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Back in 1905, Tsarist Russia could have become a world leader in the field of wheeled armored vehicles, armored cars or so-called armored vehicles, but “specific conditions” again prevented it. The Russian Military Department woke up from its blissful hibernation only with the first salvos of the Great War (World War I), which opened the gates wide to numerous foreign armored cars for reconnaissance and combat operations.
Armored vehicle for the first automobile machine-gun company with the building of the Izhora plant. 1915
Content:
- The first Russian armored car Nakashidze
- Russian armored cars on domestic chassis
- Russian armored vehicles on foreign chassis
- Filatov's three-wheeled armored vehicles
- Bylinsky's armored vehicles
- Ulyatovsky's armored vehicle
- Mgebrova armored vehicles
- Izhora FIAT
- Armored vehicles Poplavko
- Garford armored vehicles
- Gulkevich half-track armored vehicle
- Foreign armored vehicles in the Tsarist army
- The first Austin armored cars
- Armstrong-Whitworth armored vehicles
Almost all of them were based on the chassis of ordinary passenger cars and did not always correspond to their purpose, so an extensive “industry of correcting other people’s mistakes” spontaneously developed in the Russian Imperial Army - modifying imported ones and creating their own armored hulls. They were collected by the St. Petersburg Putilov Plant and the Obukhov Steel Foundry, the armored rolling workshop No. 2 of the Izhora Plant in Kolpino, as well as officer educational institutions, front-line workshops and small private enterprises.
Until October 1917, the tsarist army received 496 armored cars from abroad, of which about 200 vehicles were converted in Russia. Most of the armored vehicles, which bore their own catchy names, took part in the battles of the First World War and the Civil War, as well as in the events of the February and October revolutions.
Russian armored cars (Part 1) First steps
It is traditionally believed that the first armored car for the Russian Army was designed by Prince Mikhail Aleksandrovich Nakashidze of the 7th Siberian Cossack Regiment during the Russo-Japanese War. Allegedly, the vehicle, manufactured in France, was intended for operations in the Far East, but due to the backwardness of Russia and the inertia of tsarist officials, the armored car was “cut down.” Let's try to figure out how things were. Prince M. Nakashidze was indeed a great lover and popularizer of automotive technology. In 1902, he published in St. Petersburg the book “The Automobile, Its Economic and Strategic Importance for Russia,” which was the first book in the country on military motoring.
While serving in Warsaw, M. Nakashidze, together with Count Potocki and Colonel Golovin, founded a motor transport enterprise called the “Great International Car Garage”, which opened in July 1903. In addition to selling French cars, several cars of their own design were manufactured here, called “International”.
Apparently at this time Nakashidze began to collaborate with the French company (Chraron, Giarardot, Voigt), founded in 1901. It has not yet been possible to establish how the relationship between the Russian prince and the French was built, but, according to some sources, Nakashidze was one of the co-owners of this enterprise. In any case, already at the beginning of 1904 he sold the “Great International Car Garage”, and in correspondence with representatives of the General Staff of the Russian Army he introduced himself as the director of the armored car department.
In 1902, “Charron, Girardot, Voy” presented at the Paris exhibition a car with an 8-mm Hotchkiss machine gun mounted on it and partial armor. The following year, this vehicle was tested during French cavalry maneuvers in the Chalons military camp, but did not receive further development.
In 1905, a retired French artillery colonel, Guyet, who worked for, designed a fully armored vehicle with a machine-gun turret, and he received patent No. 363712 for the turret rotation mechanism of the original design on February 13, 1906. At the beginning of the same year, two such armored vehicles were manufactured.
With the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, M. Nakashidze heads a reconnaissance team he formed from volunteers, with which he goes to the front at the disposal of the 7th Siberian Cossack Regiment. At the beginning of July 1905, he sent a proposal to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops in the Far East, Adjutant General Lenevich, to order one armored vehicle armed with a machine gun in France to test it in front-line conditions. Most likely, Nakashidze already knew about Colonel Guye’s armored car project and hoped that the Russian government would be interested in the new product. He took on the role of intermediary in completing the transaction, as well as financing the delivery of the armored car to Russia.
Adjutant General N.P. Lenevich agreed with Nakashidze's proposal. In addition, the latter received permission from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire for duty-free import of an armored car into Russia: it was assumed that the taxes would be paid by the state if the car was purchased. If the deal had not taken place, the armored car was supposed to be sent to France within 3 months.
Apparently, having secured support “at the top,” Nakashidze, as they say, “got a taste,” since the head of the military communications department of the General Staff reported to the Quartermaster General of the Main Staff of the Russian Army:
“Prince Nakashidze arrived with a memorandum dated December 3 this year. Mr. asked for the immediate clearance through customs of five more of the same armored vehicles, but this request was denied to him on December 8, since it was intended to purchase only one engine for testing by the military department.”
The armored car arrived in St. Petersburg on March 8, 1906. The car was sent to the St. Petersburg artillery warehouse, which was located in the crownwork of the Peter and Paul Fortress (now there is the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps. - Author's note).
Armored car "Sharron" on the road. Russia, 1906 (RGVIA)
Testing of the new product was entrusted to a commission specially created for this purpose of the Main Artillery Directorate, chaired by Lieutenant General Takhtarev. In the period from March 22 to May 29, 1906, the armored car made several runs in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Firing tests and armor shooting were also carried out at the Rifle Range of the Officer Rifle School.
On June 30, 1906, the “Journal of the Commission at the GAU for testing an armored vehicle equipped with a machine gun” was compiled, which summarized all the materials on testing the vehicle:
“The car, according to Nakashidze, has a power of 30 hp, a gasoline reserve of 500 km, gasoline consumption is 1.25 pounds per hour, i.e. 37.5 pounds per hour, the weight of the entire car is 180 pounds (2400 kg), the number of people is 4 (an officer, a driver driving the car and 2 machine gunners). It is covered on all sides with 4.5 mm armor, the front armor is hinged and can be raised or lowered at will, there are 4 windows cut into the side (2 on each side), covered with steel sheets 4.5 mm thick. Thus, in combat form the car is almost completely covered with armor, leaving only small holes for the eyes.
The wheels with their inflated tires, which are not protected by armor, remain uncovered. There are small incandescent bulbs for lighting inside. In the front there are seats for the officer and the driver, around which all the mechanisms and levers for control are concentrated, while the rear part is intended for a machine gun mounted in a rotating turret lying above the roof of the car.
This turret can move around a special vertical axis, to which the machine gun is attached with two curved levers...
In the machine gun room there is a seat for machine gunners, which is removed during firing. In addition, two vertical tanks are placed here - one for transporting 140 liters of gasoline, the other 20 liters of oil. The rest of the gasoline is transported in a tank under the front seats. The very rear of the vehicle is designed to carry 2,400 rounds of ammunition, packed in 10 metal boxes of 10 packs of 24 rounds each. There is no special room for the remaining cartridges, but some more can be transported directly on the floor of the car near the machine gun rack.
On the outside front, the car is equipped with an acetylene lantern, on the outside of it are two portable bridges for crossing ditches, and at the back there is a spare wheel and a spare machine gun.
The vehicle is armed with a Hotchkiss machine gun firing French ammunition."
The results of tests of armor fired from a 7.62-mm Mosin rifle were not very impressive, showing that “the armor installed on the car is significantly inferior in its impenetrability qualities to our steel, and its fragility is confirmed by the fact that when it is pierced by falling bullets broke off small pieces of armor near the holes.”
In its conclusions on testing the armored vehicle, the commission of the Main Artillery Directorate noted the following:
"1. The car gave quite good results: a) on a very good road the car moved at a speed of 60 versts per hour;
b) climbs up to 18-20 degrees, the car handled well;
c) the car moved unhindered on sandy compacted shallow soil and dry arable land.
2. Having a sufficient supply of water and gasoline, the car moves for a long time without replenishing them.
3. Driving a car is convenient due to the fact that all levers and mechanisms are concentrated near the driver.
4. It is also necessary to note the appropriate design of the machine cooler.
Flaws:
5. The car cannot move at all on a wet, damp, unpaved road (with ordinary soil in the outskirts of St. Petersburg), along the way covered even with shallow loose snow, and also without roads, on dry soft surfaces, on which an ordinary light passenger 8-seater car can pass . When driving on such soils, the car became stuck almost to the axles.
6. The car's agility is insignificant. To turn, you need a circle of 17.5 arshins in diameter and 9.5 arshins to turn in a sequential forward-backward motion.
7. There is no complete independence of moves.
8. Some parts of the car, such as the exhaust pipe, are located very low, which means that if the wheels get stuck, they may break.
9. The vehicle’s center of gravity is raised very high due to the rather significant weight of the armored turret and machine gun located on top of the vehicle’s roof, which has a detrimental effect on its stability.”
Not everything went smoothly when the vehicle was tested by fire. While the results were quite satisfactory when firing from a standstill, it turned out that while moving, “the accuracy decreases significantly, and the decrease increases with increasing speed.”
In addition, it was noted that the fighting compartment is small to accommodate a machine gun and two machine gunners, rotating the turret and aiming it at the target is quite difficult, and “shooting requires special dexterity and dexterity due to the cramped space.” Also, members of the commission spoke out against the use of a Hotchkiss machine gun on an armored car: “It shoots with French cartridges, therefore it is unsuitable for our army.”
View of the Sharron armored car with the turret turned backwards. Russia, 1906 (RGVIA)
In the final conclusions, the commission wrote:
“The delivered vehicle does not meet certain delivery conditions and therefore cannot be accepted.”
Prince Nakashidze, who was present at the tests, apparently realizing that the armored car he presented did not meet the requirements of the military, on June 18, 1906, sent a memorandum with the following content to the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General F. Palitsin (by the way, in this document Nakashidze was called “director of the armor department cars):
“The car I built was adapted to the conditions of the war in the Far East. The current political situation on this outskirts does not at all give reason to assume that we are not on the eve of new foundations with our enemy. The Japanese Ministry of War has already twice contacted our plant with a request to supply it with 50 cars, and a commission of Chinese officers that came to inspect the car made us an order for 150 cars for the Chinese government. Being bound by a contract with me, the plant was forced to temporarily refuse these orders, but if before September 1 this year. If I do not present the plant with an order from the Russian Government for a certain number of vehicles, at least 50, then the plant will have the right to supply armored vehicles to anyone...
From all that has been said, it follows how important it would be for the purposes of National Defense and giving our military forces greater power if the Russian Army were now equipped with a sufficient number of armored vehicles, which, being concentrated in parks, would make it possible to prepare a contingent of mechanics in advance and study combat tactics of this new type of weapon.
In conclusion, I consider it my duty to add that, meeting the Government halfway in view of its difficult financial situation, we would be ready to open a large automobile plant in St. Petersburg.”
Most likely, with information about the alleged purchases of armored vehicles by various countries, Nakashidze tried to put pressure on the Russian War Ministry and force it to purchase a batch of armored vehicles from them. Moreover, the enterprising prince had already tried to influence in this way earlier. For example, presenting an armored car that arrived in March 1906 to representatives of the military communications department, Nakashidze said that, according to the secret information he had, the German War Ministry entered into a condition with one of the large German companies to supply 80 vehicles on demand within two months and that a similar A contact was concluded by the French Minister of War with one of the French companies for the delivery within three months of 100 vehicles of approximately the same type as the one manufactured.
Armored car "Sharron" stuck on sandy ground. Russia, 1906 (RGVIA)
By order of the Chief of the General Staff dated July 21, 1906, the armored vehicle was “ordered to be placed at the disposal of the headquarters of the Krasnoselsky military camp for the period from July 24 this year. G.". To carry out the tests, by order of the commander of the guard troops and the St. Petersburg Military District, a special commission was created under the chairmanship of Major General Rosenschild von Pauli. It is unlikely that the reason for the tests was Nakashidze’s dubious information about orders for armored cars from other countries. Most likely, the command of the Russian Army wanted to obtain complete information about the armored new product, since the commission’s order stated that “tests should be carried out exclusively for tactical purposes.” In its conclusion, the commission of Major General Rosenschild von Pauli noted the following:
“...When tested from July 25 to August 5 this year. d. in practice it turned out that the car is very suitable for performing the following tasks: a) for extensive reconnaissance in the rear and on the flanks of the enemy;
b) to break through the enemy’s chain for reconnaissance purposes;
c) for communications services in the field of enemy fire, especially with significant development of the track network;
d) to disrupt cavalry units going on the attack...
e) as a convenient tower for making observations on level ground, especially if there are bushes behind which a car can be hidden.
In addition to the above purposes, the car can be believed to be useful in the following cases:
a) to quickly advance to the enemy’s front or to his rear with the aim of destroying any important structures, especially crossings, with the help of a transported stock of explosives;
b) for various auxiliary purposes during partisan actions;
c) for the rapid delivery of cartridges and shells to the battle lines, as well as replenishment of the loss of officers;
d) when pursuing the enemy, constant anxiety from all sides with machine-gun fire.
Although the commission was tasked with speaking out about the tactical significance of an armored vehicle, it is nevertheless impossible to pass over in silence some technical aspects that significantly influence the tactical use of the vehicle. In this sense, it should be noted:
1) Nakashidze’s armored car, due to its bulkiness (180 pounds), will be widely used only in the area of a dense highway network.
2) The car is too loaded, which is why it easily gets stuck in the mud.
3) It is slow on the roads, due to which it takes a lot of time to turn, which can be disastrous under enemy fire.
4) The front end sits too low above the ground, resulting in delays from stones, etc.
5) According to its external outline, the car presents too much resistance to air and few surfaces on which bullets could slide.
6) Wheel tires should be covered with armor if possible.
7) For observation on the sides, instead of the existing large holes, make narrow slits.
All accessories for the machine gun should be made lighter and the machine gun made removable, and the method of its attachment more convenient for the shooter.
9) To quickly jump into a car, it should be equipped with a large number of doors.
10) If possible, reduce the noise from movement in order to make it possible to approach the enemy more unnoticed.”
Thus, the general conclusions of both commissions that tested the vehicle in March - May and July - August generally coincided. Their assessment of the armored car as a whole boiled down to one thing - in this form it is not suitable for operation and use in the Russian Army.
However, this turn of events did not suit Nakashidze, who was directly financially interested in Russia acquiring a batch of Sharron armored vehicles. Apparently, being impressed by the battles of the revolution of 1905-1906, he proposes using the car “to maintain internal order.” Having made an appointment with the then Minister of Internal Affairs P. Stolypin, Nakashidze arrived at his dacha on August 12, 1906. It was on this day that an attempt was made on the minister’s life, and his dacha was blown up. Stolypin himself was not injured - he was absent during the explosion. However, as follows from the note from Comrade Minister of Internal Affairs,
“On August 12, 1906, among others, Captain Mikhail Aleksandrovich Nakashidze, who came to the Minister with a proposal for the type of car he invented for police and security purposes, was killed, and along with him all the drawings, plans, contracts with the French automobile company and other documents perished. related to his invention."
But, despite the tragic fate of Nakashidze himself, the armored car he proposed continued its “odyssey” in Russia. The car was supervised by the deceased prince’s comrade, retired guard colonel A. Ofrosimov, who was also a representative.
On September 22, 1906, the following letter was sent to the Military Council:
“In the opinion of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, the armored vehicle of Prince Nakashidze, although it turned out to not satisfy some of the conditions imposed on it, nevertheless, based on the results of tests at the Krasnoselsky maneuvers, it could be suitable for performing known combat missions, and therefore it is advisable to purchase one for the Military Department for the development of further tests with it and in order to improve its technical data."
Apparently, on the basis of this document, on January 9, 1907, the armored vehicle was purchased by the Russian military department, paying the French company 30,000 rubles.
By the way, one of the conditions for purchasing an armored vehicle was the General Staff's delivery of the vehicle “in good working order” with the replacement of the armored hull and turret. We must pay tribute to the efficiency of retired Colonel Ofrosimov - on February 19, 1907, he concluded an agreement with the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg for the repair of an armored car. The following work was carried out:
"1. Installation of new armor delivered from France; 2. Correction of wheel shields;
3. Make all machine gun attachments removable;
4. For observation on the sides, make loopholes in the form of oblong slits in the existing window shutters;
5. Make a loophole in the back wall;
6. Renewal of exterior painting.”
On March 28, 1907, a commission of representatives of the military communications department, the main artillery department and a representative of Ofrosimov accepted an armored car repaired by the Putilov plant. After a short test run, the car was sent for storage to the crownworks of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
At the beginning of August 1907, the armored car was again sent to Oranienbaum for testing at the rifle range of the Officer Rifle School. The tests were supervised by the head of the testing ground, Colonel N. Filatov, and the driver of the car was a soldier of the 1st Caucasian Railway Battalion, Pavel Vasiliev.
The tests lasted intermittently until mid-October, and both the speed and maneuverability of the vehicle were tested, as well as the possibility of installing and firing Hotchkiss, Maxim and Madsen machine guns on it. While at the training ground, the armored car covered more than 600 miles, showing high speeds on good highways and a complete lack of maneuverability on dirty roads or country roads. In addition, there were a large number of breakdowns, to correct which it was necessary to purchase spare parts from the Lessner plant. In general, the conclusions regarding the maneuverability and maneuverability of the vehicle completely coincided with the conclusions of the commissions that conducted tests in 1906.
Armored car "Sharron" during mileage tests on the way to Oranienbaum. Russia, 1906 (RGVIA)
In July 1908, the armored car came into the possession of the Guard troops and the St. Petersburg Military District and was sent to Krasnoe Selo “to be tested by driving maneuvers.” However, the results were disappointing: “The armored vehicle in its present form, due to its excessive weight, cannot serve the above purposes.” At the same time, the headquarters of the St. Petersburg Military District offered to convert the car “to a lighter type” (i.e., unarmor it), taking all expenses at its own expense.
On September 17, 1908, the armored car was transferred to the “full ownership” of the St. Petersburg District, and by October 16, the armor from the car was removed, and the car itself was converted into a passenger car.
Thus, despite more than two years of testing the armored car in Russia, this vehicle has not received recognition from our military, and this is not surprising. The fact is that before this, no country in the world had anything like this in service, and, naturally, no one at that time had experience in using a new type of military equipment. In addition, we should not forget that the technical level of armored cars of that time was directly related to the development of the automotive industry. And in the first years of the 20th century, cars were still very imperfect designs that had low reliability of the units and low cross-country ability, and were also very complex and capricious to operate.
In addition to the armored car for Russia, it produced several more similar vehicles based on Russian orders. According to French sources, six built armored cars were sent to Russia at the end of 1906 or beginning of 1907, but they were not allowed across the border. A little later, two cars were bought by the Germans, and at a significant discount (according to some sources, up to 40%). After testing in 1909, the vehicles participated in the exercises of the 5th Guards Brigade, and then they were sent to one of the fortresses in East Prussia. According to some reports, both armored cars were used by the Germans in battles in East Prussia in August 1914.
One armored car was purchased from the French military, and in 1914 it was used in battle as part of the cavalry corps of General Sorde.
In addition to the armored car of Prince Nakashidze, before the First World War in Russia there was another armored car, about which practically nothing is known in our country. True, it was not the military, but the civil authorities who ordered the car.
On November 11, 1911, the administration for the construction of the eastern part of the Amur Railway entered into an agreement with the Germans for the production of an armored vehicle, which had to meet the following requirements:
“The total weight of the vehicle is about 120 pounds, the weight of the 4.5 mm thick armor made of Krupp steel should not exceed 30 pounds. Lifting force - 60 pounds of cargo or 6 people and 20 pounds.
Truck type chassis. The engine should be 4-cylinder, 35/40 hp, with cylinders cast in pairs...
Maximum speed at full load is 20 versts per hour.
6. The vehicle must be equipped with a combat rotating turret, the impenetrability of the armor is guaranteed against rifle shots.”
Apparently, before issuing the order, she presented to the management for the construction of the eastern part of the Amur Railway a preliminary design of the machine, which, with minor changes, was approved.
Armored car "Benz" of the Amur Railway in Omsk. May 1918 (Museum of Contemporary History of Russia)
On August 4, 1912, the armored car was delivered to St. Petersburg, to the Russian branch of the Benz and Co. trading house, after which the car was sent to Khabarovsk. Judging by the documents, the appearance and characteristics of the machine corresponded to the task, but the German company did not fully fulfill the conditions set. Thus, the armored car did not have a “combat rotating turret”, and the weights were of a smaller diameter, for which the performer was charged 1,203 rubles (the total cost of the vehicle was 11,500 rubles).
The interest in the armored car by the management for the construction of the eastern part of the Amur Railway is not accidental. The fact is that during the Russo-Japanese War it became clear that the Chinese Eastern Railway, laid through the territory of Manchuria, did not completely meet the interests of Russia. Therefore, already in 1906, the design of the Amur Railway from Sretensk to Khabarovsk began with a total length of 2041 miles with branches to Nerchinsk, Reinovo and Blagoveshchensk. Construction began two years later, and was carried out in sparsely populated areas near the Chinese border. Therefore, there were frequent cases of attacks on workers' parties by Chinese bandits - Honghuz. For the safe travel of engineers, as well as the transportation of valuable cargo, at the suggestion of the head of work on the construction of the eastern part of the Amur Railway, engineer A.V. Liverovsky, a Benz armored car was ordered.
The armored car, which arrived in Khabarovsk on September 15, 1912, was converted at the beginning of the next year to travel along the railway track, since there were very few highways and good dirt roads in the area, and in winter, movement along them was almost impossible.
After the outbreak of the First World War, the Benz armored car was accepted “into the Military Department for military automobile service” under Act No. 16495 of October 5, 1914. As follows from the accompanying documents, by this time the car “during the period of service during construction for 25 months had covered only 2,425 miles.” By the way, in the same documents this vehicle was called an “armored bus” - apparently due to its large overall dimensions.
In mid-October 1914, an “armored bus” from Khabarovsk was sent to Petrograd, at the disposal of the Military Automotive School, but the car was lost in the vast Russian expanses, never reaching the capital.
In the spring of 1918, the car “pops up” in Omsk. Here, for the characteristic shape of the hull, the armored car was nicknamed “Lobkov’s coffin” (Z. I. Lobkov - one of the organizers of the Red Guard detachments in Omsk, chairman of the city committee of the RSDLP (b)).
Thus, by the beginning of the First World War, there were no armored vehicles in service with the Russian Army. However, in other countries that had a more developed (compared to Russia) automotive industry - Austria-Hungary, Germany, England, America and France - the situation was exactly the same. The various models of armored vehicles built by these countries in 1906-1913 did not go further than prototypes and none of them interested the military.
The first Russian armored car Nakashidze
During the Russo-Japanese War, retired lieutenant of the hussar regiment, Georgian prince Mikhail Alexandrovich Nakashidze, became convinced of the need to create a fundamentally new type of weapon - an armored car. The military liked the project presented in the summer of 1905, but they limited themselves to advising the inventor to assume all the costs of its production.
Prototype of the Nakashidze armored car of the French company CGV. 1905
As a result, the order for two armored cars was transferred to the French company Charron, Girardot et Voigt (CGV), which already had experience installing machine guns on light chassis. The basis of Russian armored vehicles were ordinary 37-horsepower Charron 30CV passenger cars with a gearbox set back and a main chain drive. Tall armored hulls with large windows and a rotating turret with a Hotchkiss machine gun were mounted on them, and rutted walkways were attached to the sides to overcome trenches. The fairly heavy three-ton car reached a speed of 50 km/h and had a range of 600 kilometers. Its first tests took place at the end of 1905 in France.
Mikhail Nakashidze's machine-gun vehicle being tested in Russia. 1906
The second copy of an armored car at military maneuvers in France. July 1906
So, once again, the theory of the special historical status of Russia with its “specific conditions” worked, which included the centuries-old attachment to horse-drawn carriages, the absence of large industrial enterprises and...
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The first armored car arrived in Russia in March 1906. The military tested it during the spring thaw and declared the vehicle “incapable of independent movement,” but based on the results of summer tests it was recommended to use it
"to fight the enemy's cavalry and pursue the retreating enemy."
After repairs and reinforcement of the armor, it again entered testing, but according to their results, the armored car was dismantled in 1908.
M1/T4, Armored Car
Along the long path of evolution traversed by civilian and military automotive technology, samples periodically appeared that had fundamental differences from all products that had been designed and mass-produced before. And each time, it was from them that a new round of design improvement began, which again initiated after some time another qualitative leap.
Let's take armored cars, for example. Now almost all vehicles have a load-bearing body made of armored steel, to which the chassis and power transmission units are attached. Some types are made according to the old, classic design - on a frame chassis. But these are mostly modified trucks and cars turned into armored cars for police use, rather than full-fledged battlefield vehicles.
The very first armored car in history with a “self-supporting” armored body was the American T4, built in 1932 by Cunningham and later adopted by the M1 subindex.
The Cunningham company was, as they sometimes say, widely known in a narrow circle. Founded in the first half of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, it mastered small-scale production of high-class passenger cars. In 1916, the V-8 engine with a displacement of 7244 cm3 and a power of 90 hp was put into production at the company's plant in Rochester (New York). (2000 rpm). This motor was subsequently used on all Cunninghams, until the company liquidated its automotive division in the early 30s. With a production volume of three to four hundred cars per year, Cunningham mass-produced armored limousines, ambulances and hearses. Thus, of the 377 Cunninghams sold in 1923, 190 were “special purpose vehicles,” and among the 310 produced by the plant in 1928, 70 percent of them were already.
It was the out-of-date “piecemeal” production technology that allowed the small company to decisively reject the principles used before (and after) for creating army armored vehicles on commercial chassis. Large manufacturers would never do this in peacetime. But James Cunningham and his employees had everything in mind: that the conveyor should be reconfigured, that expensive equipment should be purchased. They fenced off part of the workshop, built something like a slipway and began installation.
What was the world's first new generation armored car? The supporting body with huge flat surfaces was of a mixed riveted and welded structure. For its manufacture, armor sheets with a thickness of 4.8 to 12.7 mm were used. Almost half the length of the armored body was occupied by a huge engine compartment, although the V-8 engine that was housed there had rather modest dimensions. To cool the radiator, vertical blinds were installed in front. Behind the engine compartment is an armored two-seater cabin with two very wide doors.
In the first prototypes of the Cunningham, the military immediately noted the insufficient armor protection of the windshield (two - left and right - folding armored shields). In general, the design was clearly unsuccessful, because in order to lower the armored shields, the windshield had to be folded back and placed on the hood. It would hardly have survived in combat conditions. Behind the cabin is a fighting compartment with a low rotating cylindrical turret with a conical roof. The turret had space for installing two Browning machine guns. The heavy M1920 with a caliber of 12.7 mm and the usual “handbrake” M1919 with a caliber of 7.62 mm were placed very close to each other. The tower was equipped with a hatch that folded back. On its roof there was a unit for attaching a radio station antenna. The fighting compartment had two side and one rear doors.
The distance from the first bridge to the second is 2572 mm, from the second to the third - 1136 mm. With such a fairly solid base, the dimensions of the armored car, which received the T4 index, were 4830 x 1850 x 2130 mm, and the weight was 4.08 tons. Considering that the power of the V-8 engine with a displacement of 7.7 liters reached 140 hp. (for the production model), it is easy to calculate the specific power: 35 hp. per ton of weight. For comparison, the Swedish Landsverk armored car produced in those years had a specific power of 10.5 hp. per ton, “Fiat” - 8.25 hp. per ton, Japanese “Sumida” - 13.7 hp. per ton of weight. So the characteristics of the V-8 engine were quite consistent with the “revolutionary” image of the design. Speed on the highway is up to 90 km/h - an excellent result for an armored car of that era. The fuel tank with a capacity of 114 liters was more than enough for a forced march of 320 km.
The armored vehicle's components were quite ordinary, automobile-like - a four-speed planetary gearbox, axles, suspension, steering, wheels. Almost no novelty. Moreover, the tires were the most ordinary, even the tread was highway. To increase cross-country ability, chains had to be put on the rear wheels. The front axle did not have a drive, but the spare wheels installed on the sides of the body could rotate and should, in theory, help the armored car overcome obstacles without “sitting” on them with its bottom.
Of course, the T4 was not an ideal design, but at that moment it was the most “mature” armored car of American design and it was adopted by the US Army, assigning the rather symbolic index M1. In addition to two prototypes, another 20 serial armored vehicles of the M1 type were built. During pre-production, the project, with the exception of some minor details, did not change. For example, the production M1, unlike the T4 prototype, had enlarged windows in the side doors to improve visibility. They also redesigned the headlight housings: instead of the egg-shaped ones that were on the first copy, they used standard ones, but with a larger diameter.
The spectacular chrome bumper of two stripes (from a limousine) was replaced in the series with a more powerful one made of rolled steel. A bracket for an anti-aircraft machine gun and a new radio antenna were installed on the roof of the tower. On the wide fenders of the rear wheels, two long boxes for spare parts were installed instead of one. In addition, a barrel with an additional supply of fuel was vertically attached to the rear right. The order was urgent - the time had come for massive motorized armies, a lot of modern equipment was required, primarily for training purposes.
The motorization of the US Army initially proceeded in small steps - in 1930, an experimental unit of 600 people was created, armed with 15 tanks (Renault FT and T1E1), ten armored vehicles, one mechanized artillery battery, 66 trucks, seven tractors and 22 cars car.
Then, based on the experience gained, it was decided to mechanize one of the regular units. The choice fell on the 7th Cavalry Brigade of the US Army. Many armies around the world did the same thing back then: the most mobile units and formations were first transferred to mechanized ones. In the late 20s - early 30s. in the Ground Forces only cavalry regiments and brigades were such.
One of the new types of weapons designed to replace war horses was the M1 armored car, which received the classification name Combatcar. All 20 production copies of the M1 were transferred to the 7th Cavalry Brigade. For several years, the vehicles were used as “training desks” for future commanders and drivers of armored personnel carriers and tanks. Perhaps the only combat missions that M1 crews had to perform was to participate in the transportation of bullion to or from the US gold reserve storage facility at Fort Knox. The photo of the M1 armored car at the entrance to this world-famous citadel is the most popular image in historical literature of the first ever mass-produced frameless armored car.
M1 armored vehicles had a standard color - plain olive. Small but clearly visible signs with the emblem of the US Cavalry - crossed sabers - were attached to the towers. Over time, the emblem on armored vehicles has changed - in some photographs of the M1, the cavalry symbol painted in white paint on the side armored doors is clearly visible.
COMBAT WEIGHT – 4465 kg CREW, persons. – 4 OVERALL DIMENSIONS: Length, mm – 4572 Width, mm – 1829 Height, mm – 2108 Ground clearance, mm – 199 ARMAMENT: one 12.7 mm and two 7.62 mm Browning machine guns AMMUNITION: 7200 rounds AIMING DEVICES: machine gun sight ARMOR: hull front – 9.53 mm hull side – 9.53 mm hull rear – 9.53 mm turret – 9.53 mm roof – 6.35 mm bottom – 6.35 mm ENGINE: Cunningham V8, carburetor, 8 -cylinder, liquid cooling, power 133 hp. TRANSMISSION: mechanical type CHASSIS: 6x3 wheel arrangement, single wheels, pneumatic tires 6.75x32 dm SPEED: 89 km/h HIGHWAY RANGE: 402 km OBSTACLES OVERCOME: Fording depth, m – 0.53
Russian armored cars on domestic chassis
During the First World War, the only “happy” combination of domestic vehicles and Russian-made armored hulls were armored vehicles based on the chassis of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Plant (RBVZ).
The first in August-September 1914 were turretless armored cars on a 40-horsepower C24-40 passenger chassis, created according to the design of engineer A. Ya. Grauen and equipped with Izhora hulls with inclined armor plates made of chromium-nickel steel. Two Maxim machine guns were placed in the front and rear plates, the third could be transferred from one side to the other. The speed of three-ton vehicles did not exceed 20 km/h. They went to the front as part of the 1st Automotive Machine Gun Company, but due to weak armor they were soon withdrawn from service.
Fully Russian Grauen armored car on a C24-40 passenger chassis. 1914
Turretless vehicle from the Izhora plant with a rear-mounted machine gun
At the end of September 1914, in the Petrograd workshop of engineer A. A. Bratolyubov, according to the design of Staff Captain Nekrasov, three armored cars with rounded hulls from the Obukhov plant with two 37-mm Hotchkiss cannons and three machine guns were assembled on the same chassis. The same hulls with the Maxim cannon were mounted on three one-ton D24-40 truck chassis. All versions turned out to be too heavy and cumbersome; they did not take part in battles and were subsequently transferred to rail travel.
Cannon armored car of Nekrasov and Bratolyubov on the S24-40 car. 1915
At the beginning of 1916, in Bratolyubov’s workshop, the original Pobedonosets turret-mounted armored car with three Maxim machine guns and a second control post appeared on the C24-40 chassis. At the same time, three more armored vehicles were assembled on D24-40 truck chassis, which differed from passenger vehicles in their reinforced frame and new axles. Turning out to be overloaded and slow-moving, they were all used as training vehicles and served as guards at Smolny.
Armored car "Pobedonosets" on the Russian-Baltic S24-40 chassis. 1916
Vehicles “Oleg”, “Yaroslav” and “Svyatoslav” on D24-40 truck chassis. March 1917
In total, until 1917, only 20 armored cars were assembled on Russian chassis.
Cars: Children's Encyclopedia
We can say that from birth the car is in perpetual service in the army. After all, it was to him that armored cars and armored vehicles of the period of the First and Second World Wars, current armored personnel carriers and other wheeled combat vehicles owe their appearance.True, in the modern army, cars in most cases perform prosaic everyday transport work and do not directly participate in combat operations, leaving this to specialized vehicles based on them - armored cars. The most ordinary trucks without any armor protection, sometimes not even equipped with off-road vehicles, also “put on” military uniform more than once. You know about the legendary multi-charge rocket launchers on the chassis of ordinary trucks, popularly called “Katyushas”. But they are not at all limited to the range of automotive equipment for this purpose. "Katyushas", erected on pedestals in memory of the past war, are only the most striking symbol of the combat use of the vehicle.
Modern armored vehicle.
THE APPEARANCE OF MACHINE GUN VEHICLES
For the first time, the British brought a self-propelled wheeled vehicle onto the battlefield. This happened in 1899 during the Boer War in South Africa. Designer F. Simms took as a basis a light four-wheeled single-seater car “De Dion-Bouton”, which rather resembled two articulated bicycles equipped with a motor, and installed a “Maxim” machine gun on the front - a novelty of those years. It was this construction that marked the beginning of the birth of a new combat unit - the “machine gun vehicle”. Subsequently, ordinary vehicles with a machine gun on board participated in various combat operations. They had good speed for those times, and the most powerful of them managed to further transport up to a platoon of soldiers.
In Russia, at the Bialystok maneuvers of 1897 and the Kursk maneuvers of 1902, several types of cars with gasoline engines were also used. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. In the Far Eastern theater of military operations, at the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops, General Kuropatkin, there were 11 passenger cars that were used for travel by senior officers.
Later, the Russian army began to move from using single vehicles to creating special vehicle units. The first such units were automobile teams attached to railway battalions, organized in 1910.
During the First World War, Russia practically did not have its own automobile industry, with the exception of the Riga industry, whose production capacity could not satisfy all the needs of the front.
The machine gun car was not Simms's only invention. In 1902, a talented Englishman built an armored truck with an internal combustion engine.
Simms machine gun car. 1899
"Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost" as an ambulance. 1916
By the beginning of the First World War, the leading capitalist countries - the USA, England, France, Germany - had a well-developed automobile industry. The fleet of vehicles there was quite impressive, but in the armies of these states there were very few cars, their role was clearly underestimated. In all armies, cars were used for different purposes, but everywhere - for transporting supplies and other cargo. They tried to build self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, but they were just ordinary guns mounted on a truck platform.
MILITARY TAXI
The transport capabilities of cars, both freight and passenger, were fully revealed during the First World War. Cars, with their mobility, freedom to choose a route, high average speed, and the ability to camouflage themselves from attack from the air, have become an important type of military transport, and in some cases, irreplaceable combat units. This is reminiscent of the car standing in the Museum of Arms in Paris among tanks and camp kitchens - an ordinary Renault, model 1910.
A French postage stamp is dedicated to the Renault Taxi car. His smaller models appear on the windows of toy stores, decorate inkstands, ashtrays, and pencil sharpeners. The image of this car can be found everywhere in France - it is used to cover tablecloths, beer mugs, and women's headscarves. And everywhere under the drawings and models there is a label: “Marne Taxi.” Why do the French elevate the old Renault to the rank of a national hero?
In 1914, the German army moved uncontrollably towards Paris. The advanced detachments reached the Marne River and approached an important railway several tens of kilometers from the capital. The defense of the city was not secured in advance by troops. On September 7 the situation became critical. It was necessary to transfer the newly formed division to the Marne within 24 hours. The railway could transport no more than a brigade; there was not enough time to transport it on foot. And so the generals in charge of the defense came up with an idea - to call on Parisian taxi cars for help.
It is known to many that the future Queen of Great Britain Elizabeth II was a driver and repaired cars in a driving school during the Second World War. But not everyone knows that ladies from the upper strata of British society drove military vehicles during the First World War. 22 ladies served in the automobile detachment - countesses, duchesses, wives and daughters of counts and peers. Some may think that their military service was a sham. But that's not true. The ladies wore protective soldier's uniforms and observed all the requirements of military discipline.
The story tells of an operation involving London bus workers. It was significantly larger in scale than the Parisian one. On September 16, 1914, 70 “double-deckers” were included in the Continental forces for transfer to Dunkirk. Buses, from which the billboards had not even been removed, transported troops to Ypres, Lilli, or Tournai, providing regular communication between Dunkirk and the active armies. By October, up to 300 buses were in use in the European theater, organized into an Army Support Corps. In total, during the war years, about 1,300 buses were sent to the front, of which only 300 later returned to “peaceful life.”
In other major military operations, cars were also used with success. In May 1915 in Galicia and in December in the battles on the Styr River, the victory of the Russian army was ensured by the timely delivery of reinforcements, machine guns and shells on vehicles. When the German army was besieging the French city and fortress of Verdun, the only railway connecting the city with the rear was under fire from enemy guns. Berlier and Unique trucks were rushed to the rescue. Up to six thousand cars a day approached Verdun along the highway. During three months of fighting, more than a million soldiers and about two million tons of cargo were transported, and hundreds of thousands of wounded were transported.
By the end of the First World War, there were already more than 200 thousand cars in the armies of the countries that opposed Germany.
CARS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY
Strategic road transport was almost never used in the Russian army. In 1914, a significant number of vehicles were used to transport ammunition in the Lodz operation. In 1916, during the Brusilov breakthrough, 30 vehicles transferred the 79th Infantry Division several tens of kilometers.
The Russian army also had machine-gun vehicles in service. However, subsequently the vulnerability of vehicles not protected by armor forced the abandonment of “carts”. They were replaced by armored cars.
Despite the fact that the possible enemy was calculated by the Russian General Staff long before the start of hostilities, the Russian army's vehicle fleet was mostly equipped with German-made vehicles, in particular those manufactured by Benz. During the war, this completely reliable equipment was deprived of supplies of spare parts and, in fact, hung like a dead weight on the neck of the army. The mobilization of technical means carried out at the beginning of the war did not save the situation either. The 475 trucks and 3,562 cars assembled during mobilization were too diverse, and this fact significantly affected their operation and repair. Only in 1916 did Russia begin to purchase equipment in large quantities, mainly FIAT, White, Packard, Berlier and Renault cars.
In addition to cars purchased from the allies, during the First World War Russia began producing its own military vehicles, albeit in very small quantities. In May 1913, at the suggestion of an engineer from the artillery technical office of the Putilov Lander plant, the onboard platform of a 5-ton truck produced by the Russian-Baltic Carriage Plant was altered to install a swinging “anti-airplane gun” on it. The first four vehicles arrived for testing at the Main Artillery Range near Petrograd at the end of 1914.
In February 1915, the first self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, capable of reaching speeds of up to 20 km/h, were ready, and in March they were sent to provide air cover for Tsarskoye Selo. Soon the second battery, commanded by Captain Tarnovsky, went to the Western Front. On July 17, she successfully repelled a raid by nine German airplanes. Later, near Warsaw, the battery shot down two enemy aircraft.
It should be noted that by the end of 1917, 92 thousand vehicles took part in hostilities on the French side, 76 thousand on the British side, 56 thousand on the German side, and 21 thousand on the Russian side. The test of the car’s strength in its new capacity was successful .
FIAT is one of the most common types of armored vehicles in the Russian army during the First World War and the Civil War. The reservation was made at the Izhora plant. Combat weight 53 Sh crew - 4 people; armament - two Maxim 7.62 mm machine guns; armor protection - 6-8 mm; maximum speed - 60 km/h.
Cars in Russia were considered “liable for military service.” At the beginning of the war, several thousand cars were requisitioned from private individuals. They were all “various”: German, American, French, Italian.
The main reason that forced Russia to purchase automobile equipment outside the country was the narrow range of models produced at its automobile factories.
The first mobile "anti-aircraft gun" designed by Lander. 1914
ARMORED CAR: CAR PLUS PROTECTION
In 1902, Russian army officer Nakashidze, in his book “The Automobile, Its Economic and Strategic Importance for Russia,” proved the economic benefits of using automobiles, in particular in the Caucasus. In 1904, he developed a project for an armored car of his own design.
According to his drawings, the first armored car was built on a chassis in France at the end of 1904 and entered service with the Russian army. The body of the armored car was made of steel 4.5 mm thick. Its armament consisted of a machine gun mounted in a rotating turret. The spare machine gun was located inside the hull. In 1906, after testing at the Krasnoselsky maneuvers, the selection committee recognized the armored car as “suitable for reconnaissance, communications, fighting cavalry, as well as for pursuing a retreating enemy.”
The next armored car of the Russian army was the Renault, protected by steel sheets. This design was proposed in 1915 by Staff Captain Mgebrov. All vehicles of this brand had a radiator located behind the engine, so Mgebrov managed to build an armored vehicle with a strongly beveled front part, shaped like a wedge. The security of Mgebrov's vehicle compared favorably with other types of armored cars: a bullet that pierced the vertical armor plate slid along the inclined planes of the body of the new vehicle.
In the same year, the Russian officer Poplavko developed an armored vehicle of an original design on the chassis of the all-wheel drive Jeffery truck. The shape of its body made it easy to destroy wire fences. In practice, this was the prototype of a tank that was supposed to move in front of the advancing infantry, paving the way for them.
ARMORED AND ARMED WITH A GUN
The design of a heavy cannon-machine-gun armored car began in the fall of 1914 at the Putilov plant. The project was developed by the head of the Officer Rifle School, Major General Filatov. The vehicle was intended to reinforce machine-gun armored car units on the battlefield. The first car of this series, called "Garford", was ready to be sent to the front on May 3, 1915, and by October work was completed on all 30 chassis planned for armoring.
Renault car, “armored” by Mgebrov. 1915
Armored car "Garford".
Combat weight - 8.6 tons; crew - 8-9 people; armament - three Maxim machine guns; armor protection -6.5mm; maximum speed - 18 km/h, when reversing - 3 km/h.
Armored vehicle "Austin-Putilovets". 1915
Instead of the rear wheels of the car there was a wide metal caterpillar track. The front wheels were made wider; in front of them there were special rollers of small diameter, which helped to overcome ditches and ditches. Combat weight - 5.3 Sh crew - 5 people; armament - two Maxim machine guns; armor protection - 8mm.
The vehicle body, made of armor plates, was mounted on a special steel structure riveted to the chassis frame. Functionally, it was divided into three parts. In the front, above the engine, was the driver's cabin. The gas tank was located under the seats of the driver and his assistant. The middle part was occupied by a machine gun compartment, in which there were two Maxims installed on the left and right sides. The entire rear part of the armored car was occupied by a rotating armored turret with a 1910 model anti-assault cannon installed inside. In addition to the cannon, another machine gun was installed in the turret and bandoliers for 12 cannon cartridges were located. In the walls of the armored hull there were round embrasures for viewing the area, closed with flaps. The inside of the armored hull was lined with felt and canvas.
The Garford chassis turned out to be somewhat overloaded, as a result of which the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle were rather modest, and the presence of only one drive axle and solid tires sharply limited its cross-country ability. The main advantage of the Garford, for which all its shortcomings were forgiven, was considered a powerful gun.
The Garfords that remained on Russian territory after the First World War subsequently participated in battles on all fronts of the civil war. Depending on their affiliation (“red” or “white”) they were renamed “Karl Marx” or “Kornilovets”, “Proletary” or “Russia”, “Trotsky” or “Drozdovets”.
In 1923, due to wear and tear on the chassis, a decision was made to transfer the Garfords to rail travel. And in 1931 they decided to remove the vehicles from service and “unarmor them.” Apparently, the process did not affect all vehicles, since they were captured in 1941 in captured German photographs.
ARMORED CARS OF THE SOVIET COUNTRY
By the mid-20s. The Red Army had hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles. All these vehicles were foreign or Russian-made, left over from the Tsarist army. Having gone through the civil war, by the end of the first quarter of the 20th century. they have exhausted their resources and are morally obsolete. A decision was made to develop new domestic armored vehicles. Work on the new machine began in 1926 under the leadership of engineers Stryukanov and Vazhinsky.
In the summer of 1927, the technical design, the first prototype of the tested chassis and the mock-up of the armored hull were ready. The documentation was transferred to the Izhora plant in Kolpino, where the armored hull was assembled and installed on the chassis. At the end of 1927, the BA-27 armored car (armored car of 1927) was ready and successfully passed tests. At the beginning of 1928, the BA-27 was adopted by the Red Army.
Initially, the car had two control posts - front and rear. But soon the rear one was abandoned, which simplified the design and reduced the number of crew.
By the end of 1931, more than 100 BA-27 armored vehicles were built. The only surviving example of this series, BA-27M, is in the tank museum in Kubinka.
Simultaneously with the BA-27 heavy armored vehicles, the D series of light armored vehicles was launched into production. The first Soviet light armored vehicle, the D-8, was created on the basis of the GAZ-A light vehicle, produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ).
Following the “eighth” model, the D-12 armored car was developed. Its main difference was the placement of weapons - on the D-12, in addition to the machine gun in the frontal armor plate, there was also an installation with a Maxim anti-aircraft machine gun, located in the hatch of the fighting compartment. Firing at air targets was carried out while standing.
Car D-13.
Combat weight - 4.14 Sh crew - 3 people; armament - 37mm Hotchkiss high-speed cannon, two DT machine guns; armor protection - 5-8 mm; maximum speed - 55 km/h; engine - GAZ-AA, carburetor, air-cooled, 40 hp.
After modernizing the design at the Gorky Automobile Plant, Ford cars began to be called: GAZ-A, GAZ-AA, GAZ-AAA
Armored car FAI-M. Reservation -4-6mm.
The appearance in the USSR of one of the most popular Soviet cars was preceded by an agreement with the “father of the assembly line” Henry Ford. On May 31, 1929, Ford committed to begin supplying components to the Soviet Union for the assembly of Ford A, Ford AA, and Ford Timken cars.
The assembly of these cars began in February 1930 in Nizhny Novgorod. Subsequently, Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, and the plant began to be called GAZ.
Based on the Gorky armored cars in 1931, the design bureau of the Izhora plant developed a new vehicle. The armored car was named “Ford A Izhora” (FAI) and was put into production in 1933. The vehicle had a crew of two people, and the main weapon was a DT machine gun mounted in a turret with all-round firing.
In 1935, some of the FAI armored cars received replaceable wheel tires, which allowed them to move along railway tracks at speeds of up to 86 km/h. These vehicles were used as part of armored trains as light reconnaissance armored tires.
In 1935, the Izhora plant developed a new armored vehicle on the chassis of the M-1 vehicle, which differed from its predecessor in a more spacious fighting compartment and the presence of a radio station in some of the vehicles. This car began to be produced in 1936 under the name BA-20. As a result of the cessation of serial production of the FAI armored car, more than three hundred armored hulls of these vehicles accumulated at the Izhora plant. It was decided to install them on the chassis of the M-1 car. The hybrid, called FAI-M, differed from its progenitor by a longer base, on which an additional fuel tank was mounted with a bracket for mounting a spare wheel. FAI and FAI-M armored vehicles were the second most popular in the USSR army in the pre-war period and took part in all hostilities that took place in the 30s. They were used on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War until 1943.
GAZ-AA late 30s.
Russian armored vehicles on foreign chassis
This category included armored vehicles based on foreign chassis, which in Russia were subjected to more or less significant modifications to adapt them to local conditions or were equipped with completely new armored hulls.
Filatov's three-wheeled armored vehicles
In 1915–1916, according to the project of the head of the Oranienbaum officer rifle school, Major General N.M. Filatov, 15 original three-wheeled armored cars with different engines with power up to 25 hp were assembled from decommissioned imported units and components, on which armored hulls with one or two rear-mounted machine guns.
Tests of Filatov's three-wheeled machine-gun armored cars, 1916
Bylinsky's armored vehicles
In the summer of 1915, according to the project of Staff Captain Bylinsky, two cannon-machine-gun vehicles were assembled at the Obukhov plant on the basis of captured Mercedes cars. Their special feature was a hull made of chrome-nickel-vanadium steel with periscopes and a 37-mm cannon mounted inside, which fired through hinged panels. The rotating turret also housed a Maxim machine gun and rapid-fire rifles.
Demonstration of Bylinsky's car on a 45-horsepower Mercedes chassis. 1915
Ulyatovsky's armored vehicle
In 1916, in the workshops of the school mentioned above, according to the design of Warrant Officer Ulyatovsky, a light and compact armored car was assembled from foreign parts, in the rear of which there was a machine gunner lying down, firing through an embrasure in the rear plate. When the machine gun was replaced with a cannon, the vehicle became significantly heavier, and work on it was stopped.
Light machine gun armored vehicle of warrant officer Ulyatovsky. 1916
Mgebrova armored vehicles
In the first years of the war, according to the project of Staff Captain V.A. Mgebrov, 16 armored cars based on cars from different countries were assembled at the Izhora plant, of which the most famous were 11 armored vehicles on the 30-horsepower Renault ED passenger chassis. Thanks to the installation of a cooling radiator between the engine and the cabin, they were distinguished by a characteristic elongated wedge-shaped hood, which increased the survivability of the crew. Initially, two machine guns or a 37-mm cannon were placed in one large rotating turret, which was replaced by two small ones in 1916.
Mgebrov's armored vehicle on a French Renault passenger car chassis. 1916
Modernized version with two rotating towers. Autumn 1916
During the process of finalizing the body of the Italian Isotta-Fraschini armored car in Russia, a two-machine gun turret from a Renault vehicle was mounted on it.
Mgebrov's armored car on a 100-horsepower Isotta-Fraschini chassis. 1916
Izhora FIAT
In the winter of 1916, an agreement was signed with FIAT for the supply of 72 hp passenger chassis. with two control posts and a rear axle with dual-slope wheels. The first batch arrived at the Izhora plant for the installation of their own armored hulls with a diagonal arrangement of two machine-gun turrets. The assembly of armored cars began in January of the following year, and by April 1918 the plant had assembled 47 armored vehicles. They had a combat weight of 5.3 tons and reached speeds of up to 70 km/h.
Double-turret Izhora armored car FIAT on a passenger car chassis. 1917
Captured FIAT armored vehicle in the Polish fortress of Modlin (photo from 1939)
Armored vehicles Poplavko
In 1915, on the chassis of the American Jeffery Quad (4x4) truck, Staff Captain Viktor Poplavko developed and in the workshops of the 7th Army built an original armored vehicle with a winch, which for the first time became a combination of a combat vehicle, a powerful engineering tool for destroying wire barriers, making passages in shallow forest and a tow truck for damaged equipment. Structurally, it was an armored truck with a 40-horsepower engine, a conning tower for two machine guns and a rear compartment for ammunition and fuel. With a crew of four, it weighed about eight tons and reached a speed of 32 km/h.
Testing of a universal all-wheel drive vehicle designed by Poplavko
Based on the test results, the Military Department issued an order to the Izhora plant for 30 such vehicles, which went to the front in October 1916 as part of a special armored vehicle division.
Viktor Poplavko's armored car on a cargo chassis with an Izhora hull. 1916
Garford armored vehicles
The heaviest armored vehicles of the Russian army were massive cannon-machine gun vehicles on the chassis of an American Garford truck with a cab over a 35-horsepower Buda engine and armored hulls from the Putilov plant, known as “Putilov-Garford”. The rear rotating turret housed a 76.2 mm assault cannon. There was a machine gun next to it, and in the small side turrets there were two or three more machine guns. The walls of the hull had round embrasures with armored flaps. The crew consisted of eight people, the combat weight reached 8.6 tons.
Garford heavy turret armored vehicle on a cargo chassis. 1915
The Garford's armament consisted of one cannon and several machine guns
Until September 1915, 30 armored cars were assembled in Petrograd, and then some of them were equipped with a second control post. At the fronts, due to the weakness of the engine, sluggishness and poor cross-country ability, they all moved only on roads.
Garford on Palace Square in Petrograd. June 1917 (photo by D. Thompson)
By order of the Maritime Department, at the end of 1917, to guard the fortress in the Gulf of Finland, another 18 long-wheelbase armored vehicles with reinforced armor were assembled, the combat weight of which increased to 11 tons.
An extended version for guarding the sea fortress of Peter the Great. 1917
Gulkevich half-track armored vehicle
During the First World War, the only half-track armored car with a Russian-made hull was a massive vehicle designed by artillery colonel N. Gulkevich, originally from the Akhtyr Cossacks, which could
“to walk along all sorts of roads... tear apart and trample wire fences into the ground.”
Its basis was the B-6 cannon transporter of the American company Allis-Chalmers with rear tracked movers.
Gulkevich's half-track armored car in Moscow. November 1917
In October 1916, the Putilov plant assembled the Akhtyrets combat vehicle with an original hull with two control posts and a rotating turret with Maxim machine guns. The stern plate housed a 76 mm cannon. The clumsy 12-ton structure with a crew of seven people could move on a flat road at a speed of no higher than 15 km/h. She initially served in the Petrograd armored division and after the revolution was renamed "Red Petersburg".
Armored car "Red Petersburg" on an Allis-Chalmers half-track chassis (mock-up)
World history of armored vehicles
Armored trains
Nowadays, not a single army in the world has a single armored train in service. But there was a time when these armored monsters helped make history. This type of armored vehicle played a special role during the Civil War in Russia.
The first armored trains appeared during the Boer War, which began in Africa in 1899. The British rear communications, including the railways, regularly suffered from Boer guerrilla warfare. In order to somehow counteract this, the British begin to arm and strengthen their trains.
In Russia, the boom in the production of armored and armored trains occurred in 1918–1919, when the Civil War was raging in the country. The first armored trains were created using handicraft methods from any available material. Freight trains, Pullman cars, or simply platforms were used, on which incredible structures were built from sleepers, rails, sandbags, logs and anything else that could provide at least some kind of protection. These marvelous examples of military equipment were created without any drawings or calculations, but very quickly, almost in a day.
The most technically advanced armored trains of that period were produced in Tsaritsyn - these are the so-called armored trains of the Khlebnikov design. They consisted of two four-axle platforms, on each of which two rotating towers of double-layer armor with a spring layer were installed. But the train with platforms weighing 80 tons could not pass over some bridges and weak railway tracks.
The command of the Red Army was able to see the prospects of a new type of weapon. Already in March 1918, the Central Council for the Management of Armored Units of the RSFSR was formed. A few months later, the council was reorganized into the Central Armor Directorate (Tsentrobron).
The tasks of the newly created department included the unification of armored train projects and the creation of a base for their formation.
In the fall of 1918, a single standard armored train design was adopted, similar to the Russian armored train developed in 1915. In March 1919, instructions for forming an armored train were published. According to the instructions, it should consist of light train No. 1 (two armored platforms with 3-inch guns and an armored locomotive), heavy train No. 2 (semi-armored locomotive and two platforms with 4- or 6-inch guns), as well as a reserve base - train No. 3 But in practice it turned out that armored trains No. 1 and No. 2 were used separately from each other.
In August 1920, new instructions appeared classifying armored trains. According to the new classification, trains are divided into three types: A - field attack (assault), with powerful armor, armed with 3-inch guns - designed for close combat; B - lightly armored, with 42-line (103 mm) armament - for fire support of attack armored trains; B - similar to type B, but with reinforced artillery weapons (6 inches and above) - for a special purpose, for the destruction of rear targets.
In addition, it was necessary to develop a strategy and tactics for using armored trains. They were used mainly as an offensive weapon.
As soon as the armored train appeared in the enemy’s field of view, all the firepower of the enemy artillery was immediately concentrated on it. There is a known case when General Yudenich appointed a reward of 10 thousand gold rubles for the destruction of red armored train No. 44.
Such enemy attention to armored trains created very difficult conditions for their operation: the drivers had to either sharply pick up speed to get out of the fire, or, on the contrary, sharply brake. This could not but affect the condition of the rolling stock - trains quickly broke down.
In March 1919, a front-line repair base for armored trains was formed at the Kramatorsk Machine-Building Plant. The base's work crew restored about twenty armored trains that had arrived from a nearby front. But Denikin’s troops advanced, and soon the repair base was evacuated. After several moves, the repair team settled at the Bryansk plant in Bolva. The conversion of the plant into the main base of armored trains of the Red Army began in full swing in the fall of 1919 and lasted only two months. In September, four armored trains left the plant for the front, the next month - five, and in November - six armored trains. During the year, about 300 new artillery pieces of various calibers were installed on the rolling stock.
Work was also carried out to unify the armored train fleet. Gun and machine gun mounts, several systems of rotating turrets and armored magazines for shells were developed, methods for armoring platforms and locomotives were improved, armored platforms for all-round firing with 6-inch (123 mm) guns were developed, as well as full-revolving installations of 8-inch (172 mm) 50-caliber guns. naval guns "Kane" on the railway transporters "Red Moscow" and "Red Petrograd".
Between August 1919 and the end of 1920, 243 trains were repaired at the Bryansk base.
The largest enterprise that produced armored rolling stock for the Red Army was the Sormovo plant of the Society of Iron, Steel and Mechanical Plants in Nizhny Novgorod. The basis of its production program were shock trains. They consisted of an armored locomotive with a three- or four-axle tender and two armored platforms carrying two turrets with 3-inch guns and six to eight machine guns each. Anti-aircraft guns were also often installed, also adapted for firing at ground targets. The combat weight of one armored platform was 56–64 tons, which made it possible to move along a light railway track.
Armored train No. 1 was created at the Putilov plant on the direct instructions of Lenin in October 1917, when General Krasnov was already on the outskirts of Petrograd. The armored train consisted of two Fox-Arbel coal platforms with standard armor with a Ch series locomotive. The train was armed with anti-aircraft guns.
It was subsequently converted into armored train No. 2 "Victory or Death". The new armored train took part in battles in Moscow, Ukraine, near Lozovaya station, and in the capture of Kharkov. He also visited Pavlograd, Poltava, Bakhmach, Ekaterinoslav, and Kyiv. In February 1918, “Victory or Death” headed to the Don to fight the troops of Ataman Kaledin. After the capture of Rostov, the armored train returned to the rear for repairs and re-equipment.
After modification, armored train No. 2 turned into a typical assault armored train, consisting of two Sormovo armored platforms of the S-30 type and a Bryansk armored steam locomotive of type B with a four-axle tender. Before the end of the war, the train managed to take part in battles in Yaroslavl, Donbass and the North Caucasus.
One of the most famous armored trains of the Civil War was train No. 6 “Putilovtsy”, formed in Nizhny Novgorod from the battery of the Putilov artillery “Steel Division”. The train had a number of features that distinguished it from other armored trains of the Red Army. The train was propelled by a series I steam locomotive with an axle arrangement of 1–3–0. The locomotive was armored, which was rare at that time.
The combat unit consisted of two light Sormovo armored platforms with 76-mm anti-aircraft guns. The protection of the running trolleys was unusual - they had solid fixed screens with doors for access to the axleboxes. A casemate and two end gun turrets were installed on a reinforced platform. The casemate was a frame made of angular steel, covered with powerful armor. The armor is two-layer, made of high-grade hard steel, with a wood lining. The armor plates of the inner layer were attached to the frame, the outer layer was attached to the inner layer with screws. The floor of the casemate was protected by armor 5–6 mm thick.
The gun turret was made in the form of a circular rotating turret mounted on a fixed lower part. The turret made a full rotation in 40 seconds. Anti-aircraft guns were mounted on standard machines, armored platforms were armed with field guns on Bryansk or Sormovo machines.
The armored train was sent to the Orsha region, on the demarcation line with Germany, where it served from August to December 1918. In October, the “Putilovites” had the opportunity to escort a train with a cargo of indemnity gold worth 1.5 billion German marks; in November, an armored train participated in the suppression of the uprising in Gzhatsk district. After Orsha, the 6th armored train was transferred to the Southern Front at the disposal of the 12th Division of the 8th Army. The Putilovtsy train took on its first serious battle at the end of 1918 near the Liski station near Voronezh. For three hours, the train pulled the main forces of the White Guards onto itself, providing an outflanking maneuver from the flank of the rifle units, and then simultaneously attacked the enemy.
Subsequently, train No. 6 visited the North-Western Front, the South-East Front, and then returned to the Southern Front, where it remained until the end of the war.
By this time, its design had changed significantly. The armored steam locomotive was now equipped with a Sormovo tender, equipped with a commander's cabin. The armored platforms, as before, were made in Sormovo, but one was armed with 76-mm anti-aircraft guns, like on armored train No. 3 “Power to the Soviets”; the second, with 76-mm field guns, is similar to the platforms of armored train No. 14. Armored train No. 6 “Putilovtsy” named after comrade. Lenin was disbanded on November 15, 1924.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army was armed with armored trains built at the Bryansk armored train base. They were armored vehicles the height of a Pullman car, with sheer straight sides and straight riveted gun turrets. The armament, as a rule, consisted of four gun turrets with 76-mm short-barreled guns, eight heavy machine guns, and a quad anti-aircraft machine gun mount. Combat use showed that these armored trains no longer meet the requirements of the time.
Between October 1941 and February 1942, the Kozma Minin armored train was built in the city of Gorky. At the same time, and according to the same project, the Ilya Muromets armored train is being created in Murom. These armored trains were significantly different from their predecessors: squat, with sloping armor and cast turrets, they were armed with rocket launchers and powerful anti-aircraft guns.
The armored train "Kozma Minin" included an armored steam locomotive "On", two covered and two open armored platforms, four biaxial control platforms arranged in two couplings - one at the head, the other at the tail of the train. The armored locomotive was equipped with a cabin for the commander of the armored train in the upper front part of the tender. Each armored platform also had its own commander's cabins, connected by telephone to the armored train commander's cabin and the driver's compartment.
The locomotive is protected by armor up to 45 mm thick. The covered artillery armored platform had a 20 mm layer of armor on top and 45 mm on the sides. The open armored platform carried side armor 45 mm thick. The covered armored platform is armed with two 76-mm cannons with machine guns in gun turrets from the T-34 tank. The open armored area housed semi-automatic 25 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and an M-8 rocket launcher.
The range of the armored train's artillery was 12 km. In addition, to enhance protection against aviation, heavy-caliber DShK machine guns and three-coupled PV-1 anti-aircraft machine guns were installed on the control platforms.
The control platforms also carried rails, sleepers and other materials and tools for repairing the railway track.
Foreign armored vehicles in the Tsarist army
The basis of the five hundred wheeled combat vehicles that served in the Tsarist army were a wide variety of armored cars, which were assembled by about 20 companies in Europe and America. Of these, the most common were the armored vehicles of the famous British company Austin, which supplied Russia in 1914–1917 with 168 complete armored cars and 60 chassis for their assembly on site.
The first Austin armored cars
The main military achievement of the Austin company was the production of 480 machine-gun armored vehicles, built on the 50-horsepower chassis of the Austin 30HP executive passenger car. The first batch, sent to Russia in October 1914, consisted of armored cars with single-pitch wooden wheels, pneumatic tires and sloping upper side sheets of the cabin, behind which rotating turrets with 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns were placed next to each other. Under the floor of each of them were attached two “spare wheels” with cast tires, which were used in combat situations. In fact, the machines turned out to be too vulnerable, and in the spring of 1915 the Izhora plant began to modernize them.
The most common armored car in Russia is the Austin armored car of the first series. 1914
By that time, the Austin company had launched the production of armored cars of the second series with reinforced armor and a modernized chassis. In October they entered service with the Russian army, but also did not justify themselves.
Modified and reinforced Austin armored vehicle of the second series. 1915
At the end of 1916, the company switched to producing armored cars of the third series with bulletproof glass, a second control post and rear gable wheels. Their development in Russia was a version with diagonal towers, produced already in Soviet times.
Armstrong-Whitworth armored vehicles
These vehicles became one of the most common foreign armored cars in the Tsarist Army, equipped with hulls modified in Russia. The basis of the two options was a 60-horsepower FIAT passenger car and an English special chassis by Charles Jarrett with a power of 38 hp. A single batch of 40 armored cars, weighing 4–5 tons, arrived in Russia in the summer of 1916, but after the first battles, the vehicles of the second version were declared unsuitable for military service.
Armstrong-Whitworth-FIAT armored car during the February Revolution. 1917
It is not possible to talk about all the armored cars of those ancient times in a short article, but we will certainly return to them.
Source - https://www.kolesa.ru/article/bashennye-i-bezbashennye-russkie-broneviki-pervoj-mirovoj
Text of the book “Armor of the Russian Army. Armored cars and armored trains in the First World War"
"Hannibal's Elephants" by Viktor Poplavko
On November 9, 1915, the 26th machine-gun platoon under the command of Staff Captain Viktor Poplavko left for the Southwestern Front.
It included a supernumerary semi-armored vehicle called the “Sorcerer”. It was built according to the design of the platoon commander on the chassis of a two-ton all-wheel drive Jeffery Quard truck from the American company Thomas Jeffery company and was intended to serve the platoon's armored vehicles on the line of fire: transporting ammunition, fuel and evacuating damaged vehicles. And since the “Sorcerer” was not expected to directly participate in battles, it had armor covering the engine and cabin only from the front and sides. In January 1916, taking into account the better maneuverability of the Jeffery compared to the main equipment of the platoon, Poplavko decided to use the Sorcerer as an engineering clearing vehicle. To do this, a winch, two grapple anchors with cables, and a lightweight collapsible bridge were installed on it, which served to overcome trenches and ditches. On January 27, second lieutenant Ustinov conducted the first test. With the help of “cats” thrown behind the fence, the machine broke through four rows of barbed wire and pulled away the slingshots secured with wire to the trees.
Later, while working on improving the “Sorcerer,” Poplavke designed a special breaking device that made it possible, using the impact force of a truck, to tear wires and turn stakes out of the ground. The lower armor plate was installed in such a way that the vehicle would crush the destroyed obstacle under itself without interfering with its further movement. Tested at the end of April 1916, the Jeffery showed good results, which prompted Staff Captain Poplavko to turn to the command of the 7th Army for help:
“I ask for assistance in bringing my idea to life. To do this, you just need to give an order for steel in Izhora in the army and give me blacksmiths. Two weeks after receiving everything, detachments of “HANNIBAL’S ELEPHANTS” will be created, the use of which will be the turning point in the campaign for the first time...
Armored vehicle "Jeffery" during testing at the training ground of the Officer Rifle School. October 1916. On the running board of the car is V. Poplavko (ASKM).
Each car will accommodate a driver, a machine gunner and 10 lower ranks armed with daggers, Mausers and hand grenades. 30 of these vehicles approach the enemy's wire at dawn, where there is level ground and solid ground, cross it and, under the cover of their machine guns, approach the trench. At the same time, people, throwing grenades, jump into the trench and occupy it... A dense line of infantry is moving behind, along which there will be no rifle or machine-gun fire. After this, people from cars build portable bridges carried by each armored car, the cars cross the trench and break the second line.”
On May 10, 1916, the “Sorcerer” was tested in the presence of the chief of engineers of the 7th Army, Colonel Polyansky, and headquarters officers of the 2nd Army Corps. The car at low speed freely overcame an obstacle of 4 rows of stakes “2.5 inches thick, firmly driven into the ground 1/2-3/4 arshin.” Then, also without much difficulty, she twice broke through a similar barrier thickly braided with barbed wire. In both cases, a passage was made across the width of the armored car, suitable for infantry movement. In addition, the installation of a light bridge for the Jeffery movement across a trench or ditch was demonstrated. “The test results are amazing!” - Colonel Polyansky reported to Headquarters.
The stuck armored car "Jeffery" is pulled out using the same machine.
October 1916 (ASKM).
At the beginning of June 1916, Staff Captain Poplavko, together with the “Sorcerer”, left for Petrograd, where his “Jeffery” underwent comprehensive tests at the Engineering Test Site. Based on their results, the Commission on Armored Vehicles decided to hastily produce 30 such vehicles at the Izhora plant. The order for their construction was given to the Main Military-Technical Directorate on August 8, 1916, and at the end of September all armored cars were delivered to the customer. On October 6, 1916, they were demonstrated to members of the Special Conference on State Defense and representatives of the General Staff.
The Jeffery armored car overcomes the wire fence.
Officer Rifle School, October 1916 (ASKM).
Production vehicles, in accordance with the requirements, had a completely enclosed armored body made of 7 mm armor. In its front part there was an engine, behind it was the crew conning tower. Moreover, engine maintenance was possible from inside the car. In the rear, in place of the cargo platform, a low armored box was installed for spare parts, fuel and ammunition. If necessary, several infantrymen could be transported there. The armament of the armored car consisted of two Maxim machine guns on Sokolov mounted mountings with four firing embrasures. For the entry and exit of the crew, consisting of a commander, a driver and two machine gunners, there was a door on the right side of the hull. A removable breaking device made from a corner piece was attached to the front armor plate. The wheels were equipped with additional wide tires for driving on the ground. Engine 32 hp allowed the armored car to reach speeds of up to 35 km/h. This was considered sufficient, since the Jefferies were intended primarily to perform a “special purpose task” - breaking through barbed wire barriers.
On September 10, 1916, even before the completion of the construction of the equipment, the staff of the Special Purpose Armored Automobile Division was highly approved: 30 armored Jefferies, 4 trucks and 4 cars, 4 tank trucks, 1 auto repair shop and 9 motorcycles. Its commander was captain Viktor Poplavko, who had received a promotion. Organizationally, the division was divided into three platoons (10 armored cars each), each section into three units (3 vehicles each), each unit was commanded by an officer.
"Jeffery" armored vehicle of the Special Purpose Armor Division.
Southwestern Front, summer 1917 (RGAKFD).
On October 16, 1916, the armored division departed for the Southwestern Front, where it became part of the 11th Army. At the end of December, it was planned to use it in a private offensive operation together with one of the rifle divisions. In preparation for this, on December 20, 1916, 15 Jefferies participated in a practice attack to break through the barrier at the old Austrian position. It consisted of four stripes of four rows of stakes, densely braided with barbed wire. The armored cars successfully completed the task, spending 45 to 60 seconds breaking through the barrier and leaving behind passages for the infantry. However, so that before the general offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front, scheduled for the spring of 1916, “the enemy did not take action against the new equipment,” the use of the Jeffery was postponed.
In January 1917, the Russian command decided to form three more similar divisions for the Southwestern and Romanian fronts. The order for the production of 90 "Jeffery" with an improved version of the armor was received on February 14, 1917 by the Warehouse of Instruments and Accessories at the Officer Rifle School, and the armor was to come from the Izhora plant. It was planned to deliver 15 cars every month starting from mid-March. However, only one armored car was actually built, sent on June 16, 1916 to the Reserve Armored Division.
Armored vehicles of the Special Purpose Armored Division before battles.
Southwestern Front, summer 1917 (ASKM).
In the offensive of the 11th Army that began on June 16, 1917, the Special Purpose Armored Division was not used to break through barbed wire barriers. However, acting like ordinary armored cars, the Jefferies provided great assistance to the 17th Army Corps, covering its withdrawal during the German breakthrough to Tarnopol. So, on July 7, at the Fox Yama tract (northeast of Tarnopol), the vehicles of the 1st squad under the command of the cornet Inozemtsev attacked the Germans and, under heavy artillery fire, filling gaps in our infantry chains, delayed the enemy’s advance for 3.5 hours. On the same day, the 2nd squad of staff captain Alekseevtsev and the 3rd squad of staff captain Ustinov fought near metro Ezerna from 16:00, covering the evacuation of property. With the onset of darkness, having broken through Ezerna, which was engulfed in fire, and having destroyed the ammunition depot, which they had not been able to remove, the vehicles retreated to Tarnopol.
On July 8, 1916, all three squads covered crossings on the river. Seret and the highway Tarnopol - Novo-Zalozhytse. Having no contact with the infantry, which was retreating without offering any resistance, the armored cars held back the Germans from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., continuously attacking them, shooting them at point-blank range and preventing them from advancing. In addition, the division's vehicles removed the wounded from under fire and machine guns and guns abandoned by the retreating troops. During continuous two-day battles, two armored cars were destroyed by German artillery fire, and three vehicles were blown up by their crews (due to breakdowns, it was not possible to take them to the rear).
On July 18, the 1st Division supported units of the 122nd Infantry Division during the attack on Grzylow. The vehicles burst into the city, helped the infantry drive the enemy out of there, and pursued him for 1.5 km.
The main reason for the Jeffery's effective performance in the July battles was their increased maneuverability and mobility (due to the rotation of the front and rear wheels) compared to other types of armored vehicles. This was especially noticeable in the battles of July 7–8, 1917, when due to rains, dirt roads became almost impassable for vehicles. However, serious shortcomings in the Jeffery's armor and weapons system also emerged. Thus, the fighting compartment was very hot from the engine located there, and the horizontal fire of the machine guns was only 15 degrees.
Armored vehicle "Jeffery", armored according to the design of Staff Captain Poplavko, with an installed "breaking device".
Armored vehicles captured by the Germans in the battles near Tarnopol - two "Jeffery" and "Lanchester". Summer 1917 (photo from the collection of V. Skavysh).
On October 2, 1917, after testing the Jeffery, in the presence of members of the headquarters of the Southwestern Front, it was decided to “refuse to use these vehicles to perform special-purpose tasks, and use them to perform the tasks of ordinary armored vehicles, and due to the unsatisfactory placement and design of the loopholes (machine guns - Approx
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author)
only if at least two such armored cars work together simultaneously.”
After the October coup of 1917, the Special Purpose Armored Division was “Ukrainized” and included in the armed forces of the Central Rada, the government that declared the independence of Ukraine. However, the Central Rada could not stay in power for long and the Jeffery armored vehicles were sold out. Most of them went to the Red Army and were transferred to the newly formed armored detachments.
Filatov tricycles
In the fall of 1915, when the question arose at the State Technical University about the production of an additional number of cannon armored cars (recall that by this time the Putilov plant had fulfilled an order for 30 Garfords), the head of the Officer Rifle School, Major General Filatov, received instructions from the Main Directorate of the General Staff to develop a lightweight armored vehicle with a 76-mm anti-assault gun. For this purpose, 30 such guns were allocated, located in a warehouse in Moscow, two of which were delivered to Oranienbaum in December 1915. At this time, the Lanchester armored car had already been accepted as a cannon vehicle for machine-gun platoons, so Filatov went to the State Military Technical University with a proposal to create a light armored car with a 76-mm gun. At the end of the same year, the workshops of the Officer Rifle School began manufacturing such a machine according to the design of General Filatov. Almost simultaneously, they began building armored cars of a similar design, armed with two machine guns.
A specially designed three-wheeled (!) chassis was used as a base, for the assembly of which the rear axle, driveshaft, wheels and some other parts from passenger cars that could not be repaired were used. Turning was carried out using the front wheel mounted on a specially designed fork and controlled by means of metal rods by the driver's steering wheel. Gasoline engines with a power of 16–25 hp were used as the power plant. “Case”, “Gupmobile”, “Masquil”, etc.
Three-wheeled chassis used for armor (photo from the collection of S. Romadin).
Shooting from a cannon tricycle. Officer Rifle School, 1916.
The folding opener (ASKM) is visible under the machine.
The vehicles had a fully armored turretless hull, riveted from 4-6 mm armor plates, weapons - a 76-mm anti-assault gun or two Maxim machine guns - were mounted in the rear plate, and ammunition - in special racks along the sides. The crew of each armored car consisted of three people. For stability when firing, the cannon vehicle had a lowering coulter under the bottom.
The author of the project, Major General Filatov, believed that thanks to their low weight, three-wheeled armored cars would be able to move off-road through meadows, arable land, and sand; their high mobility would allow them to easily avoid craters and obstacles, and their small size would make it difficult for the enemy to fire at them. In addition, the significantly lower cost of three-wheelers compared to other types of armored vehicles would make it possible to quickly establish their mass production. According to the conceptual solution, three-wheeled armored cars were the prototype of wedges, which became widespread in the early 1930s.
Officers inspect a cannon tricycle. October 1916 (ASKM).
By mid-April 1916, 9 three-wheeled armored vehicles were ready - 8 machine guns and one cannon. In addition, according to the project of Warrant Officer Ulyatovsky, who served at the Officer Rifle School, one small four-wheeled armored car was assembled from parts of cars that could not be restored. Initially, its armament consisted of a Maxim machine gun on the stern plate of the hull, and to reduce its size, the machine gunners were positioned lying down. The machine gun was later replaced by a 76 mm anti-assault gun.
On April 21, 1915, the armored vehicles of the Officer Rifle School were demonstrated to the leadership of the State Military Technical University and the Main Artillery Directorate, who spoke in favor of “the earliest possible widespread testing of the systems.” At the same time, GAU representatives especially noted the three-wheeled cannon armored car:
“The question of setting up a 3-dm. guns on a car, given the lightness and mobility of the presented system, may be close to resolution.”
A cannon tricycle in a firing position during firing. October 1916 (ASKM).
In June 1916, the Izhora plant was issued an order for the production of 20 three-wheeled lightweight armored vehicles, the armament of which consisted of only one Maxim machine gun in the rear of the hull. It was assumed that due to their lower weight, these armored cars would have better maneuverability.
On October 13, 1916, at the Officer Rifle School training ground, all types of light armored vehicles “built according to the idea of General Filatov” were tested: four three-wheeled ones - one weighing 83 pounds (1328 kg) with one machine gun and an engine produced by the Izhora plant, two weighing 120 pounds each ( 1920 kg), armed with two machine guns each with Case and Gupmobile engines, one weighing 170 pounds (2720 kg) with a 76-mm anti-assault gun, Case engine and a coulter lowered when firing - and one four-wheeled machine weighing 180 pounds ( 2880 kg) with a 76 mm anti-assault gun, Case engine and opener. Except for the single-machine gun vehicle manufactured by the Izhora plant, all other vehicles were built in the workshops of the Officer Rifle School. The test report stated:
“The test was carried out to the extent of performing tactical tasks. Moreover, it turned out that a 4-wheeled vehicle can hardly walk on the ground, a 3-wheeled cannon vehicle walks on the ground with difficulty, a 3-wheeled two-machine-gun vehicle walks satisfactorily on hard soil, and with considerable difficulty on soft soil, a 3-wheeled single-machine-gun vehicle walks on the ground freely.
Three-wheel armor of the Officer Rifle School being tested. 1916 (ASKM).
Firing from a machine-gun tricycle armored at the Izhora plant. October 1916 (ASKM).
Machine gun tricycles at the training ground. 1916 (ASKM).
All three-wheeled vehicles are very agile and mobile; a 3-wheeled cannon vehicle took 1 minute 10 seconds to open fire with a change of position in the same place, counting from giving the order to opening fire, which includes raising and lowering the opener.
The Commission considers more successful a single-machine-gun armored vehicle, built according to the design of Lieutenant General Filatov at the Izhora plant, which was given an order for 20 such three-wheelers, and currently, according to the statement of the plant representative, Senior Lieutenant Pevtsov, who was present at the test, 7 pieces are ready for assembly.
Three-wheeled armored vehicles: with a 76 mm anti-assault cannon (bottom) and two Maxim machine guns (top).
The commission considers it possible to send these 7 pieces to the front for combat testing on a large scale in the form they are, and to do the following for the rest:
1. Replace the 8-horsepower two-cylinder engine with a more powerful four-cylinder engine; Ford engines would be convenient for this purpose.
2. It is advisable to increase the cross-section of the tires and attach tractor drums to the wheels without increasing the diameter of the wheels.
3. At the suggestion of Major General Vastund, it is advisable to enlarge the side door, cutting through the armor to the very bottom, so that this door, being open, can protect those standing behind it.
Machine-gun tricycles being tested. 1916
In front is a car built by the Izhora plant (ASKM).
4. Cover the differential box with armor.
5. It is advisable to separate the brakes on the rear wheels in order to be able, by braking one wheel, to move the other and thereby turn the car around a vertical axis with your own force.”
In October 1916, by order of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, the armored vehicles of the Officer Rifle School were sent to the front for testing in a combat situation. They were received by the 1st (two machine gun), 7th (two machine gun), 8th (two machine gun and one cannon) and 9th (one machine gun) armored vehicle divisions. Judging by the reports of division commanders, the vehicles performed well in battle. An indirect confirmation of this can be a telegram from the commander of the 8th armored division, Captain Dzugaev:
“Due to frequent battles, I am in great need of armored vehicles; it is necessary to send 4 vehicles to the division: a Garford, 2 three-wheelers and 2 Austins.”
Ensign Ulyatovsky next to an armored car of his design. 1916 (ASKM).
As for the three-wheelers ordered to the Izhora plant, it is still impossible to say exactly how many armored cars out of the twenty ordered were built. It is reliably known that by the end of 1916, 8 of them were produced. However, there is reason to believe that during 1917 the entire order was completed.
Three-wheelers were also actively used in the civil war. So, on August 21, 1918, a detachment of three such armored cars under the command of Adzhanalov set off from Petrograd to Baku “to help the Baku proletariat.” In the fall of 1918, one three-wheeler called “Fibre” was part of the 1st armored automobile division of the Volunteer Army. In April 1919, it was disarmed in Yekaterinodar “due to wear and tear and unsuitability for combat.” At least one three-wheeled armored car was part of the Smolny auto-armored-machine-gun security detachment, which left for the front in May 1920. The latest information about these vehicles dates back to February 1922, when the Directorate of Armored Forces of the Red Army still had four three-wheelers.
Izhora “Fiat” and Putilovsky “Austin”
GVTU's plans for 1917 provided for a significant increase in the fleet of armored cars. As follows from the report of the military engineer Captain Makarevsky, by July 1, 1917, it was planned to have combat vehicles for 70 platoons + 100% reserve to make up for losses, that is, 380 machine guns and 180 cannon vehicles.
In pursuance of these plans, on February 21, 1916, the Anglo-Russian Government Committee in London entered into an agreement with representatives of the American branch, located in the town of Puzkipsi, near New York, a contract for the construction of 90 chassis for armored vehicles with a delivery date of November 1, 1916.
For this purpose, the company used its Type 55 passenger car chassis as a base, suitably modified and reinforced. It was equipped with a more durable rear axle with dual-slope wheels, a new four-cylinder 72-horsepower engine and a second control station. By the way, the engine was its own development of the American branch. The first batch of such cars, designated “Fiat” type 55, went to Russia in the summer of 1916.
At the same time, the Armor Department of the Military Driving School was developing a project for armoring the Fiat. Initially there were five of them, differing mainly in the placement of weapons. After a comprehensive discussion, on April 23, 1916, the Commission on Armored Vehicles approved the most successful option. The armoring of the Fiats was entrusted to the Izhora plant of the Maritime Department, which in the summer of 1916 prepared the necessary working drawings.
The construction of an experimental, or as they called it a “test” model of an armored car, began at the end of September, and on December 2 the car made its first run along the Kolpino-Petrograd route.
Trial armored car "Fiat" armored at the Izhora plant. Yaroslavl, summer 1918. The car is called "George the Victorious" (TSMVS).
When designing the armored hull of the Izhora Fiat, Russian designers took into account the experience gained by that time in operating armored vehicles. First of all, the height of the diagonally located towers, equipped with special ventilation devices, was increased. The machine guns, mounted on special anti-aircraft machines with an elevation angle of 80 degrees, were covered from the outside with armored “cheeks”. To control the vehicle in combat, the drivers of the front and rear steering posts had specially designed viewing slots and round “eyes” in the sides. To avoid lead splashes when firing at an armored car, the junction of the turret and the hull was covered with a horizontal armor ring. The crew, consisting of five people, boarded through two doors. The armor thickness was 7 mm for vertical and 4–4.5 mm for horizontal surfaces, the weight of the vehicle in combat position was 4.5 tons.
Serial armored car "Fiat" of the Izhora plant near the building of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Summer 1918. In the background is a Garford armored vehicle (ASKM).
Tests of the trial armored car, carried out on December 3-16, 1916, showed that in general it was designed successfully, and thanks to its powerful engine it had good dynamic qualities (speed reached 65-70 km/h). The only major change in the design of the armored car, introduced after the tests, was the replacement of the inclined armor plate in front of the radiator with two armored doors (similar to the Armstrong-Whitworth armored cars). In this form, the machine was accepted for mass production, which began in January 1917.
In parallel with the construction of the trial Fiat, the Commission on Armored Vehicles on November 23, 1916 discussed the issue of installing a Kegress propulsion system on these vehicles. It was decided to “produce Fiats without the Kegress device, since its production will significantly delay the production of armored cars.” But in the future it was planned to install “kegresses” on ready-made cars. Therefore, warrant officer A. Kegress was instructed to “develop the installation of his devices on the Fiat armored car.” However, this project was not implemented.
Armored car "Austin" with Russian armor, manufactured by the Izhora plant according to Putilovsky's drawings. Winter 1920 (ASKM).
Despite the turbulent events of the spring and summer, on October 4, 1917, the state of work on booking Fiats at the Izhora plant looked like this:
“The plant received 50 chassis, of which one was handed over to Kegress for its adaptations and to the 8th English Division. 41 are available at the Plant, of which: 16 chassis are finished with armor and placed in the Plant’s yards in various places; 25 chassis – the armor work is nearing completion and in order to avoid delays in production, the Plant Management Board requests that the remaining chassis be delivered as soon as possible.”
In total, as of April 1918, the Izhora plant produced 47 armored cars of this type. Subsequently, the armoring was continued, and the finished vehicles entered service with the armored vehicles of the Red Army.
Fiat chassis armor scheme, April 23, 1916, approved by the Commission on Armored Vehicles for the Development of Drawings (RGVIA).
Along with the Fiats, it was planned to use the Austin chassis, which showed itself well in Russian conditions, to build armored vehicles in the Russians. On August 25, 1916, an agreement was concluded with this company for a chassis with double steering - exactly the same double-steering chassis was used for the Austin 3rd series cars.
In Russia, the armoring of the chassis was entrusted to the Putilov plant, which, based on the preliminary design of the Armor Department of the Military Automotive School, developed drawings by September 1916. Moreover, according to the order, out of 60 armored vehicles, 39 were to have the Kegress propulsion system, which by that time had already been successfully tested on the 2nd series Austin.
Initially, the plant’s board determined the following production dates for the machines:
“10 units by January 15, 1917 and 10 per month with delivery of the last armored cars by June 15, provided that the chassis will arrive three months ahead of schedule.”
However, due to the fact that the chassis began to arrive in Russia only in January 1917 (by February, about
20 pieces) work on the construction of armored vehicles was delayed, and after the February Revolution it stopped altogether. On March 18, 1917, Staff Captain Ivanov, who oversaw the construction of combat vehicles at the Putilov plant, reported to the State Military Technical University:
“Currently at Putilovsky they are preparing for armoring, of which 60 pieces should be released by July. None of them are booked and nothing is being done.”
Things got off the ground only in August, and by March 1918 two chassis had been reserved and three were in half-finished form.
The design of Putilovsky’s “Austin” took into account the experience of combat use of English vehicles of this brand. First of all, the armored car received diagonally located turrets and anti-aircraft machine gun mounts with an elevation angle of about 80 degrees. To avoid machine gun cartridges getting into the gap between the hull and the turret and jamming the latter (such cases happened on English Austins), the roof was made gable. The drivers of the front and rear steering posts had improved visibility when moving in battle. The inside of the armored car body was lined with thin felt to protect the crew from pieces of metal during shelling. The armor thickness was 7.5 mm for vertical and 4 mm for horizontal surfaces. The weight of the vehicle with a crew of 5 people, fuel and ammunition reserves was 4.6 tons, and the speed was about 55 km/h. A curious detail : the name often used in Russian literature for vehicles of this type “Austin-Putilovets” is not found in any document. In 1918-1921, such armored cars were sometimes called “Russian “Austin”.
Armored car "Austin" from the Izhora plant during maneuvers. 1920s.
The vehicle has non-standard wheel fenders (RGAKFD).
In the spring of 1918, all work on armoring the Austins at the Putilov plant was stopped, despite the fact that armor and a number of other parts had been prepared. In 1919, the armor of these vehicles was transferred to the Izhora plant, which, using the existing reserves, produced 33 conventional Austins and 12 using Kegress devices. Thus, the total production of armored cars of this brand amounted to 50 vehicles.
INTRODUCTION
The appearance of this book has a rather long history. The motivation for collecting materials on the history of armor in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were two photographs that fell into the hands of the author almost 25 years ago.
Once, when our 7th “A” class was participating in the next school waste paper collection, among the stacks of various papers I came across several Niva magazines from 1915. In one of them I saw a photo of an armored car with the caption “An armored car that operated with extraordinary success against the enemy near Lodz and Sochaczew. According to photo. our correspondent." This photograph, of very mediocre quality, puzzled me then: it turns out that back in the First World War our country was armed with armored vehicles! There were no comments on the photo in the text of the magazine, and it was not possible to find any information in libraries - at that time there was not such an abundance of literature on the history of military equipment as there is now. The only thing we managed to find was the book by V.D. Mostovenko "Tanks". At the beginning there was a small chapter about the development of armor in Russia, but among the drawings there was nothing similar to the armored car I found.
I remember how impatiently I waited for the release of L. Gogolev’s book “Armored Vehicles,” announced by the DOSAAF publishing house for 1986, and how disappointed I was when I bought it: there was not a word about my armored car. True, this work contained some previously unseen information about Russian armored cars of the First World War, but there were very few photographs of them.
Around the same time, I was given the “Soviet Military Encyclopedia”, in one of the volumes of which, in an article dedicated to the First World War, there was a photograph with the caption “Russian armored train on the Southwestern Front, 1915” (photo placed on page 395 ). It turns out that in addition to armored vehicles, we also had armored trains at that time! But apart from mentions in some publications that in 1914–1917 in Russia there were either 10 or 12 bepos, nothing was found then.
In 1990, I first began work on the topic “Armored Forces of the Russian Army” in the Russian (then Central) State Military Historical Archive. I remember my first attempts to find what I needed among the many inventories of various military organizations, institutions and units: I didn’t know where to look. I remember my first success - the case of an armored train of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade. Gradually, experience came, the necessary documents were found. Work in other archives, various museums and libraries helped supplement the materials found and made it possible to select an illustrative series - photographs, drawings, drawings. And the more I “immersed” in this topic, the more grandiose the picture emerged.
It turned out that despite the theory that was cultivated throughout the Soviet years about the stupidity and inertia of tsarist military officials, at the origins of the armor industry in our country were talented designers, experienced engineers and combat commanders who devoted all their energy, strength and knowledge to serving the Fatherland. Lieutenant General Filatov, Major Generals Sekretev and Kolobov, Colonels Butuzov and Dobrzhansky, Captains Gurdov, Bazhanov, Kondyrin, Khaletsky, Dzugaev, Miklashevsky, Staff Captains Mgebrov, Nekrasov, Bylinsky, Poplavko, Meshchereninov, Fleet Lieutenant Ulyanov, Ensigns Vonlyarlyarsky, Ulyatovsky, Kegress, Karpov and dozens of other officers were the color of the Russian Army, its glory and pride.
Armored car "Mannesmann-Mulag" (with a 47-mm cannon) of the 1st machine-gun company.
Photo from Niva magazine for 1915.
Armor engineering in the Russian Empire during the First World War was at such a high level that in this matter our country was ahead of both allies and opponents in those years. Already on August 19, 1914, by order of the Minister of War, the 1st automobile machine gun company was formed - the world's first armored unit! At the same time, a Russian armored train of the 9th railway battalion, one of the first armored trains of the First World War, was fighting near Tarnopol. By October 1917, in terms of quantity, organization, quality, and tactics of using armored vehicles and armored trains, the Russian Army was not inferior to, and in many ways superior to, the armies of other warring states. Only in terms of the number of armored vehicles was Russia slightly inferior to England.
Unfortunately, the author was unable to find many documents on the history of Russian armored units of the First World War. The situation is especially bad with documents from 1917 and materials on the combat operations of machine-gun squads, armored divisions and armored trains. It was not possible to find photographs of many armored units, as well as the officers involved in their design. Perhaps they disappeared during the revolution and the Civil War or were destroyed “as unnecessary” in the 1920s - 1940s, or maybe they are still waiting for their researchers.
In all documents cited in this book, grammar, spelling and style of presentation are unchanged. Since at that time in Russia mass was measured in poods and pounds, and distance in steps, after these values in parentheses the conversion of these values into kilograms and meters is given. All dates before January 1918 are given in the old style.
The author expresses gratitude to everyone who helped in collecting materials for writing this book: employees (who worked then and are working now) of the Russian (then Central) State Military Historical Archive Tatyana Burmistrova, Tatyana Kamenova and Alexey Kotov, director of the Izhora Plant Museum Larisa Burim, employees of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents and personally Nina Bolshakova, as well as | Janusz Magnuski |
(Poland), Stanislav Kirelets (Germany), Sergei Romadin (Ukraine), Semyon Fedoseev (Moscow), Sergei Saneev (Russia), Gennady Petrov (Russia), Vasily Skavysh (Russia), Dmitry Nazarov (Russia), Steve Zaloga (USA) ).
The author will be grateful to everyone who shares documents, memories, photographs and other materials on this topic. You can send your comments and clarifications to the address: 121096, Moscow, PO Box 11 Kolomiets Maxim Viktorovich or by e-mail: .
Maxim Kolomiets
ARMOR OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY
Armored cars and armored trains in the First World War
Introduction
The appearance of this book has a rather long history. The motivation for collecting materials on the history of armor in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were two photographs that fell into the hands of the author almost 25 years ago.
Once, when our 7th “A” class was participating in the next school waste paper collection, among the stacks of various papers I came across several Niva magazines from 1915. In one of them I saw a photo of an armored car with the caption “An armored car that operated with extraordinary success against the enemy near Lodz and Sochaczew. According to photo. our correspondent." This photograph, of very mediocre quality, puzzled me then: it turns out that back in the First World War our country was armed with armored vehicles! There were no comments on the photo in the text of the magazine, and it was not possible to find any information in libraries - at that time there was not such an abundance of literature on the history of military equipment as there is now. The only thing we managed to find was the book “Tanks” by V. D. Mostovenko. At the beginning there was a small chapter about the development of armor in Russia, but among the drawings there was nothing similar to the armored car I found.
I remember how impatiently I waited for the release of L. Gogolev’s book “Armored Vehicles,” announced by the DOSAAF publishing house for 1986, and how disappointed I was when I bought it: there was not a word about my armored car. True, this work contained some previously unseen information about Russian armored cars of the First World War, but there were very few photographs of them.
Around the same time, I was given the “Soviet Military Encyclopedia”, in one of the volumes of which, in an article dedicated to the First World War, there was a photograph with the caption “Russian armored train on the Southwestern Front, 1915” (photo placed on page 395 ). It turns out that in addition to armored vehicles, we also had armored trains at that time! But apart from mentions in some publications that in 1914–1917 in Russia there were either 10 or 12 bepos, nothing was found then.
In 1990, I first began work on the topic “Armored Forces of the Russian Army” in the Russian (then Central) State Military Historical Archive. I remember my first attempts to find what I needed among the many inventories of various military organizations, institutions and units: I didn’t know where to look. I remember my first success - the case of an armored train of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade. Gradually, experience came, the necessary documents were found. Work in other archives, various museums and libraries helped supplement the materials found and made it possible to select an illustrative series - photographs, drawings, drawings. And the more I “immersed” in this topic, the more grandiose the picture emerged.
It turned out that despite the theory that was cultivated throughout the Soviet years about the stupidity and inertia of tsarist military officials, at the origins of the armor industry in our country were talented designers, experienced engineers and combat commanders who devoted all their energy, strength and knowledge to serving the Fatherland. Lieutenant General Filatov, Major Generals Sekretev and Kolobov, Colonels Butuzov and Dobrzhansky, Captains Gurdov, Bazhanov, Kondyrin, Khaletsky, Dzugaev, Miklashevsky, Staff Captains Mgebrov, Nekrasov, Bylinsky, Poplavko, Meshchereninov, Fleet Lieutenant Ulyanov, Ensigns Vonlyarlyarsky, Ulyatovsky, Kegress, Karpov and dozens of other officers were the color of the Russian Army, its glory and pride.
Armored car "Mannesmann-Mulag" (with a 47-mm cannon) of the 1st machine-gun company.
Photo from Niva magazine for 1915.
Armor engineering in the Russian Empire during the First World War was at such a high level that in this matter our country was ahead of both allies and opponents in those years. Already on August 19, 1914, by order of the Minister of War, the 1st automobile machine gun company was formed - the world's first armored unit! At the same time, a Russian armored train of the 9th railway battalion, one of the first armored trains of the First World War, was fighting near Tarnopol. By October 1917, in terms of quantity, organization, quality, and tactics of using armored vehicles and armored trains, the Russian Army was not inferior to, and in many ways superior to, the armies of other warring states. Only in terms of the number of armored vehicles was Russia slightly inferior to England.
Unfortunately, the author was unable to find many documents on the history of Russian armored units of the First World War. The situation is especially bad with documents from 1917 and materials on the combat operations of machine-gun squads, armored divisions and armored trains. It was not possible to find photographs of many armored units, as well as the officers involved in their design. Perhaps they disappeared during the revolution and the Civil War or were destroyed “as unnecessary” in the 1920s–1940s, or maybe they are still waiting for their researchers.
How Russian armor fought. Part 1. In Strykov and Pabianice
Already by the beginning of the First World War, given the high speed of the vehicle, the idea of using it in military affairs was put forward - for communications, reconnaissance and launching surprise attacks on the enemy’s rear. Reservation and armament with a machine gun or small cannon made such a vehicle (armored car) a new combat vehicle - characterized by speed of movement, effective machine-gun and artillery fire at open targets and increased combat readiness.
The construction of armored vehicles in Russia began immediately after the outbreak of the First World War.
1. A. N. Dobzhansky
On August 17, 1914, the Minister of War, Cavalry General V.A. Sukhomlinov, summoned one of the best shooters of the Russian Guard, Colonel A.N. Dobzhansky, and invited him to form and lead an “armored machine-gun vehicle battery.” The task was completed in record time, and on September 22, Alexander Nikolaevich headed the 1st Automobile Machine Gun Company. And in October of the same year, the company moved to the front.
2. N. M. Filatov.
Initially, the unit included 8 machine guns (on the Russo-Balt chassis) and 1 cannon armored vehicle (on the chassis of the 5-ton Manesman-Mulag truck; armed with a 47-mm naval gun). In addition, the company had 2 (then 4) trucks with 37-mm Maxim-Nordenfeld automatic cannons.
The head of the Officer Rifle School, Major General N.M. Filatov, was also involved in the formation of armored vehicle units of the Russian army - on his initiative, officers who expressed a desire to serve in these units were sent to the Military Automotive School (which had a special department for armored units).
The replenishment of the armored fleet of the Russian army was facilitated by the mission of the commander of the Training Automobile Company, Colonel P. I. Sekretev - she was supposed to order automobile and armored vehicles from Great Britain (the capacity of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Plant was not yet sufficient).
3. P. I. Secretev.
The following number of armored vehicles on the chassis were purchased: “Austin” - 48, Renault - 40 and “Isotta Fraschini” - 1. The arrival of the “Austins” (this type became the most massive armored car of the Russian army) made it possible (after re-armoring at the Izhora plant - British armor was extremely weak) begin the formation of automobile machine-gun platoons - the staff of which initially included three armored cars.
The need for cannon armored cars led to the fact that at the beginning of 1915, work began at the Putilov plant on armoring 4-ton American Garford vehicles (Garford Putilovets), armed with a 76-mm anti-assault cannon and 3 machine guns. According to the new state, each automobile machine-gun platoon was required to have 2 machine-gun and cannon armored vehicles.
In the spring of 1915, Renault armored cars began to arrive in Russia (disassembled). Armed with a machine gun and without horizontal armor, they were used in armored units for transporting ammunition (mainly to cannon armored cars), and 11 units were transferred to the Izhora plant - for armoring according to the system of staff captain Mgebrov.
4. Armored car on a Renault chassis.
Niva. 1915. No. 30. According to the Mgebrov system, 16 vehicles were armored: Renault, White, Pierce-Arrow, Benz, Isotta-Fraschini, Russo-Balt. Mgebrov's vehicles were distinguished by perfect forms of armored hulls (designed for ricochet) and 2-machine gun turrets of the original design.
In the Petrograd workshops of A. Bratolyubov, according to the system of staff captain Nekrasov, another 11 cars were booked (10 Russo-Balt and Renault), and at the Obukhov plant, under the leadership of staff captain Bylinsky, 3 cars were booked (2 Mercedes and Lloyd"). The latter were supposed to act together with the cavalry: the Lloyd had two, and the Mercedes had one machine-gun turret each (the Mercedes were also armed with 37-mm cannons mounted on pedestals in the rear of the hull). Lloyds and Mercedes equipped the 25th Automotive Machine Gun Platoon.
5. Austin armored cars.
Niva. 1915. No. 30. In the second half of 1915 - in the spring of 1916, 161 armored vehicles arrived from abroad in Russia (60 Austin 2nd series, 36 Army-Motor-Lories, 30 Armstrong-Whitworth-Fiat , 25 Sheffield Simplex, 10 Armstrong-Whitworth-Jarrott). Only the Austins turned out to be suitable for combat use, while the rest had to be modified and the shortcomings eliminated. “Jarrotts” and “Fiats” began to arrive at the front only at the end of 1916, while “Sheffields” and “Armies” never made it into the Active Army (one Sheffield-Simplex was converted into armored tires, the rest - did not have time).
To staff the cannon compartments of the new series (formed from the Austins of the 2nd series) of automachine-gun platoons, a new cannon armored vehicle was needed. Then the 37-mm Hotchkiss cannon was used to equip 22 Lanchester armored vehicles intended for the British Armored Division - and from the summer of 1916, new cannon armored vehicles were successfully used on the Russian Front.
6. Machine-gun platoon of the Russian army.
A Lanchester, two Austins, cars and motorcycles are visible. Armor collection. 1997. No. 1. In the summer, the reservation (according to the system of Staff Captain Poplavko) of 30 Jeffrey trucks began - subsequently, the Special Purpose Armor Division was formed from them. And the Putilov plant was given an order to develop a cannon armored vehicle based on the FWD truck - and already in October 1916, an unarmored chassis with a 76.2-mm field gun of the 1902 model installed on it successfully passed tests. It was decided to strengthen the armament by installing a 42-linear (107 mm) cannon with excellent ballistic data on the vehicle (the armored car actually became a self-propelled gun), but after February 1917, work was stopped.
7. “Caucasian” - “Austin” 1st episode.
45th machine-gun platoon, October 1916. Armored collection. 1997. No. 1. In September 1916, the armored units of the Russian Army switched to a divisional structure. In addition to the Special Purpose Armored Division, 12 armored vehicle divisions, English and Belgian armored divisions were formed. Each division included 3 - 4 machine-gun platoons. The platoon organization remained where it was appropriate - for example, on the Caucasian front.
In addition to the acquisition of 60 Austins, it was decided to organize large-scale armoring of automobile chassis at Russian factories. For this purpose, 150 chassis were purchased (90 Fiat and 60 Austin) - the Putilov and Izhora plants took over the armoring. Due to delays in the delivery of the chassis, work was disrupted - by October 1817, only 41 Fiat chassis were booked.
8. Russian “Austin” from the Izhora plant.
Armor collection. 1997. No. 1. At the same time, at the Obukhov plant, according to the system of senior lieutenant Ulyanov, 31 Packard chassis were armored - only one copy was manufactured in finished form, armed with a 37-mm Maxim-Nordenfeld automatic cannon in a rotating turret on the roof of the hull and 7.62- mm machine gun "Maxim" in the turret at the rear of the vehicle.
9. “Austins” 2nd episode.
9th Armored Automobile Division of "Death". Summer 1917. Armor collection. 1997. No. 1. It is also interesting to note the fact of the development of half-track vehicles manufactured according to the design of the head of the Technical Department of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Garage A. Kegress. In the summer - autumn of 1916, the test of the 2nd series of Austins was so successful that it was decided to put on crawler tracks some of the armored Austins and Fiats, as well as all the cannon-powered Packards of the Obukhov plant. In the future, it was planned to equip all armored vehicles of the Russian Army with the Kegress propulsion system. The plans were not destined to come true: the revolution interfered, after which A. Kegress left Russia.
10. Austin Kegress.
Photo from 1919. Armor collection. 1997. No. 1. It is necessary to mention the original 3-wheeled cannon-machine-gun armored cars built by the Izhora plant and the Officer Rifle School, the armored cars of warrant officer Vonlyarlyarsky, the Burford armored car (booked in the Caucasus).
Finally, it is worth mentioning the Russian tank program. We are not talking about the complex designs of tanks by A. Porokhovshchikov (“All-terrain vehicle”) and N. Lebedenko (“Tsar Tank”), which were rightfully rejected by the GVTU, but about the following. Firstly, to staff the tank units of the Russian Army planned for formation, it was planned in 1917 - 1918. purchase 360 Schneider tanks from France (there was also interest in the English MK V tank); secondly, there was a real Russian project available for production - its object was a 12-ton tank, armed with a three-inch gun and a machine gun (it was proposed to the State Technical University by the Russian Renault society at the end of 1916).
Structurally, as part of the Russian army at the end of 1917 - beginning of 1918. 12 more armored divisions were to appear, equipped with FWD and Jeffrey all-wheel drive armored vehicles, half-track armored cars (Kegress system) and tanks.
The Russian army also used armored trains, primarily on the Galician front. At the end of 1915, there were 15 armored trains operating on the Russian Front - 8 on the South-Western, 4 on the Caucasus, 1 each on the Northern and Western Fronts and 1 in Finland (used for coastal defense). The main thing in the tactics of armored trains is the activity of actions both in defense (strengthening the battle formations of troops) and in the offensive (carrying out raids deep into the enemy’s defenses). For example, the armored train of the 2nd Siberian Railway Battalion No. 3 at the beginning of June 1915 made a daring raid on the Austrian positions near the city of Krasny - breaking through the enemy’s defenses, delivering an artillery strike to their rear.
Could the main armor of the Russian army of the First World War - armored cars - have had a serious tactical or (even more so) operational influence on the course of hostilities?
The tactical properties of an armored car, especially significant during a maneuver war on a wide front, determined its role as a tool designed to inflict unexpected and strong blows on the enemy. The armored car's weaknesses were its dependence on high-quality dirt roads and its limited range.
Each armored car, together with its attached truck and passenger car, as well as a motorcycle, constituted a squad. As we noted, three combat armored and one reserve (as a rule) squads were combined into armored (machine-gun) platoons. The latter were attached to army corps. Armored platoons could be united into divisions or companies.
The platoon staff included 4 officers, 60-65 lower ranks (drivers, machine gunners, artillerymen and mechanics), who served three armored vehicles and an auxiliary semi-armored truck. As an eyewitness noted, the soldiers were excellent - especially the machine gunners and artillerymen, who knew their job very well. Car drivers were often not at their best - resorting to various tricks to avoid the hardships of a combat situation. The officers, mostly volunteers, were always at their best. The new type of weapon did not yet have any special tactics - everything was based on the common sense of the vehicle commander.
For combat use, the armored platoon allocated: 1) a combat unit, which included only armored cars and motorcycles for reconnaissance and communications; 2) reserve - passenger cars with a supply of personnel and combat equipment and 3) fleet (trucks).
Tactically, it was considered advisable to use armored vehicles mainly on roads and in small groups, since their main “advantage is speed.”
Armored vehicles carried out reconnaissance, supported infantrymen with fire, acted together with cavalrymen, carried out raids and protected the flanks of units and formations, and were used to strike the flank and rear, capture lines, and pursue the enemy. An armored unit is an effective armored mobile reserve in the hands of a combined arms commander.
The first use of Russian armored cars took place during the Battle of Lodz on 10/29–12/6/1914. The operation began with the enemy’s attempt to encircle the 2nd Army, and ended with the Germans themselves, the strike group of the 9th Army, emerging from the encirclement. The operation became the only successful example in the world war of encircling a large enemy group (5 German divisions) by the Russian army. And although the enemy group was almost destroyed in the “cauldron” (losing 42,000 people - up to 90% of its strength) - the remnants managed to break out of the encirclement.
The actions of the so-called The Lowicz detachment, which closed the ring around the group of R. von Schaeffer-Boyadel. The Łovichi detachment was actively supported by 8 armored vehicles of the 1st Automatic Machine Gun Company, attached to the 2nd Army.
On November 9-10, 1914, 6 machine-gun armored cars broke through the city of Strykov, occupied by German troops, while 2 cannon armored cars supported the advance of the 3rd Turkestan Rifle Brigade with artillery fire and maneuver. The Germans, who found themselves in the grip of 2 armored groups, suffered very heavy losses, were driven out of the city.
On November 20, the 1st Automatic Machine Gun Company ambushed the junction between the left flank of the 19th Army Corps and the 5th Army at Pabianice. And at dawn on the 21st, five Russian armored cars destroyed 2 regiments of German infantry that tried to encircle the left flank of the 19th Corps.
In these battles, the commander of the 4th machine-gun platoon, staff captain Pavel Vasilyevich Gurdov, proved himself. Covering the flank of the 68th Uglitsky Infantry Regiment from being encircled by the Germans, the armored cars reached the Lasskoye Highway - discovering the Germans' outflanking maneuver. The document tells how German infantry approached close to the highway - and Gurdov, crashing into the advancing enemy lines, opened fire from 4 machine guns from 100 - 150 meters away. The Germans could not withstand the dagger fire, and, stopping the offensive, lay down. But from such a distance, the bullets pierced the armor - the crews were wounded, and both armored cars were disabled. Firing from 2 machine guns, P.V. Gurdov, with the help of wounded machine gunners, rolled the vehicles back to the chains of the Russian infantry - and then they were towed away.
P.V. Gurdov was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, and the soldiers of his platoon were awarded the Crosses of St. George.
11. P. V. Gurdov.
This is what a war correspondent wrote about the feat of P.V. Gurdov’s platoon, citing interesting details: “From the very beginning of the war, the Austrians and, especially, the Germans frightened our troops with their machine guns on cars. The Russian cavalry is coming, or the chain has fallen apart - suddenly a car jumps out from the earthen rise. It flies directly to the forehead or along the front and showers our forces with a rain of bullets. Our infantry immediately fell down and began firing at the car, but there was already no trace of it. And in the chain there are dead and wounded here and there. ... And then on November 21, south of Lodz, our armored vehicles set off along the Pabianica-Lask highway. On November 20, news was received that the German cavalry had advanced on the highway from Pabianica to Lask. Two platoons of machine-gun vehicles with a rapid-fire cannon firing 300 rounds per minute were ordered to attack these columns. Command was entrusted to Staff Captain Gurdov, and the detachment immediately set out. Our battalion, which was holding back the enemy advance, had to retreat under deadly enemy fire. Just at that moment, a detachment of cars arrived at the battlefield. On the highway, in sight of the enemy, only Gurdov remained with his two armored vehicles. We had to hold out until seven in the morning, when ours overtook him. Officers with swords drawn quickly led their men forward, shouting to him: “The Germans are attacking along the highway.” The crackle of guns burst into the dull hits of artillery fire. On both highways their batteries were working; Between them, everything was filled with lead by the infantry. ... There were already many killed and wounded. With every minute the speed of the German offensive intensified. Ours, too, hastily launched a counterattack, hastening with manpower to put an end to this onslaught of the enemy, which was superior in numbers. - Quickly, machine guns forward! Gurdov rushed along the highway. On one side there was a seemingly deserted forest, but when it reached the trees, shots rang out from there at point-blank range. German riflemen settled in the thicket, hiding behind their guns. They had taken this closed position during the night and now took full advantage of it. There was no time to stop and think. Bullets rushed like a hurricane from the right, like thousands of hammers knocking on the steel armor of cars. That's not enough. In less than a few minutes, the battery that noticed them from afar threw bursts after bursts of shrapnel. It hit from the side, hit from above, and the guns of the advancing German infantry were working point-blank. ... Dozens of Germans, as if cut down, lay down in front of the cars and in the forest. Machine guns, like iron brooms, swept them away, but others appeared to take the place of the dead and wounded. Suddenly one of the cars turns back. - Where? - Gurdov shouts to his driver. - Back to the village. I was hit by shrapnel three times. If I stay, the car will disappear. I'll bleed to death in a few minutes; I won't have the strength to carry him. Gurdov is back. He was followed by the second, with his sergeant major. Gurdov, already wounded in the neck, moved to a new car, and put a sergeant major in the place of the wounded driver and ordered him to catch up with him near the forest. The battle of machine-gun vehicles with the enemy advancing from everywhere began again. ...The Germans fell both in front and in the forest. Gurdov watched only one thing - that the shelling did not stop for a minute. The cars did their job brilliantly. The enemy fire began to subside. ... At the ninth hour his fire began to go out in the forest. Ahead, the Germans retreated. Their entire path was covered with corpses. The enemies barely had time to pick up their wounded... ...We met the regiment commander... - Take the highway... There are enemy machine guns there. They are doing terrible damage to us. Gurdov drove there. The rapid fire proved to be excellent. There is a forest ahead. There are ambushes in it. They were all laid out. Behind them, Gurdov sees a hollow ahead. There are machine guns behind it, and people are running across the hollow, occupying trenches to the north, on Lask... Gurdov instantly realized the situation and immediately opened merciless fire both on the hollow and on the trenches. The non-commissioned officer of the observation post comes running. — Your shells fit perfectly. The enemy was partially knocked out of the hollow and trenches. Grouped near the brick factory to the right near the highway. At this time, a platoon of Captain Shulkevich’s cars arrived. He worked on the hollow and trenches, and Gurdov - on the brick factory. Again from the observation post: - The Germans have been knocked out of the factory... They are running to the left into the village. ... It must have been an artillery park, as was seen afterwards. Their machine guns were shot down and fell silent... Gurdov began to hit the indicated village, and suddenly a deafening explosion spread across the entire vicinity... It spread far, far away, and a huge cloud rose up,... the village caught fire. The enemy has fallen silent."
12. Commander of the 2nd machine gun platoon of the 1st Automatic Machine Gun Company, staff captain B. A. Shulkevich.
In this battle, a cannon armored car destroyed a German battery, the enemy brigade was defeated - and the Russian armored cars, having fended off the envelopment of the flank of the 19th Army Corps, solved an important operational problem.
The Headquarters summary reported the details of the significant battle: “At dusk on November 20, heading to occupy the forest, a significant German column had to cross the Pabianice-Lask highway. At this time, our armored vehicles, armed with machine guns and cannons, crashed into the German column. The battle between our vehicles and the enemy took place mainly at a distance of about 150 steps. The enemy suffered enormous damage from machine guns and grapeshot and completely dispersed. On our side, Captain Gurdov, who commanded the vehicle, and some machine gunners were wounded. Two cars were damaged, but were still able to move. Staff Captain Gurdov, having ordered the retreat of the vehicles damaged in the battle, being already wounded, moved into a cannon vehicle, replaced the wounded gunner and continued to personally shoot the Germans. Then our cars disappeared from the battlefield just as suddenly as they had appeared. In retaliation for a brilliant deed, a German automobile battery on November 23 boldly drove out before dark in front of the front of our infantry division operating in the Krakow region, but immediately one car was overturned by the fire of our field batteries; other cars escaped at full speed. Also in the Lodz region, we had to meet with a German armored car, which drove up almost close to our trench, wounded our sentries and hastily retreated. Our troops welcome the armored vehicles that have arrived in the army, which can significantly facilitate the combat work of troops at night, in fog and under other conditions that allow them not to fear enemy artillery.”
13. Niva. 1915. No. 4.
We see that in the Battle of Lodz, Russian armored cars defeated the Strykov garrison, and at Pabianice they destroyed 2 regiments - solving not only tactical, but also operational problems.
To be continued
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From a steam cart to an armored car...
Dedicated to the centenary of the Russian automobile troops, the first stage in the formation of this type of troops.
Tanks as heavy armored vehicles appeared already in the days of the First World War, and went through a lot of inconveniences, shortcomings and imperfections... Either way, AUTO! Since the horseless carriage spread throughout the world, unobtrusive attempts to use it for military purposes have usually had success and future use.
EXPEDITION STEAM LOCATORS
The ancestor of the automobile, a steam carriage, was first manufactured in 1769 by order of the French military department by Captain Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. The army once again acted as the engine of technological progress.
In the middle of the 19th century, steam road locomotives were already produced in several countries. In Russia, the first experiments with a new means of transportation took place on the ice of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva in the winter of 1861–1862. Two passenger trains of 15 cars each ran on the Kronstadt-Petersburg route. Instead of front wheels, the 12-ton locomotives had massive skis. But unreliable ice and the impossibility of summer operation of heavy machinery brought losses, and the experiments stopped.
The Russian military department purchased the first two tractors from Great Britain in 1876. In the same year, two tractors were supplied by the domestic Maltsov Plants. These cars were called locomotives in those days. In total, 12 locomotives were purchased for the War Ministry in 1876–1877 for the amount of 74,973 rubles. 38 kop. By order of the highest order dated April 5, 1877, the formation of a separate unit began, called the “Special Team of Road Steam Locomotives.”
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 12 pairs of oxen at once, worked as locomotives on water pumping stations... And they completely covered all expenses.
In 1880, steam locomotives provided transportation of goods for the Akhal-Teke expedition of General Skobelev. They completed the task, but a year later they were written off. This was the end of the history of the first automobile unit of the Russian Army.
FIRST EXPERIENCE
In 1897, a 5.5-horsepower six-seater Delage car, which, however, belonged to the Ministry of Railways, took part in maneuvers near Bialystok. In 1899, MPS engineer Abram Tannenbaum published a series of articles “The Military Scooter Question in Our Army,” in which he proposed using cars as reconnaissance and communications vehicles, for placing various weapons on them and transporting goods.
And also for creating armored fighting vehicles on their basis. These proposals found support among the troops and headquarters, although poorly expressed financially.
The sailors were ahead of the army. In 1901, the Maritime Department received the Lutsky-Daimler truck. It was recommended to paint it a bright color. At that time no one thought about camouflage. The truck worked at the Izhora plant, replacing 10 horses to transport goods to Kolpino. So the car immediately entered military service and the defense industry.
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, there were from 20 to 30 vehicles in the active army. For example, in Port Arthur there was a car of the original Starley Psycho brand running around. But the first truly combat vehicle was tested in the Russian army only in 1906 - the armored “Charron, Girardot and Voy” with a machine gun turret, tested by the French army back in 1903. But the tests in Russia somehow faded, and armored cars were remembered again only in 1914.
The real motorization of the Russian army began with His Majesty's own garage. Soon these garages appeared at every palace - in St. Petersburg, New Peterhof, Gatchina and the summer residence in Livadia. Two Imperial Driver Schools were established because quite a lot of cars were being purchased. Even then, domestic autocrats fell in love with Mercedes. There were so many cars that they were rented out. In particular, the courier service, which was the first to evaluate the economic effect of replacing a horse with a motor.
The emperor's personal driver, French citizen Adolphe Kegresse, invented the world's first half-track vehicle. The simple courtier seemed to have no problems implementing his ideas. In 1914, Kegresse patented the invention in Russia and France. It should be noted that in 1918–1919, 12 Austin-Kegress half-track armored cars were built at the Putilov plant.
In the army, as usual, not everyone welcomed the technical innovation. Minister of War Vladimir Sukhomlinov recalled: “... Some members of the council expressed the view that this “complex and fragile instrument” is unacceptable for our army: the army needs simple carts on strong axles!” And General Skugarevsky demanded “that in order to avoid excessive use of cars, they should be kept under lock and key.”
Fortunately, there was such an enthusiast of new technology in the army as the young officer Pyotr Ivanovich Sekretev. An aristocrat from the Cossacks, he was born in 1877 and grew up in the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya, 2nd Don District.
He graduated from the cadet corps in Novocherkassk and the Nikolaev Engineering School. He served in the sapper unit in Brest-Litovsk, Warsaw, and Manchuria. In April 1908, he retired with the rank of staff captain and actually graduated as an external student from the engineering department of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with the title of industrial engineer. After which, in October of the same 1908, he was again accepted into military service with the rank of captain in a railway battalion. And in July 1910, as a technically competent, energetic and progressively thinking officer, he was appointed commander of the 1st Training Automobile Company in St. Petersburg. By the way, it was Sekretev who came up with the emblem of the automobile troops that still exists, known in the army as the “butterfly” and “would have flown away, but the “wheels” got in the way.”
The company conducted research runs, participating in various army events. Two truck detachments operated during the campaign in Persia in 1911, when civil war broke out there. Experience was gained in operating equipment in mountainous winter conditions, in frost and snowstorms.
Nakashidze armored car 1906
The company was formed by the highest permission of May 16 (May 29, new style) 1910. By that time, the Automotive Department had already existed for a year in the Military Communications Department of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, and the formation of as many as eight automobile companies had begun. But before the highest permission, all this seemed to not exist. Therefore, May 29 is considered Military Motorist Day and the date of the creation of automobile troops.
Under the name “company”, a research and training center arose for the organization and development of the automotive industry throughout the Russian army. Not only were officers trained here—commanders of automobile units and non-commissioned officers—automotive instructors. Here they studied and tested new equipment, and developed operating rules.
CHECK BY WAR
The motorization of the Russian army relied on foreign countries, where a lot of money was spent. The First World War showed the depravity of such a policy. But it was only in 1916 that a belated decision was made to build several domestic automobile factories. But this decision no longer solved anything and had absolutely no meaning in a rapidly ruined and decaying country.
In Russia there were enterprises engaged in the screwdriver production of cars from imported parts, for example, the famous Russian-Baltic Carriage Plant). But the domestic industry did not have the production of materials needed by the industry. There was an offer to buy and transport the entire British one to Russia. Just like a hundred years later, among capitalists and officials there were plenty of enthusiasts for buying Russia’s dependence on a foreign manufacturer of military equipment. Apparently there is a benefit to this.
By the beginning of the First World War, the Russian army had 711 regular vehicles. Of these, 259 are cars, 418 are trucks and 34 are special vehicles. And also 104 motorcycles. On July 17, 1914, after four years of red tape, the Law “On Automobile Military Conscription” was approved, which determined the procedure for the mobilization (requisition) of private vehicles with monetary compensation.
With the beginning of the war, private cars were drafted into the army along with their drivers. Compensations were greatly underestimated, but there were few complaints. Cars had to meet certain technical characteristics - in terms of power, number of seats, ground clearance. In Petrograd alone, about 1,500 vehicles were “shared” into the army. The army bought all the cars that came from abroad on previously made orders.
And here such a serious phenomenon as “different brands” arose. It was simply impossible to find spare parts for dozens of car brands. It was especially difficult with Mercedes, Benzes and other products of “enemy” companies, spare parts for which were manufactured in Germany and Austria-Hungary. And the equipment had to be placed in the open air - garages and even sheds were not prepared in advance. The car obligation did not justify itself. Instead of a reserve, it turned out to be a six-month process, burdened with bureaucracy and poor organization.
It is noteworthy that the French army had only 170 vehicles before the war, but after mobilization alone it received 6,000 trucks and 1,049 buses in a few weeks, and soon became completely mechanized, thanks to developed industry. The British Army, which numbered barely 80 vehicles, got by with little mass mobilization. This was enough for her on her island.
British armored truck (1915)
Since 1908, Germany has pursued a policy of partially subsidizing the purchase of trucks by individuals and enterprises, subject to their free transfer to the army in case of war. This encouraged the rapid development of the automobile industry in the country, and a year after the start of the war, the army already had over 10 thousand trucks, 8,600 cars and 1,700 motorcycles. Austria-Hungary pursued the same policy. Although it did not have a developed industry, it also motorized its army at a fairly high level.
Daimler armored car (Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Most of the book is devoted to the First World War. The automobile formations of the Russian Army, their materiel and combat use are described in detail. Particular attention is paid to armored vehicles. Statistics on the production of armored vehicles in Russia in 1914–1917 at various enterprises and military workshops are provided, listing manufacturers' brands and types.
Armored car "Fiat-Izhora". Russia. 1915
The Russian army was one of the most equipped with armored vehicles. There were hundreds of them. Some were made directly in front-line workshops using shields from captured guns. During the entire war, the German army had only 40 armored cars, of which only 17 were of its own production, the rest were captured.
Armored car "Skoda"
During the war, Pyotr Sekretev rose to the rank of general. He was at the head of a huge organization of the automotive industry, covering a large number of automotive specialists and equipment, driver schools, repair and production enterprises, as well as a number of bureaus for the purchase, acceptance and dispatch of cars to Russia from America, Italy, England, France and other countries.
"Renault", 1914 delivered to Russia.
Immediately after the February Revolution, Sekretev refused to provide a personal car to a lower-ranking member of the Military Commission of the Duma, Kliment Voroshilov. The future “Red Marshal” immediately exposed the “counter-revolutionary general”, and he was arrested. He was arrested by a driving school team led by draftsman Mayakovsky, who volunteered there back in 1915 under the patronage of Maxim Gorky. Sekretev was released only after the October Revolution. And he died in exile in 1935.
Garford-Putilov Cannon armored car
The initiator and ideological inspirer of the process of creating armored vehicles armed with cannons was Major General N.M. Filatov, who during the war years worked as the head of the Officer Rifle School. One of his first projects turned out to be the most successful. The basis was taken on a 4-ton two-axle truck from Garford Motor Truck Co., which specialized in the construction of vehicles of this class. “Garford” attracted the attention of the military, first of all, with its good load-carrying characteristics, which made it possible to “hang” more armor and weapons on it.
The truck chassis has been significantly modified. The tactics of using armored vehicles at that time boiled down to moving in reverse to the front edge of the enemy positions and then retreating back. To provide the car with sufficient speed to move in both directions, it was necessary to install a special transfer clutch, controlled by a lever from the driver’s seat. Thus, during reverse, forward gears became reverse, and vice versa. The armored car was equipped with a liquid-cooled carburetor engine with a power of 30 hp. The engine was started by the driver using a pneumatic system.
Internal lighting was provided by lamps powered by a battery, which supplied the on-board network with 12V current. In case of failure of the electrical system, ordinary kerosene lamps were used.
The body of the armored car was of an original design and technologically it can be divided into three sections. In the front part there was a driver's compartment with controls. The place of the driver and his assistant was located above the engine and gas tanks, which was unsafe for the crew, but made it possible to reduce the length of the car. The fighting compartment was located in the middle part: one 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun model 1910 was installed in the side sponsons, and the free space between them was occupied by a box for 32 gun shells and weapons equipment. At the rear of the hull there was a cylindrical gun turret with a large sloping front plate, where a 76.2 mm anti-assault gun was placed.
Initially, guns of this type were used in various fortifications (including fortresses), intended not only for defense, but also to accompany troops during forays. When creating it, we took as a basis the main components (barrel, breech) of a 3-inch mountain gun model 1909, which was installed on a new carriage, lighter, but not dismountable. Serial production of the new gun began in 1911 at the Putilov plant and continued until mid-1915 - during this time 407 copies of two batches were assembled.
It was perfect for the Garford. Possessing good characteristics when shelling field fortifications, it had low recoil and barrel rollback. Usually, ammunition from a mountain cannon was used, but with a reduced charge, since fortress guns did not require a long range. The maximum initial velocity of the projectile, depending on the type of gunpowder, was 274-280 m/s. On the Garford, the gun was mounted on a stand made of an iron sheet with a welded joint. A copper head is riveted into the upper part of the cabinet, serving as a bearing for the pin passing through the cabinet and as a support for the lower machine. The pin serves as the axis of rotation of the lower machine, with which it is fixedly connected with rivets. The lower support of the pin is a bronze bearing riveted to a round place that serves as a support for the cabinet. The cabinet is attached to the armored car platform with 12 bolts. The lower machine is cast from bronze with an elongated trunk part of a box-section, on which a bronze arc guide of the upper machine with a rotating mechanism is installed. On the upper wall of the machine, slightly above the arc guide, there is a window for the passage of the lifting mechanism screw. The front wall of the head part of the lower machine has a flat rectangular flange, to which an armored turret is screwed, rolling along a circular shoulder strap on three rollers. In addition to the cannon, another 7.62 mm machine gun was installed in the turret and cartridge belts for 12 cannon shots were located. The total ammunition was 44 shells and 5,000 rounds of ammunition in 20 belts.
All machine gun embrasures and viewing slots were covered with armored flaps. The inside of the fighting compartment, in order to avoid damaging the crew with secondary fragments, was lined with felt and canvas. The machine gun compartment could be fenced off from the driver's compartment with a canvas curtain, and, if necessary, with hanging shields.
Based on this model, it was decided to book 30 vehicles, the first of which left the workshops of the Putilov plant on May 5, 1915, and the order was fully completed by October. Nowadays these armored vehicles are usually called “Garford-Putilovets”, but during the First World War they were called simply “Garford”.
Armored vehicles entered service with vehicle machine gun platoons in accordance with State No. 20. Each unit of this kind consisted of two Austin armored vehicles and one gun vehicle (some had three Austins), not counting support trucks and motorcycles. Almost every armored car in the APV was assigned its own name:
5th platoon - "Immortal", 6th - "Sibiryak", 12th - "Svyatogor", 14th - "Dobrynya", 15th - "Grozny", 16th - "Zabaikalets", 17 — “Kolyvanets”, 18 — “Rokot”, 19th — “Pushkar”, 20th — “Gromoboy”, 21st — “Vityaz”, 22nd — “Mikhailovets”, 24th — “Count” Rumyantsev", 26th - "Monster", 28th - "Decisive", 32nd - "Funny", 34th - "Dragon", 36th - "Bayan". In total, the Garfords were in service with 30 auto-machine-gun platoons (7-11, 13, 23, 30-33 and 35 are not specified), the names of the remaining vehicles remain unknown.
Although not distinguished by good driving characteristics, the Garfords were popular among the troops, mainly due to their powerful anti-assault gun. Below are excerpts from reports of APV commanders who fought at the front in 1915.
Report from the commander of the 15th machine gun automobile platoon:
“On the night of October 20-21, the platoon entrusted to me, under my leadership, took part in enhanced reconnaissance of the 408th regiment. According to the instructions of the regiment commander, the “Grozny” gun vehicle and the “Adsky” machine gun vehicle were supposed to support the regiment’s attack at the moment of approaching the enemy barrier. Having received an order by telephone to move the vehicles, I gave instructions to the commander of “Grozny,” second lieutenant Ter-Akopov, and the commander of “Adsky,” second lieutenant Isaev regarding military operations. “Terrible” and “Hellish” were nominated simultaneously. Having approached the enemy trenches, “Grozny” opened fire, but it was not possible to open machine-gun fire due to the possible defeat of our troops.
During the battle, “Grozny” and “Adsky” were under heavy enemy artillery and machine gun fire. At the end of the reconnaissance, their troops began to retreat beyond the river. Putilovka, “Grozny” I was ordered to cover the withdrawal of our troops with gun fire and counteract the enemy’s transition to a counteroffensive. I consider the actions of the platoon ranks worthy of an award.”
Guard Captain Platkovsky.”
Report from the cannon squad commander of the 20th platoon:
“Gromoboi” had to walk about 70 miles, and he walked well, taking up steep climbs jokingly, for example, near the village of Podgorica. This climb is twice as strong as Pulkovsky.
Lieutenant Krasnopolsky."
Report from the commander of the 19th platoon:
“With the occupation of the village of Teofipolki, the Pushkar car arrived on the western outskirts under the command of Staff Captain Schultz and Lieutenant Pleshkov. "Pushkar" fired at an enemy artillery observation post near the village of Viktorovka, after which the enemy artillery fire stopped. Noticing a cavalry column with a horse battery moving south, “Pushkar” opened fire on it, after which it turned back and left at the quarry... The next fire from “Pushkar” dispersed the entrenching enemy on the ridge north-west of Viktorovka.
Report from the commander of the 13th platoon:
“A gun in armored units is necessary. The existing 3-dm cannon is irreplaceable in its ballistic qualities. Despite the great burden that the Garford represents, due to its low power and slowness, compared to the rest of the platoon’s combat unit, we have, giving preference to the tactical side of the issue, to come to the conclusion that it is necessary to continue to issue Garford armored vehicles to platoons under the indispensable condition rear steering settings.
Captain Tsvetkovsky.”
As can be seen from these reports, the Garford armored vehicles showed high combat effectiveness, but at the same time several serious shortcomings were identified. In addition to the low cross-country ability, reversing in combat conditions turned out to be very difficult. It was not easy for the driver to drive the car, navigating only with the help of side mirrors mounted on the body. Hence the requirement to equip Garfords with a rear control post.
Work in this direction began in the fall of 1915, and the field repair shops, which carried out the modernization of four vehicles on their own, were much quicker to find their bearings. Meanwhile, at the Putilov plant, by order of the Commission on Armored Vehicles at the State Technical University, the production of working drawings and kits for equipping rear control posts began. Already in January 1916, the first of the modified armored cars entered testing, based on the results of which the KBA drew up a report with the following content: “The rear driver sits sideways at the steering wheel, pressing his eye to the gap in the rear wall of the armored body of the car, thus, with a small gap, a good view of the area is obtained . The steering wheel is made removable, a special seat must be arranged for the driver, which has not yet been made by the factory. To transmit commands, change speed, act on the cone (clutch), brake and accelerator from the rear driver to the front, there is a speaking tube with a horn. The car went in reverse around the front garden of St. Michael's Square... Consider ordering 30 rear steering controls for all vehicles available in the Army, despite the fact that 4 vehicles of the Garford system already have rear steering controls for their platoons. Rear control units manufactured by the Putilov plant will be sent to the Active Army along with instructors from the Reserve Armored Company, who will install them on site and train the personnel.”
Later, in August 1916, APV commanders spoke of the Garfords as follows:
"1. The 3-dm gun is excellent;
2. grenade and shrapnel are excellent;
3. it is necessary to lighten the system (up to 400 pounds);
4. you must have a strong motor (more than 40 hp);
5. it is necessary to give a speed of up to 40 versts;
6. The motor must be made easily accessible for repair and inspection.
In battles, a grenade and shrapnel are necessary, since in every battle there is a combination of shooting. The Garfords that took part in the battles were all wounded (hit by bullets, explosive bullets and shrapnel), but there were no holes. There were cases in battles when “Garfords” approached 200 steps or less. There is machine-gun fire from the Garford every time he goes out.”
A little earlier, on September 2, 1915, the Putilov plant received an order for the production of another 18 armored vehicles intended for the Naval Department. They had several big differences from the army “Garfords”.
Instead of a standard base, an extended 5-ton truck chassis was used, although the body design remained unchanged. The armor protection of the hull was increased to 7-9 mm, the turret - to 8-13 mm. The armament remained the same, but the ammunition was increased to 60 shells and 9,000 rounds. The total combat weight of the naval version of the armored car was about 11 tons.
The order was completed by December 1916, after which most of the assembled vehicles were handed over to the Armored Artillery Division of the Land Front of the Sea Fortress of Peter the Great, which took an active part in the battles near Revel at the final stage of the First World War. On the Northern Front, the Garfords suffered heavy losses. For example, the “Revelets” and “Invincible” vehicles assigned to the 1st Siberian Rifle Corps until the end of 1917 supported the 11th and 77th rifle regiments defending at capes Olai, Rolbum, Borenberg and Radenpreis. Subsequently, due to the collapse of the army, both armored vehicles had to be abandoned, and the “Invincible” went to the Germans in almost complete condition and, after repairs, was put back into service. As for the remaining vehicles, in the summer of 1917 they began to be recalled from the front and subsequently took part in the Civil War. The total irretrievable losses of the Garfords by this time are estimated at 7 vehicles.
After the revolution, armored vehicles were stolen by the warring parties, but most of them remained in the hands of the Bolsheviks. One of the first facts of the use of “Garfords” against the new government can be considered the Yaroslavl uprising, which began in July 1918. Despite the small forces, volunteers and local police units managed to completely clear the city of the Bolsheviks within a few days, and on July 6 they were joined by the armored division of Lieutenant Suponin, which included 25 officers, several machine guns and two Garfords. Despite the initial success of the uprising, it was not sufficiently supported by the White armies operating in central Russia. By July 12, the situation of the rebels had deteriorated greatly - Yaroslavl was constantly shelled by artillery and armored trains of the “Reds”, and bombed from airplanes. These days, Garfords were used as mobile firing points, but due to a lack of ammunition they rarely fired. After the capture of the city, the fate of these vehicles is not clear - they were probably captured by units of the Red Army.
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Subsequently, the “Garfords” participated in almost all major operations of the Civil War on both sides. Ultimately, out of 38 armored vehicles built, at least 30 ended up in the hands of the Red Army. As of December 1921, their number was reduced to 26 (15 on the move and 11 under repair), and in 1923, due to the great wear of the chassis and complete Due to the lack of spare parts, it was decided to put the cars on the railway, turning them into armored tires. This task was entrusted to the Bryansk Machine-Building Plant, but how many Garfords were converted in this way is not yet clear.
The fate of the “Garfords” was finally decided in 1931, when by decision of the ABTU commission, outdated types of armored vehicles had to be de-armored. Nowadays, you can often find information about “Garfords” captured by German troops in the summer of 1941. It is alleged that there are captured photographs showing captured vehicles, both intact and damaged. However, it does not indicate where these photographs were taken, and the photographs themselves are not shown either.
There may be an error here. In 1917-1918 at least five Garfords became German trophies and were sent to the rear for repairs. Most often there are photos of the “Invincible” naval modification abandoned by Russian troops - since the date is not indicated, one could draw the wrong conclusion that the vehicle was used during the Second World War. During the revolutionary events in Germany 1918-1921. three “Harfords” of the “Kokampf” division, rearmed with German machine guns instead of cannons, took part in suppressing communist uprisings in large German cities - for example, in the spring of 1919 they could be found in Berlin. After adopting armored vehicles of its own production, the German army sent the Garfords to warehouses for subsequent disposal.
Another army that actively used cannon armored vehicles during this period was Poland. The collapse of the Russian Empire and the subsequent battles with units of the Red Army allowed the Poles to capture a lot of military property of the Russian army, including three “Garfords”.
The first of them was captured in February 1919 in the Vladimir-Volynsky - Kovel area and renamed “Dziadek” (“Grandfather”). Apparently, the happiness of the Poles was so great that almost immediately they formed the Pluton Pancerny “Dziadek” (Armored Platoon “Grandfather”), the main striking force of which was the captured Garfords. Its greatest success came on March 21, 1920, when, while repelling the advance of the 58th Infantry Division near Zhitomir, the gun crew managed to knock out the Austin-Kegress half-track armored car. However, already on March 26, according to the Kostoryshevs, the “Garford” itself was hit by artillery and was not out of action for long. Apparently, this armored car took part on April 26, 1920 in the “hunt” for the “Austin” of the Red Army, which broke into Zhitomir and alone fought against a numerically superior enemy.
The second armored car was captured around the same time and received the name “Zagloba”, also becoming part of the Armored Platoon. The third car (“Uralets” of a naval modification, later renamed “General Szeptycki”) became a trophy after a battle on the Bobruisk-Mogilev highway near the village of Stolopishche. According to Polish data, during the infantry attack they managed to destroy the Fiat and Lanchester armored vehicles, another vehicle was damaged, and the Garford was captured after it slid into a ravine and was unable to get out on its own. The valuable trophy was towed to Bobruisk, where it was repaired and later transferred to the WPSP (Wielkopolski pluton samochodow pancernych). After some time, he was sent to Warsaw, where “General Szeptycki” was assigned to the 3rd armored car division, and in 1921 the armored car arrived in Grodno. According to the 1925 lists, all three vehicles were sent to Krakow, where they became part of the 5th Armored Car Division. Presumably, the Garfords were removed from service by the Polish army in 1927, and were finally dismantled in the early 1930s.
The fate of the “Garfords” in Latvia was interesting. How these armored vehicles fell into the hands of the Latvians is not yet entirely clear - according to the most reliable information, the Garfords (at least one) were captured from the Red Army during the battles in November-December 1918, when, after the declaration of independence, the Reds tried to establish Soviet power in Latvia. At the initial stage, the Latvians were helped by the Germans, with the help of whom the Allies hoped to push the Bolsheviks back from the Baltic borders. At first, the struggle took place with varying degrees of success, but in June 1919, Landwehr units and German volunteers managed to clear Latvia of the “Reds” and enter Estonia. This provoked a new conflict, during which Latvian and Estonian army units defeated Landwehr troops under the command of Major Fletcher in the Cesis area. However, less than three months had passed before the Bermont-Avalov Western Army, formed in Germany from German volunteers and Russian prisoners of war, and essentially consisting of regular officers, invaded the territory of Latvia. Already on October 9, 1919, the German “Iron Division” successfully developed an offensive inland, reaching the Mitava-Riga highway. Here the German units encountered the Latvian “Garford” (“Lacplesis”), which tried to cover the retreat of its infantry with gun and cannon fire. Using the slow speed of the car, one of the German Bavarian officers quickly jumped onto it and killed the driver and commander with several shots from a pistol. Having lost control, the armored car rolled into a ditch, after which the rest of the crew surrendered. The captured Garford was immediately included in the Freikorps and took part in battles against its former owners in the Riga area. However, at this point the data differs. According to some information, the armored car was sent to Germany, where it was used against the Spartacists and subsequently dismantled for metal. According to other data (supported by photographs), all armored vehicles of the Freikorps, including the former “Lacplesis”, went to the Latvians in November 1919, while the “Garford” continued to bear German designations for some time and was then renamed “Kurzemnieks”. Thus, the Latvian army could only have one “Garford”, which during 1919 changed three names. Subsequently, this armored car was actively used in Latvia until the early 1930s, after which “Kurzemnieks” was sent for temporary storage. After Latvia joined the USSR, it was discovered by a Soviet military commission, but it is unlikely that the badly worn Garford was used in the battles of 1941.
Sources: M. Baryatinsky, M. Kolomiets “Armored vehicles of the Russian army 1906-1917”, Moscow, Tekhnika-Molodezhi, 2000 J. Magnuski “Samochody Pancerne Wojska Polskiego 1918 - 1939” Website of the Great War of 1914 - 1917. Red Army: Tanks in the Baltic States International Military Forum: Armed Forces of the Baltic States
TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL DATA OF THE ARMORED CAR Fiat “Falcon” model 1918
| COMBAT WEIGHT | 8600 kg (army) 11000 kg (naval) |
| CREW, people | 8-9 |
| DIMENSIONS | |
| Length, mm | 5700 |
| Width, mm | 2300 |
| Height, mm | 2800 |
| Ground clearance, mm | ? |
| WEAPONS | one 76.2 mm anti-assault gun model 1910 and three 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns model 1910. |
| AMMUNITION | army version: 44 shells and 5000 rounds; naval version: 60 shells and 9000 rounds |
| AIMING DEVICES | machine gun sight |
| RESERVATION | army version: front of the hull - 6.5 mm side of the hull - 6.5 mm rear of the hull - 6.5 mm turret - ? roof - 4 mm marine option: hull forehead - 7-9 mm hull side - 7-9 mm hull rear - 7-9 mm turret - 9-13 mm roof - ? |
| ENGINE | carburetor, 4-cylinder, air-cooled, 30 hp. |
| TRANSMISSION | mechanical type |
| CHASSIS | wheel formula 4x2: front wheels single, rear wheels dual, suspension on leaf springs |
| SPEED | 18-20 km/h |
| HIGHWAY RANGE | 120 km |
| OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME | |
| Elevation angle, degrees. | ? |
| Wall height, m | ? |
| Fording depth, m | ? |
| Ditch width, m | ? |
| MEANS OF COMMUNICATION | — |
