S-51 203mm self-propelled artillery
The self-propelled artillery is an important auxiliary force for large army units, with high mobility and firepower. The S-51 self-propelled artillery was an attempt by the Soviet army in the Great Patriotic War. The final product had amazing destructive power, but did not enter service.
Before World War II, although the Soviet Army attached great importance to the construction of artillery units, mainly towed artillery. It had a slow start in self-propelled artillery technology. After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the Soviet Union developed the first SU-76 with higher practical value. As a self-propelled artillery and as a tank destroyer, the SU-26 before this was just some emergency measures.
With successful experience, the Soviet army combined the experience of the German assault guns to develop self-propelled artillery such as SU-122, which achieved good results in battle. This equipment finally solved the problem of the Soviet self-propelled artillery, but the shortcomings were also obvious, that is, the power of the artillery was insufficient, especially when the Soviet army entered a full-scale counteroffensive, when the Germans built a large number of defensive positions in the defensive battle, including various forts. Buildings became the most troublesome issue for attacking the Soviet army. The army needed powerful assault guns to smash these facilities.
The Soviet army was not without suitable high-power artillery. For example, the ML-20 type 152mm artillery was a good choice, and there was also a more powerful 203mm B-4 howitzer. As a special heavy weapon, the B-4 was undoubtedly the secret weapon of the Soviet army in the siege of the city. It is called the "Stalin's Hammer" by the Germans. However, the shortcoming of this gun was also obvious, that is, lack of mobility. Its built-in tractor-type chassis can only provide short-distance slow maneuvering at a walking pace.
In the middle and late stages of the war, the Soviet army began to have surplus resources, so it planned to use a heavy tank chassis to carry the B-4 howitzer to improve the mobility of the B-4 and build a heavy self-propelled artillery. The S-51 was one of them. In April 1943, the Soviet Central Artillery Design Bureau proposed a bold plan to combine the chassis of the KV-1S heavy tank with the B-4 howitzer. In view of the military’s high evaluation of the B-4 and KV-1S equipment, this plan was supported by many people. In September 1943, the S-51 self-propelled artillery project officially started. After repeated demonstrations by the designers, the first prototype came out in February 1944, and the test began.
The S-51 chose a mature KV-1S chassis, which had a relatively lower failure rate, and removed the turret structure. The artillery adopted a newly designed gun mount, which was arranged in the front of the vehicle body. The back of the chassis had a guide rail for the projectiles to slide. In this structure, there were railings on both sides of the body that mimic the falling of the members, and there are stairs for the personnel to go up and down at the rear.
The original gun was equipped with a small crane. This structure was deleted on the S-51 and replaced with a structure like a warship shell feeder at the rear. The shells are lifted to the sliding guide on the back through this device, and then transported to the barrel by personnel. The S-51 itself did not carry shells and propellant. There was a huge gun shield on each side of the artillery. Its main function is not to defend the crew from attack, but to block the huge muzzle storm during shooting and avoid damage to the parts on the car body.
The whole set of self-propelled artillery weighed about 50 tons. In order to improve driving mobility, the gun group can loosen the hydraulic tube during maneuvering and allow the gun tube to retreat to the center of the vehicle body to avoid the center of gravity being too close to the front.
Beginning on March 16, 1944, the prototype was tested for a few days. In addition to the lack of climbing ability, other aspects were satisfactory; it entered the firepower test phase on the 24th. A total of 204 high-explosive shells and concrete destruction shells were fired in the fire test. They showed the same destructive power as the original guns. The problem was the huge vibrations and storms during the shooting. After being prepared, the gunners had to hide tens of meters. In addition, the crew used a long rope to pull the trigger, otherwise he firing would shake their internal organs. This led to the disappearance of the original design advantage of fast reloading, and it returned to the B-4's rate of fire of just one round in a few minutes.
After the prototype was tested, the S-51 project was discontinued, and the artillery mounted on the prototype was disassembled and restored to the state of B-4. There are many reasons for the abandonment of this project. The first is the problem of S-51 itself. Due to the problem of structural layout, the center of gravity of the self-propelled artillery is higher. The center of gravity is forward during combat, and it is prone to rollover during off-road maneuvers. This is fatal in the Soviet Union when the road network is not good. If such a 50-ton vehicle rolled over, this would create a conosiderable problem.
Another problem of the S-51 itself is its poor accuracy. Although the rate of fire was not fast, it was acceptable for a special artillery. The real problem is that the weight-bearing mechanism was not strong enough. When the artillery fired, the huge recoil was transmitted to the chassis, and the weight-bearing mechanism was used before the shell is out of the chamber. It began to sink, which affected the artillery, resulting in less accuracy than the B-4.
The second is that the Soviet army had a suitable self-propelled artillery. In 1944, the Soviet Army already had the SU-152. This self-propelled artillery equipped with a 152mm caliber can fire at both indirect and direct aiming. The task of self-propelled artillery, tank destroyer, and assault gun was fully undertaken. No matter what kind of task, it can be completed well, and occasionally some special tough battles can also be solved with B-4.
In this way, the S-51 becomes a dispensable equipment, and it is reasonable to go to the end. However, the S-51 is not without achievements. Through its design, the designer has accumulated experience in the design of heavy self-propelled artillery, laying the foundation for the research and development of related equipment after the war.
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