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T-12 fast tank

A single T-12 was produced, which served as a prototype for the creation of the T-24 tank. In the autumn of 1928 the Kharkiv Locomotive Plant was awarded a government order for manufacturing a prototype of a 'fast tank' (1-12-32) designed by the GKB OAT. The fast tank, which in the process of manufacturing at the plant was designated the T-12, was designed as a two-turret one.

Considering the experience of using captured British and French tanks on December 20, 1927, the UMM of the RKKA formulated the requirements for a "maneuverable tank" with mandatory cannon-machine-gun armament in rotating turrets.

The tank design bureau at this plant was established in October 1927 and there was no corresponding experience of its employees. Therefore, the GKB OAT was obliged to provide the KB staff with all possible assistance. Virtually all the work of the capital's engineers tried to shove on Kharkiv.

Responsibilities were distributed as follows: Kharkov - development of transmission and chassis, Moscow - tower and hull. But that part of the work, which was to be carried out by the employees of the State Security Committee of the OAT, was entrusted to the Kharkov engineers who arrived in Moscow on a business trip. The development of this machine was transferred to the KP KHPZ im.Komintern, where a sufficiently strong design team was selected. The general management was carried out by the chief designer of the SCB OAT S. Shukalov, V. Zaslavsky was appointed the responsible project implementer, A. Mikulin was responsible for the design of the MTO.

The American T1E2 tank was chosen as the prototype, the distinctive feature of which was the large deployment of weapons (a cannon and several machine guns in the main turret, plus machine guns in a small turret located on the main roof). This arrangement allowed to compact the layout of the car, but made its operation inconvenient for the crew and led to a significant increase in the height of the tank.

The T-12 used a classic layout, with the front compartment of the control room, behind which was the combat compartment and the engine-transmission compartment. A large nine-cornered turret was designed for 3 people: the commander, the charging and the machine-gunner. A small turret with a machine gun was installed on a large turret and rotated independently. The front part of the large turret carried a 45 mm gun; 7.62 mm machine guns were installed either side on ball supports.

In its front sheet was planned to install a 45-mm gun or 57/60-mm howitzer. To the right and left of it was mounted up to two coupled machine guns of the Fedorov system. In the upper turret, mounted on the roof of the main and shifted back, there was another pair of 7.62-mm machine guns. The T-12 power plant was to consist of a modified Hispano 9 aircraft engine with a power of 200 hp. The chassis of the tank still felt the strong influence of the French school. The chassis of the tank consisted of 8 support rollers on the board, interlocked in pairs in four trolleys with vertical spring cushioning, 4 supporting rollers, rear drive and front steering wheel.

An active part in designing of the tank took the Chief of the Department of self-propelling vehicles of the GKB OAT, professor V.I. Zaslavskiy, who became later on the first Chief of Tank Department of Military Academy of Mechanisation and Motorisation of RKKA (today the Academy of armored Troops named after R.Ya. Malinovskiy).A.A. Mikulin, an aviation engine designer and future academician, took part in designing the power pack of the tank and fitting it with a locally produced M-6 engine.

The T-12 tank was manufactured against the background of the lack of almost all required special equipment, by the hands of skilled specialists of the tractor production lines. In spite of difficulties and lack of experience, the manufacturing of the prototype progressed quickly and had been completed by the end of 1929. Factory tests of the T-12 tank began in January 1930 and in February of that year official trials took place.

The construction of the prototype T-12 continued from October 13, 1928 to October 15, 1929, but its final equipment with all the necessary equipment and modifications took another two months. Acceptance of the tank took place in February 1930, but the T-12 was only granted on April 2nd. The reports of the RGVA indicated that the experimental T-12 tank (without armament) managed to pass only 2 km along soft ground, then stopped due to a transmission failure.

The clean running time of the engine was 33 minutes, of which in motion - 21 minutes. After repair, the tank again started the running tests. Quite quickly it turned out that the undercarriage of the T-12 was clearly unfinished. The gearbox overheated, the water in the radiator boiled, the 2nd speed did not work, and when turning on a soft ground, the right caterpillar jumped off. At the same time, the T-12 showed a good ride.

To evaluate the new tank from April 28 to May 2, 1930, Narcomvoyenmor Voroshilov, the head of UMM Khalepsky and the head of the UMM Bokis Technical Department, as well as the representatives from the KhPZ S.Makhonin and Vladimirov participated in the tests. This time, the T-12 showed the maximum possible. He moved briskly enough over rough terrain, gaining a rise of 35-36 degrees. in the 1st gear. The speed on solid ground was 26 km / h, but with an increase in engine speed to 2000 per minute it temporarily rose to 30 km / h. The tank easily crossed the 2-meter trench even on sandy ground, although it was estimated that it could cross a moat with a width of 2.65 m. The specific pressure when the crawler chains were immersed 100 mm into the soft ground was 0.45 kg / cm2.

The fire tests in full measure failed. Due to the lack of Fyodorov's machine gun, a 7.7-mm Lewis machine gun was installed on the tank in a Shpagin ball device. The shooting from him gave very positive results - on the go to the target hit about 60% of the bullets. Firing from a 45-mm cannon Sokolov's design could not be carried out because of her unpreparedness. The gun was installed on the tank in the summer of 1930 and from July 12 T-12 continued testing with it. The total ammunition capacity of the tank was 100 shots to the gun and 4,000 cartridges to the machine guns, but in the case of a full set of weapons, ammunition increased to 7,200 rounds and 98 rounds.

As the prototype of the T-12 tank turned out to be heavier than it had been envisaged in the project (20 tonnes instead of 16 tonnes) and had a number of drawbacks, the Tank Design Team (by that time its staff had increased by twice) started its urgent redesigning. Major changes to the design of the T-12 tank with taking into account the test results led virtually to development of a new vehicle design.

Apart from enhancing the mobility characteristics (the weight and ground pressure were reduced, while the engine power and speed of movement were increased), a fourth machine gun was installed in the bow of the tank to the left of the driver, and machine-gunner's station was created. Thus, the armament of the tank was then located in three tiers, which was a novelty in tank development.

The designers of the Kharkov KB radically reworked the machine for repeated tests. As a result, it was not a modernization, but an almost new tank, the T-24, which was sent to continue testing in conjunction with the T-12 in July 1930. According to the test results, the T-12 tank was rated mostly positively. But in mass production was launched its revised version, T-24, cheaper in production, had a greater power reserve and a much smaller number of design flaws.

T-12 Tank