The ZiS-30 was a light self-propelled anti-tank gun built for the Soviet Red Army in 1941. It was based on the Komsomolets armoured artillery tractor. They were successful vehicles, but production was limited by the number of Komsomolets tractors still in use.[2]
The ZiS-30 was one of a few hastily designed armoured fighting vehicles created by Soviet industry shortly after the German invasion during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. In August 1941 Grabin's design bureau at the Gorky plant no. 92 mounted the 57 mm ZiS-2 gun onto the chassis of a Komsomolets artillery tractor.[1] Only around 100 were produced. As one example of its employment, on October 2 the 21st Tank Brigade, under 30th Army in the Kalinin area, included a battery of four ZiS-30s. By October 20 three of these remained on strength. This brigade also had ten T-34-57s which carried the ZiS-4 tank model of the ZiS-2.[3]
For its era, the ZiS-2 gun was one of the most powerful dedicated anti-tank guns available. Most weapons of that time were between 20 and 50 mm size, making the ZiS-2 somewhat larger at 57 mm, but it was also much longer, with a larger breech firing far more powerful ammunition. It fired a 3 kg shell at a muzzle velocity of 990 m/s, more typical of late-war weapons than early ones. For comparison, the British Army's contemporary 2-pounder fired a 40 mm shell of just over 1 kg at around 800 m/s, and the 6-pounder that replaced it fired a 2.3 kg shell at 850 m/s. The mounting on the Komsomolets was relatively simple, essentially cutting out the driving area enough to allow the carriage to be placed into the hole, and then cutting off the rear of the carriage so it did not overhang the back of the tractor. The result left the gun with a relatively wide angle of fire but swinging it to its extremes placed the breech well off the side of the vehicle. Wooden running boards on either side of the rear deck could be folded out to provide working area for the gunner and loader when the gun was swung in this fashion.
Although the drivers were protected under light armor, the gunner and loader were protected only by a light gun shield on the front of the breech. They were completely exposed on the sides and rear, and the relatively high profile of the deck made them easy targets.
Referencesedit
^ abcdefg"ZiS-30 Tank Destroyer". Military Factory. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
light, self, propelled, anti, tank, built, soviet, army, 1941, based, komsomolets, armoured, artillery, tractor, they, were, successful, vehicles, production, limited, number, komsomolets, tractors, still, with, cannon, raised, typetank, destroyerplace, origin. The ZiS 30 was a light self propelled anti tank gun built for the Soviet Red Army in 1941 It was based on the Komsomolets armoured artillery tractor They were successful vehicles but production was limited by the number of Komsomolets tractors still in use 2 ZiS 30ZiS 30 with cannon raised TypeTank destroyerPlace of originSoviet UnionProduction historyNo built 100SpecificationsMass4 tonnes 4 4 short tons 3 9 long tons Length3 45 m excluding gun Width1 86 mCrew4 5Armor7 10 mm 1 Mainarmament57 mm ZiS 2 gun 1 Secondaryarmament7 62 mm DT machine gun 1 EngineGAZ M 4 cylinder gasoline engine50 hp 37 kW 1 SuspensionLeaf springOperationalrange250 km 1 Maximum speedRoad 40 km h 1 Production history editThe ZiS 30 was one of a few hastily designed armoured fighting vehicles created by Soviet industry shortly after the German invasion during Operation Barbarossa in 1941 In August 1941 Grabin s design bureau at the Gorky plant no 92 mounted the 57 mm ZiS 2 gun onto the chassis of a Komsomolets artillery tractor 1 Only around 100 were produced As one example of its employment on October 2 the 21st Tank Brigade under 30th Army in the Kalinin area included a battery of four ZiS 30s By October 20 three of these remained on strength This brigade also had ten T 34 57s which carried the ZiS 4 tank model of the ZiS 2 3 For its era the ZiS 2 gun was one of the most powerful dedicated anti tank guns available Most weapons of that time were between 20 and 50 mm size making the ZiS 2 somewhat larger at 57 mm but it was also much longer with a larger breech firing far more powerful ammunition It fired a 3 kg shell at a muzzle velocity of 990 m s more typical of late war weapons than early ones For comparison the British Army s contemporary 2 pounder fired a 40 mm shell of just over 1 kg at around 800 m s and the 6 pounder that replaced it fired a 2 3 kg shell at 850 m s The mounting on the Komsomolets was relatively simple essentially cutting out the driving area enough to allow the carriage to be placed into the hole and then cutting off the rear of the carriage so it did not overhang the back of the tractor The result left the gun with a relatively wide angle of fire but swinging it to its extremes placed the breech well off the side of the vehicle Wooden running boards on either side of the rear deck could be folded out to provide working area for the gunner and loader when the gun was swung in this fashion Although the drivers were protected under light armor the gunner and loader were protected only by a light gun shield on the front of the breech They were completely exposed on the sides and rear and the relatively high profile of the deck made them easy targets References edit a b c d e f g ZiS 30 Tank Destroyer Military Factory Retrieved December 18 2015 ZIS 30 Tank Hunter Jack Radey and Charles Sharp The Defense of Moscow 1941 Pen amp Sword Books Ltd Barnsley UK 2012 pp 22 23 Zaloga Steven J James Grandsen 1984 Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War II London Arms and Armour Press p 150 ISBN 0 85368 606 8 nbsp This Soviet Union related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This military vehicle article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title ZiS 30 amp oldid 1194536367, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
