T-34-57 (1943)

T-34-57 (1943)

T-34-57 (1943)

USSR

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.7	4.7	4.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 750

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Description

The T-34-57 (1943) is a premium Rank III Soviet medium tank with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. It features the 57 mm gun from the T-34-57, but in the body of the T-34 1942 variant. It costs 1,600 Golden Eagles .

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Gun mantlet, Roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Machine gun port, Driver's hatch

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	45 mm (61°) Front glacis 99 mm (5-35°) Welded joint 45 mm (52°) Lower glacis 65 mm (1-73°) Machine gun port 75 mm (60°) Driver port	40 mm (40°) Top 45 mm (0°) Lower	40 mm (47-49°) Top 40 mm (47°) Bottom	16 mm
Turret	53 mm (3-58°) Turret front 45 mm (2-78°) Gun mantlet	53 mm (21-22°)	53 mm (18-20°)	15 mm

Notes:

• Suspensions wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
30.0	N/A	54 (AB)
		49 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	775	954
Realistic/Simulator	442	500
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	25.83	31.80
Realistic/Simulator	14.73	16.67

Armaments

Main armament

57 mm ZiS-4M
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
100			-5°/+28°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	14.9	20.6	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	14.9	17.5	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
BR-271	APHEBC	121	119	106	91	78	68
O-271	HE	5	5	5	5	5	5
BR-271K	APHE	135	134	111	87	69	54
BR-271P	APCR	185	183	147	111	84	64

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
BR-271	APHEBC	990	3.1	1.2	15	23.8	+4°	48°	63°	71°
O-271	HE	700	3.7	0.4	0.01	220	+0°	79°	80°	81°
BR-271K	APHE	990	3.1	0.6	20	30.6	-1°	47°	60°	65°
BR-271P	APCR	1270	1.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-34-57 mod. 1943.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
100	95 (+5)	89 (+11)	83 (+17)	77 (+23)	1 (+99)	yes

Turret empty: 77 (+23)

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,890 (63)				600	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

This tank is a brawler, suitable to fight in close range combat, especially the urban map. But thanks to the high velocity of 57mm gun (990m/s), it is possible to snipe enemy tank easily in long-range map.

• As a brawler: shoot-and-scoot is its main tactic. Camp in the city, watch for enemy tank, shoot it then reverse to hide place. Remember to watch both sides before crossing the street (watch out for snipers in map like Poland and Eastern Europe), ANGLE THE ARMOUR. If the armour is angled correctly without showing the sides, it could cause a lot of trouble for enemies trying to penetrate the armour.
• As a sniper: use binocular and range finder(check the Option => tank control => binocular, range finder). If the enemy shows their side or rear, shoot it. Compensate the shell drop for better accuracy.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 1942 hull and turret, taking away drivers hatch weak spot in first T-34-57.
• Relatively high penetration for the caliber and rank.
• High gun muzzle velocity (990m/s), suitable for sniping.
• Good mobility

Cons:

• Has the same hull armour as previous revisions.
• Small gun caliber may have trouble one-shotting enemies.
• Turret isn't good at Rank III, due to other countries's tank high penetration.

History

Development

As far back as the summer of 1940, an attempt to improve the anti-tank gun inventory in Soviet service was undertaken. This was due to only having massive stocks of underpowered 45 mm anti-tank cannons available, which were becoming obsolete with the newer armour being used by the Soviet Union's adversaries. When the request for an improved anti-tank cannon was sent out, a design bureau headed by V. G. Grabin was already underway under the name 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun. The 57 mm was a very powerful anti-tank weapon due to its high penetration value with the high-velocity shells. The APCBC round available under the name BR-271 was able to penetrate 93 mm of armour when fired 100 meters away at a meet angle of 60 degrees. The first of the prototypes were created in the September of 1940, and it as later approved for production on June 1, 1941. However, this was stopped on December 1 due to beliefs that the high-velocity 57 mm shells would simply penetrate straight through tanks without causing damage or that it was a high-cost weapon. The production lines were then switched to produce the 76.2 mm ZiS-3 guns.

It was during its production life before being cancelled that the 57 mm gun was attached onto a T-34 as a main armament in April 1941. However, the trials on this armament showed a lack of accuracy and short barrel life. Then in July, an improved variant of the 57 mm called the ZiS-4 was installed onto the T-34 and tested again. This variant turned out to be successful and the gun was recommended for installation on certain T-34 units, despite the high cost of the ZiS-4. The T-34 with the 57 mm were redesignated the T-34-57 and had the purpose of being "tank-hunters" due to the higher penetration value of the 57 mm compared to the default T-34 76.2 mm armament. The 57 mm ZiS-4 gun was produced at the Artillery Factory #92 and were mounted on various T-34s. However, the stop of all 57 mm production on December 1941 also stopped the 57 mm ZiS-4 production, thus halting the T-34-57 production with only 133 ZiS-4 guns made in the production life.

Revitalization

The 57 mm guns were revived in 1943 due to urgent needs for much better guns against the newer German tanks. The current 76.2 mm F-34 gun on the normal T-34s were unable to defeat the newer German Tiger I and Panther tanks. In a desperate attempt to upgrade the T-34 to compete against these tanks, the 57 mm was reinstated for production and began being issued in May 1943, these models being the T-34-57 mod. 1943 due to the upgraded armament. The ZiS-4 was upgraded to the ZiS-4M with simplified parts and standardization in parts from current existing artillery pieces such as the F-34 and the ZiS-2. These T-34-57s saw further action against the Axis until they were retired. In total, about less than 324 T-34-57s were made during its production life in 1941 and 1943.

Combat usage

The T-34-57 made in 1941 saw action during the Battle of Moscow in small quantities. The 21st Tank Brigade has 10 of such tanks in their units and were deployed on October 14. Though the brigade were able to cause massive damage to the German lines around Kalinin, but ended with all of the T-34-57 destroyed by November 25. Other units using the T-34-57 were the 8th Tank Brigade in October 19. Afterwards came the deactivation of the 57 mm from the production line in the end of 1941, but the T-34-57s were revitalized again in 1943 to counter the newer German tanks. These tanks were used as "tank-hunters" and formed "Special Tank Company 100" with three T-34-57 in its first platoon to deal with German tanks. Despite their role, the company would only meet German tanks once in its life, and the first platoon was never used. Thus, the T-34-57 was never really able to prove their efficiency against active German tanks, though the unit would praise the gun's performance in practices against pillboxes, bunkers, and knocked out German tanks. All the T-34-57s were disbanded with the retirement of the 57 mm as a tank gun. This was due to its small HE shell available that made it a inadequate tank armament against softer targets, and also the introduction of the much bigger and better 85 mm tank gun on the newer T-34-85.

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Read also

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• reference to the series of the vehicles;
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ETC.

Sources

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