Literary and historical notes of a young technician. Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin designer of the T 34 tank
The October Revolution radically changed the fate of the peasant son. During the Civil War, as part of the Red Army, he took part in the battles of Tsaritsyn and Arkhangelsk (here Koshkin joined the party in 1919), and was wounded. In 1921, he was sent straight from the troops to study in Moscow. Mikhail Koshkin becomes a student at the Sverdlov Communist University. His path to science will begin from Sverdlovka. True, in 1924, after graduating from Komvuz, he again had the opportunity to plunge headlong into the confectionery production so familiar from his youth (he was appointed director of a confectionery factory in the city of Vyatka). From 1925 to 1929, Mikhail Koshkin worked in the party bodies of the Vyatka province. In 1929, Koshkin, among the “party thousand”, again sat down to take notes and textbooks, and in May 1934 graduated from the department of “Automobiles and Tractors” of the Leningrad Polytechnic (at that time - mechanical engineering) Institute.
While still a student at the Polytechnic, Koshkin began working at OKMO, the experimental design engineering department of the Bolshevik plant created in 1930. (In 1932, the tank production of the Bolshevik and OKMO plants was transformed into the independent Leningrad State Plant No. 174 named after K.E. Voroshilov. In 1933, on the basis of OKMO, which was separated from the plant No. S.M. Kirov", which had the name "Spetsmashtrest Pilot Plant" until the second half of 1936. From such a school of domestic tank building as OKMO, in addition to M.I. Koshkin, came the famous designers L.S. Troyanov, I.S. Bushnev, G.N. Moskvin, S.A. Ginzburg, I.V. Gavalov.) Having received a diploma of higher education, Mikhail Koshkin is sent to the Experimental Plant, where he works until December 1936, first as a design engineer, then as deputy head of the design bureau .
In the second half of 1936, the Kharkov Locomotive Plant named after the Comintern (KhPZ), which mass-produced BT-7 tanks, was renamed Plant No. 183. Digital indexing of services was also introduced inside the plant; the T2K tank design bureau was assigned the index KB-190. This design bureau, despite its youth, already had certain developments (T-12, T-24, BT tanks). However, the design bureau still lacked experience and design personnel to independently design new modern tanks. By order of the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry G.K. Ordzhonikidze on December 28, 1936, M.I. was appointed head of KB-190. Koshkin, in return for A.O., who was removed from this position and later repressed. Firsov, who was accused of causing massive breakdowns of gears in gearboxes on BT-7 tanks in military units.
Candidate M.I. Koshkina was not chosen by chance. Firstly, he showed himself well in the previous design bureau, where he received the Order of the Red Star for his participation in the creation of the first domestic “thick-armored” medium tank T-46-5, and secondly, he was a member of the party, which in those years was among technical specialists not a very common occurrence. So, on July 1, 1937, in the design bureau, which was headed by Koshkin, out of 48 people, only 7 had tickets as members of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). At the same time, deputy head of the design bureau N.A. Kucherenko, and all six heads of sections (P.N. Goryun, A.A. Morozov, V.M. Doroshenko, M.I. Tarshinov, V.Ya. Kurasov, A.S. Bondarenko), i.e. those who could be appointed at the end of 1936 to the post of head of the design bureau were non-party members. And if we take into account that at that time an investigation was underway at the plant regarding the supply of 687 BT-7 tanks with structurally unreinforced gearboxes to the Red Army, then the decision of the manager of Spetsmashtrest (an organization directly involved in tank building within the structure of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry) K.A. Neumann to strengthen the Design Bureau with party members.
Koshkin, little known to the plant staff, nevertheless quickly and without any friction entered his life. He sensitively perceived the situation of that time, attracted many designers, production workers and military personnel to the work, sharing their pressing problems, difficulties and experiences. He was principled, hardworking and honest. Thanks to these qualities, he very quickly gained authority at the plant. According to the memoirs of tank building veteran A. Zabaikin, “Mikhail Ilyich was easy to use and businesslike. I didn't like verbosity. As a designer, he quickly got into the essence of the design, assessing its reliability, manufacturability, and the possibility of mass production. He listened carefully to us, the technologists, and, if our comments were justified, he immediately used them. The team loved him."
In less than a year, under the leadership of M.I. Koshkin, with the participation of his closest assistants A.A. Morozova and N.A. Kucherenko and other designers, the BT-7 tank was modernized with the installation of the BD-2 (V-2) high-speed tank diesel engine, which had been created by that time at the plant. The BT-7M was the first tank in the world to have a diesel engine. The Kharkov plant transferred 790 BT-7M tanks to the Red Army in 1939-1940.
In mid-October 1937, Plant No. 183 received from the Armored Directorate (ABTU) of the Red Army the task of developing a new maneuverable wheeled-tracked tank, designated BT-20 (A-20) (tactical and technical requirements (TTT) were developed by the head of the 2nd Department of ABTU Ya.L. Skvirsky). To complete this serious task, M.I. Koshkin organized a new unit - KB-24. He selected designers for this design bureau personally, on a voluntary basis, from among the employees of KB-190 and KB-35. (KB-35, headed by I.S. Ber, was engaged at plant No. 183 in servicing serial production and improving the design of the heavy five-turret T-35 tank, designed by the design bureau of the Leningrad Experimental Plant named after S.M. Kirov.) The number of KB- 24 led by Koshkin amounted to 21 people. Design Bureau KB-190, led since November 1, 1937 by N.A. Kucherenko, continued work on modernizing the BT-7 tank and finalizing the design documentation for the BT-7M and BT-7A tanks.
In February 1938, tests of the experimental BT-SV-2 “Turtle” tank, designed under the leadership of military technician 2nd rank Nikolai Fedorovich Tsyganov, were completed. In the design of the tank's hull and turret, the armor plates were located at large angles to the vertical. It is believed that it was the geometry of the hull and turret of the BT-SV-2 tank that was used by the designers of KB-24 when designing the A-20 tank. Subsequently, this principle of constructing armor protection, such as the arrangement of armor plates at an angle, became classic and was widely used in tanks of all countries. The A-20, according to TTT, was also distinguished by a new drive to the drive wheels; three of the four rollers (on board) were drive. A project for an “initiative” tank was also created, the significant difference of which was the replacement of the wheel-tracked propulsion unit with a simpler, purely tracked one. The abolition of wheel travel made it possible not only to significantly simplify the design of the tank, but also to enhance armor protection due to the saved weight. The initiative version was distinguished not only by the absence of wheel travel, but also by the presence of a fifth road wheel, which increased the support of the caterpillar track on the ground.
Even at the design stage of the A-20 tank, in the process of consideration by the commission of the ABTU of the Red Army, chaired by military engineer 1st rank Ya.L. Skvirsky's drawings and model of this tank (September 6, 1938), plant No. 183 was instructed to produce one wheeled-tracked tank with a 45-mm cannon and two tracked tanks with a 76.2-mm cannon, as well as one armored hull for shelling. On December 9-10, 1938, the Main Military Council of the Red Army reviewed the drawings and models presented by plant No. 183 of two versions of the A-20 tank (wheeled-tracked and tracked) developed according to the proposals of the ABTU commission.
At a meeting in the Kremlin, after reviewing the models of the heavy tanks “100” and “SMK”, they discussed the drawings and models of the A-20 tank in wheeled-tracked and tracked versions, presented by the leading tank engineer A.A. Morozov and the head of KB-24 of plant No. 183 M.I. Koshkin. Most of the military leaders present, including Deputy People's Commissar of Defense G.I. Kulik, preferred the wheeled-tracked version of the A-20 tank, which had greater operational mobility. And at that moment, when the scales finally tipped in favor of the wheeled-tracked version, M.I. Koshkin, accustomed to firmly and to the end defending his views, in the presence of I.V. Stalin expressed his opinion that it was necessary to manufacture and submit for state testing both vehicles designed by Plant No. 183 in wheeled-tracked and tracked versions. I.V. Stalin suggested not to hamper the plant’s initiative and allowed the production of prototypes for both presented projects. By Decree of the Defense Committee (DC) under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 45 dated February 27, 1939, the drawings and models of the A-20 tank were finally approved for production. The wheeled-tracked tank remained under the name A-20, the tracked tank was given the name A-32 (T-32).
By mid-1939, prototypes of the A-20 and T-32 tanks were manufactured and presented to the State Commission for testing. The commission noted that both tanks “are superior in strength and reliability to all prototypes produced previously...”, but did not give preference to either option, noting that both of them were well made and suitable for use in the army. The secondary tests of the experimental A-20 and T-32 tanks in the fall of 1939, and most importantly the combat operations taking place in Finland at that time, clearly confirmed that only tracked vehicles can provide tactical mobility in rough terrain, especially in the autumn-winter period. cars. At the same time, the need was determined to further improve the combat parameters of the T-32 tank and especially to strengthen its protection. Resolutions of the Defense Committee ordered the production of two tracked tanks based on the A-32, taking into account armor thickened to 45 mm and the installation of a 76 mm gun. In an extremely short time, the design bureau carried out modifications to the T-32 tank by further enhancing armor protection, armament and implementing a number of other design changes. Decree of the KO under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 443 of December 19, 1939 “On the adoption of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery tractors and their production in 1940” by the Red Army, the T-32 tank with armor thickness increased to 45 mm and a 76-mm F cannon -32 was put into service with the name T-34.
Due to the sharply increased volume of design work to refine the T-32 tank and the production of drawing and technical documentation for prototypes of the T-34, as well as in connection with the cessation of production of T-35 tanks, at the end of 1939 the three existing at the plant were merged tank design bureaus (KB-24, KB-190, KB-35) into one tank design bureau, which was assigned the code - department 520 (KB-520). The chief designer of the united design bureau was M.I. Koshkin. In the conclusion of the certification commission, signed by the director of plant No. 183 Yu.E. Maksarev (who came in October from the Leningrad Kirov Plant) and the chief engineer of the plant S.N. Makhonin, it was said: “Working as the head of the design bureau, comrade. Koshkin did a lot of work in terms of improving the design of the machine.
A qualified design engineer, fully prepared for the position of chief designer of a plant. Initiative, energetic and persistent. A good organizer and leader, he enjoys authority among the plant's command staff. He is working on himself in the sense of improving his technical knowledge.” A.A. was appointed head of the design bureau and deputy chief designer. Morozov, deputy head of the design bureau - N.A. Kucherenko.
Two experimental T-34 tanks were manufactured and submitted for military testing on February 10, 1940. These tests, which took place in February-March, fully confirmed the high technical and combat qualities of the new tank. And on March 5, 1940, two T-34 tanks left the factory for a control and test run along the route Kharkov - Moscow. Chief designer Mikhail Koshkin headed this run. On Ivanovskaya Square of the Kremlin on March 17, 1940, T-34 tanks, as well as combat vehicles manufactured by other factories, were demonstrated to members of the government. At the request of I.V. Stalin's mechanics-drivers N. Nosik and O. Dyukalov drove through the square. Having examined the “thirty-fours,” Stalin spoke approvingly of them, calling the new tank “the first sign.” After the Kremlin review, T-34 tanks were tested at a training ground near Moscow and on the Karelian Isthmus. In April 1940, returning under its own power to Kharkov, near Orel one of the tanks overturned into the water. While helping to pull him out, Koshkin, already suffering from a cold, got very wet. Upon returning to Kharkov, at the insistence of doctors, he was hospitalized.
The display of tanks in the Kremlin became a turning point in the annals of the creation of the T-34. The tank was recommended for immediate production. At the 183rd plant, work began to prepare the serial production of the Thirty-Four. Mikhail Koshkin, despite his illness, continued to actively supervise the development of the tank. The chief designer worked hard. His illness suddenly worsened. A specialist surgeon was urgently called from Moscow. The patient was operated on: the lung had to be removed. But it did not help. Mikhail Ilyich died on September 26, 1940 in the Zanki sanatorium near Kharkov, where he underwent a rehabilitation course of treatment. The entire plant followed the coffin of the chief designer.
In October 1940, serial production of T-34 tanks began. At the end of the forties, A.A. was appointed head of the design bureau - chief designer. Morozov. He continued the work of his predecessor, fine-tuning the T-34 put into mass production. A.A. himself Morozov immediately after the end of the Great Patriotic War in 1945 wrote: “The foundations of the design of the T-34 tank were laid and developed by Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin. He organized a team of young designers and constantly taught them not to be afraid of difficulties, of which there are always many when solving complex problems. We, first of all, owe to this wonderful designer the appearance of such a perfect type of tank as the T-34.”
On April 10, 1942, designer Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin “for developing the design of a new type of medium tank” was awarded (posthumously) the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree. The winners of this award were also A.A. Morozov and N.A. Kucherenko. (Nikolai Alekseevich Kucherenko was awarded the Stalin Prize twice more - in 1946 and 1948. As the head of the KB-520 design bureau, in which the birth, formation and improvement of the legendary machine took place, he made a huge contribution to the creation and modernization of the T-34. With From November 1, 1939 to August 23, 1947, N.A. Kucherenko was also the deputy chief designer of plant No. 183 A.A. Morozov, then headed the department of the chief designer of Glavtank in the Ministry of Transport Engineering until August 1949. In the fall of 1949, he returned to his native plant in Nizhny Tagil and worked as the chief engineer of this country's largest tank and carriage building enterprise until April 1952. In 1952-1969, Colonel-Engineer N.A. Kucherenko, head of the Main Directorate and member of the board of the USSR Ministry of Defense Industry. Died September 13, 1976 G.)
For a long time, the name of the creator of the legendary T-34, Mikhail Koshkin, was practically unknown. And the plant where this most advanced combat vehicle of the Second World War was born (now the Kharkov Malyshev Plant) was called Yuzhny in the literature. Not far from his entrance in May 1985, a monument to the creator of the “thirty-four” was unveiled, and in 1990, 50 years after his death, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Every year on December 3, flowers are laid at the foot of the monument - a tribute to the grateful memory of the genius of tank building, a true patriot and a wonderful person. And on the house where he lived (the corner of Pushkinskaya and Krasin streets), a memorial plaque was installed.
November 21, 1898 – September 26, 1940
The first chief designer of the T-34 tank, head of the tank design bureau of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant named after the Comintern. Hero of Socialist Labor.
On February 10, 1940, the first two T-34s were manufactured and their testing began. A show of tanks to members of the government is scheduled for March 17 in Moscow, and for this purpose a Kharkov-Moscow tank rally is being organized. Given the importance of the event, Mikhail Koshkin himself goes with the new cars as a responsible representative of the plant.
The Kharkov-Moscow-Kharkov run undermined Mikhail Koshkin’s health; a cold and overwork led to pneumonia.
On September 26, 1940, in the Zanki sanatorium, while undergoing a rehabilitation course of treatment, the legendary designer died
The entire plant followed the coffin of the chief designer. Mikhail Ilyich was buried at the then central Kharkov cemetery - the First City Cemetery, located on Pushkinskaya Street behind the "Giant" campus. But the grave was not destined to exist for long. In 1941, during the bombing of Kharkov by German aircraft, it was destroyed.
Path of Immortality
“Work not to catch up, but to overtake”
- this motto of Koshkin, combined with his method of working in jerks, jumping, as they say, “into the last carriage,” was typical for the entire Soviet period XX century. An emergency style of production life was developed.
And there was a result. March 5, 1940 Early in the morning, another rush began from the gates of the Kharkov plant towards Moscow: two A-34 tanks left. A lot of romantic things have been written about this tank campaign. The film “Chief Designer” was made in the 1960s with the poster handsome actor in the role of Koshkin. The whole country received the film about the first adventures of the Thirty-Four with a bang. She became a national heroine during the war, she was admired,they believed everything good about her. And then, at the beginning of the forties, a spiteful whisper crawled after the tanks leaving for Moscow:
- The raw cars are gone. More than a thousand kilometers is a serious transition. No way. KB will be disgraced.
- Koshkin is itching. Orlena wants it. I’m not young anymore, I should understand that it smells like failure. I was going to put the tanks on platforms, and they would reach Moscow in one night. Why did he change his mind? The party's order was to go along with the tanks.
Among the legends about the “thirty-four” there is a real truth: Koshkin himself decided to go on his own in order to test the capabilities of the new modification of the tank along the way. He was unwell and had a cold, but Mikhail Ilyich never paid attention to “such trifles.”
For the run, a car escort with a repair team was provided. It didn't happen without incident. On the way, near the village of Yakovlevo, where in three years the “thirty-four” would fight bloody battles with new German tanks, a serious breakdown occurred. A deputy came from Moscow to the site of the breakdown. People's Commissar Goreglyad. We repaired and reached the capital. And two traveling tanks underwent unforgettable tests in the Moscow region. There is also a legend about them, about how a tank took a ford on the Nara River.
Another legend: after the tests at midnight, one of the tanks came to the Kremlin and stood on Ivanovskaya Square. Stalin came out. They helped him climb onto the tank. He disappeared into the hatch, soon appeared and said:
- This will be a swallow in the tank forces.
Somebody. already today. it is unknown from whose words, he described how Stalin that night on Ivanovo Square winced, hearing the incessant cough of the sick Koshkin. Whether this happened or not is unknown, but there is one historical detail discovered in the archives by Zheltov and giving reason to think that Stalin remembered Koshkin himself well, which helped restore historical justice. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Koshkin, who returned from Moscow, literally collapsed into illness. He was carefully treated, raised to his feet, and sent to the Zanki sanatorium, where the design path was not overgrown. His colleagues brought him only positive information, he wanted the truth, he was angry, he was confident. that he will get up and return to the design bureau.
Before his death, Mikhail Ilyich felt well. Everyone was waiting for his return, so the bitter news was received with particular pain.
The factory's large circulation, dedicated to the memory of Mikhail Ilyich, printed, among others, separately the lines of Nikolai Alekseevich. Here they are.
“...From the first days of joining the design bureau, Mikhail Ilyich proved himself to be an experienced designer and an excellent organizer.
The topic was immediately decided and we got down to business. Comrade Koshkin, while directing the work of the bureau, was simultaneously engaged in the creation of an experimental workshop and the introduction of new products into mass production.
He lit us up with his energy and determination. Comrade Koshkin always gave us the right direction in our work and was very demanding. If you don’t complete the task on time, don’t worry about anything. Neither friendship nor good relationships will save you. Demanding of himself, he also demanded from his comrades the exact fulfillment of the assigned work.
A knowledgeable designer, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin never refused to learn from experienced people. He listened to their voice, learned himself and taught others. Comrades like Vishnevsky, Zakharov and Perelshtein. met at comrade. The cat's support, sensitive and attentive attitude.
I remember now that an urgent task was received to install an important mechanism. Mikhail Ilyich himself promoted this issue and in a month and a half (a record time at that time) did a tremendous amount of work together with comrade. Moloshtanov and Tarshinov.
Excerpt from the book by Nikolai Kucherenko. Fifty years in the battle for USSR tanks
The T-34 tank was developed under the leadership of the Chief Tank Designer of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin.
Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin was born on November 21 (December 3, new style) 1898 in the village of Brynchagi, Yaroslavl province, into a large peasant family. His father was fatally injured while working in logging in 1905. Having reached the age of 14, Mikhail went to Moscow to earn money, where he got a job as an apprentice at a confectionery factory. In the caramel shop, he mastered the craft of a confectioner, which would be useful to him in his adult life.
Upon reaching conscription age, Mikhail was recruited into the tsarist army. His fate was radically changed by the 1917 revolution. Koshkin joined the Red Army, participated in battles with the White Guards near Tsaritsyn and Arkhangelsk, and received a non-dangerous wound. In 1921, straight from the army, Mikhail was sent to study in Moscow at the Communist University named after Ya.M. Sverdlov, who trained leadership personnel for the young Soviet Republic. From Moscow, Mikhail Koshkin was assigned to Vyatka, where he had to remember his profession as a confectioner - for some time Koshkin worked as the director of the Vyatka confectionery factory. But Koshkin didn’t have to produce sweets and delicacies for long. He was appointed to party work in the Vyatka Provincial Committee. This allowed Mikhail Ilyich to gain experience as a leader and organizer.
In 1929, among the “Party Thousanders,” Koshkin went to study at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. His specialty is cars and tractors. It is interesting that Mikhail Ilyich completed his internship at the newly built Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of A.A. Lipgart. Actually, cars, tractors and tanks are united by the fact that all of them, despite their external dissimilarity, are trackless vehicles with an internal combustion engine, consist of components and assemblies operating on similar principles, and the production of cars, tractors and tanks belongs to the transport industries mechanical engineering.
The aspiring engineer was noticed by the leader of the Leningrad party organization (at that time - the head of the city administration) Sergei Mironovich Kirov. Soon Koshkin was invited to work at the Leningrad Experimental Mechanical Engineering Plant - Putilovsky, and later the Kirov Plant. At that time, Leningraders were working to create the armored power of the young Soviet state. Young specialist Koshkin also throws himself into this work. The task was to create tank building, an important defense industry, in the shortest possible time. This was required by the terrible times. The Nazis came to power in Germany, and Japanese militarism threatened the Far East. Active supporters of the creation of powerful tank units in the Red Army were prominent military leaders I. Yakir, I. Uborevich, I. Khalepsky and leaders of heavy industry G. Ordzhonikidze, K. Neumann, I. Bardin, I. Tevosyan. Mikhail Koshkin, who participated in the First World War and the Civil War, also perfectly understood how the Soviet Union needed a powerful armor shield. In Leningrad, the peak of Koshkin’s career was the position of deputy chief designer of the Kirov plant, in which Mikhail Ilyich received the Order of the Red Star.
In December 1936, M.I. Koshkin received a new appointment. By order of the People's Commissar of Heavy Engineering G.K. Ordzhonikidze (comrade Sergo Ordzhonikidze) at the Kharkov Locomotive Plant named after the Comintern, design bureau No. 183 is created, and Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin is appointed Chief Designer. On the one hand, it was an honorable appointment - the Kharkov Locomotive Plant produced the most popular tanks of the Red Army BT-5, BT-7, and, therefore, was the largest manufacturer of Soviet armored vehicles. On the other hand, the Koshkin family had to move to a provincial town, but this was not the worst thing. In 1937, mass repressions began against management and engineering workers. The NKVD authorities arrested Koshkin’s colleagues, designers A.O. Firsova, N.F. Tsyganova, A.Ya. Dick. The position of Chief Designer became deadly - for any mistake or failure he was threatened with prison and execution.
In such conditions, the best qualities of Mikhail Ilyich emerged. At first, little known to the plant staff, the new Chief quickly and without any friction found contact with his colleagues and subordinates. He sensitively perceived the situation of that time, attracted many designers, production workers and military personnel to the work, sharing their pressing problems, difficulties and experiences. He was principled, hardworking and honest. Thanks to these qualities, he very quickly gained authority at the plant. According to the memoirs of tank building veteran A. Zabaikin, “Mikhail Ilyich was easy to use and businesslike. I didn't like verbosity. As a designer, he quickly got into the essence of the design, assessing its reliability, manufacturability and mass production capabilities. He listened carefully to us, the technologists, and, if our comments were justified, he immediately used them. The team loved him."
Despite the huge risk of becoming an “enemy of the people,” Koshkin was not afraid to defend his point of view in front of leaders at any level and promote bold innovative ideas. It was in 1937, based on the results of the participation of Soviet tank crews as part of the international brigades in the war in Spain, that the Automotive and Tank Directorate of the Red Army developed technical specifications for the development of a new generation tank, which should replace the light high-speed BT-7. The problem had to be solved by design bureau No. 183 and Mikhail Ilyich personally.
At that time, a discussion arose about the type of tank chassis. Many military personnel and engineers advocated the preservation of wheeled-tracked propulsion systems, like the BT. Koshkin was among those who understood that the future belonged to the caterpillar propulsion system. It radically improves the tank's maneuverability, and, most importantly, has a significantly greater carrying capacity. The latter circumstance allows, with the same dimensions and engine power, to sharply increase the power of the tank’s armament and the thickness of the armor, which will significantly increase the vehicle’s protection from enemy weapons.
As part of one technical assignment, Koshkin Design Bureau designed two tanks - the A-20 (sometimes called BT-20) on a wheeled-tracked vehicle and the A-32 on a tracked vehicle. Comparative tests of these machines in the first half of 1939 did not reveal radical advantages for any of them. The question of the type of chassis remained open. It was M.I. Koshkin had to convince the leadership of the army and the country that a tracked tank had additional reserves to increase the thickness of the armor and increase the combat weight without sacrificing speed and maneuverability. At the same time, a wheeled-tracked tank does not have such a reserve, and on snow or arable land it will immediately get stuck without tracks. But Koshkin had enough serious and influential opponents from among the supporters of the combined chassis.
To finally prove that Koshkin was right, in the winter of 1939-1940, the plant built two experimental A-34 tanks, whose caterpillar track with five road wheels made it possible to increase the combat weight by about 10 tons compared to the A-20 and A-32 and increase the thickness armor from 20 to 40-45 mm. These were the first prototypes of the future T-34.
Another merit of M.I. Koshkin made an unmistakable choice of engine type. Kharkov designers K.F. Chelpan, I.Ya. Trashutin, Ya.E. Vickman, I.S. Behr and their comrades designed a new V-2 diesel engine with a power of 400-500 hp. The first samples of the new engine were installed on BT-7 tanks instead of the gasoline aviation M-17. But the BT transmission units, designed for lighter loads, could not withstand it and failed. The service life of the first B-2s, which the plant had not yet learned how to manufacture, also left much to be desired. By the way, breakdowns of the BT-7 with the B-2 became one of the reasons for the removal from office and criminal prosecution of A.O. Firsova. Defending the need to use the V-2 diesel engine, M.I. Koshkin also took risks.
On March 17, 1940, a demonstration of new models of tank equipment was scheduled in the Kremlin to the country's top leaders. The production of two T-34 prototypes had just been completed, the tanks were already moving under their own power, all their mechanisms were working. The speedometers of the cars counted down the first hundreds of kilometers. According to the standards in force at that time, the mileage of tanks allowed for display and testing had to be more than two thousand kilometers. In order to have time to run-in and complete the required mileage, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin decided to drive the prototype cars from Kharkov to Moscow under his own power. This was a risky decision: the tanks themselves were a secret product that could not be shown to the population. One fact of traveling on public roads could be regarded by law enforcement agencies as a disclosure of state secrets. On a thousand-kilometer route, equipment that had not been tested and was not really familiar to the driver-mechanics and repairmen could break down due to any breakdowns and get into an accident. Besides, the beginning of March is still winter. But at the same time, the run provided a unique chance to test new vehicles in extreme conditions, check the correctness of the chosen technical solutions, and identify the advantages and disadvantages of the tank’s components and assemblies.
Koshkin personally took enormous responsibility for this run. On the night of March 5-6, 1940, a convoy left Kharkov - two camouflaged tanks, accompanied by Voroshilovets tractors, one of which was loaded with fuel, tools and spare parts, and on the second there was a passenger body like a “kung” for rest of the participants. Part of the way, Koshkin himself drove the new tanks, sitting at their levers alternately with the factory driver mechanics. For the sake of secrecy, the route ran off-road through snow-covered forests, fields and rough terrain in the Kharkov, Belgorod, Tula and Moscow regions. Off-road, in winter, the units worked to the limit. We had to fix a lot of minor damage and make the necessary adjustments.
But the future T-34s still reached Moscow on March 12, and on the 17th they were transported from the tank repair plant to the Kremlin. During the run M.I. Koshkin caught a cold. At the show, he coughed heavily, which even members of the government noticed. However, the show itself was a triumph of the new product. Two tanks, led by testers N. Nosik and V. Dyukanov, drove around Ivanovskaya Square of the Kremlin - one to the Troitsky Gate, the other to the Borovitsky Gate. Before reaching the gate, they spectacularly turned around and rushed towards each other, striking sparks from the paving stones, stopped, turned around, made several circles at high speed, and braked in the same place. I.V. Stalin liked the sleek, fast car. His words are conveyed differently by different sources. Some eyewitnesses claim that Joseph Vissarionovich said: “This will be the swallow in the tank forces,” according to others, the phrase sounded different: “This is the first swallow of the tank forces.”
After the display, both tanks were tested at the Kubinka training ground, test fire from guns of different calibers, which showed the high level of security of the new product. In April there was a return trip to Kharkov. M.I. Koshkin proposed again to travel not on railway platforms, but under his own power through the spring thaw. Along the way, one tank fell into a swamp. The designer, who had barely recovered from his first cold, got very wet and cold. This time the disease turned into complications. In Kharkov, Mikhail Ilyich was hospitalized for a long time, his condition worsened, and he soon became disabled - doctors removed one of his lungs. On September 26, 1940, Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin died in the Lipki sanatorium near Kharkov. He was not even 42 years old. The plant staff followed his coffin; his wife Vera and three children were left without him. Work on the development of the T-34 tank was continued by Koshkin’s comrade, the new Chief Designer A.A. Morozov.
In 1942 M.I. Koshkin, A.A. Morozov and N.A. Kucherenko for the creation of the T-34 became laureates of the Stalin Prize, for Mikhail Ilyich it turned out to be posthumous. He did not see the triumph of his brainchild.
A few decades later, in the late 70s, the feature film “Chief Designer” about M.I. was shot in the USSR. Koshkin, his struggle for a new tank and about that thousand-kilometer run. The role of Mikhail Ilyich was played by the capable and charismatic actor Boris Nevzorov. Despite some “inconsistencies” caused by the ideological restrictions of those years, the film still looks exciting today and attracts the viewer’s attention with the authenticity of the acting. You believe in the realism of what is happening on the screen, even despite the not entirely successful selection of gaming cars - the role of T-34 prototypes is played by the late T-34-85, the “technical” support is the post-war AT-L tractor, and Koshkin’s service GAZ-M1 is very “infamous” " All these mistakes can be forgiven for the authors of the film only because they managed to competently build a plot narrative, and, most importantly, convey the living image of Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin - a talented designer, a skillful leader, strong, strong-willed, confident in himself and his righteousness, an honest, decent person .
Date of Birth: |
|
Place of Birth: |
Brynchagi village, Uglich district, Yaroslavl province |
Date of death: |
|
A place of death: |
Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR |
|
|
|
Vera Nikolaevna |
|
Daughters? Elizaveta, Tamara, Tatyana |
|
early years
(December 3, 1898, village of Brynchagi, Uglich district, Yaroslavl province, Russian Empire - September 26, 1940, Zanki rest house, Kharkov region, Ukrainian SSR) - Soviet designer, head of the tank building design bureau of the Kharkov plant, which created the famous T-34 tank.
Biography
early years
Born on November 21 (December 3, new style) 1898 in the village of Brynchagi, Uglich district, Yaroslavl province, now Pereslavl district, Yaroslavl region. The family lived poorly, the family had little land and the father was forced to engage in waste farming. In 1905, while working in logging, he overstrained himself and died, leaving behind his wife, who was forced to go to work as a farm laborer, and three young children. Mikhail graduated from the parochial school. From 1909 to 1917 he worked at a confectionery factory in Moscow.
From February 1917 he served in the army as a private. In the spring he was sent to the Western Front as part of the 58th Infantry Regiment, and was wounded in August. He was treated in Moscow, received leave and was demobilized at the end of 1917. On April 15, 1918, he volunteered to join the railway detachment of the Red Army formed in Moscow. Participated in the battles near Tsaritsyn. In 1919, he was transferred to Petrograd to the 3rd railway battalion, which was transferred to the Northern Front against the British interventionists, and took part in the capture of Arkhangelsk. On the way to the Polish front he fell ill with typhus and was removed from the train. After recovery, he was sent to the 3rd Railway Brigade and took part in the battles against Wrangel on the Southern Front.
From 1919 to 1920 - political worker. After the end of the Civil War, from 1921 to 1924 he studied at the Communist University named after Ya. M. Sverdlov. After graduation, he was appointed to Vyatka, where from 1924 to 1925 he worked as the head of a confectionery factory, from 1925 to 1926 - head of the propaganda department of the 2nd district committee of the CPSU (b), from 1926 to 1928 - head of the Gubsov Party School, in 1928 year - deputy head, from July 1928 to August 1929 - head of the propaganda department of the Provincial Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
In 1929, by personal order of S. M. Kirov, as an initiative worker, among the “Party members”, he was enrolled in the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (department of “Automobiles and Tractors”); He completed his industrial practice at the Gorky Automobile Plant, and his pre-graduation internship in the development department of one of the Leningrad plants.
After graduating from university in 1934, he worked for 2.5 years in the tank design bureau of the Leningrad plant named after. S. M. Kirov. From the position of an ordinary designer he quickly rose to the rank of deputy head of the design bureau. For his participation in the creation of a medium tank with projectile-proof armor, the T-46-5 (T-111) received the Order of the Red Star. He also participated in the creation of the T-29 tank.
Kharkiv
Since December 1936, Koshkin has headed the Design Bureau of the Tank Department "T2", plant No. 183, Kharkov Locomotive Plant (KhPZ). At this time, a critical personnel situation developed in the design bureau: the previous head of the design bureau, A. O. Firsov, was arrested “for sabotage,” the designers were being interrogated, the design bureau was divided into two directions: since the summer of 1937, one part of the employees has been engaged in development work (14 topics), the other ensures ongoing serial production.
The first project created under the leadership of Koshkin, the BT-9 tank, was rejected in the fall of 1937 due to gross design errors and non-compliance with the requirements of the task. On October 13, 1937, the Armored Directorate of the Red Army (ABTU) issued plant No. 183 (KhPZ) with tactical and technical requirements for a new tank under the designation BT-20.
Due to the weakness of the design bureau of plant No. 183, a separate design bureau, independent of the Koshkin design bureau, was created at the enterprise to work on the new tank. The design bureau included a number of engineers from the design bureau of plant No. 183 (including A. A. Morozov), as well as about forty graduates of the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army (VAMM). The leadership of the design bureau was entrusted to VAMM adjunct Adolf Dick. Development is proceeding in difficult conditions: arrests continue at the plant.
In this chaos, Koshkin continues to develop his direction - the drawings, which the core of the Firsov design bureau (KB-24) is working on, should form the basis of the future tank.
The design bureau under the leadership of A. Dick developed a technical design for the BT-20 tank, but with a delay of a month and a half. This delay led to an anonymous denunciation of the head of the design bureau, as a result of which Dick was arrested, accused of disrupting a government assignment and sentenced to 20 years in the camps. The contribution of A. Dick, who briefly worked at the design bureau on issues of tank mobility, to the creation of the future T-34 tank was the idea of installing another road wheel on board and an inclined arrangement of suspension springs, which was important for the chassis.
The design bureau was reorganized, and Koshkin became its head. In March 1938, the tank project was approved. However, by this time, the country's military leadership had doubts about the correctness of the chosen type of propulsion for the tank. On April 28, 1938, Koshkin in Moscow, at a meeting of the People's Commissariat of Defense (NKO), sought permission to manufacture and test two new tanks - a wheeled-tracked one (as intended by the original assignment) and a purely tracked one. They are somewhat different from the sides of the BT-IS tank by N. F. Tsyganov. In the mid-late summer of 1939, new tank models were tested in Kharkov. The commission concluded that “in terms of strength and reliability, the experimental A-20 and A-32 tanks are superior to all previously produced ones... they are well made and suitable for use in the army,” but it could not give preference to one of them. The A-32 tracked tank showed great tactical mobility in rough terrain during the battles of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940. In a short time, it was modified: the armor was thickened to 45 mm and a 76 mm cannon was installed, etc. - this is how the T-34 appeared.
Two experimental T-34s were manufactured and submitted for military testing on February 10, 1940, which confirmed their high technical and combat qualities. At the beginning of March 1940, Koshkin set off with them from Kharkov to Moscow “on his own.” In the conditions of the onset of the spring thaw, with the tanks being severely worn out by previous run tests (about 3000 km), the run that began was on the verge of failure several times. On March 17, 1940, tanks were demonstrated to government representatives on Ivanovskaya Square in the Kremlin. Tests in the Moscow region and on the Karelian Isthmus were completed successfully. The T-34 was recommended for immediate production.
Koshkin himself paid dearly for this demonstration success - a cold and overwork led to pneumonia, but Mikhail Ilyich continued to actively supervise the development of the tank until the disease worsened and one lung had to be removed. The designer died on September 26, 1940 in the Zanki sanatorium near Kharkov, where he underwent a rehabilitation course of treatment.
He was buried in Kharkov in the city cemetery, which in 1941 was destroyed by Luftwaffe pilots by targeted bombing in order to eliminate the designer’s grave (Hitler declared Koshkin his personal enemy after his death).
Family
- Wife - Vera Nikolaevna.
- Daughters:
- Elizaveta - geography teacher,
- Tamara is a geologist,
- Tatyana is a teacher at Kharkov University.
Awards
- Order of the Red Star for the development of a prototype model of the T-111 medium tank
- Stalin Prize (posthumously, April 10, 1942) “for developing the design of a new type of medium tank” (T-34)
- Hero of Socialist Labor (posthumously, by Decree of the President of the USSR No. 824 of October 4, 1990)
Memory
Monuments
- In Kharkov, not far from the entrance of the Malyshev plant, in May 1985, a monument to Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin was inaugurated.
- The monument to the T-34 tank, and in fact to M.I. Koshkin, was erected along the road, near his native village of Brynchagi in the Yaroslavl region.
- The monument to M.I. Koshkin was erected in the center of his native village of Brynchagi, Yaroslavl region, and there is a memorial plaque installed on the house in which he was born and lived.
- In Kirov (Vyatka), a memorial plaque was installed on the house where M.I. Koshkin lived (Drelevskogo St., 31).
- Reznik Ya. L. Creation of armor. - M.: Voenizdat, 1987.
- Vishnyakov V. A. A tank ahead of its time. - For the sake of life on earth. - M.: DOSAAF, 1986. - 525 p. — 100,000 copies.
- Vishnyakov V. A. Designers. 1989.
- Brochure “Mikhail Koshkin: unique documents, photographs, facts, memories (on the 110th anniversary of his birth)”, 2009.
- “Chief Designer” directed by V. Semakov, the role of Koshkin was played by Boris Nevzorov.
- In 1998, for the 100th anniversary of the birth of M.I. Koshkin, a Russian postage stamp with his portrait was issued. In the picture on the left is a T-34 tank mounted on a pedestal. The stamp has the text: “M. I. Koshkin. 1898-1940." The cost of the stamp is 1 ruble. The drawing was made by L. Zaitsev.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 19:07 + to quote book
Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin
Good afternoon, dear readers. Today I would like to talk about a man who made his brainchild, but never lived to see its triumph. I don’t know a single friend of mine who doesn’t know the T-34 tank. Many people know who invented it, but few know its fate. Let me try to tell you at least briefly about this man today.
Let's move a little in time and see where domestic tank building began in the young republic. 1918, civil war, enemies of the revolution receive military assistance from abroad, including the first tanks. Nothing scared people more during those wars than tanks. But, however, the Red Army still managed to capture several tanks, and by 1920. there were about 100 of these trophies. The military understood the importance of tanks on the battlefield and the Kharkov plant was involved in the repair of this equipment. In the same year, the first domestic tank came out of the plant. But it is worth noting that although enemy tanks were repaired, in general there was no production and technical base for tank building. But, however, in 1929, the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Party and the Council of People's Commissars "On the State of Defense of the USSR" set an important task - to obtain experimental domestic models of tanks and introduce them into the army.
Well, now, about Mikhail Ilyich. He was born into a large peasant family on December 3, 1898, in the village of Brynchagi, Yaroslavl province. The death of his father worsened the family's situation. I think there is no need to explain that for the most part, the family had to be fed. Already at the age of fourteen, he left for Moscow, where he got a job as an apprentice in the caramel workshop of a confectionery factory. Later he is called up to serve in the tsarist army.
Of course, the revolution changes everything for everyone, and it does not bypass Mikhail Koshkin. Participating in the battles of Tsaritsyn in the ranks of the Red Army, after being wounded he ends up in the hospital. In 1921 sent to study in Moscow. After graduating from the Sverdlov Communist University, he becomes the director of a confectionery factory in the city of Vyatka. Although he has a job, he continues to study and in 1935 he graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. While studying at the Polytechnic, he worked in the design bureau of the Leningrad Kirov Plant. After graduation, he continues to work full-time. And already here, work begins on creating the first tanks of the USSR. It is worth noting that this was a new test for our designers. To resolve this issue, former tractor workshops were re-equipped and new design bureaus were created at factories in Moscow, Leningrad, Gorky and Kharkov. Also, prototypes of tanks were purchased abroad: light Vickers-6t (England) and high-speed wheeled-tracked Christie (USA). It must also be said that the Resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars "On the installation of diesel engines in cars and tractors" was adopted, which played a significant role in the creation of a tank diesel engine. Already in 1936 Mikhail Ilyich becomes director of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, which was later renamed Plant No. 183. It should be added that it was not his idea that Mikhail Ilyich moved to the plant. Arrest of the management of plant No. 183 due to massive breakdowns of gears in gearboxes on BT-7 tanks.
Despite all this, the plant still already at that time had bold developments in creating new tanks T-12, T-24, BT. Having arrived at a new position and leading the team, the problem with the gearbox was solved in less than a year. Also, a diesel engine was installed at this plant for the first time. And by 1940, new modernized BT-7M tanks in the amount of 790 were arriving in the Red Army. Naturally, the work did not stop there, already in 1937. An order was received to create a new tank. Everything would not be bad, but the question arose of how to make the tank - tracked or wheeled. The wheeled track had a special meaning, because. on the roads well and quickly, the tank moved. But once on the ground or virgin soil, its movement became impossible, it quickly got stuck and deteriorated. It turned out to be a kind of motionless target. It was here at the factory that the question of what kind of movement a tank should have was always decided; the choice fell on a tracked one. But not everything was so simple; after listening to all the pros and cons of this project, it was decided to create two models of tanks and then submit them to the State Commission for testing. But the Finnish war had its say. In rough terrain, the effectiveness of tracked tanks was undeniable. Resolutions of the Defense Committee ordered the production of two tracked tanks based on the A-32, taking into account armor thickened to 45 mm and the installation of a 76 mm gun, and also calling the tank T-34.
I would also like to tell you a small story or rumor about the T-34. Perhaps this was true. Not everything was so simple with the acceptance of the T-34 tank into the army. During tests of various tanks, the T-34 was unable or did not have time to make a test run of several thousand kilometers and the commission practically rejected it. The project was on the verge of failure. Then Mikhail Ilyich, together with another mechanic, decided to reach Moscow in two tanks. Arriving at Red Square at night, the tanks were abandoned and the crews were arrested by the NKVD. But they didn't stay there long. Stalin, seeing the tanks on Red Square, personally examined them and inquired about the crew. Having hugged Koshkin, he said: “Thank you.” Naturally everyone was released. I repeat once again that this may be a story, or maybe not, because... We probably accepted all the legendary equipment at random. Remember how Katyusha was received.
Or maybe everything was standard, show, demonstration, and the best project won. One way or another, Mikhail Ilyich ended up in the hospital with pneumonia because of such tests. Continuing to work, the disease worsened and on September 26, 1940. the designer died.
Now a little about what other experts said about this tank. First of all, stories from German military personnel and specialists. The appearance of the T-34 medium tank was a shock blow for the Germans, sensation No. 1, a revelation and a mystery. “This is a devilish obsession! - they said. “No, it’s not even a car, but some kind of fairy-tale prince among our plebeian tanks...” Summoned from the Nibelungwerke laboratories, the famous German tank builder Ferdinand Porsche also arrived.
It’s true, he said, that the enemy still doesn’t have enough T-34s. But you, Paulus, do not forget Bismarck’s warnings: the Russians take a long time to harness, but they drive quickly. We know from history that Russia is always unprepared for war, but in some strange way it turns out to be the winner...
German experts were most struck by the engine - a 500 horsepower diesel engine, made entirely of aluminum: “The Russians are crying that they don’t have enough materials for airplanes, but they found aluminum for tank engines...” Paulus (based on Abwehr data) said that the T-34 was subjected to very severe criticism in Moscow; they did not even want to put it into mass production. If this is so, the commission will have to identify weak points in the design of the tank.
Alas... they don't exist! - answered Porsche.
But the Russians criticized their car.
This caused the chief designer to laugh:
Dear Paulus, is this your first day in the world? They should know that genuine talents always have many envious people who want to discredit his achievements. Only with this, and nothing else, do I explain the criticism of this machine...
There are a lot of beautiful women in the world,” Porsche said. - However, the one and only wins at beauty contests. Same with the tank! The T-34 has no analogues in the world yet: it is unique and cannot be copied. If we try to do this, we will immediately run into an impenetrable wall of technical problems that will remain insoluble for Germany... What is your opinion, Paulus?
“I found the only flaw,” said Paulus. - The crew is too cramped inside the tank, but the Russians really like to live in cramped communal apartments, managing to spend the whole family overnight in one room... (V.S. Pikul, “The Square of Fallen Fighters.” - M.: Golos Publishing House, 1996 (Part one. “Barbarossa”. Chapter 18. First crises), pp. 158-161))
Even after his death, Mikhail Ilyich was called Hitler's "personal enemy". And his grave was razed to the ground in order to erase the memory of the great designer.
Now what are the capitalist allies saying? The T-34 tank is an ideal price-quality ratio. Indeed, the tank itself had a cast turret, a cast engine and much more that could be quickly made and delivered to the front. The tank was also not fussy about repairs, unless of course it was completely torn apart from the detonated ammunition.
Such is the short life of a great designer.
Loading...