T-24 - tank, ahead of its time
History it tank, which can be considered the grandfather of the T-34, for me personally began a very long time ago. While still a boy, in the journal “Science and Life”, in small pictures at the bottom of the page, made in black and white, I saw two tanks that hit me - T-24 and TG. Then I met the same “compilation” in the magazine “Young Technician”, but there was nothing about these tanks in either magazine. Then, a T-24 drawing with a short text was found in the book “Knights of Armor” by N. Ermolovich. And in 1980, I made my first tank - a model of the first Soviet tank “Freedom Fighter Comrade Lenin ”, who won the toy competition of the USSR Ministry of Industry and Trade. This was followed by the following series: T-27, T-26, BT-5, T-35, IS-2, which also became the winner of the 1982 competition. But ... I wanted to make a model of a previously unknown tank for the competition, which few people knew about and which, nevertheless, would play a certain role in the history of the development of the Russian BTT. And where I just did not go in search of his drawings, even to the famous Lenin - library to them. Lenin in Moscow, where, by the way, he found the drawings of the T-27 wedge ... in the list of chipboard ("top secret"), and they didn’t give them to me ... in 1988!
T-24 from the magazine Modelist Designer No. 9 for 1989
But then, when I wrote to NAMI, that, well, they say, I am such and such, and I need drawings of little-known tanks of the USSR, from where (it was already 1989 year) came a heavy envelope with ... blue T-24, T- 37 and T-27 with a gun! True, the last two cars were given fragmentary, the drawings were assembled “from pine forest”, but on the T-24 the blue was just in perfect condition, with all the signatures, performance characteristics and dimensions. And it was just awesome, on the scale of 1: 10, almost half a room! That is, so it was all there was not necessary, that they were glad to have all this to sell at least someone, and not just burn in the backyard.
That's how I became the owner of this rare blue and ... since here I was already a member of the MAFVA British Model Association, I decided to write an article about this tank in their journal. With great difficulty, I found a person who, on the basis of this blueprint, made me drawings on the scale of 1: 35 and a little material (and they also had a small Tankette magazine), who went there and was immediately printed. The second material, already large, went to the magazine "Model-Designer". And there they did not believe me! “Drawings are considered lost! Where did you get them from? ”I’m writing from blue, they say, and blue from US. “Send it to us for examination!” Sent, and as a result she’s covered in the editorial office, but a large article about T-12 / T-24 tanks appeared in Model Designer No. XXNX for 9 a year along with a very beautiful color tab. The article for the authorship of Romadin, Baryatinsky and Shpakovsky began with the words that, undoubtedly, the proposed material for all those interested in armored vehicles would be a real sensation, since nobody had previously written about T-1989 / T-12 tanks, moreover in such detail. And although my colleagues wrote a lot of it, especially about T-24, I was very pleased that there would not be my blueness, there was not this article either! And so, after some time after 12, the year was released to the joy of the model-collectors of the BTT, even the combined model T-1991.
And since there is hardly any special sense to repeat and write about what has already been written, it seems to me that there will be more interesting things, namely, to look at this tank through the prism of our current knowledge, to see the opportunities, missed chances and prospects of this car.
T-24 in war paint. Impressive, isn't it?
So, the tank appeared in the USSR at the turn, namely in the 1930 year. This year was a turning point in all respects, primarily because ... in the West another global crisis of capitalism began. And the crisis is the dissatisfaction of the working people, the revolutionary situation and the world revolution, about which then all the newspapers wrote, but which for some reason did not and did not go. But after all, if the proletariat had started “there” and “them,” we were asked, it would not have been the case for the carriages to rush to the West? Of course they would have rushed, but only with tanks then there would have been a problem: they simply did not exist. That is, there were, of course, MC-1, and many, but it was not at all what was required. They would not have reached the Atlantic Ocean. As A. Gaidar wrote in his story “The Commandant of the Snow Fortress” (although not about tanks, but about a tractor, but on the whole it’s very similar) - “the petrol tank is small and the gears are big”.
T-24 on running trials without weapons.
But the most interesting thing is not that the tank arrived in time for the 1929 crisis of the year, but that it was developed in the USSR in the 1927 year, when no crises in the West even smelled, but full “prosperity” reigned there. And, nevertheless, we have begun work on a technically complex "maneuverable tank" with multi-tiered armament. Again, it is interesting that this design had both many advantages and many disadvantages. The advantage was the ability to fire at once in several directions at the same time, which was later proved on the American tanks M3 "Lee". And the disadvantage is the same as that of the “Li”: the high height of the tank, and the difficulty with rotating the upper and lower towers - turning the lower one brought down the tip at the top. The Kharkov Locomotive Plant was to produce the tank.
At first they made T-12 (and it’s interesting that it should have had twin 6,5-mm machine guns of Fedorov under the Japanese cartridge). The tank was tested, then it was upgraded, and that’s how the T-24 tank turned out. And now let's see, with which foreign tank 1927, 1928, 1929, can we compare it? There are no such! His peer Vickers Medium had an engine in the front, an exorbitant height, one 47-mm cannon and one machine gun in the turret, two sides, an 16-8 mm armor and 24 km / h speed.
Medium tank T-24: 1 - the steering wheel, 2 - the mechanism of the tension of the tracks. 3 - suspension truck, 4 - drive wheel, 5 - silencer, 6 - fender, 7 - main tower hatch, 8 - small tower hatch, 9 - armored dampers for fuel and oil tank necks, 10 - engine cover transmission unit, 11 - engine compartment compartment compartment compartment compartment compartment compartment unit - the three-leaved hatch of the mechanic-driver, 12 - a towing earring.
The T-24, which became the first Soviet medium tank launched into serial production, had a 45 mm caliber cannon and two DT machine guns in the turret, and two more machine guns in the upper turret and in the front hull plate. The thickness of the main armor was 20 mm. The speed is only two kilometers less than that of the “Englishman”.
Combined model of polystyrene tank T-24 scale 1: 35 company Hobby Boss. Respect our cars abroad, eh? And even such!
The T-24 crew was thought out very rationally: a commander, a gunner, a driver and two machine gunners. Booking was also rational - it had an inclined arrangement of armor plates on the front of the case. The rollers of the undercarriage had rubber bandages, and the vertical coil springs protected by armored casings served as elastic suspension elements. The tank had a traditional removable “tail”, but in this case it did not spoil it. 8 cylinder aviation the M-6 engine had a power of 300 hp, which was quite enough for an 18,5-ton tank, since its specific power was 16 hp per ton of weight. But during the first tests in the summer of 1930, the tank failed a badly designed cooling system, which even caused the engine to catch fire.
The gun ammunition included 89 shots, including armor-piercing, fragmentation shells and even ... canister. But only though the tank itself was ready for the 1930 year, the T-24 guns were received only in the 1932 year, and before that they drove only with machine-gun armament.
Tank during sea trials.
The first 15 serial T-24s were made in the second half of 1930 at the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, and armored hull tanks for them were made at the Izhora plant. Then they made another 10 T-24, after which the model of this tank was removed from production. In the battles, these tanks never participated, and were used solely as training. Also, a very interesting technical solution was the unification of the undercarriage of this tank with the artillery tractor "Comintern", which made it possible to significantly speed up the motorization of the Red Army and facilitate the development of the vehicle among the troops. That is, in all respects it was a tank ahead of its time in the 1927-29 years, corresponding to its time until the middle of the 30s and obsolete immediately after the start of the Spanish Civil War. However, all this time the equal to him was not in England, nor in France, much less in Germany and in Poland. That is, the level of design talent of its creators was not only satisfactory, but it was very high! What was bad then? But the bad, or rather, the bad was the technological basis of the then production! That is the embodiment of pans in the metal. Well, how to understand this when the tank is already in the metal and the gun for it is still being developed? Again, when the Americans needed the M3 tank, they made it from start to finish in just nine months and immediately launched into production. And here, with a high level of engineering design of the structure, technological "punctures" were counted in dozens: the engine burned, the tracks flew off, the friction clutches worked poorly. The equipment with which the tank was produced was useless. That is, many parts are customized in size with the help of a file. Naturally, the cost of such a tank "handmade" was very high. Unfortunately, 80 years have passed, but the low level of technological support is not completely obsolete today. Well, in the past he was almost the norm. Recall the termination of the acceptance of T-34 due to technological defects and even cracks in the armor, falling wings at the "yaks", a huge amount of marriage of the first radar, remote detonators, as the materials of the party archives clearly indicate. Come up with - anything you want! To do it in metal with the same quality (everything that was done at the end of the month, not to buy!) Is almost an impossible task - this is the scourge, and many years, of Soviet industry.
Assembled and painted model T-24.
Well, if we hypothetically look at the T-24, then we will have a tank, the development of which is a more powerful engine, thicker armor, more powerful gun, could determine the appearance of Soviet tank building for decades by successive transition from one modification to another. , more perfect! And, perhaps, T-34 would also appear on its basis much earlier. That is, this is a tank ... yes, it has overtaken its time, but because of the technological backwardness of the production of that time, it did not say its weighty word in battle and remained, in fact, an experienced machine.
Tank T-24, used as a target for artillery.
T-24 from the magazine Modelist Designer No. 9 for 1989
But then, when I wrote to NAMI, that, well, they say, I am such and such, and I need drawings of little-known tanks of the USSR, from where (it was already 1989 year) came a heavy envelope with ... blue T-24, T- 37 and T-27 with a gun! True, the last two cars were given fragmentary, the drawings were assembled “from pine forest”, but on the T-24 the blue was just in perfect condition, with all the signatures, performance characteristics and dimensions. And it was just awesome, on the scale of 1: 10, almost half a room! That is, so it was all there was not necessary, that they were glad to have all this to sell at least someone, and not just burn in the backyard.
That's how I became the owner of this rare blue and ... since here I was already a member of the MAFVA British Model Association, I decided to write an article about this tank in their journal. With great difficulty, I found a person who, on the basis of this blueprint, made me drawings on the scale of 1: 35 and a little material (and they also had a small Tankette magazine), who went there and was immediately printed. The second material, already large, went to the magazine "Model-Designer". And there they did not believe me! “Drawings are considered lost! Where did you get them from? ”I’m writing from blue, they say, and blue from US. “Send it to us for examination!” Sent, and as a result she’s covered in the editorial office, but a large article about T-12 / T-24 tanks appeared in Model Designer No. XXNX for 9 a year along with a very beautiful color tab. The article for the authorship of Romadin, Baryatinsky and Shpakovsky began with the words that, undoubtedly, the proposed material for all those interested in armored vehicles would be a real sensation, since nobody had previously written about T-1989 / T-12 tanks, moreover in such detail. And although my colleagues wrote a lot of it, especially about T-24, I was very pleased that there would not be my blueness, there was not this article either! And so, after some time after 12, the year was released to the joy of the model-collectors of the BTT, even the combined model T-1991.
And since there is hardly any special sense to repeat and write about what has already been written, it seems to me that there will be more interesting things, namely, to look at this tank through the prism of our current knowledge, to see the opportunities, missed chances and prospects of this car.
T-24 in war paint. Impressive, isn't it?
So, the tank appeared in the USSR at the turn, namely in the 1930 year. This year was a turning point in all respects, primarily because ... in the West another global crisis of capitalism began. And the crisis is the dissatisfaction of the working people, the revolutionary situation and the world revolution, about which then all the newspapers wrote, but which for some reason did not and did not go. But after all, if the proletariat had started “there” and “them,” we were asked, it would not have been the case for the carriages to rush to the West? Of course they would have rushed, but only with tanks then there would have been a problem: they simply did not exist. That is, there were, of course, MC-1, and many, but it was not at all what was required. They would not have reached the Atlantic Ocean. As A. Gaidar wrote in his story “The Commandant of the Snow Fortress” (although not about tanks, but about a tractor, but on the whole it’s very similar) - “the petrol tank is small and the gears are big”.
T-24 on running trials without weapons.
But the most interesting thing is not that the tank arrived in time for the 1929 crisis of the year, but that it was developed in the USSR in the 1927 year, when no crises in the West even smelled, but full “prosperity” reigned there. And, nevertheless, we have begun work on a technically complex "maneuverable tank" with multi-tiered armament. Again, it is interesting that this design had both many advantages and many disadvantages. The advantage was the ability to fire at once in several directions at the same time, which was later proved on the American tanks M3 "Lee". And the disadvantage is the same as that of the “Li”: the high height of the tank, and the difficulty with rotating the upper and lower towers - turning the lower one brought down the tip at the top. The Kharkov Locomotive Plant was to produce the tank.
At first they made T-12 (and it’s interesting that it should have had twin 6,5-mm machine guns of Fedorov under the Japanese cartridge). The tank was tested, then it was upgraded, and that’s how the T-24 tank turned out. And now let's see, with which foreign tank 1927, 1928, 1929, can we compare it? There are no such! His peer Vickers Medium had an engine in the front, an exorbitant height, one 47-mm cannon and one machine gun in the turret, two sides, an 16-8 mm armor and 24 km / h speed.
Medium tank T-24: 1 - the steering wheel, 2 - the mechanism of the tension of the tracks. 3 - suspension truck, 4 - drive wheel, 5 - silencer, 6 - fender, 7 - main tower hatch, 8 - small tower hatch, 9 - armored dampers for fuel and oil tank necks, 10 - engine cover transmission unit, 11 - engine compartment compartment compartment compartment compartment compartment compartment unit - the three-leaved hatch of the mechanic-driver, 12 - a towing earring.
The T-24, which became the first Soviet medium tank launched into serial production, had a 45 mm caliber cannon and two DT machine guns in the turret, and two more machine guns in the upper turret and in the front hull plate. The thickness of the main armor was 20 mm. The speed is only two kilometers less than that of the “Englishman”.
Combined model of polystyrene tank T-24 scale 1: 35 company Hobby Boss. Respect our cars abroad, eh? And even such!
The T-24 crew was thought out very rationally: a commander, a gunner, a driver and two machine gunners. Booking was also rational - it had an inclined arrangement of armor plates on the front of the case. The rollers of the undercarriage had rubber bandages, and the vertical coil springs protected by armored casings served as elastic suspension elements. The tank had a traditional removable “tail”, but in this case it did not spoil it. 8 cylinder aviation the M-6 engine had a power of 300 hp, which was quite enough for an 18,5-ton tank, since its specific power was 16 hp per ton of weight. But during the first tests in the summer of 1930, the tank failed a badly designed cooling system, which even caused the engine to catch fire.
The gun ammunition included 89 shots, including armor-piercing, fragmentation shells and even ... canister. But only though the tank itself was ready for the 1930 year, the T-24 guns were received only in the 1932 year, and before that they drove only with machine-gun armament.
Tank during sea trials.
The first 15 serial T-24s were made in the second half of 1930 at the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, and armored hull tanks for them were made at the Izhora plant. Then they made another 10 T-24, after which the model of this tank was removed from production. In the battles, these tanks never participated, and were used solely as training. Also, a very interesting technical solution was the unification of the undercarriage of this tank with the artillery tractor "Comintern", which made it possible to significantly speed up the motorization of the Red Army and facilitate the development of the vehicle among the troops. That is, in all respects it was a tank ahead of its time in the 1927-29 years, corresponding to its time until the middle of the 30s and obsolete immediately after the start of the Spanish Civil War. However, all this time the equal to him was not in England, nor in France, much less in Germany and in Poland. That is, the level of design talent of its creators was not only satisfactory, but it was very high! What was bad then? But the bad, or rather, the bad was the technological basis of the then production! That is the embodiment of pans in the metal. Well, how to understand this when the tank is already in the metal and the gun for it is still being developed? Again, when the Americans needed the M3 tank, they made it from start to finish in just nine months and immediately launched into production. And here, with a high level of engineering design of the structure, technological "punctures" were counted in dozens: the engine burned, the tracks flew off, the friction clutches worked poorly. The equipment with which the tank was produced was useless. That is, many parts are customized in size with the help of a file. Naturally, the cost of such a tank "handmade" was very high. Unfortunately, 80 years have passed, but the low level of technological support is not completely obsolete today. Well, in the past he was almost the norm. Recall the termination of the acceptance of T-34 due to technological defects and even cracks in the armor, falling wings at the "yaks", a huge amount of marriage of the first radar, remote detonators, as the materials of the party archives clearly indicate. Come up with - anything you want! To do it in metal with the same quality (everything that was done at the end of the month, not to buy!) Is almost an impossible task - this is the scourge, and many years, of Soviet industry.
Assembled and painted model T-24.
Well, if we hypothetically look at the T-24, then we will have a tank, the development of which is a more powerful engine, thicker armor, more powerful gun, could determine the appearance of Soviet tank building for decades by successive transition from one modification to another. , more perfect! And, perhaps, T-34 would also appear on its basis much earlier. That is, this is a tank ... yes, it has overtaken its time, but because of the technological backwardness of the production of that time, it did not say its weighty word in battle and remained, in fact, an experienced machine.
Tank T-24, used as a target for artillery.
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