Life in a Tank, a series about living & working with the T-34/85

Life

in a

Tank

Living & working

with the Soviet T-34/85 Tank

Part One in a Series.

Ray Lovesee

with

Hans Beerbaum

Driving the T-34/85

In this first of several articles, I will inform the reader of the basics facts about the Soviet T-34/85 tank. Future articles will describe reliving the armor life. We will not repeat the accounts you have read in books or use pictures taken over 50 years ago. Our articles and the pictures accompanying them were taken in 2002, with men and women who crew a T-34 as re-enactors. Subjects will also include what it is like to own a T-34 today. Each crewman will discuss his/her job and we will show photographs of him/her at their battlestation. In this way you will get to know the T-34/85 almost as well as the crewmen. These articles are written with the WW2 re-enactor in mind, as they usually have only seen a T-34 in movies or in museums throughout the world. We will even hear from the soldiers who ride on the back of this 30-ton medium tank as they protect her from the ever-present danger of the German grenadier and carry the battle to the enemy.

With that said, let me introduce the tank. She is a 1944 version of the Soviet medium battle tank. She was the mainstay of the Soviet offensives to push the German invaders out of beloved Mother Russia during the Great Patriotic War. She weighs in at (undressed: no fuel, oil, water or ammo) 30 tons. She can carry a lethal 85mm main gun along with two 7.62mm machine guns, one in the hull and one in the turret alongside the gun. She has a crew of five, but often only four: Commander, Driver, Hull Machine Gunner/Radioman, Gunner and Loader. There are four ways to either enter or exit, with two in the hull and two in the turret. The hull ports are the Driver's hatch and a small escape hatch at the Hull Gunner's feet.

The normal color of the WW2 T-34, like most Soviet vehicles, is spring green - the color of new pine needles (ours is olive drab, which is wrong). She is powered by a V-12 diesel engine and 4-speed manual transmission that take up over 40% of the length of the hull.

When you first meet her she is very intimidating, as well she should be. She reminds some of us of angry ex-wives, but when you really get to know her, she is a beautiful medium tank. There are much larger tanks of the period but very few faster on the road.

Our next article will describe the ownership of a T-34/85. It will talk about the how-to's and why-not's of owning a piece of history. You will find out what it really takes to own and maintain a tank and how to get it running and keep it running. Read article two especially if you have a desire to put one in your front yard. I will even supply a long and distinguished list of names your wife will call you when she sees it pull up in front of your house for the very first time.

Hans Beerbaum is the President of West Coast Armor and Artillery Museum, Inc. (WestCAAM) located in Petaluma California. Ray Lovesee is a member of WestCAAM and a driving force to keep the machinery moving.

back