SU-76 SAMOKHODNAYA
USTANOVKA 76 WW2 SOVIET RED ARMY LIGHT SELF-PROPELLED GUN
TYPY BRONI UZBROJENIA TBIU 43
SOFTBOUND BOOK by JANUSZ MAGNUSKI IN
POLISH
INCLUDES DETAILED HISTORY,
PHOTOGRAPHS, SCALE FOUR-VIEW CENTERFOLD, COLOR PROFILES, TECHNICAL DETAILS AND
CUTAWAY DRAWING
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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The SU-76
(Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76) was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used
during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of
the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the 76 mm divisional gun M1942
(ZiS-3). Its quite simple construction and multipurpose combat role made it the
second most produced Soviet armoured fighting vehicle of World War II, after
the T-34 medium tank.
History
Design of the SU-76 began in
November 1942, when the State Defense Committee ordered the construction of
infantry support self-propelled guns armed with the ZiS-3 76.2 mm anti-tank gun
and the M-30 122 mm howitzer. The T-70 chassis was chosen for mounting the
ZiS-3 gun, and was lengthened, adding one road wheel per side, to facilitate
better gun mounting. The vehicle was not completely enclosed by armour, the
rear roof and upper rear side exposed.
The power-plant setup installed
in the first mass-produced SU-76s was unreliable. Two GAZ-202 automobile
engines were used mounted in "parallel", each engine driving one
track. It was found to be difficult for the driver to control the two engines
simultaneously, and strong vibration forces led to early failures of engines
and transmission units. After 560 SU-76s had been made, mass production was
halted in order to resolve the problems. Two chief designers at the GAZ plant,
N. A. Astrov and A. A. Lipgart, changed the power-plant arrangement to that of
the T-70 - the two engines were mounted in tandem on the right hand side of the
vehicle. The armoured roof over the gun compartment was removed to improve
access to and servicing of the weapon. This modified version, called the
SU-76M, was placed in mass production in early 1943.
After production resumed, GAZ
and two factories in Kirov and Mytishchi produced 13,732 SU-76Ms; over 9,000 of
the vehicles were built solely by GAZ. Mass production of the SU-76M ceased in
the second half of 1945. In contemporary accounts SU-76Ms are often referred to
in texts, public radio and TV broadcasting as SU-76s with the "M"
omitted, due to their ubiquity in comparison with the original SU-76s.
The SU-76 was the basis for the
first Soviet tracked armoured anti-aircraft vehicle, the ZSU-37. Mass
production of the ZSU-37 was continued after SU-76M production ceased. All
SU-76Ms had been withdrawn from front-line service shortly after the war ended,
although some were retained as training vehicles for T-34 crews as late as
1955.
Variants
OSA-76
Experimental model based on the
T-60 tank chassis.
SU-76
Based on a lengthened T-70 tank
chassis, with the inferior dual-engine arrangement of earlier T-70s. Only 560
were produced, and these were quickly withdrawn from front line service. Nearly
all SPGs of this version had armored roof, but it caused ventilation issues and
was often removed in field depots, SU-76M lacked roof from start.
SU-76M
Main production model.
SU-85A/SU-85B
SU-76M armed with 85mm gun
(D-5S/LB-2 respectively), prototype only.
ZSU-37
Self-propelled anti-aircraft
gun, based on the SU-76.
In 1978, Institute 111 from
Romania designed an armoured personnel carrier based on the SU-76 chassis,
equipped with the TAB-71 turret. The vehicle entered service as the MLVM
(Romanian: Mașina de Luptă a Vânătorilor de Munte, meaning "infantry
fighting vehicle of vânători de munte").
The unrelated SU-76i (the
"i" standing for "Inostrannaya", or "Foreign" in
Russian), first designed and fielded in 1943, was based on captured stocks of
German Panzer III and StuG III chassis, a large quantity coming from defeated
German troops after the Battle of Stalingrad that year. This partially-modified
vehicle was armed with a S-1 76.2 mm tank gun (a cheaper variant of the
renowned F-34/ZiS-5 guns which were already mounted on T-34 and KV-1 tanks
respectively) in a casemate superstructure but retained the original German
Maybach gasoline engine and its torsion-bar suspension system. Around 200 of
these ex-German vehicles were sent for conversion into SU-76is at Factory No.
37 to supplement the existing SU-76. They were issued to tank and
self-propelled gun units starting in the fall of 1943.[4] They were eventually
withdrawn from the front in early 1944 and then used for training and testing
until the end of 1945.[5] Only 2 have survived the war, most having been
scrapped after 1945. A similar vehicle called SG-122 existed, which was a
similar Panzer III conversion, but armed with 122 mm M-30 howitzer. Only ~20
were converted, as M-30 was considered insufficient weapon for infantry
support.
The also unrelated SU-76P (1941)
was based on the T-26 chassis. it was built in Leningrad during the Siege of
Leningrad and involved removing the turret from the T-26 and mounting a 76 mm
regimental gun M1927 on the engine deck. This was created due to the lack of
high explosive 45mm ammunition inside Leningrad due to the siege, so some T-26
tanks were rearmed with 37mm or 76mm guns for which a reliable source of
ammunition was available. They served until 1944, when the siege was broken.
They were originally called SU-76, until the SU-76 came into service, upon
which it was renamed SU-76P ("polkovaya" - regimental).
Combat history
The SU-76M virtually replaced
infantry tanks in the close support role. While its thin armour and open top
made it vulnerable to antitank weapons, grenades, and small arms, its light
weight and low ground pressure gave it good mobility.
The SU-76M combined three main
battlefield roles: light assault gun, mobile anti-tank weapon and mobile gun
for indirect fire. As a light assault gun, the SU-76M was well-regarded by
Soviet infantrymen (in contrast with their own crews). It had more powerful
weapons than any previous light tank for close support and communication
between infantry and the SU-76M crew was simple due to the open crew
compartment. This was extremely useful in urban combat where good teamwork
between infantry and AFVs was a key to success. Although the open compartment
was highly vulnerable to small arms fire and hand grenades, it very often saved
the crew's lives in the case of a hit by a Panzerfaust or Panzerschreck, in
which the concussion of the blast would mean death in an enclosed vehicle.
The SU-76M was effective against
any medium or light German tank. It could also knock out the Panther tank with
a flank shot, but the ZiS-3 gun was not effective against Tiger tanks. Soviet
manuals for SU-76M crews usually instructed the gunner to aim for the tracks or
gun barrels when facing Tigers. To improve the SU-76M's anti-armour
capabilities, armour-piercing composite rigid (APCR) and hollow charge
projectiles were introduced. This gave the SU-76M a better chance against
heavily armoured German vehicles. A low profile, a low noise signature and good
mobility were other advantages of the SU-76M. This was ideal for organizing
ambushes and sudden flank or rear strikes in close combat, where the ZiS-3 gun
was sufficient against most German armoured fighting vehicles.
The maximum elevation angle of
the ZiS-3 was the highest of all Soviet self-propelled guns. The maximum
indirect fire distance was nearly 17 km. SU-76Ms were sometimes used as light
artillery vehicles (like the German Wespe) for bombardments and indirect fire
support. However the power of the 76.2 mm shells was not sufficient in many
cases.
The SU-76M was the single Soviet
vehicle able to operate in swamps with minimal support from engineers. During
the Belarus liberation campaign in 1944 it was extremely useful for organizing
surprise attacks through swamps; bypassing heavy German defenses on firmer
ground. Usually only lightly armed infantry could pass through large swampy
areas. With SU-76M support, Soviet soldiers and engineers could effectively
destroy enemy strongpoints and continue to advance.
The SU-76M had a large number of
ammunition types. They included armour-piercing (usual, with ballistic nose and
subcaliber hyper-velocity), hollow charge, high explosive, fragmentation,
shrapnel and incendiary projectiles. This made the SU-76M an excellent
multi-purpose light armoured fighting vehicle.
One famous crewman was Rem
Nikolaevich Ulanov. In his younger days he was a mechanic-driver and later a
commander of a SU-76. He and some other soldiers called their SU-76 Columbina
after the female Renaissance Italian Commedia dell'Arte personage.
After World War II, the SU-76
was used by Communist forces in the Korean War. A small number of SU-76Ms were
captured and used by South Korea after the landing at Incheon.
Operators
People's Republic of China
East Germany – 260
Hungary Hungary – 147
Afghanistan Afghanistan
North Korea – 132
Poland
Socialist Republic of Romania
Romania – 352 acquired by 1957
Soviet Union
North Vietnam – 30; saw extensive combat
during the Vietnam War.
Yugoslavia
Albania
