any cost, they even in some places it was possible to cut through the defense of our troops, but the offensive ran out of steam and stopped, there was no one to enter the breakthrough, all the German tanks were simply knocked out, even remakes of the type "Jagdpanther" and "Jagdtigrov" did not help them, they all fell under the blows of the SU-100 and T-34-85, as a result, the always disciplined German infantry began an unauthorized retreat to their original positions.
Thus, during the years of World War II, only two armies in the world were armed with truly modern and effective self-propelled guns - the Red Army and the German Wehrmacht, the rest of the states managed to solve the issues of providing their troops with self-propelled artillery systems only after the end of the war.
Studying more and more new details of the past Great War, you still never cease to be amazed at what a powerful enemy our fathers and grandfathers defeated, against what powerful and modern weapons they managed to resist then.
Eternal memory to the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army who fell in battles on the battlefields of World War II.
