ChKZ T-34 obr 1942 - Soviet Forces | Gallery

ChKZ T-34 obr 1942

Produced by Factory No.100 at Chelyabinsk (ChKZ) The Urals became a centre of tank production after the evacuation of the Kharkov, and parts of the Leningrad, production, and later from Stalingrad. The new tank factories were set up to take advantage of a vast tractor works built in the 1930s during collectivisation. Equipment from the tank factory at Kirov was merged with that from Leningrad. The Ural-Kirov Tank Factory in Chelyabinsk was set-up by the People’s Commissariat for the Tank Industry to produce T-34s. The Kharkov Locomotive Factory were moved to the Uralmashzavod (Ural Machine Building Plant) in the Urals and merged with the Nishni Tagil auto factory. The whole complex of factories around Chelybinsk became known later as Tankograd. One of the pieces of equipment inherited from the existing industry was a huge 5,000-ton forge-press. So rather than cast or weld the new 1942 model hexagonal T-34 turret, the Chelyabinsk factory (ChKZ) simply stamped them out from the heated metal plate. Some pressed Turrets were also used on T-34s from the Uralmash Factory at Nishni Tagil. A total 2670 of these dropforged turrets were made.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/soviet-forces/27378/chkz-t-34-obr-1942

Never heard of drop forged turrets before on these. Looks a little odd and reminds me alot of the soviet helmets.

How did the armour thickness compare to welded or cast types. If done in a single pressing it would thin quite alot the further down the formers went in the press.

The T-34 actualy had a THREE types of turrets - welded( the first developed in mass production), the molten and stamped. The stamped was pressed from a single 45-mm armored plate.Althought it was mre thin then the melted turret - it turned to be more strong against AT fire.