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Tanks in Eastern & Western Europe
ALL PHOTOS BY TIM HIGHAM
An ongoing collection of mainly WWII and Cold War tanks from my travels in and around England and Europe, notably the Museum of Polish Military Technology in Warsaw; Stalin Line and other locations near Minsk in Belarus, plus St Petersburg, Moscow and of course The Tank Museum in Bovington.
From L to R: An ISU-152 posted to the Eastern Front in December 1943, a T-44 (c.1944), a T-34/85 posted to the front at the start of 1944, and an SU-100 (c.1944-47). Location Brest Hero Fortress, Belarus.
A T-72 Ural c.1973 at the Museum of Polish Military Technology in Warsaw.
An excellent museum with an extensive array of tanks, military vehicles, and aircraft ranging from the An-2 to a multitude of Sukhoi and MiG jets. Well worth a visit if you're anywhere within about 1000 miles!
IS-2 and IS-2M both with 122mm guns.
T-34/76 produced at Tank Factory No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil in 1943 (left), and T-34/85 (right).
T-55 with a KMT-5 mine clearance trawl.
SU-85 self-propelled gun developed by the Soviet Union in 1943 to combat tanks such as the Tiger and Panther. It has an 85mm D-5T gun and a chassis based around a T-34.
P-40 'Agata' 1S12 mobile radar tracking station. The UHF radar range is around 26km at 50m altitude up to 175km at 10,000m altitude, based on an AT-T tracked vehicle chassis. Entered service in 1963.
BRDM-2 R-5 Soviet amphibious tactical command vehicle (this one used by the Polish Army). Weight 7 tons and with a crew of 4, it was equipped with a 14.5 KPVT heavy machine gun plus a 7.62mm PKT machine gun in a rotating turret. Road speed up to 100km/h, water speed up to 10km/h. 1962 - present day.
BTR-60 Soviet armoured personnel carrier developed in the late 1950s. It has a top speed of 80km/h and a crew of 3 plus 14 soldiers.
TOPAS-2AP tracked armoured personnel carrier developed in Czechoslovakia, based on the Soviet BTR-50. Used by both Polish and Czech armed forces it was produced from 1962-1972. With a crew of 2 plus 18 soldiers, it could achieve 60km/h on land and up to 10km/h in water.
TKS Polish tank developed in the 1930s with a crew of 2. It had either a Ford or a Polski FIAT 40/46 hp petrol engine and a top speed of around 46km/h. With a single 7.92mm gun, it must have been incredibly hot and noisy sitting right next to the engine!
The Museum of Polish Military Technology in Warsaw is rather excellent!
Four Shermans from Warsaw, Bovington, St Petersburg and Moscow - (from top) A Canadian "Grizzly' Mk I based on an M4A1 made by the Montreal Locomotive Works, and with a 75mm M3 gun; An M4A4 at Bovington with a longer hull than other variants, to fit the Chrysler 30 cylinder multi-bank petrol engine; An M4A2 (76) built in 1944 in the USA and sent to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease program; An M4A2 (c.1942-44) with 75mm gun.
This 1935 BT-7 light tank (left) was recovered from a swamp near Shibeki village (Vitebsk Oblast) in December 1998. The documents found inside helped establish that this tank fought against the Japanese at the Khalkin Gol river in 1939, and took part in the Soviet counter-attack at the town of Senno in 1941. It had a crew of 3 and a 45mm gun plus two 7.62 mm DT-29 machine guns. Top speed was about 53km/h.
The T-26 light tank (right) was created in 1931 to replace the T-18 (MS-1). Between 1931 and 1940 the USSR built 11,307 T-26s in many variants including double and single turret variants, artillery and flamethrower tanks, plus engineer and remote controlled versions. Soviet self-propelled guns (SU or Samokhodnaya Ustanovka) armed with 76mm, 122mm and 152mm were also built on this chassis. They first saw combat in Spain in 1936 and in China in 1938 where they fought alongside British Vickers Mark E Tanks, on whose basic design they were built. In Finland, in 1939, the T-26 actually fought victoriously against the Vickers. Up until 1943 the T-26 saw action during the first half of the Great Patriotic War. This much renovated model, with original turret and 45mm cannon is fully operational.
The Mikulin M-17F 12 cylinder 400hp 550kg aircraft engine was used in the BT-7, T-28 and T-35. It was a licensed copy of the BMW VI V12. Over 27,000 of the Soviet version were built, mostly for aircraft, but about 8,000 being used in tanks up until 1942.
T-34/76 (left) is one of 61,244 legendary T-34s built in the USSR. This fully restored version was originally made at the Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant (UZTM) between late 1942 and March 1, 1944. It is 30.9 tons, has a crew of 4 with 45mm hull armour, along with a 76.2mm F-34 cannon and two DT-29 machine guns.
The T-34/57 (right) with this 57mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun was introduced in 1941 and had better armour penetration than its 76mm predecessor. In September 1941 ten of these 'destroyer' tanks fitted with 57mm guns were built at the main plant in Kharkov. A month later they took part in the famous raid by the 21st brigade near Kalinin. This model is a fully running replica, built at the Stalin Line HCC, and uses a post-war ATS-59G tractor chassis. It takes part in historical reenactments, takes guests for rides, and as their website proclaims they even still take pride in firing on German tanks!
V-2-34M 12 cylinder 500hp 950kg diesel engine as used in the T-34, SU-85, SU-100 and SU-122.
5 speed gearbox as used in the T-34, SU-85, SU-100 and SU-122.
The T-44 was created under the leadership of Alexander Morozov at the Uralvagonzavod to replace the T-34. It entered service on July 18, 1944. As a result of a re-orientated engine and moving the turret, the tank became 30cm lower than the T-34 and with much improved armour, so that is was now on a par with the Tiger. Only 1,827 T-44s were built between 1944-47 and it turned out to be a transitional model to the more powerful post-war T-54. However, the T-44 was a great movie star in Soviet films of that era, although it never actually saw action in the Great Patriotic, or as many other countries call it, Second World War.
Some of the many photos on display amongst all of the tanks, aircraft and exhibits at the excellent Stalin Line Museum. And if you visit, you must ride a tank, fire a gun, eat in all of their cafes and definitely buy this excellent book!
A rainy day in Minsk for a 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled 152mm howitzer (left & below), and a 2S7 Pion 203mm self-propelled gun. Firing range 37.5km with a rate of 2.5 rpm and a shell weight of 110kg. It has a crew of 7 and a top speed of 50km/h.
The 2S3 has a firing range of 17.4 km, a firing rate of 3-4 rpm, and a shell weight of 46kg producing 350mm of armour penetration. It has a crew of 6 and top speed of 60km/h.
A 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled howitzer (right) along with a T-80B (next door & below) and friends... The T80B was the first world mass-produced tank with a gas-turbine power plant. It entered service in 1976, and there were more than 4,000 produced in total. It has a crew of 3, a 125mm 2A46M cannon, a 12.7mm NSVT machine gun, and a 7.62 PKT machine gun. It has a Kobra 9K112-1 weapon system and laser-sight ranging system. The 1100hp engine produces a top speed of 70km/h and range of 600km.
T-55MV is the world's first mass-produced tank with an automatic anti-radiation system, capable of combat operations following the use of nuclear weapons. This 1985 version has active armour, anti-HEAT screens and a 1K116 Bastion guided weapon system. Mass production of the T-55 began in 1958 and was widely used in many combat zones over the next 20 years. Over 20,000 were made and it has a 100mm D-10T2S rifled cannon, a 7.62mm PKT (Kalashnikov Tank MG) machine gun, and a 12.7mm DShKM machine gun.
T-10 50 ton heavy tank, produced from 1952 onwards and with a 122mm gun.
Seems this rather excellent open air museum is sponsored by Mir Tankov!
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