T-28 (medium tank)

The T-28 was a Soviet multi-turreted medium tank. The prototype was completed in 1931, and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry support tank intended to break through fortified defences. The T-28 was designed to complement the heavier T-35 (also multi-turreted), with which it shared turret designs. The type did not have great success in combat, but it played an important role as a development project for Soviet tank designers. A series of new ideas and solutions that were tried out on the T-28 were later incorporated in future models.

Design history

thumb|left|Production of the T-28

The T-28 was in many ways similar to the British Vickers A1E1 Independent—a tank which greatly influenced tank design during the interwar years, even though only a single prototype was manufactured in 1926. The Kirov Factory in Leningrad began manufacturing a tank that was based on the design of the British Independent in 1932. The T-28 tank was officially approved on 11 August 1933. The T-28 had one large turret with a 76.2 mm gun and two smaller turrets with 7.62 mm machine guns. A total of 503 T-28 tanks were manufactured over the eight-year period from 1933 to 1941.

Combat history

The T-28 was deployed during the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland, and the Winter War with Finland. During the initial stages of the Winter War, the tank was used in direct fire missions against Finnish pillboxes. In the course of these operations, it was found that the armour was inadequate and an upgrade was initiated. The frontal armour plates were upgraded from 30 mm to 80 mm and side and rear plates to 40 mm thickness. With this up-armoured version, the Red Army broke through the main Finnish defensive fortification, the Mannerheim Line.

According to Russian historian Maksim Kolomiets in his book T-28. Stalin's Three-headed Monster, over 200 T-28s were knocked out during the Winter War, but only 20 of them were irrecoverable losses (including two captured by the Finnish Army). Due to the proximity of the Kirov Plant, all other knocked-out tanks were repaired, some of them more than five times.

thumb|right|T-28 tanks, with horseshoe radio antennas.

The Finns nicknamed the T-28 Postivaunu ("mail coach" or "postal wagon") after a lone Soviet T-28 tank commander was captured with his knocked out tank that carried the monthly salary of, and mail addressed to, the 91st Tank Battalion (this occurred 19–20 December 1939, during the battle of Summa). Another explanation was that the straight vertical surfaces alluded to the stagecoaches of the Wild West. The T-28 was also nicknamed Kivitalo ("stone building", i.e., apartment house) by the Finns due to its large size.

The Finns captured two T-28s during the Winter War and five in the Continuation War, for a total of 7 vehicles. The Finnish Army did not have tractors that could tow away vehicles as heavy as the T-28, and so captured T-28s that could not move under their own power were stripped of anything useful (machine guns, radios etc.) and left where they were.

The Soviets had 411 T-28 tanks when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. but after late 1941, they were rare in Red Army service; a few were operated by enemy forces.

Assessment

The T-28 had a number of advanced features for its time, including radio (in all tanks) and anti-aircraft machine gun mounts. Just before the Second World War, many received armour upgrades, bringing its protection on par with the early Panzer IV, although its suspension and layout were outdated.

Nazi Germany - Germany captured and made operational at least one T-28 during Operation Barbarossa, designated Panzerkampfwagen T-28 746(r).
- According to one source, two were sold to Turkey in 1935, along with 60 T-26, five T-27 tankettes, and about 60 BA-6 armoured cars to form the 1st Tank Regiment of the 2nd Cavalry Division at Luleburgaz.

Notes

References

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External links

Newsmap. Monday, September 7, 1942 : week of August 28 to September 4