Armored trains: the birth of steel monsters

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Armored trains: the birth of steel monsters
John Basil Turchin - Russian general of the American army



The first to put a 32-pounder cannon on a railway platform was John Basil Turchin, a colonel in the federal army and commander of the 1861th Illinois Regiment, during the American Civil War in 19. He was also a colonel in the Russian Imperial Army, Ivan Turchaninov (whose biography is worthy of a separate story). The cannon was quickly delivered to the Confederate troops stationed near the railway track and opened deadly fire. Subsequently, during the “great American civil strife,” this successful experiment was repeated many times, including with the use of a closing artillery armor.




Northern armored train - the father of all armored trains

Why exactly did Turchaninov decide to organize the first armored train? Well, the fact is that in Russia the idea of ​​​​putting cannons on a railway platform was expressed in 1847 by engineer-captain Gustav Corey. He proposed a project for a new type of fortress:

“By placing artillery on the railway, covered by a parapet, the besieged can constantly change place, evading the circle of action of enemy guns and without ceasing to concentrate against them excellent (superior in our opinion - G.F.Ts.) masses of guns.”

The project was terribly original: for example, the width of the paths along which the platforms with guns would move should have been three meters, there should have been two floors in the fortress, and much more - bold to the point of absurdity. In general, the project was rejected. Although, perhaps, in vain - if Sevastopol had artillery at the railway base, perhaps its defense in the Crimean War would have ended differently.

Well, after the defense of Sevastopol, projects rained down like from a cornucopia: the project of N. Repnin - 1855, the project of engineer-colonel P. Lebedev - 1857, the project of Lieutenant P. Fomin - 1860... But there were clearly more projects than capabilities of Russian industry: the length of our railways at that time was 30 times less than in the USA! So Turchaninov probably heard about them and... implemented them on American soil. However, his armored trains were an improvisation, albeit a very successful one.


Armored cars of Napoleon III

The Emperor of France, Napoleon III, was the first to think of building specially built armored carriages. I would like to say that, being a professional military man, he correctly assessed the combat potential of the new weapons, but... Being a professional politician, he constantly faced the threat of assassination, and ordered the first three armored cars to protect himself from terrorist attacks or enemy shelling during the war. In principle, the French have been proposing armored train projects since 1825, when Captain 2nd Rank Jacques-Philippe Merigon de Montgerie put forward the idea of ​​“steam-powered military wagons" In 1841 M. Shwickardi proposed “cannon car"for the defense of fortresses. In 1866, during the Mexican adventure of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, they developed “defensive convoy» with carriages protected by 12 cm wooden lining. Finally, in 1867, it was decided to implement the project of the American Colonel Brenty.


Dupuy de Loma armored train project

The armored train was simply named “Napoleon III”, the object was terribly secret, so there were not many photographs of it left. Judging by the surviving ones, the cars were very small, two-axle, with beveled corners and firing loops, closed by armored flaps. However, if this armored train can hardly be called a breakthrough, then the Orleans, designed by shipbuilding engineer Stanislas-Henri-Laurent Dupuy de Loma, had all the features of later armored trains, including rotating gun turrets.

Be that as it may, when the Franco-Prussian War really began, Napoleon III went to the front without his armored cars. So the Prussians were the first in Europe to place guns on railway platforms: in 1871, during the siege of Paris, they placed several guns on the platforms and began shelling the city, constantly changing positions. The French decided that it was not enough for the Germans to use technical innovations, after which the famous mechanic Kehl built an “armored train”, armed with a pair of mitrailleuses. General Ducrot regularly took this monster out to hunt the “Boches,” which made them feel terrible. As a matter of fact, it is Kehl’s train that can be called the first armored train, and not just artillery at a railway base.

The British could not help but become interested in the successful use of new weapons: in 1871, Colonel Wetherd proposed using railway artillery in the defense of London. In 1876, a real monster was placed on the platform - an 81-ton cannon. The tests were successful; based on their results, the colonel published an article in The Times on May 25, 1877: “Movable and portable batteries.” Soon, in 1886, tests were carried out in British India: a 40-pound gun weighing 3,5 tons was installed on the platform and successfully fired from it. This was the first experience of firing across the tracks, which proved that a gun placed on a railway platform would not overturn it with its recoil...


“Eh Tommy, Tommy - you’re a soldier, you’re in the top row, but - “By the cars, to the train!” - only the guns will thunder..."

It was necessary to check the experimental data of the Lime during the Boer War. In addition to trains with 4- and 8-inch guns, the British command also built an armored train with Maxim machine guns. The train consisted of a locomotive and several open-top carriages, which were protected by vertical armor plates with cut-out embrasures for rifles and machine guns. However, it was in South Africa that the Boers demonstrated a successful fight against armored trains: they undermined the railway track, first along the train, then behind it. In addition, they regularly blew up bridges, tying up the already limited maneuverability of the “armored trains” in the conditions of an undeveloped railway network. However, by 1902 the British had at least 20 armored trains in South Africa. They were used for patrolling, protecting communication lines, and also rescuing besieged blockhouses, with a network of which the British covered the territory of the recalcitrant Boer republics.


The crews of English armored trains in the Boer War were often made up of sailors

Perhaps the not-so-positive experience of the Anglo-Boer War caused a negative attitude towards the installation of fortress artillery at the railway base by the famous Russian military engineer K. I. Velichko. He believed that artillery placed on rails would travel more than fight. However, in 1900, the Boxer Rebellion began in China, and the Russian contingent in Beijing was tasked with guarding the railway station. For this purpose, an armored train with a detachment of 200 soldiers was built. Subsequently, armored cars were used during the Russo-Japanese War for... protection from local robbers - Honghuz. In 1907, General Rennenkampf ordered the armored cars to be equipped with machine guns and artillery.


The armored train "Hunhuz" in the First World War was named after the main enemy of Russian armored trains...

What is characteristic of early (and later) stories armored trains? These new weapons worked best during colonial wars. And mainly against... not the most developed enemy. Even the Boers in South Africa were able to cause a lot of problems for the British armored trains. The same story can be traced in Russia - armored trains fought well against the Honghuz, but against the Japanese... they were practically not used. Soon in the First World War, armored trains would have to face the armies of the great powers, with disappointing results. Individual successful raids of armored trains on enemy positions will not correct the overall picture: large, clumsy, with bulletproof armor, they will become an easy target for enemy artillery. And only the Civil War in Russia will breathe new life into them. Fortunately, most of the troops that the crews of the armored trains will have to fight with will be very reminiscent of Honghuz in terms of combat effectiveness...
36 comments
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  1. +2
    25 August 2024 05: 03
    Somewhat reminiscent of the Soviet Combat Railway Missile System (BZHRK), only in a more modern design and unarmored wink
  2. +4
    25 August 2024 06: 52
    I immediately remembered the childhood book “Armored Train “Ganja”. An ordinary 6-inch field train on a platform covered with two rows of boards, and sandbags between them. And after all, she fought.
    1. +1
      25 August 2024 11: 27
      Exactly, he could use his nails as a measuring instrument, phalanges of fingers, I don’t remember who he served, like a sapper. A good book for teenagers that makes them respect mathematics.
    2. +1
      26 August 2024 21: 11
      Yes, the book is cool, and a treasure trove of wisdom, one Story about which part of the body of a sapper corresponds to which unit of length and is worth what!
  3. +3
    25 August 2024 06: 58
    Armored train "Chusovskoy Rabochiy" during the Second World War -
  4. +2
    25 August 2024 07: 07
    Got it here -http://chuslib.ru/75-let-pobedy/krepost-na-kolesakh-chusovskoj-bronepoezd
  5. +4
    25 August 2024 08: 18
    An interesting topic that requires development into a series of articles!
    All that remains is for the Author to make progress in the creative field!
    Photography (Poklonnaya Gora)
    1. +9
      25 August 2024 09: 20
      The author wishes success in his creative field!

      First of all, I would like the author to read carefully before writing, because from the first lines he, as they say, “suffered a blizzard.”
      Let's start with the fact that the proposal of the engineer-captain of the Russian army Gustav Kori has nothing to do with armored trains. He proposed to install fortress guns on rail guides in order to be able to quickly maneuver them within the fortress and concentrate fire on the threatened area. The only thing this proposal has in common with an armored train is the rails.
      Next is a photograph signed Northern armored train - the father of all armored trains. This is actually a Confederate railroad artillery installation, built in 1862 at the suggestion of General Lee. Later, this idea was picked up by northerners, including Turchaninov. Again, this is more likely not the “father of armored trains”, but the “mother of railway guns”.
      The first armored train as we know it today was built in 1861 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works to protect workers during railroad repairs (pictured).
  6. +3
    25 August 2024 08: 24
    Well, only trains that were actually armored with metal armor were called “armored trains.” Trains that were “armored” with available materials, such as sandbags, sleepers, etc., were called “armored.” Something like that. But usually armored trains were of a mixed design - armored cars were combined with armored armored platforms. By the way, the armored train and the battle with it are well shown in the actually very good, albeit ideological, film “Man with a Gun.” Well, in my opinion, in the film “I am T.P. Shapovalov.”... There is also a strange series: “The Last Armored Train,” but this is the Second World War....
    1. +5
      25 August 2024 10: 51
      And the film "Red Square" about Commissioner Amelin...
      PS There was an armored train in Bikin in the 80s of the last century: Several armored diesel locomotives and armored platforms intended for loading tanks.
      1. +3
        25 August 2024 14: 46
        He studied at the Bikin tank training (autumn 66 - spring 67), at that time there was no armored train there.
        It's a pity...))
        1. +1
          25 August 2024 20: 14
          Quote: Sea Cat
          Studied at the Bikin tank training (autumn 66 - spring 67),

          Ooo! Yes, it turns out you are a tanker! good
          1. +1
            26 August 2024 16: 13
            Yes. smile My VUS-025 is the crews of medium tanks. First training in Bikin - gunner, then 54th OTP in the Jewish Autonomous Region, from the last three-year students. Completed service com. tank, has the rights of the mechanic of the same "half-four", on which he served. drinks
        2. +1
          26 August 2024 04: 13
          Quote: Sea Cat
          Studied at the Bikin tank training school

          HF 12908...The armored train stood near Yuzhnaya Street, near Kirsanikha...A little later...
    2. +1
      25 August 2024 15: 01
      "armored" with improvised materials -

      Here is a photo of a British "armored train" during the Boer War. wink
    3. 0
      26 August 2024 21: 13
      "The Heart of Bonivour" describes an armored train with concrete "armor"...
  7. +6
    25 August 2024 11: 51
    Armored cars of Napoleon III

    This is an armored car of an armored train, which was built in the workshops of the Orleans railway station in 1870 for the defense of Paris. Has nothing to do with Napoleon III. Below is the picture. illustrating the participation of these cars, of which two were built, in hostilities. The quality of the author's articles drops with alarming regularity.
  8. +5
    25 August 2024 14: 50
    Today I looked at an article in VO about the first armored trains.
    Firstly, the author missed the topic of the British during the storming of Alexandria in 1882.
    Secondly, I posted an illustration from it. Signing that this is Tommy in South Africa.
    Thirdly, there was an article about this in Tankomaster TM No. 5 2003 with my drawings.
    I confess there was a mistake in them - the platforms were three-axial, and not two-axial, like mine.
    A. Sheps asked me to post this comment
    1. 0
      25 August 2024 16: 05
      Quote: kalibr
      I confess there was a mistake in them - the platforms were three-axial, and not two-axial, like mine.

      Apparently you meant the “wagons blindés” depicted in the scan. They were different in design.
  9. +2
    25 August 2024 14: 58
    This is the first armored train! Rice. A.Shepsa
  10. +2
    25 August 2024 15: 06
    Armoured trains were actively used by the British during the Boer War of 1899-1902.
    1. +3
      25 August 2024 21: 31
      Armored trains were actively used by the British during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.

      Before that, armored trains were actively used in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). But in that information trough from which the author copied, they did not know about it. The article does not even pull for a day. By the way, if in his first articles the author was present in the comments, now he has completely disappeared from them. This is also a symptom.
      1. -1
        26 August 2024 21: 21
        Hm... So, I wrote about the Franco-Prussian war...
  11. +2
    25 August 2024 15: 11
    Hood movie "Fortress on Wheels"!!!
    1. +1
      25 August 2024 16: 37
      Quote: avia12005
      Hood movie "Fortress on Wheels"!!!

      In my opinion it's complete crap.
      1. Alf
        +1
        25 August 2024 22: 47
        Quote: kalibr
        Quote: avia12005
        Hood movie "Fortress on Wheels"!!!

        In my opinion it's complete crap.

        I very rarely agree with Caliber, but here I will add - complete!
      2. -1
        26 August 2024 07: 28
        Everything Soviet is crap. Now, if only there was a film about a White Guard armored train...

        From the point of view of displaying military equipment and the work of the crew, it is very indicative.
        1. 0
          26 August 2024 08: 45
          Quote: avia12005
          Everything Soviet is crap

          Not at all. Wonderful examples of cinematographic art have been created in the USSR. But this film is extremely poor in every way.
  12. BAI
    0
    25 August 2024 19: 39
    this is what stood near Moscow on May 3 this year
    1. 0
      26 August 2024 07: 27
      Quote: BAI
      this is what stood near Moscow on May 3 this year


      I think this is a historical reconstruction of the Great Patriotic War. In the photo it looks like the turret is from a T-34.
    2. 0
      26 August 2024 11: 32
      Judging by the armored platforms, this is a BP-43. More precisely, its modern replica, possibly from the Patriot park.
  13. +1
    26 August 2024 11: 27
    Although, perhaps, in vain - if Sevastopol had artillery at the railway base, perhaps its defense in the Crimean War would have ended differently.

    For Sevastopol, it was not artillery that was important, but supplies. The existing artillery would be quite enough - if not for the regular "starvation of shells."
    Those in command of the defense of Sevastopol, PMSM, would gladly exchange the railway battery for a railway connection with
    Kazan, Tula and Moscow/St. Petersburg.
    1. 0
      26 August 2024 21: 27
      As far as I remember, the railway line in Sevastopol passes through Inkerman, and the “allies” were stationed there, so most likely they would have cut off the message...
      1. 0
        27 August 2024 11: 04
        Quote: Flying_Dutchman
        As far as I remember, the railway line in Sevastopol passes through Inkerman, and the “allies” were stationed there, so most likely they would have cut off the message...

        Yes, at least to Simferopol or a temporary base near Sevastopol! The supply chain on oxen would be in any case less than from Russian factories to warehouses and arsenals, and from them to Sevastopol. For the same ammunition, the delivery distance increased as arsenals were depleted from 300 to 900 versts.
        From Perekop to Simferopol the convoy usually took a month. Personnel from Moscow to Sevastopol - three months.
        The road was unbearably bad, especially on the banks of the Belbek River; the mud stood above the wheel hubs, so the cart raked it up, and therefore, despite the six tall horses harnessed to it, we moved at a pace... Dead oxen covered in mud were lying around; when my cart ran over them, I could barely stay in it. When it was frosty, the mud froze somewhat only on the surface, and then travel became completely impossible. This was the only communication between our besieged city and the internal provinces of Russia.
        © A.I. Delvig

        In general, the Crimean dirt roads of that time were something special. For the British and French, a mere ten miles from Balaklava to the front line in the autumn-spring period turned into an almost insurmountable obstacle - the unloaded supplies could not be delivered from the warehouse to the positions for weeks, as a result of which the army men on the front line had to switch to crackers when there was meat and vegetables in the warehouses .
  14. 0
    27 August 2024 10: 10
    In addition, they regularly blew up bridges, tying up the already limited maneuverability of “armored trains” in the conditions of an undeveloped railway network.

    To get rid of being tied to the rails, the British also used trackless trains
    https://alternathistory.ru/bezrelsovyj-bronepoezd-predshestvenik-tanka/
  15. 0
    30 August 2024 00: 29
    Quote: Kote Pan Kokhanka
    An interesting topic that requires development into a series of articles!
    All that remains is for the Author to make progress in the creative field!
    Photography (Poklonnaya Gora)

    No, this is not an armored train. Railway artillery unit TM-12, 305 mm