In which city is the armored train assembled Ilya Muromets. Did Ilya Muromets destroy Adolf Hitler? Armored trains in the battle of Stalingrad
Over the years Civil War The Red Army has accumulated vast experience in the use of armored rolling stock-armored trains. They were used both for fire support of troops and for conducting independent, sometimes very daring, military operations in the zone railroad... At the same time, such qualities of armored trains as speed of movement and maneuverability, fire power, powerful armor protection and the possibility of using an armored train as a traction force for transporting 15 wagons with a cargo of particular importance were widely used. In October 1920, there were 103 armored trains in the armored forces of the Red Army.
At the end of the Civil War, the number of armored trains was sharply reduced, and their transfer at the end of 1923 to the jurisdiction of the Main Artillery Directorate did not contribute to further improvement, since this department considered armored trains only as artillery on railway platforms.
During the Great Patriotic War armored trains usually operated as part of divisions. For example, the Kozma Minin armored train, along with the Ilya Muromets armored train of the same type, was part of the 31st Separate Special Gorky Armored Train Division. To ensure combat activities, the battalion was assigned a black S-179 steam locomotive, a BD-39 armored tires, two BA-20 armored vehicles, three motorcycles and ten vehicles. The personnel of the battalion, together with the attached airborne mortar company, was 335 people.
Armored trains were used by the Red Army throughout the Great Patriotic War. In addition to supporting rifle units operating in the railway strip, they were used to defeat enemy troops in the area of important railway stations, to protect the coast and fight artillery. Anti-aircraft armored trains armed with 25-mm and 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine guns DShK played an extremely important role in protecting railway stations from enemy air strikes.
The successful use of armored trains in the first months of the war contributed to the deployment of their construction in carriage depots in a number of cities. At the same time, the design and armament of armored trains was largely an improvisation and depended on the availability of armored steel, weapons and the technological capabilities of the depot. A significant part of the armored trains that were in service with the Red Army at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War were manufactured at the Bryansk base of armored trains.
As of June 22, 1941, the Red Army had 53 armored trains (of which 34 belonged to the light class), which included 53 armored locomotives, 106 artillery armored platforms, 28 air defense armored platforms and more than 160 armored vehicles adapted for movement by rail. There were also 9 armored tires and several armored motor cars. In addition to the Red Army, the operational troops of the NKVD also had armored trains. They had 25 armored locomotives, 32 artillery armored platforms, 36 armored motor cars and 7 armored vehicles.
The most common type of armored trains in the second half of World War II was the so-called armored train of the 1943 model - BP-43, developed in 1942.
As a rule, the BP-43 armored train consisted of the PR-43 armored locomotive located in the middle of the train, 4 PL-43 artillery platforms (2 armored platforms on both sides of the armored locomotive), 2 armored platforms with anti-aircraft weapons PVO-4 (at both ends of the armored train) and 2 - 4 control platforms, on which the materials necessary for the repair of the railway track were transported. Usually, an armored train consisted of 1 - 2 armored vehicles BA-20 or BA-64, adapted for movement by rail.
During the war, 21 armored trains BP-43 were manufactured for the Red Army. The NKVD troops also received a significant number of armored trains of this type.
"Heavy" armored trains were armed with 107-mm cannons with a firing range of up to 15 km. Reservations (up to 100 mm) ensured protection of vital components from armor-piercing shells with a caliber of 75 mm.
At one refueling with fuel and water, an armored train could overcome up to 120 km s maximum speed 45 km / h Coal (10 tons) or fuel oil (6 tons) were used as fuel. The mass of the warhead of the armored train did not exceed 400 tons.
The crew of the warhead consisted of a command, a control platoon, platoons of armored cars with turret crews and onboard machine gun compartments, an air defense platoon, a traction and movement platoon and a platoon of railway armored vehicles, which had 2 light armored vehicles BA-20zhd and 3 medium armored vehicles BA-10zhd, adapted for movement on the railway track. They were used to conduct reconnaissance at a distance of 10-15 km and as part of a guard (patrol) on the march. In addition, an assault force of up to three rifle platoons could be deployed on the cover platforms.
Armored train "Kozma Minin"
The most successful design was the "Kozma Minin" armored train, built in February 1942 in the carriage depot in the city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod).
The warhead of this armored train consisted of: an armored locomotive, 2 covered armored platforms, 2 open artillery armored platforms and 4 biaxial control platforms. Each covered armored platform was armed with two 76.2-mm cannons installed in the towers from T-34 tanks. In addition to the 7.62-mm DT machine guns paired with these cannons, the armored platforms had four 7.62-mm Maxim machine guns in ball bearings in the sides. The open artillery sites were divided in length into three compartments. In the front and rear compartments, 37-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed, and in the central compartment there was a launcher for M-8 rockets. The thickness of the side armor of the armored platforms was 45 mm, the covered armored platforms had the upper armor 20 mm thick. Protected by armor 30-45 mm thick, the armored locomotive was used as a thrust only in combat conditions. In the campaign and during maneuvers, a conventional steam locomotive was used. At the tender for the armored locomotive, a command room was equipped, connected to the driver's booth with an armored door. From this wheelhouse, the commander of the armored train controlled the actions of the armored platforms using telephone communications. For external communication he had a long-range radio station RSM at his disposal. Due to the presence of four long-barreled 76.2-mm F-32 cannons, the armored train could provide a high concentration of artillery fire and conduct aimed firing at a distance of up to 12 km, and the M-8 launchers allowed it to successfully hit enemy personnel and equipment.
Armored train "Ilya Muromets"
The Ilya Muromets armored train was built in 1942 in Murom. It was protected by 45 mm armor and did not receive a single hole throughout the war. The armored train traveled from Murom to Frankfurt an der Oder. During the war, he destroyed 7 aircraft, 14 guns and mortar batteries, 36 enemy firing points, 875 soldiers and officers. For military merits, the 31st separate special Gorky division of armored trains, which included the Ilya Muromets and Kozma Minin armored trains, was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. In 1971 in Murom the armored locomotive "Ilya Muromets" was put to eternal parking.
Armored trains of the Tomsk railway
At the beginning of December 1941, on the instructions of the State Defense Committee, the formation of three divisions of armored trains began on the Tomsk railway. The depot workers built 11 armored trains: "Kuzbass Railwayman", "Soviet Siberia", "Pobeda", "Luninets" (named after the driver Nikolai Alexandrovich Lunin) and others.
In the days of July 1942 on the Yelets - Kastornaya section armored train No. 704 "Luninets" took the first fight. The commander of the armored train was faced with the task of landing in the rear of the Nazis in the area of the Terbuny station with an important strategic height of the infantry landing and supporting it with fire. The Nazis, who did not expect a rapid rush to their rear, left the height. The armored train was attacked by 11 fascist aircraft. Anti-aircraft gunners staunchly defended the steel fortress. While repelling the raid, 2 bombers were shot down.
On September 8, 1942, an armored train was drawing water at the station when 18 German planes flew down. Ahead bombs destroyed the path. The machinist P.A.Khursik with sixteen workers restored the track. At the reverse at that time was the driver M.F. Shchipachev. Maneuvering on a small section of the remaining track, he saved the train from Nazi bombs.
On April 27, 1943, they were transferred to the defense sector of the 13th Army of the Central Front. armored trains No. 663 "Railwayman of Altai" and No. 704 "Luninets" 49th separate division. On July 6, 1943, in the Ponyri region, armored trains of the 49th division entered the battle, supporting the regiments of the 81st and 307th rifle divisions. With active fire support from the "Luninets" and "Railwayman of Altai" armored trains, the army formations managed to stop the desperate offensive of the enemy. The Hitlerite command developed a special operation to destroy armored trains, in which the main role was assigned to aviation. When "Luninets" and "Zheleznodorozhnik Altai" reached the chosen positions for the next fire strike on the enemy, 36 enemy aircraft appeared over the armored trains. They managed to break the tracks, depriving the armored train "Railwayman of Altai" of the possibility of retreat. But the crews of the steel fortresses fired from all anti-aircraft weapons. The Nazis lost several aircraft. Crews of armored trains and railroad track workers worked all night. They raised armored platforms, laid the rails. In the morning, the 49th ODBP again went on a combat mission.
On July 9, 1943, the Luninets armored train again opened fire on the enemy. On the southwestern outskirts of the village of Ponyri, near the station, he repelled dozens of attacks by the Nazis. Together with the soldiers of the 4th Guards Airborne Division, the crew of the armored train carried out the order of the commander of the Central Front, Army General K.K. Rokossovsky: "Don’t hand over the sinkhole!" For 24 hours the crew of the armored train did not leave the battle. The commander of the armored forces of the 13th Army, General M.A. Korolev through the commander of the armored train, Captain B.V. Shelokhova expressed gratitude to all personnel. During the fighting in the Ponyri area, the soldiers of the 49th division destroyed more than 800 fascist soldiers and officers.
After the defeat of the Nazi armies at the Kursk Bulge, the combat path of the armored train lay on the Ukraine. On February 13, 1944, the 49th ODBP under the command of Captain D.M. Shevchenko was awarded the honorary title "Shepetovsky" by the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In the battles for Shepetovka, the crews of armored trains made 56 fire raids, repelled 15 enemy attacks. Armored trains took part in the liberation of Czestochowa, Petrkuva, Radom. The division finished its combat path in Lower Silesia, in the city of Oppeln.
Armored train "Baltiets"
On July 3, 1941, at a rally in the Leningrad-Baltic electric depot, it was decided to build an armored train on their own, using the Op-7599 steam locomotive and 2 four-axle platforms with a carrying capacity of 60 tons. Steel rolled products for the cladding of the locomotive were supplied by the Izhora Plant.
The armored train was armed with six 76-mm guns, two 120-mm mortars and 16 machine guns, including 4 large-caliber ones. The name of the armored train - "Baltiets" - was given by the workers themselves. The team of the armored train was formed from volunteer railway workers of the electric depot and regular artillerymen.
Since the fall of 1941, the Baltiets armored train has been protecting the borders of Leningrad. He could fire from fifteen firing positions in various sectors of the front: from the position of Myaglovo-Gora - at Mge; from Coal Harbor - along Sosnovaya Polyana and Strelna; from Predportovaya - along Uritsk, Krasnoe Selo, Voronya Gora; from the positions of Levashovo, Beloostrov, Oselki, Vaskelovo - to the area beyond Lembolovo - Orekhovo.
Armored train "People's Avenger"
The Narodny Avenger armored train was built by the railway workers of the Leningrad-Varshavsky junction. The armament of the armored train consisted of two 76-mm anti-aircraft guns, two 76-mm tank guns, 12 Maxim machine guns.
The "People's Avenger" began its combat path on November 7, 1941. At the Varshavsky railway station, during a rally, the railway workers handed the armored train team, 85% of volunteer railway workers, a red banner. During its service, the armored train took part in many operations to defend Leningrad, smashing the enemy in the areas of Pushkin, Aleksandrovka, Uritska, Pavlovsk.
Armored trains in the battle of Stalingrad
In August 1942, when the Nazis came close to Stalingrad, armored trains were called upon to play an important role in the defense of the city.
Among the first armored trains that arrived at Stalingrad was armored train No. 73 troops of the NKVD. In September 1942, the armored train did not go out of action. September 2 from the headquarters of the 10th rifle division of the NKVD troops were warned that large group tanks. The armored train met them fully armed. In retaliation, the enemy brought down aircraft on the train, and began to pursue it with artillery and mortar fire. All four control platforms and the BA-20 armored vehicle burned down. But the next day, the armored train made a surprise attack on the concentration of invading troops north-west of Sadovaya station. Three tanks were destroyed, the infantry was scattered. By the evening, the crew made two more fire raids in the area of the Experimental station.
September 14 turned out to be the last day in the combat fate of armored train # 73. At six in the morning, 40 enemy aircraft flew in. Due to direct hits on the armored platforms, their own ammunition exploded. Smoke clouds covered the armored train. The crew removed the surviving weapons and descended to the Volga. The mutilated skeleton of armored train # 73 was left lying at the foot of Mamayev Kurgan. But soon a new fortress on wheels was sent to the front under the same number. It was created in Perm by former soldiers of armored train # 73. They also made up a new crew.
Armored trains of the 28th division were sent to the Stalingrad front. At the Archeda station on July 23, fascist planes bombed our military echelons three times. Armored train number 677 accepted here his baptism of fire: he fired from anti-aircraft guns, repelling an air attack. As a result of the raid, the station and the railway track were destroyed. The track was restored with the help of soldiers of the armored train and railroad workers. On July 25, 677 was assigned a combat area Kalach-on-Don - Krivomuzginekaya - Karpovskaya - Stalingrad. The task was set to support our troops with cannon and machine gun fire, to prevent the Nazis from breaking through the Don, to fight the enemy landing forces.
On August 5, armored train # 677 was transferred to the 64th Army in the Abganerovo-Fertile area. German tanks broke through into the depths of our defenses, but were immediately thrown back. The 47th kilometer exit has repeatedly changed hands. The steel fortress destroyed bunkers, suppressed mortar and artillery batteries.
On August 9, the troops of the Stalingrad Front launched a counterattack on the enemy group that had broken through. On this day, armored train No. 677 accompanied the offensive of the 38th rifle division together with the 133rd tank brigade with cannon fire. During the day, the crew fought off eleven air attacks, restoring the railway track, dug with deep craters from air bombs. By evening, the armored train went beyond the output semaphore of the Tinguta station. Reaching the firing line, he hit the enemy with all the might of the fire. Fascist bombers bombarded it with high-explosive and incendiary bombs. The armored train received over six hundred dents and holes from fragments of air bombs.
On the Stalingrad-Sarepta section in September 1942, there was armored train No. 708... The trackers of the Beketovskaya station served an 11-kilometer section along which this armored train went on combat missions. The site was shelled and bombed daily by the Nazis. Only for three kilometers there were about 150 damage to the rails, not counting the destruction of the embankment, sleepers, fastenings. To fix all this, the railroad workers had to work mostly at night.
In September 1942 armored train number 1 Of the 59th separate division was ordered to leave for Stalingrad, to the Archeda - Ilovlya - Kotluban section. At Stalingrad, the division was subordinated to the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of the 4th Panzer Army. The division's task was to prevent German troops from crossing the Don River near the mouth of the Ilovlya River, to cover the Ilovlya station from German air raids, and to ensure the safety of the bridge across the river.
On September 15, train # 1 arrived at Log station, and then to Ilovlya, where later it was its main parking lot, which was bombed daily. Repeatedly, at night, train No. 1 left Ilovlya, went to the Tishkino junction (closer to Stalingrad), from where it fired at the positions of the Germans on the right bank of the Don River.
Operating north of Stalingrad, the 40th separate division controlled the Ilovlya - Kotluban sector. It included armored train "Kirov" built in Omsk, and "North Kazakhstani", emerged from the walls of the Petropavlovsk depot. In this sector, the enemy captured the commanding heights and kept under control all echelons advancing nearby. Armored trains took turns out to convenient positions for fire raids on the enemy. On August 23, at dawn, the Kirov launched direct fire at height. An artillery duel ensued, three enemy guns were disabled, but the armored train received considerable damage.
On the Ilovlya - Kotluban sector, when the invaders launched an offensive, the armored trains repelled the attacks of tanks and artillery. But from the attacks of enemy shells, two of the Kirov's armored platforms went off the rails. The other two continued to meet with fire the manpower and equipment of the Nazis. By evening, the railway track was destroyed. All night long it was restored by the soldiers of "Kirov". However, after a technical check, I had to go to Saratov for repairs.
In the second half of October 1942, the 39th ODBP arrived at Stalingrad. Its base was at the Filonovo station, and the armored trains were located at the Archeda station. On November 19, after the start of our general offensive near Stalingrad, armored trains left for Log and Ilovlya stations to support the Soviet attacking units and protect them from air raids. On January 26, 1943, the battalion's anti-aircraft gunners shot down one "Junkers", and several others, having smoked, got away.
In preparing the material, the book by A.V. Efimieva, A.N. Manzhosov, P.F. Sidorov "Armored trains in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945." - Moscow, from "Transport", 1992.
Booking and arming trains began in the first half of the 19th century. But this type of mobile armored vehicles showed itself most actively during the Great Patriotic War, although it was previously used by both warring parties in the First World War and in civil campaigns. Even in both Chechen conflicts, special armored trains were used, four of them are still in service today. Russian army... The most productive in military campaigns can rightfully be called Soviet armored trains, some of which went through the entire Second World War.
Special division
At the beginning of 1942, the 31st separate separate division of armored trains was formed in the Soviet army. Before such a formation did not exist in any army in the world. Armored trains were equipped with rocket artillery, guns, protected by tank turrets. The division's combat units operated for three years, until May 1945. Soviet armored trains reached the capital of the Third Reich.
The division, awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, destroyed the fascist Adolf Hitler armored train, over forty artillery and mortar batteries, more than twenty separate guns, nearly a dozen bunkers, about a hundred enemy machine-gun points, and dozens of enemy aircraft.
The division's combat units had sonorous names that thrilled the hearts of the enemy.
"Russian ghost" "Ilya Muromets"
"Ilya Muromets" in 1942 was presented to the soldiers of the Soviet army by the Murom railroad workers. The armored train was equipped with 45 mm armor and never once was pierced by an enemy shell during its operation. "Muromets" is the first of its kind armored train, which was equipped with "Katyusha" rocket launchers. In a minute, this mobile colossus "covered" an area equal to four hectares, in a one and a half kilometer radius.
"Muromets" was a fairly high-speed and relatively silent armored train, at the same time, possessing colossal firepower. For which he received the nickname "Russian ghost" from the Germans. The "ghostly" armored unit, meanwhile, had a very real effectiveness: "Ilya Muromets" during the Great Patriotic War shot down 7 enemy aircraft, it destroyed a dozen enemy artillery and mortar installations, hit over 30 firing points and destroyed more than 800 Nazis.
The most famous battle of "Muromets" was the battle in 1944 near Kovel with the fascist armored train "Adolf Hitler", the only frontal battle of such armored vehicles in the Great Patriotic War. And our railway giant emerged victorious from this battle.
"Ilya Muromets" did not reach Berlin only 50 kilometers, and then only "for technical reasons": the bridge over the Oder was destroyed.
"Kozma Minin" shot down 15 planes
Another armored train from the glorious cohort of a separate armored division, operating since February 1942. The Gorky railroad workers also built it with their own funds. Anti-aircraft artillery installations "Minin" could hit for 12 kilometers, in addition, large-caliber and anti-aircraft machine guns were reinforced on the "KM" platforms. For three years of operation, "Minin" shot down 15 enemy aircraft, "KM" provided great support to our troops who fought on the Kursk Bulge.
"Baltic" support in breaking the Leningrad blockade
The armored train "Baltiets" is one of the first such combat units that operated in the Soviet army since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The fate of the construction of this machine does not differ from the history of the appearance of its other analogs - the "Baltiyets" was also made at their own expense by the workers of the Leningrad-Baltic electric depot. The armored train became operational in July 1941 and was sent to the Leningrad front. The Leningrad junction had a well-developed railway network, and therefore "Baltiets" could, without prejudice to itself, make daring maneuvers, as a result of which it inflicted significant damage on the enemy.
The armored train provided serious assistance in breaking the blockade of Leningrad in January 1943, supporting the infantry with artillery strikes. During the decisive offensive of the Soviet troops, liberating the northern capital from the Nazis, "Baltiets" advanced along with the advancing formations of the Red Army.
Photo: Monument-armored train "Ilya Muromets"
Photo and description
In the city of Murom, in one of the largest parks in honor of the 50th anniversary of Soviet power, the famous monument-armored train called "Ilya Muromets" is exhibited on a high pedestal. Its construction fell on the period from 1941 to 1942 with the support of the railway workers of the Murom branch of the largest Gorky railway.
As you know, the years of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War were especially difficult in the history of our country, but despite this, the workers gave all their strength to free time to build a war machine. A considerable number of people left on this armored train to the military front as volunteers. For the purpose of erecting the machine, foundry workers living in the nearby cities of Kulebaki and Vyksy were connected to work, from where they supplied the metal necessary for work. Receiving required material, the workers of the Dzerzhinsky plant tempered him. The anti-aircraft towers and carriages included in the composition were welded by the employees of the carriage depot, while in a specially designed locomotive depot, the commemorative locomotive was completely sheathed with armor.
It is important to note that in the most short time people who have absolutely no experience in the construction of this kind of machines were able to recreate a real "fortress on wheels." Residents of the city of Murom decided what kind of name to give the military masterpiece, naming it in honor of the legendary and brave hero Ilia Muromets. But in this matter, Colonel Neplyuev, who was directly involved in the commissioning of the train, had his own name - "For the Motherland!"
Before sending the locomotive to the war front, numerous workers staged a large-scale rally, writing on the multi-ton giant the inscription: "Ilya Muromets" and drawing the head of the famous epic hero. As a result of numerous disputes, it was decided to assign it to combat vehicle # 762, and the existing drawing and inscription were ordered to be completely erased. But still, the name in honor of the brave hero remained in the minds of people, as well as in documents.
On February 8, 1942, the lined up armored train was sent to the front from the Murom station of the same name. The front-line soldiers were seen off by their wives, who were able to hoist a red canvas over a huge steam locomotive of impressive size, while the famous coat of arms of the USSR was embroidered on it. In the village of Gorky, an armored steam locomotive called "Kozma Minin" was added to the existing monument, and after that the process of forming a special 37th Gorky division was completed.
Almost all locomotives drove the Ilya Muromets so well that during the entire war period the famous armored train did not receive a single hole. For the first time in the history of armored trains, the great "Ilya Muromets" was equipped with powerful rocket-propelled mortars, known as "Katyusha".
After the transformations, the car began to move quieter, gained colossal firepower and high speed, which made the armored train a truly impressive combat force. For example, in one minute, he could hit an area of 400x400 m within a radius of 1.5 km.
For all the time, the armored train made more than 150 fire raids on the enemy, and with the help of mortar and artillery fire, it was able to destroy 14 different guns and specialized mortar companies, 36 especially dangerous firing points, 7 aircraft and more than 870 German fascists.
In the summer of 1944, not far from Kovel, which is a particularly large settlement in the Volyn region of the Ukrainian SSR, a large-scale frontal battle was fought, in which the Ilya Muromets and the German combat vehicle Adolf Hitler took part. In this battle, the Germans lost and were completely crushed. The Soviet armored train was able to cover a distance of 2.5 thousand km and only 50 km did not reach the German capital and met victory in the city of Frankfurt.
In honor of the 26th victory anniversary, celebrated in 1971, a monument to the famous armored train "Ilya Muromets" was erected in the city of military glory, Murom. This monument is a scale model of a real steam locomotive, which is especially similar to the original that went through the entire Great Patriotic War. Not far from the monument, a memorial plaque was exhibited, on which the combat path of the armored train was marked.
Continuing the series of articles about the armored trains of the USSR, we confess two things.
First, we literally fell in love with these railway complexes. This is probably due to the initial lack of knowledge of the issue.
And secondly, the creators of armored trains, engineers, designers, foremen, workers, however, like the crews of the BP, today seem to be ingenious adventurers, people for whom nothing was really impossible.
At least, these are the conclusions that come to mind on close acquaintance with armored trains. In general, they both built and fought. From the heart.
Today we will focus on specific armored trains known to many. Considering that the readers are "technically prepared", today is more about exploits, about daily work, about people ...
In spite of everything, the main thing in any armored train is people. Fighters (railroad workers on the BP are also fighters!) And commanders. Gunners, machine gunners, anti-aircraft gunners, repair crew workers, steam locomotive crews, train crews, bakers, orderlies. In short, the crew!
Let's start with the promised most massive armored train of the Red Army, developed in 1942 - BP-43.
The armored train BP-43 consisted of an armored locomotive PR-43, located in the middle of the train, 4 artillery armored platforms PL-43 (2 armored platforms on both sides of the armored locomotive), 2 armored platforms with anti-aircraft weapons PVO-4 (at both ends of the armored train) and 2-4 control platforms, on which materials or troops necessary for the repair of the railway track were transported.
Usually, an armored train consisted of 1-2 armored vehicles BA-20 or BA-64, adapted for movement by rail.
During the war, 21 armored trains BP-43 were manufactured for the Red Army. The same number of armored trains of this type were received by the NKVD troops.
"Heavy" armored trains were armed with 107-mm cannons with a firing range of up to 15 km. Reservations (up to 100 mm) ensured protection of vital components from armor-piercing shells with a caliber of 75 mm.
At one filling with fuel and water, the armored train could cover up to 120 km with a maximum speed of 45 km / h. Coal (10 tons) or fuel oil (6 tons) were used as fuel. The mass of the warhead of the armored train did not exceed 400 tons.
The crew of the warhead consisted of a command, a control platoon, platoons of armored cars with turret crews and onboard machine gun compartments, an air defense platoon, a traction and movement platoon and a platoon of railway armored vehicles, which had 2 light armored vehicles BA-20zhd and 3 medium armored vehicles BA-10zhd, adapted for movement on the railway track.
Armored vehicles were used for reconnaissance at a distance of 10-15 km and as part of a guard (patrol) on the march. In addition, an assault force of up to three rifle platoons could be deployed on the cover platforms.
Most of the most famous BPs were precisely the BP-43. The most successful design was the "Kozma Minin" armored train, built in February 1942 at the Gorky-Moskovsky car depot under the leadership of engineer Leonid Dmitrievich Rybenkov.
The warhead of this armored train consisted of: an armored locomotive, 2 covered armored platforms, 2 open artillery armored platforms and 4 biaxial control platforms.
Each covered armored platform was armed with two 76.2-mm cannons installed in the towers from T-34 tanks. In addition to the 7.62-mm DT machine guns paired with these cannons, the armored platforms had four 7.62-mm Maxim machine guns in ball bearings in the sides.
The open artillery sites were divided in length into three compartments. In the front and rear compartments, 37-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed, and in the central compartment there was a launcher for M-8 rockets.
The thickness of the side armor of the armored platforms was 45 mm, the covered armored platforms had the upper armor 20 mm thick.
Protected by armor 30-45 mm thick, the armored locomotive was used as a thrust only in combat conditions. In the campaign and during maneuvers, a conventional steam locomotive was used. At the tender for the armored locomotive, a command room was equipped, connected to the driver's booth with an armored door.
From this wheelhouse, the commander of the armored train controlled the actions of the armored platforms using telephone communications. For external communications, he had a long-range radio station RSM at his disposal.
Thanks to the presence of four long-barreled 76.2-mm F-32 cannons, the armored train could provide a high concentration of artillery fire and conduct aimed firing at a distance of up to 12 km, and the M-8 launchers allowed it to successfully hit enemy personnel and equipment, working across areas.
During the war, the armored train shot down 14 (according to the recollections of Commissioner Alexei Potekhin) or 15 (official data) aircraft. Participated in the defense of Tula, the liberation of Orel, Bryansk, Gomel.
Once the militia gathered by Kozma Minin freed Moscow from the Poles. And after three hundred thirty-three years, "Kozma Minin" was already liberating the Poles from the Nazis. Here is such a historical collision ...
The war "Kozma Minin" ended, as befits a hero, in the enemy's lair. True, he could not enter Berlin. The Germans blew up the bridge over the Oder. So, an armored train stopped 50 kilometers from Berlin.
But on the other hand, after the surrender of the Nazis, as part of the division, he ensured the safety of the passage of the government train with the delegation of the Soviet Union to the Potsdam Conference of Heads of Government.
No less well-known is the "twin brother" of "Minin" - BP "Ilya Muromets".
The Ilya Muromets armored train was built in 1942 in Murom. It was protected by 45 mm armor and did not receive a single hole throughout the war. The armored train traveled from Murom to Frankfurt an der Oder.
During the war, he destroyed 7 aircraft, 14 guns and mortar batteries, 36 enemy firing points, 875 soldiers and officers. In addition, the hero "Muromets" destroyed the armored train of the Wehrmacht.
In our history, it is generally accepted that the armored train bore the name of the Fuhrer, because its destruction carries an additional sacred meaning. The Soviet armored train, named after the Russian epic hero, destroys the enemy armored train named after Hitler.
There is a small problem. Alas, the Adolf Hitler armored train did not exist, just as there was not a single combat unit, except for the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler division, which bears the name of the German Fuhrer.
About Leibstandarte, too, not everything is so unambiguous, the name of the division can be translated as "Adolf Hitler's Bodyguards". Actually, the division was formed on the basis of the personal protection of the Fuhrer. Nobody bore Hitler's name anymore: neither units, nor ships, nor canals, nor cities or towns. We did not find any mention of an armored train.
But that's not the point, if anything, is it? The bottom line is that the crew of the Soviet armored train "Ilya Muromets" destroyed a German armored train. And this is a fact that does not become less significant because the destroyed armored train did not bear the name of the Fuehrer.
Well, and a beautiful myth that was invented ... Oh, okay! War is always an information war. And what is most important? That's right, victory. Real, not fictional. After all, reality is always brighter and more interesting than myth.
And in our reality, the 31st separate special Gorky division of armored trains, which included the Ilya Muromets and Kozma Minin armored trains, was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. For outstanding military service.
To be honest, they made up about three boxes about the fight between Ilya Muromets and a German armored train. It took a lot of time to understand in detail what happened there.
The story has come down to this day and is still being rewritten that "Ilya Muromets" and the German BP came together almost head to head. In fact, this whole story with one salvo that smashed the enemy's BP to pieces is quite fantastic.
And now we want to present our version to the court. Different from the one generally accepted on the Web.
So, the German armored train (not "Adolf Hitler", as it turned out, but No. 11 or No. 76, we are still specifying) in June 1944 began to systematically and regularly fire at the objects of our troops near the Kovel station of the Volyn region of Ukraine.
Some sources give this picture:
“Taking advantage of the pedantry of the Germans and the peculiarities of the terrain, the headquarters of the armored division developed an operation plan. The artillerymen simultaneously had to disable the railway track in order to cut off the escape route for the enemy armored train, and the "Ilya Muromets" was supposed to have a parking lot closer to the invisible battery. In order not to frighten the enemy, we decided to start actions without zeroing in ”.
Let's leave all this on the conscience of those who wrote, since this literary creation is completely untrue. Further in the text were data on the consumption of shells (10 per gun). What makes the picture generally fantastic.
Let us remind you that Ilya had 4 76-mm F-34 cannons. In total - 40 shells to destroy enemy tracks and armored trains. Without sighting.
Of course, there was zeroing. And the work of the artillery scouts of our armored train was simply excellent. While the Germans were having fun, a map of their movement was drawn up and the point from which they opened fire was calculated. And naturally, the sighting was carried out. From the position from which Ilya was supposed to open fire. This was the essence.
During research on this topic, we came across the memories of captain (at that time) Alexander Vasilchenko, an artillery reconnaissance officer of a howitzer regiment. Vasilchenko talked about the fact that in the case when it was undesirable to draw attention to the fact of the sighting, the sighting was carried out with training shells. That is, perfect blanks that did not explode.
Perhaps, it is even possible that the approach of the German armored train was targeted in this way. As an option - armor-piercing shells.
It was not worth targeting the rocket launchers, since it is all the same work on areas.
But nevertheless, it's a hell of a task for scouts and spotters. But after all, they coped with the results.
Further. Indeed, the punctuality of the Germans is a thing that made it possible to use it for their own purposes. The time of the exit of the German armored train to the point of opening fire was known for certain and this point was calculated quite accurately.
1. "Ilya Muromets" in advance, at dark time, carefully, without unmasking himself, goes to a predetermined position. With the first rays of the sun, there is a preliminary aiming at the place where the German should go. Then everyone burns with bundles of nerves, and the reconnaissance and spotters also burn the eyes.
2. The guns are infected with high-explosive fragmentation shells. Exactly so, the explosion of the HE shell makes it possible to quickly detect the point of impact and adjust further firing. The PC units are also being charged. Both.
3. After drinking coffee and having breakfast, the Germans begin their advance. The Ilya Muromets crew is awaiting the end of the trial. As soon as reconnaissance gives the signal that the German is in position, the first salvo follows.
The first rocket launcher fires. Just zeroing in, a few missiles, then adjustments and fire from two installations. The aiming point is behind the armored train in order to destroy the railroad bed.
Ilya's guns fired the first, sighting salvo. Adjustment and then really quick fire, all the same, on the canvas, or on the locomotive, but this is more difficult.
From the fact that the German BP remained in place, it follows that it was most likely slapped along the way. And it is the RS, because the 76-mm projectile is not enough. But the 82-mm rocket projectile - but as for us, so completely.
4. The Germans, naturally, having fallen into such a mess, begin to urgently deploy their towers in the direction of "Ilya". But, unlike our fighters, they need time to turn, aim, adjust. The time they just don't have.
By the way, the flight range of the RS-82, with which the Ilya was armed, gives an understanding of the distance at which the battle was going. The F-34 cannon was capable of throwing an HE grenade at 9-10 km, an armor-piercing projectile flew at 4 km. RS-82 could fly 5.5 km.
Hence the distance of the battle was less than 5 km. Not point-blank, but ...
5. The Germans fire their first sighting volley. A maximum of 5-6 minutes have passed since the beginning of the battle. The shells, to put it mildly, do not fall next to our armored train. Affected by the lack of coordinates, the fuss caused by an unexpected battle, and so on.
Well, the Germans did not like vanity, what to do.
But ours could, knew how, and practiced. We do not know how long it took the Ilya Muromets fighters to reload the RS launchers. But we think that less than the standard 10 minutes.
6. The second salvo of "Ilya Muromets". I mean, rockets. The guns were supposed to pick the German without stopping. The sight is no longer in the rails, but in the armored train itself.
Actually, that's all. We got it. The fight is over.
The report noted that "the enemy's armored train was enveloped in white clouds of smoke or steam." Obviously, they hit the cauldron.
A month later, in July 1944, Kovel was released. And the Soviet soldiers found a broken-down German armored train. The best confirmation of the success of the Ilya Muromets crew.
Here's a story. It is clear that the armored trains did not converge "head to head", otherwise they would not have had to wait to photograph the wrecked enemy armored train. But - and so simply beautiful.
The only one for the whole Second world war the battle of two armored trains ended with our victory "for a clear advantage."
In the next part, we will tell you about the armored train, from which our close acquaintance with trains began. This will be armored train No. 13 "Tula Rabochiy" and its two-time peculiar history. In detail and with video stories from the creators of his second incarnation.
Armored train "Ilya Muromets"
During the Great Patriotic War, Murom was a rear city. Its inhabitants selflessly worked in factories, collected funds for the defense of the country. So, as a gift to the front, the workers of the locomotive repair shops (now - "Diesel locomotive plant named after F.E.Dzerzhinsky") built in 1941-1942. armored train.The armored train was built as a gift to the front on the initiative of the railway workers of the Murom junction. Despite the fact that there was no experience, no ready-made drawings, no specialists, in a very short time the workers of the locomotive and carriage depot built a real fortress on wheels. The hardening of the armor was checked several times and it was ensured that the armor plates did not break through with shells and did not crack. They armed him with the most modern weapons at that time, including Katyusha installations. At the front, for a more effective fight against enemy aircraft, the crew of the armored train purchased additional anti-aircraft guns at their own expense.
On a cold morning on February 8, 1942, from the Murom-II railway station, residents of the city accompanied the Ilya Muromets armored train into battle. The order was given to the crew: "To beat the enemy mercilessly and return home with victory."
The creators of the armored train decided that the train drivers would be formed from the best builders from Murom: A.V. Biryukov, A.V. Zhurukhin, I.E.Seryakova, V.A.Smirnova, A.S. Snopka, A.G. Shmelev ... At the rally, it was decided to give the armored train the name of the legendary hero Ilya Muromets. Colonel Neplyuev, who came to “pick up” the armored train, had his own name for it: “For. Homeland ". Nevertheless, at the rally before the dispatch of the armored train to the front, the audience saw the inscription “Ilya Muromets” and the image of the hero's head on its board. The inscription and drawing were then ordered to be painted over, and the combat vehicle was assigned number 762. However, his name remained both in the documents and in the minds of the builders and the crew. More than two thousand four hundred kilometers with battles, freeing the Motherland from the Nazis, "Ilya Muromets" passed from the Oka to the Oder. He took part in one hundred and fifty powerful fire raids, destroyed the German armored train "Adolf Hitler". The division, which also included the Kozma Minin armored train built by the Gorky residents, destroyed one thousand six hundred and fifty enemy soldiers and officers, shot down fifteen aircraft, suppressed ninety-four machine-gun points, forty-two artillery and mortar batteries, fourteen bunkers, ammunition depots. For courage and bravery, almost all personnel were awarded orders and medals.
Fight "Ilya Muromets" with "Adolf Hitler"
On June 4, 1944, our "Ilya Muromets" and the German train "Adolf Hitler" met in battle.
Our facilities near Kovel, a major transport hub in the Volyn region in Ukraine, began to be subjected to very short (two to three minutes) morning shelling, and at the same time. Neither ground reconnaissance nor aviators were able to detect the location of the enemy battery. It was only assumed that the enemy armored train was operating.
Taking advantage of the pedantry of the Germans and the peculiarities of the terrain, the headquarters of the armored division developed an operation plan. The artillerymen simultaneously had to disable the railway track in order to cut off the escape route for the enemy armored train, and the "Ilya Muromets" was supposed to have a parking lot closer to the invisible battery. In order not to frighten off the enemy, they decided to start actions without sighting.
Soon, observers of the Ilya Muromets discovered a German armored train moving into firing positions. They made out faint streaks of smoke. A report was received in the command room, followed by a command: “On target! Ten shells per gun! Rocket launchers, two volleys! Armored trains! Fire!"
Shots from both sides rang out almost simultaneously. The gunners of Ilya Muromets fired better than the enemy. The German armored train was hit by the first salvo. True, he managed to fire back, but the shells missed the mark. The Katyushas completed the rout of the enemy armored train. It was soon over. Puffs of steam hung over the armored train. Apparently, the shell hit the boiler of the locomotive.
When on July 6, 1944, Kovel was liberated from the Nazis, the soldiers of the 31st division visited the wrecked enemy armored train. He was never removed from where he found his end. The soldiers also learned that the enemy armored train was named after the Fuhrer of the Third Reich. It turned out to be very symbolic that “Ilya Muromets” destroyed “Adolf Hitler”.
Of course, not only this episode on the glorious combat track of the armored train evokes admiration. A gift to the front from Murom residents, "Ilya" began a war with the invaders at the very beginning of 1942 on the Bryansk front.
He was armed with heavy guns, rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and Katyusha rocket launchers (for the first time in the history of armored trains). Silently entering enemy positions, "Ilya Muromets" destroyed fuel depots, weapons, artillery batteries, infantry and equipment.
In April 1942, the Ilya Muromets armored train took its first battle at the Vypolzovo station. And a little later he took part in a raid on Mtsensk captured by the Nazis with an order to paralyze the work of the station, where at that moment there was an intensive unloading of trains.
Making a rustle in the German rear and destroying a large number of wagons and warehouses, the armored train returned from the mission without suffering losses, but the enraged Germans declared a real hunt for it.
Hitler's aviation tracked the train on the way and at the stations, and on May 12, 1942, it was able to damage the staff car, in which the commander of the 31st armored train division, Major Ya.S. Grushelevsky, Chief of Staff of the Division Senior Lieutenant S.V. Pisemsky, correspondent of the newspaper "Gudok" A.S. Bukaev.
Nevertheless, the “ubiquitous Russian ghost”, as the “supermen” “Ilya Muromets” were called, did not go out of action. Despite the statements of German propaganda, which shamelessly lied that the Americans had built an armored train for the USSR, then boasted that the Luftwaffe angels had pelted the Russian monster with phosphorus bombs, Ilya continued to fight the Nazis every time:
The firepower of our armored fortress terrified the Germans, and the appearance of "Ilya" caused panic in enemy positions. Which is not surprising, because in one minute the armored train hit an area of 400 by 400 meters. And this is only with cannon fire, and there were also Katyushas.
The 31 ODBP consisted of two armored trains. The first was assembled in Nizhny Novgorod, and the second in Murom.
On the basis of the order of the head of the GBTU KA No. 1109420 dated December 5, 1942, the armored trains received new numbers: No. 1 "Kozma Minin" - No. 659, and No. 2 "Ilya Muromets" - No. 702.
During the war, the units of the 31st Separate Division conducted 150 powerful fire raids along the front line of defense and front-line supply stations, participated in breaking through the defenses and repelling enemy attacks. Artillery-mortar and machine-gun fire destroyed 15 German aircraft, 1650 soldiers and officers (875 soldiers and officers), 94 machine-gun points, 42 artillery and mortar batteries, 24 separate guns, 14 bunkers, a German armored train, ammunition depots. Shot down 7 planes.
For the liberation of Warsaw, the division was awarded the name of Warsaw, and on October 31, 1944, it was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. Having traveled almost 2.5 thousand kilometers from the Oka to the Oder, "Kozma Minin" and "Ilya Muromets" stopped 50 km from Berlin in Frankfurt an der Oder. The bridge over the Oder was destroyed. Here they celebrated the Victory. The crew of the armored train proudly reported to their fellow countrymen: “The order of the Muromlyans has been fulfilled! The enemy is defeated and victory is ours! "
By design, armored trains No. 1 and 2 were similar - they consisted of an armored locomotive (Ok No. 139 and Ov No. 4635, respectively, hardened armor, on Ok 30 - 45 mm, Ov 30 mm) two artillery armored platforms (No. 847, 848 and No. 873 , 874, respectively, 45 mm hardened armor, each armament with two 76-mm F-34 cannons in the turrets of T-34 tanks and 6 DT machine guns) and two air defense sites (respectively No. 849, 850, on each 2 25-mm anti-aircraft guns and 2 rocket launchers M-8-24 and No. 891, 892 on each 276-mm Lender anti-aircraft guns and 2 rocket launchers M-8-24).
In March 1942, the workers decided to build a bath-train and in the shortest possible time produced ten special cars with disinfection frypots. The train was intended as a gift to the Ilya Muromets armored train, which during one of the battles had household cars destroyed, but at stops it worked for other soldiers and for the civilian population.
Locomotive of the armored train "Ilya Muromets" 
In 1971, an armored train locomotive was installed on Vladimirskaya Street near the Park named after 50th anniversary of Soviet power. Artist S. Nikolaev, architect N. Bespalov, engineer K. Dolgov.
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