Replies

Tanker Memoirs - Rem Ulanov

In 1944, when four factories of our country were producing tens of thousands of new T-34s the most mass produced tank in all the history of world-wide tank production, the designers under the leadership of A.A. Morozov created a new tank T-44. It contained a number of innovations. The main one was the transversal mounting of the engine. This bold design decision determined the construction of later modifications of the tank for many decades to come.

Rem Ulanov (left)

The decision did not come easy though. All the previous medium and heavy Soviet (and not just Soviet) tanks were assembled with the engine positioned longitudinally in the hull. In the T-34, the clutch was installed on the toe of the crankshaft together with an air turbine to cool the radiators. The power from the engine was transferred to the gearbox through a pair of conical gears. The exhaust gases escaped through the exhaust pipes out the back wall of the hull. On both sides of the hull there were two inclined radiators. The left-over space between the radiators and the engine was filled by accumulators. Those who never attempted changing the batteries on a T-34 have no idea what it was to like to install, secure and connect the terminals of four 64 kg wooden crates, all done in the dark and in the cramped confines of the engine compartment. They were inserted either through the cramped driver's hatch or by rope, through the top turret hatches.

The skeptics (who always did and will exist) said: you can't put a high-speed V-12 engine with a working displacement of almost 40 liters perpendicular to the direction of travel of the tank - this will inevitably cause problems that could be as severe as broken connecting rods. They also thought that decreasing the displacement of the engine compartment for the purpose of enlarging the battle compartment was unnecessary. Moving the turret rearward could limit the elevation angle. However, all of these were just unsubstantiated fear, a stubborn devotion to tradition. Rotating the engine resolved many problems. The significant decrease in the length of the engine compartment allowed the designers to shift the turret rearward, with its axis of rotation positioned in the center of the hull. It has also become possible to increase the thickness of frontal armor more than twice without disturbing the center of mass or increasing the mass of the tank. In the T-34 the thickness of armor was 45 mm all around, except for the bottom and the top. At the beginning of WWII this seemed like enough. Improvements made to the T-34 during WWII included increasing the caliber of the gun (from 76 to 85 mm), strengthening the armor of the turret and a host of other innovations. However, the hull of the tank remained weak. Increasing the battle compartment allowed the under-floor ammunition stowage to be removed (it was inconvenient because the used shells always got in the way) and be moved to the side stowage. Meanwhile, the height of the tank decreased by 300 mm, even though the turret remained essentially unchanged. Getting rid of the conical pair in the transmission permitted for a more compact gear box and for improved control of the brakes and the steering clutch. Handling the machine became much easier because now the driver's hatch was positioned on top of the turret, instead of in the front of the hull, providing the driver with great visibility and keeping him from getting splashed during fording. The drive train received torsion bar suspension, which resulted in smoother traversal of rough ground. The T-34's ride was rather stiff and harsh. The tracks of the new machine were borrowed from its predecessor.

T-44/122

The T-44 was the last Soviet medium tank with paddle-type tracks. However, the mechanism for tensioning them was significantly better on the T-44. On the T-34 to tension the tracks, you first had to loosen two lug-nuts on the crank and then pound it with a sledge-hammer in order to separate it from the hull. After tensioning the track you again had to use the sledge-hammer to set the crank back in its place. Only then could it be secured in its place. The process required up to three people and an expansive array of indecent expressions. On the T-44, the job could be easily done by one person, without the help of a sledge-hammer.

The rotation of the engine slightly complicated the transmission by introducing an additional reduction gear - gear-train and fan drive. At the same time the accessibility to the engine-transmission bay improved. Its cover now turned along with the radiator and allowed easy access to the engine and its accessories, as well as to all the elements of the transmission and the accumulators. All in all, this was essentially a new machine. My first acquaintance with the tank took place in March 1945 at the Kazan' Senior Officer's Technical Armor School of the Red Army (KVOTBTShKA). The beautiful machine was located in a closed and guarded parking bay. You could only see it through the slits in the garage doors. Its grace and low stance were amazing and unusual for a medium tank. Just as captivating were the two highly raised headlights above the front armor plates, the hull machine gun and the circular array of spokes on the cast road wheels.

A small run of T-44s was produced at the liberated Kharkov factory #75, later named after the people's commissar of wartime tank production Malyshev. However, they did not get to see battle action. Several tank regiments were formed with these machines after the war. A tank, just like any other machine, has to go through rigorous testing. Pre-production units are subjected to factory testing. One of the tests consists of resource assessment. The amalgamation of these tests fully reveals all the traits of a machine. Such tests are essential. The positive characteristics of the new machine are know to the designers even while they are still working behind a draft board. However, whatever weaknesses it may have, appear unexpectedly. Resource tests determine the machine's ability to perform problem-free by subjecting it to a test run, accruing a predetermined number of hours of operation, and conducting a required number of field firings. These tests are long, but they are the only sure way to properly assess the tank's capabilities. In mid-1947, the GBTU (Chief Tank and Armor Directorate) adopted a decision to conduct resource testing of the T-44. Three tanks were set aside for this purpose, each of which had to accumulate 6000 km. The test program required that every 1500 km the vehicles undergo shooting tests, complete disassembly and wear analysis. After reassemble, the machines could proceed with their run. All in all there were 4 stages.

The testing place was chosen to be the research oriented armor proving grounds (NIIBT) of the Red Army - Kubinka station of the Western rail road, unit 68054. All my life I've been grateful for the fact that after the disbanding of the self-propelled SU-76 gun regiment, in which I served as the deputy of battery equipment, I was sent to Kubinka for further service. The staff of the proving grounds consisted of erudite and talented military engineers and tank specialists. The machines there included tanks of almost all epochs and countries. During my service there, through conversations with friends and superiors, and by becoming acquainted with many different examples of military machinery, I enriched my knowledge like I couldn't have done anywhere else.

The production T-44 medium tank.

The department entrusted with conducting the testing was headed by engineer-colonel Karakozov. The group of test drivers was headed by a benevolent engineer-colonel Vasilii Fomich Maksimtsev and engineer-major Timofeev. Commanders of the tanks and technicians-testers were appointed to be captain Borisov, senior lieutenant Kaplinskiy and me - lieutenant Ulanov. My crew consisted of a driver senior sergeant Gorbanets, sergeant Kalistratov and junior sergeant Vedeneev. After 50 years, I still remember them clearly - after all, we spent one and a half years riding together in the same tank. Three vehicles, covered by tarpaulin, arrived on flat cars from Kharkov in July. Having unloaded ours, me and Gorbanets tried it out. There wasn't much room at the unloading station so we couldn't really accelerate the tank. But it was immediately clear: this was no T-34! The smoothness of the ride and acceleration dynamics were significantly better.

Most of the time was spent road-testing the tanks at the track. At that time it was a main road consisting of a 30 km circle, situated slightly to the north of the army town proving grounds. The tanks were delivered to the track on heavy-duty trailers pulled by the mighty three-axle "Diamond" tractors. To provide for enough engagement weight, the bed of the tractor was loaded with 10 tons of pig-irons. The loading tank on slippery ramps, transporting it over deteriorated cobbled roads, crossing four railroad tracks at the Kubinka station - all this was not for the weak of heart. At the site there was a small building with stores of fuel/lubrication materials and a mobile kitchen. In a week's worth of work we could average 100-150 km. The idea was to traverse at least one full lap while it was still light.

The production T-44A armed with the85 mm Tank Gun S-53 on governmental trials. Summer 1944.

The next day the crew serviced the machine and the technicians filled out procedural documents summarizing the testing of the previous day. Each examiner was given a brown notebook with slots for pencils. In addition, each received a small wooden box with two sharpened aluminum containers with screw lids and 10 ceramic retorts. The containers were meant for collecting samples of the motor oil from the engine and transmission lubrication systems, the retorts - for the main wheel bearing lubricant. At the garrison officer's kitchen the technicians could be recognized by their dirty overalls and containers with oil samples. After weighing the machine, the first run was performed on the smaller track on the grounds of the institute.

After a 20-km race the T-44 was weighed again. Its weight increased almost by a ton, even though on the outside it was only covered with some dirt. That's when the hard work began. Having just barely woke up in the morning you had to run past the kitchen, which was still closed, hanging on to the "Belomor" in your teeth (the "Belomorkanal" or simply "Belomor" is a cigarette's brand - Valera), to catch the old "Bedford" truck, which transported the technical examiners to the track. Being late for the truck meant upsetting the day's testing and was unthinkable.

The summer of 1947 was a hungry one in our country due to the drought of the previous year and the extraordinary expenses necessary to restore a war-ravaged country. No less were the resources expended on developing nuclear weapons. We understood everything and tried not to whine. The ration system severely limited the consumption of bread, sugar, and other foods. Officers with families had to share their rations among all the members. Bachelors had it slightly easier. Nevertheless, the feeling of hunger never went away. By the end of the summer, it became a little easier: when we drove away from the base, we deployed a "landing party" in the persona of sergeant Kalistratov, equipped with a bucket, a knife and a bit of salt, obtained by dubious means at the soldier's kitchen. While we conducted our work, traversing the bumpy track, the "landing party" secretly got hold of some potatoes, which he skinned, boiled, and mashed. Having done the lap, we stopped next to the devious Kalistratov, who was peering from the bushes, turned off the engine and started eating away at the much-anticipated meal. Since I didn't have a spoon, Kalistratov carved something resembling one out of wood and gave it to me, laughing.

Another view of the T-44-85. The trials at Kubinka. Summer 1944.

Pretty soon a competition developed between our three crews: who could accrue the most mileage. The first thousand kilometers were relatively trouble-free, but then all sorts of problems began to pop up. Due to a defective guard coupling in the fan drive, a shaft broke on Borisov's tank. On my tank, when I was switching gears, two of them engaged simultaneously, which caused a break of a gear pinion. Kaplinskiy lost his engine. However, in this case, impudence was to blame. Trying to prove that his T-44 is the best and the strongest, he was towing a heavy IS-3 tank, which, in turn, lost its engine.

The track runs were pretty intense. Every day 10 or more machines were accumulating the necessary mileage. After the repair of my machine, which suffered from a broken gear pinion, I took it to the track. Boris Kaplinskiy, whose motorcycle recently broke down, asked me for a ride. Stretching out on the front seat of the "Diamond," he was blissfully warming himself next to the hot engine. I was sitting on the roof top of the cabin, facing rearward. Suddenly, after crossing the railroad at the Kubinka station, the trailer separated from the hitch at 20 km/h. I started pounding on the roof of the passenger compartment. The driver stopped the tractor abruptly. The trailer, coasting down the road, hit out tractor and it bounced off like a ball. Boris Kaplinskiy was thrown to the ground and found himself right in the path of an approaching trailer. Prowling the ground with the tow bar, it was slowly moving right at my friend, who was lying on the ground. The tall and stately Boris took the only reasonable course of action in this situation: on all fours, he quickly started crawling toward the roadside.

The T-44-85. This is the second prototype of the T-44 during trials at Kubinka in the summer 1944.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the spectacle was so amusing that I could not contain my laughter. Everything turned out fine that time. The trailer with the tank safely came to a halt on the side of the road. Winter came and with it - new incidents. Due to an incomplete draining of the cooling system, caused by a water pump system that had been modified to reduce engine height, a small shaft broke after an impeller pump froze over. The repair of the shaft, considering the field conditions, was something of an acrobatic stunt. Two people grabbed a third one by the legs and lowered him, head-down, into the engine bay, where he had to loosen the fastening and remove the broken shaft. Then, he was pulled out and after a short breather, lowered back down to install the new shaft. If he could not complete the job in two attempts, he was repeatedly lowered until the new part was secured.

The packed winter track allowed for greater speeds. This allowed us to accumulate the desired mileage. One time, having returned from the track, I discovered that my cheeks, nose, and ears were frost bitten. During driving, the driver was supposed to be protected from rain and snow by a removable tarp cover with a small glass window. However, this set up was not successful and its use was deemed impractical. My frostbite became known to the local and Moscow authorities. Their reaction was exceptional: in three days all officers of the institute received wool sweaters, fur vests, like the ones given out during the war, new white coats, woolen boots with rubber galoshes for the engineers and padded gray winter shoes for the technicians. In addition, the testers were given padded tank helmets and fur mittens on a leather string. Pretty soon, you could see officers' wives strutting around the town in their husbands' overcoats. Every unfortunate event has its positive sides.

Additional Sources:

armoured.vif2.ru

On This Day In history

Birthdates which occurred on June 21:
1002 Leo IX, [Bruno count of Egesheim and Dagsburg], Pope (1049-54)
1596 Michael Fjodorovitsj, tsar of Russia (1613-45)/1st Romanov
1732 Martha Washington 1st, 1st lady
1774 Daniel D Tompkins (D-R), 6th US vice-president (1817-25)
1817 James Brewerton Ricketts, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1887
1818 Joseph Abel Haskin, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1874
1823 Edward Elmer Potter, Bvt Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1889
1839 John Decatur Barry, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1867
1851 Daniel Carter Beard US, organized 1st boy scout troop
1882 Rockwell Kent artist/painter/illustrator (Canterbury Tales)
1884 Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck (8th Army)
1892 Reinhold Niebuhr US, theologian (Nature & Destiny of Man)
1901 Darkwing104 Lifer Extraordinaire and world famous connoisseur of SOS
"Thanks to modern medical advances such as antibiotics, nasal spray, and Diet Coke, it has become routine for people in the civilized world to pass the age of 40,....sometimes more than once."
1905 Jean-Paul Sartre France, philosopher/writer (Nobel 1964; declined)
1912 Mary McCarthy US, novelist (Group)
1921 Jane Russell Bemidji, MN, actress full-figured gal (The Outlaw)
1922 Judy Holliday NYC, comedienne/actress (Born Yesterday, Adam's Rib)
1925 Maureen Stapleton Troy NY, actress (All in the Family, Coccoon)
1927 Carl Stokes (Cleve-Mayor)
1928 V G Yershov, cosmonaut
1932 Lalo (Boris) Schifrin Buenos Aires Argentina, composer
1932 Ocie Lee "OC" Smith, US jazz singer (Little Green Apples)
1933 Bernie Kopell NYC, actor (Love Boat, Get Smart, That Girl)
1938 Ron Ely Hereford Tx, actor (Tarzan, Doc Savage)
1938 Dan Burton, (Rep-R-IN, 1983- )
1940 Joe Flaherty Pitts Pa, comedian (SCTV, Blue Monday)
1940 Mariette Hartley NYC, actress (Poloroid spokesperson, Marooned)
1944 "Crazy" Ray Davies singer/guitarist (The Kinks-Come Dancing)
1947 Meredith Baxter-Birney Ca, actr (Family Ties, Bridget loves Bernie)
1947 Michael Gross Chicago Ill, actor (Family Ties, Tremors)
1953 Benazir Bhutto 1st female leader of a Moslem nation (Pakistan)
1964 Kari Kennell Colorado Springs Co, playmate (Feb, 1988)
1967 Nicole Kidman, Honolulu Hawaii, actress (Dead Calm, Far and Away)
1982 Prince William of Wales Prince Chuck & Lady Di's baby

Deaths which occurred on June 21:
0524 Chlodomir, king of the Franks (511-24), dies at about 28
1377 Edward III, king of England (1327-77), dies
1527 Niccol Machiavelli, Florentine statesman/author, dies at 57
1876 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Mexican general (took Alamo), dies at 82
1908 Nikolai A Rimski-Korssakov, Russian composer (Sheherazade), dies at 64
1944 Jan Bonekamp, Dutch resistance fighter/friend of Hannie Schaft, dies
1964 Andrew Goodman, US civil rights activist, murdered at 20
1964 James Chaney, US civil rights activist, murdered at 21
1964 Michael Schwerner, US civil rights activist, murder at 21
1965 Bernard M Baruch, pres advisor (termed "Cold War"), dies at 94
1970 Achmed Sukarno, 1st president of Indonesia (1945-67), dies at 68
1992 Li Xiannian, Chinese President (1983-88), dies
1992 Thomas Whitfield, gospel vocalist, dies of heart attack at 38
1994 Mark Robert Isfeld, combat Engineer, dies at 31
2003 Leon Uris (78), author dies "Exodus" (1958) and "Mila 18" (1960).

GWOT Casualties

Iraq
21-Jun-2004 5 | US: 5 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Corporal Tommy L. Parker Jr. Ramadi Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Pedro Contreras Ramadi Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Juan Lopez Ramadi Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Deshon E. Otey Ramadi Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Gregory V. Pennington Baghdad (north-central part) Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack

Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

On this day...
0217BC Battle of Lake Trasimenus Hannibal (Carthage) defeats consul Gaius Flaminicy (Rome)15,000 Romans died as opposed to 1,500 of Hannibal’s men
0524 Battle at Vezerone: Burgundians defeats the Franks
0996 Pope Gregory V crowns Otto III Roman Catholic German emperor of Elzas
1498 Jews are expelled from Nurenberg Bavaria by Emperor Maximillian
1607 1st Protestant Episcopal parish in America established, Jamestown
1633 Galileo Galilei is forced by Inquisition to "abjure, curse, & detest" his Copernican heliocentric views
1684 MA Bay Colony's charter revoked
1768 1st US bachelor of medicine degree (Dr John Archer)

1788 US Constitution goes into effect as NH is 9th to ratify

1805 Great Stoneface Mt found in NH
1821 African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church organizes (NYC)
1834 Cyrus Hall McCormick patents reaping machine

1854 The first Victoria Cross was awarded to Charles Lucas, an Irishman and mate aboard the HMS Hecla for conspicuous gallantry at Bomarsrund in the Baltic. The medal was made from metal from a cannon captured at Sebastopol.

1862 Battle of Chickahominy Creek (Peninsular Campaign)
1863 Battle at Upperville Virginia, 389 casualities
1879 F W Woolworth opens 1st store (failed almost immediately)
1887 Britain celebrates golden jubilee of Queen Victoria
1893 1st Ferris wheel premieres (Chicago's Columbian Exposition)
1894 Workers in Pittsburgh strike Pullman sleeping car company
1903 Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of The Mazarine Stone" takes place (BG)
1904 Boston Herald tells of Red Sox trade "Dougherty as a Yankee," 1st known reference to NY club as Yankees (became Yankees in 1913)
1913 GEORGIA "tiny" Broadwick becomes 1st woman to parachute from an airplane
1919 Germans scuttle their own fleet
1921 U.S. Army Air Service pilots bombs and sinks the captured German battleship Ostfriesland
1923 Marcus Garvey sentenced to 5 years for using the mail to defraud
1930 Ruth hits 3 HRs as Yanks blow 6-0 lead in 7th & lose 15-7
1933 1st Great Lakes-to-Gulf of Mexico barge trip completed, New Orleans
1939 Doctors reveal Lou Gehrig has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
1942 129ø F (54ø C), Tirat Zevi, Israel (Asian record)
1942 Rommel takes Tobruk in North Africa
1943 Federal troops put down racial riot in Detroit 30 dead
1945 USS Laffey survived horrific damage from attacks by 22 Japanese aircraft off Okinawa

1945 Japanese forces on Okinawa surrender to US during WW II

1946 Bill Veeck buys Indians for $2.2 million
1948 1st stored computer program run, on Manchester Mark I
1948 Dr Peter Goldmark of CBS demonstrates "long playing record" Columbia commits to 33 1/3 rpm records, plans to phase out 78's
1949 H L Giclas discovers asteroid #1886 Lowell
1962 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 75,190 m
1963 Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) succeeds John XXIII
1964 3 civil rights workers-Michael H Schwerner Andrew Goodman & James E Chaney-disappeared after release from a Mississippi jail
1964 Byron de la Beckwith arrested for murder of Medger Evers, found guilty 30 yr later
1968 Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren resigns
1969 Zager & Evans release "In the Year 2525"
1971 50,000 attend Celebration of Life, rock concert, McCrea Louisana
1975 Soyuz 19 returns to Earth
1977 Former White House chief of staff HR Haldeman enters prison
1977 Menachem Begin (Likud), becomes Israel's 6th PM
1981 12-bottle case of 1979 Napamedoc Cabernet wine auctioned for $24,000
1982 Wash DC jury finds John Hinckley Jr innocent by insanity
1984 The United States reported that an explosion in mid-May at a Soviet navy supply depot 900 miles north of Moscow had apparently killed more than 200 people
1985 American, Brazilian & West German forensic pathologists confirm skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were Nazi Dr Josef Mengele
1987 Mike Tyson sexually harasses a parking lot attendent

1989 Supreme Court rules ok to burn US flag as a political expression (Do I have the right to introduce them to my friend Mr. Stick?)

1990 25,000 die in Iranian Earthquake
1990 Little Richard gets a star on Hollywood's walk of fame
1990 NYC's Zodiac killer shoots 4th victim, Larry Parham
1990 US House of Reps vote 254-177 to stop US flag burning, doesn't pass.
1991 Islanders Denis Potvan & Michael Bossy inducted into NHL Hall of Fame
1996 Khmer Rouge guerrillas hold dozens of sawmill workers for ransom and kill 14 of them with axes
2000 55 years after World War Two ended, 22 Asian-American veterans received the Medal of Honor for bravery on the battlefield during a White House ceremony
2001 A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., indicted 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.
2002 Scientist reported that an asteroid (2002 MN) the size of a soccer field whizzed by Earth on June 14 at a distance of 75,000 miles.

2004 SpaceShipOne lifts off from the Mojave Desert, reached 62.21 miles piloted by Michael Melvill

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Hong Kong, Taiwan : Dragon Boat Festival
New Hampshire : Ratification Day (1788)
Newfoundland : Discovery Day (1497-John Cabot) (Monday)
National Sheriff's Week Begins

US : Summertime! ("A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing,....and the lawn mower is broken."
~James Dent)

Flag Burning Day/Punch a Flag Burner Out Day
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month

Religious Observances
Christian-Colombia : Sacred Heart Day [moveable feast]
RC : Memorial of St Aloysius Gonzaga, religious, patron of youth
Luth : Commem of Onesimos Nesib, translator/evangelist

Religious History
1639 Birth of Increase Mather, early American theologian. He published nearly 100 books, and is credited with helping end executions for witchcraft in colonial America.
1821 Birth of Henry W. Baker, compiler of 'Hymns Ancient and Modern' Ä the unofficial Anglican church hymnal. He also authored the hymn based on Psalm 23: 'The King of Love My Shepherd Is.'
1821 The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church was formally constituted in New York City. Nineteen clergymen were present, representing six African-American churches from New York City; Philadelphia; New Haven, CT and Newark, NJ.
1963 In Rome, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected Pope Paul VI, the 261st pontiff of the Catholic Church.
1968 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'Faith in God's revelation has nothing to do with an ideology which glorifies the status quo.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Bank Robber Signs Name To Hold-Up Note

(AP) Winona, Minn. A Winona man is in jail today after allegedly leaving a signed note that he planned on robbing a bank with a teller before walking out the door.

Thomas Mason is being held on aggravated robbery and terroristic threat charges.

Police said a man walked into the bank on Saturday morning and handed the teller a note. In it he threatened to return with a weapon and kill everyone in the bank if he did not receive $1,000.

The note was signed Thomas Mason.

Police said bank employees then watched Mason leave and cross the street to a grocery store. Officers arrived and arrested Mason while he was drinking beer and scratching lottery tickets in a nearby alley.

(anyone think that alcohol and/or drugs were involved somewhere along the line?)

Thought for the day :
"Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary."