Howitzer m 30 1942 serial numbers 7232. Initial projectile speed
Russia's losses from the forced emigration of part of its intelligentsia in 1917 - early 1920s. significant. Among the exiles there were prominent people creativity in various fields of culture and science. One of the most important figures in this series is the great aircraft designer Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky - Ilya Muromets of the Russian aircraft industry.
He was born on May 25, 1889 in Kyiv in the family of the son of a rural Orthodox priest, professor of the Department of Psychiatry at Kyiv University Ivan Alekseevich Sikorsky (1842–1919), the founder of the study of problems of child psychology and neuropathology in Russian medicine and the author of several works on ethnopsychology. Ivan Alekseevich was also known for his right-wing political views and participated in the work of the Kyiv Club of Russian Nationalists.
In 1906, Igor Sikorsky graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps, but did not want to continue his career as a naval officer: with early youth he was attracted by aviation, which was rapidly developing at that time. In 1907, he entered the mechanical department of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, where there was an aeronautical section of the mechanical circle. In July 1909, a young enthusiast built his first, very primitive helicopter, the carrying capacity of which was only 140 kg. However, this device was never able to take off. Having failed, Sikorsky switched to creating airplanes. And already on June 3, 1910, he took into the air the first aircraft of his own design, the S-2. It flew only about 200 m at an altitude of 1–1.5 m, but it was the third flight in Russia on a domestically designed airplane.
Sikorsky persistently improved the quality of his devices, they rose higher and higher. In 1911, the S-5 model made the first flight in Russia with a passenger on board. In the same year, Igor Ivanovich received an invitation to take part in military maneuvers near Kiev, where his S-5 installed four Russian records: altitude – 500 m, flight range – 85 km, duration – 52 minutes, speed – 125 km/h. Emperor Nicholas II, who was present at the maneuvers, met with the young designer and wished him further success. In December 1911, using the new model S-6, Sikorsky set a world record for flight with two passengers - the first Russian world record at all - reaching a speed of 111 km/h.
In 1912, the inventor received an offer to take the position of “supervising the construction of his aircraft” at the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works, which, in addition to salary and royalties, pledged to provide him with the opportunity to create at least one prototype aircraft per year. “From that moment on, Sikorsky turned from an amateur aviator into a professional aircraft design engineer, earning money with his skills and knowledge.” (N.V. Ovchinnikov). He soon became manager of the plant's aviation department.
In May 1913, at the age of 24, Sikorsky was the first in the world to create a multi-engine aircraft, the Russian Knight, which was almost 2 times larger in size than conventional airplanes. Nicholas II wished to get acquainted with the new aircraft. On behalf of the emperor, the creator of “Vityaz” was presented with a gold watch with a diamond image state emblem. In October 1913, the construction of a new four-engine aircraft, the Ilya Muromets, was completed, which became an improved version of the Vityaz. With the same total engine power, the Muromets could lift twice the load. For him, Sikorsky was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree, and also received a state grant to continue his work. "Muromets" was planned as a passenger aircraft, but at that time the First World War began, and it became a bomber.
The revolutionary events of 1917 radically changed the life of a successful aircraft designer. Aviation production, like industry as a whole, found itself in a catastrophic state; the Russian-Baltic Plant was nationalized by the “workers’ and peasants’” government. In February 1918, Sikorsky left Russia and, after living briefly in France, moved to New York in March 1919. For a long time he was unable to resume work in his specialty, the aircraft designer was forced to give inexpensive mathematics lessons at an evening school for Russian emigrants and give lectures on aviation and astronomy to all those interested. Only in March 1923 was it registered in New York new company– Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation, whose shareholders and employees were mainly Russian emigrants. The company's initial capital was only $800, and it was located in poultry farm Russian emigrant, former pilot V.V. Utgof.
Important assistance to the new business was provided by the composer S.V. Rachmaninov, who bought shares of the company for 5 thousand dollars (later Sikorsky would return this money to him with interest). This amount was enough to complete the construction of the new S-29A aircraft, which became one of the first twin-engine aircraft in the United States. By the end of 1924, the S-29A had made 45 flights and carried 420 passengers. In total, the plane took off about 200 times without ever suffering an accident. In May 1927, it was sold to aviator R. Turner for $11,000.
In 1925, the Sikorsky company reorganized, receiving the name Sikorsky Manufacturing Company. The post of its president was taken over by Massachusetts businessman Arnold Dickinson, who made a large financial contribution to the company. I. I. Sikorsky became vice president and chief designer. The first S-37 aircraft was sold to an American airline that operated flights to South America. It took up to 18 passengers on board, reached a speed of 195 km/h, rose to a height of 5 km and flew over the Andes Mountains - for the first time in the world. Another S-37 ordered american army. It was intended for use as a night bomber, carrying up to 5 tons of load.
In the 1930s Sikorsky, along with the construction of aircraft, also began designing flying boats, amphibians and seaplanes. The S-38 amphibian was a great commercial success. Pan American chief pilot Charles Lindbergh, who tested it, praised the aircraft's flight qualities, its convenience and safety for passengers. On new model orders from airlines poured in: the S-38 was bought by military sailors, the army, the marines, and oil companies. Back in 1928, the company acquired a plot of land in the town of Stratford, near Bridgeport, Connecticut, for the construction of a new plant, and reorganized into Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Among the plant's workers and engineers were about a hundred Russian emigrants, now American citizens (Sikorsky himself also received US citizenship in 1928). The Russian community of Stratford built an Orthodox church - the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
At the end of the 1930s. there was a drop in demand for seaplanes, and Sikorsky switched to the production of helicopters, i.e., he returned to where he began his design career. During the Second World War, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation produced 420 S-47, S-48 and S-49 helicopters under a contract with the military department. Thanks to Igor Sikorsky, the United States was the only country that had its own helicopter industry by the end of the war.
After the war, the company switched to civilian or dual-purpose helicopters. In 1947, 5 S-51s flew mail in Los Angeles, the world's first helicopter postal service. S-51s were also delivered abroad. In December 1946, the British acquired a license to produce the S-51, after which they began their own serial helicopter production. In 1948, the Royal Aeronautical Society awarded Sikorsky an honorary prize - the Grand Silver Medal - for his contribution to the development of British helicopter manufacturing. By mid-1950, the US Army already had 161 S-51 helicopters. It was also used for civilian purposes.
Since the late 1940s. Igor Sikorsky focused on creating heavy transport vehicles, big success had the S-55 model. In total, Sikorsky Aircraft built 1282 S-55 helicopters of various modifications over 12 years - 1025 military and 257 civilian. To fulfill constantly growing orders, the plant had to be expanded. The number of its employees in 1953 was already 4 thousand people. In 1954–1955 was built new plant in Bridgeport. In 1952, the S-55 was the first helicopter in the world to make a transatlantic flight and became the most popular transport helicopter of its time. Since 1953, these helicopters began serving international passenger flights in Europe, and were also adopted by the armies of 40 countries. The following models were also widely recognized - S-56 and S-58. In addition to fulfilling orders for the army and civilian companies, Sikorsky's company has supplied helicopters to the White House since 1957. N. S. Khrushchev liked the “presidential” S-58 during his stay in the USA in 1959, and he purchased 2 of these helicopters for travel.
On May 25, 1957, Igor Ivanovich resigned from his position as chief designer of Sikorsky Aircraft, remaining as a consultant to the company. The year he left his post, the company already employed about 11 thousand people, Sikorsky Aircraft was provided with orders for many years to come. During the designer’s lifetime, his company built and sold more than 5 thousand helicopters.
Igor Sikorsky's career in the USA was brilliant; he was literally showered with awards and honorary titles. Suffice it to say that his name is included in the USA in the National Inventors Hall of Fame along with the names of Edison, Boehm, Fermi, O. and W. White, Pasteur. The John Fritz Medal of Honor "For scientific and technical achievements in the field of basic and applied sciences" in the field of aviation was awarded to only two people - Orville Wright and Igor Sikorsky.
However, the great aircraft designer never forgot that he was a Russian man, and took an active part in public and cultural life Russian emigration. Igor Ivanovich was a member of the steering committee of the Pushkin Foundation and took part in its events: on February 1, 1937, he gave a speech in Bridgeport dedicated to the poet. He also participated in the activities of the Tolstoy Foundation, which aimed to provide financial assistance Russian emigrants, since 1954 being its vice-president. On February 28, 1938, in New York, Sikorsky spoke at a meeting dedicated to the 950th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. Igor Ivanovich was a member of a number of emigrant monarchist societies; for example, in 1937, he joined the Union of Zealots of the Memory of Emperor Nicholas II.
Sikorsky had a sharply negative attitude towards the communist regime established in the USSR; in particular, he stated: “There is no doubt that pirates, bandits, and criminals around the world have shed less blood in a thousand years than the communists in Russia in a quarter of a century.”
...In 1933, Sikorsky was extremely interested in receiving financial assistance from the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States. But the cooperation did not work out, since Igor Ivanovich did not consider himself a Ukrainian: “My family, which comes from a village in the Kiev region, where my grandfather and father were priests, is of purely Ukrainian origin. However, we consider ourselves Russian.” According to Sikorsky, Ukraine is an integral part of Russia, “just like Texas or Louisiana are an integral part of the United States.”
Religion played an important role in the life of Igor Ivanovich; he was a deeply religious Orthodox person, author of a number of religious and philosophical works - “The Meaning of the Lord’s Prayer” (1942), “The Invisible Meeting” (1947), “The Evolution of the Soul” (1949), “In Search of Higher Realities” (1969). In his opinion, science and religion do not contradict each other at all; moreover, interest in the structure of the world is absolutely natural for people - just as the interest of children in the affairs of their father is natural. In the organic world, natural laws operate; the life of the human soul is determined by its relationship with God.
Sikorsky in his thoughts showed particular interest in the problem of the life of the soul after death: “Summarizing our ideas about earthly life, we can call it a wonderful gift, an opportunity given to human beings for the development of such character and individual qualities that are desirable and valuable for survival in a more high reality... We understand eternity not as an endless repetition of days and centuries, but as life on a higher level of reality, beyond the limitations of time... Inspired writers of past times called this more high level reality with eternity... Eternal life is non-existence, stretched in the stream of time for endless trillions of years. This real life, which surpasses the current one and arises in a reality of a higher order. From the point of view of this order, our present life is unreal - like a shadow or a dream."
Sikorsky, based on his Christian worldview, rather pessimistically assessed the moral state of his contemporary civilization: “We live in one of the darkest eras of human history... Achievements of scientific and technological progress over last centuries raised material standards of life highly and provided humanity with amazing toys of electricity, flying machines, radio, etc., but ultimately did nothing to raise the spiritual level of people... In the enlightened and civilized twentieth century, modern Herods, with the same goal of maintaining their the authorities, like the ancient Herod, are ready to destroy thousands of innocent children with bombs and hunger blockades.”
Two words about the personal life of the aircraft designer. From his first marriage, which took place back in Russia, he had a daughter, Tatyana, who later became a professor of sociology at the University of Bridgeport. Sikorsky married for the second time in 1924 to Elizaveta Alekseevna Semyonova. This marriage produced four sons. The eldest, Sergei, worked in his father’s company, was its vice president, the rest chose other professions: Nikolai became a violinist, Igor became a lawyer, Georgiy became a mathematician.
The great Russian man Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky died on October 26, 1972 and was buried in the town of Easton, Connecticut.
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Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a genius. At the age of 24, he presented Nicholas II with the world's first multi-engine aircraft, the Russian Knight, which opened the era of heavy aviation, then Sikorsky became the founder of wind turbine construction.
First helicopter
Igor Sikorsky was born on May 6, 1889 in Kyiv. He was the fifth child in the family. The parents of the future “father of aircraft manufacturing” were intelligent people and both had medical education. The head of the family, Ivan Alekseevich, professor at the University of St. Vladimir, received world fame as the author of numerous works on psychiatry, general psychology and neuropsychiatric hygiene. In 1913, Sikorsky Sr. was invited as an expert to the trial of the scandalous “Beilis case.” Ivan Alekseevich gave a conclusion in which he assumed the “ritual nature of the murder.” The subsequent wave of anti-Semitism and pogroms undermined Ivan Alekseevich’s health, and he never returned to the university. Sikorsky’s mother instilled in her son a love of art, from her little Igor learned about Leonardo da Vinci and his development of flying machines. Sikorsky's favorite book was Jules Verne's novel Robur the Conqueror. The aircraft from this book may have become the prototype of Sikorsky's future projects. Igor Sikorsky made his first model of an aircraft at the age of 12; it was a helicopter with a rubber motor.
From cadets to engineers
Sikorsky did not immediately decide to become an aircraft designer. At one time, Igor Ivanovich studied in the naval cadet corps, but entering there was more likely to follow in the footsteps of his older brother than “a decision for life.” Although Sikorsky was satisfied with his studies in the cadet corps, he makes the fateful decision to enter a higher technical institution and dreams of becoming an engineer. The year was 1906, Russia was in a fever with waves of revolutionary protest, and universities actually did not work. Sikorsky does not waste time and goes to study in Paris, at the Duvignot de Lano technical school.
After studying there for a year, Sikorsky returned to Kyiv and entered the Polytechnic Institute. Showing good results in academic performance, Igor Ivanovich still decides that he should not waste time studying disciplines that are not required for an aircraft designer. Sikorsky will receive his diploma only 7 years later, already being a famous aircraft designer. Now he is traveling to Europe, where he meets latest developments aircraft industry and buys an engine in Paris. Returning to Kyiv, Sikorsky builds his first “helicopter”, but fails twice - the helicopters do not have enough thrust. Sikorsky decides to start developing airplanes with rigidly fixed wings, without abandoning his dream of helicopter construction.
Madness of the Brave
Aircraft manufacturing at the beginning of the 20th century was the lot of people who were fanatical and brave to the point of madness. Taking to the air in a small plane with a wooden slatted fuselage is an activity for the elite. Numerous accidents of the first aircraft, however, did not stop the pioneers of aircraft construction. Sikorsky personally tested his gliders and came close to death several times.
On June 3, 1910, he took off for the first time on a BiS-2 (S-2) aircraft, but real success came later, when the fifth modification of the Sikorsky aircraft (S-5) took off into the sky. The hard work was not in vain. In his biplane, Sikorsky passed the pilot exam, set four All-Russian records, made demonstration flights and even gave rides to passengers. At the beginning of September 1911, military maneuvers took place. Sikorsky took part in them and demonstrated the superiority of his aircraft over foreign brands. It must be understood that at this time Igor Sikorsky was a 22-year-old dropout student.
"Russian Knight"
“Star sickness” is not about Sikorsky. The young engineer had no intention of stopping in his research and development. An important point became Sikorsky's understanding future role heavy aviation. He decides to take a truly bold step - designing a four-engine aircraft suitable for operation in difficult conditions. Russian climate. It had to be a reliable aircraft that, among other improvements, could also be repaired during flight. In March 1913, such an aircraft was built. It was given the name “Grand”, but after several flights it was renamed “Russian Knight”. The plane quickly became a legend; the world simply did not believe that such an aircraft was a reality; Nicholas II personally inspected the “Russian Knight” and boarded it. The king awarded the young inventor a gold watch. The aircraft, which exceeded in size and take-off weight all those built so far, marked the beginning of a new direction in aviation - heavy aircraft construction.
Revolution
Sikorsky did not accept the revolution. After successful tests of the “Russian Knight”, the 24-year-old engineer becomes a world celebrity and national hero. Until 1917, Sikorsky designed more than two dozen flying machines, two helicopters, three snowmobiles and one aircraft engine. At the age of 25, Sikorsky became a holder of the Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree. Revolutionary unrest stopped factories, there were strikes everywhere, Sikorsky’s planes also “did not leave the stocks.” Plus, he, a famous aircraft designer, was known for his devotion to the court. It was unsafe to remain in Russia and Sikorsky emigrated, first to France, then to the USA.
Self-made
The fate of Sikorsky is the story of a self-made man. In America, Sikorsky, having worked for some time as a school teacher, gathered a team of like-minded people from among emigrants and eventually created his own company, which still exists today. Many of our emigrants provided assistance to the “Russian company”. Rachmaninov at one time was even listed as vice president of the corporation. The Sikorsky company became a real Mecca for white emigration. Suffice it to say that Admiral B.A. Blokhin was a simple worker here. Famous historiographer white movement, Cossack General S.V. Denisov prepared his historical research while working at the Sikorsky Corporation as a night watchman. In America, Sikorsky had the opportunity not only to work hard and fruitfully, developing amphibious aircraft and other machines, but also to return to his childhood dream - creating helicopters. Needless to say, Sikorsky succeeded in this; he became the creator of the first helicopters; some models of that time are still in operation.
Merits and prizes
Sikorsky was a man of strong will and tireless hard work. He actively contributed to the development of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA and even wrote a number of books and brochures (in particular, “The Invisible Meeting”, “Evolution of the Soul” and “In Search of Higher Realities”), considered by experts to be among the most original works of Russian foreign theological thought. During his life, Sikorsky received over 80 various honorary awards, prizes and diplomas; in memory of the great inventor, the “Sikorsky Prize” was established in 1980 for the creation of a helicopter-type muscle aircraft. On June 13, 2013, the prize went to a team of students and graduates of the University of Toronto.
It must be said that the Sikorsky family was not connected with aviation at all. Father Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, Ivan Alekseevich, was a famous psychotherapist, professor at Kyiv University, founder of the Medical and Pedagogical Institute for Mentally Retarded Children and the Institute of Child Psychopathology, an actual state councilor (which corresponded to the rank of major general). My grandfather, although he had Polish roots, was a Kyiv priest. Mother, Maria Stefanovna (nee Temryuk-Cherkasova) was also a physician by training. However, Igor, born in May 1889, did not become either a doctor or a priest. Since childhood, the boy, who was the fifth child in the family, dreamed of brilliant career naval officer And therefore, after studying a little at the 1st Kyiv Gymnasium, he begged his parents to transfer him to the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps. There he studied for three years, until he finally realized that the navy was not his place. Rather than executing or commanding, he prefers to invent and create. He realized that the sky attracted him more than the sea.
However, in the middle of the first decade of the last century, in Russia, which was seething with the first revolution, it was difficult to find a normally functioning technical educational institution, so 17-year-old Igor went temporarily to receive an education in Paris, at the Duvignot de Lano Technical School. And only in 1907, when the homeland had more or less calmed down and cooled down, the young student returned home and entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute.
01.10.1934. Aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky (left) in the cockpit. Photo: RIA Novosti
However, then he was no longer especially interested in studying. Sikorsky wanted to build a flying car, the era of which was just beginning. Having traveled around France and Germany, Igor collects spare parts, buys an engine and from all this, adding parts made by himself, in 1909 he completes the construction of the first helicopter in Russia in the courtyard of his father's house in Kyiv. However, his lift it was not even enough to lift the device itself into the air, without any cargo, not to mention the pilot. Therefore, by the spring of next year, Igor is building the next model, much more advanced. He could already lift as much as 9 pounds (almost 150 kg) into the air. However, since the device itself weighed a little less, the most it could do was rise into the air, carrying a couple of tens of kilos of useless load.
Having suffered a failure with vertical take-off vehicles, Sikorsky switched to the more common and less technically complex horizontal plane. By the beginning of 1910, he, together with his fellow student Bylinkin, was building his first aircraft, BiS-1 (“Bylinkin and Sikorsky”). However, this first airplane experiment, just like the first helicopter experiment, could not fly. Its power was only enough to “bounce” over the airfield and land after a couple of tens of meters. Only in June 1910, already on the BiS-2 aircraft, did the young aviator designers finally manage to truly take to the air, where Igor had been striving so much for many years.
Only the designer’s fifth aircraft, the S-5, was truly successful, surpassing foreign models in all respects. In 1911, he passed the exams for an aviator's license on it. Even then, newspapers called him “Russian Farman.” And Igor tried to justify the title. On his next S-6 device, he set a world speed record when flying with 2 passengers - 111 km/h, and with 5 - 102 km/h. And in the next 2 years, under his leadership, on the basis of the Russian-Baltic Wagon Plant (RBVZ), the following were built in St. Petersburg:
- the first seaplane;
- the first Russian aircraft sold abroad;
- the first dedicated training aircraft;
- first production aircraft;
- the first monocoque aircraft;
- the first aerobatic aircraft;
- and so on.
But the real breakthrough came in 1913, when the designer created the world's first four-engine superplane. At first, the air giant S-9 was called “Grand” in the French manner. However, soon the plane was christened with a more patriotic name - “Russian Knight”. It was from this machine, which one can no longer call with the simple word “airplane,” that the entire world of heavy aviation began: cargo, passenger and military. In the same year, 1913, the Ilya Muromets, an advanced version of the Vityaz, took off for the first time, conquering the whole world with its characteristics and breaking almost all world records.
A model of the Ilya Muromets aircraft, designed by Igor Sikorsky in 1914, is stored at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after Nikolai Egorovich Zhukovsky (TsAGI). Photo: RIA Novosti / Oleg Lastochkin
Until 1917, Igor Sikorsky created many more models of aircraft - passenger, military bombers, fighters and reconnaissance aircraft, cargo aircraft, many of which were mass-produced. But after the workers, intoxicated by the revolution, actually stopped work at the RBVZ, Igor realized that in his homeland the prospects for aircraft production in the near future were scanty, and therefore he should look for a more suitable state for this. How France seemed to him at first. By that time, Igor Ivanovich had already been married for a year, and what’s more, his daughter Tatyana was already growing up. However, my daughter was less than a year old and taking her with me, especially through Murmansk - and there was no other way - was a bit difficult. Therefore, the wife and child remained in St. Petersburg for now, albeit revolutionary, but dear.
And rightly so, because nothing good came of Sikorsky with France, despite the fact that he was invited to the country French government. After the end of the war, the need for the construction of large aircraft in the world fell sharply and the knowledge of the young designer was unclaimed. And not only in France, but throughout Europe. The only hope left was the United States.
And in 1919, Igor Sikorsky moved overseas. Where for four years he earned his living by teaching mathematics at an evening school. Only in 1923, together with several like-minded Russian emigrants, he created the Sikorsky Aeroengineering Corporation company in New York. The first assembly shop of the young company was the chicken coop of one of its co-founders, Russian military pilot and hero of World War I Viktor Utgof. It was here that Sikorsky’s first foreign aircraft, one of the world’s largest twin-engine biplanes S-29, was assembled in 1924. The plane turned out to be quite successful, and the company received several rather lucrative orders for it. The strengthened financial situation allowed Igor to transport his two sisters and daughter Tatyana to the USA. His wife refused to leave the USSR, and in the same 1924, Sikorsky married a second time, to Elizaveta Alekseevna Semenova.
However, things got worse for the company. Heavy aviation was not a promising industry at that time, and Sikorsky tried to switch to light aircraft. Money for their construction was collected by the entire emigrant world. Even the great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov, who was for some time the vice president of the company, transferred $5,000 to her account (according to modern accounts - about $80,000). However, the light aviation market in the United States was already crowded, it was difficult to gain a foothold in it, and at the end of the 1920s, Sikorsky decided to again build something grandiose. The giant S-35 was intended for transatlantic flights, but the first machine, to the delight of its competitors, crashed under rather strange circumstances and few orders were received for it. The S-38 twin-engine ten-seater amphibian, which had become extremely popular, helped the company get out of the crisis, about which newspapers wrote that it “made a revolution in aviation” and that it could splash down in places “where previously there were only hunters’ boats and Indian pies.”
Sikorsky-Flugzeug S-35, 1926. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Sikorsky devoted almost the entire fourth decade of the 20th century to the construction of amphibians. By that time, the company had merged with the powerful United Aircraft and Transportation corporation, later renamed United Technologies, which helped it survive the Great Depression. The designer’s last successful amphibian was the four-engine “flying boat” S-44, created in 1937. But the demand for seaplanes was no longer so great, and the designer took a strategic the right decision transfer the company to completely new products.
However, for Sikorsky himself, helicopters, as we already remember, were not such a new thing. For his experimental S-46, he chose the same design as his second, successful helicopter - with one main rotor and one tail rotor. All over the world at that time such a scheme was considered unpromising, and helicopters were built exclusively coaxial, with two lifting propellers rotating in opposite directions.
The first time Sikorsky's new product flew into the air was on September 14, 1939. And in 1942, an experimental two-seat S-47 took off into the sky, and was soon put into production. It also became the only helicopter to take part in World War II in 1944, when three of the designer’s aircraft were part of the escort of a British transatlantic convoy. From now on, shares of Sikorsky's company went up sharply.
Successes followed one after another. The S-51 became a world-recognized rescue helicopter in 1946, the production license for which was soon acquired by Great Britain. On the S-52, helicopter pilots performed aerobatic maneuvers for the first time. Helicopter production in France began with the purchase of a license for the S-55. A real triumph was the birth in 1953 of the multi-purpose S-56 Mojave, which in all respects surpassed everything that existed in the helicopter industry at that time. This heavy machine set world records for both load capacity (14.5 tons) and speed (209 km/h).
1950s, Igor Sikorsky. Photo: RIA Novosti / SDASM Archives
By 1955, Sikorsky's global authority in matters of helicopter engineering had become truly undeniable. The main production was moved from Bridgeport to Stratford. And in 1958, 69-year-old Igor Sikorsky retired, leaving himself a position as a company consultant. His latest work was the S-58, recognized as one of the best helicopters in aviation history.
The cars created by his company continued to break records one after another. In 1967, the S-61 flew across the Atlantic for the first time, and in 1970, the S-65 conquered the Pacific Ocean.
The flight altitude of Sikorsky's machines exceeded 5000 meters. And his thoughts climbed much higher. The grandson of a priest, he was always distinguished by the most sincere and ardent faith in God. At his enterprises, even during periods of crisis, there was always a small Orthodox parish with a priest. One of them, Father Stepan Antonyuk, later became Bishop Joasaph of Western Canada. Igor Sikorsky himself, having retired, plunged headlong into theology and wrote several quite solid and authoritative works: “The Invisible Meeting”, “Evolution of the Soul”, “In Search of Higher Realities”, “Heaven and Heavens”, “Our Father , reflections on the Lord's Prayer."
Igor Ivanovich loved to travel, adored volcanoes, in which he felt the almost limitless power of nature. Sometimes he simply got behind the wheel and drove out of the city wherever his eyes looked, away from the hustle and bustle of human life. After spending most life in exile, he never ceased to consider himself a Russian person, he was always proud of his Russian origin and helped as much as I could successful emigrants. Although he never recognized the Soviet government and always argued that it could not exist forever, and therefore “we need to work,” he wrote in emigrant newspapers, and most importantly, learn what will help us restore our Motherland, when it is from us will require."
Sikorsky's daughter Tatyana, who was brought to the United States as a child, became a professor of sociology at the University of Bridgeport. The first son from his marriage to Elizaveta Semenova, Sergei, followed in his father’s footsteps and rose to the post of vice president in his company. The rest of the children chose more earthly professions: Georgy became a mathematician, Nikolai became a violinist, and Igor became a lawyer.
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky died in 1972. He was buried in the cemetery of St. John the Baptist in Stratford. Over the 83 years of his life, he was awarded many well-deserved awards. But the highest was the inscription on the sides of the best and most powerful rotorcraft “Sikorsky”. In the most literal sense. And, perhaps, it is no coincidence that the name of the designer, lifted by helicopters above the clouds, in the English version ends with “sky”, which means “sky” in English.
122 mm howitzer model 1938(M-30, GAU index - 52-G-463) - Soviet howitzer during the Second World War. This weapon was mass-produced from 1939 to 1955, was or is still in service with the armies of many countries around the world, and was used in almost all significant wars and armed conflicts of the mid and late 20th century. The first Soviet large-scale self-propelled artillery units of the Great Patriotic War, SU-122, were armed with this weapon. According to some artillery experts, the M-30 is one of the best Soviet barrel artillery designs of the mid-20th century. Equipping the artillery of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) with M-30 howitzers played a role big role in the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.
History of creation
Division-level field howitzers, which were in service with the Red Army in the 1920s, were inherited from the Tsarist army. These were the 122-mm howitzer model 1909 and the 122-mm howitzer model 1910, designed respectively by the German concern Krupp and the French company Schneider for the Russian Empire. They were actively used in the First World War and Civil Wars. By the 1930s, these guns were clearly outdated. The modernizations carried out (in 1930 for howitzers model 1910 and in 1937 for howitzers model 1909) significantly improved the firing range of these howitzers, but the modernized guns still did not meet the requirements of their time, especially in terms of mobility, maximum elevation angle and aiming speed. Therefore, already in 1928, the Journal of the Artillery Committee raised the question of creating a new divisional howitzer of 107-122 mm caliber, adapted for towing by mechanical traction. On August 11, 1929, an order was issued to develop such a weapon.
However, due to the loss of design and engineering personnel during the Civil War and subsequent devastation, the development of a new divisional howitzer on our own turned out to be impossible. It was decided to borrow advanced foreign experience to complete the task. KB-2, in which German specialists worked, began designing. In 1932, testing began on the first experimental sample new howitzer, and in 1934 this weapon was put into service as “122-mm howitzer mod. 1934". It was also known as "Lubok", from the name of the theme combining two projects to create a 122 mm divisional howitzer and a 107 mm light howitzer. Barrel of a 122 mm howitzer mod. 1934 had a length of 23 calibers, the maximum elevation angle was +50°, the horizontal aiming angle was 7°, the mass in the traveling and combat position was 2800 and 2250 kg, respectively. Like the guns of the First World War, the new howitzer was mounted on a single-beam carriage (although carriages of a more modern design with sliding frames had already appeared at that time). Another significant drawback of the gun was its wheel travel (metal wheels without tires, but with suspension), which limited the towing speed to 10 km/h. The gun was produced in 1934-1935 in a small series of 11 units, of which 8 entered trial operation (two four-gun batteries), and the remaining three were sent to a training platoon for Red commanders.
Serial production of 122-mm howitzer mod. 1934 was quickly terminated. The reason for this is usually cited as the desire of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) to have a howitzer with sliding frames. However, this argument does not stand up to criticism, since until 1936 the GAU did not consider a single-beam carriage to be a disadvantage. There is an opinion that the more likely reason for the removal of the howitzer from production was the liquidation of KB-2. But another option seems more likely - a 122-mm howitzer mod. 1934 was too complex in design for the conditions of serial production at defense industry enterprises in 1933-1935. Although the development of the gun in the absence of German specialists was carried out, its pace was low, and in 1936 the GAU experienced a serious change in views on the divisional howitzer - the Lubok project in its original form was no longer considered promising. Therefore, the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30, although in terms of its characteristics it was much inferior to Lubok (its production continued until 1941 inclusive).
Since the mid-1930s, the GAU has been at the center of discussions about the future of Soviet divisional artillery. There were, or are mentioned in later sources, several points of view on what type of gun and what caliber would be optimal for the divisional level. In particular, a light 107 mm field howitzer, a “traditional” 122 mm howitzer, as well as a 107 mm gun howitzer as a duplex addition to a divisional howitzer were considered as alternatives or complementary solutions. The 107 mm caliber had certain advantages over the 122 mm - in particular, the 107 mm howitzer was lighter (that is, more mobile and cheaper) than a similar 122 mm caliber gun, and the 107 mm howitzer-gun had equal weight with the 122 mm howitzer. significantly larger area of application. From the point of view of supplying ammunition, everything was in order - they could use shells from a 107-mm cannon mod. 1910
According to some sources, in March 1937, at a meeting on the further development of the Soviet artillery equipment boss General Staff Red Army Marshal A.I. Egorov strongly supported the creation of a 122-mm howitzer. His arguments were the higher power of the 122-mm fragmentation high explosive projectile, as well as the presence large number 122 mm ammunition and production capacity for their production. Although the very fact of the marshal’s speech has not yet been confirmed by other sources, the decisive argument in the dispute could well be the experience of using Russian artillery in the First World War and the Civil War. Based on it, the 122 mm caliber was considered the minimum sufficient for the destruction of field fortifications, and in addition, it was the smallest allowing the creation of a specialized concrete-piercing projectile for it. As a result, the divisional projects of a 107-mm light howitzer and a 107-mm howitzer-gun never received support, and all the GAU’s attention was focused on the new 122-mm howitzer with a barrel group of the “Lubka” type, but on a carriage with sliding frames.
Already in September 1937, a separate design group of the Motovilikha plant under the leadership of F. F. Petrov received the task of developing such a weapon. Their project had the factory index M-30. Almost simultaneously, in October 1937, on its own initiative, but with the permission of the GAU, the design bureau of plant No. 92 (chief designer - V. G. Grabin, howitzer index F-25) took up the same work. A year later, a third design team joined them - the same task was also given to the design bureau of the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant (UZTM) on September 25, 1938, on his initiative. The howitzer, designed by the UZTM Design Bureau, received the U-2 index. All designed howitzers had modern design with sliding frames and sprung wheel travel.
The U-2 howitzer entered field testing on February 5, 1939. It had a 21 caliber barrel, a chamber volume of 3.0 liters, and was equipped muzzle brake and a horizontal wedge bolt from the Lubok howitzer. The mass of the gun in firing position was 2,030 kg. The gun was a duplex, since the 95-mm U-4 divisional gun was designed on the same carriage. The howitzer did not withstand the tests due to the deformation of the frames that occurred during firing. Refinement of the gun was considered inappropriate, since it was inferior in ballistics to the alternative M-30 project, although it was superior to its competitor in fire accuracy.
The F-25 howitzer project was received by the GAU on February 25, 1938. The gun had a 23-caliber barrel with a muzzle brake, a chamber volume of 3.7 liters and was equipped with a horizontal wedge breech from the Lubok howitzer. The mass of the howitzer in combat position was 1,830 kg, a number of its parts were unified with the F-22 divisional gun. The gun was also a duplex, since the 95-mm F-28 divisional gun was designed on the same carriage. The F-25 howitzer successfully passed factory tests, but was not sent to field tests, since on March 23, 1939, the GAU decided:
The 122-mm F-25 howitzer, developed by Plant No. 92 on its own initiative, is currently of no interest to the GAU, since field and military tests of the M-30 howitzer, more powerful than the F-25, have already been completed.
The M-30 howitzer project was received by the GAU on December 20, 1937. The gun borrowed a lot from other types of artillery weapons; in particular, the design of the barrel bore was close to a similar unit of the Lubok howitzer, and the recoil brake and limber were taken from it. Despite the GAU requirement to equip the new howitzer with a wedge breech, the M-30 was equipped with a piston breech, borrowed unchanged from the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 The wheels were taken from the F-22 cannon. The M-30 prototype was completed on March 31, 1938, but factory testing was delayed due to the need to modify the howitzer. Field tests of the howitzer took place from September 11 to November 1, 1938. Although, according to the commission's conclusion, the gun did not withstand field tests (during the tests the frames broke twice), it was nevertheless recommended to send the gun for military trials.
Refinement of the gun was difficult. On December 22, 1938, three modified samples were submitted for military testing, which again revealed a number of shortcomings. It was recommended to modify the gun and conduct repeated field tests, and not to conduct new military tests. However, in the summer of 1939, military tests had to be repeated. Only on September 29, 1939, the M-30 was put into service under the official name “122-mm divisional howitzer mod. 1938".
According to the famous author of books on the history of artillery A. B. Shirokorada, the F-25 was a more successful design, despite the fact that the M-30 subsequently proved itself to be excellent. In his texts, he claims that, contrary to the above decision of the GAU, these howitzers were practically no different in power (his argumentation includes the same barrel length, chamber volume and initial speed of both howitzers). However, for a statement about identical internal ballistics you also need to know these tools exact specifications propellant charges, since even with the same chamber volume, the density of gunpowder and the filling of the chamber with them can vary significantly. Since there is no data on this issue in available sources, this statement (which directly contradicts the official document) can be disputed. The undoubted advantages of the F-25 were almost 400 kg less weight compared to the M-30, a 10° greater horizontal guidance angle and better mobility due to greater ground clearance. In addition, the F-25 was a duplex, and if it was adopted for service, the possibility arose of creating a very successful artillery system - a duplex of a 122 mm howitzer and a 95 mm cannon. Taking into account the long development of the M-30, the F-25 could well have passed tests in 1939.
Although there is no official document detailing the advantages of the M-30 over the F-25, the following arguments can be assumed that influenced the final decision of the GAU:
- Lack of a muzzle brake, since spent powder gases deflected by the muzzle brake raise clouds of dust from the surface of the earth that unmask firing position. In addition to the unmasking effect, the presence of a muzzle brake leads to a higher intensity of the sound of a shot from behind the gun compared to the case when there is no muzzle brake. This to some extent worsens the operating conditions of the calculation.
- Use of a large number of used components in the design. In particular, the choice of a piston valve improved reliability (at that time there were great difficulties in producing wedge valves for guns of sufficiently large caliber). In anticipation of the upcoming large-scale war, the possibility of producing new howitzers using already debugged components from old guns became very important, especially taking into account the fact that almost all new types of weapons with complex mechanics created in the USSR from scratch had low reliability.
- The possibility of creating more powerful types of artillery pieces on the M-30 carriage. The F-25 carriage, borrowed from the divisional 76-mm F-22 cannon, was already at the limit of its strength properties - the 122-mm barrel group had to be equipped with a muzzle brake. This potential of the M-30 carriage was later used - it was used in the construction of the 152-mm howitzer mod. 1943 (D-1).
Production
Factory production of M-30 howitzers began in 1940. Initially, it was carried out by two plants - No. 92 (Gorky) and No. 9 (UZTM). Plant No. 92 produced the M-30 only in 1940; in total, this enterprise produced 500 howitzers.
In addition to the production of towed guns, M-30S barrels were produced for installation on SU-122 self-propelled artillery mounts (SAU).
Serial production of the gun continued until 1955. The successor to the M-30 was the 122-mm howitzer D-30, which was put into service in 1960.
Organizational and staffing structure
The howitzer was a divisional weapon. According to the 1939 staff, the rifle division had two artillery regiments - a light one (a division of 76-mm guns and two mixed divisions of two batteries of 122-mm howitzers and one battery of 76-mm guns in each) and a howitzer (a division of 122-mm howitzers and a division 152 mm howitzers), a total of 28 122 mm howitzers. In June 1940, another division of 122-mm howitzers was added to the howitzer regiment, making a total of 32 in the division. In July 1941, the howitzer regiment was expelled, the number of howitzers was reduced to 16. Soviet rifle divisions spent the entire war in this state. In the guards rifle divisions from December 1942 there were 3 divisions with 2 batteries of 76 mm cannons and one battery of 122 mm howitzers each, for a total of 12 howitzers. Since December 1944, these divisions had a howitzer artillery regiment (5 batteries), 20 122-mm howitzers. Since June 1945, rifle divisions were also transferred to this state.
In the mountain rifle divisions in 1939-1940 there was one division of 122 mm howitzers (3 batteries of 3 guns each), a total of 9 howitzers. Since 1941, a howitzer artillery regiment (2 divisions of 3 four-gun batteries each) has been introduced instead, and the number of howitzers becomes 24. Since the beginning of 1942, only one two-battery division remains, with a total of 8 howitzers. Since 1944, howitzers have been excluded from the staff of mountain rifle divisions.
The motorized division had 2 mixed divisions (a battery of 76 mm cannons and 2 batteries of 122 mm howitzers each), with a total of 12 howitzers. The tank division had one division of 122 mm howitzers, 12 in total. Until August 1941, cavalry divisions had 2 batteries of 122 mm howitzers, a total of 8 guns. Since August 1941, divisional artillery was excluded from the cavalry divisions.
Until the end of 1941, 122 mm howitzers were in rifle brigades - one battery, 4 guns.
122-mm howitzers were also part of the howitzer artillery brigades reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK) (72-84 howitzers).
Combat use
The M-30 was used for firing from closed positions at entrenched and openly located enemy personnel. It was also successfully used to destroy enemy field fortifications (trenches, dugouts, bunkers) and to make passages in wire fences when it was impossible to use mortars. M-30 battery defensive fire high-explosive fragmentation shells posed a certain threat to enemy armored vehicles. The fragments formed during the explosion were capable of penetrating armor up to 20 mm thick, which was quite enough to destroy armored personnel carriers and the sides of light tanks. For vehicles with thicker armor, shrapnel could damage chassis components, guns, and sights.
To destroy enemy tanks and self-propelled guns in self-defense, a cumulative projectile, introduced in 1943, was used. In his absence, the artillerymen were ordered to fire at the tanks with high-explosive fragmentation shells with the fuse installed on high explosive action. For light and medium tanks, a direct hit from a 122-mm high-explosive shell was fatal in many cases, even leading to the turret being torn off its shoulder strap. Heavy "Tigers" were a much more stable target, but in 1943 the Germans recorded a case of causing heavy damage to tanks of the PzKpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger" type during a combat clash with Soviet self-propelled guns SU-122 armed with M-30 howitzers.
M-30 abroad
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a significant number (several hundred) of M-30s were captured by the Wehrmacht. The weapon was adopted by the Wehrmacht as a heavy howitzer 12.2 cm s.F.H.396(r) and was actively used in battles against the Red Army. Since 1943, for this gun (as well as a number of earlier captured Soviet howitzers of the same caliber), the Germans even deployed mass production shells. In 1943, 424 thousand shots were fired, in 1944 and 1945. - 696.7 thousand and 133 thousand shots, respectively. Captured M-30s were used not only on Eastern Front, but also in the defensive structures of the Atlantic Wall on the northwestern coast of France. Some sources also mention the use by the Germans of M-30 howitzers to arm self-propelled guns, created on the basis of various captured French armored vehicles.
In the post-war years, the M-30 was exported to a number of countries in Asia and Africa, where it is still in service. It is known that such weapons exist in Syria and Egypt (accordingly, this weapon took an active part in the Arab-Israeli wars). In turn, some of the Egyptian M-30s were captured by the Israelis. One of these captured guns is on display at the Beit Hatothan artillery museum. M-30 was also supplied to participating countries Warsaw Pact, for example, to Poland. At the Poznań Citadel Memorial, this weapon is included in the museum's weapons display. The People's Republic of China launched its own production of the M-30 howitzer called the Type 54.
The Finnish Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna has an M-30 howitzer on display. Finnish army in 1941-1944. captured 41 guns of this type. The captured M-30s, designated 122 H/38, were used by Finnish artillerymen in light and heavy field artillery. They really liked the gun; they did not find any flaws in its design. During the fighting, Finnish M-30s expended 13,298 rounds; three howitzers were lost. The Finnish M-30s remaining after the war were used as training howitzers or were in the mobilization reserve in the warehouses of the Finnish army until the mid-1980s.
In service
Chinese People's Liberation Army - some Type 54s, as of 2007
Marines China - 28 M-30, as of 2007
During production, the design of the gun as a whole did not change significantly. The following types of artillery pieces were produced on the basis of the M-30 howitzer barrel group:
- M-30S (GAU index - 53-GS-463) - a slightly modified version of the M-30 for mounting on the SU-122 self-propelled artillery mount.
- The U-11 is a new weapon with ballistics identical to the M-30, designed to arm tanks and self-propelled guns. The U-11 gun differed from the M-30 in the greatly modified design of the recoil devices, which were reduced in size for a better layout in the cramped conditions of the vehicle's fighting compartment. The self-propelled version of the U-11 was installed on the experimental self-propelled gun SU-122M, but did not pass tests due to low reliability. The tank version of the U-11 howitzer was installed on an experimental tank Object 234, which is also known as IS No. 2(not to be confused with the serial IS-2, armed with a long-barreled 122-mm D-25 cannon).
- D-6 is another variant of a howitzer with ballistics identical to the M-30, intended for installation in self-propelled guns. The D-6 howitzer was mounted on experienced self-propelled guns SU-122-III, but, like the U-11, did not pass the tests due to low reliability.
Self-propelled artillery units with M-30
The M-30 was installed on the following self-propelled guns:
- SU-122. Self-propelled guns based on the T-34 tank. Produced from December 1942 to August 1943. A total of 638 units were produced.
- SG-122. Self-propelled guns based on captured German ones PzKpfw tanks III and Self-propelled gun StuG III. About 20 pieces were produced. early 1943
- 12.2-cm Kanone (r) auf Geschutzwagen Lorraine-Schlepper (f). German self-propelled guns, which is the installation of a captured M-30 howitzer on the chassis of a captured French Lorraine tractor. One example of this self-propelled gun is known to have operated in France on a railway platform that was part of an armored train.
Project evaluation
The M-30 was certainly a successful weapon. A group of developers led by F. F. Petrov managed to harmoniously combine in one model of artillery weapons the reliability and ease of use by personnel characteristic of old howitzers from the First World War era, and new design solutions designed to improve the mobility and firing capabilities of the gun. As a result, the Soviet divisional artillery received a modern and powerful howitzer, capable of successfully operating as part of highly mobile tank, mechanized and motorized units of the Red Army. The widespread use of the M-30 howitzer in the armies of many countries around the world and the excellent reviews of the artillerymen who worked with it serve as additional confirmation of this.
When comparing the M-30 howitzer with contemporary artillery weapons, one should keep in mind the fact that in the armies of Germany, France, Great Britain and the USA there are practically no artillery weapons close in caliber to the M-30. Howitzer artillery of the Second World War of the divisional level in the armies of the countries mentioned above used mainly 105 mm caliber; a notable but successful exception was the 25-pound English howitzer QF 25 pounder, but its caliber was even smaller and equal to 87.6 mm. Following 105 mm, the standard calibers of howitzer artillery in Western countries were 150, 152.4 and 155 mm. Accordingly, the traditional Russian (and subsequently Soviet) caliber 121.92 mm turned out to be intermediate between the calibers of light (87.6-105 mm) and heavy (150-155 mm) howitzers of other countries. Of course, howitzers of non-Russian (and non-Soviet) origin close to 122 mm in caliber were used in World War II, but the vast majority of them were old guns from the First World War, for example, the 114 mm Vickers howitzer in the Finnish army.
Therefore, comparison of the M-30 with other howitzers is possible only with a similar range of combat missions to be solved and a similar organizational and staffing structure for use in the troops (samples for comparison should be guns assigned to units similar in number and organization to the Soviet rifle, motorized or tank divisions). However, even under these conditions the comparison will be to a certain extent conditional. The closest to the M-30 are the 105-mm howitzers, since guns in the 150-155 mm caliber range are much heavier in mass and firepower, and among them there is a worthy Soviet representative - the 152-mm howitzer of the 1943 model (D-1 ). The English 25-pounder clearly falls into the lighter weight category, and its comparison with the M-30 (despite the similar organizational structure of the units that operated it) would be incorrect. Behind typical representative 105 mm howitzers can be taken German gun 10.5-cm leichte Feldhaubitze 18 (le.FH.18) weighing 1985 kg, initial velocity of a 15-kg projectile of 470 m/s, elevation angles from -5 to +42°, horizontal aiming angle of 56° and maximum range shooting range 10,675 m.
The M-30 has a maximum firing range comparable to the leFH 18 (the excess is not significant, especially since the modified le.FH.18/40 version with an initial projectile speed of 540 m/s and a maximum elevation angle of +45° had a maximum firing range of 12,325 m). Some prototypes of German 105-mm howitzers could hit targets at distances over 13 km, but by their design they were already more cannon howitzers than classic short-barreled howitzers. The greater elevation angle of the M-30 made it possible to achieve better projectile trajectory steepness compared to the le.FH.18, and therefore better efficiency when firing at enemy personnel hidden in trenches and dugouts. In terms of power, a 122-mm projectile weighing about 22 kg clearly outperformed a 105-mm projectile weighing 15 kg, but the price for this was the 400 kg greater mass of the M-30 in the firing position, which negatively affected the mobility of the gun. Large mass The M-30 howitzer also required more metal to build. From a technological point of view, the M-30 was a fairly advanced design - for 1941-1945. The USSR built 16,887 howitzers of this type, while Nazi Germany built 15,388 units of 105 mm le.FH.18 and le.FH.18/40 howitzers during the same period.
As a result, the overall assessment of the M-30 howitzer project will be approximately as follows: this weapon was the Soviet implementation of a common one for the mid-1930s. the concept of a mobile field howitzer on a carriage with sliding frames and sprung wheels. In terms of firing range, it was on a par with the most common 105-mm howitzers of other countries (some of them it was superior to, some inferior to others), but its main advantages were the traditional reliability of Soviet guns, manufacturability in production and great firepower compared to 105 mm howitzers.
The emotional assessment of the M-30 howitzer based on its results is also known. combat use Soviet artillerymen, given by Marshal G. F. Odintsov: “Nothing could be better than her”.
Description of design
The M-30 howitzer had a fairly modern design for its time, with a carriage with sliding frames and a sprung wheel drive. The barrel was a prefabricated structure consisting of a pipe, a casing and a screw-on breech with a bolt. The M-30 was equipped with a single-stroke piston bolt, a hydraulic recoil brake, a hydropneumatic knurler, and had separate cartridge loading. The shutter has a forced extraction mechanism spent cartridge case when opening it after a shot. The release is carried out by pulling the firing pin lever using a trigger cord connected to it.
The gun was equipped with a Hertz artillery panorama for firing from closed positions; the same sight was also used for direct fire.
The carriage with sliding frames is equipped with a balancing mechanism and a shield cover. Metal wheels with rubber tires, leaf springs. The transportation of a weapon by mechanical traction was usually carried out without a limber directly behind the tractor; the maximum permissible transportation speed was 50 km/h on the highway and 35 km/h on cobblestone roads and country roads. The horse-drawn howitzer was transported behind the front by six horses. When the frames are retracted, the suspension is switched off automatically; if there is no space or time to retract the frames, shooting is allowed with the frames retracted in the stowed position. The angle of horizontal fire is reduced to 1°30". The transition time from traveling to combat position was 1.0-1.5 minutes. The M-30 howitzer carriage was subsequently used to create the 152-mm D-1 howitzer.
Characteristics and properties of ammunition
The M-30 fired a full range of 122mm howitzer shells, including a variety of old Russian and imported grenades. After the Great Patriotic War, new types of ammunition were added to the range of projectiles listed below, for example, the 3BP1 cumulative projectile.
Steel high-explosive fragmentation grenade 53-OF-462 when installing the fuse on fragmentation effect when it exploded, it created about 1000 lethal fragments, the effective radius of destruction of manpower was about 30 m (data obtained using the Soviet measurement method of the mid-20th century). When the fuse was set to the high-explosive action of the grenade, after the explosion it left craters up to 1 m deep and up to 3 m in diameter. In the early 1970s, new 3OF24 ammunition entered service with the 122-mm howitzers 2S1, D-30 and M-30. Instead of TNT as explosive composition A-IX-2 was used, due to which the effectiveness of 3OF24 projectiles compared to 53-OF-462 was increased by 1.2-1.7 times. Since 1982, the 3OF56 and 3OF56-1 projectiles of increased power have entered service with 122-mm howitzer systems.
The 53-BP-460A cumulative projectile penetrated armor up to 100-160 mm thick at an angle of 90° (different sources provide different data). The target firing range for a moving tank is up to 400 m. The post-war 3BP1 cumulative projectile penetrated at an angle of 90° - 200 mm, 60° - 160 mm, 30° - 80 mm.
Characteristics of the main ammunition used for the M-30 howitzer |
||||||
Shot index | projectile index | Projectile weight, kg | Weight of explosives/explosives, kg | Fuse brand | Initial projectile speed, m/s | Maximum firing range, km |
Cumulative | ||||||
53-VBP-463 | 53-BP-463 | 14,83 | 2,18 | State Bills | 570 | 4 |
53-VBP-463A | 53-BP-460A | 13,34 | B-229 | 335 | 2 | |
3VBK1 | 53-BK-463(M)(U)(UM) | 21,26 | 2,15 | GPV-1, GPV-2, GKN | 500 | |
3VBK11 | 53-BK-463U(M) | 21,26 | 2,15 | GPV-2 | 515 | |
Fragmentation | ||||||
53-VO-462A | 53-О-462А | 21,76 | 3,0 | D-1, RGM(-2), RG-6, GVZM | 380 | 9,34 |
53-VO-463A | 53-O-460A | 21,76 | D-1-U, RGM-2, MGNS-2 | 458 | 10,77 | |
53-VO-463AM | 53-О-462А | 21,76 | 3,0 | D-1, RGM(-2), RG-6, GVZM | 458 | 10,77 |
High-explosive fragmentation | ||||||
53-VOF-462 | 53-OF-462(Zh) | 21,76 | 3,67 | D-1, RGM(-2), RG-6, GVZM | 380 | 9,34 |
53-VOF-463 | 53-OF-462(Zh) | 21,76 | 3,67 | D-1, RGM(-2), RG-6, GVZM | 515 | 11,8 |
53-VOF-463M | 53-OF-462(Zh) | 21,76 | 3,67 | D-1-U, RGM-2(M), V-90, AR-5 | 515 | 11,8 |
3VOF7 | 3OF7/3OF8 | 21,76 | 2,98 | AR-30 | 515 | 11,8 |
3VOF31 | 3OF24(W) | 21,76 | 3,97 | RGM-2(M), V-90, AR-5 | 515 | 11,8 |
3VOF46 | 53-OF-462(Zh) | 21,76 | 3,67 | RGM-2(M), V-90, AR-5 | 515 | 11,8 |
3VOF80 | 3OF56(-1) | 21,76 | 4,31 | RGM-2M, V-90, AR-5 | 515 | 11,8 |
Shrapnel | ||||||
3VSh1 | 3Ш1 | 21,76 | 2,075 | DTM-75 | 515 | |
Chemical | ||||||
53-ХН-462 | 3,1 | |||||
53-ХС-462У | 1,9 | |||||
53-ХСО-462 | 1,9 | |||||
53-ХСО-462Д | 23,1 | 3,3 | ||||
53-ХСО-463Б | 22,2 | 1,325 | ||||
Smoke | ||||||
53-VD-462 | 53-D-462 | 22,55 | 3,6 | KT(M)-2 | 380 | 9,34 |
53-VD-463 | 53-D-462 | 22,55 | 3,6 | KT(M)-2 | 515 | 11,8 |
53-VD-463A | 53-D-462A | 22,77 | RGM-2(M) | 458 | 10,77 | |
53-VD-463M | 53-D-462(S) | 22,55 | 3,6 | KTM-2, RGM-2(M) | 515 | 11,8 |
3VD1 | 3D4(M) | 21,76 | 3,6 | RGM-2(M) | 515 | 11,8 |
Lighting | ||||||
53-VS-462 | 53-С-462 | 22,3 | 0,02 | T-6 | 361 | 7,12 |
53-VS-463 | 53-С-462 | 22,3 | 0,02 | T-6 | 479 | 8,5 |
53-VS-463M | 53-S-463(Zh) | 22,0 | 0,02 | T-7 | 515 | 11,0 |
3ВС10 | 3S4(Zh) | 21,8 | - | T-90 | 515 | |
Propaganda | ||||||
53-VA-462 | 53-A-462 | 21,5 | - | T-6 | 366 | 7,2 |
53-VA-463 | 53-A-462 | 21,5 | - | T-6 | 431 | 8,0 |
3VA1 | 3A1(D)(W)(J) | 21,5 | - | T-7 | 515 |
Interesting facts about the M-30
- In Soviet training films for artillerymen made in the 1960s, the M-30 howitzer is very often demonstrated, despite the fact that at that time the more modern D-30 gun of the same caliber and purpose had already been adopted. These films are still used in the educational process of training Russian artillerymen.
- 18 M-30 howitzers are in service with the Russian army to defend the Kuril Islands.
- A small number of combat-ready M-30s are available in the warehouses of the Russian army at the present time.
- To transport the M-30, a wide variety of means were used - horse-drawn vehicles, Soviet and Lend-Lease trucks, heavy Dodge jeeps (Dodge 3/4), light tracked artillery tractors "Stalinets" STZ-5 and Y-12.
- In the film “Soldier Ivan Brovkin,” the unit in which the main character serves is armed with M-30 howitzers. The work of the crew when firing and servicing the gun is well shown.
- Until the spring of 1986, M-30 guns were in service with the artillery division of the 357th tank regiment of the 28th Kharkov Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the Odessa Military District.
Where can you see
Due to the large number of guns produced, M-30 howitzers very often end up on display in military museums or are used as memorial weapons. In Moscow it can be seen in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill, in the Central Museum Armed Forces and near the Ministry of Defense building. In St. Petersburg - in the Museum of Artillery and Engineering Troops, in Sevastopol - in the Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol on Sapun Mountain (the Sevastopol exhibit was made in 1942, by August 21, 1958 the howitzer fired 1380 shots), in Bryansk - on display military equipment on the “Partisan Glade”, and also as a weapon-monument to the “Artillerymen”, in Verkhnyaya Pyshma ( Sverdlovsk region) - in the “Military Glory of the Urals” museum, in Tolyatti - in the Technical Museum, in Perm - in the Motovilikha Plants Museum. Nizhny Novgorod, where plant No. 92, which produced the M-30 in 1940, is located, until recently did not have this howitzer either in city museums or as a monument weapon. However, in 2004, a new one was opened on Marshal Zhukov Square memorial Complex, where the M-30 is installed as a monument weapon. Along with other exhibits (BTR-60, ZIS-3 and D-44 guns), it enjoys constant interest from children (since the memorial is located inside a large residential area next to a children's clinic). In Finland, this weapon is exhibited in the artillery museum in Hämeenlinna, in Poland - in the Poznan Citadel, in Israel - in the artillery museum Beit Hatothan, in Kazakhstan - in the Museum of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Astana), in the Museum Military Glory(Pavlodar). Two guns adorn the facade of the Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) Suvorov Military School. One gun manufactured in 1943 is installed in the Glory Square in Novosibirsk. The M-30 howitzer is part of the exhibition of the branch of the Kaliningrad Regional History and Art Museum, located at Fort No. 5. In the city of Angarsk near the Victory Museum, as well as in the city of Nikopol on the dam. In the city of Krasnoyarsk on Karaulnaya Gora (chapel with a ten-ruble note), it fires blank shells every day at 12:00 local time. There are also 2 howitzers in Khanty-Mansiysk near the military registration and enlistment office building.
M-30 in computer games
Unlike tanks, a variety of artillery weapon models are found in a very limited number of computer games. One of these games is step-by-step strategy"Panzer General III". In its “Scorched Earth” edition, where the action takes place on the Eastern Front, the player can equip Soviet artillery units with the M-30 howitzer (in the game it is simply called “12.2 cm”). There it has been available to the player since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, but has become obsolete since mid-1943, after the appearance of the ML-20 howitzer-cannon, which is very much untrue - the production of both of these guns and the acquisition of new parts with them continued throughout the war.
The M-30 can also be seen in Russian games, in particular, in the real-time strategies "Blitzkrieg", "Stalingrad" and "Sudden Strike" ("Confrontation 4", "Confrontation: Asia on Fire") "Behind Enemy Lines 2: Assault" " It is worth noting that the reflection of the features of using the M-30 in these games is also far from reality.
122 mm howitzer model 1938 (M-30) |
|
Caliber, mm | 121,92 |
Instances | 19 266 |
Calculation, pers. | 8 |
Rate of fire, rds/min | 5-6 |
Carriage speed on the highway, km/h | up to 50 |
Height of the firing line, mm | 1200 |
Trunk | |
Barrel length, mm/club | 2800/22,7 |
Barrel length, mm/club | 2278/18.7 (rifled part) |
Weight | |
Weight in stowed position, kg | 2900-3100 |
Weight in firing position, kg | 2360-2500 |
Dimensions in stowed position | |
Length, mm | 5900 (with front end 8600) |
Width, mm | 1975 |
Height, mm | 1820 |
Ground clearance, mm | 330-357 |
Firing angles | |
Angle BH, degrees | from?3 to +63.3° |
Angle GN, degrees | 49° |