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T-37A tank

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This article is about the Soviet tank. For other uses, seeT37 (disambiguation).
T-37А amphibious scout tank
T-37А, displayed inKubinka Tank Museum
TypeAmphibiouslight tank
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In serviceFrom 1933
Used bySoviet Union
Finland(captured)
Romania(captured)
Nazi Germany(captured)
Hungary(captured)
Production history
DesignerN. Kozyrev,Factory No. 37,Moscow
Designed1931–33
Produced1933–36
No.built~1,200
VariantsT-37A (main production), T-37TU command tank, M1936
Specifications (T-37[1])
Mass3.2 tonnes
Length3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)
Width2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Crew2
Armour3–9 mm
Main
armament
7.62mmDT machine gun(585 rounds)
EngineGAZ-AA
40 hp (30 kW)
Power/weight13 hp/tonne
Suspensionsprungbogie
Fuel capacity100 litres
Operational
range
185 km
Maximum speed35 km/h (22 mph)

TheT-37Awas a Sovietamphibiouslight tank.The tank is often referred to as the T-37, although that designation was used by a different tank which never left theprototypestage. The T-37A was the first series ofmass-producedfully amphibious tanks in the world.[2]

The tank was first created in 1932, based on the BritishVickerstankette and other operational amphibious tanks. The tank was mass-produced starting in 1933 up until 1936, when it was replaced with the more modernT-38,based on the T-37A. Overall, after four years of production, 2552 T-37As were produced, including the original prototypes.[3]

In theRed Army,they were used to perform tasks in communication,reconnaissance,and as defense units on the march, as well as activeinfantrysupport on the battlefield. The T-37A was used in large numbers during theSoviet invasion of Polandand in theWinter WaragainstFinland.T-37As were also used by the Soviets in the beginning of theGreat Patriotic War,but most of them were quickly lost. Surviving tanks fought on the front lines until 1944, and were used in training and auxiliary defense until the end ofWorld War II.[4]

Early history[edit]

TheCarden-Loyd tankettesby Carden-Loyd Tractors, Ltd., were promising enough that the company was purchased byVickers-Armstrong.They developed light, floating tanks to General Staff requirements (A4E11 etc). In April 1931, Vickers-Armstrongs conducted several successful tests of these light vehicles in the presence of the press.[5]Publication of the design and testing by thepressattracted the attention of the Department of Motorization and Mechanization of the Workers'–Peasants' Red Army (UMMRKKA), because the small tank was well suited to the new armament policies of theRed Army,as well as possibly being able to replace the olderT-27tankette,which never performed well in combat. At theBolshevikOKMOplant inLeningrad,from theAll Russian Co-Operative Society(Arcos), newspapers were handed in containing information about the British tankette, as well as photographs and technical specifications.[citation needed]Based on this information, Soviet engineers found out that the power plant of theCarden-Loyd tankettewas originally from a lighttractorproduced by the company, and thus the overall layout must be similar. Accordingly, theSelezen( "Drake", Ru.Селезень) program was established in order to construct a similar amphibious tank with a layout based on that of the British prototype. The firstSelezenprototype, which was designated theT-33,was built in March 1932 and showed good buoyancy during testing. However, the T-33 did not perform satisfactorily in other tests and was too complicated for the existingmilitary-industrial complexto produce. As a result, it was not mass produced or equipped in large numbers.[6]

T-41 and T-37[edit]

Even before the construction of the T-33, it was decided to increase the scale of work dedicated to creating an amphibious tank. In addition to theLeningradOKMO, the Number 2 plant of theAll-Soviet Automotive Union(VATO), which was already producing armored vehicles for theRed Army,was relegated to the development and production of amphibious armored vehicles. As a result, at the 2nd VATO plant, under the supervision of N. N. Kozyrev, theT-41 amphibious tankwas produced, weighing 3.5 tons and using theGAZ-AAengine,[note 1]which was based on theT-27power plant. Thetransmissionwas nearly identical to that of the T-27, and to thepower take-offfor thepropeller,they added a rigid gearclutch.Its construction for turning off the propeller demanded stopping the tank and turning off the engine. Thechassiswas, in part, borrowed from the T-33, and thecaterpillar trackswere entirely from theT-27.Leningrad builders likewise continued the development of a more suitable amphibious tank, and they designated their latest model as the “T-37”. It had the sameGAZ AAengine as the T-41, the same transmission, wide use of automotive parts, and theKruppchassis, which Soviet engineers first encountered as a result of a technological partnership withWeimar Germany.Although the T-41 was actually produced for the military in small numbers, after testing and battlefield trials the T-37 was denied production due to various minor faults and an incomplete development process.[7]

Deals with Vickers[edit]

Meanwhile, an opportunity to fully analyze the British prototype itself appeared. TheBritish Armydeclined to put theVickersprototype into service (although they were used as trials vehicles), and so the company decided to look for foreign buyers. Already interested since the April 1931 demonstration, the USSR, on February 5, 1932, made an offer, through Arcos representative Y. Skvirskiy, for the purchase of eight vehicles. Talks about filling the order did not drag on, and by June 1932, Vickers had already produced and shipped two of the first tanks for the Soviets.[8]

The Vickers-Carden-Loyd floating tank.

It is widely thought that the T-37A was a copy of the Vickers floating tank,[note 2]with the Soviet purchase of such tanks in mind. However, closer examination of the turn of events leads to the discrediting of such a theory, but it is true that the Soviet T-37A prototypes were heavily influenced by the British models.Nikolai Astrov,a Soviet engineer, having worked hard on the T-37A prototypes, wrote in his memoirs that "peace be unto the T-37A, born “Vickers-Carden-Loyd."[9]

Serial production[edit]

Even before the end of 1932, the high command of theRed Armywas planning to order 30 T-37A’s. In order to facilitate faster production,Factory No. 37(that is what the No. 2 VATO plant was renamed) was handed over all OKMO production related to the T-37, as well as one British Vickers tank. In 1933, the No. 37 plant was given an order of 1200 T-37A’s. However, the events that followed showed the excessive optimism shown by the leadership of the trust responsible for the factory. The trust itself was formed as a governing organ for coordinating large-scale efforts to develop new models of armored vehicles in a number of plants across the country, and subsequently played a significant role in the successful carrying out of this task, but at the beginning of 1933 it couldn’t overcome the “antediluvian” state of equipment at the No. 37 plant, as assessed by M. N. Svirin, purely with organizational measures.[7]

Problems with production[edit]

By its technological design, the T-37A was much more complicated than theT-27tankette, which immediately caused complications not only at Factory No. 37, but to its subcontractor – thePodolskElectric Locomotive Plant, which was producing the hulls of the new T-37A’s. In addition, in 1933 the T-27tankettewas still being produced, which stressed the lack of adequate resources needed to produce both vehicles simultaneously. This only worsened the situation and slowed the introduction of the T-37A. The technology for producingstampedcementedarmorplates at the Podolsk plant was completely unrefined; the desired result had to be achieved using improvised and primitive methods. In the end, in the first half of 1933 the Factory No. 37 built 30 amphibious tanks (12 of which were T-41’s) instead of the 255 needed to fulfill the established plan.[citation needed]The then replacement People’s Defense CommissionerMikhail Tukhochevskywrote in his report “of the progress of completion of the tank program in the first half of 1933”:

Reasons for the unfulfillment [of the]… T-37 tank program:

  • Failure of the “Podolsk KrekIng” factory to produce the hulls;
  • An unready and unrefined technological manufacturing process;
  • Unsatisfactory steel casting quality…

…The Podolsk factory. The program for producing the T-27 hulls was fully completed. The T-37A program has, instead of 250, produced only one workable hull in this half of the year. The main reason for this situation is the transfer [of the hulls] to the stamping and cementation without serious enough preventive and preparative measures. At this time, it can be said that the factory has mastered the stamping process. The further completion of the program depends on the timely shipment of armor plates from the Kulebakskiy factory before May. It cannot produce and ship the armor in June due to a lack of ferroalloys. Currently, the factory has the necessary materials and has started to produce an armor sheet…[10]

The situation didn’t change during the second half of 1933; the leadership of the Army and Spetzmashtrest, the governingtrust,demanded large amounts of T-37A’s to be produced at Factory No. 37, expecting to receive no more than 800 tanks. In reality, only 126 T-37A’s had been produced by 1 January 1934, two of which had built-inradios.Some of the tanks participated in a military parade on 7 November 1933 at theRed SquareinMoscow.The early T-37A’s did not differ much from the later, series-produced tanks – the earlier ones lacked wave-diffusing shields and floats.

Soviet T-37A destroyed during theWinter Warwith Finland.

In 1934, the leadership of the Spetzmashtrest lent its attention to improving the conditions in the factories at which the tanks were produced. They purchased foreign equipment for two new wings of the No. 37 Factory, as well as increasing the number of workers and engineering/ technical personnel. These measures, however, did not improve the situation; the number of assembled tanks was significantly lower than planned. The Office of Motorization and Mechanization of theRed Armynoted the insufficiency of the technical and general management at the No. 37 plant, and a lack of planning during the production process and "storming through" the operation. As a result, mid 1934 was marked by a change in leadership of the plant, and only towards the end of the year there had been a positive trend in the manufacturing process. Also, in 1934, slight changes were made to the T-37A design: the thickness of the sides and the front were increased to 10 mm, the curved stern piece hulls were replaced with stamped ones, and the over-track floats were rolled back and stuffed with cork, and they have become empty on the inside.[11]

The production of hulls remained as a limiting factor in the following year of 1935. The Podolsk Electric Locomotive Plant consistently failed to fulfill the plans for the production of parts in adequate numbers. To solve the problem, a year prior, it was decided to use the T-37AIzhorsky plantinLeningradfor additional hull production. But this enterprise, although there was considerable capacity, has been directed other orders for armored cars for the needs ofNavy of the Soviet Union,as well as the production of hulls for the Leningrad plants producingarmored carsandT-26andT-28tanks. As a result, most of the hulls of T-37A were sent to the № 37 plant from Podolsk. Hulls from different manufacturers had various methods of production: Izhorsk hulls werewelded,and Podolsk hullsriveted.For a permanent solution to the production of hulls for amphibious tanks, engineers restructured them and altered the power plants.[10]

Memorial November parade 2011[edit]

A detachment of tanks including three T-37s were shown in pass-through on Red Square on November 7, 2011. commemorating 70th anniversary of famous 1941 parade.[12]

Operators[edit]

Comparable vehicles[edit]

Notes[edit]

Notes
  1. ^before the engines could be produced atGAZplants, they had to be salvaged from importedFord Model AA
  2. ^For example,статья М. Барятинского,where it is stated that the T-37 was a development of the T-33, which, in turn, "differs little from the English (sic) prototype". However, the T-33 was created before the purchase of the British tanks, and has an entirely different power system, and the general layout of the chassis and transmission of the British and Soviet tanks have several significant differences.
Citations
  1. ^Zaloga 1984, p 116.
  2. ^Kholyavsky 1998
  3. ^Svirin 2005,p. 161
  4. ^Baryatinsky 2003
  5. ^"Latest war tank at home on land or water",Popular Mechanics,57(2), HH Windsor, 200 East Ontario Street, Chicago, USA.: 208, February 1932,retrieved23 December2015
  6. ^Svirin 2005,p. 153
  7. ^abSvirin 2005,p. 157
  8. ^Svirin 2005,p. 152
  9. ^Chobitok, V.""Thus, experience was given," - From the Recollections of N. A. Astrov ".armor.kiev.ua.RetrievedJune 20,2011.
  10. ^abKolomiets 2003
  11. ^Svirin 2005,p. 159
  12. ^[1]ArchivedJune 2, 2012, at theWayback Machine
  13. ^abcdKolomiets 2003,p. 78
  14. ^Kolomiets 2003,pp. 77–79
  15. ^Oryx."WWII's Absentee: German and Allied Equipment Used By The Turkish Republic".Oryx.Retrieved2023-03-23.

References[edit]

  • Baryatinsky, B. (2003).Amphibians of the Red Army (Амфибии Красной армии)(in Russian). Moscow: Modelist-Konstruktor.
  • Svirin, N. (2005).History of the Soviet Tank, 1917-1937 (История советского танка 1917-1937)(in Russian). Moscow: Yauza.ISBN5-699-13809-9.
  • Kholyavsky, G. (1998).Encyclopedia of Tanks(in Russian). Minsk: Khavrest.ISBN985-13-8603-0.
  • Kolomiets, M. V. (2003).The T-37, T-38, and T-40 Amphibious Tanks (Танки-амфибии Т-37, Т-38, Т-40)(in Russian). Moscow: Strategia KM.ISBN5-901266-01-3.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toT-37 tank.
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