F-34 tank gun

F-34 tank gun

The F-34 76.2-millimetre calibre gun was a Soviet rifled tank gun used on the T-34 and KV-1 tanks during World War II. The "ZiS-5" was a version of this gun modified specifically for the KV-1 heavy tank.

The F-34 was designed before the start of World War II by P. Muraviev of Vasiliy Grabin's design bureau at Factory No. 92 in Gorky. The gun was superior to the older F-32 and the Leningrad Kirov Factory's L-11 76.2mm guns, but the latter had already been approved for the new T-34 medium tank. The initial T-34 Model 1940 with its inferior armament was in production when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The F-34 was ready for production, but Marshal Grigory Kulik's high-handed interference with tank appropriation had made the relevant bureaucrats too frightened to approve the better gun.

Grabin and the director of the Kharkov Locomotive Factory (KhPZ), the centre of T-34 production, conspired to produce the F-34 anyway, and began to install the gun on new tanks. The new T-34 Model 1941 tanks issued mostly to company and platoon commanders were immensely popular with their crews. Letters from tank units reached Stalin's State Defence Committee (GKO), which officially authorized production.

Also due to Kulik's meddling, the KV-1 heavy tank model 1940 had ended up mounting Grabin's older F-32 gun, more poorly-armed than the T-34 medium tank. Chief Designer of Tanks Joseph Kotin convinced the GKO to allow the use of the F-34 gun on the KV-1 heavy tank Model 1941. The ZiS-5 was a version of the gun designed to better fit the KV-1's turret.

In 1943, the long-range firepower of the new German Tiger and Panther tanks had rendered the F-34 gun obsolete, and experiments were conducted to find a replacement. The better-penetrating 57 mm ZiS-2 high velocity antitank gun was installed on some T-34/57 tanks, but the smaller-bored gun couldn't fire an adequate high explosive round for general use. A more heavily-armoured T-34 prototype was built, the T-43, but it was still vulnerable to the Tiger's 88, and its mobility suffered too much from the weight of armour.

In the end, the F-34 was replaced by the D-5T and ZiS-S-53 85 mm calibre guns on the T-34-85 tank, and by 122 and 152 mm guns in new IS-2 heavy tanks and tank destroyers.

Some F-34 guns were also installed in Lend-Lease M4A2 Sherman tanks, known as the M4M, but there was no need for this conversion as U.S. 75 mm ammunition was in good supply .

Comparison of guns

The L-11 gun was mounted on the initial T-34 Model 1940 medium tank, and KV-1 Model 1939 heavy tank. The F-32 was on the KV-1 Model 1940. Subsequent models of both tanks mounted the F-34, until they were replaced by the T-34-85 medium tank and IS-2 heavy tank.

References

*
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tank gun — A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are large caliber high velocity guns, capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high explosive anti tank rounds, and in some cases guided missiles. OverviewTank guns are a specific… …   Wikipedia

  • tank gun — tanko patranka statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Patranka, įrengta tanke; pagrindinis tanko ginklas. Šiuolaikiniuose tankuose naudojamos 90–120 mm lygiavamzdės arba graižtvinės patrankos. Kai kuriuose tankuose tanko patranka gali ne tik šaudyti …   Artilerijos terminų žodynas

  • D-10 tank gun — D 10S gun on an SU 100 tank destroyer Type rifled antitank gun Place of origin Sovi …   Wikipedia

  • Sprut anti-tank gun — 2A45 Sprut A , 2A45M Sprut B and 2S25 Sprut SD (NATO classification Squid ) are the designations of the Soviet Smoothbore 125 mm anti tank gun. DevelopmentThe 2A45M was created in the late 1980s at the Petrov Design Bureau at Artillery Plant… …   Wikipedia

  • tank gun — /ˈtæŋk gʌn/ (say tangk gun) noun a gun mounted on a tank, usually with high explosive and anti tank capacity …  

  • 57 mm anti-tank gun M1943 (ZiS-2) — Infobox Weapon name=57 mm anti tank gun model 1943 (ZiS 2) caption=ZiS 2 in the Kremlin of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. origin=USSR type=anti tank gun is ranged= is bladed= is explosive= is artillery=yes is vehicle= is UK= service= used by= wars=WWII …   Wikipedia

  • 37 mm anti-tank gun M1930 (1-K) — Infobox Weapon name=37 mm anti tank gun model 1930 (1 K) caption= origin=USSR type=anti tank gun is ranged= is bladed= is explosive= is artillery=yes is vehicle= is UK= service= used by= wars= designer= design date= manufacturer= production… …   Wikipedia

  • Type 1 47 mm Anti-Tank Gun — Infobox Weapon name=Type 1 47 mm anti tank gun caption=Type 1 47 mm anti tank gun at the U.S. Army Museum in Honolulu, HI. origin=flag|Empire of Japan type=Anti tank gun is ranged=1 service=1942 1945 used by= wars=Second World War designer=… …   Wikipedia

  • 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K) — Infobox Weapon name=45 mm anti tank gun model 1937 (53 K) caption=45 mm anti tank gun M1937, displayed in Finnish Tank Museum in Parola. origin=USSR type=anti tank gun is ranged= is bladed= is explosive= is artillery=yes is vehicle= is UK=… …   Wikipedia

  • Type 1 37 mm Anti-Tank Gun — Infobox Weapon name=Type 1 37 mm anti tank gun caption= Type 1 37 mm anti tank gun origin=Flag|Empire of Japan type=Anti tank gun is ranged=yes is artillery=yes service=1941 1945 used by= wars=World War II designer= design date=1941 manufacturer …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”