The T-34-85 in Action

The column of T-34-85 tanks of the 38th Independent Tank Regiment. The "Dmitrij Donskoj" is painted on their turrets. (Federal Archive)

The first T-34-85s with their D-5T gun went to the 38th Independent Tank Regiment. This unit possessed a mixed complement: in addition to T-34-85s, it also had OT-34 flamethrower tanks. All of the regiment's combat vehicles were paid for by the Russian Orthodox Church and bore the title "Dmitrij Donskoj" on their sides (Dmitrij Donskoj is Russian national hero, he was the Grand Prince of Moscow who defeated a Mongol Horde in 1380 at the Battle of Kulikovo Field). In March 1944, the regiment became part of the 53rd Combined Arms Army and participated in the liberation of Ukraya.

It should be noted that in the course of re-equipping tank brigades, a few organizational changes took place as well. Since a T-34-85 crew consisted of five men, the personnel contingent of the anti-tank gun company assigned to the brigade's submachine-gun battalion was converted in order to fill out the crews.

Until the middle of 1945, Soviet tank units stationed in the Far East were armed largely with obsolete BT and T-26 light tanks. By the beginning of the war with Japan, these units had received 670 T-34-85 tanks. This permitted the first battalions in all independent tank brigades, and the first regiments in tank divisions, to be equipped with them. For example, the 6th Guards Tank Army, transferred to Mongolia from Europe, left its vehicles in its former deployment (Czechoslovakia), and received 408 T-34-85 tanks from factories #183 and #174 on the spot. In this fashion, these vehicles directly participated in the rout of the Kwangtung army, comprising as they did the tank formations' striking power.

The T-34-85 crew savors the victory in front of Branderburg Gates. Despite all western claims, the Russians did not use bedsprings as protection against German Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks. The Soviet industry manufactured various shields instead. On this photo you can see a kind of shield made of 5-mm wire. (RGAKFD)

A T-34-85 with the D-5T gun was the first of this type used in the Polish Army. It was delivered on 11 May 1944 to the 3rd Tank Training Regiment of the 1st Polish Army. As regards combat units, the 1st Polish Tank Brigade was the first to receive these tanks, 20 vehicles in September 1944 after the fighting around Studzyanki. In all, Polish forces received 328 T-34-85 tanks from 1944-1945 (the last 10 vehicles were delivered on 11 March). The tanks were supplied by factories No. 183, and No. 112, and from repair depots. A significant number of vehicles were lost in the course of combat operations. On 16 July 1945, 132 T-34-85 tanks were reported present in the Polish army.

All these vehicles were completely worn-out and needed overhaul. Special brigades had been formed to do this. In areas where there had been recent fighting, they removed the still working components and assemblies from knocked-out Polish, as well as Soviet, tanks. It is interesting to note that, in the course of repair, several hybrid vehicles made an appearance when the armor plate beneath the turret of an earlier production T-34 would be modified, and a turret with an 85 mm gun installed.

The 1st Independent Czechoslovak Brigade received T-34-85s at the beginning of 1945. At that time it was composed of 52 T-34-85s and 12 T-34s. The brigade, operationally subordinated to the Soviet 38th Army, took part in the heavy fighting for Ostrava. After the city of Olomouc was taken on 7 May, the brigade's 8 remaining operational tanks were transferred to Prague. The number of T-34-85 tanks delivered to Czechoslovakia in 1945 ranges in various sources from 65-130 vehicles.

Two tank brigades were formed in the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in the final stages of the war. The 1st Tank Brigade was equipped by the British. Its M3A3 light tanks were landed on Yugoslavia's Adriatic coast in July 1944. The 2nd Tank Brigade was formed with the help of the Soviet Union in 1944 and received 60 T-34-85 tanks.

An insignificant number of T-34-85 tanks were captured by German forces as well as by forces of states allied to Germany. The tanks, which were used by the Wehrmacht, were generally isolated individuals. This is understandable, in 1944-1945 the field of battle was left to the Red Army in the majority of cases. The fact that individual T-34-85s were used by the 5th SS Panzer Division "Viking," the 252nd Infantry Division, and a few other units, is well known and well established. As far as Germany's allies, in 1944 the Finns, for example, captured nine T-34-85s, six of which were used by the Finnish army until 1960.

The T-34-85 in conquered Berlin. Notice a captured MP-40 on the turret side. (M.Baryatinsky)

As often happens in war, military equipment sometimes changed hands a few times. In the spring of 1945, the 5th Guards Tank Brigade, fighting as part of the 18th Army on Czechoslovak territory, captured a T-34-85 medium tank from the Germans. It is interesting to note that, at that moment, the brigade's equipment consisted of T-70 light tanks, T-34 mediums, and a battalion of captured Hungarian tanks. The captured vehicle became the brigade's first T-34-85 tank.

After the conclusion of the Second World War, the T-34-85 formed the basis of the Soviet army's tank park for quite some time, almost until the mid 50's.

Outside the borders of the Soviet Union, the T-34-85 took part in combat operations on practically every continent, up to the very recent past. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give the precise number of these tanks delivered to one or another country, the more so because deliveries were made not only by the USSR, but also by Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The T-34-85 and its crew in Berlin. May 1945. (RGAKFD)

In essence, the T-34-85 medium tank represented a significant modernisation of the T-34 tank, resulting in the elimination of the latter's major deficiency: the cramped crew compartment that prevented a proper division of labor among crew members. This was accomplished by increasing the turret ring diameter, and also installing a new, three-man turret with significantly larger dimensions than that on the T-34. The design and arrangement of the hull components and assemblies did not undergo any significant changes because of this. Consequently, some deficiencies, characteristic of vehicles with a rear located engine and transmission, remained.

In addition to this, the turret ring diameter, if the shape of the hull was to be kept unchanged, reached its practical limits on the T-34-85. This prevented mounting a larger gun system in the turret. The potential for modernising the tank's armament had been completely exhausted in comparison, for example, with the American "Sherman" and the German Pz-IV. At the same time, the problem of increasing the caliber of the tank's main armament was of paramount significance. It is sometimes asked why it was necessary to change to an 85mm gun, couldn't the ballistic characteristics of the F-34 gun be improved by lengthening the barrel? The Germans had done exactly this with the 75mm gun on their Pz-IV.

The answer is that German gun have been traditionally characterized by excellent interior ballistics (our barrels traditionally by exterior ballistics). The Germans obtained high armor-piercing capability by increasing muzzle velocity and using high-quality ammunition. We could only reply adequately by increasing caliber. Although the S-53 gun significantly increased the T-34-85's firepower, all attempts at designing an 85mm gun with a muzzle velocity higher than 1000 meters per second, a so-called high velocity gun, ended in failure. The reason being rapid wear and destruction of the barrel while still at the testing stage. Knocking out German tanks in a "duel" required changing to the 100mm caliber, as on the T-54 with its 1815mm turret ring diameter.

An American officer inspects a tank brigade of T-34-85 in Austria. May 1945. (Federal Archive)

The absence of a rotating turret basket in the crew compartment was a consequence of the layout. In action, the loader worked while standing on the top of the ammunition crates stowed in the bottom of the tank. When the turret rotated, he had to move alongside the breech ring, and was hindered in doing so by the spent cases piled up there on the floor. During intensive firing, the piled-up cases made it difficult to get to the shells in their combat stowage in the bottom.

In considering the virtues and deficiencies of the T-34-85, one more very important factor should be taken into account. The daily life of any tank crew is, as a rule, completely undisturbed by the slope of the frontal armor or other hull or turret plates. While contemporary tank "aficionados" love to engage in silly arguments on these themes, they do not understand that what is significantly more important is that the tank, as a vehicle, that is, as the sum of its mechanical and electrical parts, runs smoothly, hopefully without problems while being used. Included in this are issues connected with repair and replacement of various parts, assemblies, and components. For the T-34-85 (just as for the T-34-76), everything was in order on exactly this point. The tank was distinguished by an exceptional ease of repair.

The T-34-85 and its Serbian crew. Bosnia, 1995. (ITAR-TASS)

There is a rule: Do not design for easy installation and removal of the components; and following from this: complete removal of the components should not be necessary during repair. The needed high operating reliability and dependability is attained by designing the tank using off-the-shelf, design-perfected components. In so far as practically not a single one of the T-34s components met this requirement, it was laid out contrary to this rule. The roof on the engine/transmission compartment was detachable, the rear hull plate folded back on hinges. This permitted easy removal of such large components as the engine and the gearbox under field conditions. This all had colossal significance in the first half of the war, when more tanks were put out of service by mechanical malfunction than by enemy action (on 1 April 1942, for example, the army in the field had 1642 functioning and 2409 non-functioning tanks of all types. At the same time, our combat losses for March consisted of 467 tanks). In as much as the quality of components was increased, achieved to the highest degree in the T-34-85, the significance of a layout that made for easy repair was decreased, but one hesitates to call this a deficiency. More than that, the ease of repair turned out to be quite fortuitous in the course of its post-war use abroad, predominantly in Asia and Africa, at times in extreme climatic conditions, and with personnel that had an extremely mediocre, to say the least, level of training.