From steam carts to armored cars
Automobile troops of Russia turned hundred years old
The truck "Russo-Balt Т40 / 65" with a Tarnovsky / Lender antiaerostatic gun. 1916 year.
EXPEDITION PORTS
The progenitor of the car - the first steam carriage was made in 1769 for the first time by order of the French military department Captain Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. The army once again acted as an engine of technical progress.
In the middle of the XIX century, steam locomobiles were already produced in several countries. In Russia, the first experiments with a new vehicle took place on the ice of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva in the winter of 1861 – 1862. Two passenger trains cruised the 15 wagons on the route Kronstadt – Petersburg. Instead of the front wheels, the 12-ton locomotives had massive skis. But the unreliable ice and the impossibility of the summer operation of heavy machines caused damage, and the experiments ceased.
The Russian military has acquired the first two tractors in the UK in 1876. In the same year, two tractor units supplied domestic Maltsov plants. In those days, these cars were called locomotives. In total, 1876 locomotives were purchased for 1877 – 12 for the sum of 74 973 rubles for the War Ministry. 38 cop By the highest order from 5 on April 1877, the formation of a separate part, called the “Special Team of Locomotive Road Locomotives”, began.
The steam locomotives took part in the Russian-Turkish war - they towed siege weapons, transported hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo, including steam boats, replacing pairs of bulls directly on 12, worked like locomotives on water pumps ... And completely paid for all the expenses. In 1880, the locomotives provided for the transportation of cargo for General Skobelev’s Akhal-Teke expedition. They completed the task, but a year later they were written off. This is over story first car part of the Russian army.
FIRST EXPERIENCE
In the 1897 year, the 5,5-strong six-seater “DeLagé” car, which, however, belonged to the Ministry of Railways, took part in the maneuvers near Bialystok. In 1899, the engineer of the Ministry of Railways Abram Tannenbaum published a series of articles "Military scooter in our army", in which he proposed to use cars as reconnaissance vehicles, communications, to accommodate various weapons and transportation of goods. And also to create on their base armored combat vehicles. These proposals found support in the troops and headquarters, however, weakly expressed financially.
Sailors ahead of the army. In 1901, the Marine Department received a Lutsky-Daimler truck. He was recommended to paint in a bright color. Nobody even thought about disguise. The truck worked at the Izhora plant, replacing 10 horses on the transport of goods to Kolpino. So the car came immediately to military service and the defense industry.
In the Russo-Japanese War 1904 – 1905, the active army numbered from 20 to 30 vehicles. For example, in Port Arthur, the little car of the original Starley-Psycho brand was running. But the first truly combat vehicle was tested in the Russian army only in the 1906 year - the armored "Sharron, Girardot and Voy" with a machine-gun turret, run-in by the French army back in the 1903 year. But tests in Russia somehow withered, and the armored cars were remembered again only in 1914 year.
The real motorization of the Russian army began with His Majesty’s own garage. Soon these garages appeared at each palace - in St. Petersburg, New Petergof, Gatchina and the summer residence in Livadia. Two Imperial schools of chauffeurs were established, because quite a lot of cars were purchased. Even then, the domestic autocrats fell in love with Mercedes. There were so many cars that they were rented. In particular, courier service, which was the first to appreciate the economic effect of replacing a horse with a motor.
The emperor's personal driver - French citizen Adolf Kegress invented the world's first semi-tracked vehicle. A simple courtier, it seems, did not experience problems with the implementation of their ideas. In 1914, Kegres patented the invention in Russia and France. It should be noted that in the 1918 – 1919 years at the Putilov plant was built 12 semi-tracked armored vehicles “Austin Kegres”.
In the army, as usual, not everyone welcomed the technical innovation. War Minister Vladimir Sukhomlinov recalled: “... Some members of the council expressed in the sense that this“ complex and fragile tool ”is unacceptable for our army: the army needs simple carts on strong axles!” And General Skugarevsky demanded “to avoid unnecessary use cars they kept under lock and key ”.
Fortunately, in the army there was such an enthusiast of technology as a young officer, Peter Ivanovich Sekretov. An aristocrat of the Cossacks, he was born in 1877 year and grew up in the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya 2-th Don District. He graduated from the cadet corps in Novocherkassk and the Nikolaev Engineering School. He served in the demining unit in Brest-Litovsk, Warsaw, Manchuria. In April, 1908, with the rank of captain, retired and actually graduated from the engineering department of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute as an engineer-technologist. After that, in October of the same 1908, he was again accepted for military service in the rank of captain in the railway battalion. And in July, 1910, as a technically literate, energetic and progressive-minded officer, was appointed commander of the 1-th Automotive Training Company in St. Petersburg. By the way, it was Sekretov who invented the emblem of automobile troops that still exists, which is known in the army as “butterfly” and “would have flown away, and the“ wheels ”are interfering.”
The company conducted research runs, participating in various military activities. Two truck detachments operated during a campaign in Persia in 1911, when a civil war broke out there. Experience was gained in operating machinery in mountainous winter conditions, in frost and blizzard.
The company was formed by the highest permission of May 16 (May 29 of the new style) 1910 year. By that time, the Automobile Division had already existed for a year in the Military Communications Department of the General Directorate General Directorate and the formation of as many as eight automobile companies had been started. But until the highest permission, it was as if all this did not exist. Therefore, 29 May is considered the Day of the military motorist and the date of the creation of automotive troops.
Under the name "company", a research and training center for the organization and development of automobile business in the entire Russian army was established. Here not only officers were trained - commanders of automobile divisions and non-commissioned officers - instructors of the automobile industry. Here they studied and tested new equipment, developed the rules of operation.
CHECKING WAR
The motorization of the Russian army relied on abroad, where a lot of money was spent. World War I showed all the viciousness of such a policy. But only in 1916, the belated decision was made to build several domestic automobile plants. But this decision did not solve anything and decidedly did not make sense in a rapidly ruining and decaying country.
In Russia, there were enterprises engaged in screwdriver production of automobiles from imported parts, for example, the well-known Russian-Baltic railcar plant (Russo-Balt). But the domestic industry did not have the production of materials required by the industry. There was an offer to buy the British Austin factory to be entirely transported to Russia. Like a hundred years later, there were enough enthusiasts for buying Russian dependence on a foreign manufacturer of military equipment among capitalists and officials. Looks like there is a benefit.
By the beginning of World War I, there were 711 standard cars in the Russian army. Of these, 259 cars, 418 trucks and 34 specials. And also 104 motorcycle. 17 July 1914, after four years of red tape, approved the Law “On Automobile Military Service,” which determined the procedure for mobilizing (requisitioning) private cars with monetary compensation.
With the beginning of the war, private cars were called into the army along with drivers. Compensation greatly undervalued, but there were few complaints. Cars had to meet certain specifications - in terms of power, number of seats, ground clearance. Only in Petrograd, they "barred" into the army around 1500 vehicles. The army also bought all the cars coming from abroad on previously placed orders.
And here arose such a heavy phenomenon as "raznomomarochnost." Spare parts for dozens of car brands were simply not to be found. It was especially difficult with “Mercedes”, “Benz” and other products of “enemy” companies, spare parts for which were manufactured in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Yes, and had to place the equipment in the open air - garages and even the sheds did not store in advance. Car conscription is not justified. Instead, the reserve turned out to be a semi-annual process, burdened by bureaucracy and poor organization.
It is noteworthy that the French army had only 170 vehicles for the war, but only after mobilization did 6000 trucks and 1049 buses receive in a few weeks, and soon became mechanized, thanks to developed industry. The British army, in which there were barely 80 vehicles, did not cost too much mass mobilization. She had enough on her island.
Since 1908, Germany has been pursuing a policy of partial subsidization of the purchase of trucks by private individuals and enterprises, subject to their donation to the army in the event of war. This encouraged the rapid development of the automotive industry in the country, and a year after the outbreak of war, there were already over 10 thousand trucks, 8600 cars and 1700 motorcycles in the army. The same policy was pursued by Austria-Hungary. Although she did not have a developed industry, she also motorized her army at a high enough level.
Most of the book is given to the First World War. Details described automotive units of the Russian army, the material part and combat use. Particular attention is paid to armored vehicles. The statistics of the production of armored vehicles in Russia in 1914 – 1917 in various enterprises and military workshops with a list of brands of manufacturers and types is given.
The Russian army was one of the most secure armored cars. There were hundreds of them. Some are made right in front-line workshops with shields from captured guns. In the German army for the entire war there are only 40 armored vehicles, of which only 17 own production, the rest captured.
During the war, Peter Secrets rose to the rank of general. He was at the head of a huge organization of automobile industry, covering a large number of automotive specialists and equipment, driver schools, repair and manufacturing enterprises, as well as a number of bureaus for the purchase, acceptance and shipment of cars to Russia from America, Italy, England, France and other countries.
Immediately after the February Revolution, Sekretov refused to provide a personal car to Clement Voroshilov, a member of the Military Commission of the Duma, to a lower rank. The future "red marshal" immediately exposed the "counter-revolutionary general", and he was arrested. He was arrested by a driving school team headed by draftsman Mayakovsky, who volunteered there as early as 1915 by the patronage of Maxim Gorky. Secrets came to freedom only after the October Revolution. And he died in exile in 1935 year.
The truck "Russo-Balt Т40 / 65" with a Tarnovsky / Lender antiaerostatic gun. 1916 year.EXPEDITION PORTS
The progenitor of the car - the first steam carriage was made in 1769 for the first time by order of the French military department Captain Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. The army once again acted as an engine of technical progress.
In the middle of the XIX century, steam locomobiles were already produced in several countries. In Russia, the first experiments with a new vehicle took place on the ice of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva in the winter of 1861 – 1862. Two passenger trains cruised the 15 wagons on the route Kronstadt – Petersburg. Instead of the front wheels, the 12-ton locomotives had massive skis. But the unreliable ice and the impossibility of the summer operation of heavy machines caused damage, and the experiments ceased.
The Russian military has acquired the first two tractors in the UK in 1876. In the same year, two tractor units supplied domestic Maltsov plants. In those days, these cars were called locomotives. In total, 1876 locomotives were purchased for 1877 – 12 for the sum of 74 973 rubles for the War Ministry. 38 cop By the highest order from 5 on April 1877, the formation of a separate part, called the “Special Team of Locomotive Road Locomotives”, began.
The steam locomotives took part in the Russian-Turkish war - they towed siege weapons, transported hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo, including steam boats, replacing pairs of bulls directly on 12, worked like locomotives on water pumps ... And completely paid for all the expenses. In 1880, the locomotives provided for the transportation of cargo for General Skobelev’s Akhal-Teke expedition. They completed the task, but a year later they were written off. This is over story first car part of the Russian army.
FIRST EXPERIENCE
In the 1897 year, the 5,5-strong six-seater “DeLagé” car, which, however, belonged to the Ministry of Railways, took part in the maneuvers near Bialystok. In 1899, the engineer of the Ministry of Railways Abram Tannenbaum published a series of articles "Military scooter in our army", in which he proposed to use cars as reconnaissance vehicles, communications, to accommodate various weapons and transportation of goods. And also to create on their base armored combat vehicles. These proposals found support in the troops and headquarters, however, weakly expressed financially.
Sailors ahead of the army. In 1901, the Marine Department received a Lutsky-Daimler truck. He was recommended to paint in a bright color. Nobody even thought about disguise. The truck worked at the Izhora plant, replacing 10 horses on the transport of goods to Kolpino. So the car came immediately to military service and the defense industry.
In the Russo-Japanese War 1904 – 1905, the active army numbered from 20 to 30 vehicles. For example, in Port Arthur, the little car of the original Starley-Psycho brand was running. But the first truly combat vehicle was tested in the Russian army only in the 1906 year - the armored "Sharron, Girardot and Voy" with a machine-gun turret, run-in by the French army back in the 1903 year. But tests in Russia somehow withered, and the armored cars were remembered again only in 1914 year.
The real motorization of the Russian army began with His Majesty’s own garage. Soon these garages appeared at each palace - in St. Petersburg, New Petergof, Gatchina and the summer residence in Livadia. Two Imperial schools of chauffeurs were established, because quite a lot of cars were purchased. Even then, the domestic autocrats fell in love with Mercedes. There were so many cars that they were rented. In particular, courier service, which was the first to appreciate the economic effect of replacing a horse with a motor.
The emperor's personal driver - French citizen Adolf Kegress invented the world's first semi-tracked vehicle. A simple courtier, it seems, did not experience problems with the implementation of their ideas. In 1914, Kegres patented the invention in Russia and France. It should be noted that in the 1918 – 1919 years at the Putilov plant was built 12 semi-tracked armored vehicles “Austin Kegres”.
In the army, as usual, not everyone welcomed the technical innovation. War Minister Vladimir Sukhomlinov recalled: “... Some members of the council expressed in the sense that this“ complex and fragile tool ”is unacceptable for our army: the army needs simple carts on strong axles!” And General Skugarevsky demanded “to avoid unnecessary use cars they kept under lock and key ”.
Fortunately, in the army there was such an enthusiast of technology as a young officer, Peter Ivanovich Sekretov. An aristocrat of the Cossacks, he was born in 1877 year and grew up in the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya 2-th Don District. He graduated from the cadet corps in Novocherkassk and the Nikolaev Engineering School. He served in the demining unit in Brest-Litovsk, Warsaw, Manchuria. In April, 1908, with the rank of captain, retired and actually graduated from the engineering department of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute as an engineer-technologist. After that, in October of the same 1908, he was again accepted for military service in the rank of captain in the railway battalion. And in July, 1910, as a technically literate, energetic and progressive-minded officer, was appointed commander of the 1-th Automotive Training Company in St. Petersburg. By the way, it was Sekretov who invented the emblem of automobile troops that still exists, which is known in the army as “butterfly” and “would have flown away, and the“ wheels ”are interfering.”
The company conducted research runs, participating in various military activities. Two truck detachments operated during a campaign in Persia in 1911, when a civil war broke out there. Experience was gained in operating machinery in mountainous winter conditions, in frost and blizzard.
The company was formed by the highest permission of May 16 (May 29 of the new style) 1910 year. By that time, the Automobile Division had already existed for a year in the Military Communications Department of the General Directorate General Directorate and the formation of as many as eight automobile companies had been started. But until the highest permission, it was as if all this did not exist. Therefore, 29 May is considered the Day of the military motorist and the date of the creation of automotive troops.
Under the name "company", a research and training center for the organization and development of automobile business in the entire Russian army was established. Here not only officers were trained - commanders of automobile divisions and non-commissioned officers - instructors of the automobile industry. Here they studied and tested new equipment, developed the rules of operation.
CHECKING WAR
The motorization of the Russian army relied on abroad, where a lot of money was spent. World War I showed all the viciousness of such a policy. But only in 1916, the belated decision was made to build several domestic automobile plants. But this decision did not solve anything and decidedly did not make sense in a rapidly ruining and decaying country.
In Russia, there were enterprises engaged in screwdriver production of automobiles from imported parts, for example, the well-known Russian-Baltic railcar plant (Russo-Balt). But the domestic industry did not have the production of materials required by the industry. There was an offer to buy the British Austin factory to be entirely transported to Russia. Like a hundred years later, there were enough enthusiasts for buying Russian dependence on a foreign manufacturer of military equipment among capitalists and officials. Looks like there is a benefit.
By the beginning of World War I, there were 711 standard cars in the Russian army. Of these, 259 cars, 418 trucks and 34 specials. And also 104 motorcycle. 17 July 1914, after four years of red tape, approved the Law “On Automobile Military Service,” which determined the procedure for mobilizing (requisitioning) private cars with monetary compensation.
With the beginning of the war, private cars were called into the army along with drivers. Compensation greatly undervalued, but there were few complaints. Cars had to meet certain specifications - in terms of power, number of seats, ground clearance. Only in Petrograd, they "barred" into the army around 1500 vehicles. The army also bought all the cars coming from abroad on previously placed orders.
And here arose such a heavy phenomenon as "raznomomarochnost." Spare parts for dozens of car brands were simply not to be found. It was especially difficult with “Mercedes”, “Benz” and other products of “enemy” companies, spare parts for which were manufactured in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Yes, and had to place the equipment in the open air - garages and even the sheds did not store in advance. Car conscription is not justified. Instead, the reserve turned out to be a semi-annual process, burdened by bureaucracy and poor organization.
It is noteworthy that the French army had only 170 vehicles for the war, but only after mobilization did 6000 trucks and 1049 buses receive in a few weeks, and soon became mechanized, thanks to developed industry. The British army, in which there were barely 80 vehicles, did not cost too much mass mobilization. She had enough on her island.
Since 1908, Germany has been pursuing a policy of partial subsidization of the purchase of trucks by private individuals and enterprises, subject to their donation to the army in the event of war. This encouraged the rapid development of the automotive industry in the country, and a year after the outbreak of war, there were already over 10 thousand trucks, 8600 cars and 1700 motorcycles in the army. The same policy was pursued by Austria-Hungary. Although she did not have a developed industry, she also motorized her army at a high enough level.
Most of the book is given to the First World War. Details described automotive units of the Russian army, the material part and combat use. Particular attention is paid to armored vehicles. The statistics of the production of armored vehicles in Russia in 1914 – 1917 in various enterprises and military workshops with a list of brands of manufacturers and types is given.
The Russian army was one of the most secure armored cars. There were hundreds of them. Some are made right in front-line workshops with shields from captured guns. In the German army for the entire war there are only 40 armored vehicles, of which only 17 own production, the rest captured.
During the war, Peter Secrets rose to the rank of general. He was at the head of a huge organization of automobile industry, covering a large number of automotive specialists and equipment, driver schools, repair and manufacturing enterprises, as well as a number of bureaus for the purchase, acceptance and shipment of cars to Russia from America, Italy, England, France and other countries.
Immediately after the February Revolution, Sekretov refused to provide a personal car to Clement Voroshilov, a member of the Military Commission of the Duma, to a lower rank. The future "red marshal" immediately exposed the "counter-revolutionary general", and he was arrested. He was arrested by a driving school team headed by draftsman Mayakovsky, who volunteered there as early as 1915 by the patronage of Maxim Gorky. Secrets came to freedom only after the October Revolution. And he died in exile in 1935 year.
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