T-34: How The T34 Won The War

How the T34 Won the War

After viewing the German blitzkrieg strategy used in the invasion of Poland, Russia reevaluated its armory in fear of German aggression. Recognizing the German superior tank technology, the Russian authorities commissioned a design for a new tank. Mikhail Koshkin and his team of designers engineered a tank that surpassed expectations (Tucker-Jones). The Soviet engineers designed the T-34 tank to be one of the most versatile tanks of World War II, and its use enabled key victories that enhanced the Soviet Union’s ability to defeat the German aggression.

Koshkin and the designers packed the T-34 with many functional design features that made it a great all-round tank. The T-34-76 standard version’s 45mm thick frontal and

The designers created two significant turret upgrades: the nut-bolt and oval turrets. Both the nut-bolt and oval turret designs increased the armor thickness, but the oval turret also improved the size and gun caliber capabilities. With the increased turret armor, the T-34 survived longer against the German Panther and Tiger tanks without reducing maneuverability. Also, the increased size of the turret eliminated the previous issues regarding the crew performance. Because the design made the crew compartment larger and allowed the commander/loader to separate into two people, the crew worked more effectively at spotting the enemy and reloading the main gun, increasing the rate of fire. Along with the turret upgrades, the engineers added improved periscopes, which resolved the previous issue regarding the lack of visibility. This improvement included the addition of a 360 degree cupola like that of the Panzer IV, and also replaced the single hatch with two separate hatches. Additionally, the designers replaced the old driver’s periscope with improved periscopes, which gave the driver better vision with the hatch down. To further evolve the T-34, the Russians upgraded the L-11 cannon to the F-34 (Tucker-Jones). They added the ZiS-4 57mm anti-tank gun to a few variants of the T-34, which increased rate of fire and massively increased velocity (Military Factory). The previously mentioned larger oval turret could now house the D-5T 85mm gun increasing penetration power and lethality (Tucker-Jones). This upgrade was designated the T-34-85. Another evolution, the improvement of ammunition, naturally occurred with the previously mentioned gun upgrades. The F-34 gun fired better ballistic rounds, which had greater velocity (Military Factory). Ballistic technology leaped with the 85mm shell that could be fired at higher velocities and contained more