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Posted on 08/16/2004 10:35:04 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 The predecessors of the JS-1 and JS-2 tanks were the KV-1 Heavy Tank and Heavily Armoured KV-13 Medium Tank . The KV-13 (and its subsequent version - Object #233) became the first major independent project of the Experimental Tank Factory, created in March 1942 in Chelyabinsk from Design Bureau #2. N.V.Tseits, who had been recently released from a Gulag, was appointed head designer of the project. Other members of the design team were K.I.Kuzmin (hull), N.M.Sinev (turret), S.V.Mitskevich (chassis) and G.N.Moskvin (general assembly). The KV-13 was designed as a universal tank - medium tank weight and heavy tank protection. This project was distinguished by its extensive use of cast armour. Casting was used not only for the turret, but also for the main elements of its hull - the glacis, turret ring and rear.  KV-13 Medium Tank This reduced the usable internal space, but increased the effective armour protection whilst reducing the amount of armour needed for its manufacture. The last point was especially important in light of the State Defense Committee's decree of 1942 to minimise the consumption of armour materials. The first test unit was designed and produced in an extremely short period of time and in May of 1942 it was delivered to the factory testing facilities. The tank weighed 31.7 tonnes and was armed with a 76.2 mm ZiS-5 gun and a coaxial DT TMG.  JS tanks: "Vehicle #2" (left) and "Vehicle #1" after trials in April 1943. The maximum front armour thickness of its hull was 120 mm, that of its turret - 85 mm. Its V-2K 600 h.p. engine allowed it to reach speeds of up to 55 km/h. Elements of the T-34's chassis, including tracks, were used, whilst the road wheels were taken from the KV. The KV-13 had an improved (U-shaped) radiator similar to the one previously used on the Kirov Factory variant of the T-50 tank. This allowed for a more efficient engine block configuration and also increased the efficiency of its air intake.  JS-2 tank "Vehicle #2" (Object 234) inside the ChKZ Factory, Spring 1943. Several flaws surfaced during the testing of the first experimental unit of the KV-13: poor acceleration due to transmission problems, tracks and rollers easily damaged, tracks being thrown while making turns, etc. In July 1942, in the middle of its testing, the head designer N.V.Tseits died and N.F.Shamshurin was appointed in his place. On his initiative the KV-13 received the transmission developed by F.A.Marishkin for the KV-1S, as well as some other parts of its chassis. However, even after these improvements, the tank did not pass its tests and the military quickly lost interest in it. Despite these early failures, in December of 1942 the assembly of two new variants of the KV-13 began at the Experimental Tank Factory. The new vehicles shared only the hull, torsion bar suspension, and chassis from the first version. The turrets and many other elements were completely new designs. The transmission used was significant in its use of a planetary 2-step travesing gear designed by A.I.Blagonravov. The cooling system was improved, while the track links were lightened by making every other link flat (the so-called "Chelyabinsk tracks").  The experimental JS tank "Vehicle #3" (Object 237) armed with the S-18 Main Gun, after trials in Summer 1943. The appearance of the German heavy Tigers on the Eastern Front played a direct and decisive role in increasing the speed of development of these new models. According to decree #2943ss of the GOKO (February 24, 1943) the Kirov factory in Chelyabinsk and factory #100 (the new name of the Experimental Tank Factory) of NKTP were to manufacture two experimental tanks of the "Josef Stalin" (JS) class (based on the two latest models of the KV-13) and prepare them for testing. The model armed with a 76.2 mm gun was designated JS-1 (also retaining its factory designation: "Object #233"). The second model, armed with a 122 mm U-11 tank howitzer (designed for the experimental heavy tank KV-9) was designated JS-2 (Object #234).  The experimental JS tank with the 85 mm Main Gun S-31 during Government trials. Both models were tested between March 22 and April 19, 1943 and in general performed quite well. The state commission noted that both JS tanks weighed less than the KV-1S, could achieve higher speeds, had better armour protection and had equal (JS-1) or better (JS-2) armament. During testing, serious defects were discovered, particularly with the chassis and engine/transmission. It was also noted that when moving over soft ground the tanks experienced high rolling resistance due to their treads flexing into the space between the road wheels. The commission recommended increasing the number of road wheels on future test units of JS tanks.  Government trials of the JS-85 during the Autumn of 1943. At the same time preparations for production of the new vehicles began at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Factory (ChKZ), Factory #100 and their main partner factories- the Ural Factory of Heavy Machinery (UZTM) and Factory #200. However, further developments forced major changes in these preparations. In early April, the first reliable data on the armour protection of the Tigers was obtained. On April 15, 1943, the GKO issued the decree #3187ss instructing the People's Commissariat for Armaments to develop more powerful anti-tank guns capable of destroying the new enemy AFV's. At the end of April, a captured Tiger was brought to the Kubinka testing grounds to be subjected to firing tests. It turned out that the most effective weapon against it was the 85mm AA-gun 52-K model 1939, which penetrated the Tiger's 100 mm frontal armour from 1000 metres.  Government trials of the JS-85 during the Autumn of 1943 The GKO's decree #3289ss of May 5, 1943, instructed the Design Bureaus to aim for the performance characteristics of that gun. Following this decree the Central Artillery Design Bureau (TsAKB, under V. G. Grabin, and the Design Bureau of Factory #9, under F. F. Petrov, were entrusted with developing and installing new 85-mm guns on two KV-1S and two experimental JS tanks.
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Howdy ma'am
Hiya Sam
I've never had the pleasure. ;-(
Hey Sam.
Afternoon SAM, I have started work on the aircraft pics, I did not realize how many I have picked up over the last year or so.
I will keep an update on the tag line, although I am afraid that 300 number might be a tad understated.
BTW, you want the videos to? hehehe
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Today's classic warship, USS Tucson (CL-98)
Oakland class light cruiser
Displacement: 6,000 t.
Length: 541’6”
Beam: 53’2”
Draft: 20’0”
Speed: 33 k.
Complement: 623
Armament: 12 5”; 16 40mm; 16 20mm; 8 21” torpedo tubes
Class: OAKLAND USS TUCSON (CL-98) was laid down on 23 December 1942 at San Francisco, Calif., by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 3 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Emmett S. Claunch, Sr.; and commissioned on 3 February 1945, Capt. Arthur D. Ayrault in command.
Following outfitting at San Francisco and shakedown out of San Diego, TUCSON sailed for the western Pacific on 8 May. She stopped at Pearl Harbor on 13 May for three weeks of additional training before resuming her voyage west on 2 June. She stopped overnight at Ulithi on 13 and 14 June, then continued on to the Philippines, and reached Leyte on the 16th. The cruiser was assigned to the screen of the Fast Carrier Task Force, TF 38, specifically to that of Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan's Task Group (TG) 38.3 built around carriers ESSEX (CV-9), TICONDEROGA (CV-14), RANDOLPH (CV-15), MONTEREY (CVL-26), and BATAAN (CVL-29).
TUCSON joined the fast carriers just in time to participate in their final rampage against the Japanese Empire and its inner defenses. On 1 July, she sortied from Leyte Gulf with TF 38 and headed north to the Japanese home islands. On the 10th, the flattops launched planes against Tokyo. On the 14th and 15th, TF 38's air groups struck Hokkaido and northern Honshu. They returned to southern Honshu on the 17th and 18th to blast Tokyo again and then left the area for almost a week. On 24 and 28 July, she appeared with the carriers south of Shikoku while their planes hit shipping in the Inland Sea. On the 30th, they zeroed in on Kobe and Nagoya. After that, they retired south to fuel and replenish before striking out northward. By the second week of August, TUCSON was off northern Honshu screening the carriers while their planes pounded the island once more. She then accompanied them south to pummel Tokyo again on the 13th. Two days later, Japan capitulated.
Though hostilities had ceased in mid-August and the Japanese had surrendered formally on 2 September, TUCSON remained in the Far East, steaming with TF 38 to the east of Honshu, covering the occupation forces moving into Japan. On 20 September, she cleared the area and, two days later, stopped at Okinawa before shaping a course back to the United States. En route, she called at Pearl Harbor and then arrived in San Francisco on 5 October. On the 23d, the warship headed down the coast to San Pedro, where she participated in the Navy Day celebration on the 27th and 28th. On the 29th, she shifted to San Diego where she reported for duty with Pacific Fleet Training Command as an antiaircraft gunnery training ship. Between November 1945 and August 1946, the antiaircraft cruiser trained about 5,000 officers and men in the use of 5-inch and 40- and 20-millimeter antiaircraft guns. She interrupted her training duties periodically to represent the Navy at special events held in various ports on the Pacific coast.
On 6 September, she entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a three-month overhaul to get ready for duty under the Commander, Destroyers, Pacific Fleet. For the next two months, TUCSON trained out of San Diego in preparation for a fleet exercise to be conducted near Hawaii. On 24 February 1947, the cruiser stood out of San Diego and cruised Hawaiian waters as an element of the force charged with the defense of the islands against an aggressor force moving in from the western Pacific. At the completion of the exercise, the warship put into Pearl Harbor on 11 March. However, she got underway again on the 18th to participate in the fruitless search to the northwest of Hawaii for survivors of the wrecked SS FORT DEARBORN.
On 27 March, TUCSON returned to San Diego and resumed normal west coast operations until late summer. She again departed the west coast on 28 July and proceeded, via Pearl Harbor, to the Far East, arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, on the 15th. For the next two months, the warship cruised the waters of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea making observations during the Communist-Nationalist struggle for supremacy in Manchuria and northern China. During that period, she visited Shanghai twice and Tsingtao once. TUCSON returned to Yokosuka on 19 October, stayed overnight, and sailed the next day for the United States, arriving at San Diego on 6 November. The cruiser resumed west coast operations and, for the brief remainder of her active career, remained so engaged.
On 9 February 1949, TUCSON reported to Mare Island Naval Shipyard to begin preparations for inactivation. On 11 June 1949, she was decommissioned and berthed with the San Francisco Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She remained in reserve at Mare Island until 1 June 1966 when her name was struck from the Navy list. The former warship served as a test hulk until 1970. On 24 February 1971, the hulk was sold to the National Metal & Steel Corp., of Terminal Island, Calif., for scrapping.
TUCSON earned one battle star during World War II.
Good afternoon Darksheare.
Afternoon.
Just grabbed the mail.
Nothign exciting except a credit card application I can't use.
So I flicked out my lighter and made a sculpture out of the plastic place holder card's corpse.
LOL. I hate the odor of burning plastic.
Howdy all! I thought I had exterminated the bugs, but they came back again. Hubby told me not to pour gasoline on the PC, but he didn't tell me not to spill a Pepsi.
I was talking to a guy whose MOS is air defense and the rumor is within the next couple of years most will be reclassified. It's been so long since we fought anyone with a decent air force, the higher ups are thinking we don't need those assets.
Todays' thread triggered a question. Did John Kurtz Kerry also run guns upriver to anti-communist forces in Russia??
Oh I didn't burn it, I merely heated it up enough for it to be pliable.
Pliant plastic is fun plastic.
Pretty ship.
Too bad it suffered that fate.
Okay, something new for me to try. ;-)
Uh oh.
SAM!
I gave snippy a bad idea!
I didn't think ladies were bound by their hubby's wishes.
"Tank kept a rollin' all night long.."
:-)
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