SU-76

The SU-76 (Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76) was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3). Its quite simple construction and multipurpose combat role made it the second most produced Soviet armoured fighting vehicle of World War II, after the T-34 medium tank.

SU-76M[1]
SU-76M light self-propelled gun in the Memorial Complex "Gorky citizens in the Great Patriotic War", Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, Russia
TypeLight self-propelled gun
Place of origin Soviet Union
Production history
DesignerS.A. Ginzburg Design Bureau
Designed1942
ManufacturerGAZ (Gorky), Plant No.40 (Mytishchi), Plant No.38 (Kirov, Kirov Oblast)
ProducedDecember 1942 – October 1945
No. built14,292 (560 SU-76 & 13,732 SU-76M)
Specifications
Mass10,500 kg (23,149 lb)
Length4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)
Width2.72 m (8 ft 11 in)
Height2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
Crew4
ArmourFront: 25–35 mm (0.98–1.38 in)
Side: 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in)
Main
armament
76.2 mm (3.00 in) ZIS-3 mod. 1942 divisional field gun
Secondary
armament
7.62 mm (0.300 in) DT tank machine gun
EngineGAZ-203 (2 × GAZ-70 6-cylinder gasoline engines)
2 x 70 hp (2 x 51.5 kW)
Power/weight13.3 hp/t
Suspensiontorsion bar
Fuel capacity412 L (108.8 gal)
Operational
range
Road:
250–320 km (160–200 mi)
Cross-country:
190 km (120 mi)[1]
Maximum speed 45 km/h (28.0 mph)

History

SU-76

Design of the SU-76 began in November 1942, when the State Defense Committee (GKO) ordered the construction of infantry support self-propelled guns armed with the ZIS-3 76.2 mm divisional field gun and the M-30 122 mm howitzer. The T-70 light tank chassis was chosen for mounting the ZIS-3 gun, and was lengthened, adding one road wheel per side, to facilitate better gun mounting. The vehicle was not completely enclosed by armour, the rear roof and upper rear side exposed. The SU-76 was adopted by the GKO on December 2, 1942.

The first batch of SU-76s (25 units) was manufactured by January 1, 1943 and sent to the self-propelled artillery training center. At the end of January, the first two self-propelled artillery regiments of a mixed organization (1433rd and 1434th) were sent to the Volkhov Front to participate in breaking the blockade of Leningrad. In March 1943, two more regiments were formed - the 1485th and 1487th, which participated in the battles on the Western Front (USSR).[2] However, already after 10 days of military operation in the winter of 1943, most of the SU-76s were out of order due to breakdowns in gearboxes and main shafts. It became obvious that the SU-76 transmission had a design defect, which was the parallel installation of two twin engines that worked on a common shaft. Moreover, the maximum value of the resonant frequency accounted for the most intense mode of operation of the engines (driving in 2nd gear off-road), which led to their rapid failure.[3] Therefore, on March 21, 1943, the production of the SU-76 was suspended. A total of 560 units were made.

SU-76M

A more reliable vehicle, the SU-15, came about as a result of a competition for a light assault SPG armed with a 76.2 mm divisional gun. GAZ and Plant No. 38 took part in the competition. Two chief designers at the GAZ plant, N. A. Astrov and A. A. Lipgart, changed the power-plant arrangement to that of the T-70 light tank - the two engines were mounted in tandem on the right hand side of the vehicle. The armoured roof over the gun compartment was removed to improve access, servicing of the weapon and ventilation. Testing of new self-propelled guns was carried out at the Gorohovets training ground in the midst of the Battle of Kursk. The SU-15 enjoyed the greatest success with the military, and it was recommended for serial production after some modifications. In July 1943, the SU-15 under the army designation SU-76M was adopted by the Red Army.

After production resumed, GAZ and two factories in Kirov and Mytishchi produced 13,732 SU-76Ms; over 9,000 of the vehicles were built solely by GAZ. Mass production of the SU-76M ceased in the second half of 1945. In contemporary accounts SU-76Ms are often referred to in texts, public radio and TV broadcasting as SU-76s with the "M" omitted, due to their ubiquity in comparison with the original SU-76s.[4]

The SU-76 was the basis for the first Soviet tracked armoured anti-aircraft vehicle, the ZSU-37. Mass production of the ZSU-37 was continued after SU-76M production ceased. All SU-76Ms had been withdrawn from front-line service shortly after the war ended, although some were retained as training vehicles for T-34 crews as late as 1955.[5]

Variants
OSA-76
Experimental model based on the T-60 tank chassis.
SU-76 (factory designation SU-12)
Based on a lengthened T-70 light tank chassis, with the inferior dual-engine arrangement of earlier T-70s. Only 560 were produced, and these were quickly withdrawn from front line service. Nearly all SPGs of this version had armored roof, but it caused ventilation issues and was often removed in field depots, SU-76M lacked roof from start. Combat mass 11,200 kg.
SU-76M (factory designation SU-15)
Main production model.
SU-85A/SU-85B
SU-76M armed with 85mm gun (D-5S/LB-2 respectively), prototype only.
ZSU-37
Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, based on the SU-76.

In 1978, Institute 111 from Romania designed an armoured personnel carrier based on the SU-76 chassis, equipped with the TAB-71 turret. The vehicle entered service as the MLVM (Romanian: Mașina de Luptă a Vânătorilor de Munte, meaning "infantry fighting vehicle of vânători de munte").

Unrelated vehicles

The unrelated SU-76i (the "i" standing for "inostrannaya", or 'foreign', in Russian), first designed and fielded in 1943, was based on captured stocks of German Panzer III and StuG III chassis, a large quantity coming from defeated German troops after the Battle of Stalingrad that year. This partially-modified vehicle was armed with an S-1 76.2 mm tank gun (a cheaper variant of the renowned F-34/ZIS-5 guns which were already mounted on T-34 and KV-1 tanks respectively) in a casemate superstructure but retained the original German Maybach gasoline engine and its torsion-bar suspension system. Around 200 of these ex-German vehicles were sent for conversion into SU-76is at Factory No. 37 to supplement the existing SU-76. They were issued to tank and self-propelled gun units starting in the fall of 1943.[6] They were eventually withdrawn from the front in early 1944 and then used for training and testing until the end of 1945.[7] Only 2 have survived the war, most having been scrapped after 1945. A similar vehicle called SG-122 existed, which was a similar Panzer III conversion, but armed with 122 mm M-30 howitzer. Only around 20 were converted, as the M-30 was considered an insufficient weapon for infantry support.

The also unrelated SU-76P (1941) was based on the T-26 chassis. It was built in Leningrad during the Siege of Leningrad and involved removing the turret from the T-26 and mounting a 76 mm regimental gun M1927 on the engine deck. This was created due to the lack of high-explosive 45 mm ammunition inside Leningrad due to the siege, so some T-26 tanks were rearmed with 37mm or 76mm guns for which a reliable source of ammunition was available. They served until 1944, when the siege was broken. They were originally called "SU-76s", until the SU-76 came into service, upon which it was renamed "SU-76P" ("polkovaya" - regimental).[8]

Combat history
Soviet tank troops (Battle of Budapest, October 1944).
Su-76M in the streets of Budapest during the 1956 uprising.

The SU-76M virtually replaced infantry tanks in the close support role. While its thin armour and open top made it vulnerable to antitank weapons, grenades, and small arms, its light weight and low ground pressure gave it good mobility.

The SU-76M combined three main battlefield roles: light assault gun, mobile anti-tank weapon and mobile gun for indirect fire. As a light assault gun, the SU-76M was well-regarded by Soviet infantrymen (in contrast with their own crews). It had more powerful weapons than any previous light tank for close support and communication between infantry and the SU-76M crew was simple due to the open crew compartment. This was extremely useful in urban combat where good teamwork between infantry and AFVs was a key to success.

The SU-76M was effective against any medium or light German tank. It could also knock out the Panther tank with a flank shot, but the ZIS-3 gun was not effective against Tiger tanks. Soviet manuals for SU-76M crews usually instructed the gunner to aim for the tracks or gun barrels when facing Tigers. To improve the SU-76M's anti-armour capabilities, armour-piercing composite rigid (APCR) and hollow charge projectiles were introduced. This gave the SU-76M a better chance against heavily armoured German vehicles. A low profile, a low noise signature and good mobility were other advantages of the SU-76M. This was ideal for organizing ambushes and sudden flank or rear strikes in close combat, where the ZIS-3 gun was sufficient against most German armoured fighting vehicles.

The maximum elevation angle of the SU-76M's gun was the highest of all Soviet self-propelled guns. The maximum indirect fire distance was nearly 17 km. SU-76Ms were sometimes used as light artillery vehicles (like the German Wespe) for bombardments and indirect fire support. However the power of the 76.2 mm shells was not sufficient in many cases.

The SU-76M was the single Soviet vehicle able to operate in swamps with minimal support from engineers. During the Belarus liberation campaign in 1944 it was extremely useful for organizing surprise attacks through swamps; bypassing heavy German defenses on firmer ground. Usually only lightly armed infantry could pass through large swampy areas. With SU-76M support, Soviet soldiers and engineers could effectively destroy enemy strongpoints and continue to advance.

The SU-76M had a large number of ammunition types. They included armour-piercing (usual, with ballistic nose and subcaliber hyper-velocity), hollow charge, high explosive, fragmentation, shrapnel and incendiary projectiles. This made the SU-76M an excellent multi-purpose light armoured fighting vehicle.

One famous crewman was Rem Nikolaevich Ulanov. In his younger days he was a mechanic-driver and later a commander of a SU-76. He and some other soldiers called their SU-76 Columbina after the female Renaissance Italian Commedia dell'Arte personage.

After World War II, the SU-76 was used by Communist forces in the Korean War. A small number of SU-76Ms were captured and used by South Korea after the landing at Incheon.

Former operators
SU-76 next to a Panzer 4 at the National Military Museum, Romania

Surviving examples

Due to the large number of vehicles produced, many SU-76Ms have survived the post-war years, and most of the larger Russian military museums have examples of the SU-76M in their exhibitions. They can also be found at the German-Soviet War monuments or memorials in different Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian cities.

In museums
SU-76M in the Mount Sapun Memorial Complex, Sevastopol.
Soviet SU-76M in Bovington tank museum, Dorset.
SU-76M in the National Museum of Military History (Bulgaria).

See also

Comparable vehicles

References
  1. Chubachin 2009, p. 77.
  2. Chubachin 2009, p. 90
  3. Chubachin 2009, p. 27
  4. Charles C. Sharp, "Red Hammers", Soviet Self-Propelled Artillery and Lend Lease Armor 1941 - 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, vol. XII, Nafziger, 1998, p 8
  5. Central Intelligence Agency Information Report
  6. Zaloga 1984, p 180.
  7. "ENGLISH.BATTLEFIELD.RU - SU-76i Assault Gun - ENGLISH.BATTLEFIELD.RU". Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  8. "SOVIET SPs 1941-1945, Light SPs, M.Svirin". df.ru.
  9. Bishop, Chris (1998). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. New York: Metro Books, Friedman/Fairfax Publishers. p. 118. ISBN 978-0760710227.
  10. "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  11. Magnuski, Janusz (1985). Wozy bojowe LWP:1943-1983. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo MON. ISBN 83-11-06990-5.
  12. Sămușan, Alin (2017). "Contribuții la istoria dotării cu armament a armatei române între 1944 și 1959" [Contributions to the history of the Romanian army's weaponry endowment from 1944 to 1959]. National Military Museum (in Romanian). 15. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  13. "Intelligence Memorandum: Communist Military Aid Deliveries to North Vietnam during 1968" (PDF). Langley: Central Intelligence Agency. May 1969. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  14. Tucker, Spencer C. (2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 1088. ISBN 9781851099603.
  15. Kočevar, Iztok (August 2014). "Micmac à tire-larigot chez Tito: L'arme blindée yougoslave durant la Guerre froide" [The Yugoslav armored arm during the Cold War]. Batailles et Blindés (in French). No. 62. Caraktère. pp. 66–79. ISSN 1765-0828.
  16. "Albania & the last Mosin-Nagants made". 7 August 2021.
  17. Museum Accession Record

Further reading
  • Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two, London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8.
  • Dougherty, Martin J. (2008). Tanks; From World War I to the Present Day, New York: Metro Books. ISBN 1-4351-0123-5
  • Чубачин, Александр (2009). СУ-76. "Братская могила экипажа" или оружие Победы? Москва: БТВ-Книга, Яуза, Эксмо. Chubachin, Alexander V. (2009). SU-76. "Bratskaya mogila ekipazha" ili oruzhie Pobedy? (SU-76. "The Mass Grave of the Crew" or Weapons of Victory?). Moscow: BTV-Kniga, Yauza, Eksmo. ISBN 978-5-699-32965-6.
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