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:
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