Armored train of the Great Patriotic War (photo). Engineers of armored trains during the Great Patriotic War

The tradition to use armored mobile train trains in the USSR goes back to the Civil War. In those days, they were used for combat support of military formations and in separate tactical independent operations. At the same time armored trains valued the speed of movement and mobility, firepower and strong armor. Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War were often used as traction force for transportation of trains with important cargoes.

In the fall of 1920, there were more than 100 armored trains in the Bolshevik army. But by 1924 their number was much less, since the military artillery department, on whose balance the trains were transferred, did not consider them to be an effective weapon and treated as ordinary weapons on platforms.

Armored train in WWII

Armored trains in the Great Patriotic War were completed in divisional units. For example, the armored trains "Kuzma Minin" and "Ilya Muromets" were part of the 31st independent Gorky Division armored trains. Also included in the composition of the engine were a Black C-179 locomotive, an armored BD-39 railcar, a pair of armored vehicles BA-20, three motorcycles and a dozen cars and a landing and mortar company. In total, there were about 340 people in the division.

Armored trains during the Great Patriotic War were used from the very beginning to the Victory. In addition to supporting infantry units that fought along the railway line, they defeated the enemy at railway stations, guarded the coast and conducted counterbattery fire against enemy artillery.

These trains were so successfully used in the initial months of the war that their production was started in several cities at once. The structures of armored trains were very different. This depended on the capacity of the construction enterprise manufacturing this military transport, from the availability of armored steel and a set of weapons. By the beginning of the war, the bulk of the trains had been produced by the Bryansk Railway Plant. At this plant, not only artillery armored railway platforms, but also trains equipped with anti-aircraft defense equipment were manufactured.

Anti-aircraft air defense armored vehicles in the Great Patriotic War made a significant contribution to the protection of railway stations from the attacks of enemy aircraft, knocking them off with various anti-aircraft guns and machine guns ДШК.

Armored train of the Great Patriotic War. How much was made?

On June 22, 1941, the Russian army numbered 34 light and 19 heavy armored trains, which had 53 armored locomotives, more than 100 artillery sites, about 30 air defense platforms and 160 armored vehicles intended for movement along railroad tracks. Also, there were nine armored vehicles and several armored motor cars.

In addition to the army, armored trains were owned by NKVD troops. In their submission were 23 armored trains, 32 gun platforms, 7 armored cars and more than 30 armored cars.

The main armored trains of the Red Army

The most famous type of armored train in the years of the Great Patriotic War was the armored train BP-43, designed in 1942.

The train consisted of an armored steam engine, the PR-43, which was located in the middle of the formation, two artillery sites in the head of the armored train and the same number at the end, two anti-aircraft platforms and 2-3 platforms carrying ammunition, repair materials for the train and railroad tracks. Also, the armored train had a pair of armored cars BA-20 or BA-64, adapted to move along the iron tracks.

For the army, 21 armored trains of this type were made and almost the same for the NKVD.

Technical data of armored vehicles

Armored trains of the Great Patriotic War, "heavy" models, equipped with 107-mm guns, which could be beaten at a distance of up to 15 kilometers. Armored sheets, up to 10 cm thick, provided protection against the entry of artillery shells, whose caliber reached 75 mm.

One refueling of water, fuel oil and coal was sufficient for an armored train to travel about 45 miles per hour on the order of 120 kilometers. One refueling is 10 tons of coal and 6 tons of fuel oil. The equipped weight of the armored train reached 400 tons.

The combat command consisted of: a command, a platoon of command, two platoons of artillery turret guns and side machine gun crews, a squad of anti-aircraft gunners, a detachment responsible for the movement and draft of an armored train, and a platoon of armored vehicles, which had 2-5 vehicles moving along rails .

Armored train of the Great Patriotic War. German models

Before Operation Barbarossa, the German command was planning to introduce several armored trains adapted to the Russian railway track. They were few, the General Staff of the Land Forces of Germany, they played an insignificant role in the conduct of hostilities. For example, until 1942, they guarded the rear lines of the guerrilla from the rear. And much later, after studying successful tactics of using such mechanisms by Soviet troops, the Germans began using armored trains in combat battles.

In all, the German army on the Eastern Front had about 12 armored trains and a couple dozens of armored cars. There were cases when the Germans used Soviet trophy trains.

Equipping German armored vehicles

German armored trains Nos. 26-28 possessed three tank or artillery platforms and two infantry wagons, Nos. 29-31 had two tank platforms and one infantry platform. From the end of 1943, armored trains began to cling to a platform with an air defense system. The locomotives of such convoys had only an armored cabin.

As the fighting showed, the German armored trains were not only technically backward and primitive, but their firepower was very weak. Therefore, the command of German troops kept them in the rear to fight guerrilla formations.

The historical fact of the duel between the Soviet and German armored trains

The fighting power of the Soviet armored trains seriously helped the army in its victory over Hitler's Germany. However, the mechanism itself, no matter how high the technological level it occupies, can do nothing without the team that manages it. So, the armored train drivers during the Great Patriotic War also contributed to the overall victory. To prove this it is enough to recall one episode from the war.

In 1944, under Kovel in Ukraine, two armored trains met: the Soviet "Ilya Muromets" and the German "Adolf Hitler". Engineers of the Russian armored train, skillfully using the folds of the terrain, were able to deliver the train so that the Germans did not see it and shot at random. At the same time, our artillery German train saw quite well. After a brief artduel, the German armored train was destroyed, which at that time was very symbolic and predicted the imminent death of all fascists. Our squad has not received a single hit. This was due to the skilful actions of the armored train drivers. After all, military science knows that brute force does not guarantee victory in the battle. It is still necessary maneuverability and skill in conducting combat operations.

Armored Trains and the Battle of Stalingrad

In the spring of 1942, the German army came very close to the Volga River and the city of Stalingrad. All possible forces were thrown at his defense. In the defense of Stalingrad armored trains of the great domestic play a very noticeable role.

One of the very first armored convoys arriving to the city was the NKVD armored train under No. 73. Throughout September he did not quit fighting. The Germans tried to destroy it with aircraft, artillery and mortars, four platforms were broken, but the armored train survived and could not only fight back, but also deal a powerful retaliatory strike against the enemy forces.

On September 14, on enemy armor, located near the Mamayev Kurgan, enemy planes flew in, about 40 of them. Due to the bombing on the platform with ammunition, a powerful explosion occurred that destroyed most of the armored train. The surviving team removed all available weapons from the train and went to the river. A little later another armored train with the same number appeared on the front - former soldiers of the 73rd armored train created it in Perm. They also became his new crew.

On August 5, the armored train No. 677 also arrived at the Stalingrad Front, which was reassigned to the 64th Army. He was holding a railway crossing near the village of Plodovitoe. At this point, the "steel fortress" was able to repel numerous German tank attacks. Thanks to him, the item "47th kilometer" remained behind the Russian troops. A little later, supporting the counterattack of the 38th Streltsy Division, the armored train was under the fire of bombers, who showered him with incendiary bombs. He had to retreat after the battle to the rear for repairs, as he received more than 600 holes and dents.

Also in the Battle of Stalingrad took part armored trains number 1, 708, 40th division and the famous "steel fortress" "Kirov".

Famous Soviet armored trains to BOC

During the first years of the war, the Germans were amazed at the power and design of our armored trains. They did not believe that the Russians built them for a long time. We thought that the trains were brought from America. But in fact, all the armored trains in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were built in the Soviet Union. By the time of the invasion of the Germans, the history of the creation of mobile "fortresses" in the Union has been counted for several decades. In the Civil War armored trains were actively used by different parties. Their maneuverability, protection and armament were constantly improving. Therefore, the Hitlerites were surprised at the skilful use of this type of weapons in battles with them.

We will mention the most famous armored trains during the Second World War.

Armored train "Kuzma Minin"

This armored train was the most successful construction. Built it in the winter of 1942 in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod).

The armored train consisted of: a steam locomotive armored with sheets, two artillery platforms, two covered platforms, armed with two tank 76-mm cannons and coupled with them machine guns. Also in front and behind the armored train were mounted anti-aircraft platforms, and in the center - the site with the launch reactive installation M-8. The thickness of the front armor was 45 mm, and the top - 20 mm.

The guns of the train could fire at a range of up to 12 km, destroying enemy equipment, and the machine guns and launcher struck the enemy's living force.

The power of the armored train of the Great Patriotic War, the photo of which is located below, is amazing. It really is a "steel fortress on rails"

Armored train "Ilya Muromets"

They built the Ilya of Murom in 1942 in the city of Murom. The protection was 45 mm sheets. During the entire period of the war, he did not receive a single serious injury. His military route passed through all strategically important points of the BOC and ended in Frankfurt-on-Odra. On the account of this armored train of the Great Patriotic War there are 7 enemy aircraft, 14 artillery and mortar batteries, more than 35 strong points, and about 1,000 German soldiers and officers.

For the courage and combat merit of the armored train "Ilya Muromets" and "Kuzma Minin", which were part of the 31st separate unit, were awarded the Order of A. Nevsky. In 1971, "Ilya Muromets" in Murom was installed on a lifetime parking lot.

Other armored trains in the Soviet Army

The above combat train was not the only one of its kind. History is also known for other armored formations, which played an important role in the Second World War. This applies to the armored train "Baltiets", built at the Izhora plant. He had 6 tank guns, 2 120-mm mortar and 16 machine guns. He actively participated in the defense of Leningrad, covering the approaches to the city with just 15 firing points.

Also during the battle of Leningrad, the armored train "Narodny Avenger", built in the same city, distinguished itself. On its armament there were two air defense cannons and two tank guns, and another 12 "Maxim" machine guns.

Armored convoys after the war

The armored trains of the Great Patriotic War, the photos of which are presented in this article, are the heroes of their time. They made a huge contribution to the victory of our people over fascist Germany. However, by the end of the war it became clear that improved artillery could now destroy such mechanisms as light armored vehicles. In addition, the doctrine of modern warfare meant greater maneuverability and tactical mobility of military formations, and armored trains are strongly tied to railroads, which seriously reduces their mobility.

At the same pace as artillery, aviation was developed, for which the destruction of the armored train did not become something complicated, and anti-aircraft guns of armored personnel could no longer provide reliable protection. Until 1958, somehow, the development and design of such mechanisms continued. But then they were removed from the armament.

Meanwhile, the experience and knowledge of how to mount combat weapons on trains did not go into oblivion. At the end of the 1980s, the BZHRK (missile system on the railway platform) was on alert duty to protect the integrity of the state. In appearance, they do not differ from civilian trains, but inside they have systems for launching strategic missiles. Some of them had nuclear warheads.

So "grandchildren" continued the glorious work of their "grandfathers" for the protection of our Motherland.