Т 95 - ПТ-САУ: history, photo, combat use

A self-propelled artillery unit (ACS) is a combat vehicle consisting of an artillery gun mounted on a self-propelling chassis. This type of armored vehicles performs combat missions other than other tanks, so it has characteristic features.

Using self-propelled guns

The self-propelled guns possess a powerful long-range weapon capable of hitting the enemy at considerable distances, so that it makes no sense to approach them closely. At the ACS there is no powerful defense, since they must fire not at the front line, but from the rear of the main troops. Roughly speaking, the SAU is a powerful long-range artillery capable of quickly changing its position after a shot. However, since the beginning of the Second World War, this armored vehicle has been used not only as heavy howitzers, but also as assault weapons supporting their fire by attacking troops, as well as tank destroyers capable of hunting and destroying enemy armored vehicles both from near and long range.

Successful and failed projects

One of the most famous self-propelled plants during the war of 1939-1945 is Soviet SU-76, SU-100, SAU-152 "St. John's wort" and German "Stug" and "Yagpantera". These are examples of successful developments of this type of equipment that not only effectively fought in battles, but also gave impetus to the future technologically advanced generations of self-propelled artillery equipment. But there were also unsuccessful attempts to create a superpowerful ACS, for example, the American T-95 (PT-SAU) or the German super-heavy tank "Mouse", which ended in complete failure, as designers and developers forgot that "the best is the enemy of the good."

American ACS of World War II

T-28 "Turtle", called T-95 - PT-SAU, - American self-propelled artillery installation test sample, created during the Second World War and is a tank destroyer. Some historians consider this model to be superheavy tanks. This automatic control system was designed since 1943, but by the end of the war its serial production was never neglected. The only thing that the designers had time to do was to make two prototypes in 1945-1946. By its weight, the T-95 tank (PT-SAU) is the second after the German "Mouse".

History of the production of "Turtles"

At the end of 1943, a program was launched in the United States to develop heavy armored vehicles. This Americans was pushed by global studies of the military situation on the Western Front, which showed that Allied troops might need a heavy fighting vehicle that can break through the enemy's complex defensive structures.

As a basis for the future T-95 PT-SAU, the developers took the base of the T-23 medium tank and the electronic transmission of the heavy T1E1. On this basis, armored sheets with a thickness of 200 mm and a new 105 mm cannon were installed. This weapon could penetrate and destroy almost any concrete structure.

It was planned to produce 25 such vehicles within a year, but the command of the ground forces opposed such plans and recommended the manufacture of only three PT-SAUs with a mechanical transmission. While all bureaucratic nuances were coordinated, by March 1945, five combat vehicles had already been ordered, whose protection increased to 305 mm of armor, so that the weight of the T-95 PT-SAU (photo of the prototype located lower in the article) increased to 95 tons.

At first it was planned to make a tank without towers with the possibility to accommodate a crew of four people. But in February 1945 the T-28 tank was renamed into a self-propelled T-95 unit.

Т-95 (ПТ-САУ): history of application

By the end of the war, two combat vehicles were manufactured in Europe and on the Pacific Front. They had two pairs of tracks, which greatly increased their width, and a 500 horsepower engine. This, however, was very little for the movement of the superheavy setup. This engine was also put on the Pershing tank, but it was two times lighter than the Turtle. By the way, this name was awarded to T-95. PT-SAU - model, the maximum speed of which was only 12-13 km / h.

Thus, this armored self-propelled gun was practically "standing", which was not suited to the army leadership, since the ACS had to be delivered to the required point only by rail. But even here everything was not all right. Because of the second pair of caterpillars, the width of the self-propelled gun was larger than the railway platform. In order to somehow accommodate the T-95, it was necessary to remove additional tracks, which was spent at least four hours.

Features of technology

This tank fighter was conceived by the developers as a powerful self-propelled artillery fortress that could "crack" any fortification structure of the enemy, without fearing retaliation.

It really was a fighting monster. Weight of 95 tons was divided into four track tracks, each width - 33 cm. A gun with a caliber of 105 mm could punch almost any reinforcement and armor at a distance of up to 19 kilometers. But the biggest feature of this technique was its armor - on the frontal part of the tank it was 13 cm, on the side - 6.5 cm, and the bottom of the body had armor of 10-15 cm.

However, low speed and sluggishness did not allow us to find the T-95 (PT-ACS) combat application.

The military actions of various armies have shown that armored vehicles should combine the averaged characteristics of both power and protection, and mobility and maneuverability. Because of the shortage of the last two T-95 parameters, it was rejected by the US military command.

Weak places "Turtles"

In addition to the fact that the shortcomings of this tank were significant, the self-propelled gun, despite the powerful armor, was also easily vulnerable, as demonstrated by technical road tests. T-95 (PT-ACS) zone of penetration was as follows.

The most vulnerable place of this tank destroyer is its chassis. A few hits in the caterpillars - and the self-propelled grapple stops, and then do whatever you want with it. It does not have a gun turret, it can not deploy a cannon. Additional weapons, except for the commanding machine gun "Browning", the SAU also does not.

Also, the weak point is the side armor, the thickness of which does not exceed 65 mm. Rapid maneuverable tanks and self-propelled guns of the Second World War could quickly bypass the T-95 from the flank and rear and cause serious damage, leading to the death of the crew.

Another weak point of this ACS was the commander's hatch, which did not have enough powerful armor.

And the last negative is the "Turtles". After the war it became clear that the power of the gun and armor did not solve the outcome of the battle. The headquarters was made not for superheavy military equipment, but for mobile and compact, which could quickly change its location, strike at the enemy and also quickly retreat. And only to load on the platform PT-SAU, it was necessary to spend about four hours, which under the conditions of modern wars is just an unacceptable luxury. Such equipment can be destroyed even at the stage of loading.

Technical parameters of the "Turtles" T-28 (T-95)

• The weight of the equipped combat vehicle of the first design is 86 tons, after the repeated design - 95 tons.
• Crew - four people.
• The length of the self-propelled gun is about 7.5 m, width - 4.5 m, height - about 3 meters.
• Clearance - 50 cm.
• The thickness of the frontal part is 30-31 cm.
• The thickness of the sides is 6.5 cm, and the stern - 5 cm.
• The caliber of the main gun is 105 mm, the additional commander's machine gun is 12.7 mm.
• Engine power - 500 liters. from.
• Reserve travel on the road - 160 kilometers.

What happened to the only T-95 models?

Work on these automatic control systems was stopped in 1947, as heavy tanks T-29 and T-30, having gun turrets, began to be designed on their basis.

The only prototypes of super-heavy PT-ACS that did not participate in real combat battles ended their days in a sad way: one model during the fire completely burned from the inside so that it could not be repaired, and the second just broke down and was written off for scrap.

After 27 years, the decommissioned prototype was found in Virginia. After the restoration, he was displayed in the popular museum of Patton (Kentucky).

Results

The result of the review of the SAU "Turtles" shows us that each type of armored vehicles should match its time.

In terms of its characteristics, the American T-95 was an excellent car before the Second World War, but with the development of weapons, it catastrophically lagged behind the main types of armored and artillery troops not only of its allies, but also of potential adversaries. Further work on the backward project was economically unprofitable, because it was closed.

Studying the negative experience of the past years, modern designers of military equipment try to design weapons in such a way that it meets the requirements of the war and maximally fulfilled the assigned combat missions.