T-44

The T-44 had a typical tank layout: the driving compartment at the front, the fighting compartment in the middle and the engine compartment in the rear. The original intention was to retain the high mobility and speed of a T-34 and to provide the T-44 with heavier armour protection against large-caliber tank guns. This was accomplished by adding thicker armour but reducing the internal volume of the hull. The T-44 had a lower profile than the T-34, and was potentially simpler to manufacture. Although the T-44 used many components of the T-34, it had a new hull, and a modified model V-2 diesel engine, suspension and transmission.[7][9]

Reflecting trends in other designs in this period, the T-44 was designed without the hull radio operator/machine gunner position present in many older designs. This was done for a number of reasons.[13] The extensive machine gun firing port in the glacis plate (which was present in the T-34 medium tank) was a weak spot in the armour.[14] In the T-34, this firing port and the driver's hatch were exploited during World War II by the Germans fighting the T-34s.[14] Shooting the machine gun was ineffective as it was inaccurate due to obscured vision.[13] It was considered inefficient to transfer reports through an additional member of the crew and therefore these duties were transferred to the commander.[13] The space saved was used for a fuel tank[13] and to increase the ammunition load.[9] The driver's hatch was on the left side of the hull roof. The tank had an improved hull design, longer and wider than the T-34 but slightly lower thanks to the relocation of the air filter, with thicker armour, and was simpler to construct. The hull had a sloped glacis plate, vertical sides, and a slightly beveled rear. Most tanks had a splashboard on the glacis plate although there are pictures of T-44A tanks without them. It protected the upper part of the vehicle from splashes of mud or water. There were three mounts for rectangular stowage bins on the fenders (two on the right fender and one on the left fender). There were four mountings for cylindrical fuel tanks on the fenders (two per side). This was changed in the T-44M which used rectangular fuel cells.[7][9]

During its service the tank proved to be not entirely adapted to winter conditions, due to an incomplete draining of the cooling system, caused by a water pump system that had been modified to reduce engine height. A small shaft would break after the impeller pump froze. The repair of the shaft, considering the field conditions, proved very impractical and required three people. Two people had to hold a third person by the legs and lower him into the engine bay, where he had to loosen the fastening and remove the broken shaft. Then, he was pulled out and lowered back down to install the new shaft. He was repeatedly lowered until the new part was secured. Another serious problem discovered during the winter conditions was that the crews of the T-44A suffered from frostbite because of the complete lack of a heating system. The driver was supposed to be protected from rain and snow by a removable Tarpaulin cover with a small glass window. However, this was not successful and its use was deemed impractical.[10]

Second generation T-44-85 prototype during trials. This unit has no splashboard, and the gap between the second and third roadwheels.

Second generation T-44-85 prototype during trials at NIBT proving grounds near Kubinka, summer 1944. Notice driver's vision flap was reduced to a plain square flap with rounded lower corners, in line with the glacis plate, a prominent collar at the base of the gun tube and the splashboard on the glacis plate.

The T-44 had a compact torsion-bar suspension instead of the T-34's Christie coil springs, although it retained the Christie method of engagement between the slotted drive wheel and track lugs. The suspension had five large spoked road wheels and 'dead' 500 mm wide track from the T-34.[8] The hull and wheels were virtually identical to the early T-54 main battle tanks although the original T-44 had the T-34's 'spider' road wheels and a narrow, inset drive wheel at the rear. The T-44 was the last Soviet medium tank with paddle-type tracks. The mechanism for tensioning them was significantly better on the T-44 than it was on the T-34. On the T-34, the first two lug-nuts on the crank had to be loosened and then the crank pounded with a sledge hammer in order to separate it from the hull. After the track was tensioned, the crank had to be set back in place with a sledge hammer. The whole process required up to three people. On the T-44, the same task could be carried out by one person, without the help of a sledge-hammer. The roadwheels were spaced evenly from each other except for a prominent gap between two of the roadwheels. The T-44-85 and T-44-122 prototypes had a gap between the second and third roadwheels like in the T-34[5] but the T-44A had a gap between the first and second roadwheels.[5] This arrangement of wheels was continued in the T-54 and T-55 main battle tanks. The roadwheels sometimes started to 'fall home' after 2,500 km. To increase the service life of the road wheel, a slight camber of the paired road wheels was tried. However, this resulted in greater stress on the outer rollers. When the tank crosses 20 km of rough ground it can pick up about a ton of dirt along the way.[7][9][10]

The new V-44 12-cylinder 4-stroke diesel engine, developing 520 hp (388 kW) at 1,800 rpm, was a more powerful version of the T-34's model V-2 with a new planetary manual 5-speed transmission system, filtration system, improved cooling system, horizontally placed water and oil pumps[6][15] and an improved fuel system which increased its power output,[6] although the tank retained the side clutches from the T-34.[7] The new engine gave the T-44 a maximal road speed of 53 km/h and maximal cross country speed of 20 km/h to 25 km/h as well as maximal road range of 350 km. The engine could become worn out after the tank traveled 3,000 km. When that happened, the oil pressure would drop to 2-3 atmospheres and under heavy loads, the engine would start smoking, spewing out black smog out of the side of the tank. The engine deck had two transverse ventilation grilles at the rear. The exhaust port was on the rear left hand side of the hull. The tank could cross 1 m high vertical obstacles, 2.5 m wide trenches, 32°[5][16] side slopes and 60° gradients and ford 1.3 m deep water obstacles without preparation.[7][10][12]

Because driver's hatch was moved from the glacis plate and positioned so that he exited the vehicle perpendicularly instead of crawling out of the hatch, his seat received an elevating mechanism. While in a relatively safe area the driver could elevate his seat to look outside of the tank, providing greater visibility and easier access to the controls. While in combat the driver lowered his seat back into the tank and had to rely on the vision slot protected by triplex (three-layer glass).[15] While in this position the pedals of the main clutch, the fuel supply, and incline brake were positioned much higher and the levers of the steering clutch and gear shifting became inconvenient to operate. Early examples had transmission problems. While the driver was switching gears, two gears could engage simultaneously, which caused a broken gear pinion. This and other gearbox related problems were solved in a 1961 T-44M modernization with the introduction of a gearbox from the T-54 main battle tank.[7][9][10]

T-44A was armed with an 85mm ZiS-S-53 tank gun as well as two 7.62mm DTM light machine guns. One of these machine guns was mounted to fire through a tiny hole in the center of the glacis plate. Because the tank's crew did not include a radio operator/machine gunner, the driver operated this light machine gun. The gun was mounted in a fixed position and could only be aimed by turning the tank.[13] The main gun was placed in a centrally placed turret along with a coaxially mounted 7.62 mm DTM light machine gun. The ZiS-S-53 tank gun could penetrate around 100 mm of armour at range of 1000 m. The gun could be elevated or depressed between -5° and +25°.[5] It wasn't stabilized.[12] Like in the T-34 and the SU-76 SPG, hot cartridge-cases were rolling under the feet of the crew. The crew was also subjected to gases from the main gun every time after it was fired.[10] The tank carried 58 rounds for the 85 mm ZiS-S-53 tank gun and 1890 rounds for 7.62 mm DTM light machine guns.[7]

The turret was cast, with a prominent horizontal casting seam, shaped like an elongated hexagon, with sloped sides and overhang all around. It resembled a longer, better armoured T-34-85 turret. It had a cast gun mantlet with a small but prominent ring/collar around the base of the tank gun tube. The turret roof had a raised commander's cupola on the left and loader's hatch on the right with a low dome-shaped ventilator behind it. The turret was moved with an electric motor. The front armour of the turret was 120 mm thick while the side armour was 75 mm thick.[3][8][9]

The hull was made of rolled welded steel. The glacis plate was 90 mm thick while the side armour was 75 mm and the bottom armour was 20 mm thick. T-44 tanks could be fitted with additional 30 mm thick armour plates on the sides of the hull and the turret. Additional spaced armour panels could be fitted to the sides of the hull.[3][12]

The T-44A could be fitted with the PT-3 mine clearing device. It had a radio in the back of the turret with an antenna at the center of the left side of the turret. The vehicle was equipped with a submachine gun.[15] The vehicle lacked an NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) protection system and a night vision device.[9][12]

The T-44A officially entered service with the Red Army on 23 November 1944, the production having started in October.[13] Production took place at the new Factory No. 75 (Zavod 75) in Kharkiv which used the buildings of the old KhPZ Factory No. 183 which were recaptured from Germans on 23 August 1943.[13] To restore the factories to working order, engineers, workers, machines and tools were sent from Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183, located in Nizhny Tagil.[13] The original plans were that the factory would produce 300 T-44As a month. However, only 25 were built by the end of 1944. In 1945, 940 were built, making a total of 965 (190[13] tanks built in 1944 and 1945 were completed by the end of the war). An additional 858 T-44As were made in 1946-1947. The T-34 continued to account for 85% of medium tank production through 1950,[17] and development of a more advanced medium tank with a more powerful 100 mm gun proceeded. The relatively brief production run ended in 1947 with a total of 1,823 T-44A tanks built. The reasons for such a brief production run included mechanical teething problems,[18] the end of the war which reduced the Red Army's need for a new tank,[18] and the design's inability to successfully fit a 100 mm tank gun.[18] It was replaced on the production lines by the T-54-1 main battle tank, which was more mechanically reliable and could mount a 100 mm gun. The superior T-54-2 would replace T-34 production at the Omsk Factory No. 183 in 1950, and the T-54/55 main battle tank series would remain in production until 1981.[3][9]

The T-44 was issued to three tank brigades mustered on 15 September 1944 for training purposes, but these formations (6th Guards, 33rd Guards, and 63rd Guards Tank Brigades[19]) were re-equipped with T-34-85 tanks prior to entering the Battle of Berlin and Prague Offensive. The T-44A was not used operationally during World War II in Europe for several reasons, including the fact that the Red Army was not ready to accept a new tank;[7] as lack of sufficient spares[7] and technical specialists who could repair and maintain the new tanks;[7] and the fact that many of the tank crews would have to be retrained.[7] However, three tanks were sent to the 100th Special Tank Company, which tested them on the Eastern Front.[7] Many T-44As were immediately sent, after production, to the Far East of the Soviet Union. The first tanks arrived there before the end of the war and were used operationally during the last three days of fighting. They continued to arrive after the war and eventually around 600 T-44As were stationed there.[20]

Due to the Cold War, the USSR decided to keep the tank secret.[7][14] It was never shown publicly during military parades[14] and pictures were never shown publicly until the secrecy was dropped. There is almost no photographic evidence of T-44s stationed in East Germany[14] or while being used briefly in Poland and Romania for training respective tank crews in 1952[21] nor during the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956,[14] although it is factually known that T-44 tanks were sent to these various places (there are only a small number of known photographs of T-44A tanks in Hungary in existence).[14]

In 1961, a number of T-44As were modernized with parts from the T-54 main battle tank and other upgrades and received the designation T-44M. In 1963, some T-44Ms were converted into T-44MK command tanks. In 1965 some T-44Ms were converted into BTS-4A armoured recovery vehicles.[13] In 1966, a number of T-44As and T-44Ms received the "Cyclone" gun stabilizer and the designations T-44S and T-44MS, respectively.[13] According to most sources T-44S, T-44M and T-44MS tanks remained in service with the Soviet Army until the end of the 1970s, when their usefulness as tanks had ended. It is possible that they remained in storage until the beginning of the 1990s.[20] Many T-44Ms were converted into artillery tractors, tank tractors and engineer tanks. A number of T-44A, T-44S, T-44M, T-44MK and T-44MS tanks were converted into fixed defensive positions; some of which are known to have been positioned on the border with the People's Republic of China.[14] Unlike most Soviet-made weapons, the T-44 wasn't exported.[7][9]

After the cloak of secrecy was lifted in the 1960s, when the tank was already becoming obsolete, it was used in the war movies[7] Father of a Soldier,[7] Liberation, Battle of Moscow, Red Cherry,[22] The Star,[23] and Downfall.[7][24] In the first, it was used to portray a T-34.[7] In Liberation, Red Cherry, The Star, and Downfall it was visually modified with additional plates[7] to resemble the Tiger I heavy tank.[7] Some T-44 and T-34 tanks were visually modified to represent German Panzerkampfwagen IVs. They were made for Soviet-era film studios and were used in a number of movies about battles on the Eastern Front. They were also used during a 2004 re-enactment of the Battle of Moscow.[25]

T-44 displayed in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, Poklonnaya Hill Victory Park.

Some T-44As were given to military museums including one in Brest in today's Belarus, and one in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, Poklonnaya Hill Victory Park. One of two T-44-100 prototypes are in the Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow.

Restored T-44 "Znamenskiy" at the Kubinka Tank Museum.

In conjunction with the video game company Gaijin Entertainment, creators of the World War II multiplayer combat game War Thunder, and Kubinka Tank Museum, the T-44 tank number "721" was restored to full operating condition over the course of nearly six months, and given a parade paint scheme in the style of the T-44 "Znamenskiy" tank from the 29th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Mechanized Army.[26][27]

• T-44-85 (1944) – Designation for two first generation prototypes armed with 85 mm D-5T tank gun and two second generation prototypes armed with 85 mm ZiS-S-53 tank gun.[7][9]
  • T-44A (1944) – Designation for the third generation prototype and the production model.[3][7][9]
    • T-44S (1966) – T-44A fitted with "Cyclone" two-plane gun stabilization system.[9][13]
    • T-44M (1961) – T-44A modernization incorporating a drive train upgraded to match the one used in T-54 including the V-54 12-cylinder 38.88 liter water-cooled diesel engine developing 523 hp (390 kW), gearbox, tracks, 'starfish' road wheels and a conventional toothed drive sprocket, flush with the outer track edge. It had an increased ammunition stowage (from 58 rounds to 61 rounds), new R-113 and R-120 radio sets, a heater and infra-red night sight, TVN-2 night vision device for the driver as well as another fuel tank which increased the fuel capacity by 150 liters to 650 liters and 800 liters with additional fuel tanks.[13] The maximal road operational range of the tank increased to 420 km - 440 km.[13] The original fenders were replaced with T-54-style ones. The catwalk stowage was changed to the flat T-54 rectangular external fuel tanks with embossed circle and cross. Hence the T-44M had a different arrangement of additional fuel tanks and stowage boxes. There were four rectangular external fuel tanks as well as two smaller ones on the right fender and fastenings for four spare track chain links, one rectangular external fuel tank as well as two smaller ones and one stowage box. The tank received a mount for an antiaircraft machine gun.[13] A T-54-style headlight cluster with two headlights was added to right hand side of the glacis plate and the T-34-style headlight on the left hand side of the hull was removed.[9]
      • T-44MK (1963) – T-44M converted into a command tank. Apart from standard T-44M equipment, it is equipped with R-112 radio set. The ammunition stowage was reduced by 15 rounds to 46 rounds.[9][13]
      • T-44MS (1966) - T-44M fitted with "Cyclone" two-plane gun stabilization system. It also has increased maximal operational range.[13]
      • BTS-4A (1965) – T-44M converted into an armoured recovery vehicle. The turret has been removed. The vehicle was fitted with a stowage basket, a hoist and a small folding crane with a capacity of 3 tonnes and a snorkel. It was also known as BTS-4-44M.[9][13]
• T-44 tanks converted into fixed fortifications. This process usually involved the removal of the engine and the gearbox while burying the tank up to the top of the hull and covering the turret in concrete to break up the outline and to give it a rock-like appearance.[9]
• T-44-122 (1944) – First generation prototype armed with D-25-44T 122 mm tank gun. It carried 24 rounds.[3][7][9]
• T-44-100 (1945) – Prototype fitted with a new modified turret which would allow fitting the 100 mm D-10T gun or 100 mm LB-1 gun. The tank carries 36 rounds for the 100 mm tank gun.[13] This prototype had the 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun fitted to the loader's hatch, 6 mm thick sideskirts protecting the sides and two cylindrical fuel tanks in the back giving it a fuel capacity of 1035L. The longer tank gun barrel increased the overall length of the vehicle to 8.04 m. The new turret, new armament and the sideskirts made the vehicle heavier as it weighed 34.55 tonnes.[7][9][12]
• SU-122-44 (1944) - Self-propelled gun prototype armed with a 122 mm gun.
• Uralmash-1 (1944) - Self-propelled gun prototype armed with either 100 mm gun or 122 mm gun. Also known as SU-101 and SU-102.

T-44

• Stalin Line Museum, Zaslawye, Belarus.[28]
• Rahachow, Belarus.[28]
• Caponier Club Collection, Moscow, Russia.[28]
• Vadim Zadorozhny Museum, Arhangelskoe, Russia.[28]
• UMMC Museum Complex, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia. [28]
• Mosfilm Military And Technical Cinema Depot, Russia. Four vismod T-44s[28]
• Lemeshiv, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. Turret only[28]
• Glusk, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. Turret only[28]
• Zviahel, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. Turret only[28]
• Ovruch, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. T-44 turret on T-34 hull[28]
• Unidentified fortification museum, Moscow. Turret only[28]
• State Military Technical Museum, Ivanovo, Russia. Two turrets[28]

T-44M

• Brest Fortress, Brest, Belarus.[28]
• Kobryn, Brest Region, Belarus.[28]
• Stalin Line Museum, Zaslawye, Belarus.[28]
• Victory Park, Moscow, Russia.[28]
• Kubinka Tank Museum, Kubinka, Russia. Two T-44Ms[28]
• Museum of Russian Military History, Padikovo, Russia.[28]
• Sokolova Gora, Saratov, Russia.[28]
• Volsk, Saratov Oblast, Russia.[28]
• Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russia.[28]

• List of Soviet tanks
• M26 Pershing
• Panther tank
• Centurion Mk. 1

• Zaloga, Steven J.; James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8.
• Zaloga, Steven J.; Hugh Johnson (2004). T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-792-1.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to T-44.

• T-44 Medium Tank Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine at battlefield.ru
• T-44 Medium Tank at wwiivehicles.com
• Rem Ulanov: The Transitional Variant Archived 2017-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, memoir of a T-44 test driver, at battlefield.ru