T-24 tank

"T-24" redirects here. For other uses, see T24 (disambiguation).

T-24 Medium Tank

Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Production history
Designer	Ivan N. Aleksenko, T2K design bureau
Manufacturer	KhPZ
Produced	1931
Number built	25
Variants	T-12 tank prototype, Komintern & Voroshilovets artillery tractors
Specifications
Weight	18.5 tonnes
Length	6.50 m (21 ft 4 in)
Width	3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Height	2.81 m (9 ft 3 in)
Crew	5

Armour	8–20 mm
Main armament	45 mm gun Model 32
Secondary armament	3 × DT machine gun
Engine	M-6 250 hp (190 kW)
Power/weight	13.5 hp/tonne
Suspension	vertical spring
Operational range	140 km
Speed	25 km/h (16 mph)

The T-24 was a Soviet medium tank built in 1931. Only twenty-four tanks were built, and none saw combat. This was the first tank produced at the KhPZ factory in Ukraine, which was later responsible for the very successful T-34 and T-54 Soviet tanks. The T-24's suspension was used successfully in the Soviet Union's first purpose-built artillery tractors.

The T-24's main armament was a 45 mm gun. It had a ball-mount 7.62 mm DT machine gun in the hull, another in the turret, and a third in a secondary turret atop the main turret. The tank was well-armoured for its time, but the engine and transmission had problems.

Production history

A tank design bureau was established at the Kharkov Locomotive Factory (KhPZ) in Kharkiv, Soviet Ukraine, in 1928. The first tank project of the factory was the T-12 (or T-1-12). This was a larger version of the T-18, with a more powerful engine (the T-18 was based on the Renault FT). One prototype was built and production of thirty tanks in 1930 was authorized, but automotive performance was so disappointing that it was decided to do further development work.

The project was re-designated T-24, work was completed fixing problems with the transmission and fuel system, and a larger turret was designed. Initial trials were conducted, during which performance was found satisfactory, although the prototype's engine caught fire, and the turret had to be transferred to a T-12 prototype for further testing. Only a total of twenty-four were built during 1931. The T-24s were originally armed only with machine guns, until the 45 mm guns were installed in the following year.

The T-24 was found unreliable, and was used only for training and parades. Although the T-24 tank was a failure, it gave the KhPZ its initial tank design and production experience, which was applied much more successfully in adopting production of the U.S. Christie tank as the BT tank series, starting in 1931.

Artillery tractors

Voroshilovets heavy artillery tractor

Komintern artillery tractor

The KhPZ's Komintern artillery tractor was based on the suspension of the T-12 tank (50 built from 1930) and later the T-24 (2,000 built from 1935 to 1941), powered by a 131-hp diesel engine. Unlike its predecessor tanks, the tractor was more successful and was put into mass production. The Komintern inherited several of the T-24's disadvantages, but some of them were fixed by designers, others were not as significant for tractor as for a tank. The Komintern was used to tow medium artillery such as the 152 mm gun-howitzer.

The Voroshilovets heavy artillery tractor was also based on the T-24's suspension, using the same but detuned Model V-2 diesel engine as the BT-7M and T-34 tanks. About 230 were built at KhPZ from 1939, and after the German invasion of 1941 production was shifted to the Stalingrad Tractor Factory until August 1942.

Notes

References

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.

External links

Komintern at battlefield.ru
T-12, T-24, Komintern, Voroshilovets at KMDB design bureau's official site
T-24 Medium Tank at battlefield.ru
Первые советские танки (First Soviet tanks), at M. Svirin's Soviet Tanks, in Russian
Первые Средние (First Mediums), from Modelist-Konstruktor, no 9, 1989, in Russian

Interwar tanks

List Category

Tankettes	L3/33 L3/35 Carden Loyd Morris-Martel T-27 TKS Type 92 tankette Type 94 tankette Type 97 Te-Ke Tančík vz. 33 AH-IV

Light	H35 R35 Fiat 3000 Leichttraktor Light Tanks Mk I–V Light Tank Mk VI Light Tank Mk VII M1 Combat Car M2 Light Tank Panzer I Panzer II LT vz. 34 LT vz. 35 LT vz. 38 T1 Light Tank T7 Combat Car T-18 T-13 T-15 T-19 T-26 T-37 T-38 7TP Type 95 Ha-Go Vickers 6-Ton Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank

Medium	Char D1 Char D2 Grosstraktor Medium Mk I Medium Mk II Medium Mk III Panzer III T-24 T-28 Type 89 I-Go Type 97 Chi-Ni Type 97 Chi-Ha Type 98 Chi-Ho

Cavalry, Cruiser or Fast	AMC 34 AMC 35 AMR 33 AMR 35 BT tank Cruiser Mk I Cruiser Mk II Cruiser Mk III SOMUA S35

Infantry	FCM 36 Infantry Mk I, Matilda Renault R35 T-26 Type 89 I-Go

Heavy	Char B1 Neubaufahrzeug SMK T-35 T-100 Type 95 Heavy Tank Vickers A1E1 Independent

Super-heavy	FCM F1 Char 2C T-42

Armoured Carriers	UE Chenillette Bren Gun Carrier

Tank history classification WWI Interwar WWII Cold War Post–Cold War

Soviet armoured fighting vehicles of World War II

Tanks

Tankettes	T-27

Amphibious tanks	T-37 T-38 T-40

Fast tanks	BT-2/BT-5 BT-7 BT-8

Light tanks	T-18 T-26 T-50 T-60 T-70/T-80

Medium tanks	T-28 T-34 T-44

Heavy tanks	T-35 KV-1/KV-2 IS-2/IS-3

Self-propelled artillery

Guns and anti-tank guns	ZiS-30 SU-5 SU-76 SU-85 SU-100 SU-122 SU-152 ISU-122 ISU-152

Anti-aircraft guns	ZSU-37 T-60Z T-70Z T-90

Armored cars

Light	D-8 D-12 D-13 FAI BA-20 BA-64 PB-4 PB-7 BA-30

Medium	BA-27 BA-I BA-3 BA-6 BA-10

Heavy	BA-11

Aerosani

Aerosani	ANT-IV NKL-16 NKL-26 RF-8 ASD-400

Artillery tractors

Armored Artillery tractors	AT-42 artillery tractor T-26-T Komsomolets Komintern Voroshilovets

Artillery tractors	S-2 Stalinets S-60 Stalinets S-65 Stalinets Kommunar STZ-3 STZ-5 YA-12

Experimental and improvised vehicles

Experimental	SU-14 A-40 flying tank T-43 tank SU-100Y SPG PPG tankette

Improvised	KhTZ-16 IZ NI tank

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