T-26 - WikiHQ

The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light armour became vulnerable to newer anti-tank guns. It was produced in greater numbers than any other tank of the period, with more than 11,000 units manufactured, giving it the title of the most produced tank during the interwar period. During the 1930s, the USSR developed 53 variants of the T-26, including flame-throwing tanks, combat engineer vehicles, remotely controlled tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery tractors, and armoured carriers. Twenty-three of these were series-produced; others were experimental models.

The T-26 and BT were the main tanks of the Red Army's armoured forces during the interwar period. The T-26 was the most important tank of the Spanish Civil War and played a significant role during the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938, as well as in the Winter War in 1939–40. Though nearly obsolete by the beginning of World War II, the T-26 was the most numerous tank in the Red Army's armoured force during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The T-26 fought the Germans and their allies during the Battle of Moscow in 1941–42, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus in 1942–1943; some tank units of the Leningrad Front used their T-26s until 1944. Soviet T-26 light tanks last saw use in August 1945, during the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria.

The T-26 was exported and used extensively by Spain, China and Turkey. Captured T-26s were used by the Finnish, German, Romanian and Hungarian armies. The tank was reliable and simple to maintain, and its design was continually modernised between 1931 and 1941. No new models of the T-26 were developed after 1940.

British origin

The T-26 (along with the Polish 7TP) was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton (Vickers Mk.E variant) tank, which was designed by the Vickers-Armstrongs company in 1928–29. The simple and easy-to-maintain Vickers 6-Ton was intended for export to less technically advanced countries: the Soviet Union, Poland, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Thailand, China, and many others. Vickers advertised the tank in military publications, and both the Soviet Union and Poland expressed interest in the Vickers design.

In early 1930, the Soviet buying committee, under the direction of Semyon Ginzburg, arrived in the UK to select tanks, tractors, and cars for use in the Red Army. The Vickers 6-Ton was among four tank models selected by Soviet representatives during their visit to Vickers-Armstrongs. Under the contract signed on 28 May 1930, the company delivered to the USSR 15 twin-turreted Vickers Mk.E (Type A, armed with two .303 in (7.71 mm) water-cooled Vickers machine guns) tanks together with full technical documentation to enable series production of the tank in the USSR. The ability of the two turrets of the Type A to turn independently made it possible to fire to both the left and right at once, which was considered advantageous for breakthroughs of field entrenchments. Several Soviet engineers participated in assembly of the tanks at the Vickers factory in 1930.

The first four Vickers 6-Ton tanks arrived in the USSR at the end of 1930. The last tanks arrived in 1932, when series production of the T-26 was already in progress. The British tanks were sent to Soviet factories for study in preparation for series production and to military educational institutions and training units. Later, some tanks were given to military supply depots and proving grounds. The Vickers-built 6-Ton tanks were called V-26 in the USSR. Three British tanks were tested for cross-country ability at the small proving ground near Moscow on Poklonnaya Hill in January 1931. Kliment Voroshilov ordered the creation of the "Special Commission for the Red Army (RKKA) new tanks" under the direction of S. Ginzburg to define the tank type suitable for the Red Army. The T-19 8-ton light infantry tank, developed by S. Ginzburg under that programme at the Bolshevik Plant in Leningrad, was a competitor to the British Vickers 6-Ton. The first prototype of the complex and expensive T-19 was finished in August 1931. Because both tanks had advantages and disadvantages, S. Ginzburg suggested developing a more powerful, hybrid tank (the so-called "improved" T-19) with the hull, home-developed engine and armament from the native T-19, and the transmission and chassis from the British Vickers 6-Ton.

thumb|The prototype of the TMM-1 light infantry tank during tests in early 1932

On 26 January 1931, I. Khalepsky, Head of the Department of Mechanisation and Motorisation of the RKKA, wrote a letter to S. Ginzburg with information obtained via the intelligence service that the Polish government had decided to purchase Vickers 6-Ton light infantry tanks as well as Christie M1931 cavalry tanks and to mass-produce them with the assistance of both the British and French. Because Poland was then considered, in Soviet military doctrine, to be the USSR's main enemy, the Soviet Revolutionary Military Council decided to pass the foreign tanks into Red Army service, starting their production immediately without waiting for the completion of development works, in order to counter possible aggression. At that time, the RKKA had only several dozen outdated Mark V heavy tanks and Medium Mk.A and Renault FT tanks, captured during the Russian Civil War, together with various armoured cars and obsolescent domestic MS-1 (T-18) light infantry tanks. On 13 February 1931, the Vickers 6-Ton light infantry tank, under the designator T-26, officially entered service in the Red Army as the "main tank for close support of combined arms units and tank units of High Command Reserve".

One of the Vickers 6-Ton tanks (equipped with Soviet-made turrets for the pilot batch of T-26 tanks) was tested for gunfire resistance in August 1931. The hull was subjected to rifle and Maxim machine gun fire with the use of normal and armour-piercing bullets at a range of . It was found that the armour withstood gunfire with minimal damage (only some rivets were damaged). Chemical analysis showed that the front armour plates were made from high-quality cemented armour ("S.t.a Plat" according to Vickers-Armstrongs classification), whereas the homogenous roof and bottom armour plates were made from mediocre steel. Even so, the British armour was better than armour produced by Izhora Factory for the first T-26s because of a shortage of modern metallurgical equipment in the USSR at that time.

At the same time, the Faculty of Mechanisation and Motorisation of the Military Technical Academy named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky developed two tank models (TMM-1 and TMM-2) based on the Vickers 6-Ton tank design but with an American Hercules six-cylinder water-cooled engine, improved front armour (to 15–20 mm), and a driver's position on the left side. TMM stands for tank maloy moshchnosti or "tank of low power". The TMM-1 was equipped with transmission details from the native and a ball mount for the DT tank machine gun in front of the hull, whereas the TMM-2 was equipped with an improved gearbox, a clutchless steering device and a 37 mm Hotchkiss gun in the right turret. Representatives from the main Soviet tank manufacturers together with officials from the RKKA Mobilization Department considered the Hercules engine to be too difficult to produce, and the engine tended to overheat inside the engine compartment. Tests of TMM-1 and TMM-2 prototypes performed in the beginning of 1932 demonstrated no advantage over the Vickers 6-Ton and the T-26 (the TMM-2's maneuverability was found to be even worse).

Design

left|thumb|Maintenance of the T-26 mod. 1931 (with riveted hull and turrets). This tank was produced in the first half of 1932—the exhaust silencer is mounted with two clamps and the cover over the air outlet window. The [[Moscow Military District. Mid-1934.]]

The Soviets did not simply replicate the Vickers 6-Ton. However, like its British counterpart, the T-26 mod. 1931 had a twin-turreted configuration and was designed to carry two machine guns, mounting one in each turret. A major difference was that the Soviet T-26 mod. 1931 had higher turrets (with an observation slit) than the British 6-Ton. Soviet turrets had a round firing port for the Degtyarev light machine gun, as opposed to the rectangular ports used by the original British design for the Vickers machine gun. The front part of the hull was also slightly modified.

Hulls of twin-turreted T-26s were assembled using armoured plates riveted to a frame from metal angles. Some tanks, produced in 1931, had sealing zinc shims at the hull bottom between armoured plates for fording water obstacles. After problems with rain entering the engine compartment, a special cover was installed over an air outlet window after March 1932. Some T-26s produced at the end of 1932–1933 had a riveted and welded hull. The T-26 mod. 1931 had two cylindrical turrets mounted on ball bearings; each turret turned independently through 240°. Both turrets could provide common fire in front and rear arcs of fire (100° each). The disadvantage of such a configuration was that not all of the tank's firepower could be used at once on the same side. Four turret modifications existed, and they were mounted on tanks in different combinations (for instance, a tank with a riveted hull could have riveted and welded turrets).

The hull and turrets of the T-26 mod. 1931 had a maximum armour thickness of 13–15 mm (until 1938, see below), which was sufficient to withstand light machine gun fire. Many twin-turreted tanks of the first series had 10 mm armour plates of low quality, which could be penetrated by 7.62 mm armour-piercing bullets from

In 1933, the Soviets unveiled the T-26 mod. 1933. This model, which had a new single cylindrical turret carrying one 45-mm cannon L/46 (length in calibers, which meant quite high initial velocity, over 700–800 m/s depending on ammunition) and one 7.62 mm machine gun,

:* T-26V V=Vetäjä (Towing): Finnish variant proposed for towing anti-tank guns. Similar to the T-26T artillery tractor. 3 prototypes converted from captured T-26s in 1944.

:* Vânătorul de care R35: Romanian tank destroyer based on the Renault R35, using the T-26's 45 mm 20-K gun. The first prototype even used the turret of a captured T-26.

Survivors

thumb|T-26 mod. 1931 with riveted hull and turrets. [[Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow|Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Russia. 2008.]]thumb|T-26 mod. 1933. El Goloso Museum in Madrid, Spain. 2007.

thumb|Modified KhT-26 with early BT-5 turret, often incorrectly labeled as "T-26 mod. 1933". [[Parola Tank Museum, Finland. 2006.]]

There are about 45 T-26 tanks of various models preserved in different museums and military schools (mainly Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Finnish). The most notable of them are:

Twin-turreted T-26 mod. 1931 in the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow (Russia): this tank from the 115th Rifle Division with shell holes was raised from a river bottom on the site of river crossing at Nevsky Pyatachok in July 1989 by Katran diving club. The vehicle was restored at the Pärnu Training Tank Regiment of the Leningrad Military District. It was donated to the museum in February 1998. Only two such vehicles are preserved at the present time.
Twin-turreted T-26 mod. 1931 with gun plus machine gun armament and riveted hull in the Kubinka Tank Museum in Moscow Oblast (Russia). The single surviving twin-turreted T-26 armed with the 37 mm gun.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow (Russia): this late production variant was transferred from Kubinka Tank Museum in the 1980s.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the museum-diorama "Breaching of the Leningrad Blockade" in Mar'ino village near Kirovsk, Leningrad Oblast (Russia): this tank was raised from a river bottom at Nevsky Pyatachok in May 2003, without its turret and with a large shell hole on the right side of the hull. It is now displayed with a turret, but the shell hole in the hull is still present.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the Museum of the Northwestern Front in Staraya Russa, Novgorod Oblast (Russia): this tank was raised from the Lovat River in 1981 and became a monument to Soviet tankers in Korovitchino village (Novgorod Oblast). The vehicle was given to the museum in May 2004. The tank has inauthentic tracks.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the El Goloso Barracks Museum in Madrid (Spain): the tank (Spanish tactical number 135) with Nationalist Spanish markings with pressed gun mask is armed with a Hotchkiss machine gun instead of a DT tank machine gun. Produced in 1936. The anti-aircraft machine gun and the hand-rail radio antenna are late dummies.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the Museo Histórico Militar de Cartagena, Spain with Nationalist Spanish markings, in drivable condition.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the Parola Tank Museum (Finland): Finnish tactical number Ps 163–33, in drivable condition.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the Parola Tank Museum (Finland): this tank is described in many sources as early version of the T-26 mod. 1933. But in reality this is the Finnish war-time modernization (Finnish tactical number Ps 163–16) of a hull from KhT-26 flame-throwing tank (which can be identified by rivets for mounting of a burning mixture tank, rivets for hinges of a filling hatch on the left side and a welded drain port on the right side behind a front track bogie) with a mounted riveted turret with a small rear niche from the early BT-5 light tank.
T-26 mod. 1933 in the Parola Tank Museum (Finland): the Finnish wartime modernization (Finnish tactical number Ps 163–28) of a hull from KhT-26 flame-throwing tank with a mounted turret from the BT-7 light tank.
T-26 mod. 1933 in front of the Istanbul Military Museum (Turkey). One of the 64 T-26 Tanks that were purchased from Russia in 1934. The T-26 remained in service with the Turkish army until 1943.
T-26 mod. 1939 in the Kubinka Tank Museum, Moscow Oblast (Russia): this tank with pressed turret front armoured plate is in drivable condition (the GAZ-41 engine from the BRDM-2 was installed in 2005). The tank has combat damage taken during the Great Patriotic War (many marks from armour-piercing bullets and a welded hole on the right side of the turret from a 50 mm shell).
T-26 mod. 1939 in the Parola Tank Museum, (Finland): the Finnish war-time modernization (Finnish tactical number Ps 164–7); a hull from a KhT-133 flame-throwing tank with a mounted turret from the T-26 mod. 1938/1939 and a ball mount for the DT tank machine gun in a hull front armoured plate.
KhT-130 flame-throwing tank in the Kubinka Tank Museum, Moscow Oblast (Russia): in reality this is the TU-26 teletank control vehicle with a dummy flame-thrower.
KhT-130 flame-throwing tank in the Military Unit No. 05776 in Borzya, Chita Oblast (Russia): monument (since 1995) with an incomplete chassis (one track bogie is missing; tracks and driving wheels were taken from the M3 Stuart American light tank). Before 1990 the vehicle stood in the territory of one of military units of the Soviet 39th Army (located in Mongolia) of the Transbaikal Military District. The single preserved KhT-130 at the present time.
T-26 Model 1933 in the Bovington tank museum, UK. T-26A vehicle. Recovered, converted into a T-26B and used by Finnish forces.

Operators

Nationalist China − Operated by the 200th Division
− Captured during the Winter War
− Captured Soviet vehicles
− Captured Soviet vehicles
− Captured Soviet vehicles
− Operated T-26s as late as August 1945
− approximately 300 tanks were supplied by the Soviet Union and used in the Spanish civil war
Spanish Nationalists − Limited use of captured Republican tanks in the Spanish civil war
− 64 T-26 Mod. 1933s [1934-1943] (Two T-26 Mod. 1931s and T-27s were received in 1932).

Notes

References

Published sources

Special Issue No. 2. Subscription index in the Rospechat Catalogue 73474.
Daley, John (1999). "Soviet and German Advisors Put Doctrine to the Test" in Armor, 1 May 1999. Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center. ISSN 0004-2420.
Hughes-Wilson, John (2006). "Snow and Slaughter at Suomussalmi" in Military History, 1 January 2006. ISSN 0889-7328.
Woodel, Rosemary C. (April 2003). Freezing in hell in Military History, Vol. 20 Issue 1. ISSN 0889-7328
Zaloga, Steven J. "Soviet Tank Operations in the Spanish Civil War ", in Journal of Slavic Military Studies, vol 12, no 3, September 1999.
Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1981). Soviet Heavy Tanks. London: Osprey Publishing. .
Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press. .

External links

T-26: Development History and combat employment , short info about the T-26
T-26 mod. 1931 , photos of twin-turreted T-26
T-26 mod. 1933 , photos of T-26 mod. 1933
T-26 mod. 1938/39 , photos of T-26 mod. 1938 and mod. 1939
T-26 with additional armour , photos of T-26 with appliqué armour
Light tank T-26, combat use of the T-26 (in Russian), many photos of T-26
Foreign tanks in Finnish service, Axis History Factbook, Axis History
Russia's T-26 Light Tanks, www.wwiivehicles.com
Ferris, Dave (2000–2003). "Russian/Soviet Section I (1915 to 1944) Russian/Soviet Section I (1915 to 1944)", in The Book of Tanks: A Wargamer's Portable Guide to Tanks, Self-Propelled Guns, Armoured Cars, and Personnel Carriers from World War I through the 1990s, self-published, URL accessed 2006-11-10
T-26 tanks, T-26 tanks in museums and monuments

Video

Tank T-26, T-26 mod. 1939 in drivable condition from the Kubinka Tank Museum, Russia (with short historical background about the armoured forces of the USSR at that time, in Russian)
Tank T-26, T-26 mod. 1939 in drivable condition from the Kubinka Tank Museum (Russia)
Tank T-26, replica of T-26 mod. 1933 (with a historical scene, in Russian)
Tank T-26, T-26 mod. 1939 in drivable condition from the Parola Tank Museum (Finland)
Tank T-26, T-26 mod. 1939 in drivable condition from the Parola Tank Museum (Finland)