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Soviet Union's T-34/85 Ob 1943 medium tank

T-34/85 Medium Tank, Vpered na Berlin (onward to Berlin)	T-34/85 Medium Tank named after the poet Vladimir Mayakovskii. Location is Berlin, April 1945.	T-34/85 Medium Tank with the 44th Guards Tank Brigade, 11th Guards Tank Corps in Yugoslavia in 1945.	T-34/85 Medium Tank:
T-34/85 Medium Tank:	T-34/85 Medium Tank:	T-34/85 Medium Tank:	T-34/85 Medium Tank:
T-34/85 Medium Tank:	T-34/85 Medium Tank:	T-34/85 Medium Tanks going through Moldavian Republic after crossing the Dniester River.	T-34/85 Medium Tank: Camera Press
T-34/85 Model 1944 Medium Tank. The writing translates to "For Soviet Uzbekistan". In East Prussia in February 1945.	T-34/85 Model 1944 Medium Tank with the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade, 10th Guards Tank Corps in Prague in May 1945	PT-3 mine roller:

T-34/85 1/72 Armor
Dragon Armor	Easy Models	Forces of Valor
60248: 60249:	36271: 36274:	85018:

Design

The modernization of the T-34 was decided upon at a meeting of the State Defense Committee on August 25, 1943, after the severe losses at the battle of Kursk.² V. G. Grabin, chief designer at Artillery Factory No. 92, suggesting in the spring of 1943 to us a long barrelled 85 mm tank gun to up arm the T-34.² He used an 85 mm gun that was going to be installed in the KV-3 heavy tank.² It had to be modified to fit the T-34 and it was designated the 85 mm Tank Gun ZIS-53.²

During the 1st half of 1943 another group under General F. F. Petrov work on 2 variants of the 85 mm that was later used in the KV-85, IS-1, and SU-85.²

At Factory No. 92 in Gorki, A. Savin made a 3rd variant of the 85 mm gun.² It was mounted in a modified T-34 turret for testing.² During testing it was realized that the turret would have to be enlarged to accommodate 3 crew members to allow for the maximum possible rate of fire.² The People's Commissariat for the Armor Industry assigned the task to a development bureau in the Krasnoye Sormovo factory.² A cylindrical cupola for the commander was installed.² However, when the 85 mm gun from V.G. Grabin was installed it was discovered that it had a limited elevation.² New guns were developed and were tested at the end of 1943.² The State Defense Committee approved it for introduction to the army on December 15, 1943.²

Gun	Ammo Type	Weight	Muzzle Velocity	Penetration
85 mm Model 1944, L/53⁸	AP⁸	20.3 lb⁸	2,600'/sec⁸	4.7"@0° at 100 yards¹¹
85 mm¹		21.5 lb¹ 9.8 kg¹	2,600'/sec¹ 780 m/sec¹

Other faults in the 85 mm gun from V.G. Grabin were discovered and it was decided to use the gun from General Petrov.² This gun had bad ballistic performance and work continued on the ZIS-53.² It was tested in January 1944 and were shortly thereafter put into production.² By the end of 1944 11,778 85 mm Tank Gun ZIS S-53 were produced.²

A Tsch 16 scope was installed and it had a 16 degree field of view and 4x magnification.²

Prototype

Production

Production started in late 1943 and entered service in Guard units in March 1944.

T-34/85: 29,430²
- 1943: 283¹, 100²
- 1944: 11,778¹, 11,000^2,3
- 1945: 7,230¹, 18,330²

Variants

T-34/85:
T-34/85 Model 1944:
T-34/85-I¹: Had turret that was designed for the KV-85.¹ The turret ring had a diameter of 5.2' / 1.56 m.¹ Issued to Guard Tank units.¹ The main gun was reported to be able to penetrate the front armor of a Tiger or a Panther.¹
OT-34/85²: Had an AT-42 flame-thrower mounted in place of the hull MG.² Could shoot a flame 60-100 meters.²
PT-3: Had a PT-3 mine removal roller attached.² Engineer regiments had 22 T-34s and 18 PT-3 min removal devices.
There was a bridgelayer and mine-roller version too.

Usage

	T-34/85	T-34/85 1944²
Crew	Commander, driver, hull gunner, turret gunner, loader 5¹^,3,4,5,9, 4-5⁸	5²
Physical Characteristics
Weight	70,000 lb, 70,548 lb, 30 tons⁴, 31.5 tons^1,3,5,9, 32 tons¹ 32,000 kg¹^,3	32 tons²
Length w/gun	24.6'^5,9, 26' 5.75", 26' 8", 26' 7"³ 7.53 m⁴, 8.15 m³	8.15 m²
Length w/o gun	19' 5.25", 20', 6.29 m¹	6.1 m²
Height	7.8'^5,9, 8' 5", 8' 6", 9' 10"¹, 9' 7"³, 9'³ 2.5 m⁴, 2.74 m¹^,3	2.72 m²
Width	9.8'^5,9, 10' 6.25", 9' 10", 9' 7"¹ 2.99 m¹, 3 m⁴	3 m²
Width over tracks
Ground clearance	1' 4" 0.4 m⁴	0.4 m²
Ground contact length	12.2'⁹
Ground pressure	10.8 psi⁸, 12.37 psi 0.87 kg/cm² ⁴	0.81-0.85 kg/cm² ²
Turret ring diameter	5' 2", 1.6 m
Armament (mm)
Main	85 mm 215-553 L/51.5⁹ 85 mm ZiS-S-53³ 85 mm^1,5 85 mm L/53⁴ 85 mm M1944 S53 (D-5T)⁷ 85 mm Model 1944, L/53⁸	85 mm ZIS S-53 1944 L/51.5²
Secondary
MG	2: 7.62 mm DT MG³ 2: 7.62 mm MG¹ 2: MGs^4,9 1: MG⁵
MG - coaxial	7.62 mm DT MG^7,8	7.62 mm DT MG²
MG - hull	7.62 mm DT MG^7,8	7.62 mm DT MG²
Side arms
Quantity
Main	55⁹, 56^4,8, 60, 76⁷	56-60²
Secondary
MG	1,890⁸, 1,955⁴, 2,394⁹	1,890²
Side arms
Armor Thickness (mm)	90³ 18 - 75⁵ Front: 1.8"@60°⁸ Side: 1.8"@40°⁸
Hull Front, Upper	47 - 60⁹, 45⁴, 90, 47¹	60²
Hull Front, Lower	45
Hull Sides, Upper	45⁴, 45 - 47⁹, 60¹	45²
Hull Sides, Lower	45
Hull Rear	30, 40-45⁴, 47¹	45²
Hull Top	18 - 22⁹, 20¹, 30⁴	20-23²
Hull Bottom	18 - 22⁹, 18, 20^1,4	22²
Turret Front	3.7"⁸ 20 - 75⁹, 45-55⁴, 90¹ Mantlet: 2.3"⁸	45-75
Turret Sides	3.5"⁸, 50-55⁴, 75¹	75²
Turret Rear	50⁴, 60¹	75²
Turret Top	20^1,4	20²
Engine (Make / Model)	V-2-34⁹, W-2-34³, W-2⁴	W-2/34²
Bore / stroke	4 cycle⁸	4 stroke²
Cooling	Water^4,8
Cylinders	12⁹, V-12⁸	V-12²
Capacity
Net HP	500^5,9, 500@1,800 rpm⁸	500@1,800 rpm²
Power to weight ratio		15.6 hp/ton²
Compression ratio	15:1⁸
Transmission (Type)	Constant mesh spur gear⁸ 4 forward, 1 reverse^4,8
Steering	Clutch brake⁸
Steering ratio
Starter	Air and electric⁸
Electrical system	24-volts and 12-volt⁸
Ignition
Fuel (Type)	Diesel^5,8,9
Octane
Quantity	147 gallons (8 internal tanks)⁸, each external tank 25 gallons⁸ 480 liters⁴ Internal: 127 gallons, 214 gallons, 144 gallons External: 71 gallons	840 liters²
Road consumption	1.7 mpg⁸
Cross country consumption
Performance
Traverse	360° Hand and electric⁸	360°
Max speed	31 mph^1,5,9, 33 mph⁸, 34 mph³ 47 kph⁴, 55 kph³, 50 kph¹	50 kph²
Cross country speed	5-10 mph⁸, 18.6 mph, 21.8 mph
Road radius	186.4 miles, 186 - 220 miles⁹, 190 miles^1,3, 224 miles¹, 250 miles⁸ 360 km¹, 300 km¹^,3,4	300 km²
Cross country radius	130 - 210 miles⁹, 155 miles⁸, 193 miles¹ 160 km⁴, 310 km¹
Turning radius	25' 4" 7.7 m⁴
Elevation limits	-5° to +25°
Fording depth	47"⁸, 4' 4", 4' 3" 0.9 m⁴	1.3 m²
Trench crossing	8.2'⁸, 8' 3"	2.5 m²
Vertical obstacle	30"⁸	0.73 m²
Climbing ability	35° (70%) slope⁸	35°²
Suspension (Type)	Christie^4,8 Each wheel suspended on movable arm working against a coil spring located in the hull⁸
Wheels each side	5^4,8
Return rollers each side
Tracks (Type)	Dry pin⁸
Length
Width	1' 9.1"⁹, 1' 10" 560 mm⁴
Diameter
Number of links	72⁸
Pitch	7"⁸
Tire tread	Steel⁴
Track centers/tread

Sources:

Russian Tanks of World War II Stalin's Armored Might, by Tim Bean & Will Fowler, 2002
Russian Tanks and Armored Vehicles 1917-1945, by Wolfgang Fleischer, 1999
The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles - The Comprehensive Guide to Over 900 Armored Fighting Vehicles From 1915 to the Present Day, General Editor: Christopher F. Foss, 2002
Panzer Truppen The Complete Guide to the Creation and Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1943-1945, Thomas L. Jentz, 1996
Tanks of the World, 1915-1945, Peter Chamberlain, Chris Ellis, 1972
-
Battle Winning Tanks, Aircraft & Warships of World War II, David Miller, 2000
Tank Data, Aberdeen Proving Grounds Series, 1968?
Airfix Magazine Guide 22 Russian Tanks of World War 2, John Milsom and Steve Zaloga, 1977