Tank Guns
By 1943, the 76.2mm F-34 tank gun of the T-34 medium tank was found to be severely lacking in long-range firepower, compared to the German Tiger I heavy tank's long-barreled 88-mm gun. Military planners directed Gen. V. Grabin's and Gen. F. Petrov's design bureaus to develop new 85mm tank guns based on the M1939's antitank ammunition.
Petrov developed the new D-5 85mm gun, which was shortly mounted on the chassis of the SU-122 self-propelled gun to create the SU-85 tank destroyer. Grabin, working on the ZiS-53 at Joseph Stalin Factory No. 92 in Gorky, was reassigned to the Central Artillery Design Bureau (TsAKB) in Moscow, and his project was turned over to 23-year-old A. Savin. Another team led by K. Siderenko was assigned to yet another 85mm gun project, the S-18.
The resulting guns were tested at Gorokhoviesky Proving Grounds near Gorky, with Grabin's ZiS-53 winning the competition. Unfortunately, the new T-34-85 tank's turret had been designed for the already-available D-5 gun, and didn't mate properly with Grabin's gun. Initial production of the T-34-85 tank was approved with the D-5 gun (designated D-5T, for "tank").
Savin was put to work modifying Grabin's gun to fit and incorporating other improvements, and his initial was added to its designation in recognition of his contribution: ZiS-S-53. The T-34-85 Model 1944, which included an improved 3-man turret layout, started production with this gun in the spring of 1944. When later tested against German armor, it was found that the tank gun developed from the 85-mm AA gun lacked the power of its predecessor and a new antitank gun was made, the 122-mm gun.
Read more about this topic: 85 Mm Air Defense Gun M1939 (52-K)
Famous quotes containing the word guns:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)