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The M-30 howitzer is probably known to everyone. famous and legendary weapon worker-peasant, Soviet, Russian and many other armies. Any documentary about the Great Patriotic War almost necessarily includes shots of firing the M-30 battery. And even today, despite its age, this weapon is in service in many armies of the world.
And by the way, 80 years, as it were ...
So, today we will talk about the 122-mm howitzer of the 1938 model M-30. About the howitzer, which many artillery experts call the era. And foreign experts - the most common weapon in the history of artillery (about 20 thousand units). A system where, in the most organic way, old solutions, tested by many years of operation of other tools, and new, previously unknown ones, were combined.
In the article preceding this publication, we talked about the most numerous howitzer of the Red Army of the pre-war period - 122 mm howitzer model 1910/30. It was this howitzer that, already in the second year of the war, replaced the M-30 in terms of numbers. According to various sources, in 1942 the number of M-30s was already larger than its predecessor.
There are many materials about the creation of the system. Literally all the nuances of the competition between different design bureaus are analyzed, performance characteristics guns, design features And so on. The points of view of the authors of such articles are sometimes diametrically opposed.
I would not like to go into all the details of such disputes. Therefore, the historical part of the narrative "we will mark with a dotted line", leaving readers the right to their own opinion on this issue. The opinion of the authors is only one of many and cannot serve as the only true and final one.
So, the 122-mm howitzer of the 1910/30 model was outdated by the mid-30s. That "small modernization", which was carried out in 1930, only extended the life of this system, but did not return it to youth and functionality. That is, the weapon could still serve, the whole question is how. The niche of divisional howitzers would soon be empty. And everyone understood this. Command of the Red Army, leaders of the state and the designers of artillery systems themselves.
In 1928, a rather heated discussion on this issue even unfolded after the publication of an article in the Journal of the Artillery Committee. Disputes were conducted in all directions. From the combat use and design of guns, to the necessary and sufficient caliber of howitzers. Based on the experience of the First World War, it was quite reasonable to consider several calibers at once, from 107 to 122 mm.
On August 11, 1929, the designers received the assignment to develop an artillery system to replace the outdated divisional howitzer. In studies on the howitzer caliber, there is no unequivocal answer about the choice of 122 mm. The authors tend to the most simple and logical explanation.
The Red Army had enough ammunition of this particular caliber. Moreover, the country had the opportunity to produce these ammunition in required quantity in existing plants. And third, the logistics of delivering ammunition was simplified as much as possible. The most numerous howitzer (mod. 1910/30) and the new howitzer could be supplied "from one box".
Describe problems at "birth" and preparation for serial production M-30 howitzers make no sense. This is well described in the Encyclopedia of Russian Artillery, probably the most authoritative historian of artillery, A. B. Shirokorad.
The performance requirements for the new divisional howitzer were announced by the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army in September 1937. The requirements are quite strict. Especially in the shutter area. AU required a wedge gate (promising and having big potential for modernization). Engineers and designers understood that this system was not reliable enough.
Three design bureaus were engaged in the development of the howitzer at once: the Ural Machine-Building Plant (Uralmash), Plant No. 172 named after Molotov (Motovilikha, Perm) and Gorky Plant No. 92 (Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant).
The samples of howitzers presented by these factories were quite interesting. But the Ural development (U-2) was significantly inferior to the Gorky (F-25) and Perm (M-30) in ballistics. Therefore, it was not considered as promising.
Howitzer U-2
Howitzer F-25 (with a high probability)
We will consider some performance characteristics of the F-25 / M-30:
Barrel length, mm: 2800 / 2800
Rate of fire, rpm: 5-6 / 5-6
Initial projectile speed, m/s: 510 / 515
HV angle, deg: -5…+65 / -3…+63
Firing range, m: 11780 / 11800
Ammunition, index, weight: OF-461, 21, 76
Weight in combat position, kg: 1830 / 2450
Calculation, persons: 8 / 8
Released, pcs: 17 / 19 266
It is no coincidence that we brought part of the performance characteristics in one table. It is in this version that the main advantage of the F-25 is clearly visible - the weight of the gun. Agree, the difference of more than half a ton is impressive. And, probably, it was this fact that became the main one in Shirokorad's definition of this design as the best. The mobility of such a system is undeniably higher. It is a fact.
True, and here there is a "buried dog", in our opinion. The M-30s provided for testing were somewhat lighter than the serial ones. Therefore, the gap in the mass was not so noticeable.
There is a question about the decision taken. Why M-30? Why not a lighter F-25.
The first and main version was voiced back on March 23, 1939 in the same “Journal of the Artillery Committee” No. 086: “The 122-mm F-25 howitzer, developed by factory No. 92 on its own initiative, is currently of no interest to the AU, since it already field and military tests of the M-30 howitzer, more powerful than the F-25, have been completed.
Agree, such a statement at that time puts a lot in its place. There is a howitzer. The howitzer has passed the tests and there is nothing more to spend the people's money on the development of a tool that no one needs. The continuation of further work in this direction was fraught for the designers with "moving into some kind of sharashka" with the help of the NKVD.
By the way, in this regard, the authors agree with some researchers on the issue of installing on the M-30 not a wedge, but a good old piston valve. Most likely, the designers went to a direct violation of the requirements of the AU precisely because of the reliability of the piston valve.
Problems with the semi-automatic wedge gate at that time were also observed in smaller caliber guns. For example, the F-22, a universal divisional 76-mm gun.
Winners are not judged. Although, this is from which side to look. Of course they took risks. In November 1936, the head of the Design Bureau of the Motovilikha Plant B.A. Berger was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison, a similar fate befell the lead designer of the 152-mm ML-15 howitzer gun A.A.
After this, the desire of developers to use a piston valve that has already been tested and debugged in production is understandable in order to avoid possible accusations of sabotage in the event of problems with its wedge-type design.
And there is one more nuance. The lower weight of the F-25 howitzer compared to its competitors was provided by a machine tool and a gun carriage from a 76-mm gun. The gun was more mobile, but had a smaller resource due to a more "flimsy" gun carriage. It is quite natural that the 122 mm projectile gave a completely different recoil momentum than the 76 mm one. The muzzle brake, apparently, at that time did not provide a proper reduction in momentum.
Obviously, the lighter and more mobile F-25 was preferred to the more durable and longer-lasting M-30.
By the way, we found additional confirmation of this hypothesis in the fate of the M-30. We often write that structurally successful field guns were soon "transplanted" to already used or captured chassis and continued to fight as self-propelled guns. The same fate awaited the M-30.
Parts of the M-30 were used in the creation of the SU-122 (on the captured StuG III chassis and on the T-34 chassis). However, the cars turned out to be unsuccessful. M-30, for all its power, was quite heavy. The pedestal installation of weapons on the SU-122 took up a lot of space in the combat compartment of the self-propelled guns, creating significant inconvenience for the crew. The large forward projection of the recoil devices with their armor made it difficult to see from the driver's seat and did not allow a full-fledged manhole for him to be placed on the frontal plate.
But most importantly, the base of a medium tank was too fragile for such a powerful gun.
This system has been abandoned. But the attempts didn't end there. In particular, in one of the variants of the now famous airborne self-propelled guns "Violet" it was the M-30 that was used. But they preferred the universal 120-mm gun.
The second disadvantage for the F-25 could just be its lower mass in combination with the already mentioned muzzle brake.
The lighter the gun, the greater its chances of being used to directly support one's forces with fire.
By the way, it was precisely in this role at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War that the M-30, which was poorly suitable for such purposes, played more than once or twice. Not from a good life, of course.
Naturally, the powder gases rejected by the muzzle brake, raising dust, sand, soil particles or snow, will more easily give out the position of the F-25 compared to the M-30. Yes, and when firing from closed positions at a small distance from the front line at a low elevation angle, the possibility of such unmasking should be considered. Someone at AU might well have taken all this into account.
Now directly about the design of the howitzer. Structurally, it consists of the following elements:
A barrel with a free tube, a casing covering the tube approximately to the middle, and a screw-on breech; 
A piston valve that opens to the right. The shutter was closed and opened by turning the handle. A striking mechanism with a linearly moving drummer, a helical mainspring and a rotary trigger was mounted in the shutter; the trigger was pulled by a trigger cord to cock and lower the drummer. The ejection of the spent cartridge case from the chamber was carried out when the shutter was opened by an ejector in the form of a toggle lever. There was a safety mechanism that prevented premature unlocking of the shutter during prolonged shots; 
The gun carriage, which included a cradle, recoil devices, an upper machine, aiming mechanisms, a balancing mechanism, a lower machine with sliding box-shaped beds, combat travel and suspension, sights and a shield cover. 
The cage type cradle was fitted with trunnions in the nests of the upper machine.
The recoil devices included a hydraulic recoil brake (under the barrel) and a hydropneumatic knurler (above the barrel). 
The upper machine was inserted with a pin into the socket of the lower machine. The pin shock absorber with springs ensured the suspended position of the upper machine relative to the lower one and facilitated its rotation. A screw rotary mechanism was mounted on the left side of the upper machine, and a sector lifting mechanism was mounted on the right side.
Combat move - with two wheels, shoe brakes, switchable transverse leaf spring. Switching off and on of suspension was carried out automatically when moving apart and moving the beds.
Completely equipped artillery shot of separate-sleeve loading for a 122-mm howitzer
arr. 1938 consists of a projectile with a fuse or a remote tube, a propellant charge from the main package and several equilibrium beams of two types with smokeless pyroxylin powder in a metal sleeve with a primer sleeve. A flash suppressor is provided as an optional component of the shot. Let us consider in more detail the components of artillery rounds for the 122 mm M-30 howitzer used in the Great Patriotic War.
The main purpose shells for the system were high-explosive fragmentation and fragmentation grenades 462 family. In 1942, the "armor-burning" (cumulative) projectile BP-460A was added to them.
The OF-462 high-explosive fragmentation long-range steel grenade was developed at the Artillery Research Institute (ANII) in the mid-1930s. Her constituent parts are the case, the leading belt and the bursting charge of trinitrotoluene (TNT) weighing 3675 g. Other explosives were also used for the latter, most often ammotol. The hull has an aerodynamically advantageous pointed (ogival) shape with a zapoyaskovy cone-fairing, as well as two polished centering thickenings for better alignment of the projectile axis with the axis of the channel during firing and increasing the accuracy of the battle as a result. The grenade was equipped with fuses of the RG-6, RGM or RGM-2 types, which could be set to instantaneous (fragmentation) action, low deceleration and high-explosive action. When installed on a fragmentation action, a grenade with an RGM type fuse had an advantage over a grenade with an RG-6 fuse. Since 1942, it could be used together with the D-1 remote fuse or the GVMZ fuse. In after war time the ammunition received an iron-ceramic leading belt instead of a copper one and, accordingly, a new postfix in the name - OF-462Zh.
The installation of the OF-462 grenade fuse for fragmentation action is used to fire at openly located enemy manpower, at its firing points and artillery, as well as at tanks from closed positions. In this case, after the rupture, about 1000 fragments of various masses and shapes are formed. Of these, 400-500 are lethal, flying at speeds up to 1 km / s. The area of the actual defeat (the probability of a fragment hitting a growth figure is 50%) was indicated as 60 m along the front and 20 m
in depth. The area of a continuous lesion (the probability of hitting a growth figure is 90%) was estimated as a rectangular area of 18 × 8 m. For simplification, approximate characteristics of a fragmentation lesion were later given - 40 × 8 m. Individual fragments retain their lethal effect at distances up to 250-300 m. When firing with the use of "small deceleration" the ammunition has time to go deeper into the barrier. This property is taken into account when shooting at field-type fortifications, including dugouts and bunkers, at solid wooden buildings, as well as at direct fire at tanks, if there are no HEAT shells. When an OF-462 grenade ruptures into medium-density soil with this fuse installation, a funnel is formed up to 1 m deep, up to 2.8-3 m in diameter and 2.0-2.25 m3 in volume. Setting the fuse to a delayed high-explosive action, when the projectile goes even deeper into the obstacle, is used when destroying more durable field shelters, stone and brick buildings, as well as for firing on ricochets.
The O-462A steel-cast iron fragmentation grenade was also developed by the ARI in 1930-1935 as a more technologically advanced and cheaper version of the OF-462 steel grenade already put into production. Until 1941, it was also considered high-explosive fragmentation and had the designation OF-462A. The external forms of these shells are identical, but they differ in wall thickness and body material. As the name implies, the O-462A grenade was made by casting from steel cast iron; its walls are much thicker compared to OF-462, and the explosive charge is reduced in weight to 3 kg. When broken, it gives fragments of a slightly different shape than a steel grenade, and smaller, but in larger quantities. Shooting with an O-462A grenade is allowed at the first or less powerful charges. The fuses were the same as in the case of the OF-462, but when firing at hard ground, they cannot be set to delayed action. Due to the lower strength of the hull compared to the O-462A steel projectile, it will simply crack without
explosion. To shells for the main purpose (in today's sense; during the years of the Great Patriotic War they meant only grenades) also included the “armor-burning” (cumulative) projectile BP-460A with an instantaneous fuse V-229. It was developed in 1942. When a projectile hits the target, the detonation of an explosive charge from explosive with a recess of a conical shape leads to the formation of a high-speed (up to 10-12 km / s in the head part, about 2 km / s in the tail) and high-temperature jet (gases - up to 3500 ° C, metal - up to 600 ° C), which has a significant penetrating ability - up to 120 mm of armor when it hits along the normal.
In addition, the BP-460A projectile was distinguished by its effective fragmentation action, and the strong shock wave formed during its rupture could flow through open hatches, loopholes or other
openings with a large area inside a combat vehicle or fortification, inflicting additional barotraumatic damage to the crew or garrison. However, the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938 not in the best way looks like an anti-tank gun due to the low initial speed the most cumulative projectile (problems with the sensitivity of the fuse forced them to fire only on the fourth charge) and the lack of a specialized sight for direct fire. To this we can add a fairly high dispersion of projectiles and the need for high training of the gunner in order to take into account the curvature of his trajectory and the necessary lead. The cross in the field of view of the panorama of howitzers of early releases could not help in this, but with the introduction of aiming marks-corners, the task
became somewhat easier. A good illustration of this is the test firing from the M-30 at a stationary trophy tank from a distance of 500 m, carried out in 1943. Of the fifteen released
None of the projectiles hit the target. On the other hand, in battles, the successful use of the BP-460A HEAT projectile by crews of towed M-30s and self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS) SU-122 against enemy armored vehicles was also recorded. It is also worth noting that even without cumulative shells, hitting an ordinary high-explosive fragmentation grenade into an enemy light or medium tank was in most cases fatal, and heavy tank at the same time, he had a significant chance of receiving serious damage, up to the loss of combat capability. As an example, we can mention an episode in the summer of 1943, when the 80-mm turret side armor of the turret, which came under fire from several SU-122s, was broken.
Special-purpose shells for 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938 included campaign, smoke and lighting ammunition.
Steel smoke projectile D-462 (developed by the ARI until 1935 as a subspecies of chemical munitions) had
a case with a screw head and a fuse of the KTM-2 type, which had to be installed necessarily for instantaneous action (the cap was removed). When hitting an obstacle, a small bursting charge of pressed TNT blocks opens the body of the projectile in its head part and sprays 3580 g of smoke composition (white phosphorus) into the environment. Burning in atmospheric oxygen, phosphorus gives a dense low opaque cloud of white smoke 10-15 m high and 6-8 m wide. Depending on the strength and direction of the wind, it lasts 5-10 minutes, and then dissipates. The effectiveness of the destruction of enemy manpower by hull fragments and burning smoke composition, as well as the incendiary effect of the D-462 projectile, were low. The consumption of 122-mm smoke shells for placing a smoke screen on a front about 500 m wide, held for 5 minutes, was, depending on the direction and strength of the wind, from 15 to 100 pieces. Later, the D-462 solid-hull version and the D-462A cast iron smoke projectile were adopted. The latter could not be fired at full charge due to the increased fragility of its body. During the Great Patriotic War, smoke ammunition for 122-mm howitzers was also equipped with KT-2 fuses.
In terms of their design, the A-462 campaign projectile and the C-462 illuminating parachute projectile were similar. They were developed at the very end of the 1930s, had a short-range form, and the first of them could not be fired at full charge. Under the action of a small expelling charge ignited by a T-6 remote tube, either a torch with a parachute or campaign material, most often leaflets, is thrown out of their case from behind. Accordingly, the A-462 shells had access to their chamber through a bottom detachable from the body for laying leaflets before firing. The installations for firing the C-462 lighting projectile were calculated in such a way that the tube fired at a height of about 500 m. Its torch gives 400,000 candela of light for 45 s. For agitation ammunition, the triggering of the tube is set at a height of 100-150 m and in the absence of wind, precipitation and rising air currents, leaflets are scattered in a strip from 15 to 50 m wide
and lengths from 300 to 600 m. Chemical projectiles stand apart in the family of 122-mm howitzer ammunition. For reasons of secrecy, information about them was not given in the service manuals and firing tables, however, they were made so that their ballistic properties did not differ much from standard high-explosive fragmentation grenades or smoke shells. With the latest chemical projectiles were similar in design, since they had general purpose— release of a smoke formulation or poisonous substance (OS) into the environment.
122 mm howitzer mod. 1938 could shoot chemical projectiles types KhS-462 and KhN-462 (ballistically equivalent to the long-range OF-462 grenade) and chemical fragmentation projectiles ОХ-462. The letters "C" and "H" in the nomenclature correspond to persistent and unstable agents. Chemical artillery ammunition with the XH index of the interwar period was equipped with phosgene, a suffocating agent, with the XC index, with lewisite, related to skin blistering and general poisonous agents. One 122-mm howitzer projectile could hold up to 3.3 kg of OM. Persistence of phosgene infection in winter - up to several hours, in summer - up to an hour. As follows from the classification, this parameter is much higher in lewisite, and special measures must be taken to degas the area contaminated by it, even days and weeks after use.
According to the AU instructions adopted in 1938, all grenades and shells were painted gray, with the exception of shrapnel and propaganda shells. The first had a body yellow color, and the second - red. The type of projectile was indicated by colored stripes on the ogival part. In wartime, it was envisaged that there was no coloring of ammunition at all, and their protection against corrosion was supposed to be done with grease from cannon fat.
However, during the Great Patriotic War, coloring was introduced in an intermediate color between dark gray and protective for all shells and the designation of a number of their types with colored stripes on the cylindrical part of the hull. For example, steel-cast iron grenades were marked with a black stripe, and lighting projectiles were marked with white. Having completed the review of shells for the M-30, we will briefly mention the types of fuses used in them. Until 1939, the OF-462 and O-462A grenades were equipped with head fuses of the safety type RG-6, RGM and the obsolete UGT-2. The first two provided instantaneous action, as well as operation with small and large deceleration (selection by installing a valve and screwing the cap), the latter - instantaneous or "ordinary" action (cap removed or put on). During the Great Patriotic War, they were supplemented by the RGM-2 fuse of the same type with similar modes of operation, the D-1 fuse for remote and impact action, as well as the GVMZ type fuse, which were supposed to fire without a cap (i.e., installation only on fragmentation action). With smoke shells, fuses of the semi-safety type KT-2 and KTM-2 were used, for which, like for the GVMZ, it was necessary to unscrew the caps before firing them. Agitation and lighting ammunition was completed with a double-action T-6 tube (operation after a certain time and on impact), the main purpose of which was to complete shrapnel shots that were not provided for the M-30. For the cumulative projectile, a highly sensitive instantaneous head fuse V-229 was developed. Let us dwell in more detail on the device and characteristics of propellant charges for the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938. They were placed in a brass or steel sleeve (GAU index G-463) with an internal diameter of 127.5 mm. The solid-drawn brass sleeve was lacquered from the inside to protect against corrosion, and in the absence of cracks after use and subsequent re-compression in dies, it could be reused several times. The steel sleeve was rolled up, and it was also allowed to reuse it, but a smaller number of times compared to brass. An igniter was installed in the sleeve - capsule sleeve No. 4, which can withstand pressure up to 3100 kgf / cm2.
It could be used up to two times after restoration, but the pressure in the bore in this case was allowed no more than 2350 kgf / cm2. The propellant charge (GAU index - Zh-463) was made from smokeless pyroxylin gunpowder, which was a tube from a gelatinized mass obtained after pyroxylin was treated with an alcohol-ether mixture. The tubes could have one or more channels along their axis and different thicknesses of simultaneously burning surface layers (i.e., the next layer ignited only after the previous one burned out). The thickness of the layer and the number of channels were indicated in the brand of gunpowder in the form of a fraction - in the numerator the first parameter in tenths of a millimeter, in the denominator - the second. For example, gunpowder from grains in the form of a tube with one channel along the axis and a thickness of the burning layer of 0.4 mm had a grade of 4/1, and from grains in the form of a cylinder with seven channels along the axis and a thickness of the burning
layer 0.7 mm - brand 7/7. During the operation of the system, it was necessary to strictly observe the temperature
and humidity conditions for storing ammunition, since due to the volatilization of the remnants of the alcohol-ether mixture from gunpowder or its dampening, the tabular muzzle velocity of the projectile was not achieved. As a standard measure to solve this problem, it was envisaged to seal the cartridge case with a cardboard reinforced lid filled with paraffin, as well as screwing in a lacquered primer sleeve. In 1938, for the same purpose, a special rubber cap was introduced to cover the sleeve. The design of the propellant charge included the following inserted into the sleeve:
. the main package with gunpowder grade 4/1 weighing 355 g and an igniter from smoky gunpowder weighing 30 g;
. four lower equilibrium beams with gunpowder brand 9/7 weighing 115 g each;
. four upper equilibrium beams with gunpowder brand 9/7 weighing 325 g each;
. decopper - lead skein
wire weighing 20 g;
. normal and reinforced covers.
All together they constituted a "full" charge. By sequentially removing from it, first the upper and then the lower equilibrium beams, the charges from the first to the eighth were obtained. There was an optional possibility of using flame retardant additives, which were inert salts (on-
an example is potassium chloride) in caps in the form of rings, which increase the ignition temperature of powder gases when fired.
As a result, there was no light flash when they flowed out of the barrel
after the shot. It was forbidden to use flame arresters during the day, because they gave increased smoke and unmasked the gun. In addition, when used, they heavily polluted the barrel, and it was necessary to ban it more often than usual. When conducting flameless shooting
on charges from full to six, it was required to take into account a decrease in the initial speed by 0.5%.
The least powerful seventh and eighth charges were intended for fragmentation and high-explosive fragmentation grenades of the 462 family with fuses of the RG-6 type, the production of which was discontinued after the end of World War II. These types of ammunition are still in the course of
military operations began to be equipped with less sensitive fuses of the RGM and D-1 types, and in the post-war period - with their improved versions of the RGM-2 and D-1-U. When firing on the seventh and eighth charges, the pressure of the powder gases did not ensure the cocking of the fuses of the RGM and D-1 families, which led to the absence of gaps when the shells hit the target or obstacle. In addition, there is a mention in the firing tables that these fuses could not work when fired even on the sixth charge. Therefore, after the war, the re-indexation of the Zh-463M charge was introduced to show the absence of charges No. 7 and 8 in it. However, they were physically in the configuration, since the two lower equilibrium beams were simply sewn to the main package. This was corrected in the charge of the new Zh11 device for the M-30 howitzer (introduced in the 1960s), which had four upper equilibrium beams, two lower equilibrium beams and a main igniter package. The grades of gunpowder remained unchanged compared to the charge of the Zh-463 composition. Thus, the charge Zh11 excluded the intentional composition of the seventh and eighth charges. The pressure of powder gases in the bore when firing the OF-462 grenade varied from 2350 kgf/cm2 (full charge) to 530 kgf/cm2 (charge No. 8). Instructions for calculations and command personnel prescribed, in order to save the resource of the howitzer barrel, to use the smallest possible charge in terms of power to solve a combat mission. When firing with a full charge, the barrel can withstand about 7,500 shots, when firing on charge No. 3, wear drops by 3.2 times, and on charge No. 6 - by 8.4 times.
These values are quite high, since they have passed the entire Great
The M-30 howitzers gave the Patriotic War an average of 5,500 to 8,000 rounds per gun.
The shots were packed two by two in a complete capping in the form of a wooden box with a lid and partitions. Ammunition depots completed shots with the fourth (for the BP-460A cumulative projectile), the first (for grenades and cast iron shells) and full charges.
It was possible to fire with shots from a 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 with charges of composition Zh-462. All the information necessary for this was given in the full firing tables with the index 146/140, while the full charge of the Zh-462 composition corresponded to charge No. 2 of the Zh-463 composition.
However, it was allowed to do this only in exceptional cases, because due to the shorter cartridge case for the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30 there was a height of the M-30 chamber not far from the zapoyaskovy part of the projectile. During subsequent shooting, because of this, the sleeve of the regular
a shot for the M-30 was tightly extracted: it was simply pressed into the recesses formed in the front of the chamber.
Shots from 122-mm howitzers mod. 1938 were used only with them, but the OF-462 high-explosive fragmentation grenade could be fired from field, tank and self-propelled guns with the ballistics of a 122-mm gun mod. 1931. The cartridge case and propellant of such a cannon shot with a howitzer shell were completely incompatible with the M-30. In the post-war period, the improvement of ammunition for
122 mm howitzer mod. 1938 - a new fragmentation projectile of cast iron O-460A, a long-range lighting projectile C-463 and HEAT projectile BP1 with increased armor penetration.
All these shells were allowed to fire at full charge. With the development of new types of shots for the successor to the M-30 - the 122-mm howitzer D-30 (2A18) - the USSR did not forget to make their options for the honored veteran. For example, in the 1980s 122 mm howitzer mod. 1938, it gained the ability to fire a high-explosive fragmentation projectile of increased power 3OF24 with new types of fuses and a projectile with 3Sh1 swept ready striking elements.
The monument to the M-30 howitzer is installed at the northern entrance to Tula on Oktyabrskaya Street, inside the trolleybus reversal ring (the former terminus of route No. 4).
You can get to the monument on the city and suburban public transport, more than ten routes of which pass in the immediate vicinity (stop "Severnaya Station").
The reversal ring is practically not used and is an excellent parking lot in the immediate vicinity of the monument.
Access is free, you can touch, climb. There is no security.
The pedestal of the monument (height is about 130 centimeters) is in a state of active repair. Armature sticks out.
all photos are clickable up to 3648x2736
"In this area in November-December 1941, artillery units were stationed, which fought to defeat the Nazi troops.
Installed in November 1966."
This is the fourth monument erected in November 1966.
(the first is a cannon, the second is an anti-aircraft gun, the third is a tank)
02.
122-mm howitzer of the 1938 model (M-30, GAU index - 52-G-463) - Soviet howitzer of the Second World War period.
This gun was mass-produced from 1939 to 1955, was or still is in service with the armies of many countries of the world, was used in almost all significant wars and armed conflicts of the middle and end of the 20th century.
The first Soviet large-scale self-propelled artillery mounts of the Great Patriotic War SU-122 were armed with this gun.
According to some artillery experts, the M-30 is one of the best designs of Soviet cannon artillery in the mid-20th century.
Equipping the artillery of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) with M-30 howitzers played a big role in the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.
(hereinafter: wikipedia)
03.
The project of the M-30 howitzer entered the GAU on December 20, 1937.
The gun borrowed a lot from other samples artillery weapons; in particular, the bore arrangement was close to that of the Lubok howitzer, and the recoil brake and limber were also taken from it.
Despite the requirement of the GAU 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 gun.
Prototype The M-30 was completed on March 31, 1938, but factory tests were delayed due to the need to refine the howitzer.
Field tests of the howitzer took place from September 11 to November 1, 1938.
Although, according to the conclusion of the commission, the gun did not pass the field tests (during the tests, the beds broke twice), it was nevertheless recommended to send the gun for military tests.
04.
The development of the gun was difficult.
On December 22, 1938, three modified samples were submitted for military trials,
again revealed a number of shortcomings.
It was recommended to modify the gun and conduct repeated ground tests,
and do not 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"
05.
The M-30 was used for firing from closed positions at dug-in and openly located enemy manpower.
It was also successfully used to destroy enemy field fortifications (trenches, dugouts, bunkers) and make passages in barbed wire when it was impossible to use mortars.
Barrage battery M-30 high-explosive fragmentation projectiles posed a certain threat to enemy armored vehicles.
The fragments formed during the break 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, fragments could disable the elements of the undercarriage, guns, and sights.
06.
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 instructed to fire at the tanks with high-explosive fragmentation shells.
with the installation of a fuse for high-explosive action.
For light and medium tanks, a direct hit by a 122-mm high-explosive projectile was fatal in many cases,
up to the failure of the tower from the shoulder strap.
Heavy "Tigers" were a much more stable target, but in 1943 the Germans recorded a case of heavy damage to tanks of the PzKpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger" type during a combat collision with Soviet SU-122 self-propelled guns armed with M-30 howitzers.
07.
The M-30 howitzer had a fairly modern design for its time with a carriage with sliding beds and sprung wheels.
The barrel was a prefabricated structure of a pipe, a casing and a screw-on breech with a bolt.
The M-30 was equipped with a piston single-stroke breech, a hydraulic recoil brake, a hydropneumatic knurler, and had a separate-sleeve loading.
08.
The younger takes pictures of the beds.
09.
The shutter has a mechanism for the forced extraction of the spent cartridge case when it is opened after the shot.
The descent is made by pressing the trigger with the help of a trigger cord connected to it.
10.
The gun was equipped with a Hertz artillery panorama for firing from closed positions, the same sight was also used for direct fire.
11.
The breech of the gun on the right side.
12.
Anti-recoil devices - otkatnik and knurler.
14.
Muzzle cut of the barrel. You can see the rifling strips.
15.
Flywheel for vertical aiming of the gun. The wooden handle has survived.
16.
Toothed sector of the vertical aiming mechanism of the gun.
The D-30 is a Soviet 122mm howitzer developed in the early 1960s. It was one of the most massive artillery systems in the Soviet army and was actively exported. Currently, the D-30 is in service with several dozen armies of the world. In 1978, the D-30 howitzer was upgraded.
In addition to the USSR, the D-30 122-mm howitzer was produced in Egypt, Iraq, China and Yugoslavia. In Russia, the production of this weapon ceased in 1994.
The D-30 has participated (and is participating) in dozens of military conflicts, while demonstrating high reliability and efficiency. Without exaggeration, this howitzer can be called the most famous Soviet artillery piece. The D-30 is distinguished by excellent accuracy of fire, as well as excellent loading speed and maneuverability. Today in service different countries world (excluding the CIS) there are about 3600 units of this artillery gun.
On the basis of the D-30, several self-propelled guns, both domestic and foreign, were created. The most famous of these is the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount.
It is the D-30 howitzer that is used in St. Petersburg for a daily shot at noon.
History of the D-30 howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece designed to fire at a hinged trajectory from covered positions out of direct line of sight of the enemy. The first samples of such weapons appeared in Europe in the XIV century. Initially, they were not very popular, the gunners of that time preferred to shoot at the enemy with direct fire.
The heyday of howitzers began around the 17th century with the advent of various types of explosive ammunition. Especially often howitzer artillery was used during the assault or siege of enemy fortresses.
The "finest hour" for howitzers was the First World War. The positional nature of the fighting was the best suited for the use of such artillery. They were massively used by all parties to the conflict. In the First World War, the number of deaths from enemy shells far exceeds the losses from small arms or poison gases.
The Soviet army had high quality and numerous artillery. She played a crucial role in the defeat of the Nazi invaders. The most famous howitzer of the Great Patriotic War was the M-30 caliber 122 mm.
However, after the end of the war, the situation changed somewhat. The nuclear and rocket age began.
Khrushchev, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, believed that the outcome of a modern war could be decided with the help of rockets, he considered artillery an anachronism. In a thermonuclear war, guns generally seemed superfluous to him. This point of view turned out to be clearly erroneous, but it slowed down the development of domestic barreled artillery for decades. It was not until the early 1960s that the development of new systems for self-propelled and towed artillery was initiated.
It was during this period that the development of a new divisional howitzer of 122 mm caliber began. It was supposed to replace the legendary M-30, which was designed before the start of the war by the talented designer Fedor Petrov.
The development of the new D-30 howitzer was also entrusted to Petrov, at that time he headed the Design Bureau of Plant No. 9. M-30 had some shortcomings that the designers had to take into account when working on a new artillery system. These included insufficient accuracy of fire and the inability to conduct circular fire.
The main feature of the new howitzer was an unusual gun carriage, the design of which was different from any other guns adopted by the Soviet army earlier. The D-30 howitzer had a carriage consisting of three frames, which allowed the gun to conduct circular fire. The method of towing the gun was also unusual: the pivot beam for the hook was attached to the howitzer's muzzle brake.
In 1963, the 122 mm D-30 howitzer was put into service. In 1978, the guns were modernized, but it was insignificant. The pivot beam, for which the howitzer was hooked during transportation, received a rigid structure, and the muzzle brake was also changed. If earlier he had five pairs of large slots and one pair of small ones, now a muzzle brake with two chambers was installed on the gun.
Turn signals and position lights were installed on the armor plate for greater convenience of transporting the howitzer in a column. The new modification of the gun received the designation D-30A.
Serial production of the D-30 was launched at the plant number 9. The release of the gun was discontinued in the early 90s. Talk about removing the howitzer from service Russian army have been conducted since the beginning of the 2000s, but such a decision was made only a few years ago. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that D-30s were sent to storage bases as early as 2013. They are planned to be replaced by the Msta-B towed howitzer of 152-mm caliber and self-propelled units"Acacia".
They plan to leave the D-30 only in the Airborne Forces and airborne assault units. The military explains this decision by the fact that the howitzers available to the troops are badly worn out and in need of serious repairs. It is much easier to send them to storage bases and switch to a single 152 mm caliber, which is also more powerful.
D-30 howitzer device
The D-30 122-mm howitzer is designed to destroy enemy manpower located in an open area or in field-type shelters, suppress fire weapons, including self-propelled and towed artillery, destroy enemy fortifications and make passages in obstacles and minefields.
The D-30 howitzer consists of a carriage, a barrel, recoil devices and sights. Loading guns - separate-sleeve. The supply of shells is carried out manually. Combat crew - 6 people.
The barrel of the gun consists of a pipe, a breech, a muzzle brake, two fastening hooks and a bolt. The muzzle brake is removable.
D-30 recoil devices - knurler and brake.
The design of the carriage includes a cradle, a balancing mechanism, an upper and lower machine, pickup drives (vertical and horizontal), wheels, suspension mechanisms, mounting the gun in the stowed position.
Sights D-30 - telescopic and panoramic sights.
The howitzer can be divided into oscillating, rotating and stationary parts. The composition of the swing includes a cradle, barrel, recoil devices and sights. This part of the gun moves relative to the axis of the trunnions and provides vertical aiming of the howitzer. The swinging part, together with the wheels and the shield, forms a rotating part that moves around the combat pin of the upper machine and provides horizontal aiming of the gun.
The lower machine with beds and a hydraulic jack is the fixed part of the howitzer.
The D-30 has a wedge-shaped semi-automatic breech, which provides a high rate of fire (about 8 rounds per minute). The layout of the barrel with the brake and knurler located on top significantly reduces the line of fire of the gun (up to 900 mm), which reduces the size of the howitzer and makes it less noticeable. In addition, a small line of fire allows the D-30 to be used in anti-tank defense.
Transferring the howitzer to combat position takes only two to three minutes. One bed remains motionless, the other two are moved apart by 120 degrees. Such a carriage arrangement allows all-round fire without moving the gun.
The standard traction vehicle for the D-30 howitzer is the Ural-4320 vehicle. On paved roads (asphalt, concrete), the permissible speed for transporting the implement is 80 km/h. To move the howitzer through the snow, a ski mount is used - however, it is impossible to fire from it. The small size and weight characteristics of the gun can be attributed to one of the main advantages of the D-30. It is they who allow the howitzer to be parachuted or transported by helicopter.
For firing, the D-30 can use a wide range of ammunition. The most common is a high-explosive fragmentation projectile, maximum range firing range is 16 kilometers. In addition, the gun can fire anti-tank cumulative projectiles, fragmentation, smoke, lighting and special chemical munitions. The D-30 howitzer can also use active rockets, in which case the firing range is increased to 22 km.
D-30 gun modifications
D-30. Basic modification adopted in 1963
D-30A. Howitzer variant after modernization in 1978. The gun was equipped with a new two-chamber muzzle brake, brake lights and parking lights were installed on the shield
DA18M-1. Modification with rammer
D-30J. Modification developed in Yugoslavia
Saddam. Version of the gun made in Iraq
Type-96. Chinese howitzer modification
Khalifa. Sudanese modification
Semser. Modification developed in Israel for the army of Kazakhstan. It is a self-propelled gun based on KAMAZ-63502 with a D-30 gun
Khalifa-1. Modification developed in Sudan: self-propelled guns on the KAMAZ-43118 chassis with the D-30 gun
The use of the D-30 howitzer
D-30 is one of the most successful examples of Soviet artillery weapons. Its main advantages are simplicity, reliability, good accuracy of fire, sufficient range of fire, high speed travel and mobility.
The howitzer is great for highly mobile formations. For the Soviet landing, a method was developed for dropping the D-30 by parachute, preparing a weapon for landing takes only a few minutes. The D-30 can be transported on the external sling of a Mi-8 helicopter.
The howitzer has been used in dozens of different conflicts in many parts of the world. It has been actively used Soviet troops in Afghanistan, federal forces used the D-30 during the first and second Chechen campaign, today the howitzer is used in the Syrian conflict, Ukrainian troops use it in the anti-terrorist operation in the east of the country.
Characteristics of the D-30 howitzer
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Su-122 based on M-30
M-30 in the museum on Sapun Mountain
TTX M-30 Weight in combat position The greatest firing range Maximum elevation angle The greatest angle of declination Horizontal firing angle Number of variable charges Rate of fire practical 5-6 shots per minute Highway speed
In order to speed up the design, it was decided to borrow advanced foreign experience. KB-2, which was led by German specialists, began designing. In 1932, tests began on the first experimental sample of the new howitzer, and in 1934 this gun was put into service as the “122-mm howitzer mod. 1934". It was also known under the name "Lubok", from the name of the theme that combines two projects to create a 122-mm divisional howitzer and a 107-mm light howitzer. Barrel of 122 mm howitzer mod. 1934 had a length of 23 calibers, the maximum elevation angle was + 50 °, the horizontal pickup angle was 7 °, the mass in the stowed and combat position was 2800 and 2250 kg, respectively. Like the guns of the First World War period, the new howitzer was mounted on a single-beam carriage (although at that time carriages of a more modern design with sliding beds had already appeared). Another significant drawback of the gun was its wheel drive - metal wheels without tires, but with suspension - which limited the towing speed to twelve kilometers per hour. The gun was produced in 1934-1935 in a small batch of 11 units, of which 8 entered trial operation (two four-gun batteries), and the remaining three went to the red commanders training platoon.
However, in 1936, a serious change in views on the divisional howitzer took place in the GAU - the Lubok project in its original form was no longer considered promising. In particular, gunners were no longer satisfied with a single-beam carriage, and they demanded sliding beds. In addition, there was talk of switching from 122 mm to 107 mm caliber on the grounds that everyone abroad had switched from 120 mm to 105 mm guns. Due to all this, the Lubok was never accepted into service, and the 122-mm howitzer mod. 1910/30
By 1937, it became clear that in the event of a transition to 107-mm caliber, artillery would begin to experience shell hunger - the production capacity for the production of 107-mm ammunition was too small. For the same reason, the project to replace the divisional three-inch guns with 95 mm guns was rejected.
In March 1937, at a Moscow meeting of representatives of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), it was decided to accept Marshal Yegorov's proposal to develop a more powerful 122-mm howitzer. In September 1937, a separate design team of the Motovilikha Plant, led by F.F. Petrov, was given the task of developing such a weapon.
The project of the M-30 howitzer entered the GAU on December 20, 1937. The gun borrowed a lot from other types of artillery weapons; in particular, the bore arrangement was close to that of the Lubok howitzer, and the recoil brake and limber were also taken from it. Despite the requirement of the GAU 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 gun. The prototype M-30 was completed on March 31, 1938, but factory tests were delayed due to the need to refine the howitzer. Field tests of the howitzer took place from September 11 to November 1, 1938. Although, according to the conclusion of the commission, the gun did not pass the field tests (during the tests, the beds broke twice), it was nevertheless recommended to send the gun for military tests.
On September 29, 1939, the M-30 was put into service under the official name "122-mm divisional howitzer mod. 1938"
The 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 mounting on self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS) SU-122.
Serial production of the gun continued until 1955. The successor to the M-30 was the 122-mm D-30 howitzer, which was put into service in 1960.
The M-30 had a fairly modern design for its time with a carriage with sliding beds and sprung wheels. The barrel was a prefabricated structure of a pipe, a casing and a screw-on breech with a bolt. The M-30 was equipped with a piston single-stroke breech, a hydraulic recoil brake, a hydropneumatic knurler, and had a separate-sleeve loading. The shutter has a mechanism for the forced extraction of the spent cartridge case when it is opened after the shot. The descent is made by pressing the trigger on the trigger cord. 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 beds is equipped with a balancing mechanism and a shield cover. Metal wheels with rubber tires, leaf springs. The carriage of the gun by mechanical traction was usually carried out without a limber directly behind the tractor, the maximum allowable transportation speed was 50 km / h on the highway and 35 km / h on cobbled bridges and country roads. The horse-drawn howitzer was transported behind the limber by six horses. When breeding beds, suspension is turned off automatically, in the absence of space or time for breeding beds, shooting is allowed with the beds flattened in the stowed position. The angle of horizontal fire is reduced to 1°30′.
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 shells indicated below, for example, the cumulative 3BP1 shell. The 53-OF-462 steel high-explosive fragmentation grenade, when the fuse was set to fragmentation action, created about 1000 lethal fragments when it exploded, the effective radius of destruction of manpower was about 30 meters.
The M-30 was a divisional weapon. According to the state of 1939, the rifle division had two artillery regiment- light (battalion of 76-mm guns and two mixed divisions of two batteries of 122-mm howitzers and one battery of 76-mm guns each) and howitzer (battalion of 122-mm howitzers and a division of 152-mm howitzers), a total of 28 pieces 122- mm howitzers. In June 1940, another division of 122-mm howitzers was added to the howitzer regiment, in total there were 32 of them in the division. In July 1941, the howitzer regiment was expelled, the number of howitzers was reduced to 16. In this state, Soviet rifle divisions went through the entire war. Since December 1942, the guards rifle divisions had 3 divisions with 2 batteries of 76-mm guns and one battery of 122-mm howitzers each, 12 howitzers in total. Since December 1944, these divisions had a howitzer artillery regiment (5 batteries), 20 122-mm howitzers. From 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), a total of 9 howitzers. Since 1941, a howitzer artillery regiment (2 divisions of 3 four-gun batteries each) has been introduced in its place, 24 howitzers have become. Since the beginning of 1942, only one two-battery division remains, only eight howitzers. Since 1944, howitzers have been excluded from the state of mountain rifle divisions. The motorized division had 2 mixed divisions (a battery of 76-mm guns and 2 batteries of 122-mm howitzers in each), a total of 12 howitzers. The tank division had one battalion 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 composition of 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 of the reserve of the Supreme High Command.
The M-30 was used for firing from closed positions at dug-in and openly located enemy manpower. It was also successfully used to destroy enemy field fortifications (trenches, dugouts, bunkers) and make passages in barbed wire when it was impossible to use mortars. The barrage fire of the M-30 battery with high-explosive fragmentation shells posed a certain threat to enemy armored vehicles. The fragments formed during the break 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, fragments could disable the elements of the undercarriage, 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 gunners were ordered to fire high-explosive fragmentation shells at tanks with the fuse set to high-explosive action. For light and medium tanks, a direct hit by a 122-mm high-explosive projectile in many cases was fatal, up to the turret being blown off the shoulder strap.
At the beginning of World War II, a significant number (several hundred) of M-30s were captured by the Wehrmacht. The gun 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 launched mass production of 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 fortifications of the Atlantic Wall on the northwestern coast of France.
