Sunday 29 December 2013

QC

As any factory, Soviet tank factories took quality seriously. Every tank would be tested, and the equipment on it recorded. Here is one such document for a KV-1 at the Kirov factory.

"Act #26

On January 26, 1941, we the undersigned, representatives of the Kirov factory, 1st department chief comrade A.I. Lantsberg, assistant OTK chief comrade N.V. Sokolov, SD-2 deputy chief comrade N.A. Zhukov, SD-2 OTK chief comrade L.A. Sadovskiy, referred to as "factory", on one side, and the GABTU KA military representative, Military Engineer 2nd grade comrade M.F. Bubyakin, referred to as "GABTU KA representative", on the other side, based on the agreement with the Kirov factory #.......... from January "  " 1941, compose this act of the following:

The factory completed, according to blueprints and technical specifications, confirmed by GABTU KA, a "KV" type tank #M-9685.

The factory QC department tried and tested all components and mechanisms during the process of their production, assembly, and installation, tested the tank over 390 kilometers, and deemed it acceptable and compliant with technical requirements.

The AU KA military representative performed an inspection, and tested the F-32 gun installed on the tank, and deemed the gun and its sights acceptable.

The US KA military representative performed an inspection, and tested the 71-TK-3 radio, and  TPU-3M internal communication device, and deemed them acceptable. The GABTU KA military representative performed technical testing of KV #M-9685 over 108.5 km, checked is completeness, and, having deemed it worthy, accepted it and sealed it with the Military Representative seal.

KV tank #M-9685 is equipped with an F-32 gun: gun body #62, recoil brake #47, return gear #49, TOD-6 #0635, PTK #11013, PT-6 #0737, DT machineguns #UTs204, UTs330, UTs300, USh328. The KV tank #M-9685 is equipped with a 71-TK-3 radio station, transmitter #784, receiver #782, TPU-3M #84. The tank uses the V-2-K engine #1510-03, gearbox #B-14.

The tank is equipped with a set of spare pars according to contract #....... The GABTU KA military representative issued certificate #047[illegible] on January 28th, 1941, on accepting this KV tank into service with the Red Army.

1st Department Chief, Lantsberg
SD-2 Deputy Chief Zhukov
SD-2 OTK Chief Sadovskiy
GABTU KA Military Representative Bubyakin
OTK Chief assistant Sokolov

GABTU Military Representative seal."
CAMD RF 38-11355-326

Here is a similar document for a T-50 tank.

"Act #19

July 31st, 1941. The undersigned, Production Chief comrade Shlaugman, OTK chief comrade Gudkov, assembly plant chief comrade Gushman, OTK chief of the assembly plant, comrade Grigoryev, referred to as "factory", on one side, and the Red Army GABTU military representative, Military Engineer 2nd Grade comrade Kishtalov, referred to as "GABTU military representative" on the other side, based on agreement #B-1-41 from April 30th, 1941, compose this act of the following:

The factory completed, according to blueprints and technical requirements established by GABTU, a T-50 type tank #...........

The factory QC department tried and tested all components and mechanisms in the process of their production, assembly, and installation, tested the tank over .... kilometers, and deemed it acceptable and in compliance with technical requirements within tolerances established by factory #174 on July 10th of this year.

The GAU KA military representative performed an inspection of the artillery system installed on the tank, and deemed it and its sights acceptable.

The GABTU KA military representative performed an inspection of the #........... T-50 tank and tested it over ..... kilometers, found it acceptable, and sealed it with the Military Representative seal.

T-50 tank #K-11232 is equipped with a 45 mm gun #V-7763, mount #......., PPSh #..... TOS #12018, PT-1 #15114, DT #PB-420 and NB-484.

T-50 tank #K-11232 is equipped with an R-10 radio #.......

The tank has a V-4 engine #140400 and gearbox #17409.

The tank is equipped with a set of spare parts and instruments, according to the agreement.

The GABTU KA military representative issued certificate #..... on "   " ...... 1941 on the acceptance of the T-50 tank into the Red Army.

Production Chief
OTK Chief
Assembly Plant Chief
Assembly Plant OTK Chief
Military representative"
CAMD RF 38-11355-237

Seems that the document was completed in a hurry, a number of fields were left blank, such as some instances of the tank number. That doesn't mean that this tank was not accepted. It was shipped to the 150th Tank Brigade, and currently resides in the Kubinka tank museum, with a dent in the left side of the turret as a memory of its combat service.

QC wasn't only performed on domestic vehicles, but on captured ones as well.

"Technical inspection act

On August 29th, 1945, a commission consisting of [illegible] on the basis of orders from the deputy proving grounds chief, inspected a JagdTiger B vehicle #305083 for the purpose of establishing the technical condition of the vehicle.

After inspecting the vehicle's documents, the commission established that:
  1. The vehicle travelled for ___ hours and 250 kilometers. The vehicle last underwent (medium/complete) repairs ___ hours and ___ kilometers ago.
  2. Vehicle inspections and engine start revealed that:
    1. The vehicle is functional. The engine works normally. 
    2. The gun is capable of firing, but the barrel is covered in rust.
  3. Trials revealed that all components of the vehicle are functional. The inspection was carried out over 2 hours and 50 minutes and 8 kilometers. In total, the vehicle travelled 258 km. 
  4. The commission concludes that this vehicle is acceptable for use.
Commission Chief.
Commission Members."
CAMD RF 38-11355-2725

A handwritten note on the page instructs 300 km of trials to be carried out. 

This Jadgtiger can be seen in the Kubinka tank museum.


4 comments:

  1. So, did they test each tank that left the assembly, or one from each batch? Are there documents in which a tanks was not accepted due to low quality like this?

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    Replies
    1. Each tank of course! And you'll see what happens when a tank is not accepted in tomorrow's article.

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  2. Very interesting information. I had read somewhere that there was not a proper department for QC and that it was only established later in the war. T-34 QC varied enormously depending on factory. The ones produced at Factory #112 were nicknamed "Sormovo monsters"

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  3. I recon that in late 1941 the strictness lapsed a little. After all if the Tank could move, fire (accurately) and the armor plates didn't fall off during testing it was "worthy" for combat... The sources seem to indicate, that at the latest, before Zitadelle started in summer 1943 quality was equally good all around.

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