T-44 medium tank
As early as late 1940, plans were started to create a tank better
than the T-34. However, it was not until late 1944 that the replacement
entered production, and then only in limited numbers. The new tank, the
T-44, was roughly a T-34/85 with heavier armor, no bow machinegunner
and several other changes. There were some serious problems with the
T-44, however. First, the tank was unheated, resulting in some crewmen
getting frostbite in winter. Another cold weather problem was a faulty
water pump that could leave the cooling system with some water in it,
which could freeze.
There were also some problems with the transmission, such as two
gears engaging at the same time when shifting gears.
Some 200 T-44A's were built before the war ended, out of a total of
about 1,800. It is not believed that any of these tanks saw combat in
WWII. If any did, it was most likely against Japan. In the end, it is a
nearly forgotten transitional tank from the T-34 to the T-54,
The T-44A has a crew of four. The commander sits in the turret. Also in the turret is the gunner (who fires the cannon and coaxial MG) and the loader/radio operator. The driver/mechanic sits in the body (who fires the hull MG). The turret electrically traverses at 33 degrees per second. The gunner and loader manually traverses the turret at 1 degree per second. The T-44 uses 17.5 gallons per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Immense Tank chassis with advanced
slope +4, full rotation
Medium TD turret with advanced slope [Body:T] +3, tracks +4.
Powertrain: 388-kW diesel engine w/ 388-kW tracked drive
train and 135 gallons fuel in standard fuel tank [body]; 16,000-kWs
batteries.
Occupancy: 1 CS Body, 3 CS Turret Cargo:
None.
| Armor | F | RL | B | T | U |
| Body | 6/350 | 5/300 | 4/150 | 4/60 | 4/75 |
| Tracks | 4/55 | 4/55 | 4/55 | 4/55 | 4/55 |
| Turret | 6/470 | 5/350 | 4/300 | 4/60 | 0/0 |
Weaponry
85mm Medium TG/85mm ZiS-S-53 [Tur:F] (58).
Ground LMG/7.62mm DTM [Tur:F] (*).
Ground LMG/7.62mm DTM [Body:F] (*).
* 1,890 rounds total
Statistics
| Size: 20’¥11’¥8’ | Payload: 2.01 tons | Lwt: 35.13 tons |
| Volume: 242 | Maint.: 30 hours | Price: $45,100 |
HT: 10.
HP: 2600 [Body], 285 [Turret], 900 [Each Track]
| gSpeed: 33 |
gAccel: 3 |
gDecel: 20 | gMR: 0.25 | gSR: 6 | GP: High (1/2) |
Design Notes
The design purchased 2,000 rounds of LMG
ammo and 60 rounds of tank gun ammo. The historical values have been
used
instead. The design weight was reduced 24% to match historical weight.
HT has been reduced by two to
represent unreliability.