IS-1 / IS-85 Heavy Tank (Object 237) - Combat
Tank battles on the Kursk Bulge in the summer of 1943 clearly demonstrated the need to catch up with the enemy according to the technical data of tanks and restore parity in armored vehicles. New German tanks "Tiger" and "Panther" in increasing numbers were used by the enemy at the front. Tanks T-34 and KV-1S could resist them only in favorable conditions and at short distances. For large-scale offensives, the Red Army needed a tank capable of conducting a long-range duel with the enemy. For these tasks, it was required to create a new combat vehicle. According to Stalin's wishes, August 21-24 at Gorokhovetsky artillery range (Volodarsky district of Nizhny Novgorod region, now - 252nd combined-arms range) -- accelerated tests of the IS tank, the results of which were calculated Successful. By decree No. 4043 "On the production of IS tanks." of 4 September 1943 IS-85 was put into service. By the same decree, the plant No.100 was ordered to establish by October 15, 1943 serial production of the tank,
The first IS tanks ("Joseph Stalin") appeared in the army in 1943, as opposed to the German "Tigers" and "Panthers". Although the general layout and many other design solutions were borrowed from the KV-1, the new breakthrough tank was distinguished by greater security and improved armament. The frontal armor was increased to 120 millimeters, the turret with sides 100 millimeters thick acquired a more streamlined and complex geometric shape. The transmission was modernized and a new diesel engine was installed. The main trump card of the IS is its powerful 85mm cannon that can confidently penetrate almost any enemy armor at medium ranges. In August 1943, the IS-1 tanks were put into service and immediately put into mass production. These combat vehicles were designed on the chassis of the KV heavy tank and had an 85-mm cannon capable of penetrating the armor of new German tanks at medium ranges. Before the transition to the serial production of IS-85, the CHK managed to produce 148 KV-85 tanks produced parallel to the KV-1C. But the IS-85 was not produced long - the last of 107 the machines that were produced left the plant in January 1944.
The first front-line tests of kv-85 and IS-85 (late 1943) showed that against enemy heavy tanks, anti-tank and assault weapons, effectively Soviet tanks could only use their 85 mm cannon from a distance no more than 800 m, when their armor was no longer an obstacle for armor-piercing (and especially sub-caliber) shells of new 75 mm and 88 mm German tank and anti-tank Guns. Lack of a shot with an effective high-explosive grenade reduced the combat value of tanks for breaking through trained defense lanes Enemy. In addition, the combat use of D-5T cannons (as well as D-5C) was detected a number of design flaws, especially frequent lifting breakdowns Mechanism. At the same time, almost all IS-85 tanks produced had defects transmission and chassis, increased vibration, leading to destruction bearings, when driving at the highest speed, there were breakdowns of levers suspensions, from the on-board gearboxes and the most unreliable node, the design of which required refinement) there was an oil leak.
In February 1944, the breakthrough regiments in the Red Army, equipped with KV tanks, were transferred to new states. At the same time, the formation of new units, equipped with IS machines, began to be called heavy tank regiments. At the same time, even during formation, they were given the name "Guards". According to the state, the new regiments numbered 375 personnel, four IS tank companies (21 tanks), a machine gunner company, a technical support company, an anti-aircraft battery, a sapper, economic platoons and a regimental medical center. The formation was carried out in the Tesnitsky tank camp near Tula. A feature of the crew of the heavy tank IS was the presence of two officers in it - the tank commander and the senior driver mechanic and two sergeants - the gunner and loader (he is also the junior driver). Such a composition of the crews speaks of the importance of the task that was assigned to the new vehicles and the guards regiments armed with them. Unfortunately, only a small part of the crews had previously fought on heavy KV and Churchill tanks and had combat experience. Basically, the personnel came from schools, sometimes after additional training at the ChKZ. When sent to the front, representatives of the GBTU were seconded to the regiments to monitor the use of new tanks.
The first three regiments (1st, 29th and 58th) entered operational subordination to the commander of the 1st Guards Army, which delivered the main blow during the Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation. Two more regiments (8th and 13th) became part of the 2nd Guards Tank Army and together with other units took the main blow of the 16th, 17th and 1st German tank divisions, which were trying to unblock the grouping. surrounded by Soviet troops near the town of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky.
One of the first to enter the battle was the 13th Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment. On February 15, 1944, having 21 IS-85 tanks, he arrived in the Fastov region - Belaya Tserkov. After the march, the regiment received the task of supporting the attack of the 109th tank brigade on the village of Lisyanka, for which the regiment commander assigned a company - five IS tanks. By the time it entered the battle, the last T-34s of the 109th tank brigade, attacking Lisyanka head-on, were knocked out by the "panthers" and the anti-tank and assault guns of the Germans. Having let the ISs at a distance of 600-800 m, German tanks and self-propelled guns opened heavy fire and within 10 minutes knocked out all our heavy vehicles, while two of them burned out. Each tank received 3 to 7 hits. The next day d. Fox was surrounded and taken. It captured 16 "Panthers" abandoned without fuel, two Pz.IV and two assault guns.
On March 5, 1944, 15 IS-85s of the 13th Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment supported the attack of the 50th Tank Brigade on Uman. During the battle, five tanks were hit by 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, three vehicles were out of order for technical reasons, and one fell from the bridge near the village of Polkovnichye and overturned. A rather rare case also occurred here: the lower frontal plate of one IS was pierced by a shell from a heavy German anti-tank rifle s.Pz.B.41, which had a 28/20 mm conical barrel.
The first recorded collision of the IS-85 with "tigers" took place on March 4, 1944 in the area of ??Starokonstantinov in Ukraine during the Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation. The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment (commanded by Lieutenant Colonel N.I. Bulanov) engaged a company of heavy tanks "Tiger" of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion. During the exchange of fire in poor visibility conditions from a distance of 1500-1800 m, one IS was hit, and three were damaged, but were subsequently repaired. Return fire from the ISs of one "Tiger" damaged the cannon, and the other - the chassis. On March 16, the "Tigers", opening fire from an ambush, knocked out four ISs, two of which burned down along with the crews. A little earlier, on March 8, two ISs from 150-200 m were shot by camouflaged 75-mm assault guns. One tank received 8 hits, the other 4.
The IS-85 tanks were renamed IS-1 in March 1944. As a result of these battles, a conclusion of the GBTU appeared on the discrepancy between the IS-85's weapons and its booking with similar indicators of German heavy tanks. It recommended changing the shape and booking of the frontal part of the hull and strengthening the armament of the IS tanks. The surviving documents of those years allow us to conclude that out of the total number of heavy tanks of this type, exactly 100 units took part in the battles. Another 6 tanks were sent to the higher officer tank schools - two vehicles each. One tank # 31113 was being tested at the Kubinka training ground. By the end of the war, 37 serviceable IS-85 tanks remained in service. Another 37 in April 1945 were written off due to natural wear and tear.
In early and mid-1944 a new capability emerged during the combat application of the new heavy tank - IS-2. The IS-2 possessed the speed and maneuverability of the T-34, unrivaled KV protection, and the firepower of long-range artillery pieces. Having studied intelligence reports on the capabilities of "Joseph Stalin", Hitler forbade his tankers to engage in battle with heavy vehicles of the Red Army at distances of less than a kilometer.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
