Soviet light tank T-26. Tank T-26: characteristics, history of creation, design

The Soviet light war machine, used in many conflicts of the 1930s and in the Second World War, had the T-26 index. This tank was produced in large quantities (more than 11,000 pieces) than any other of that period. In 1930, 53 variants of the T-26 were developed in the USSR, including a flamethrower tank, a combat engineer machine, a remote-controlled tank, a self-propelled gun, an artillery tractor and an armored personnel carrier. Twenty-three of them were serially produced, the rest - experimental models.

British original

T-26 had a prototype - the English tank Mk-E, which was developed in the company "Vickers-Armstrong" in 1928-1929. Simple and easy to maintain, it was designed for export to less technologically advanced countries: the USSR, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, China and many others. "Vickers" advertised its tank in military publications, and the Soviet Union expressed interest in this development. According to the contract signed on May 28, 1930, the company supplied to the USSR 15 twin-turret machines (type A, armed with two Vickers calibres of 7.71 mm caliber, cooled by water) together with full technical documentation for their serial production. The presence of two towers capable of turning independently allowed shooting both left and right simultaneously, which at that time was considered an advantageous advantage for the breakthrough of field fortifications. Several Soviet engineers participated in the assembly of tanks at the Vickers plant in 1930. Until the end of this year, the first four Mk-E type A types entered the USSR.

Start of series production

In the USSR, then the special commission worked, the task of which was to select a foreign tank for replication. The English tank Mk-E received in its documentation the temporary designation B-26. In the winter of 1930-1931, two such machines were successfully tested at the test site in the Poklonnaya Gora area. As a result, in February it was decided to start production in the USSR under the T-26 index.

The tank from the first experimental batch equipped with turrets of Soviet manufacture was tested for resistance to rifle and machine-gun fire at the end of the summer of 1931. It was fired from a rifle and a Maxim machine gun using conventional and armor-piercing cartridges from a distance of 50 m. It was established , That the tank withstood the shooting with minimal damage (only some rivets were damaged). Chemical analysis showed that the front armor plates were made of high-quality armor, while the roof and lower plates of the towers were made of ordinary steel. At that time the armor produced by the Izhora plant used for the first T-26 models was inferior in quality to the English because of the shortage of modern metallurgical equipment in the USSR.

Development of the first modifications in 1931

Soviet engineers did not just repeat the 6-ton "Vickers". What new did they bring to the T-26? The tank in 1931, like its British prototype, had a twin-turret configuration with two machine guns, one on each tower. The main difference between them was that the T-26 towers were higher, with observation slots. The Soviet towers had a circular embrasure for the Degtyarev tank machine gun, in contrast to the rectangular used in the original British design for the Vickers machine gun. The front of the case was also slightly modified.

T-26-x shells with two towers were assembled using armored plates of 13-15 mm riveted to the frame of metal corners. This was enough to withstand machine-gun fire. Light tanks of the USSR, produced in late 1932-1933, had both riveted and welded hulls. What can not be said about the novelty. The Soviet tank T-26 developed in 1931 had two cylindrical towers mounted on ball bearings; Each of the towers was rotated independently by 240 °. Both towers could provide firing in the front and rear fire arcs (100 ° each). What was the main drawback of such a T-26 tank? The two-tower version was too complicated, which reduced its reliability. In addition, all the firepower of such a tank could not be used on one side. Therefore, in the early 30-ies around the world abandoned this configuration of military vehicles.

T-26 Single-Tank Light Tank

Its characteristics were significantly improved in comparison with the two-tower configuration. Produced from 1933, he had first a cylindrical tower with one gun of the model 20K caliber 45 mm and one machine gun Degtyareva caliber 7.62 mm. This gun was an improved copy of the 19K anti-tank gun (1932), which was one of the most powerful for its time. Very few tanks from other countries had similar weapons, if any. What other armament was capable of carrying a new T-26? The tank of 1933 could have up to three additional 7.62-mm machine guns. This increase in firepower was intended to help the crews in the defeat of special anti-tank groups, since the original machine gun armament was deemed insufficient. The photo below shows one of the models T-26, which has the Museum of tanks in Kubinka, which is the world's largest collection of military vehicles.

Next, let's talk about technical characteristics.

Which engine had a T-26 tank

Its characteristics, unfortunately, were determined by the level of engine building in the 20s of the 20th century. The tank was equipped with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine capacity of 90 liters. from. (67 kW) air-cooled, which was a complete replica of the Armstrong-Sidley engine used in the 6-ton Vickers. It was located at the rear of the tank. Early Soviet-made tank engines were of poor quality, but it has improved since 1934. The engine of the T-26 tank did not have a speed limiter, which often led to overheating and breakage of its valves, especially in the summer. A fuel tank of 182 liters and a 27-liter oil tank were placed next to the engine. He used a high-octane, so-called Grozny gasoline; Refueling with a second-rate fuel could damage the valves due to its detonation. Subsequently, a more capacious fuel tank was introduced (290 liters instead of 182 liters). The engine cooling fan was installed above it in a special casing.

Transmission T-26 consisted of a single-disk main clutch dry clutch, a box with five gears in front of the tank, steering couplings, final gears and a group of brakes. The gearbox was connected to the engine by means of a drive shaft running along the tank. The shift lever was installed directly on the box.

Modernization of 1938-1939 years

This year the Soviet T-26 tank received a new conical tower with better resistance against bullets, but it still had the same welded body as the 1933 model. It was not enough that it showed a conflict with the Japanese militarists in 1938, so The tank was modernized again in February 1939. Now he got a podbashenny compartment with inclined (23 °) 20-mm side armored plates. The thickness of the walls of the tower increased to 20 mm with an inclination of 18 degrees. This tank was designated as T-26-1 (known as the T-26 model of 1939 in modern sources). Further attempts to strengthen the front panel remained unrealized, as the production of the T-26 soon ceased in favor of other designs, such as the T-34.

By the way, the combat mass of the T-26 tanks in the period from 1931 to 1939 grew from 8 to 10.25 tons. The photo below shows the T-26 model of 1939. By the way, it is also from the collection of the world's largest museum of tanks in Kubinka.

How did the battle history of T-26 begin?

Light tank T-26 for the first time participated in military operations during the civil war in Spain. Then the Soviet Union, beginning in October 1936, delivered it to the republican government a total of 281 tanks of the 1933 model

The first batch of tanks to Republican Spain was delivered on October 13, 1936, to the port city of Cartagena; Fifty T-26 with spare parts, ammunition, fuel and about 80 volunteers under the command of the 8th separate brigade brigade colonel S. Krivoshein.

The first Soviet machines delivered to Cartagena were designed to train the republican tankmen, but the situation around Madrid became more complex, so the fifteen first tanks were consolidated into a tank company commanded by the Soviet captain Paul Arman (a Latvian by birth but raised in France) .

Roth Arman entered the battle on October 29, 1936, 30 km south-west of Madrid. Twelve T-26s advanced 35 km during the ten-hour raid and caused significant losses to the francists (two Moroccan cavalry squadrons and two infantry battalions, twelve 75-mm field guns, four CV-33 tankettes and twenty to thirty trucks with military units were defeated Cargoes were destroyed or damaged) with the loss of three T-26s from gas bombs and artillery.

The first known case of a ram in a tank war occurred on the day when Lieutenant Semyon Osadchy's platoon commander collided with two Italian CV-33 tankettes, dropping one of them into a small gorge. The crew members of the other wedge were killed by machine gun fire.

Captain Armand's car was burned by a gas bomb, but the wounded commander continued to lead the company. His tank destroyed one and damaged two CV-33 wedges with gun fire. December 31, 1936 captain P. Arman received the Star of Hero of the USSR for this raid and active participation in the defense of Madrid. November 17, 1936 in the company of Armand was only five tanks in combat-ready condition.

The T-26s were used in almost all military operations of the Civil War and demonstrated superiority over the German tank division of light tanks and Italian CV-33 tankets, armed only with machine guns. During the Battle of Guadalajara, the superiority of the T-26 was so obvious that the Italian designers were inspired to develop a similar first Italian medium tank "Fiat M13 / 40".

"... and the samurai flew to the ground under the pressure of steel and fire"

These words of the famous song in the middle of the last century reflect the participation of light T-26 tanks in the Soviet-Japanese conflicts, with which the battle history of tanks continued. The first of these was a clash in July 1938 near Lake Khasan. The 2nd mechbrigade and two separate tank battalions that participated in it had only 257 T-26 tanks.

The 2nd fur brigade also had newly appointed new command personnel, 99% of its previous command staff (including the commander of the brigade P. Panfilov) were arrested as enemies of the people three days before the nomination for combat positions. This had a negative impact on the brigade's actions during the conflict (for example, its tanks spent 11 hours to go through a 45-km march because of ignorance of the route). During the assault of the Nameless and Zaozernaya hills held by the Japanese, Soviet tanks met with a well-organized anti-tank defense. As a result, 76 tanks were damaged and 9 were burnt. After the fighting ended, 39 of these tanks were rebuilt in tank units, while others were repaired in shop conditions.

A small number of T-26s and flamethrower tanks based on them participated in battles against Japanese troops on the Khalkhin-Gol River in 1939. Our combat vehicles were vulnerable to Japanese tank fighter squads armed with Molotov cocktails. At a low quality of welded seams there were gaps in the armor plates, and flaming gasoline easily seeped into the fighting compartment and engine compartment. The 37 mm 95 gun on the Japanese light tank, despite its mediocre rate of fire, was also effective against the T-26.

On the eve of WWII

On the eve of World War II, the Red Army numbered about 8,500 T-26 of all modifications. During this period, the T-26s were mainly in separate brigades of light tanks (each brigade of 256-267 T-26) and in individual tank battalions in the rifle divisions (10-15 tanks each). It was a type of tank units that took part in a campaign in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus in September 1939. Combat losses in Poland amounted to only fifteen T-26's. Nevertheless, 302 tanks suffered technical malfunctions on the march.

They also participated in the Winter War of December 1939 - March 1940 with Finland. The light tank brigades were manned by various models of these tanks, including two- and one-tower configurations, made from 1931 to 1939. Some battalions were manned by old machines, mostly manufactured in 1931-1936. But some tank units were equipped with a new model in 1939. In total, Lenovoenokrug units numbered 848 T-26 tanks at the beginning of the war. Together with the BT and T-28, they were part of the main strike force during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line.

This war showed that the T-26 tank is obsolete and the reserves of its design are completely exhausted. Finnish anti-tank guns with the caliber of 37 mm and even 20 mm, anti-tank guns easily pierced the T-26's thin anti-bullet armor, and the parts equipped with them suffered heavy losses during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line, in which the flame throwers based on the T-26 chassis played Significant role.

WWII - the last battle of the T-26's

The T-26s were the basis of the armored forces of the Red Army in the first months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. As of June 1 this year, the spacecraft had 10,268 light T-26 tanks of all models, including armored combat vehicles on their chassis. Of these, most of the combat vehicles were in Soviet mechanized corps in the border military districts. For example, the Western Special Military District had 1,136 such vehicles on June 22, 1941 (52% of all tanks in the district). In general, there were 4,875 such tanks in the western military districts on June 1, 1941. Nevertheless, some of them were not ready for battles due to a lack of parts, such as batteries, caterpillars and caterpillar wheels. Such shortcomings led to the abandonment of about 30% of the available T-26s in inactivity. In addition, about 30% of the existing tanks were produced in 1931-1934 and have already worked out their service life. Thus, in the five Soviet Western military districts, there were about 3100-3200 T-26 tanks of all models in good condition (approximately 40% of all equipment), which was only slightly less than the number of German tanks intended for invasion of the USSR.

The T-26 (model 1938/1939 especially) could withstand most German tanks in 1941, but was inferior to the Panzer III and Panzer IV models that participated in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. And all the tank units of the Red Army suffered heavy losses because of the complete supremacy in the air of the German Luftwaffe. Most of the T-26s were lost in the first months of the war, mainly when shelling enemy artillery and blows from the air. Many broke down due to technical reasons and lack of spare parts.

However, in the first months of the war, many heroic episodes of the resistance of Soviet tankmen on the T-26's to fascist invaders are known. For example, the battalion of the 55th Panzer Division, consisting of eighteen single-towers T-26 and eighteen twin towers, destroyed seventeen German vehicles when covering the retreat of the 117th Infantry Division in the Zhlobin area.

Despite the losses, the T-26 still constituted a significant part of the armored forces of the Red Army in the autumn of 1941 (a lot of equipment came from the internal military districts - Central Asia, the Urals, Siberia, and in part from the Far East). During the war, the T-26s were replaced by a significantly superior T-34. They also participated in the battles with the Germans and their allies during the Battle of Moscow in 1941-1942, in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus in 1942-1943. Some tank units of the Leningrad front used their T-26 tanks until 1944.

The defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria in August 1945 was the last military operation in which they were used. In general, it should be noted that the history of tanks is a curious thing.