80 years ago on December 18, 1941 from the gates of the Ural Tank Plant N183 named after The first T-34 tank of local assembly came out of the Comintern. Before that, they were produced in Kharkov.
Although initially the plant in Nizhny Tagil was built for other purposes. It was opened on March 2, 1936 under the name “Ural Freight Car Building Plant named after F.E.Dzerzhinsky”. Unlike many Soviet enterprises, this was not a verbal disguise: he did indeed produce heavy railroad cars.
But the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War and the mass evacuation of industries from the western part of the country turned the wagon factory into what was later called Tankograd. The State Defense Committee (GKO) decided on the basis of the Nizhniy Tagil plant, which accepted the equipment of 11 exported enterprises, to create a main production for the T-34 tanks adopted in 1940. This was facilitated by the fact that the Kharkov plant N183 named. The Comintern, which was entrusted with the production of thirty-fours before the war, was among these enterprises. Its name was practically copied for Tankograd. Naturally, adjusted for the changed geography.
In addition to the name, workers and engineering and technical personnel, ready-made hulls, towers, engines and spare parts produced in Kharkov were brought to Nizhny Tagil. It was from them that the first Ural tanks were assembled.
But after a while, the need arose to make the current modernization of the tank, as well as to apply more successful technical solutions. First, little things, and then radically, the appearance and filling of the T-34 began to change.
From the beginning of 1942, the T-34 received an angular turret, which the tankers called the “nut”. It is interesting that during the year both a “nut” and (from the remaining Kharkov reserves) a welded or cast “pie” turret were put on the tank. The design of the driver’s hatch, viewing instruments, main parts of the chassis and much more were changed. Additional shielding was installed on the armor.
By the summer of 1943, ports for firing personal weapons appeared on the tank, as well as a commander’s cupola, which immediately improved the view of the battlefield.
In the course of production, many rationalization proposals were submitted. Thanks to them, as well as as a result of the use of more optimal design solutions, the labor intensity of manufacturing the T-34 was reduced by 2.4 times, and the cost was halved: if in 1941 a tank cost 270 thousand rubles, then by 1945 it was already 142 thousand . rubles. The greatest progress has taken place in the production of cases: labor costs have been reduced by 5 times!
According to the results of the summer campaign of 1943 (especially the Battle of Kursk), it became clear that the T-34 needed a deeper modernization, since the Germans had powerful, well-protected and well-armed Tiger and Panther tanks, as well as the Ferdinand self-propelled guns. … It was decided to strengthen the armament of the T-34 and switch from a 76 mm cannon to an 85 mm cannon, as well as to increase the armor of the front of the tank. And at the same time – the shape and volume of the tower, since the crew also increased – from 4 to 5 people.
A modernized tank called the T-34-85 entered the army in 1944 and served successfully until the end of the war and after it. During the war years, the Nizhniy Tagil plant alone (and thirty-fours were produced at other enterprises as well) produced more than 25 thousand T-34s and almost 7.5 thousand T-34-85 tanks.
This half covered the needs of the Red Army in medium tanks. In other words, every second T-34 was of Ural origin.
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