Stories about weapons. Artillery tractor T-20 "Komsomolets" (26 photos)

Characteristics of the T-20 Komsomolets artillery tractor

A country:USSRType:Light artillery tractorDate of issue:1936Length:3450 mmWidth:1859 mmHeight:cabin height - 1580 mm, awning height - 2230 mmArmor, forehead:NoArmor, side:The tractor body is made of rolled armor plates 7-10 mm thickArmor, tower:NoCrew:1 person (seats in the cabin: 2, seats in the back: 6)Engine:50-52 hp at 2800 rpm Travel range:152 km (with trailer)Maximum speed:47.5 km/h on the highwayWeight:Own 3460 kg + 500 kg of cargo in the back + up to 2000 kg on a trailerWeapons:7.62 mm DT machine gun

The light semi-armored artillery tractor T-20 "Komsomolets" GAZ-AA truck .

The vehicle was received very well by the troops and was widely used by Red Army units until the end of the Great Patriotic War to tow 45 mm anti-tank and 76 mm regimental guns.

“And our tanks are fast”

For a long time it was believed that the creation of the T-34 tank was associated exclusively with the name of the chief designer of the tank design bureau of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, later renamed Plant No. 183, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin. The fact that he died before the tank went into mass production only gave his figure a touch of legend. And the famous forced march of prototypes, undertaken in the early spring of 1940, acquired the character of an epic feat in which a hero sacrifices himself for the sake of the fatherland. This raid was described in books and films were made about it.

When the Soviet era ended, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction - Koshkin was reminded that it appeared in Kharkov when the new tank had already been developed in its main features, and its real creators had been repressed. They also remembered that by that time Koshkin had only received a higher technical education for two years, had previously been involved in party work, and if he was somehow connected with industry, it was exclusively with the confectionery. Let's try to figure it out.

In the mid-30s, the main tanks of the Red Army were T-26 and BT-5. The first was assembled in Leningrad, the second in Kharkov. Factories in Stalingrad and Chelyabinsk were just being built at that time. The T-26 light tank was, in fact, a copy of the English Vickers with an engine of less than 100 horsepower and did not have the potential to be heavier. The 400-horsepower BT was better suited for this. The factory design bureaus foresaw the development of the situation and moved in this direction in advance.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org/Balcer~commonswiki

Engine V-2-34 of the T-34 tank

In Leningrad, the design group of Semyon Aleksandrovich Ginzburg developed medium tanks T-28, T-29, T-46 and T-100. Some of them reached series production, others remained prototypes. Based on these vehicles, the Leningrad school will create a heavy KV tank, which will perform well during the war. Kharkov also understood that the future belonged to large tanks. First of all, a more powerful engine was needed - a BMW gasoline aircraft engine was adapted for the BT series tanks (“high-speed tank”). But at the same time, the plant was developing its own engine - a diesel 12-cylinder V-shaped BD-2 (“high-speed diesel”, later renamed V-2) with a capacity of 500 “horses”. Its creation was carried out by the group of Konstantin Fedorovich Chelpan, the general management of the project was carried out by the chief engineer of the plant design bureau Afanasy Osipovich Firsov.

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Service of the T-20 "Komsomolets" tractor

The main advantage of the T-20 Komsomolets tractor was that its body was made of rolled armor plates 7-10 mm thick, connected using electric welding and rivets.

The tracked propulsion system and the presence of armor protection made it possible to use the tractor directly on the battlefield, thanks to which artillery batteries could quickly change firing positions, often while under rifle and machine-gun fire.

If necessary, the tractor could also be used as a wedge, fortunately the 7.62-mm DT machine gun was already present on the vehicle as standard. At the beginning of the war, the design bureau of Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin, based on a tractor, developed an anti-tank artillery self-propelled gun armed with a 57-mm cannon. Under the designation ZIS-30, about a hundred of these units were used in artillery anti-tank batteries of tank brigades.

T-20 "Komsomolets" tractor with a 57 mm cannon. Better known as ZIS-30

Soviet diesel

This extraordinary man appeared in Kharkov in 1931... under escort and in handcuffs. The merchant's son, who had received an excellent engineering education in Germany and Switzerland even before the revolution, returned to his homeland with the outbreak of World War II and honestly worked on creating diesel engines for submarines and ships. In the 1920s, Firsov worked at a shipyard in Nikolaev, then was invited to Leningrad to work at the former Nobel plant. In 1930, he was accused of participating in a sabotage group that allegedly operated in Nikolaev, and received five years in the camps, but instead of the Gulag, he was sent to the Kharkov plant. The designer’s wife and three children remained in Leningrad, while he himself lived under supervision in a dormitory at the plant.

Firsov and Chelpan were confident that the future of tank building lay not with gasoline engines, but with more economical diesel engines. The problem was complexity in production, but such engines gave better power output and were less fire hazardous - diesel fuel ignites only at high temperatures. It was with the advent of the new V-2 engine that it became possible to strengthen the armor and increase the size of the turret in order to equip it with a more powerful gun. The idea of ​​a new car was formulated already in 1935, but the path to it turned out to be thorny.

Victorious

Tank BT-7, 1940

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org/

In the mid-30s, to replace the BT-5, the BT-7 tank was developed at the Kharkov factory design bureau under the leadership of Firsov. In accordance with the new requirements, the “seven” was better protected, which is why it became 3 tons heavier. The car was equipped with a more powerful engine - first they installed the already mentioned German aircraft engine, then their own diesel B-2. They made a new car in a hurry, and the state order for 1935 was increased from 300 to 650 units. According to the recollections of colleagues, chief engineer Firsov then said: “We are between Scylla and Charybdis. If we hand over a raw tank, expect trouble. If we don’t surrender, heads will roll.”

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The plant fulfilled its obligations, for which it was awarded the Order of Lenin. Firsov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. But soon there were complaints from the army about gearbox failures - the new cars used proven mechanisms from the BT-5, but they could not cope with the increased power and weight. At the factory, the systems worked properly, but when young drivers with no experience sat behind the levers, problems began.

The BT-7 began to be called a wrecking tank in the press. The search for those responsible began: they sent a commission, Firsov was removed. It turned out that the overwhelming majority of design personnel in the design bureau are non-partisan, including all section heads. It was then, in December 1936, that Koshkin appeared in Kharkov.

Equipment for T20

For T20, equipment is almost the most important component of the game. We have already mentioned above that the dispersion of our gun is not the best, but this is not a problem, and now you will find out why.

So, the list of installed equipment is as follows: • - everything is very simple here, our rate of fire is also not the best, so the choice is obvious. • - this is what our tank cannot live without, and this same module is unique, because at this level it can not be installed on every tank. • - will make our review even longer, an excellent option.

If you think that your review is enough for you, you can replace the optics with or, but everyone decides for themselves.

Tactics

Well, here is the first typical American ST. This is not a cockroach, allowing you to circle the enemy and rely on armor in your arrogance. Your task is completely different. You must inflict damage and no matter how, moving or standing, at a great distance or almost close - all this is your main task. Even though you have a good overview, you shouldn’t fly into the enemy base in the first minutes shouting “I’M A COCKROACH” and try to do something there. Direct your review to something more useful for the team, for example, in the final stages of the fight you will be the cool machine giving light... Play carefully, playing on the Americans, and even more so on the ST, requires thoughtful and carefully considered actions. Although our task when going to TT is to cause damage, the methods of achieving this task are completely different. We cannot expose ourselves and take damage, especially from heavy weapons - they will shoot you and not notice. Try to take cover behind other more armored CTs and cover them with your fire. As for shells, everything is simple and complicated at the same time. Basic armor penetration of BBs is not enough; you will have to use gold ones, but here everything depends on your wallet and capabilities. Personally, I shot gold quite a lot, and used buttons 1 – 3 quite effectively to switch shells... Try to combine shells, saw the AMX - loaded the AP, Panther 2 - switched to gold. In any case, the combined option will be much more profitable both in terms of experience and in terms of credits than just shooting BB...

T20 combat tactics

Well, we’ve come to the tactics of fighting in T20. There is no need to be cunning here, because we have an ideal second-line machine in our hands. The main advice would be to play from your review, since our review is excellent.

Another good rule for T20 World of Tanks is to make full use of the terrain. Our gun has amazing tilt angles, so rolling out a little from behind the hill, showing only part of the turret, giving the enemy a good slap in the face for 240 damage, and rolling back before reloading will be an ideal implementation of the machine’s advantages.

We try not to expose ourselves to enemy gunfire, don’t linger in one place, deceive the enemy, annoy him with shots from different sides and positions. You can’t imagine how the enemy feels when they shoot at him, but he doesn’t see where he’s coming from. Although, maybe you can imagine.

That’s all, but to the question: “Is T20 worth taking or not?”, the answer is obvious – it’s worth it. This is a wonderful and interesting machine that plays comfortably even in the least skilled hands. The main thing is to remember your advantages and do not hesitate to implement them, replenishing your piggy bank with enemy scalps and tons of damage.

Crew Perks

You need to start seriously upgrading your perks from T20. There are 2 ways here - use a standard set or try to make porridge, but personally I am inclined to the first because it is more effective in most cases.

So option number 1:

1. 1st perk for everyone except the commander - repair, commander - light bulb.
2. 2nd perk for all BB (combat brotherhood)

Well, porridge or vinaigrette:

Commander

1. Bulb
2. Repair

Gunner

1. Sniper
2. Repair

Fur. driver

1. King of off-road
2. Repair

Radio operator

1. Inventor
2. Repair

Charging

1. Desperate or intuition (considering the urgency of changing the projectile)
2. Repair

Vulnerabilities of the machine:

Orange - commander, gunner, loader Red - engine, tanks, transmission Green - easily penetrated areas White - ammunition rack Blue - driver.

TTX T20 World of Tanks

Looking at the screenshot above or looking at the T20 characteristics in your hangar, several pronounced details immediately catch your eye: 1. We have the largest vision parameter among all medium tanks of the seventh level, which gives us the opportunity to play incredibly strongly from distance and vision, especially if you install the appropriate modules. 2. T20 in World of Tanks has good maximum speed, high mobility and maneuverability, due to this we can easily change our position and be incredibly useful throughout the battle. 3. At the same time, our tank has very low armor ratings, and we are successfully penetrated by almost everyone with whom we get into battles.

All these parameters together make us a very strong machine, which must adhere to special combat tactics. Although our safety margin is quite normal, always try to protect your HP as much as possible, however, we’ll talk about tactics later.