Tank Lend-Lease. USA
“There are no more stupid people than Americans. They will never be able to fight like heroes, ”Adolf Hitler authoritatively stated. The mustachioed was partly right - it’s hard to feel like a hero when, in all cases, you have tenfold quantitative superiority. The Americans clearly overdid it, having thrashed over 200 thousand units of armored vehicles during the war years - more than they released tank factories of the Soviet Union and the Third Reich combined.
The achievements of the American “Stakhanovists” are explained simply: a developed country, which did not know destructive wars on its territory, industrialized at the dawn of the twentieth century and was ready at any moment to realize its gigantic accumulated potential. X Day was 11 March 1941, when President Roosevelt signed the famous Lend-Lease Bill: a law giving the right to transfer military property to any country whose defense is deemed vital for US security.
Best of all, the meaning of Lend-Lease was explained by President Roosevelt himself: “Imagine,” he said, “that my neighbor's house caught fire, and I have a garden hose. If he can take my hose and attach it to his pump, then I will help him put out the fire. What am i doing? I am not telling him: “Neighbor, this hose cost 15 dollars to me, you have to pay for it.” Not! I don't need 15 dollars, I need him to return my hose after the fire ends. ”
From the above, three important conclusions follow:
1. Lend-Lease is NOT CHARITY, but an elaborate defense strategy in the interests of the United States. The reason for Uncle Sam’s unheard-of generosity was quite obvious: the Americans seriously feared that the "world fire" would spread to their "home", so they decided in advance to "secure themselves" and help those whom they considered necessary. Choking in brutal battles, the Soviet Union was included on the November 7 list of the 1941 of the year.
2. Pay for Lend-Lease was not gold. For lend-lease Soviet soldiers paid with their own blood.
3. All that was destroyed, spent and spent was not payable. It was necessary to pay (or return) only the property that remained in the army and the national economy after the end of hostilities (the surviving tanks, power plants, machine tools, long-distance telephone communication nodes, etc.)
Democracy arsenals
By the beginning of the Second World War, the Yankees had only five hundred M2 tankettes with anti-bullet armor and machine-gun armament. In principle, even this seemed redundant for the North American continent, safely separated from any wars and social cataclysms by two deep anti-tank ditches with salt water.
In other words, the US Army essentially had neither tanks, nor armored units, nor any tactics to use armored vehicles in conjunction with other branches of the military (the reader should not make the mistaken conclusion that the Yankees were an overly peace-loving people — for example, by the end of 30 -years they had a solid carrier fleet, a dozen modern battleships and four-engine "Flying Fortresses" - the needs of the armed forces are determined by the nature of the fighting).
And now the situation has changed - urgently needed tanks. Tens of thousands of military vehicles for the needs of their own army and supplies under the Lend-Lease program. The first American medium tank M3 "Lee" was designed - an unusual and contradictory machine. The industry increased the production of armored vehicles, for the production of tanks were used the power of giant automobile factories. American engineers did not disdain to use automotive technology in tank building.
At the end of 1941, genuine frenzy began - Chrysler launched Detroit Tank Arsenal, a giant defense plant specializing in armored vehicles. By this time, the second “tank-town”, the Fisher Tank Arsenal, reached full capacity, literally filling up the army warehouses and storage sites with light and medium tanks, as well as various self-propelled guns and specialized armored vehicles on their chassis.
From all this abundance, the Soviet Union got:
- 1232 light tanks M3 "Stewart",
- 976 medium tanks M3 "Lee",
- 3664 medium tank M4A2 "Sherman",
- 52 tank destroyer M10 "Wolverin",
- single copies of the light tank М5 (“Stewart” with an automobile engine), light tank М24 “Chaffee” and the most modern American heavy tank М26 “Pershing” for informational purposes.
In addition to tanks and heavy armored vehicles based on them, the USSR was supplied:
- 100 anti-aircraft self-propelled units M15 semi-tracked chassis,
- 1000 anti-aircraft self-propelled units M17 (on the chassis of the M3 armored personnel carrier), which became the main means of mobile air defense of tank and mechanized units of the Red Army.
- 650 lightweight destroyer tanks T48 (also on the chassis of the half-tracks BTR M3).
As for the armored personnel carriers themselves, there were by no means as many of them as is commonly believed. The USSR received in the framework of the Lend-Lease:
- 118 MNNXX Half-Track BTR,
- 840 more modern semi-tracked M5 / M9 (modification of the M3 armored personnel carrier, characterized by a more powerful engine, cheap armor and a different arrangement of firing points).
- 3340 light armored personnel carriers М3А1 "Scout", which are all-wheel drive armored vehicles of high maneuverability of about 5,5 tons.
- Several amphibious amphibious tracked LVT tracked vehicles for informational purposes.
Almost none of the American armored personnel carriers did not get into the motorized rifle regiments for their intended purpose. All of them were intended for reconnaissance or artillery units, where they were used as tractors.
The Americans, it is worth paying tribute to them, have kindly attended to the maintenance of their “steel chariots” - together with the USSR armored vehicles, a number of field tank repair plants were set up, the fleet of which had up to 10 special machines: the M16А and М16В mechanical workshops, the mechanical workshop М8А, the mechanics workshop M2А and М18В, the fitting and mechanical workshop М7А, the mechanics workshop M14А and М10В, the fitting and mechanical workshop М31А, the mechanics workshop MXNUMXА and МXNUMXВ, the fitting and mechanical workshop МXNUMXА, the mechanics workshop MXNUMXА and MXNUMXВ -welding workshop MlXNUMX, electrical repair workshop MXNUMX, repair workshop for weapons MXNUMX, tool workshop and storage machines MXNUMX. All of them were based on the chassis of the Studebaker three-axle off-road truck. The fleet of tank repair shops also included XNUMX-ton automobile cranes and armored repair and recovery vehicles MXNUMX.
Analyzing the above material, it is clearly noticeable that the supply of American armored vehicles looks very pale against the background of the scale of the domestic industry: during the war years, the Ural factories produced 50 000 T-34 tanks! It is clear that American tanks cannot serve as an accurate criterion for estimating the value of the Lend-Lease - for a more balanced comparison, it is preferable to pay attention to the supply of trucks or the supply of aluminum (300 thousand tons).
It is worth noting that the UK received many times more American armored vehicles, for example, the British were delivered over 17 thousands of tanks "Sherman"! However, in drawing up the Lend-Lease protocols, the interests of each side were taken into account: the United Kingdom experienced an acute shortage of tanks, the USSR, on the contrary, could independently ensure the mass production of excellent armored vehicles, so ordered airplanes and rolled aluminum, along with motor vehicles, radio stations and food.
American tank Lend-Lease is significant primarily because thousands of our soldiers fought not with a rifle, but on tracks and under the cover of armor. Still, six thousand tanks and the same number of armored vehicles for various purposes - a solid force.
Secondly, this whole story very interesting from a technical point of view - American tanks differed by the original design and often acquired specific properties that allowed them to be used in special operations (this will be a little later).
Finally, such a class of equipment as an “armored personnel carrier” was not produced in the USSR during the war years, which gave the Lend-Lease BTRs a certain uniqueness.
M3 "Stuart"
Light tank
Combat weight 13 tons. 4 crew
Reservations: 38 hull forehead ... 44 mm, hull sideboard 25 mm.
Armament: 37 mm anti-tank gun, stabilized in a vertical plane; 5 machine guns "Browning" (1 - paired with a gun, 1 - course, 2 - in the side sponsons, 1 - anti-aircraft).
Speed on highway 60 km / h.
“The mobility of the tank MLS is truly amazing. In the area of combat operations, both when driving on roads and over rough terrain, the MZl tank turned out to be the fastest of all known wheeled and tracked vehicles. ”- Major General of tank engineering, Ph.D., Professor NI Gruzdev (1945 g.).
The first 46 "Stuarts" arrived in the USSR in January 1942. The firstborn of American tank building in the USSR received the designation MHNUMXl (light), and entered into service with battalions of light tanks as part of tank brigades. Like any light tank, the "Stuart" was limited to maneuver on the battlefield, preferring to fire from natural shelters. A frontal attack on the prepared strip of anti-tank defense guaranteed for him ended with heavy losses. However, with proper use of this tank turned into a formidable weapon:
September 19 1942, conducting reconnaissance near the city of Malgobek, a tank platoon of Lieutenant Pavkin discovered a convoy of German tanks 16. Having organized an ambush with his platoon (three tanks MSL), Lieutenant Pavkin attacked the enemy and, acting boldly and decisively, destroyed the 11 machines. The platoon of Lieutenant Pavkin had no casualties in personnel and material parts.
Most of the 977 “Stuarts” that arrived in 1942 were deployed in the South of Russia, where the critical situation with domestic armored vehicles was critical: the North Caucasus Front was cut off from the industrial bases of the Urals and Siberia.
In February 1943 of the year, the Stuarts took part in a unique operation - the landing of a naval landing near Novorossiysk. It was the only case in the Great Patriotic War when Soviet tanks had to land in the first wave of the landing. Of the tanks participating in the landing of the 30, most of them were destroyed during the landing, but the 12 of the Stuarts managed to get ashore, and for three days they were supported by the fire of the black jackets. Unfortunately, the entire staff of the 563-Tank Battalion heroically died in a battle at South Ozereyka. Another remarkable fact from the biography of "Stewart" - tanks of this type were the first to engage in battle with the German armored vehicles on the Kursk Bulge, and even managed to take part in a tank battle near Prokhorovka.
“... a tank must harmoniously combine armor, speed and armament, in this sense the MSL tank is inferior. The 37-mm caliber cannon, the main armament of the MPL, is undoubtedly weak armament, and this is the main reason why the tank could not hold out for a long time on the battlefield. ”- Major General, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor NI Gruzdev.
In principle, this is a fair estimate for any light tank.
M3 Stuart and his Soviet crew
And this happened
M3 "Lee"
Medium tank
Combat weight 28 tons. Crew 6-7 people.
Reservations: 51 mm case forehead, mm 38 case board.
Armament: 75 mm gun in the sponson on the starboard side of the tank; 37 mm anti-tank gun in a rotating turret; Browning machine gun 4.
Speed on highway 40 km / h.
"As America of Russia
Gave em three es.
A lot of noise, little sense,
Growth came to heaven! "
Gave em three es.
A lot of noise, little sense,
Growth came to heaven! "
The M3 “Lee” is the case when looking at the “paper” TTX it seems that we have a real “super-weapon”. Two guns, a large crew, decent mobility and reservations for those years. Alas, when we get acquainted with the appearance of the M3, it becomes clear that we have before us a “three-story steel coffin”. Bulky, poorly protected and inefficient. The Soviet tank crews did not hesitate to give even tougher assessments to the American tank: the BM-6 (“mass grave for six”) or the VG-7 (“sure death of seven”).
The fact that two cannons for one tank is an obvious brute force became clear at the end of the 30s. The tank commander physically did not have time to coordinate the work of the gunners, as a result, usually only one of the two guns fired. The obvious conclusion was that it was obvious: why carry extra “ballast” with you if these several tons can be rationally distributed by turning them into additional millimeters of armor. Well, throwing tomatoes into a loser is a great deal. But it is more interesting (and more useful!) To analyze the real combat use of the M3 “Li” (received in the USSR the designation M3c (medium), in order to avoid confusion with the M3 “Stewart”). Was it all so hopeless in reality?
For example, the British tankers treated the M3 "Lee" with respect: in addition to such basic quality as reliability, the M3 perfectly matched the conditions of North Africa: Caterpillar fortress! Where there were no dashing tank breakouts and counterattacks, where it was necessary to defend from prepared positions - the M3 “Lee” turned out to be a real “long-term firing point” with enormous firepower.
The conditions of the Soviet-German front, on the contrary, turned out to be extremely unprofitable for the use of the M3 "Lee". But even here this tank managed to distinguish itself: 5 July 1943 of the year, an episode of the heroic defense of Cherkasy village took place on the Fiery Arc: 67-I and 71-I guards rifle divisions, with the support of 39 tanks M3 "Li" and 20 SAU, kept back all day furious attacks of the Wehrmacht’s 48 tank corps, equipped with the latest armored vehicles. The Soviet soldiers confused the Germans with all the plans, which ultimately led to the failure of Operation Citadel.
Still, too much depends on the actions of the tank crew and the correct tactics for the use of armored vehicles. Even such a “barn on the tracks”, like the M3, can be taught to fight and win.
M4 "Sherman"
Medium tank
Combat weight 30 tons. Crew 5 man.
Reservations: 51 mm case forehead, mm 38 case board.
Armament: 75 mm or 76 mm rifled gun, large-caliber machine gun on the turret roof, two rifle-caliber machine guns.
Speed on highway 39 km / h.
Soviet tankers in the ski resorts of Austria
It was a good tank in all respects. Weighted, carefully thought out design, high-quality assembly, excellent weapons, unique equipment and mechanisms of the tank. The list of positive qualities of “Sherman” can take a whole chapter: accurate and reliable hydraulic drive of the turret (100% advantage in any duel situation), vertical gun-stabilized gun, low noise (unlike T-34, whose clang and roar was heard at night for many kilometers, the Sherman was ideal where secrecy was required), a large-caliber machine gun (the only medium tank of the Second World War that had such weapons), an economical motoblock for heating and charging batteries (domestic tanks had onyat main diesel, expending valuable service life and consuming buckets of diesel fuel - the idea of an auxiliary power unit proved to be so attractive that these units are equipped with most modern tanks), spacious and ergonomic crew compartment, reliable transmission. All Shermans supplied to the USSR were equipped with diesel engines (this will probably become an important argument for opponents of fire-hazardous gasoline engines).
Let us be completely objective! The disadvantages of the Sherman tank, in the first place, are called weak bookings - the situation was aggravated by the end of the war, the 38-51 mm was clearly not enough in conditions of maximum saturation of the German troops with anti-tank weapons. "Sherman" on 23 cm above T-34 (and almost equal in height to T-34-85). He has more pressure on the ground, less power density (although this was offset by a more efficient transmission), a small power reserve for gasoline versions.
Sherman has practically no tragic and glorious history that the T-34 acquired in the battles on the Eastern Front. However, the fate of some American tanks was no less remarkable - after hot battles in the Sinai desert, the 150 surviving Super Shermans (modified with 105 mm gun) were acquired in 90 for the Chilean Ground Forces. "Super Shermans" friskedly plowed the mountain slopes of the Andes until they were replaced with the modern MBT "Leopard-2" at the beginning of the new millennium.
"Super Sherman" Chilean Army, 1990's
During the war years, the 49 234 "Sherman" was released, which puts him in second place after T-34. It is fair to say that the number of “Shermans” did not affect their quality in any way: the “features” characteristic of the T-34, in the form of raw elements of the interior of the crew compartment or problems with gear changes, were not typical of Sherman. The quality of these tanks was included in the legends.
Soviet soldiers on a light armored vehicle M3A1 "Scout"
ZSU M17. The 12.7mm 4-way "Browning" motorized unit provided a sufficiently high density and accuracy of fire for low-flying targets.
Facts and figures are taken from M. Baryatinsky's book “Lend-Lease Tanks in Battle”
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