Led by a real tank, they supported a counterattack by the 25th Infantry Division, which drove the enemy out of their positions.Īn inspection of the armored tractors returning from battle showed that their 10-20 mm armor was quite effective against bullets and shrapnel, but not from 45 mm projectiles, which pierced right through it. The Yanvartsy got their baptism of fire on August 20, 1941. ![]() The improvised light tanks could cover a distance of 140 km, although in practice they never had to, since the enemy was fast approaching Odessa. The resulting armored tractors – which became known as ‘Odessa tanks’ or ‘Yanvartsy’ (from the Russian word for “January”, in reference to the name of the factory that made them) – could develop a speed of up to 20 km/h, but, according to eyewitness accounts, made a terrifyingly loud noises and clangs when moving. In the end, it was decided to use two 7.62 mm machine-guns instead, and to install dummy guns to make the improvised tanks more formidable and intimidating. At first, the plan was to use 37 mm guns from T-26 tanks which were beyond repair, but that turned out to be technically impossible. ![]() ![]() STZ-5 tractors had their upper parts cut off, their bodies sheathed with armor plates and rotating turrets with weapons installed on them. The first three improvised tanks were made by hand in a matter of just a couple of weeks.
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