German trains of World War II. History of the armored train

Over the years civil war The Red Army has accumulated vast experience in the use of armored rolling stocks-armored trains. They were used both for fire support of troops and for conducting independent, sometimes very daring, combat operations in the zone railway. At the same time, such qualities of armored trains as speed of movement and maneuverability, firepower, powerful armor protection and the possibility of using an armored train as a traction force for transporting 15 wagons with cargo of particular importance were widely used. In October 1920, the armored forces of the Red Army had 103 armored trains.

At the end of the Civil War, the number of armored trains was sharply reduced, and their transfer at the end of 1923 to the Main Artillery Directorate did not contribute to further improvement, since this department considered armored trains only as artillery on railway platforms.

During the Great Patriotic War, armored trains usually operated as part of divisions. For example, the Kozma Minin armored train, along with the Ilya Muromets armored train of the same type, was part of the 31st Separate Special Gorky Armored Train Division. To ensure combat activities, the division was given a black S-179 steam locomotive, a BD-39 armored rubber, two BA-20 armored vehicles, three motorcycles and ten vehicles. The personnel of the division, together with the attached airborne mortar company, amounted to 335 people.

Armored trains were used by the Red Army throughout World War II and the Great Patriotic War. In addition to support rifle units, operating in the railway zone, they were used to defeat enemy troops in the area of ​​​​important railway stations, to protect the coast and fight artillery. Exclusively important role anti-aircraft armored trains armed with 25-mm and 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine guns DShK played in protecting railway stations from enemy air strikes.

The successful use of armored trains in the first months of the war contributed to the deployment of their construction in the car depots of a number of cities. At the same time, the design and armament of armored trains was largely an improvisation and depended on the availability of armored steel, weapons and technological capabilities of the depot. A significant part of the armored trains that were in service with the Red Army by the beginning of World War II was manufactured at the Bryansk base of armored trains.

As of June 22, 1941, the Red Army had 53 armored trains (of which 34 were light), which included 53 armored locomotives, 106 artillery armored vehicles, 28 air defense armored vehicles and more than 160 armored vehicles adapted for movement by rail. There were also 9 armored tires and several motorized armored cars. In addition to the Red Army, the operational troops of the NKVD also had armored trains. They had 25 armored locomotives, 32 artillery armored platforms, 36 motorized armored cars and 7 armored vehicles.

The most common type of armored trains in the second half of World War II was the so-called armored train of the 1943 model, the BP-43, developed in 1942.

As a rule, the BP-43 armored train consisted of the PR-43 armored locomotive located in the middle of the train, 4 PL-43 artillery armored platforms (2 armored platforms on both sides of the armored locomotive), 2 armored platforms with PVO-4 anti-aircraft weapons (at both ends of the armored train) and 2 - 4 control platforms, on which the materials necessary for the repair of the railway track were transported. Typically, an armored train included 1 - 2 armored vehicles BA-20 or BA-64, adapted for movement by rail.

During the war years, 21 BP-43 armored trains were manufactured for the Red Army. A significant number of armored trains of this type were also received by the NKVD troops.

"Heavy" armored trains were armed with 107-mm cannons with a firing range of up to 15 km. Reservation (up to 100 mm) provided protection of vital nodes from armor-piercing shells caliber 75 mm.

At one refueling with fuel and water, an armored train could overcome up to 120 km from maximum speed 45 km/h. Coal (10 tons) or fuel oil (6 tons) was used as fuel. The mass of the warhead of the armored train did not exceed 400 tons.

The crew of the combat unit consisted of a command, a control platoon, platoons of armored cars with turret crews and squads of onboard machine guns, an air defense platoon, a platoon of thrust and movement and a platoon of railway armored vehicles, which had 2 light armored vehicles BA-20zhd and 3 medium armored vehicles BA-10zhd, adapted for rail traffic. They were used for reconnaissance at a distance of 10-15 km and as part of guards (patrol) on the march. In addition, an assault force consisting of up to three rifle platoons could be located on the cover platforms.

Armored train of the times of the Second World War "Kozma Minin"

The Kozma Minin armored train, built in February 1942 in the carriage depot of the city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), had the most successful design.

The combat part of this armored train included: an armored locomotive, 2 covered armored platforms, 2 open artillery armored platforms and 4 two-axle control platforms. Each covered armored platform was armed with two 76.2 mm cannons mounted in turrets from T-34 tanks. In addition to the 7.62-mm DT machine guns paired with these guns, the armored platforms had four 7.62-mm Maxim heavy machine guns in ball bearings in the sides. Open artillery sites were divided along the length into three compartments. 37-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed in the front and rear compartments, and the M-8 rocket launcher was located in the central compartment. The thickness of the side armor of the armored platforms was 45 mm, the covered armored platforms had an upper armor 20 mm thick. Protected by armor 30-45 mm thick, the armored locomotive was used as traction only in combat conditions. In the campaign and on maneuvers, an ordinary steam locomotive was used. At the tender of the armored locomotive, a commander's cabin was equipped, connected to the driver's booth with an armored door. From this cabin, the commander of the armored train controlled the actions of the armored sites using telephone communications. For external communication he had a radio station long range RSM. Thanks to the presence of four long-barreled 76.2 mm F-32 guns, the armored train could provide high concentration artillery fire and conduct aimed fire at a distance of up to 12 km, and the M-8 launchers allowed him to successfully hit manpower and enemy equipment.

Armored train of World War II "Ilya Muromets"

The armored train "Ilya Muromets" was built in 1942 in Murom. It was protected by armor 45 mm thick and did not receive a single hole during the entire war. The armored train went from Murom to Frankfurt an der Oder. During the war, he destroyed 7 aircraft, 14 guns and mortar batteries, 36 enemy firing points, 875 soldiers and officers. For military merit, the 31st separate special Gorky armored train division, which included the Ilya Muromets and Kozma Minin armored trains, was awarded the order Alexander Nevsky. In 1971, the Ilya Muromets armored steam locomotive was put into permanent parking in Murom.

Armored trains of the Tomsk railway

In early December 1941, on the instructions of the State Defense Committee, the formation of three divisions of armored trains began on the Tomsk Railway. The depot workers built 11 armored trains: "Railwayman of Kuzbass", "Soviet Siberia", "Victory", "Luninets" (named after the driver Nikolai Alexandrovich Lunin) and others.

In the July days of 1942, on the Yelets - Kastornaya section, the armored train No. 704 "Luninets" took the first battle. The commander of the armored train was faced with the task of landing infantry troops in the rear of the Nazis in the area of ​​the Terbuny station with an important strategic height and supporting it with fire. The Nazis, who did not expect a swift throw to their rear, left the height. The armored train was attacked by 11 fascist planes. Anti-aircraft gunners steadfastly defended the steel fortress. During the reflection of the raid, 2 bombers were shot down.

On September 8, 1942, an armored train was taking on water at the station when 18 German planes flew in. Ahead bombs destroyed the path. The machinist P. A. Khursik with sixteen workers restored the track. At the reverse at that time was the driver M.F. Shchipachev. Maneuvering on a small section of the surviving track, he saved the train from Nazi bombs.

On April 27, 1943, armored trains No. 663 "Altai Railwayman" and No. 704 "Luninets" of the 49th separate division were transferred to the defense sector of the 13th Army of the Central Front on April 27, 1943. On July 6, 1943, in the Ponyri area, armored trains of the 49th division entered the battle, supporting the regiments of the 81st and 307th rifle divisions. With active fire support from the armored trains "Luninets" and "Railwayman of Altai", the army formations managed to stop the enemy's desperate offensive. The Nazi command developed a special operation to destroy armored trains, in which aviation played the main role. When the "Luninets" and "Railwayman of Altai" reached the chosen positions for the next fire strike on the enemy, 36 enemy aircraft appeared above the armored trains. They managed to break the tracks, depriving the armored train "Railwayman of Altai" of the possibility of retreat. But the crews of the steel fortresses fired from all anti-aircraft weapons. The Nazis lost several planes. Crews of armored trains and railroad workers worked all night. They raised armored platforms, laid rails. In the morning, the 49th ODBP again went on a combat mission.

On July 9, 1943, the Luninets armored train again opened fire on the enemy. On the southwestern outskirts of the Ponyri village, near the station, he repelled dozens of Nazi attacks. Together with the soldiers of the 4th Guards Airborne Division, the crew of the armored train carried out the order of the commander of the Central Front, General of the Army K.K. Rokossovsky: "Don't give up divers!" The crew of the armored train did not leave the battle for a day. Commander of the armored forces of the 13th Army, General M.A. Korolev through the commander of the armored train, Captain B.V. Shelokhov declared gratitude to all personnel. During the fighting in the Ponyri area, the soldiers of the 49th division destroyed more than 800 fascist soldiers and officers.

After the rout Hitler's armies on the Kursk Bulge the combat path of the armored train lay on Ukraine. On February 13, 1944, the 49th ODBP under the command of Captain D.M. Shevchenko was awarded the honorary title "Shepetovsky" by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In the battles for Shepetovka, the crews of armored trains made 56 fire raids, repelled 15 enemy attacks. Armored trains participated in the liberation of Czestochowa, Piotrkow, Radom. The division finished its combat path in Lower Silesia, in the city of Oppeln.

Armored train "Baltiets"

On July 3, 1941, at a meeting in the Leningrad-Baltic Electric Depot, it was decided to build an armored train on their own, using the Op-7599 steam locomotive and 2 four-axle platforms with a carrying capacity of 60 tons. Rolled steel for the lining of the locomotive was supplied by the Izhora plant.

The armored train was armed with six 76-mm guns, two 120-mm mortars and 16 machine guns, including 4 large-caliber ones. The name of the armored train - "Baltiets" - was given by the workers themselves. The armored train team was formed from volunteer railroad workers of the electric depot and regular artillerymen.

Since the autumn of 1941, the armored train "Baltiets" has been defending the borders of Leningrad. He could fire from fifteen firing positions in various sectors of the front: from the position of Myaglovo-Gora - at Mge; from Coal Harbor - along Sosnovaya Polyana and Strelna; from Predportovaya - along Uritsk, Krasnoye Selo, Voronya Gora; from the positions of Levashovo, Beloostrov, Oselki, Vaskelovo - to the area beyond Lembolovo - Orekhovo.

Armored train "People's Avenger"

The armored train "People's Avenger" was built by the railroad workers of the Leningrad-Warsaw junction. The armament of the armored train consisted of two 76-mm anti-aircraft guns, two 76-mm tank guns, and 12 Maxim machine guns.

The combat path "People's Avenger" began on November 7, 1941. At the Varshavsky railway station, during a rally, the railroad workers presented the team of the armored train, which consisted of 85% of volunteer railroad workers, with a red flag. During its service, the armored train participated in many operations to defend Leningrad, smashed the enemy in the areas of Pushkin, Aleksandrovka, Uritsk, Pavlovsk.

Armored trains in the Battle of Stalingrad

In August 1942, when the Nazis came close to Stalingrad, armored trains were called upon to play an important role in the defense of the city.

Among the first armored trains that arrived near Stalingrad was the armored train No. 73 of the NKVD troops. In September 1942, the armored train did not leave the battlefield. September 2 from the headquarters of the 10th rifle division NKVD troops were warned that a large group of tanks was moving towards the Sadovaya station. The armored train met them fully armed. In retaliation, the enemy brought down aircraft on the train, began to pursue it with artillery and mortar fire. All four control platforms and the BA-20 armored car burned down. But on the very next day, the armored train made a sudden attack on the concentration of invaders northwest of Sadovaya station. Three tanks were destroyed, infantry scattered. By evening, the crew made two more fire raids in the area of ​​Opytnaya station.

September 14 turned out to be the last day in the combat fate of the armored train No. 73. At six in the morning, 40 enemy planes flew in. Due to direct hits on the armored vehicles, their own ammunition exploded. Clouds of smoke clouded the armored train. The crew removed the surviving weapons and went down to the Volga. The mutilated skeleton of the armored train No. 73 remained lying at the foot of Mamaev Kurgan. But soon under the same number went to the front new fortress on wheels. It was created in Perm by former fighters of the armored train No. 73. They also made up a new crew.

Armored trains of the 28th division were sent to the Stalingrad front. At the Archeda station on July 23, fascist planes bombed our military trains three times. Armored train No. 677 received its baptism of fire here: it fired from anti-aircraft guns, repelling an air attack. As a result of the raid, the station and the railway track were destroyed. The path was restored by the forces of the soldiers of the armored train and railway workers. On July 25, the 677th was allocated the combat sector Kalach-on-Don - Krivomuzginekaya - Karpovskaya - Stalingrad. The task was set - to support our troops with fire from cannons and machine guns, to prevent the Nazis from breaking through the Don, to fight enemy landings.

On August 5, armored train No. 677 was transferred to the 64th Army in the Abganerovo-Plodovitoe area. German tanks broke through into the depths of our defenses, but were immediately thrown back. The 47th kilometer siding passed from hand to hand several times. The steel fortress destroyed bunkers, suppressed mortar and artillery batteries.

On August 9, the troops of the Stalingrad Front launched a counterattack on the enemy grouping that had broken through. On this day, armored train No. 677 accompanied the offensive of the 38th Infantry Division together with the 133rd Tank Brigade with gun fire. During the day, the crew repelled eleven air attacks, restoring the railroad track, pitted with deep craters from aerial bombs. By evening, the armored train went beyond the output semaphore of Tinguta station. Having reached the firing line, he fell upon the enemy with all the power of fire. Nazi bombers bombarded him with high-explosive and incendiary bombs. The armored train received over six hundred dents and holes from fragments of aerial bombs.

In September 1942, there was an armored train No. 708 on the Stalingrad-Sarepta section. The trackmen of the Beketovskaya station served the 11-kilometer section along which this armored train went on combat missions. The site was shelled and bombed daily by the Nazis. Only for three kilometers there were about 150 damage to the rails, not counting the destruction of the embankment, sleepers, fasteners. To fix all this, the railroad workers had to work mostly at night.

In September 1942, the armored train No. 1 of the 59th separate division received an order to depart for Stalingrad, to the Arched - Ilovlya - Kotluban section. Near Stalingrad, the division was subordinated to the 22nd mechanized brigade of the 4th tank army. The task of the division was to prevent the crossing of German troops across the Don River near the mouth of the Ilovlya River, to cover the Ilovlya station from German air raids, and to ensure the safety of the bridge across the river.

On September 15, train No. 1 arrived at the Log station, and then to Ilovlya, where later its main parking was, which was bombed daily. Repeatedly, at night, train No. 1 left Ilovlya, went to the Tishkino junction (closer to Stalingrad), from where it fired at German positions on the right bank of the Don River.

The 40th separate division operating north of Stalingrad controlled the Ilovlya-Kotluban section. It included the Kirov armored train, built in Omsk, and the Severokazakhstanets, which emerged from the walls of the Petropavlovsk depot. In this sector, the enemy captured the dominant heights and kept under control all the echelons advancing nearby. Armored trains alternately went to convenient positions for fire raids on the enemy. August 23 at dawn, "Kirov" went to fire direct fire in height. An artillery duel ensued, three enemy guns were put out of action, but the armored train also received considerable damage.

On the Ilovlya-Kotluban section, when the invaders went on the offensive, the armored trains repulsed the attacks of tanks and artillery. But from the blows of enemy shells, two armored platforms "Kirov" derailed. The other two continued to meet with fire the manpower and equipment of the Nazis. By evening, the railway track was destroyed. All night it was restored by the fighters of "Kirov". However, after a technical check, I had to go to Saratov for repairs.

In the second half of October 1942, the 39th ODBP arrived near Stalingrad. Its base was located at the Filonovo station, and the armored trains were located at the Archeda station. On November 19, after the start of our general offensive near Stalingrad, armored trains left for the Log and Ilovlya stations to support the Soviet attacking units and protect them from air raids. On January 26, 1943, one Junkers was shot down by anti-aircraft gunners of the division, and several others, puffing, went home.

The life of domestic armored trains began in tsarist Russia and ended in the USSR. It was short, but very intense. Armored trains managed to take part in the First World War, then they were actively used by the warring parties during the civil war. But still, armored trains were used most massively during the Second World War.

Much less is known about the actions of armored trains on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War than about the actions of tanks and artillery. However, despite the fact that in the middle of the 20th century the era of armored trains was drawing to a close, they had many glorious feats to their credit.

Unfortunately, rather modest attention is paid to the actions of armored trains during the Great Patriotic War in the domestic literature compared to other types of weapons. Articles by A.N. Manzhosov told about the participation of armored trains in the battles for the Motherland, G. A. Kumanev wrote about the exploits of railway workers in 1941-1945, in 1992 the collective work “Armored trains in the Great Patriotic War” was published. technical descriptions the monograph and articles of M.V. Kolomiets are also devoted to armored trains.

Armored locomotives

On one refueling with fuel and water, the armored train could cover up to 120 km with a maximum speed of 45 km/h. Coal or oil was used as fuel. Moreover, each armored train had two locomotives. An ordinary steam locomotive was used for long journeys, and an armored one was used during hostilities.
Combat trains appeared not much later than the railways themselves and steam-powered trains. Already during the American Civil War (1861-65), guns were mounted on railway platforms. This allowed the northerners to quickly, by the standards of that time, deliver guns directly to the positions of the enemy, who by no means expected such a surprise from the rail track.
Real armored trains appeared by the beginning of the 20th century. and were actively used in the Anglo-Boer War, which, as you know, became a technological rehearsal for the coming world wars. Even then this the new kind military equipment has demonstrated its vulnerability. In 1899, an armored train, on which, in particular, the young war correspondent Winston Churchill rode, fell into a Boer ambush and was captured.
Armored trains participated in almost all major conflicts of the first half of the 20th century, but they were most in demand during the Civil War in Russia (1918−1922). In this conflict, where high-speed maneuver often gave a decisive advantage, about two hundred armored trains were used from all sides.
Gradually losing their importance as a means of combating an enemy armed with heavy equipment, armored trains still retained their effectiveness in operations against lightly armed militants. In this capacity, they have survived to this day, and in a modernized version they took part in both Chechen wars as a means of patrolling the railways.

Meanwhile, the interest of the general reader in armored trains is quite high. Near the armored locomotives and armored platforms of armored trains put up for honorary parking, there are always a lot of people who are interested in the same questions. What was general device armored trains of the period of the Great Patriotic War? What feats did the crews of armored trains accomplish? How many armored trains were lost in battles and for what reasons? Brief answers to these questions are contained in this article.

How is an armored train

The material part of domestic armored trains usually consisted of an armored locomotive, two to four armored platforms, platforms air defense and four (rarely two) control platforms.

Soviet armored rubber D-2. It was used both autonomously and as part of armored trains.

Usually, armored trains were driven by steam locomotives of the O series of various modifications. They were the main freight locomotives of the 1920s and could drive a train weighing up to 700 tons - quite enough for an armored train. The reservation of the locomotive was on different armored trains from 10 to 20 mm. The armored locomotive was usually located in the middle of the armored train behind the armored platform.

The armored platform was a reinforced four-axle or two-axle railway platform. The platform had a steel hull and had one or two artillery turrets. The artillery armament of these towers was very different. Armored trains were armed with 76-mm guns of the 1902 model, 76-mm guns of the 1926/27 model, 107-mm guns, etc.

Armored platforms, depending on the caliber of the guns installed on them, were divided into light and heavy.

By the beginning of World War II, the Red Army had several types of light armored platforms. The newest at the time of the outbreak of the war were considered armored platforms of the PL-37 model with an armor thickness of 20 mm and artillery armament from two 76-mm guns of the 1902/30 model. and machine guns. The ammunition load of this armored platform was 560 rounds and 28,500 rounds for machine guns. PL-37 has been improved compared to PL-35 and more armored platforms. early years the buildings. The PL-37 armored platforms were also more convenient for the crew of the armored train. They had steam heating, internal lighting and communications, had laying under the floor for various property.

"Ilya Muromets" and "Kozma Minin" fully justified the hopes placed on them. During the war, they suppressed 42 artillery and mortar batteries, shot down 14 aircraft, destroyed 14 pillboxes, 94 machine gun points, an echelon and an ammunition depot, as well as one enemy armored train. The geography of the participation of these armored trains in battles included not only the territory Soviet Union but also Western Europe.

If necessary, all PL-37 armored platforms could be transferred to railways with a gauge of 1435 mm, that is, ready for action in Western Europe.

Heavy armored platforms were armed with 107-mm guns and five Maxim machine guns, as well as quite powerful armor compared to light armored platforms. But by the beginning of World War II, these armored platforms were already considered obsolete.

It should be noted that in addition to the armored platforms and the armored locomotive itself, the armored trains had at their disposal the so-called base. "Baza" served for economic and official purposes and consisted of 6-20 freight and class cars. On the way, the "base" was attached to the warhead of the armored train, and during the conduct of hostilities it was located in the rear, on the nearest railway line. Usually the "base" had a headquarters car, an ammunition car, a car for storing supplies of material and technical equipment, a workshop car, a kitchen car, a club car, etc.

In addition to the armored locomotive, the armored train included armored platforms and "base" cars.

Tank turret fire

By June 22, 1941, among the armored trains of the Red Army, the BP-35 type was considered the most massive. However, he had a number of drawbacks, one of which was the small thickness of the armor. Taking into account the experience of the battles of the first months of the war, it was developed new type armored train - OB-3, which was armed with four artillery platforms and an air defense platform. The most common and perfect type of armored trains in the second half of the Great Patriotic War was the armored train of the 1943 model, developed in 1942 - BP-43.

As a rule, BP-43 consisted of a PR-43 armored locomotive located in the middle of the train, four PL-43 artillery armored platforms with turrets from T-34 tanks (two armored platforms on both sides of the armored locomotive), two armored platforms with anti-aircraft weapons PVO-4, which were located at both ends of the armored train, as well as control platforms.

Armored trains of the BP-43 type had a number of advantages compared to their predecessors, the main of which was more powerful weapons. The guns in the turrets from the T-34 tanks had a high muzzle velocity and in 1941-1942 they could confidently fight any type of German tanks, including at long range combat. In addition, they had a circular sector of fire, which dramatically increased their combat capabilities, and had better sights than other guns mounted on armored trains. Anti-aircraft weapons were also more powerful. The air defense platforms of the PVO-4 were usually armed with two 37-mm automatic guns and armored undercarriage, which favorably distinguished them from the air defense platforms of earlier-produced armored trains.

It should be noted that in reality armored trains of even one type series differed significantly from each other in terms of appearance and booking.

Combat missions of armored trains

By the beginning of World War II, the Soviet Union had 78 armored trains, 53 of which were in service with the Red Army, and 23 were part of the NKVD troops. Armored trains were used by Soviet troops throughout the Great Patriotic War, but they were used most intensively in the period 1941-1943. Their main task was to provide fire support to infantry units operating in the railroad lane. In addition, armored trains were used to defeat enemy troops in the area of ​​​​important railway stations and conduct counter-battery combat.
Sometimes, as a reinforcement and consolidation of the success achieved, special landing units and landing companies were attached to some armored trains. Organizationally, they were assigned to the armored train and were subordinate to the commander of the armored train.
Anti-aircraft armored trains armed with armored platforms with 25-mm and 37-mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns and 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft machine guns made a great contribution to the protection of railway stations from enemy air strikes. Organizationally, they were part of the air defense forces.
The leadership of the USSR positively assessed the activities and role of armored trains in the first months of World War II, especially when the losses in tanks and artillery of the Red Army were great. For example, this is evidenced by the directive of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR No. 022ss issued on October 29, 1941 under the heading "top secret". It ordered the creation of 32 divisions of armored trains, each of which, in turn, included two armored trains. Fulfilling this directive, Soviet home front workers built by the end of 1942 not 65, but 85 armored trains!
The armored trains did not deceive the hopes placed on them. According to published data, during the Great Patriotic War, 370 tanks, 344 guns and mortars, 840 machine guns, 712 cars, 160 motorcycles and two enemy armored trains were destroyed and knocked out by armored trains! In addition, the combat account of armored trains also includes 115 downed enemy aircraft.
For participation in hostilities in the Great Patriotic War, two armored trains of the Red Army and three armored trains of the NKVD troops were awarded the Order of the Red Banner, ten separate divisions of armored trains received honorary titles.

Landing battle

Armored trains not only participated in the fire support of the Red Army units, but also carried out the transportation of valuable cargo. Sometimes they combined both during the performance of a combat mission. For example, in August 1941, the German landing in Ukraine managed to capture the Zhuliany station. Taking advantage of surprise, the German paratroopers not only occupied the station building, but also took possession of several wagons, which contained equipment for the needs of the Red Army aviation. To protect themselves, the Germans at the entrance to the station dismantled the rails and blew up a small bridge. However, this did not stop the crew of the Liter A armored train. This armored train consisted of an armored locomotive (a typical armored locomotive of the Ov series) and three armored platforms armed with 4 guns and 24 machine guns. Armored train commander A.S. Slow-moving at night sent a team of repairmen and a group of fighters to restore the railway track. After the railway and the bridge were restored, the armored train at full speed at 4 o'clock in the morning broke into the station and opened heavy fire on the stunned enemy. As a result of the actions of the armored train, the station was liberated from the German landing. Taking advantage of this, the crew of the armored train hitched up wagons with valuable cargo and took them to Kyiv to the location of the Red Army.

Armored train of the NKVD enters the battle

In addition to the armored trains of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War, the armored trains that were at the disposal of internal troops NKVD. These armored trains usually fought not as part of divisions, but independently. As an example, we can cite the actions of the armored train of the internal troops of the NKVD No. 46 on the Transcaucasian front.

Only from August 30 to September 6, 1942, this armored train made nine fire raids and fired 337 shells. As a result of the fire of the armored train, the Germans suffered significant damage. A tank, an armored car were hit, an easel machine gun and three observation posts were destroyed. With the help of armored train fire, Soviet troops were able to occupy the Teplovodny junction, forcing the Germans to retreat. During this period, the armored train was subjected to mortar and artillery fire six times, but the Germans could not achieve direct hits.

The German Wehrmacht also used armored trains on Eastern Front. Sometimes they entered into duels with Soviet armored trains. On the picture - soviet soldiers inspecting the defeated Nazi armored train in the liberated Gomel (November 1943).

On September 10, armored train No. 46 supported the advance of the 10th Guards Rifle Corps on the Pervomaisky farm with its fire. During the day, the armored train made five fire raids, during which an armored vehicle, three mortar batteries and enemy headquarters were destroyed. In addition, six tanks and two armored vehicles were also hit by armored train fire. Thanks to the support of the armored train, the Soviet infantrymen managed to take the Pervomaisky farm and the Terek station by the end of the day.

In total, in the period from August 24 to November 29, 1942, armored train No. 46 on the Transcaucasian front made 47 fire raids. As a result of his actions, 17 tanks, 26 vehicles, six armored vehicles, four mortar and two artillery batteries, one gun, six motorcycles and a large number of enemy infantry were destroyed. In addition, the fire of the armored train suppressed the fire of six mortar and two artillery batteries, as well as two separate guns and 18 machine guns. For military operations in the North Caucasus, the armored train was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Hunt for the "Green Ghost"

For eight months, the Zheleznyakov armored train operated as part of the Sevastopol defensive region, and it went on missions in the conditions of complete German aviation superiority in the air and the presence of a powerful enemy artillery group, methodically destroying railways. Despite these circumstances, the armored train regularly made rapid sorties, during which it fired at the enemy for several minutes, and then suddenly disappeared into the tunnels of Sevastopol.

"Ilya Muromets" and "Kozma Minin" were made in Gorky in February 1942. The design took into account the experience of fighting armored trains in 1941. Each armored train consisted of an Ov armored locomotive protected by 20-45 mm armor, two artillery armored platforms and two air defense armored platforms, as well as a “base”.

In total, Zhelyaznyakov managed to make 140 combat sorties. With his unexpected appearance on the battlefield, he caused a lot of trouble for the German troops, constantly keeping them in suspense. The Germans set up a real hunt for Zheleznyakov: they regularly sent aircraft, specially allocated artillery units for its destruction, but for more than six months the armored train managed to deceive the enemy. The Germans dubbed him the "Green Ghost". Unfortunately, on June 26, 1942, the legendary armored train was nevertheless destroyed: under air strikes, it was buried in a tunnel, the vaults of which could not withstand another powerful air raid.

Heroic Division

During the Great Patriotic War, armored trains usually operated as part of divisions (ODBP). The division organizationally included two armored trains and workshop cars. In addition, for reconnaissance, armored train divisions included armored tires and armored vehicles (usually BA-20).

In the battles of the Great Patriotic War, a bright mark was left by the 31st separate special Gorky division of armored trains, which included two powerful armored trains of the same type, Ilya Muromets and Kozma Minin. These armored trains should be said in more detail, because they themselves, and their actions on the battlefields, and their rewards were really special. Without exaggeration, these were one of the most advanced and powerful armored trains in the world!

Everlasting memory

No war is without casualties. They suffered losses, including armored trains. For a long time this topic remained closed. According to archival information published by M.V. Kolomiets, in the period from June 1941 to May 1945, the losses of the Red Army amounted to 65 armored trains. These official figures do not include the loss of armored trains of the NKVD troops.
The saddest year was 1942: during this period, 42 armored trains were lost, exactly twice as many as in 1941 (!). Often, armored trains perished, simultaneously reflecting enemy attacks from heaven and earth.
The large losses of armored trains in 1941-1942 can be explained by a number of reasons. Firstly, armored trains were active in this most difficult period for the Red Army in the face of superiority of the enemy in the air and in tanks. Secondly, armored trains were often assigned the role of a kind of "suicide bomber": they remained alone to cover the retreat Soviet units in order to delay the enemy for several hours.
With the increase in the number of armored vehicles in the units of the Red Army, the participation of armored trains in hostilities began to decline, which had a positive effect on the statistics of losses. In 1943, only two armored trains were lost, and in 1944-1945, armored trains had no losses.
An analysis of the hostilities indicates that the main reasons for the vulnerability of armored trains were attachment to the railway, the difficulties of camouflage during combat operations, and the weakness of anti-aircraft weapons on most armored trains.
The tendency to increase the caliber and power of guns in the period 1941-1945 made the armor of armored trains insufficient to reliably protect the mechanisms and crew from enemy artillery fire. The growing role of aviation in combat operations against enemy ground forces, the improvement in the quality of aircraft sights and the power of aircraft weapons made armored trains very vulnerable to air attacks.
The experience of the Great Patriotic War showed that, despite the successes achieved and the mass use in 1941-1945, the time of armored trains was already coming to an end. Which, of course, in no way diminishes the significance of the feats accomplished by the railroad workers in order to defeat the enemy.

The artillery armored platform of the Kozma Minin and Ilya Muromets armored trains was armed with two F-34 cannons in the turrets from the T-34 tank and six DT machine guns. Compared to other armored trains, the armored platforms of the Kozma Minin and Ilya Muromets armored trains also had more powerful armor - 45 mm on the sides. It is noteworthy that the armor was located at an angle, which dramatically increased its resistance.

The word “special” in its name was given to the 31st ODBP for the fact that for the first time among all Soviet armored trains, Kozma Minin and Ilya Muromets received armored platforms with the latest and secret weapons at that time - M-8-24 rocket launchers , better known as "Katyusha".

The geography of participation in the battles of the 31st division included not only the territory of the Soviet Union, but also Western Europe. For example, in the battles for the liberation of the suburbs of Warsaw - Prague - the division made 73 artillery and mortar raids. As a result of the fire of armored trains, 12 artillery and mortar batteries, six separate guns and 12 machine guns were suppressed and destroyed, not counting a large number of enemy infantry. The division ended the Great Patriotic War in Frankfurt an der Oder.

"Ilya Muromets" against "Adolf Hitler"

It should be noted that not only the Red Army, but also the Wehrmacht had armored trains. Therefore, the armored trains of the warring parties, although rarely, still had to meet each other on the battlefield. As a result, there were duels between armored trains. In the spring of 1944, the Red Army liberated the territory of the Volyn region of Ukraine with stubborn battles. Heavy fighting flared up for the city of Kovel, which the Soviet troops could not capture immediately. The 31st Separate Special Gorky Division of Armored Trains under the command of Major V.M. was sent to help the advancing Soviet infantrymen. Morozov.

One morning, scouts spotted a German artillery battery. She fired for three minutes and then stopped firing. The terrain and the crowns of tall trees prevented us from finding out its exact location. The infantrymen contacted aerial reconnaissance, but received a reply that no battery had been found. The next morning at 9 o'clock an unknown battery again opened fire for three minutes. And again, the Soviet soldiers failed to detect it. This went on for several days, until the Germans were let down by their inherent pedantry. The scouts, who were sitting at a previously prepared observation post in the crown of a tree, noticed clouds of smoke at exactly 9 o'clock. It dawned on them - this was an enemy armored train. The headquarters of the 31st division developed a plan to destroy the enemy armored train. The main task was to be carried out by the Ilya Muromets armored train: to find a suitable place for an ambush, to destroy the railway track with artillery fire from its cannons and thereby cut off the escape routes for the enemy, and then to destroy the German armored train.

On June 4, 1944, at exactly 9 o'clock in the morning, a duel of armored trains took place. The fight was short lived. Shots fired from both sides almost simultaneously. Gunners "Ilya Muromets" showed great skill. The German armored train was covered with the very first shots. However, he managed to turn the muzzle of the guns in the direction of the Ilya Muromets and fire back. But the shells fell past Soviet armored train. Volley "Katyusha" from the armored "Ilya Muromets" completed the defeat of the enemy armored train. Soon it was all over for him. It is symbolic that the destroyed German armored train was named "Adolf Hitler".

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"... Our armored train ...".

(An alternative view on the development of BePo).

Part 1. Main materiel.

According to the prevailing belief, armored trains in the USSR were loved, groomed and cherished. The songs even mentioned how this monstrous crap is on the “siding” and just waiting in the wings ... (and this was the purest truth, a military secret turned into an open secret that was broadcast from every loudspeaker). In the mid-20s, out of 90 (!) BePos available, only 25 were operated in the army, the rest, in mothballed form, stood on sidings in storage bases.

And yet, it was very strange Love. Throughout the thirties, the development of this formidable weapon of war literally crawled at a snail's pace, not eating, but only fueled by residual principle crumbs and leftovers from the "lord's table" tank oprom.

If we compare the situation with ancient times, it would look something like this: there are war elephants - huge, causing horror in the enemy and delight, bordering on euphoria among their own population, which adds up songs about these legendary giants. But here they feed on forage full program exclusively cavalry horses. Elephants, on the other hand, only get that the horses have not eaten enough. And the elephants themselves are locked in paddocks and treat them according to the principle - whoever dies from such treatment will die. Whoever survives will survive. Do they lack food? - And let them eat each other ...

So they ate ... BePo repairs were carried out mainly by disassembling the same BePos ... The rare construction of new armored platforms and the armor of locomotives were made from the armor of old BePos, since there was a catastrophic lack of armor in the country due to the boundless appetites of tank builders.

And what was the result of providing armored trains loved by the whole country on a residual basis?

Until the beginning of the Second World War, the architecture was preserved from the time of the civil war. The armor protection of the vast majority of BePo is a sheet of any kind, very thin armor (it was a great success, if the armor was naval, torn from some kind of thread of an impromptu BePo from the time of the civil war), a 100 mm gap with wooden spacers and another sheet, which again turned up, of ordinary structural steel . The requirements for such protection were naturally put forward too modest - to hold an ordinary rifle bullet.

From the mid-30s, instead of the "sandwich", BePo received armor 20 mm thick (most often rejected by tank builders). And only in the 40th, it was decided to armor new armored platforms (BP) with normal, and not defective, 30 mm armor. But ... no factory in the country has ever produced armor of this thickness (30 mm armored steel was used to assemble the hulls of the T-35 and T-28 tanks). In general, the armor protection of the Soviet BePo held only a rifle bullet (including an armor-piercing one), a large-caliber DK made holes in it already from 650 m and, of course, this armor was easily stitched from all distances of a real battle with a 37 mm "mallet" (German anti-tank gun). That is, against the cannons of German tanks, our pre-war BePo had absolutely no protection!

Armament. Cooler than the old three-inch arr. 1902, much less often 1902/30 and piece 107 mm guns mod. 1910 BePo artillery was not supposed to. Air defense - sparks of "maxims". The quadruple installations of the same maxims, as well as the pieced DShK, remained for the most part an unrealizable dream of the bulk of the pre-war BePo.

And it's all! No, I forgot to mention that they always tried to equip senselessly bulky armored cars with several side machine guns (at least two machine guns from each side), as if they were hoping that the enemy would still attack these cars with their machine guns, endless waves of infantry in tight chains ... Why , there are many trunks, the ammunition is huge, why shouldn’t they attack?

All in all, this is not a happy story.

But, detailed retelling quite glorious history this miracle weapon is not included in the article's task - whoever needs to be found, who was interested - have long been found and read on this topic the capital works of SW. M. Kolomiets.

Below, an alternative version of the materiel and structure of the armored train units of the railway troops of the Red Army. No timeline. In fact, this is just a pre-war apotheosis of a more meaningful development of this type of weapon, which received no less attention than the am tank.

In general, the alternative is based on:

1. Take into account the tactics of combat use;

2. Based on the actually available (or so) material and technical base;

3. Taking into account the capabilities of the alleged enemy.

In general, the situation is as follows: in 1940, as in the Republic of Ingushetia, it was decided to change the materiel of armored train divisions (then, in general, in all branches of the military, there was a large-scale replacement of everything in the world ...)

And, of course, already under the new technology, both the structure of units and the tactics of combat use are being revised.

So let's start with logic. What is an armored train?
Regrettably, first of all, this is a huge target. And only then, armor (but, mind you, not like in the Republic of Ingushetia), high mobility (including operational) and firepower.

How to reduce the vulnerability of an armored train? Reduce its affected area, of course! This means that the armored train itself must be optimized in composition to literally a couple of armored platforms (of course, we do not take into account any control platforms). Approximately so argued in RI. But this had absolutely no effect on the actual armored sites (BP). So they built huge, barely protected armored cars " long distance"to the next world, with twenty-eight (by staffing wartime) by suicide passengers each.

Armored platforms should have both a low silhouette and sloping armor. But at the same time, contain both protection and firepower comparable to a platoon of tanks. Moreover, ideally, also a “long arm”, which simply will not allow enemy tanks to mock such a large target as our BePo.

It is also desirable to create something extremely destructive in terms of firepower in order to quickly suppress the enemy and retreat just as quickly, without waiting for heavy artillery and enemy aircraft to hunt down the armored train.

Here are options for such heavy (assault) armored platforms:

The armament of the two upper ones, in a pair of "small" towers, is from the T-34 tank (model 40) and in the main one, from the KV-1. One version with RUZO, the other with an anti-aircraft DShK on a naval pedestal installation.

Below, a variant with two small towers from the T-28E and one from the KV-2 with a double block of launchers.

And these are already “sketches” with the KV-2 turret, in which the 107 mm Grabin gun ZiS-6 is installed. However, the 95 mm Grabinskaya F-39 gun could well have stood in the same tower as a “long arm”.

A 152 mm howitzer... This sledgehammer for very specific operations...

Double blocks of PU RUZO should, by firing almost at point blank range (the angle of vertical guidance is small), provide the most powerful one-time strike power, and two towers from medium tanks last version, fire support at medium range and the highest density of fire in unforeseen close combat.

The base of all armored platforms is, as in the Republic of Ingushetia, a standard heavy-duty four-axle platform, a freight car or a gondola car (carrying capacity 50 tons), manufactured by the Krasny Profintern plant, for the sake of a more even distribution of loads and increased reliability, with a pair of axles added in the middle. For the site commander, we will definitely introduce a commander's cupola with an artillery panorama on the roof of the main tower.

The crew of the armored platform with three towers is 10 people. Four (two each) in small towers, three (including the commander of the armored platform) in the main tower, two at the supply of BP to main tower(they are also responsible for the undercarriage of the armored platform), and one orderly who performs “in his spare time” the role of an observer.

The crew of a two-tower BP is one more person (three in the towers, two serving, plus an orderly).

In general, here, in any variant, there is power with a decent weight of a second volley, and the possibility of firing at several targets and a convenient range of weapons.

But for all that, such ram-type monsters do not adequately solve the problem of reducing the affected area ...

So, let's leave, perhaps, such heavy (assault) armored platforms at the level of the RGK. And for the linear divisions of armored trains of district and army subordination, we will look for something less vulnerable and expensive. For example, here is a set ...

Such relatively light and rather low-vulnerability armored platforms can be freely shuffled depending on the upcoming combat mission. The main thing here is not to overdo it and when using heavy BPs, still adhere to the golden rule: BePo as part of an armored locomotive and two shock armored platforms. No more!

The natural question is - what the hell are these small, poorly armed armored platforms with a single turret from medium tanks?

O! This is very important point! The fact is that only such a two-axle armored platform, which for some reason flew off the rails into a ditch, can be put back on the rails using one powerful railway crane for this operation, which followed the same tracks! No other, heavier armored platform can be “put on its feet” again in such a “makar”. And you can already have up to 4 such light BPs as part of BePo (and there were such in the Second World War). So much for a tank platoon with a minimum area of ​​​​destruction and relatively good combat survivability ...

Although, here everything will already rest on the massiveness of the armored locomotive itself ... And we have it (with the base in the form of an old man "Ov"), now this one:

Side armor sloped. Minimum height control compartment. There are no stokers with shovels, because, as it was in the Republic of Ingushetia, the steam locomotive was transferred to oil heating of the boiler. The driver and assistant watch the area from two turrets with all-round visibility and through side windows with viewing slots closed by triplexes.

On the tender, at the bottom of the tank with water and oil. From above, the cabin of the BePo commander with a full range of observation, target designation and communication devices, plus a pair of useful 37 mm anti-aircraft guns. In the 40th, so far, unfortunately, single-barreled. In the future, I hope that these will be fleet sparks in rotating towers.

Further. Since in many cases it is either risky or impractical to use bulky BePos, powerful motorized armored wagons (armored railcars) equipped with their own engine are absolutely necessary.

Tank The third version is already with a turret from the promising KV-4/5 (from the same ZiS-6), with a large, open aft niche in which a 25 mm MZA 72-K is stuck.

There was a temptation to put on the hull also a turret from the T-40, but the firing angles were not the most optimal. Yes, and it’s not comfortable there, near the engine ... However, if during the war practice would show the need for such rearmament, if only for the sake of self-defense in close combat, then why not?

Due to the increased weight, heavy motrices are three-axle, preferably with a drive to both rear wheelsets. Naturally, each (except for the modification of the T-28E) has two control posts (bow and stern) communicating with each other.

Such things can be used both autonomously and as part of a BePo, as a powerful advanced reconnaissance or against a rearguard cover.

1. Reservation of hulls based on the armored rolling available in the country, for armored locomotives, light BPs and 40 mm armored cars. Heavy and assault BPs and armored cars have 45 mm. The towers are full-time with "native" armor thickness. It is clear that the analysis of the first clashes and losses will require additional armor protection. screens mm that way mm 20 each ...

2. The additional loopholes shown on all models in the hulls are empty. They are used for firing from standard machine guns only in case of jamming of the turret or in the environment when the course is lost.

3. The mass (weight) of the devices fully corresponds to the base chassis. For BP and armored motorcars no more than 20 tons (overload of heavy BP and armored motorcars is compensated by additional, third axles). For heavy assault BP, 50 tons. Their possible overload, just in case, is compensated by additional, central wheelsets.

Condition of armored trains in the 1920s

During the Civil War, more than 400 different armored trains were manufactured and used in battles on the territory of the former Russian Empire - a kind of world record. True, some of them were of primitive construction, as a rule, they were built in railway depots or in small factories, often even without drawings. A smaller number of armored trains were manufactured at large engineering enterprises European Russia on several developed projects. Such armored trains were manufactured in batches from 5 to 20 units. The following main types are found in documents of the 1920s and early 1930s.

Sormovo armored trains, which were produced at the Sormovsky plant of the society of iron, steel and mechanical plants in Nizhny Novgorod. In total, from 1918 to 1920, more than 20 of them were made.

Armored train built by the Sormovsky plant in Nizhny Novgorod, later known as the "Sormovsky type"

Bryansk armored trains were produced at the Bryansk Machine-Building Plant in the city of Bezhitsa, Bryansk province in 1919-1920. In total, the Bryansk plant produced about 20 armored trains.

Armored train built by the Bryansk plant (the so-called "Bryansk type")

The Sevastopol armored trains included materiel manufactured at Crimean enterprises in 1919-1920. In total, about 15 armored trains were built here.

Dnieper armored trains were built in 1918-1919 at a factory in Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk). In total, 10 armored trains were manufactured here.

Izhora armored trains were produced from the autumn of 1918 at the Izhora Admiralty and mechanical factory in Kolpino near Petrograd. In total, in 1918-1920, about 15 armored trains were manufactured in Kolpino.

Double-turret armored platform of the Izhora plant

Novorossiysk armored platforms, developed by the Colonel of Artillery Volunteer army Golyakhovsky, were built mainly at the Sudostal plant in Novorossiysk. In total, about 20 such armored platforms were manufactured in 1919.

By the end of the Civil War in Russia (February 1922), the Red Army had 123 armored trains, not counting the trains that were in warehouses.

Materiel of armored trains in the 1930s

The situation with the state of the armored train fleet in the USSR has changed radically since 1929. As a model for modernization, they chose the materiel manufactured at the Sormovo plant back in 1920 - the armored locomotive Ov No. 3707 and the armored platforms No. 356 and 357, the modernization of which began in December 1929. The primary task, in addition to the repair of armor and weapons, was the development of an electrical and communications circuit to facilitate the control of the composition in battle.

Armored platform of the Sormovo type No. 357 from the modernized armored train

Heavy armored platforms

Work on the creation and manufacture of heavy armored vehicles began at military warehouse No. 60 in 1930. By this time, the Red Army had 7 heavy armored trains, converted back in the 20s. from armored trains type B.

Due to the lack of materials and funding, suitable, often single-turret armored cars from the Civil War era, were used as the basis for the manufacture of new heavy armored vehicles.

Armor platform PL-37, the armor of which was strengthened during the war by installing additional armor plates on the sides of the hull. Winter 1942

Heavy armored train equipped with armored platforms of the military warehouse type No. 60, made in 1931-1932, at firing practice

Mortar armored platforms

The design of these samples began in January 1940, simultaneously with anti-aircraft railway batteries. The impetus for their design was the formation of separate rifle companies of armored trains, which included a mortar company.

The project of the mortar armored platform was developed at the Krasny Profintern plant in a short time, and by the beginning of March 5 such platforms had been made.

Anti-aircraft armored train, broken during the fighting near Borisov. July 1941

Armored locomotives

Along with the use of Ov armored locomotives, in the 1930s, attempts were made in the USSR to design a new means of traction for equipping armored trains - an armored diesel locomotive. The first such attempt was made at the end of 1933.

It was supposed to equip the diesel locomotive with a 300 hp engine, which was supposed to provide the armored train with a speed of up to 55 km / h in both directions, protect it with 16 mm armor and arm it with one Maxim machine gun in a rotating turret.

The design and manufacture of armored personnel carriers was entrusted to the Kuibyshev Kolomna Plant, which in July 1940 submitted a draft design for consideration. After its consideration, it was decided to manufacture the BTV in 1941, however, due to the lack of allocated funds and the outbreak of the war, the BTV remained on paper.

Armored trains in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

By the beginning of World War II, the Red Army was armed with 34 light and 13 heavy armored trains. Each of them included an armored locomotive of the Ov or Op series and 2 armored platforms (one- or two-tower), made on the basis of 50 or 60-ton 4-axle cars.

Kyiv armored trains

In the first month of the war, enterprises in Kyiv became one of the centers for the construction of armored trains. Unfortunately, detailed information about the combat composition of armored trains built in Kyiv has not yet been found. But, based on the short construction time, their design, most likely, was very primitive. Probably, metal gondola cars for transporting coal, purchased in America during the First World War, were used for their manufacture.

Odessa armored trains

Odessa enterprises became another center for the construction of armored trains. Their construction began in August 1941 with the joint efforts of the workers of the plant named after the January Uprising and the railway workers of the Odessa-Tovarnaya and Odessa-Sortirovochnaya depots. In the manufacture of armored trains, a large number of problems arose: there were not enough materials, oxygen necessary for welding armored plates, and tools.

Tallinn armored trains

During the defense of Tallinn in August 1941, 2 armored trains were equipped in the workshops of the arsenal. Their feature was the use of narrow-gauge (750 mm) steam locomotives and wagons for armoring. The fact is that in the vicinity of Tallinn there was an extensive network of railways with a gauge of 750 mm.

One of the 2 narrow-gauge armored trains built during the defense of Tallinn.

August 1941

Armored trains of Crimea

The armored trains built at the Crimean enterprises in the summer and autumn of 1941 were quite curious in design. In total, 6 of them were formed, while some of them were subordinate to the command of the Black Sea Fleet.

Crimean armored platform without armament with a handrail for resting the top flap

Leningrad armored trains

During the battles for Leningrad, the enterprises of the city gave 8 armored trains to the army and navy. Their characteristic features include the widespread use of naval guns and turrets from KB-1 tanks. The initiative to build armored trains near Leningrad belonged to the sailors. This is understandable - after all, the main base of the Baltic Fleet was located nearby.

Armored trains in battles

Armored trains have powerful artillery and machine gun armament, armor protection, constant combat readiness and speed of movement. In combined arms combat, they are an effective means of destroying manpower, technical and fire weapons of the enemy in the railway area. Only the dependence of armored trains on the railway limits their use in combined arms combat.

The tasks assigned to armored trains are:

1. In assisting infantry and cavalry in battle (especially in defense) by destroying enemy troops with fire;

2. In capturing, together with the landing force, units and points (stations, bridges) that are operationally important and holding them until the approach of their troops;

3. In the protection of important stations, railway structures, hauls and the coast;

4. Accompanied by the most important military echelons;

5. In the fight against airborne landings and enemy aircraft.

The actions of armored trains in the Great Patriotic War showed that they found their application in all types of combat and were a reliable means of fighting the enemy in the railway lane.

The last armored trains of the Soviet Army

The events on Damansky Island in March 1968 brought the USSR and China to the brink of an open military conflict: the two weeks of fighting cost our country a lot of blood. A mobile and effective tool was required - and then they remembered armored trains. To revive the idea was instructed to the Kharkov plant of transport engineering. Malyshev, shortly after the events on Damansky, who received a government assignment to develop an armored train.

Armored train at ZabVO storage base

To speed up work in the design, standardized and mass-produced units were widely used - a locomotive, platforms, bogies and wheel sets of wagons, artillery weapons from tank guns in regular towers (this decision fully justified itself during the war years). Turrets with guns and sights were borrowed from the T-55, anti-aircraft weapons should include a pair of towers from the Shilka with quad anti-aircraft guns and radar. A powerful diesel locomotive was unequivocally adopted as a locomotive.

The manufacture of the armored train was completely completed by 1970. The main combat unit of the train was "armored guns" as part of a pair of open 55-ton platforms with T-62 tanks (machines of any other types that were at hand could also be used, including those that had lost their mobility - if only their "fire" capabilities were preserved) and an armored shunting diesel locomotive of the TGM14 type.

After the disbandment of armored trains, only armored locomotives remained in storage. The first in the coupling is the traction diesel locomotive TG16

The complete line-up looked like this: Ahead is a cover platform that served as insurance in case the canvas was blown up (rails and sleepers loaded onto the platform and served as ballast were intended for its repair, and a brigade of track restorers followed with the train), a diesel locomotive, followed by two tank "armored guns". The middle of the train was formed from a headquarters armored car, a platform for anti-aircraft installations and platforms from the PT-76. Three more "armored guns" and a cover platform closed the train. In addition, if necessary, the train could include wagons for personnel (cars or passenger cars), as well as field kitchens provided for military echelons.

For its intended purpose, it was decided to use the armored train in January 1990 during the liquidation of the anti-government rebellion in Baku and the nationalist one in Sumgayit.

It is noteworthy that in the 1990s, which were difficult for the army, when combat aircraft and tanks were decommissioned and scrapped without regret, all four trains were kept in good condition, fully staffed and equipped. Ultimately, from the armored trains, only traction locomotives and locomotives of the "armored cars" remained in storage.

Modern armored trains

In the Chechen Republic, at the end of 2002, three special trains were used by the United Group of Forces to perform service and combat tasks: Kozma Minin, Baikal and Terek.

;

a covered wagon with equipped loopholes for firing small arms and machine guns, and even various turrets on the roof for firing automatic grenade launchers ( AGS-17) and machine guns (including large-caliber ones);

a covered wagon with stocks of the necessary material resources;

· 1-2 passenger cars for the rest of the personnel of the train crew (in places of basing and at guarded stations);

2-3 platforms with ballast (sandbags) - cover from land mines with contact action fuses;

1-2 platforms with radio stations installed on them (on a car chassis);

·locomotive.

Armored car of the special train "Baikal"

In the periods between departures to perform combat missions, armored trains are located at a specially equipped, guarded base in Khankala, where there is everything necessary for personnel recreation and maintenance of equipment and weapons.

The command of the railway troops of Russia refused to purchase new armored trains to arm their units. The existing special trains "Baikal" and "Amur", which are in service in the Southern Military District, will be removed from combat duty until 2015.

The military leadership explains the decision to "bury" combat trains by the inexpediency of developing railway weapons. AT state program until 2020, the formation of combat railway trains is not planned. Thus, the era of railway weapons that thundered in the First World War and the Great Patriotic War, ends, and railway troops stop destroying the enemy and focus on repairing and clearing roads and bridges to ensure the passage of echelons.

On February 21, 1942, the 31st Separate Special Gorky Division of Armored Trains was formed in Gorky. It was the world's first division of armored trains, which, shortly after its formation, received rocket artillery in the form of launchers for M-13 rockets. It is because of this that the division received the adjective "special" in its name.

The division included the Gorky and Murom armored trains: Kozma Minin and Ilya Muromets, the black S-179 steam locomotive, the BD-39 armored rubber, as well as special cars: headquarters, first-aid post, workshop, kitchen-bath and residential. A feature of the armored trains of the division was the use of rocket artillery and guns placed in tank towers. The division was in the active army from May 1, 1942 to May 9, 1945, having traveled from the Volga to Berlin. On his account, the destroyed German armored train "Adolf Hitler", 42 artillery and mortar batteries, 24 separate guns, 14 bunkers, 94 machine-gun points, 15 German aircraft. The division was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, having received the name of the 31st separate special Gorky-Warsaw Order of Alexander Nevsky division of armored trains.

ILYA MUROMETS

The armored train "Ilya Muromets" was built in 1942 in Murom as a gift to the railroad front of the Murom junction. All main platforms for guns and wagons were made by workers in their spare time. The armored train was protected by armor 45 mm thick and did not receive a single hole during the entire war. For the first time in the history of armored trains, Ilya Muromets was armed with Katyusha rocket launchers. In 60 seconds, the armored train hit an area of ​​400 by 400 meters within a radius of one and a half kilometers. For its quiet running, high speed and colossal firepower, the Germans nicknamed the armored train the "Russian Ghost". During the war, he destroyed 7 aircraft, 14 guns and mortar batteries, 36 enemy firing points, 875 soldiers and officers. The Ilya Muromets armored train took its first battle in April 1942 near the Vypolzovo station. And a little later, he participated in a raid on Mtsensk, captured by the Nazis, with an order to paralyze the work of the station, where at that moment there was an intensive unloading of echelons. In June 1944, near Kovel, a major hub of the Volyn region of the Ukrainian SSR, the only head-on battle of armored trains of the 2nd World War took place between the Murom armored train Ilya Muromets and the German armored vehicle Adolf Hitler. Murom gunners were more accurate, and "Adolf Hitler" was destroyed. Having traveled almost 2.5 thousand km from the Oka to the Oder, the Ilya Muromets armored train did not reach Berlin for only 50 km, since the bridge over the Oder was destroyed. In 1971, in honor of the 26th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany, a monument to Ilya Muromets was erected in Murom in the form of a life-size model of a steam locomotive.

Photo: Soniaromanoff/Wikimedia Commons

KOZMA MININ

The armored train "Kozma Minin" was built in February 1942 in the carriage depot of the city of Gorky by the workers of the locomotive and carriage depot Gorky-Passenger at their own expense in their free time. The combat part of the armored train consisted of an armored locomotive, two covered armored platforms, two open artillery armored platforms and four biaxial control platforms. Protected by armor with a thickness of 30-45 mm, the Kozma Minin was equipped with anti-aircraft guns, which made it possible to conduct aimed fire at a distance of up to 12 kilometers, and M-8 launchers, which ensured an accurate defeat of the enemy’s manpower and technical forces. In addition, the armored train could carry extensive ammunition with it, and in combat conditions it could also be used as a tractor. To combat enemy aircraft, heavy machine guns of the DShK system and three-coupled anti-aircraft machine guns PV-1 were additionally installed on the control platforms. To protect against fragments of bombs and shells, stacks were stacked along the sides of the rails and sleepers. In summer, the armored train was painted in dark and light green spots with yellowness, in winter - in white.
For three years, the armored train covered more than 2.5 thousand kilometers, hitting 15 German aircraft and 2 firing points. During the Battle of Kursk, the crews of the Kozma Minin provided fire support to the advancing troops of the 61st Army. After the war, it was found in the Urals, restored and installed on a pedestal in Nizhny Novgorod.

Photo: Smolov.ilya/Wikimedia Commons

ARMORED TRAIN No. 1 "FOR STALIN"

Armored train "For Stalin!" was built at the Kolomna plant named after Kuibyshev on September 10, 1941. It consisted of twenty cars, four of which were intended for personnel: a workshop car, a kitchen car, a command and sanitary car, and a bath car, steam for which was taken from a steam locomotive. The train consisted of two parts - combat and repair, or base. The combat unit consisted of four platforms, including two anti-aircraft ones, a 9P series steam locomotive, which was subjected to a very strong modernization and equipped with a tender, and control platforms with a supply of track material and tools. The armored train was equipped with four 76-millimeter tank guns, eight Maxim machine guns and two coaxial DT machine guns, which could conduct circular fire, as well as anti-aircraft guns. The thickness of the train armor reached 45 mm.
They did not have time to register the armored train as a combat unit and assign it to any of the units of the active army: in the very first battle on October 10, 1941, on the 174th km of the Western Railway between the Kolesniki and Gzhatsk stations, armored train No. 1 was fired upon. The locomotive was damaged, the armored train stopped and was knocked out of action. The Germans captured and shot the rest of the team, only seven people survived. Later, the Germans restored the locomotive and one armored platform and used them as part of their armored trains.

Photo: mechcorps. en

ZHELEZNYAKOV

The armored train "Zheleznyakov", nicknamed the "Green Ghost" by the Germans, was built at the Sevastopol Marine Plant on November 4, 1941. Workers of the plant, together with sailors from the crews of broken armored trains, built up steel sheets on ordinary platforms for 60-ton cars, sewing them together with electric welding and strengthening them with reinforced concrete pouring. Five 100-millimeter guns and 15 machine guns were installed on the armored sites. The armored train had a special platform with 8 mortars. To increase speed, in addition to an armored locomotive, an additional powerful locomotive was also included.
November 7, 1941 "Zheleznyakov" went on the first combat mission: fired at the German infantry near the village of Duvankoy (Verkhnesadovoye) and suppressed the battery on the opposite slope of the Belbek Valley. From January 7 to March 1, 1942, Zheleznyakov destroyed nine bunkers, thirteen machine-gun nests, six dugouts, one heavy battery, three aircraft, three vehicles, ten wagons with cargo, about one and a half thousand enemy soldiers and officers. June 5, 1942 "Zheleznyakov" in a battle with a column of German tanks knocked out at least 3 armored vehicles. During the first year of the war, the armored train made more than 140 combat exits. During the second assault on Sevastopol, Zheleznyakov supported Marines 8th brigade and part of the 95th rifle division. The armored train went out to meet the advancing German units, firing not only with mortars, but with all machine guns. By order of the commander, fighters with personal small arms and grenades were placed on the converted control sites in front of the armored train.
June 26, 1942 50 German bombers struck at the Trinity Tunnel, where the Green Ghost was based. The wreckage filled up the 2nd armored platform. The second exit from the tunnel remained free for another day, the locomotive brought out the surviving armored platform, which again opened fire on the enemy. The next day, German aircraft brought down the last exit from the tunnel. The Zheleznyakovites stayed in the tunnel until 3 July. Only a few survivors were captured. The Germans who occupied Sevastopol in August 1942 managed to clear the Trinity Tunnel for the movement of their trains. Using the restored Zheleznyakov armored vehicles, the Germans created the Eugen armored personnel carrier from them, arming it with 105-mm howitzers. In May 1944, the armored train was blown up by the Germans during the retreat.

BALTIC

On July 3, 1941, the workers of the Leningrad-Baltic Electric Depot decided to build an armored train on their own, using the Op-7599 steam locomotive and 2 four-axle platforms with a carrying capacity of 60 tons. Rolled steel for the lining of the locomotive was provided by the Izhora plant. The workers called the armored train "Baltiets", and from July 1941 it operated on the Leningrad front. The armored train was armed with six 76-mm guns, two 120-mm mortars and 16 machine guns, including 4 large-caliber ones. The team of the armored train included railroad volunteers from the electric depot and regular artillerymen. Widely developed railway network The Leningrad junction allowed the armored train to successfully maneuver and deliver surprise attacks on the enemy, remaining out of reach for him. He could fire from fifteen firing positions in various sectors of the front: from the position of Myaglovo-Gora - at Mge; from Coal Harbor - along Sosnovaya Polyana and Strelna; from Predportovaya - along Uritsk, Krasnoye Selo, Voronya Gora; from the positions of Levashovo, Beloostrov, Oselki, Vaskelovo - to the area beyond Lembolovo - Orekhovo. During the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad on January 18, 1943, the Baltiets was at the Petrokrepost station. From closed positions, as well as direct fire with artillery fire, he supported the infantry attacking enemy fortifications on the left bank of the Neva. In the days of the decisive battles for the complete liberation of Leningrad, the armored train supported the offensive of the Soviet troops in the area of ​​the Ligovo station and the city of Uritska, moving forward along with the advancing army.

Photo: mechcorps. en