Soviet light tank T-26. Tank T-26: characteristics, history of creation, design

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Soviet light combat vehicle, used in many conflicts of the 1930s and in the Second World War, had the T-26 index. This tank was produced in greater numbers (more than 11,000 pieces) than any other of that period. In 1930, 53 variants of the T-26 were developed in the USSR, including a flamethrower tank, a combat engineering vehicle, a remote-controlled tank, a self-propelled gun, an artillery tractor and an armored personnel carrier. Twenty-three of them were mass-produced, the rest were experimental models.

British original

T-26 had a prototype - the English tank Mk-E, which was developed by Vickers-Armstrong in 1928-1929. Simple and easy to maintain, it was intended for export to less technologically advanced countries: the USSR, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, China and many others. Vickers advertised their tank in military publications, and the Soviet Union expressed interest in this development. According to a contract signed on May 28, 1930, the company delivered to the USSR 15 double-turret vehicles (type A, armed with two water-cooled Vickers machine guns 7.71 mm) along with a fulltechnical documentation for their serial production. The presence of two turrets capable of turning independently allowed firing both to the left and to the right at the same time, which at that time was considered an advantageous advantage for breaking through field fortifications. Several Soviet engineers were involved in the assembly of tanks at the Vickers plant in 1930. By the end of this year, the USSR received the first four Mk-E type A.

Begin mass production

In the USSR, at that time, a special commission was working, whose task was to select a foreign tank for replication. The English Mk-E tank received the temporary designation B-26 in her documentation. In the winter of 1930-1931, two such machines were tested at the training ground in the Poklonnaya Gora area, which they successfully withstood. As a result, already in February, it was decided to start their production in the USSR under the T-26 index.

The tank from the first experimental batch, equipped with Soviet-made turrets, was tested for resistance to rifle and machine gun fire in the late summer of 1931. It was fired from a rifle and machine gun "Maxim" using conventional and armor-piercing cartridges from a distance of 50 m. It was found that the tank withstood the fire with minimal damage (only some rivets were damaged). Chemical analysis showed that the front armor plates were made of high quality armor, while the roof and bottom plates of the turrets were made of ordinary steel. At that time, the armor produced by the Izhora plant, used for the first T-26 models,inferior in quality to the English one due to the lack of modern metallurgical equipment in the USSR.

Development of the first modifications in 1931

Soviet engineers did not just repeat the 6-ton Vickers. What new did they bring to the T-26? The tank in 1931, like its British prototype, had a twin-turret configuration with two machine guns, one on each turret. The main difference between them was that on the T-26 the towers were higher, with viewing slots. The Soviet turrets had a circular embrasure for the Degtyarev tank machine gun, as opposed to the rectangular one used in the original British design for the Vickers machine gun. The front of the case has also been slightly modified.

T-26-x hulls with two turrets were assembled using 13-15 mm armor plates riveted to the frame from metal corners. This was enough to withstand machine gun fire. Light tanks of the USSR, produced at the end of 1932-1933, had both riveted and welded hulls. What can not be said about the novelty. The Soviet T-26 tank developed in 1931 had two cylindrical turrets mounted on ball bearings; each of the towers rotated independently by 240°. Both towers could provide shelling in the front and rear firing arcs (100 ° each). What was the main drawback of such a T-26 tank? The double-turret version had an overly complex design, which reduced its reliability. In addition, all the firepower of such a tank could not be used on one side. Therefore, in the early 30s, this configuration of combatmachines.

Single turret T-26 light tank

Its performance has been significantly improved compared to the twin-tower configuration. Produced since 1933, it initially had a cylindrical turret with one 45 mm model 20K cannon and one 7.62 mm Degtyarev machine gun. This gun was an improved copy of the anti-tank gun model 19K (1932), which was one of the most powerful of its time. Very few tanks of other countries had similar weapons, if any. What other weapons was the new T-26 capable of carrying? A 1933 tank could have up to three additional 7.62 mm machine guns. This increase in firepower was intended to help crews defeat special anti-tank teams, as the original machine gun armament was deemed inadequate. The photo below shows one of the T-26 models, which is in the Kubinka Museum of Tanks, which is the world's largest collection of military vehicles.

Next, let's talk about technical specifications.

What engine did the T-26 tank have

Its characteristics, unfortunately, were determined by the level of engine building in the 20s of the 20th century. The tank was equipped with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine with a capacity of 90 liters. with. (67 kW) air-cooled, which was a complete copy of the Armstrong-Sidley engine used in the 6-ton Vickers. It was located at the back of the tank. Early Soviet-made tank engines were of poor quality, butimproved since 1934. The engine of the T-26 tank did not have a speed limiter, which often led to overheating and breakage of its valves, especially in the summer. A 182 liter fuel tank and a 27 liter oil tank were placed next to the engine. He used high-octane, so-called Grozny gasoline; refueling with second-rate fuel could damage the valves due to detonation. Subsequently, a more capacious fuel tank was introduced (290 liters instead of 182 liters). The engine cooling fan was installed above it in a special casing.

The T-26's transmission consisted of a single plate main dry clutch, a five speed gearbox at the front of the tank, steering clutches, final drives and a brake group. The gearbox was connected to the engine through a drive shaft running along the tank. The shift lever was mounted directly on the box.

Modernization 1938-1939

This year, the Soviet T-26 tank received a new conical turret with better resistance to bullets, but it retained the same welded hull as the 1933 model. This was not enough, as shown by the conflict with the Japanese militarists in 1938, so the tank was upgraded again in February 1939. Now he received a turret compartment with inclined (23 °) 20-mm side armor plates. The thickness of the walls of the tower increased to 20 mm at an inclination of 18 degrees. This tank was designated T-26-1 (known as T-26 Model 1939 in contemporary sources). Subsequent attempts to strengthen the front panel fell through as production of the T-26 soon ended in favor of other designs such as the T-34.

By the way, the combat weight of T-26 tanks in the period from 1931 to 1939 increased from 8 to 10.25 tons. The photo below shows the T-26 model 1939. By the way, it is also from the collection of the world's largest Tank Museum in Kubinka.

How the combat history of the T-26 began

The T-26 light tank saw action for the first time during the Spanish Civil War. Then the Soviet Union, starting in October 1936, supplied it to the republican government with a total of 281 tanks of the 1933 model

The first batch of tanks to Republican Spain was delivered on October 13, 1936 to the port city of Cartagena; fifty T-26s with spare parts, ammunition, fuel and about 80 volunteers under the command of the commander of the 8th separate mechanized brigade, Colonel S. Krivoshein.

The first Soviet vehicles delivered to Cartagena were intended to train republican tankers, but the situation around Madrid became more complicated, so the first fifteen tanks were brought together in a tank company, commanded by the Soviet captain Paul Armand (Latvian by origin, but raised in France).

Arman's company entered the battle on October 29, 1936, 30 km southwest of Madrid. Twelve T-26s advanced 35 km during a ten-hour raid and inflicted significant losses on the Francoists (lost about two squadronsMoroccan cavalry and two infantry battalions; twelve 75 mm field guns, four CV-33 tankettes and twenty to thirty military cargo trucks were destroyed or damaged) while three T-26s were lost to petrol bombs and artillery fire.

The first known case of ramming in a tank war occurred on the day when the tank of platoon commander Lieutenant Semyon Osadchy collided with two Italian CV-33 tankettes, dropping one of them into a small gorge. Crew members of another tankette were killed by machine-gun fire.

Captain Arman's car was burned by a gasoline bomb, but the wounded commander continued to lead the company. His tank destroyed one and damaged two CV-33 tankettes with cannon fire. On December 31, 1936, Captain P. Arman received the Star of the Hero of the USSR for this raid and active participation in the defense of Madrid. On November 17, 1936, Arman's company had only five tanks in combat readiness.

T-26s were used in almost all military operations of the civil war and demonstrated superiority over the German light tank division and the Italian CV-33 tankettes, armed only with machine guns. During the Battle of Guadalajara, the superiority of the T-26 was so obvious that Italian designers were inspired to develop a similar first Italian medium tank, the Fiat M13/40.

….and the samurai flew to the ground under the pressure of steel and fire

These words of a famous song in the middle of the last century reflect the participation of T-26 light tanks in the Soviet-Japanese conflicts, which continued the battletank history. The first of these was a clash in July 1938 at Lake Khasan. The 2nd mechanized brigade and two separate tank battalions that participated in it had a total of 257 T-26 tanks.

The 2nd mechanized brigade also had newly appointed new command personnel, 99% of its previous command staff (including the brigade commander P. Panfilov) were arrested as enemies of the people three days before being promoted to combat positions. This had a negative impact on the brigade's actions during the conflict (for example, its tanks spent 11 hours to complete a 45 km march due to ignorance of the route). During the assault on the Japanese-held Bezymyannaya and Zaozernaya hills, Soviet tanks met with well-organized anti-tank defenses. As a result, 76 tanks were damaged and 9 burned. After the fighting ended, 39 of these tanks were restored in tank units, while others were repaired in shop conditions.

A small number of T-26s and flamethrower tanks based on them participated in the battles against Japanese troops on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939. Our fighting vehicles were vulnerable to Japanese tank destroyer teams armed with Molotov cocktails. With the poor quality of the welds, there were gaps in the armor plates, and flaming gasoline easily seeped into the fighting compartment and engine compartment. The 37mm Type 95 gun on a Japanese light tank, despite its mediocre rate of fire, was also effective against the T-26.

On the eve of the Second World War

On the eve of the 2nd World War, the Red Army consisted ofabout 8,500 T-26s of all modifications. During this period, the T-26s were mainly in separate brigades of light tanks (each brigade 256-267 T-26) and in separate tank battalions as part of rifle divisions (10-15 tanks each). This was the type of tank units that took part in the campaign in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus in September 1939. Combat losses in Poland amounted to only fifteen T-26s. Nevertheless, 302 tanks suffered technical failures on the march.

They also participated in the Winter War of December 1939 - March 1940 with Finland. Light tank brigades were equipped with various models of these tanks, including twin and single turret configurations produced from 1931 to 1939. Some battalions were equipped with old vehicles, mainly manufactured in 1931-1936. But some tank units were equipped with the new 1939 model. In total, units of the Leningrad Military District numbered 848 T-26 tanks at the beginning of the war. Together with BT and T-28 they were part of the main striking force during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line.

This war has shown that the T-26 tank is already outdated and the reserves of its design are completely exhausted. Finnish anti-tank guns of 37 mm and even 20 mm caliber, anti-tank rifles easily penetrated the thin anti-bullet armor of the T-26, and units equipped with them suffered significant losses during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line, in which flamethrower vehicles based on the T-26 chassis played significant role.

WWII - the last battle of the T-26s

T-26s formed the basis of the armored forces of the Red Army in the first months of the German invasion ofSoviet Union in 1941. As of June 1 this year, the spacecraft had 10, 268 T-26 light tanks of all models, including armored fighting vehicles on their chassis. Most of the combat vehicles in the Soviet mechanized corps in the border military districts consisted of them. For example, the Western Special Military District had 1136 such vehicles on June 22, 1941 (52% of all tanks in the district). In total, there were 4875 of these tanks in the western military districts on June 1, 1941. However, some of them were not ready for combat due to the lack of parts, such as batteries, tracks and track wheels. Such shortcomings led to the abandonment of about 30% of the available T-26s inactive. In addition, about 30% of the available tanks were produced in 1931-1934 and have already worked out their service life. Thus, in the five Soviet western military districts there were about 3100-3200 T-26 tanks of all models in good condition (about 40% of all equipment), which was only slightly less than the number of German tanks intended for the invasion of the USSR.

T-26 (model 1938/1939 especially) could withstand most German tanks in 1941, but was inferior to the Panzer III and Panzer IV models that participated in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. And all the tank units of the Red Army suffered heavy losses due to the complete air supremacy of the German Luftwaffe. Most of the T-26s were lost in the first months of the war, mainly during enemy artillery shelling and air strikes. Many broke for technical reasons and due to lack of spare parts.

However, in the first months of the warmany heroic episodes of the resistance of Soviet tankmen on the T-26s to the fascist invaders are also known. For example, the combined battalion of the 55th Panzer Division, consisting of eighteen single-turret T-26s and eighteen double-turrets, destroyed seventeen German vehicles while covering the retreat of the 117th Infantry Division in the Zhlobin area.

Despite the losses, T-26s still made up a significant part of the armored forces of the Red Army in the autumn of 1941 (a lot of equipment arrived from the internal military districts - Central Asia, the Urals, Siberia, partly from the Far East). As the war progressed, the T-26s were replaced by the vastly superior T-34s. They also participated in battles with the Germans and their allies during the Battle of Moscow in 1941-1942, in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus in 1942-1943. Some tank units of the Leningrad Front used their T-26 tanks until 1944.

The defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria in August 1945 was the last military operation in which they were used. In general, it should be noted that the history of tanks is a curious thing.