![]() ![]() Amongst them were two A 34 prototypes of a new medium tank developed for the Red Army.Īt 0315 hours on the 22nd of June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union by crossing its borders from the Carpathians to the Baltic Sea. ![]() ![]() Many T-34 became so much scrap on the road to Moscow.Īt first light on the 5th of March 1940, a convoy of motor vehicles set off from the grounds of the Comintern locomotive factory at Kharkov. Their tanks were blown apart or flipped like children’s toys. Others, lacking the skills to manoeuvre properly, were caught by German artillery and dive bombers. In the face of Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, T-34's were abandoned wholesale, often in very embarrassing situations, which bore testimony to the inexperience of their frightened crews. Then there were problems with the engine and transmission there was insufficient ammunition and fuel, plus the crews were ill-trained. The first model T-34 was under gunned due to the low velocity of its main armament. To start with there were not enough of them and the Red Army was left relying on its more numerous, older, and obsolete tank types. When the 1st T34 went into action in the summer of 1941 it proved to be an unmitigated disaster. "As early as July 1941, OKW chief Alfred Jodl noted in his war diary the surprise at this new and thus unknown under-armament being unleashed against the German assault divisions." Although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war, it has been described as the most influential tank design of World War II. After the Germans encountered the tank in 1941, German general PaulLudwig Ewald von Kleist called it "the finest tank in the world" and Heinz Guderian affirmed the T-34's "vast superiority" over Germany tanks. The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front in the Second World War and had a lasting impact on tank design. Walter Christie's M1928 tank, versions of which were sold turret-less to the Red Army and documented as "farm tractors", after being rejected by the U.S. The Christie suspension was inherited from the design of American J. Its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940, famously deployed during World War II during Operation Barbarossa. ![]()
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