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T-38

1937 WINTER WAR WORLD WAR 2

History

The Soviet Army had been focusing on amphibious vehicles even before WWII and carried out various projects to find reliable solutions. This led to the introduction of the T-37 family of light tanks with inherent amphibious capabilities. However, there were a number of flaws in this design that were exposed, forcing the improved T-37A to take shape. Operations continued to show the limitations of the production line (unreliable transmission, tracks separated from the line), so from 1934 further development work was carried out on Plant No.

37.

In June 1935, a form of pilot vehicle appeared with enough changes to justify the new designation "T-38". For the new design, the position of the driver rotates from left to right in the fuselage, and the turret then rotates from right to left on the fuselage. Wider hull dimensions were introduced for greater internal volume and better weight displacement. The main weapon remains the 7.62mm DT machine gun mounted on the turret, and the turret design is still based on the successor T-37A.

The 40 hp GAZ-AA engine was also retained, driving a three-bladed propeller in the stern of the hull for traversing the water. Interestingly, the transmission, suspension and track arrangement were largely carried over from the original T-37A. The rail assemblies are fitted with a pair of dual wheel bogies on each side of the hull. The chain links are partially exposed and run the entire length of the vehicle. Its standard operator consists of two people - the driver in the hull and the commander/gunner in the turret.

Armor protection extends to various panels of the vehicle, ranging in thickness from 3mm to 9mm.

The total weight is 3.3 tons, and the dimensions include a length of 3.78 meters, a width of 3.33 meters, and a height of 1.63 meters. The power of the GAZ-AA engine enables road speeds of up to 40 km/h and a range of up to 170 km.

The suspension system consists of a spring bogie design for easy off-road touring.

The T-38 showed enough potential that it was accepted into service and ordered for mass production. Ultimately, 1,228 cars were delivered from 1936 to 1937. Of these, about 165 were equipped with radios.

With problems increasing during early service, the lines were brought back into service in 1939, followed by 112 slightly improved examples. Despite measures to improve quality, buoyancy issues persisted and overheating proved to be a common complaint during shore service. The 1937 T-38M (prototype T-38M1) was introduced to correct these problems, but only seven examples were delivered.

The T-38M2 was followed by an improved drivetrain and GAZ M1 engine. The T-38RT (with radio) is equipped with a 20mm ShVAK cannon for enhanced offensive capabilities.

Other variants include the T-38TU command tank version with additional communications equipment, the proposed SU-45 self-propelled gun (SPG) with 45mm armament and the T-38TT, a remote-controlled tank used for testing in 1939 .

The T-38 performed poorly in the Winter War against Finland (1939-1940) and proved no better than the earlier T-37. Their thin armor scheme also made them very vulnerable to enemy fire, while their pure machine gun weapons proved to be marginally effective, mostly against infantry enemies and very little else. In June 1941, the German army surpassed the stockpile of T-38 tanks during the march to Moscow (via "Operation Barbarossa"), but there is little evidence that these tanks were restored to their new owners - the Germans did It is common practice for foreigners to use weapons for their own purposes.

As a result, the T-38 was largely scrapped after 1941, as the Soviets had little need to replenish these lost stocks.

The T-40 light amphibious tank was introduced as a successor in 1940, although only 222 were produced. These served from 1941 to 1946 and were eventually abandoned.