A detailed analysis of the T-34, the most produced tank of World War II

At the beginning of World War II, the majority of the Red Army's armored vehicle fleet consisted of light tanks.

The day the American M-26 Pershing tank knocked out the Soviet T-34 tank in Korea
An excellent analysis of the German Königstiger tank, its advantages and disadvantages

The most numerous tank model in the USSR was the T-26, a light tank designed to support infantry operations and which was used by both sides in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939, on one side thanks to Soviet deliveries and on the other by captured tanks). The T-26's poor armor and weak firepower were evident in Spain, during the Russian invasion of Finland in 1939, and in Manchuria against the Japanese between 1938 and 1939. The alliance between Nazi Germany and the USSR in 1939 allowed Moscow to acquire some German Panzer III tanks, learning some lessons from them.

In 1937, the Russian engineer Mikhail Koshkin began developing a new tank at the behest of the Red Army. Koshkin had been working on the concept for a new tank since 1934, and after two prototypes designated A-20 and A-32, he finally designed the T-34, named after the year in which he began developing the new model. The first two prototypes were completed in January 1940 at the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory in Ukraine. The initial model, designated T-34 (76), was a medium tank with a crew of four, a 76.2 mm gun, and the American Christie suspension, already used on the Soviet BT series cavalry tanks.

The most popular version of the T-34 appeared in 1943: the T-34-85, with a crew of five (commander, main gunner, loader, hull gunner, and driver). It had an 85 mm D-5T gun in a wider turret and two 7.62 mm DT machine guns, one in the hull and one coaxial with the main gun. The T-34 had less armor than the best German tanks, such as the Panther, Tiger, and Königstiger, but it compensated for this with its mobility, reaching a speed of 53 km/h on roads.

The best feature of the T-34 was its ease of manufacture, as well as the automated welding process for its hull and the rapid casting process for its turret. Thanks to this, and despite not having a large pool of skilled labor, the USSR was able to manufacture more than 84,000 T-34s, making it the most produced tank of World War II (the second most produced, the American Sherman, had over 49,000 units). This production rate overwhelmed the Germans on the battlefield: the most produced German tank was the Panzer IV, with approximately 8,800 units.

This Tuesday, Blue Paw Print (a YouTube channel I recommend you subscribe to) published another of their excellent videos, this time dedicated to the T-34-85, providing a detailed analysis of this tank, its operation, and the tactics used by its crews:

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Main image: Blue Paw Print.