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T-29 Medium Tank

In 1934-1937, an attempt was made to replace in the production of tracked T-28 with the wheeled and tracked T-29, which differed from its prototype only in propulsion and transmission. In appearance and configuration of the turrets, the T-29 resembled a T-28 tank : three-turreted, with a 76.2-mm cannon in the central turret and with machine guns mounted on ball bearings in two small turrets. The difference was in the undercarriage: the T-29 tank was wheel-tracked. If the T-28 chassis was based on 24 support rollers of small diameter (350 mm), then the T-29 had only 8 double support rollers of large diameter (840 mm).

According to the EGPU project of the OGPU, the prison design bureau, where the arrested designers worked, the first T-29-4 and T-29-5 tanks were made back in 1934, but then the car was improved for several years to start mass production at the Kirov factory in Leningrad. In 1936, this tank was put into service, in 1937 they made two cars, but after that they did not release the tank. With a frontal armor thickness of 30 mm and a crew of 5 people, the tank's mass increased to 28.8 tons, which turned out to be the limit for a wheeled tracked propulsion unit, although this tank also had 6 rollers out of 8 on a wheeled course. In December 1937, Kotin signed the drawings for the T-28 undercarriage, reworked according to the type of chassis of the heavy T-35 tank, but then it was decided that multi-turret tanks could not be protected by any thicker armor under any type of suspension.

When driving on wheels, three rear pairs of rollers became leading, and the front pair - managed. When creating this machine, it was assumed that the wheeled-tracked undercarriage would solve the problem of the operational mobility of armored forces without using rail transport or trailers. However, in the course of testing an experimental series of machines, difficulties were revealed, mainly due to the complexity of the design of the wheel-tracked drive. The Red Army needed first of all simple machines with stronger armor, which could be produced in tens of thousands of copies. For this reason, although the tank was put into service in 1936, it was not serially built. Despite the fact that the wheeled-tracked medium combat vehicles of the T-29 type turned out to be too expensive, they did not hurry to part with it. Thus, during the second half of 1937–1938, various designers of Plant 185 continually returned to different versions. It was not easy to abandon the well-developed wheel-track for a 20-ton vehicle with such an attractive three-turret armament scheme.

According to the resolution of the CP under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 14 of May 25, 1937 "On the Production of Machines at the Kirov Plant" , the latter, not later than August 1, had to submit for approval a sample of T-29 protected by inclined sheets of cemented armor not less than 25 mm, with the elimination of the noted deficiencies. On July 4, 1937, the T-29Ts project (T-29-C, the letter "C" designating that the body of the tank was cemented armor) was submitted to the people's commissars for heavy and defense industry.

The T-29C was a 30-ton machine, protected by 30-mm armor. The undercarriage consisted of five pairs of large-diameter road wheels, of which three pairs were leading on wheels, and six supporting rollers. Armament was powerful: 76-mm cannon arr. 1936 (L-10), two 12.7-mm machine guns DK, five 7.62-mm machine guns DT, and stirred in three conical turrets, the crew consisted of 6 people. The project was generally approved, and during 1938 it was supposed to produce and test a prototype. However, in the autumn of 1937, his work on this project was unexpectedly curtailed. According to the memoirs of L. Gorlnitsky, N.Teits was arrested at that time.

The layout of these tanks was similar to the T-28. T-29-4 had a combat weight of 16 tons, the crew - five people. The bulletproof armor of the hull was made of rolled armor plates 20 mm thick, the turret 15 mm. The T-29-5 combat weight of 23.5 tons had a narrower and shorter armored body made of rolled 30-mm thick armor plates and a 20-mm turret. The crew consisted of six people. The armament was the same: the 76.2-mm short-barreled KT-27 cannon, 1932, and five 7.62-mm DT machine guns. In the main turret, the DT machine guns were located in autonomous ball mounts: one - to the right of the gun, the second (rear) - in the stern niche.

The third (anti-aircraft) machine gun, mounted on the turning chase of the main turret entrance hatch. Two DT machine guns were installed in small machine-gun turrets with shelling angles of 220 ° -240 ° horizontally. The tank ammunition consisted of 78 shots to the cannon and 6930 rounds for DT machine guns for the T-29-5 tank and 74 shots and 7938 rounds for the T-29-4 tank.

Ammunition of the gun in both models was placed in a carousel. For the landing and exit of the crew, the main turret had two hatches: one in the roof of the turret, the second (rectangular shape) in the stern armor plate.

In the stern of the hull of the tanks, a four-stroke, twelve-cylinder V-shaped carburetor engine M-17L with a capacity of 500 hp was installed. (368 kW) The engine was started using a Bosch electric starter with a power of 6 hp. (4.4 kW) and compressed air. The ignition system used two magneto "Scintilla". To facilitate the start-up of the engine was used starting magneto "Bosch". The capacity of the four fuel tanks was 530 liters. The cruising range of tanks along the highway was: 125-150 km on a caterpillar track, 200-250 km on a wheel track. The transmission consisted of: a three-disk main clutch, a four-speed gearbox with synchronizers, two onboard clutches with floating belt brakes and two onboard gearboxes.

Suspension was individual springs. In the chassis used eight dual-wheels rollers with external depreciation. Support rollers were missing, and the front and rear pairs of track rollers were manageable. When driving on a wheel all four pairs of road wheels were leading. In this case, a double differential was used as a turning mechanism, which was blocked during rectilinear motion to prevent the tank from withdrawing. The transition from a caterpillar track to a wheeled one took about 60 minutes, and demanded that the crew get out of the car. The caterpillar track width was 380 mm.

The electrical equipment of the machines was performed using a single-wire circuit. The voltage of the onboard network was 12 V. Four electric batteries 6STA-6 or 6STA-9 with voltage of 12 V, capacity of 144 Ampch and 96 Ampch respectively, as well as a 1000 W dynamo (generator) of 12V were used as sources of electricity. A radio station 71-TK-1 with TPU-3 and a handrail antenna mounted on the machine case was installed for external communication. On the tank T-29-5 was installed whip antenna on the roof of the turret.

In the years 1934-1935, T-29 tanks underwent an extensive program of various tests, including comparative tests with T-28 tanks. It was noted that the T-29 "has good agility and maneuverability, especially in difficult conditions. The speed of the T-29 is higher than that of the T-28 serial and is equivalent to the experienced T-28A (speed). T-28, but inferior in ease of maintenance, since there are two people in the main turret, the turret must be redesigned. More complicated because of the wheel travel."

During the tests from October 19 to October 29, 1935, the T-29-5 passed 375 km, and in the conclusions the commission noted the following: “The T-29 tank has good agility and maneuverability, especially in difficult conditions. The speed of the T-29 is higher than that of the T-28 serial, and is equivalent to the experienced T-28A (speed). The power of weapons and armor is equivalent to the T-28, but inferior in serviceability, since there are two people in the main tower, the tower must be redesigned. More complicated due to wheel travel. " According to the results of tests in 1936, the pilot plant them. Kirov produced a reference sample T-29 (some publications mention two T-29 tanks, allegedly made at the Kirov factory in 1937, but this information is not supported by archival documents). In 1937, it was planned to begin the mass production of such machines at the Kirov factory. The layout was different from the classic bunk arrangement of weapons. The main turret was made of the type of light tank T-26-4 with increased by 100-mm diameter shoulder strap. Small machine gun turrets were borrowed from the T-28. A 76.2-mm PS-3 cannon and two 7.62-mm DT machine guns were placed in the rotating main turret. One of them was mounted in an autonomous ball mount to the right of the gun, the other - in the aft niche of the turret. In addition, an anti-aircraft machine gun DT was mounted on the roof of the main turret in the P-40 turret.

For the landing and exit of the crew, the main turret had two hinges in the roof and one (rectangular) in the stern armor plate. In two independent small turrets with limited turning angles there was one 7.62-mm machine gun DT. Ammunition was 67 artillery shots and 6930 rounds of ammunition. For the first time on the machine, the main part of the artillery shots was placed in the ring laying of the surrounding turret below the shoulder strap level. Subsequently, an L-10 tank gun was installed on the T-29 in 1938 instead of the PS-3 cannon. Armor protection - bulletproof.

The thickness of the frontal armor of the welded hull was 30 mm, cylindrical riveted turrets - 20 mm. A four-stroke, twelve-cylinder V-shaped carburetor engine M-17F with a capacity of 500 hp was located in the rear part of the hull. (368 kW) with two dual carburetors "Zenith" KD-1. The engine was started using a Bosch electric starter with a power of 6 hp. (4.4 kW) and compressed air. The capacity of the fuel tanks was 600 liters. Cruising on the highway on a wheel track reached 300 km, on a caterpillar track - 200 km.

The tank entered service in February 1936; its production was started at Leningrad Kirov Plant. However, the reference T-29 had many flaws and did not meet the requirements of the military. Therefore, according to the Resolution of the Defense Committee at SNK of the USSR No. 14ss dated May 25, 1937 “Concerning the Production of Machines at the Kirov Plant” the latter had to submit for approval a draft of the new T-29 with thickened and inclined sheets of cemented armor. Only a few vehicles were built before production was discontinued due to complex construction and an unreliable chassis. The fate of the three manufactured T-29 has evolved differently. T-29-5 was disassembled in 1938. In the same year, the reference sample T-29 was re-equipped with an L-10 cannon. After the start of the Soviet-Finnish war, this tank was repaired and on February 13, 1940 "departed at the disposal of the 13th Army's ABTA." However, nothing is known about the combat use of the tank, as there is no information about the further fate of this vehicle.

The T-29 -4 tank was transferred to the NIIBT proving ground, where it was located before the start of World War II. In the fall of 1941, when the Germans approached Kubinka together with the A-20 tank, it was transferred to the 22nd Tank Brigade. It is known that on December 1, 1941, the tank was engaged in a battle with the Germans in the area of ??Pavlovskaya Sloboda, but then its tracks are lost.

T-29 Medium Tank

T-29 Medium tank - Pictures