[SAMWolf]

The SU-15, the SU-16, and the SU-38

The SU-15 experimental SPG.

By summer 1943, the design bureaus of the GAZ factory and Factory #38 offered several independent projects on how to modernise the SU-76. GAZ offered the GAZ-74A project, which was to use the Soviet ZIS-16F or ZIS-80 diesel engines, or the American "Giberson" engine (of 110 hp). It was to be rearmed with the more modern 76.2 mm gun S-1, but the project was abandoned, and only one experimental vehicle was built.

Factory #38 simultaneously offered three different projects: the SU-15, the SU-16, and the SU-38. All these vehicles were to be armed with the 76.2 mm Gun S-15, and they were powered by the GAZ-203 engine (like the T-70 light tank).

The SU-15 was based on the chassis and hull of the SU-12, and was powered by two GAZ-203 engines, and with the slightly improved air-filtering system. The compartment (superstructure) was slightly widened.

The SU-16 experimental SPG.

The engine, the transmission, and the chassis of the SU-16 was originally taken from the T-70 light tank. However, the protection was increased with 45 mm armor on the front. The compartment was armor-protected from the top and rear as well.

Like the SU-16, the SU-38 self-propelled guns had the chassis and engine taken from the T-70. However, this vehicle was much lighter than the SU-16. It had an all-around protected compartment at the front of the tank (like the SU-152, etc). It was engineered to distribute the load evenly along the chassis.

The SU-38 experimental SPG.

Comparative trials were performed during the summer of 1943. They showed that the SU-16 was the most successful, but had a poor crew layout. The chassis of both the SU-15 and the SU-38 were overloaded, which led to rapid breakdowns. Nevertheless, the SU-15 was chosen and recommended for mass production after a weight decrease.

The SU-15M (SU-76)

The SU-15M self-propelled gun.

While producing the SU-76, the GAZ factory started a modernisation program for the SU-15, as all the critical parts of that vehicle (engine, chassis, transmission, etc) were produced there. The modernised self-propelled gun (factory designation SU-15M) was distinguished from its predecessor by the unprotected compartment from the top and rear. It was powered by two GAZ-202 engines with a common cooling system and transmission.

In August 1943, that SPG successfully passed all trials, and was accepted for service under the SU-76 designation. From October 1, 1943, the mass production of this vehicle began.

[SAMWolf]

The SU-76 in Action


The battle in suburbs of Brandenburg. Spring 1945.

By June 1945, the total production of the SU-76 reached 14,292 - approximately 60% of the total volume of all self-propelled guns produced during the war. It was manufactured in the following factories: Factory #30 in Kirov, Factory #40 in Mytishchi, and the GAZ Factory in Gorkij.



The updated version was delivered to the Army on time, but it left a questionable impression on its crews, and received nicknames such as "Suka" (Bitch) or "Golozhopij Ferdinant" (Naked Ass Ferdinand). Tankers who never fought in the SU-76, but who had judged it from the outside gave such unpleasant nicknames. Tankers who fought in the SU-76 called it "Colombina," which was a somewhat affectionate name. The first negative impressions of the vehicle were formed when they were pressed into service as tanks. The first SU-76s were sent to mixed self-propelled artillery regiments and in the summer of 1943, each unit was supposed to have 21 vehicles (four batteries of five vehicles each and one commander's SU-76). Only with time came the realization that the main task of the SU-76 should be close support of the infantry. The task of fighting enemy tanks was left to more powerful artillery systems based on the chassis of the T-34 and the IS-2 tanks. As a result, by the end of 1944, SU-76s were placed into light self-propelled artillery batteries of sixteen vehicles each, which were then part of regular infantry divisions.



Naturally, among the sixty shots that a SU-76 carried, some were armor-piercing. However, its main advantages were its low profile, high mobility, and low ground pressure (0.545 kg/cm²) which allowed it to operate in the marshy and forested areas which had poor ground conditions, in close cooperation with the attacking infantry, and in firing directly at pillboxes and fortified buildings.


The SU-76 "Smelij". Transbaikal Front. August 1945.

Further use of the vehicle in street battles at the end of the war uncovered another disadvantage of the system - the semi-open superstructure of the vehicle, which was roomy and excellent for crew movement, became a mass grave for its crew in case of an infantry grenade explosion. On the other hand, the opened compartment made all types of high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ammunition (including weapons such as the "Panzerfaust," the "Faustpatron," and the "Panzerschreck") totally ineffective.



The first batch of SU-76s (25 vehicles) was delivered by January 1st, 1943, and was sent to the self-propelled artillery training school. At the end of January, the first two mixed self-propelled artillery regiments (the 1433rd and the 1434th) were sent to the Volkhov front to assist in the relief of Leningrad, and in March 1943, two more regiments (the 1485th and the 1487th) were formed, and fought on the Western front.



In 1943, a light self-propelled artillery regiment had a full complement of 21 SU-76M. At the end of 1944 to the beginning of 1945, seventy batteries of self-propelled artillery (consisting of sixteen vehicles in each battery) were formed and attached to rifle divisions. In the first half of 1944, light self-propelled artillery brigades of the Reserve of High Command (RGK) were formed, and consisted of sixty SU-76M and five T-70s each.



By the end of the war, the Red Army had 119 light self-propelled artillery regiments and seven self-propelled artillery brigades. The Polish army received 130 SU-76M. The SU-76M was used in the design of the ZSU-37 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, which was armed with a 37 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun. It was manufactured at Factory #40 in Mytishchi, but it did not see action in World War Two. A total of 75 units were manufactured in 1945 to 1946.



The active service of the SU-76M did not end with the Second World War. The Soviet Army continued to use it through the early 1950's. The 130 vehicles given to the Polish Army were also taken out of service in the mid 1950's. A few dozen SU-76M that North Korea received saw action in the Korean war from which almost none survived.



The story of SU-76 would not be complete without an account of further attempts to modernise it. In December 1943, a SU-74B tank destroyer with a ZIS-2 anti-tank gun was tested, as was a GAZ-75 with an 85 mm D-5-S85A gun in 1944. It had the same 85 mm gun as the SU-85, but it had half its weight and its frontal armor was twice as thick (the SU-85 had 45 mm, and the GAZ-75 had 90 mm of frontal armor). None of those designs ever entered mass production, the main reason being a reluctance to disrupt the production of existing designs for the benefit of only minor improvements, as in the case of new engines, or to completely rework the manufacturing process for a new model.

Additional Sources:

www.wwiivehicles.com
users.swing.be
www.geocities.com/desperado6_sp3
ww2photo.mimerswell.com
www.war.ee/earth/ussr
www.history.navy.mil
ef.1939-1945.net

[snippy_about_it]

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************Snippy, I bequeath to you the FR TH PL.

148 posted on 08/24/2004 11:39:45 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)

Good morning Cannoneer. Are you on leave yet? :-)

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 01:
0772 Po Tjiu-i Chinese poet/Governor of Hang-tsjow
1456 Wladyslaw Jagiello king of Bohemia/Hungary (1471/90-1516)
1810 Frédéric Chopin Poland, composer/pianist (Concerto in F Minor)
1811 Robert Christie Buchanan Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1878
1820 George Davis Attorney General (Confederacy), died in 1896
1822 Albin Francisco Schoepf Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1822 Charles Champion Gilbert Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1828 James Fleming Fagan Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1893
1831 Hiram Bronson Granbury Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1837 William Dean Howells US, novelist/critic/editor (Atlantic)
1860 Suzanna Salter 1st US female mayor/temperance leader
1864 Rebecca Lee 1st black woman to get a medical degree
1903 Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke Iowa, jazz cornetist (In a Mist)
1904 Glenn Miller bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood)
1909 David Niven Kirriemuir Angus Scotland, actor (Casino Royale, Guns of Navarone)
1914 Ralph Waldo Ellison US writer (Invisible Man, Shadow & Cast)
1917 Dinah Shore Winchester TN, singer (See the USA in a Chevrolet)
1919 Lawrence Ferlinghetti US, beat poet (Coney Island of the Mind)
1920 Harry Caray baseball announcer (Chicago Cubs)
1921 Terrence "Cardinal" Cooke New York NY
1922 William M Gaines publisher (MAD Magazine)
1922 Yitzak Rabin premier (Israel, 1992-95, Nobel 1994)
1924 Donald "Deke" Kent Slayton Sparta WI, Major USAF/astronaut (Apollo 18)
1926 Pete Rozelle NFL commissioner (1960-89)
1926 Robert Clary Paris France, actor (LeBeau-Hogan's Heroes)
1927 Harry Belafonte Harlem New York NY, calypso singer (Buck & the Preacher)
1927 Robert Heron Bork judge, nominated for supreme court
1929 Sonny James singer (Young Love, Running Bear)
1935 Robert Conrad [Conrad R Falk] Chicago IL, actor (Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep)
1940 Ralph Towner Chehalis WA, Guitar (Oregon, Weather Report)
1941 Michael L Lampton Williamsport PA, astronaut (STS-45)
1944 Roger Daltrey Hammersmith London England, rocker/actor/producer (The Who-Tommy)
1953 Ron Howard Duncan OK, actor/director (American Graffiti, Happy Days/Willow, Backdraft)
1954 Catherine Bach Warren OH, actress (Daisy Duke-Dukes of Hazzard)

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Deaths which occurred on March 01:
0965 Leo VIII Italian (anti-)Pope (963-65), dies
1131 Stephen II King of Hungary (1116-31), dies
1619 Thomas Campion English physician/composer/poet (Poemata), dies at 53
1633 George Herbert English poet, dies at 39
1920 Joseph Trumpeldor killed defending Tel-Mai against arab attack
1947 J Boogaard Nazi collaborator, executed
1979 Molla Mustafa Barzani Iranian Kurd leader (KDP), dies at 75
1984 Jackie Coogan actor (Uncle Fester-Addams Family), dies at 69
1991 Edwin H Land inventor (Polaroid Camera), dies at 81
1993 Luis Kutner US co-founder (Amnesty International), dies at 84
1994 Walter Kent US composer (I'll Be Home for Christmas), dies at 82

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 CHRISTENSEN WILLIAM M.---GREAT FALLS MT.
1966 FRAWLEY WILLIAM D.---BROCKTON MA.
1966 WOLOSZYK DONALD J.---ALPENA MI.
1968 LANNOM RICHARD C.---UNION CITY TN.
1968 SCHEURICH THOMAS E.---NORFOLK NE.
1969 CAMPBELL CLYDE W.---LONGVIEW TX.
1969 KELLER WENDELL R.---FARGO ND.
1969 LOVEGREN DAVID E.---PORTLAND OR.
1969 MERONEY VIRGIL K.---FAYETTEVILLE AR.
1971 BLACK PAUL V.---CENTRAL VALLEY CA.
1971 ZUBKE DELAND D.---GRASSY BUTTE ND.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0001 BC Start of revised Julian calendar in Rome
0293 Roman emperor Maximianus introduces tetrarchy
0492 St Felix III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0492 St Gelasius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0705 John VII begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0743 Slave export by Christians to heathen areas prohibited
1260 Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus
1382 French Maillotin uprises against taxes
1562 Blood bath at Vassy; General de Guise allows 1200 huguenots murder
1591 Pope Gregory XIV threatens to excommunicate French king Henri IV
1634 Battle at Smolensk; Polish King Wladyslaw IV beats Russians
1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrest for witchcraft (Salem MA)
1711 "The Spectator" begins publishing (London)
1780 Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only)
1781 Continental Congress adopts Articles of Confederation
1790 1st US census authorized
1792 US Presidential Succession Act passed
1803 Ohio becomes 17th state
1809 Embargo Act of 1807 repealed & Non-Intercourse Act signed
1811 Egyptian king Muhammad Ali Pasha oversees ceremonial murder of 500
1845 President Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas
1847 Michigan becomes 1st English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state)
1866 Paraguayan canoes sink 2 Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana
1867 Howard University, Washington DC, chartered
1867 Most of Nebraska becomes 37th US state (expanded later)
1869 Postage stamps showing scenes are issued for 1st time
1872 Yellowstone becomes world's 1st national park
1875 Congress passes Civil Rights Act; invalidated by Supreme Court, 1883
1890 1st US edition of Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet) published
1893 Diplomatic Appropriation Act, authorizes the US rank of ambassador
1896 Battle of Adua: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians
1909 1st US university school of nursing established, University of Minnesota
1910 3 passenger trains buried at Steven's Pass in Cascade Range: 118 die; Worst snowslide in US history
1912 Albert Berry makes 1st parachute jump from an airplane
1912 Isabella Goodwin, 1st US woman detective, appointed, New York NY
1913 1st state law requiring bonding of officers & state employees, North Dakota

1913 Federal income tax takes effect (16th amendment)OH BOY. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART

1917 1st federal land bank chartered
1919 Demonstrations for Korean independence from Japan begin
1924 Germany's prohibition of Communist Party KPD lifted
1928 Paul Whiteman & his orchestraestra record "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records
1932 Charles Lindbergh Jr (20 months), kidnapped in New Jersey; found dead May 12
1933 Bank holidays declared in 6 states, to prevent run on banks
1934 Henry Pu Yi crowned emperor Kang Teh of Manchuria
1934 Primo Carnera beats Tommy Loughran in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1937 1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut)
1937 US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day
1940 12th Academy Awards: "Gone with the Wind", Robert Donat & Vivien Leigh win
1941 "Captain America" appears in a comic book
1941 1st US commercial FM radio station goes on the air, Nashville TN
1941 Himmler inspects Auschwitz concentration camp
1942 3 day Battle of Java Sea ends, US suffers a major naval defeat
1942 Baseball decides that players in military can't play when on furlough
1942 Suriname camp for NSB people opens to save Jews
1942 Tito establishes 2nd Proletarit Brigade in Bosnia
1943 Jewish old age home for disabled in Amsterdam raided
1945 FDR announces success of Yalta Conference
1945 Fieldmarshal Kesselring succeeds von Rundstedt as commander
1946 British Govt takes control of Bank of England, after 252 years
1947 International Monetary Fund began operations
1949 Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxing champion
1950 Chiang Kai-shek resumed the Presidency of National China on Formosa
1950 Klaus Fuchs sentenced to 14 years for atomic espionage (London)
1954 4 Puerto Ricans open fire in US House of Representatives injuring 5 Representatives
1954 Ted Williams fractures collarbone in 1st game of spring training after flying 39 combat missions without injury in Korean War
1957 Kokomo the Chimp becomes Today Show animal editor
1959 Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus after 3 years
1961 President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
1962 American Airlines 707 plunges nose 1st into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95
1962 K-Mart opens
1962 Uganda became a self-governing country

1966 Ba'ath-party takes power in Syria

1966 Venera 3 becomes 1st man-made object to impact on a planet (Venus)
1967 House of Representatives expels Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr (307 to 116)
1968 NBC's unprecedented on-air announcement, Star Trek will return
1968 Singers Johnny Cash (36) & June Carter (38) wed
1968 Vatican City's Apostolic Constitution of 1967 goes into effect
1968 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was replaced by Clark Clifford
1969 Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself at Dinner Key Auditorium
1969 New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball
1970 End of US commercial whale hunting
1970 White government of Rhodesia declares independence from Britain
1971 Bomb attack on the Capitol in Washington DC
1972 Club of Rome publishes report "Boundaries on the Growth" (We're all gonna die!)
1972 Wilt Chamberlain is 1st NBA player to score 30,000 points
1974 Watergate grand jury indicts 7 Presidential aides
1975 alfa6 in what can only be described as a world class example of..."disinformation" convinces the young and naive mrs. alfa6 that he really is a multimillionaire and heir to the Rockefeller fortune, and inventor of the Ronco Pocket fisherman. She has been reported saying "What was I thinking? The idiot can't even the laundry hamper, or operate a can opener, I'd leave him but he'd starve to death wearing dirty underwear, and I can't have that on my conscience.
1977 Bank of America adopts the name VISA for their credit cards
1977 US extends territorial waters to 200 miles
1980 Snow falls in Florida
1981 Bobby Sands, IRA member, begins 65-day hunger strike in Maze Prison (he dies)
1982 The New York Times raises it's price from 25¢ to 30¢
1988 Courtney Gibbs Eplin, 21, (Texas), crowned 37th Miss USA
1988 Apple introduces CD-ROM drive
1988 Iraq says it launched 16 missiles into Tehran
1988 Wayne Gretzky passes Gordie Howe with his record 1,050th NHL assist
1993 Authorities in Waco TX negotiate with Branch Davidians
1994 Senate rejectes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution
1997 Rescue teams fought snow, high winds and wild dogs as they tried to bring help to an earthquake-devastated region in northwest Iran, where the death toll was estimated at 3,000.
1997 Spring Lake near Santa Rosa, Ca., Paul Duclos caught a 24-pound largemouth bass, photographed it, weighed it and released it.
2001 Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, defying international protests, began destroying all statues in the country.
2002 Pres. Bush approved plans to send some 100 US troops to Yemen to help train the nation’s military to fight terrorists


2003 In Pakistan a joint raid outside Islamabad by CIA and Pakistani agents led to the arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, along with 2 others. Documents and computer files later revealed that the al Qaeda biochemical weapons program was well advanced

2004 Iraqi politicians agreed on an interim constitution with 2 official languages, a wide ranging bill of rights and a single chief executive, bridging a gulf between members over the role of Islam in the future government.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bayonna Spain : Pinzon Day
Engadine, Switzerland : Chalanda Marz/Coming of spring
Lanark, Lanarkshire Scotland : Whuppity Scoorie Day
Ohio 1803, Nebraska 1867 : Admission Day
Panamá : Constitution Day (1946)
Paraguay : Heroes' Day/National Defense Day/Memorial Day
South Korea : Independence Movement Day/Sam Il Chul (1919)
US : Bad Weather Week Begins
US : National Procrastinators Week Begins..tomorrow
Herb Month in Missouri

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Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Matronalia (Feast of Juno); Kalend Mar
Bahá'í : leap day (in Gregorian leap years) (Ayyám-i-Há 5)
Anglican, Roman Catholic-New Zealand : Commemoration of St David, patron Wales
Bhutan : Buddhist New Years
Lutheran : Commemoration of George Herbert, priest
Cyprus, Greece : Green (or Clean) Monday (1st Mon of Lent-moveable)

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Religious History
1633 On his deathbed, English poet and clergyman George Herbert, 39, uttered these last words: 'I shall be free from sin and all the temptations and anxieties that attend it...I shall dwell... where these eyes shall see my Master and Savior.'
1692 The Salem Witch Trials in the Massachusetts colony officially began with the conviction of Rev. Samuel Parris' West Indian slave, Tituba, for witchcraft.
1810 Georgetown College was chartered in Washington, D.C., making it the first Roman Catholic institution of higher learning established in the United States.
1910 The first issue of "The Evening Light and Church of God Evangel" was published in Cleveland, Tennessee. A. J. Tomlinson, the publishing editor, was an instrumental figure in the history of the Church of God (also headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee).
1966 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: If Jesus is and does what we read in 1 John 2:2, then He prays for all men: for those who already pray and for those who do not yet pray.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow."

[archy]

On the other hand, the opened compartment made all types of high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ammunition (including weapons such as the "Panzerfaust," the "Faustpatron," and the "Panzerschreck") totally ineffective.

Well, not quite. The gas jet still pierces the external armour just fine, and the resulting chips and spall will still ruin the day of anyone inside who's in their way. But they don't ricochet around inside, and the overpressure and incendiary effect that makes them so effective on a vehicle with a fully enclosed turret or superstructure is lessened considerably.

That was the reason the South Africans went to open-topped armored transport vehicles like the Buffel during their counterinsurgency war period, as they were less suceptable to mine and RPG damage. And it's one reason the old US IH and White halftracks soldiered on for so long with the Israelis