Wednesday 27 December 2017

ZIS-19

"Report on factory trials of an experimental prototype of the ZIS-19 37 mm tank gun

Basis: order #52 issued on February 20th, 1942, to the I.V. Stalin, Order of Lenin, factory #92

1. History of the issue

On orders from comrade Stalin, the department of the factory Chief Engineer created a 37 mm gun for installation into the turret of the T-60 tank. Ballistics and ammunition are from the 37 mm AA gun used by the Red Army.

From December 20th, 1941, to January 12th, 1942, the department designed blueprints, indexed with the code ZIS-19.

From January 12th to January 19th, an experimental prototype of the ZIS-19 system was built and installed in the turret of a mass production T-60 tank.

Presently, working blueprints for the ZIS-19 and requirements for mass production have been prepared.

In order to fully and completely solve the issue of installing the 37 mm gun into the T-60, the GAZ factory has been provided with a full set of blueprints, specifications, and list of required tools on January 14th, 1942.

In addition, the ZIS-19 system installed in the T-60 turret was sent to the GAZ factory on January 25th, 1942, for familiarization by the factor's designers, which were given the opportunity to make any measurements they required.

2. Comparative table #1, amount of parts in the ZIS-19 and 20-K 45 mm tank gun (without tools)

Group
ZIS-19
20-K
Amount of main parts
Amount of other parts
Total
Amount of main parts
Amount of other parts
Total
01
1
9
10
17
66
83
02
3
39
42
9
88
97
08
4
25
29
36
117
153
09
6
21
27



10
8
13
21



16
5
11
16
7
60
67
27

8
8
9
27
36
Total


153


436

As you can see from this table, the ZIS-19 has several times fewer parts than the 45 mm tank gun. The simplicity and small amount of parts compared to the 45 mm tank gun allows for significant increase in production of tank guns, while reducing the amount of resources and time spent.

3. Table #2 of main characteristics of the ZIS-19 system

Characteristic
Value
Caliber
37 mm
Muzzle velocity
915 m/s
Maximum barrel pressure
2800 kg/cm2
Propellant load
202 g
Propellant type
7/7
Shell mass
720 g
Chamber volume
0.267 dm3
Loading density
0.76 kg/dm3
Type of round
Single piece
Rifled barrel length
2054 mm
Barrel length
66.5 calibers/2468 mm
Barrel type
Monobloc
Rifling twist
1 in 30
Type of breech
Vertical sliding semiautomatic
Type of semiautomatic mechanism
Mechanical
Muzzle energy
30.7 ton-meters
Recoiling elements mass
100 kg
Oscillating elements mass with mantlet
235 kg
Maximum elevation
+21.5°
Maximum depression
-6°
Recoil length
170 +/- 30 mm
Horizontal aiming arc
360°
Effort on the aiming flywheels
-
Return gear
Spring
Recoil brake

Type
Hydraulic
Amount of fluid
0.4 L
Type of fluid
Steol
Recoil resistance
1670 kg

4 comments:

  1. That's an odd path to research. I thought the Red Army considered a 37mm in the early 1930s but rejected it in favor of the 45mm precisely because the 45mm could be equipped with a decent (albeit small) HE round, while the 37mm could not.

    I assume some of this research here eventually led to the 45mm-equipped T-70.

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    Replies
    1. The original T-60 was armed with a 20mm TNSh cannon and a 37 mm would of given it better anti tank capability. But the 37 mm didn't fit in the tiny turret so ended up redesigning the turret and gave it a superior 45 mm. Which was good because the coax machine gun was just a drum fed light DT.

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    2. The 37 mm mod. 1930 and other 37 mm tank guns from the 30s were deemed to be too ineffective, true. This gun uses ammunition from the 37 mm AA gun mod. 1939, which was a lot more effective.

      The situation was actually the opposite of what you guessed. The 45 mm gun for the T-60 was already designed by the time this solution was pitched, but it was really big and poorly balanced. This would have been a more compact solution that would allow the factory to preserve the turret. Later, when the T-60 was being phased out for the T-70, similar projects cropped up once more in order to evade the requirement to retool for the T-70 and get away with making tanks that factories were already equipped to produce.

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