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> Research seems to indicate that over one-third of the tanks used by the Russians in defence around Moscow during Barbarossa (in Dec 1941) were British: I did

by nl 4y ago

> Research seems to indicate that over one-third of the tanks used by the Russians in defence around Moscow during Barbarossa (in Dec 1941) were British: I didn't know this, but I don't find it astonishing. This was when Russia was losing and the defense of Moscow was pretty desperate. It's likely a lot of those British tanks were lost during that battle (as noted, they weren't very good) and replaced with T-34s. It's worth noting that most of the recorded losses of tanks by the Germans were in battles against T-34s.

throw0101c 4y ago
> It's worth noting that most of the recorded losses of tanks by the Germans were in battles against T-34s. Russia had to first survive long enough to get things turned around so they could take the offensive. On the T-34s: > To the Deputy People's Commissar of Medium Machinebuilding, comrade Goreglyad 8a Ryazanskaya St. > In response to your letter #16/2291 on March 18th, 1941 > The GABTU considers it necessary to deliver the V-2-34 engine together with the main clutch for the following reasons: > The warranty period of the main clutch is seldom higher than the lifespan of the engine: the engine's guaranteed lifespan is 150 hours, the tank travels 2000-2250 km in this time. The existing main clutch needs replacing after this time. > The existing design of the main clutch on factory #183 T-34 tanks requires the following changes to be compatible with diesel engines received from factory #75: […] * https://www.tankarchives.ca/2020/12/weakest-link.html https://www.tankarchives.ca/2020/12/weakest-link.html * https://twitter.com/Tank_Archives/status/1344342553911582722 https://twitter.com/Tank_Archives/status/1344342553911582722 (see thread on Kursk) When the average lifespan in battle was ~14 hours, the stated 150 hours sounds pretty good.
- nl 4y ago
  Worth noting that (again) logistics are the important factor. Tanks might survive 14 hours in battle, but spend much longer getting there (and there weren't often tank transports available outside railways).

by nl 4y ago

throw0101c 4y ago

> It's worth noting that most of the recorded losses of tanks by the Germans were in battles against T-34s. Russia had to first survive long enough to get things turned around so they could take the offensive. On the T-34s: > To the Deputy People's Commissar of Medium Machinebuilding, comrade Goreglyad 8a Ryazanskaya St. > In response to your letter #16/2291 on March 18th, 1941 > The GABTU considers it necessary to deliver the V-2-34 engine together with the main clutch for the following reasons: > The warranty period of the main clutch is seldom higher than the lifespan of the engine: the engine's guaranteed lifespan is 150 hours, the tank travels 2000-2250 km in this time. The existing main clutch needs replacing after this time. > The existing design of the main clutch on factory #183 T-34 tanks requires the following changes to be compatible with diesel engines received from factory #75: […] * https://www.tankarchives.ca/2020/12/weakest-link.html https://www.tankarchives.ca/2020/12/weakest-link.html * https://twitter.com/Tank_Archives/status/1344342553911582722 https://twitter.com/Tank_Archives/status/1344342553911582722 (see thread on Kursk) When the average lifespan in battle was ~14 hours, the stated 150 hours sounds pretty good.

nl 4y ago
Worth noting that (again) logistics are the important factor. Tanks might survive 14 hours in battle, but spend much longer getting there (and there weren't often tank transports available outside railways).