T-34 Tank

Photos below courtesy of Marek Cieliczko from Warsaw.
Marek had a holiday in Gdansk and looking at T-34 at Westerplatte monument he discovered something interesting:

As you can see this T-34 is one of very early versions.

Cover of ball bearing on the left side wheel is opened:

If you enlarge the photo…

Obvious sign of German-Sopviet co-operation before 22 of June 1941.

Just to inform you. Westerplatte in Gdansk - Danzig is the place credited as the place where the first shots of WWII were fired.

This German ball bearing in soviet T-34 in this place is somewhat symbolic…

Cheers,

Lancer44

Thankies Lancer44!! =D

This German ball bearing in soviet T-34 in this place is somewhat symbolic…

This could be the ball bearing from the cuptured german vechicles( tank or self-propelled gun). Standarts mechanism sizes were unificated in USSR and the Germany from sovet-german cooperation in 1928-1932 yy .
I don’t know were the bearing supplese in 1939-1941 from the Germany, but i think no.

Why “Germany” and not “Deutschland”?

Len Deighton writes in Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk of significant Soviet-German cooperation in the early 1930s and that the Soviets allowed the German Army to conduct small scale armored maneuvers on her soil. I can’t find my copy to verify this though, since it’s in storage.

Plenty of business and diplomatic cooperation between Britain and France(and the US) and Nazi Germany before the war, but of course all that doesn’t count!

Jasa, YOU SAID BEFORE THE WAR.
WAR NOT STARTED 22-nd OF JUNE 1941 or 7-th OF DECEMBER 1941, but
1-st of September 1939.
Anytime someone mention co-operation of soviets with nazis and their part in conquering Western Europe you are jumping up.
Not very convenient parts of your puzzle?
Batko Stalin as a warmonger… Ooooh, how painful picture of otherwise unblemished Georgian gentlemen.

Lancer44

By the way , mate ,some hitorians consider the begining of WW2 after the Japanese invasion of China in the end 1920-yy.
And Why Britain’s and France’s interaction with Nazi BEFORE THE WAR IS BETTER then USSR-Germans interaction AFTER 1 sep 1939 and till 22 june 1941.
Just becouse it was against the Poles.
But tell me please, mate, why Britain and France tried to direct german agression to the East ( across the Poland). And why Churchil didn’t wish to sign the allied pact with Stalin till 1939.
As you know he prefered to “sold the Chechoslovakia”.

Anytime someone mention co-operation of soviets with nazis and their part in conquering Western Europe you are jumping up.
Not very convenient parts of your puzzle?
Batko Stalin as a warmonger… Ooooh, how painful picture of otherwise unblemished Georgian gentlemen.

Mate, i dont like the Stalin too, but what he did till 1939 was the resault of political isolation of USSR by Britain. Entire year till 1939 Stalin tried to get the soviet-bratain-france pact about collective war cooperation, but Churchil didn’t consider him as the possible partner.
I believe it could be possible to stop the germany in 1939 if USSR-GB-France pack was sign. But no.
Several times Chemberlen flyed to the Berlin till 1938 for the meeting with Hitler, but not he not Churchil never meet the Stalin till 1943.

Who said that? In fact, the Germans used IBM ‘punch-machine’ analog computers to tally Holocaust death tolls and to keep other records…

And Chevan, many historians view WWII as merely an extension of WWI hostilities.

He he ge :wink:
Nice joke Nick.

Maybe you nothing hear about Britain-France-Germany Munhen agreements (1938) about “devision” of the Chechoslovakia.
Or about oil ( and materials) supplies of American companies to the Germany till 1939 and to the Japane till Prerl Harlbor…

And Chevan, many historians view WWII as merely an extension of WWI hostilities.

Those many historians just consider the WW2 as the resault of WW1. But the real begin of war action of WW2 was in China.

Uh yeah genius, I said BEFORE THE WAR, as in as far back as 1934, when Stalin first tried to propose the idea of an anti-Fascist coalition involving Britain and France.

I wasn’t joking. I’ve read this. The US used the same machine to keep track of service personnel records.

Maybe you nothing hear about Britain-France-Germany Munhen agreements (1938) about “devision” of the Chechoslovakia.
Or about oil ( and materials) supplies of American companies to the Germany till 1939 and to the Japane till Prerl Harlbor…

Those many historians just consider the WW2 as the resault of WW1. But the real begin of war action of WW2 was in China.

I’ve heard plenty of all of the above. I think it was common knowledge of US servicemen in the Pacific, that they may well be shooting at aircraft constructed with US sourced aluminum. One of the main reasons for the Pacific War was the US embargo of Japan and cutting off her oil supply.

I believe this was a great tank used in the U.S.S.R. It’s armour was amazing. Good accuracy. Here is some information on the tank.

Crew 4
Length 6.75 m
Wigth 3.00 m
Height 2.45 m
Weight 30.9 tonnes
ARMOUR AND ARMAMENT
Armour 70mm Sloped Plate 45-47mm
Main Armament 76.2 mm F-34 tank gun
Secondary Armament 2x7 62mm DT machine guns
MOBILITY
Power Plant 12-cyl. diesel model V-2 500hp (373 KW)
Suspension Christie
Road Speed 55 km/h
Power/weight 16.2 hp/tonne
Range 465 km
(information from www.wikipedia.com)

Armour 70mm

Only in the gun mantlet, the rest of the vehicle had sloped plate of 45-47mm.

First of all calm down man with the pics ,second of all yea,that tank kick booty,but I like the Panzer IV better.:slight_smile:

Agreed. The hatch is very unique…I like it :slight_smile:

Could the hatch (Opened) be used as a shield for the commander or crew?

Yes it can be, if you put it up. In the winter war tankers prefered for it to be closed for warmth.

How much armor plating did it have compared to the rest of the tank?

I am not for sure, but my reading on other WW2 tanks the armour should be about the same all over the tank.

Well the T-34 tank was a mass production tank with the purpose to outgunn the much stronger german mark IV V (Panther) and VI(Tiger) tanks.That tactic succeded but with many casulties because the weak armor and gun.Also it was easy to drive and russian farmers didnt need any special trening to drive it.