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I knew the Russians were desperate during Barbarossa, but...


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Get a load of what's in the background. Pretty certain this is PS, but if not...  Does anyone know if this tank in background is possible? I have some vague recollection Russia did receive a handful of British WW I rhomboid tanks. At the very least, here's a rare shot of the T-26 flamethrower tank (kHT-26, per Wiki), albeit something of a fixer-upper. Caption is as it appears on bmashina.tumblr.com

tumblr_or0htb6rOA1rqpszmo1_1280.jpg

Soviet flamethrower tank HT-26, abandoned by crew near the porch of the Cathedral of Smolensk.

Image Credit: Probable German WW II photo via https://bmashina.tumblr.com/page/60

 

Regards,

John Kettler

 

 

Edited by John Kettler
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7 hours ago, John Kettler said:

Get a load of what's in the background. Pretty certain this is PS, but if not...  Does anyone know if this tank in background is possible? I have some vague recollection Russia did receive a handful of British WW I rhomboid tanks. At the very least, here's a rare shot of the T-26 flamethrower tank (kHT-26, per Wiki), albeit something of a fixer-upper. Caption is as it appears on bmashina.tumblr.com

tumblr_or0htb6rOA1rqpszmo1_1280.jpg

Soviet flamethrower tank HT-26, abandoned by crew near the porch of the Cathedral of Smolensk.

Image Credit: Probable German WW II photo via https://bmashina.tumblr.com/page/60

 

Regards,

John Kettler

 

 

If you look closely, there are two of those "original" tanks.

Don't know, if they really were still in use in WW2, but it sounds possible to me.

Another thought: Is the picture from WW2, or from the Russian civil war?

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In the winter of 1941, when the Germans were only 10 km to Moscow, even cannons of the Napoleonic wars were used.

 

The tank "To fright" (NI-1) is an improvised light tank (armored tractor), hastily designed in Odessa during the defense of the city in the summer-autumn of 1941, taking into account the capabilities of the besieged city's industry. The factories of Odessa produced about fifty such tanks, which were used by the Red Army during the defense of the city.

7835181.jpg

 

 

T-16 (KhTZ) or KhTZ-16 is an ersatz tank (armored tractor), produced in 1941, during the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, at the Kharkov and Stalingrad tractor factories. It was a conventional agricultural caterpillar tractor covered with sheets of armor, Cannon and machine-gun weapons.

1024px-Na_Ispug.jpg

 

 

ЗИС-30 ( ZIS-30 ) - Soviet light anti-tank .

%D0%97%D0%B8%D1%81-30.jpg

 

 

In fact, you can find many ridiculous inventions that were used in the first months of the war in a situation where there was not enough tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

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58 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

The Mk.Vs are real.....I've got a bunch more images of them but the books are too big for the scanner.  These old tanks didn't do very much though, IIRC they ended up as part of a barricade.

Andy,

Fascinating. Would you please list a source and perhaps a short quote, for this is new treadhead ground for me.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

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The excellent Beutepanzer site has a whole section on the Mk.V in WWII:  http://beutepanzer.ru/Beutepanzer/uk/MK_V/Mk_V.htm

It seems to suggest that the tanks seen in your image are in Smolensk, they were subsequently captured by the Germans and eventually ended up in the Battle of Berlin!

http://talesanecdotesandtrivia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/estonian-vintage.html

estonian+mkV+tank+w+45mm+gun.jpg

459901_376595539126930_503336167_o.jpg

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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Andy,

Did not see your latest before posting, so this is reflected in what I said.

Had tried a bunch of places earlier, but knowing the model, Wiki had the answer. The British sent ~70 x Mark V to support the White Russians against the Bolsheviks. Italics mine.

"Approximately 70 Mark V tanks supplied by Great Britain to the White Russian Army and subsequently captured by the Red Army in the course of the Russian Civil War were used in 1921 during the Red Army invasion of Georgia and contributed to the Soviet victory in the battle for Tbilisi.[19]

The last confirmed use of the Mk V in battle was by units of the Red Army during the defence of Tallinn against German forces in August 1941. The four Mk Vs previously operated by Estoniawere used as dug-in fortifications. It is believed that they were subsequently scrapped.[20]

In 1945, Allied troops came across two badly damaged Mk V tanks in Berlin. Photographic evidence indicates that these were survivors of the Russian Civil War and had previously been displayed as a monument in Smolensk, Russia, before being brought to Berlin after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.[1] Accounts of their active involvement in the Battle of Berlinhave not been verified.[2]

Good enough for me. I'm convinced.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

Edited by John Kettler
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In the link in my previous post there's an image of the Smolensk tanks deployed in the field at the time of their capture, so they were definitely reactivated.....I suspect they were little more than barricades in Berlin though.  ;)

PS - I'd call this:

MK_V_02.jpg

& this:

MK_V_04.jpg

Pretty thorough verification of their involvement. 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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On 19.6.2017 at 6:14 PM, HUSKER2142 said:

 

In the winter of 1941, when the Germans were only 10 km to Moscow, even cannons of the Napoleonic wars were used.

 

The tank "To fright" (NI-1) is an improvised light tank (armored tractor), hastily designed in Odessa during the defense of the city in the summer-autumn of 1941, taking into account the capabilities of the besieged city's industry. The factories of Odessa produced about fifty such tanks, which were used by the Red Army during the defense of the city.

7835181.jpg

 

 

T-16 (KhTZ) or KhTZ-16 is an ersatz tank (armored tractor), produced in 1941, during the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, at the Kharkov and Stalingrad tractor factories. It was a conventional agricultural caterpillar tractor covered with sheets of armor, Cannon and machine-gun weapons.

1024px-Na_Ispug.jpg

 

 

ЗИС-30 ( ZIS-30 ) - Soviet light anti-tank .

%D0%97%D0%B8%D1%81-30.jpg

 

 

In fact, you can find many ridiculous inventions that were used in the first months of the war in a situation where there was not enough tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

You seem to know the Russian "special designs" very well.

What do you make of this one here:

https://stukablr.tumblr.com/image/126922265670

Is this a real pic, or a fake. Somehow, I can't believe the normal KV2 carriage would carry three stacked turrets.

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42 minutes ago, IanL said:

DYeah that would be side ways in the ditch. I vote fake.

Yeah, the "out of place" Center of Gravity made me wonder, too.

 

4 minutes ago, 76mm said:

And how exactly could you load the second and third main guns? 

That would be simple: Cat ladders, platforms and man handling. Not very convenient, but workable.

But I agree to questioning the power availability. I don't have many numbers, but AIRC, the Tiger turret weighed 18tons. Let's assume 10tons for the KV2. That would be 30tons for this monster. To move that on ab approx 2m slew ring, you need a huge drive moment, aka power. But then, the beast probably did not want to drive anywhere, once in firing position.

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6 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Not just fake but sadly fake!  :mellow:

I'd be willing to bet I can find the original image with some Google-Fu:

abandoned_KV-2_heavy_assault_tank_with_t

And I win the bet, with just under 20 seconds effort.....I typed "Abandoned KV-2" into search and selected the images tab.  :rolleyes:

Ok, one beer on my account!?

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On 6/21/2017 at 10:53 PM, StieliAlpha said:

That would be simple: Cat ladders, platforms and man handling. Not very convenient, but workable.

I don't think it would be workable; I couldn't find anything online in two minutes about the size of the KVII's shells, but I suspect that they are too long/heavy to allow them to be manhandled in that kind of turret.

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3 hours ago, 76mm said:

I don't think it would be workable; I couldn't find anything online in two minutes about the size of the KVII's shells, but I suspect that they are too long/heavy to allow them to be manhandled in that kind of turret.

Look under "Ammunition":

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/152_mm_howitzer_M1938_(M-10)

 

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Ironically, the last operation, in which KVs were used in large numbers, was the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line in 1944. Commander of the Karelian Front, K. A. Meretskov (К. А. Мерецков ), personally insisted that his front be given exactly KV (Meretskov commanded the army in the Winter War and then literally fell in love with this tank). The survivors of KV collected literally one by one and sent to Karelia - where the career of this car once began.

Edited by HUSKER2142
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