The Hunhuz armored train (BP) is one of the most famous armored trains of the Russian Imperial Army of the First World War , built the first in a series of four armored trains of the type of the 2nd Zaamur Railway Brigade [1] or the "general type", sometimes also called the "Hunhuz" type or Hunghouse [2] [3] .
| Armored train "Hunhuz" | |
|---|---|
![Armored train "Hunhuz" right-back. Kiev, September 1, 1915 [Sun 1]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/%D0%91%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B4_%D0%A5%D1%83%D0%BD%D1%85%D1%83%D0%B7.jpg/400px-%D0%91%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B4_%D0%A5%D1%83%D0%BD%D1%85%D1%83%D0%B7.jpg) Armored train "Hunhuz" right-back. Kiev, September 1, 1915 [Sun 1] | |
| Affiliation |  Russian empire |
| Subordination | 1st Zaamur Railway Battalion |
| Exploitation | September 1–24, 1915 |
| Participation in | the onset of the 408th infantry. regiment 09.24.1915 |
| Technical details | |
| Power point | Type O armored locomotive |
| Power | 600 horsepower |
| Reservation | 12-16 mm |
| The number of armored cars | two on a three-inch (76.2 mm) mountain cannon mod. 1904 and 12 Schwarzlose machine guns |
| Crew | 94 people, including 4 officers |
| Armament | |
| Light weapons | Twenty-Four Eight-Millimeter (8-mm) Schwarzlose Machine Guns |
| Artillery weapons | Two three-inch (76.2 mm) mountain guns model 1904 |
| Commanders | |
| Famous commanders | Lieutenant Krapivnikov |
Content
History
After the outbreak of World War I, the creation of new armored trains began in Austria-Hungary , Germany and Russia .
At the beginning of the war in August 1914, in the workshops of the 9th railway battalion of the railway troops of the Russian Imperial Army, the construction of the first armored train from an armored locomotive and four armored platforms was completed. He was armed with four three - inch (76.2 mm) mountain cannons [sn 2] and eight machine guns .
Already in early 1915 , the armored train was sent to the front, where the situation for the Russian army is not the best. The catastrophe in East Prussia deprived Russia of many regiments, and Germany's transfer of the center of gravity to the eastern front put her in a difficult position.
The Russian command tried to compensate for the advantage of the German army in heavy artillery with innovations, such as armored trains, which made it possible to quickly maneuver artillery from one section of the front to another [4] .
The first composition was soon followed by the second, and new projects appeared, offering more advanced designs. Two of them are embodied in metal - Major General MV Kolobov and engineer Ball [3] .
Armored trains of the type of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade or the type of "Khonghuz" (the name of the bandits in Manchuria, where until the year 1914 the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade served, being the 2nd Zaamur border railway brigade) - "Khonghuz", No. 2, 3 and 5 were developed at the end of June 1915 by the commander of the 2nd Zaamur Railway Brigade, Major General Kolobov, and were built in September - October 1915 [2] .
The main Khunkhuz, built on September 1, 1915, was transferred to the 1st Zaamursky Railway Battalion on September 2 . For the same armored train, the 2nd and 3rd Zaamursky and 2nd Siberian railway battalions received. They had numbers 2, 5 and 3 [1] [3] .
Unit and crew
“General armored train” consisted of an armored steam locomotive based on a standard “O” series steam locomotive (in the usage of “Lamb”) and two biaxial armored platforms . The thickness of the armor is 12-16 mm. Each armored area is from a machine-gun casemate , in which there are 12 captured Austro-Hungarian 8-mm Schwarzlose machine guns [sn 3] and a tower with a three-inch (76.2 mm) mountain cannon of the 1904 model . It is chosen as the main armament for its small size and weight for placing it on a rotary installation in front of the car. The angle of fire of the gun horizontally 220 degrees. For communication with armored plots, electric (colored lights) and horn alarms and voice communications.
The command (crew) of the armored train of three platoons (machine gun, artillery and technical) - 94 people, 4 of them officers , who created relative comfort for combat work . Armored areas with steam heating, heat and noise insulation - the walls are sheathed with 20 mm cork sheets and 6 mm plywood. The commander of the armored train in battle observed and led the crew from the observation tower on the armored locomotive [1] .
| External Images | |
|---|---|
| Photograph inside a machine-gun casemate of an armored site | |
Service
On September 9, 1915, the Khonkhuz, under the command of Lieutenant Krapivnikov, went to the front .
September 23, he received his first combat mission - to support the advance of the 408th Infantry Regiment of the 102nd Infantry Division [d 4] .
Upon arrival to the front line reconnoitered the path. The Austro-Hungarian command, apparently relying on the fortress of defense, did not even destroy or rendered worthless the railway line going from the Russian positions through the front line. This took advantage of the Russian commanders.
On September 24, 1915, at four o’clock in the predawn fog, the Russian armored train approached the line of the Austrian trenches and opened flanking fire from all machine guns and front guns.
After breaking through the enemy’s defensive lines and leaving the armored train to the second line of enemy defense , the enemy came to his senses and returned fire. It was impossible to continue moving forward - the control platform got off the rail, having hit the Austrian traffic with its front wheels, unnoticed by the crew on time. Soon, an Austrian shell turned the railway track behind the train.
The stopped armored train was a good target for the Austrian artillery and three shells that arrived shortly afterwards hit the head armor, the commander of the artillery platoon and four lower ranks died, the following shells turned the aft platform and broke through the boiler’s boiler, completely depriving the armored train of the course.
The fate of the Russian armored train was decided. Commander Lieutenant Krapivnikov, also wounded, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, ordered the team to leave the squad and make their way to their troops.
Almost the entire team has returned. The damaged armored train remained in the neutral zone , where it was until the summer of 1916 . He was returned during the offensive of the Southwestern Front of 1916 . But the commission, which examined him, came to the conclusion that it was impossible to restore the armored train and he went for scrapping [1] [3] [2] .
Armored Train Evaluation
Armored trains of the “Khunkhuz” type or of the type of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade - “Khonkhuz”, No. 2 [sun 6] , 3 and 5 [sun 7] , developed in late June 1915 and built in September - October 1915 [1] [2] , were one of the best armored trains of the First World War in armament (in terms of maneuverability of fire and thickness of armor they were slightly superior only to the armored train "General Annenkov" [7] ).
It is also interesting that the crew is provided with relatively comfortable conditions for combat work. Armored areas with a steam heating system, heat and noise insulation - the walls are sheathed with 20 mm cork sheets and 6 mm plywood sheets, which to some extent protected from factors heavy in metal enclosed spaces - stuffiness in the summer, from which there were even cases of loss of consciousness, and from contact with frozen metal in winter, in which there are cases of frostbite and even “sticking” to wet parts of the body [1] [2] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kolomiets, 1994 , p. 25.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kolomiets, 2008 , p. Chapter 2. "Hunhuzy" by General Kolobov.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Drogovoz, 2002 , p. 26-30.
- ↑ Chapter 1. Russian armored trains of the First World War. Leonid Amirkhanov. Armadillos of the Railways
- ↑ Kolomiyets, 1994 , p. 27.
- ↑ Fleming , 2006 .
- ↑ Kolomiyets, 2008 , p. Chapter 2. "General Annenkov."
Footnotes
- ↑ On the day of completion
- ↑ The mountain cannon of the 1904 model had less recoil force and less had an effect on the armored plate structure. At the same time, its shorter maximum firing range, compared with the 76 mm field gun , was not of great importance, since the armored trains fired mainly direct fire
- ↑ A number of Schwarzlose captured machine guns were redone in the workshops of the Kiev Artillery Plant and the Petrograd Artillery Plant under the Russian cartridge of 7.62 × 54 mm, which was facilitated by the constructive similarity of the Austrian and Russian cartridges. Converted machine guns were used, including for arming armored trains. Semen Fedoseev. Machine guns of the Russian army in battle. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008 .-- 368 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-25634-1 .
- ↑ Probably, this attack at the Rudochka station of the Volyn province (then the Volyn region of Ukraine ) was undertaken with the aim of hampering the advance of the German and Austro-Hungarian forces at the end of the Great Retreat of 1915
- ↑ In September 1915, this was the Khunkhuz armored train No. 3 of the 3rd Zaamur railway battalion ; in July 1918 it was captured by Czechoslovakians in Samara, the towers were altered and re-equipped with other guns in 1918 due to a shortage of shells which were rare by then 76- mm mountain guns model 1904
- ↑ In 1918, the "2nd Siberian armored train" of the Red Army, on March 30, 1919, was captured by the "white" and the armored train "Officer" was named
- ↑ In 1920, armored train number 112 of the Red Army. See section List of armored trains of the Red Army in armored trains of the Red Army of the Civil War
Literature
- Amirkhanov L.I. Armadillos of the railways. - SPb. : Island, 2005. Chapter 1. Russian armored trains of the First World War.
- Drogovoz I.G. Fortresses on wheels. History of armored trains. - Mn. : Harvest, 2002 .-- 352 p. - ISBN 985-13-0744-0 .
- Kolomiets M.V. Armor of the Russian army. Armored cars and armored trains in the First World War. - M .: Yauza, 2008 .-- 448 p. - (From the double-headed eagle to the red banner). - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-27455-0 .
- Kolomiyets M. "Hunhuz" - the first armored train. “Model designer” // “Model designer”. - 1994. - No. 8 .
- Solyankin A.G., Pavlov M.V., Pavlov I.V., Zheltov I.G. Domestic armored vehicles. XX century. 1905-1941. - M .: "Exprint", 2002. - T. 1. - 344 p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 5-94038-030-1 .
- Fleming Peter . The fate of Admiral Kolchak. 1917-1920 / Per. from English L. A. Igorevsky. - M .: ZAO Centerpolygraph, 2006. - 252 p. - (Russia at a turning point in history). - ISBN 5-9524-2530-5 .
Links
- "Hunhuzy" General Kolobov. Armor of the Russian army. Armored cars and armored trains in the First World War
- Armored trains of the First World War
- Drogovoz I.G. Fortresses on wheels: History of armored trains 2002. 352 p.
- Russian armored trains of the First World War
- Armor of the Russian army. Armored cars and armored trains in the First World War (inaccessible link)