"Katyusha"- the popular name for rocket artillery combat vehicles BM-8 (with 82 mm shells), BM-13 (132 mm) and BM-31 (310 mm) during the Great Patriotic War. There are several versions of the origin of this name, the most likely of which is associated with the factory mark “K” of the manufacturer of the first BM-13 combat vehicles (Voronezh Comintern Plant), as well as with the popular song of the same name at that time (music by Matvey Blanter, lyrics by Mikhail Isakovsky).
(Military encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes -2004 ISBN 5 - 203 01875 - 8)

The BM-13 received its baptism of fire on July 14, 1941, when the battery fired the first salvo of all installations at the Orsha railway station, where a large amount of enemy manpower and military equipment was concentrated. As a result of a powerful fire strike by 112 rockets simultaneously, a fire glow rose above the station: enemy trains were burning, ammunition was exploding. Another hour and a half later, Flerov’s battery fired a second salvo, this time at the crossing of the Orshitsa River, on the outskirts of which a lot of German equipment and manpower had accumulated. As a result, the enemy's crossing was disrupted and he was unable to develop his success in this direction.

The first experience of using the new missile weapon showed its high combat effectiveness, which was one of the reasons for its rapid commissioning and equipping the Ground Forces with it.

The restructuring of industry associated with the production of missile weapons was carried out in a short time; a large number of enterprises were involved in its production (already in July-August 1941 - 214 factories), which ensured the supply of this military equipment to the troops. In August-September 1941, serial production of BM‑8 combat installations with 82-mm rockets was launched.

Simultaneously with the deployment of production, work continued to create new and improve existing models of missiles and launchers.

On July 30, 1941, a special design bureau (SKB) began work at the Moscow Kompressor plant - the main design bureau for launchers, and the plant itself became the main enterprise for their production. This SKB, under the leadership of the head and chief designer Vladimir Barmin, during the war years developed 78 samples of launchers of various types, mounted on cars, tractors, tanks, railway platforms, river and sea ships. Thirty-six of them were put into service, mastered by industry and used in combat.

Much attention was paid to the production of rockets, the creation of new ones and the improvement of existing models. The 82-mm M-8 rocket was modernized, and powerful high-explosive rockets were created: 132-mm M-20, 300-mm M-30 and M-31; increased range - M-13 DD and improved accuracy - M-13 UK and M-31 UK.

With the beginning of the war, the USSR Armed Forces created special troops for the combat use of missile weapons. These were rocket troops, but during the war they were called guards mortar units (GMC), and later - rocket artillery. The first organizational form of the MMC was separate batteries and divisions.

By the end of the war, rocket artillery had 40 separate divisions (38 M-13 and 2 M-8), 115 regiments (96 M-13 and 19 M-8), 40 separate brigades(27 M-31 and 13 M-31-12) and 7 divisions - a total of 519 divisions with over 3,000 combat vehicles.

The legendary Katyushas took part in all major operations during the war.

The fate of the first separate experimental battery was cut short at the beginning of October 1941. After a baptism of fire near Orsha, the battery successfully operated in battles near Rudnya, Smolensk, Yelnya, Roslavl and Spas-Demensk. Over the course of three months of hostilities, Flerov’s battery not only inflicted considerable material damage on the Germans, it also contributed to raising the morale of our soldiers and officers, exhausted by continuous retreats.

The Nazis staged a real hunt for new weapons. But the battery did not stay long in one place - after firing a salvo, it immediately changed position. The tactical technique - salvo - change of position - was widely used by Katyusha units during the war.

At the beginning of October 1941, as part of a group of troops on the Western Front, the battery found itself in the rear of the Nazi troops. While moving to the front line from the rear on the night of October 7, she was ambushed by the enemy near the village of Bogatyr, Smolensk region. Most of the battery personnel and Ivan Flerov were killed, having shot all the ammunition and blown up the combat vehicles. Only 46 soldiers managed to escape from the encirclement. The legendary battalion commander and the rest of the soldiers, who had fulfilled their duty to the end with honor, were considered “missing in action.” And only when it was possible to discover documents from one of the Wehrmacht army headquarters, which reported what actually happened on the night of October 6-7, 1941 near the Smolensk village of Bogatyr, Captain Flerov was excluded from the lists of missing persons.

For heroism Ivan Flerov posthumously in 1963 awarded the order Patriotic War, 1st degree, and in 1995 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously.

In honor of the battery’s feat, a monument was built in the city of Orsha and an obelisk near the city of Rudnya.

Publications in the Museums section

"Katyusha" came ashore

3 famous fighting machine in museums, films and computer games.

On July 14, 1941, not far from the railway station in the city of Orsha, the famous battery of Captain Ivan Flerov attacked the enemy for the first time. The battery was armed with completely new, unknown to the Germans, BM-13 combat vehicles, which the soldiers would affectionately call “Katyushas”.

At that time, few people knew that these vehicles would take part in the most important battles of the Great Patriotic War and, along with the legendary T-34 tanks, would become a symbol of victory in this terrible war. However, both Russian and German soldiers and officers were able to appreciate their power after the first shots.

Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation, scientific director tells Russian Military Historical Society Mikhail Myagkov.

First operation

Information about the number of vehicles in service with the battery varies: according to one version, there were four of them, according to another - five or seven. But we can definitely say that the effect of their use was stunning. At the station, military equipment and trains and, according to our data, a battalion of German infantry, as well as important military property, were destroyed. The explosion was so strong that Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, wrote in his diary that the ground melted where the shells hit.

Flerov’s battery was transferred to the Orsha area, as information was received that a large amount of cargo important for the German side had accumulated at this station. There is a version that in addition to the German units that arrived there, secret weapons of the USSR remained at the station, which they did not have time to take to the rear. It had to be quickly destroyed so that the Germans did not get it.

To carry out this operation, a special tank group was created, which supported the battery as it moved towards Orsha through territory already abandoned by Soviet troops. That is, the Germans could capture it at any moment; it was a very dangerous, risky enterprise. When the battery was just preparing to leave, the designers strictly ordered that the BM-13 be blown up in the event of retreat and encirclement, so that the vehicles would never fall to the enemy.

The soldiers will carry out this order later. During the retreat near Vyazma, the battery was surrounded, and on the night of October 7, 1941, it was ambushed. Here the battery, having fired its last salvo, was blown up by order of Flerov. The captain himself died, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, in 1942, and in 1995 he became a Hero of Russia.

The image of the BM-13 (“Katyusha”) is actively used in video games about the Second World War:

BM-13 (“Katyusha”) in the computer game Company of Heroes 2

BM-13 salvo in the computer game “Behind Enemy Lines - 2”

Vehicle BM-13 (Katyusha)

Katyusha volley in the computer room game War Front: Turning Point

About the history of the creation of rocket launchers

The development of rockets began in our country back in the 20s of the 20th century and was carried out by employees of the Gas Dynamics Institute. In the 1930s, research continued at the Rocket Research Institute, headed by Georgy Langemak. He was subsequently arrested and subjected to repression.

In 1939–1941, the jet systems were improved and tests were carried out. In March - June 1941 there was a display of the systems. The decision to create batteries that included new weapons was made literally a few hours before the start of the war: June 21, 1941. The armament of the first battery consisted of BM-13 vehicles with a 130 mm projectile. At the same time, the development of BM-8 vehicles was underway, and in 1943 the BM-31 appeared.

In addition to machines, special gunpowder was also developed. The Germans were hunting not only for our installations, but also for the composition of the gunpowder. They never managed to unravel his secret. The difference in the action of this gunpowder was that the German guns left a long trail of smoke, which was more than 200 meters long - one could immediately understand where they were shooting from. We didn't have that kind of smoke.

These multiple launch rocket systems were prepared at the Kompressor plant (in peacetime it was a refrigeration equipment plant, which on the good side characterizes interchangeability in heavy industry) and at the Kommunar plant in Voronezh. And of course, in addition to the first battery of Captain Flerov, at the beginning of the war, other batteries were created, armed with rocket systems. It seems to modern researchers that at the very beginning of the war they were sent to guard headquarters. Most of them were sent to the Western Front to prevent the Germans from suddenly capturing the headquarters in order to overwhelm the enemy with fire and stop their advance.

About the nickname

Flerov's first battery took part in the battles for Smolensk, Dukhovshchina, Roslavl, Spas-Demensk. Other batteries, there were about five of them, were located in the area of ​​​​the city of Rudni. And the first version about the origin of the nickname of these cars - “Katyusha” - is really connected with the song. The batteries fired a volley into Rudny Square, where the Germans were at that moment; one of the witnesses to what was happening allegedly said: “Yes, this is a song!” - and someone else confirmed: “Yes, like Katyusha.” And this nickname first migrated to the headquarters of the 20th Army, where the battery was located, and then spread throughout the country.

The second version about the Katyusha is associated with the Kommunar plant: the letters “K” were placed on the cars. This theory is supported by the fact that the soldiers nicknamed the M-20 howitzer with the letter “M” “Mother”. There are many other assumptions about the origin of the nickname “Katyusha”: someone believes that at the moment of the salvo the cars “sang” drawn out - the song of the same name also has a long chant; someone says that one of the cars had the name of a real woman written on it, and so on. But, by the way, there were other names. When the M-31 installation appeared, someone began to call it “Andryusha,” and the German Nebelwerfer mortar was nicknamed “Vanyusha.”

By the way, one of the names of the BM-13 among German soldiers was the nickname “Stalin’s organ”, because the guiding machines looked like pipes. And the sound itself, when the Katyusha “sang”, also resembled organ music.

Planes, ships and sleighs

Rocket launchers type BM-13 (as well as BM-8 and BM-31) were mounted on airplanes, on ships, on boats, even on sleighs. In the corps of Lev Dovator, when he went on a raid against the German rear, these installations were located precisely on the sleigh.

However, the classic version is, of course, a truck. When the cars first went into production, they were mounted on a ZIS-6 truck with three axles; when it was deployed into a combat position, two more jacks were installed at the rear for greater stability. But already from the end of 1942, especially in 1943, these guides increasingly began to be mounted on well-proven American Studebaker trucks supplied under Lend-Lease. They had good speed and maneuverability. By the way, this is one of the tasks of the system - to fire a salvo and quickly hide.

"Katyusha" truly became one of the main weapons of Victory. Everyone knows the T-34 tank and the Katyusha. Moreover, they know it not only in our country, but also abroad. When the USSR was negotiating Lend-Lease, exchanging information and equipment with the British and Americans, the Soviet side demanded the supply of radio equipment, radars, and aluminum. And the allies demanded Katyusha and T-34. The USSR gave us tanks, but I’m not sure about the Katyushas. Most likely, the Allies themselves figured out how these machines were made, but you can create an ideal model and not be able to organize mass production.

Museums where you can see the BM-13

The museum is an integral and at the same time the main part of the Victory memorial complex on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow. On its territory there is an exhibition of weapons, military equipment and engineering structures (weapons of Victory, captured equipment, railway troops, military highways, artillery, armored vehicles, air force, Navy). Among the museum's exhibits are rare aircraft, one flying one - the U-2, the best tank of the Second World War, the T-34, and, of course, the legendary BM-13 (Katyusha).

The Center for Military Patriotic Education opened in 2000. The museum's collection includes about 2,600 exhibits, including historical relics and replicas on the history of Russia and the Voronezh region. Exhibition space - four halls and seven exhibitions.

The museum is located at mass grave No. 6. In May 2010, a stele was erected in front of the museum in connection with the awarding of the title “City of Military Glory” to Voronezh. On the square in front of the museum, visitors can see a unique exhibition of military equipment and artillery pieces.

The oldest military museum in Russia. His birthday is considered to be August 29 (new style) 1703.

The museum's exposition is housed in 13 halls on an area of ​​more than 17 thousand square meters. Of particular interest to visitors is the external exhibition of the museum, opened after reconstruction in November 2002. Its main part is located in the courtyard of Kronverk on an area of ​​more than two hectares. About 250 pieces of artillery pieces are located in open areas, missile weapons, engineering and communications technology, including domestic and foreign tools - from ancient to the most modern.

The Rudnyansky Historical Museum was officially opened on May 9, 1975; today its exhibition occupies four halls. Visitors can see photographs of the first rocket launchers of the legendary BM-13 rocket launcher; photographs and awards of participants in the Battle of Smolensk; personal belongings, awards, photographs of partisans of the Smolensk Partisan Brigade; material about the divisions that liberated the Rudnyansky district in 1943; stands telling the visitor about the damage caused to the area during the Great Patriotic War. Yellowed front-line letters and photographs, newspaper clippings, and personal belongings resurrect before the eyes of museum guests the images of war heroes - soldiers and officers.

Museum of History and Local Lore named after N.Ya. Savchenko is a center for civic and patriotic education of youth. It consists of two parts: the main building and the demonstration area. It is on the site that all the military and rare equipment available in the museum is located. This is an An-2 plane, a T-34 tank and a steam locomotive.

A worthy place in the exhibitions is occupied by the famous “Katyusha” based on the ZIL-157, the GAZ-AA (one and a half truck), ZIS-5 (three-ton truck), GAZ-67, an armored personnel carrier, the DT-54 tractor, the Universal tractor, a soldier’s field kitchen and etc.

"Katyusha" in cinema

One of the main films with her participation was Vladimir Motyl’s melodrama “Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha.” In this film, the BM-13 can be seen from almost all angles, general and close-up.

Weapon of Victory - “Katyusha”

The first combat use of Katyushas is now quite well known: on July 14, 1941, three salvos were fired at the city of Rudnya, Smolensk region. This town with a population of only 9 thousand people is located on the Vitebsk Upland, on the Malaya Berezina River, 68 km from Smolensk at the very border of Russia and Belarus. On that day, the Germans captured Rudnya, and a large amount of military equipment accumulated in the market square of the town.

At that moment, on the high, steep western bank of Malaya Berezina, a battery of captain Ivan Andreevich Flerov appeared. From a direction unexpected for the enemy in the west, it struck the market square. As soon as the sound of the last salvo died down, one of the artillery soldiers named Kashirin sang at the top of his voice the popular song “Katyusha”, written in 1938 by Matvey Blanter to the words of Mikhail Isakovsky. Two days later, on July 16, at 15:15, Flerov’s battery struck the Orsha station, and an hour and a half later, the German crossing through Orshitsa.

On that day, communications sergeant Andrei Sapronov was assigned to Flerov’s battery, ensuring communication between the battery and the command. As soon as the sergeant heard about how Katyusha came out onto a high, steep bank, he immediately remembered how missile launchers had just entered the same high and steep bank, and, reporting to the headquarters of the 217th separate communications battalion 144th Infantry Division of the 20th Army about Flerov’s fulfillment of a combat mission, signalman Sapronov said:

“Katyusha sang perfectly.”

In the photo: Commander of the first experimental Katyusha battery Captain Flerov. Died on October 7, 1941. But historians differ on who was the first to use Katyusha against tanks - too often in the initial period of the war, the situation forced such desperate decisions to be made.

The systematic use of the BM-13 to destroy tanks is associated with the name of the commander of the 14th separate guards mortar division, Lieutenant Commander Moskvin. This unit, made up of naval sailors, was originally called the 200th OAS Division and was armed with 130 mm fixed naval guns. Both guns and artillerymen performed well in the fight against tanks, but on October 9, 1941, by written order from the commander of the 32nd Army, Major General Vishnevsky, the 200th Artillery Division, having blown up stationary guns and ammunition for them, retreated to the east, but On October 12, he ended up in the Vyazemsky cauldron.

Having emerged from encirclement on October 26, the division was sent for reorganization, during which it was rearmed with Katyushas. The division was headed by the former commander of one of his batteries, Senior Lieutenant Moskvin, who was immediately awarded the rank of lieutenant commander. The 14th Separate Guards Mortar Division was included in the 1st Moscow Separate Detachment of Sailors, which took part in the Counter-Offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow. At the end of May - beginning of June 1942, during a period of relative calm, Moskvin summed up the experience of fighting enemy armored vehicles and found new way its destruction. He was supported by the GMCH inspector, Colonel Alexey Ivanovich Nesterenko. Test firing was carried out. To give the guides a minimum elevation angle, the Katyushas drove their front wheels into dug recesses, and the shells, leaving parallel to the ground, smashed plywood mock-ups of tanks. So what if you break plywood? – skeptics doubted. – You still can’t defeat real tanks!

In the photo: shortly before death. There was some truth in these doubts, because the warhead of the M-13 shells was high-explosive fragmentation, and not armor-piercing. However, it turned out that when their fragments get into the engine part or gas tanks, a fire occurs, the tracks are interrupted, the turrets jam, and sometimes they are torn off the shoulder strap. An explosion of a 4.95-kilogram charge, even if it occurred behind the armor, incapacitates the crew due to severe concussion.

On July 22, 1942, in a battle north of Novocherkassk, Moskvin’s division, which by that time had been transferred to the Southern Front and included in the 3rd Rifle Corps, destroyed 11 tanks with two direct fire salvoes - 1.1 per installation, while a good result for the anti-tank division out of 18 guns, it was believed that two or three enemy tanks were destroyed.

Often, the mortar guards were considered the only force capable of providing organized resistance to the enemy. This forced front commander R.Ya. Malinovsky to create on July 25, 1942, on the basis of such units, a Mobile Mechanized Group (PMG) led by the commander of the GMC A.I. Nesterenko. It included three regiments and a BM-13 division, the 176th Infantry Division mounted on vehicles, a combined tank battalion, anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery divisions. There were no such units before or since.

At the end of July, near the village of Mechetinskaya, the PMG encountered the main forces of the 1st German Tank Army, Colonel General Ewald Kleist. Intelligence reported that a column of tanks and motorized infantry was moving,” Moskvin reported. “We chose a position near the road so that the batteries could fire at the same time. Motorcyclists appeared, followed by cars and tanks. Battery salvoes covered the entire depth of the column, damaged and smoking vehicles stopped, tanks flew at them like blind people and caught fire. The enemy's advance along this road stopped.

Several such attacks forced the Germans to change tactics. They left supplies of fuel and ammunition in the rear and moved in small groups: 15–20 tanks in front, followed by trucks with infantry. This slowed down the pace of the offensive, but created the threat of our PMG being bypassed from the flanks. In response to this threat, ours created their own small groups, each of which included a Katyusha division, a company of motorized rifles, anti-aircraft and anti-tank batteries. One of these groups, Captain Puzik’s group, created on the basis of the 269th division of the 49th GMP, using the Moskvin method, destroyed 15 enemy tanks and 35 vehicles in two days of fighting near Peschanokopskaya and Belaya Glina.

The advance of enemy tanks and motorized infantry was stopped. The regiments of the 176th Infantry Division took up defense along the ridge of the hills at the Belaya Glina, Razvilnoe line. The front has temporarily stabilized.

A method of observation invented Captain-Lieutenant Moskvin. Not a single frontal attack by enemy tanks, much less motorized infantry, against the salvo fire of guards mortar units reached the target. Only flank detours and attacks forced the mobile group to retreat to other lines. That's why German tanks and the motorized infantry began to accumulate in the folds of the terrain, provoked a salvo of BM-13s with a false attack, and while they were reloading, which took five to six minutes, they made a rush. If the division did not respond to a false attack or fired with one installation, the Germans did not leave the shelters, waiting for the Katyushas to use up their ammunition. In response to this, Lieutenant Commander Moskvin used his own method of adjusting the fire. Having climbed to the top of the guide trusses, Moskvin monitored the area from this height.

The adjustment method proposed by Moskvin was recommended to other units, and soon the schedule for the German offensive in the Caucasus was disrupted. A few more days of fighting - and the word “tank” could be removed from the name of the 1st Tank Army. The losses of the mortar guards were minimal.

At first, the guards fired at tanks from the slopes of the hills facing the enemy, but when our troops retreated to the Salsky steppes during the Battle of the Caucasus, the hills ended, and on the plain the Katyusha could not fire direct fire, and dig a corresponding hole under fire approaching enemy tanks was not always possible.

A way out of this situation was found on August 3 in a battle fought by the battery of Senior Lieutenant Koifman from the 271st Division of Captain Kashkin. She took up firing positions south of the farmstead. Soon observers noticed that enemy tanks and motorized infantry approached the village of Nikolaevskaya. The combat vehicles were aimed at a target that was clearly visible and within reach. A few minutes later, groups of tanks began to emerge from the village and descend into the ravine. Obviously, the Germans decided to covertly approach the battery and attack it. This roundabout maneuver was first noticed by the guard, Private Levin. The battery commander ordered the flank unit to be deployed towards the tanks. However, the tanks had already entered the dead zone, and even at the lowest angle of inclination of the RS-132 guide trusses they would have flown over them. And then, to reduce the aiming angle, Lieutenant Alexey Bartenyev ordered driver Fomin to drive his front wheels into the trench trench.

When there were about two hundred meters left to the nearest tank, guardsmen Arzhanov, Kuznetsov, Suprunov and Khilich opened direct fire. Sixteen shells exploded. The tanks were filled with smoke. Two of them stopped, the rest quickly turned around and retreated into the gully at high speed. There were no new attacks. 19-year-old Lieutenant Bartenyev, who invented this method of firing, died in the same battle, but since then the mortar guards began to use infantry trenches to give the guides a position parallel to the ground.

In early August, the movement of Army Group A slowed down, posing a threat to the right flank of Army Group B, which was marching on Stalingrad. Therefore, in Berlin, the 40th Tank Corps of Group B was redirected to the Caucasus, which should have broken into Stalingrad from the south. He turned to Kuban, made a raid on the Rural steppes (bypassing the PMG coverage area) and found himself on the approaches to Armavir and Stavropol.

Because of this, the commander of the North Caucasus Front, Budyonny, was forced to divide the PMG in two: one part of it was thrown into the Armaviro-Stavropol direction, the other covered Krasnodar and Maykop. For the battles near Maikop (but not for victories in the steppes), Moskvin was awarded the Order of Lenin. A year later he would be mortally wounded near the village of Krymskaya. Now this is the same Krymsk that suffered from the recent flood.

After the death of Moskvin, under the impression of his experience in fighting enemy tanks with the help of Katyushas, ​​cumulative shells RSB-8 and RSB-13 were created. Such shells took the armor of any of the tanks of that time. However, they rarely found their way into Katyusha regiments - they were originally used to supply the Il-2 attack aircraft with rocket launchers.

THE LEGENDARY KATYUSHA IS 75 YEARS OLD!

June 30, 2016 will mark 75 years since the decision at the Moscow Kompressor plant State Committee Defense, a design bureau was created to produce the legendary Katyushas. This rocket launcher with its powerful salvos it terrified the enemy and decided the outcome of many battles of the Great Patriotic War, including the battle for Moscow in October - December 1941. At that time, BM-13 combat vehicles went to defensive lines directly from the Moscow factory workshops.

Multiple launch rocket systems fought on different fronts, from Stalingrad to Berlin. At the same time, “Katyusha” is a weapon with a distinctly Moscow “pedigree”, rooted in pre-revolutionary times. Back in 1915, a graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow University, engineer and inventor Nikolai Tikhomirov patented a “self-propelled rocket mine,” i.e. rocket-projectile, usable in water and in the air. The conclusion on the security certificate was signed by the famous N.E. Zhukovsky, at that time chairman of the invention department of the Moscow Military-Industrial Committee.

While the examinations were underway, the October Revolution happened. The new government, however, recognized Tikhomirov’s missile as having great defensive significance. To develop self-propelled mines, a Gas Dynamics Laboratory was created in Moscow in 1921, which Tikhomirov headed: for the first six years it worked in the capital, then moved to Leningrad and was located, by the way, in one of the ravelins of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Nikolai Tikhomirov died in 1931 and was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. An interesting fact: in his other, “civilian” life, Nikolai Ivanovich designed equipment for sugar refineries, distilleries and oil mills.

The next stage of work on the future Katyusha also took place in the capital. On September 21, 1933, the Jet Research Institute was created in Moscow. Friedrich Zander was at the origins of the institute, and S.P. was the deputy director. Korolev. RNII maintained close contact with K.E. Tsiolkovsky. As we can see, the fathers of the Guards mortar were almost all the pioneers of domestic rocket technology of the 20th century.

One of the prominent names on this list is Vladimir Barmin. At the time when his work on new jet weapons began, the future academician and professor was a little over 30 years old. Shortly before the war he was appointed chief designer.

Who could have foreseen in 1940 that this young refrigeration engineer would become one of the creators of the world-famous weapons of World War II?

Vladimir Barmin retrained as a rocket scientist on June 30, 1941. On this day, a special design bureau was created at the plant, which became the main “think tank” for the production of Katyushas. Let us remember: work on the rocket launcher continued throughout the pre-war years and was completed literally on the eve of Hitler’s invasion. The People's Commissariat of Defense was looking forward to this miracle weapon, but not everything went smoothly.

In 1939, the first samples of aircraft rockets were successfully used during the battles at Khalkhin Gol. In March 1941, successful field tests of the BM-13 installations (with the M-13 high-explosive fragmentation projectile of 132 mm caliber) were carried out, and already on June 21, literally a few hours before the war, a decree on their mass production was signed. Already on the eighth day of the war, production of Katyushas for the front began at Kompressor.

On July 14, 1941, the first Separate experimental battery of field rocket artillery of the Red Army was formed, led by Captain Ivan Flerov, armed with seven combat installations. On July 14, 1941, the battery fired a salvo at the railway junction of the city of Orsha, captured by fascist troops. Soon she successfully fought in the battles of Rudnya, Smolensk, Yelnya, Roslavl and Spas-Demensk.

At the beginning of October 1941, while moving to the front line from the rear, Flerov's battery was ambushed by the enemy near the village of Bogatyr (Smolensk region). Having shot all the ammunition and blown up the combat vehicles, most of the fighters and their commander Ivan Flerov died.

219 Katyusha divisions took part in the battles for Berlin. Since the fall of 1941, these units were given the title of Guards upon formation. Since the Battle of Moscow, not a single major offensive operation of the Red Army could have been carried out without fire support from Katyusha rockets. The first batches of them were completely manufactured at the capital's enterprises in those days when the enemy stood at the city walls. According to production veterans and historians, this was a real labor feat.

When the war began, it was the Kompressor specialists who were tasked with launching the production of Katyushas as soon as possible. Previously it was planned that these combat vehicles would be produced by the Voronezh plant named after. Comintern, however, the difficult situation at the fronts forced adjustments to this plan.

At the front, Katyusha represented a significant fighting force and was capable of single-handedly determining the outcome of an entire battle. 16 regular heavy guns during the Great Patriotic War they could fire 16 high-power shells in 2–3 minutes. In addition, moving such a number of conventional guns from one firing position to another requires a lot of time. “Katyusha” mounted on a truck requires just a few minutes. So the uniqueness of the installations was in their high firepower and mobility. The noise effect also played a certain psychological role: it was not for nothing that the Germans, because of the strong roar that accompanied the Katyusha salvos, nicknamed it the “Stalinist organ.”

The work was complicated by the fact that in the fall of 1941 many Moscow enterprises were being evacuated. Some of the workshops and the Compressor itself were relocated to the Urals. But all the Katyusha production facilities remained in the capital. There were not enough qualified workers (they went to the front and the militia), equipment, and materials.

Many Moscow enterprises in those days worked in close cooperation with Kompressor, producing everything necessary for Katyushas. Machine-building plant named after. Vladimir Ilyich made rocket shells. Car repair plant named after. Voitovicha and the Krasnaya Presnya plant manufactured parts for the launchers. Precise mechanisms were supplied by the 1st watch factory.

All of Moscow united in difficult times to create a unique weapon capable of bringing Victory closer. And the role of “Katyusha” in the defense of the capital has not been forgotten by the descendants of the victors: monuments to the legendary guards mortar have been erected near several museums in Moscow and on the territory of the Kompressor plant. And many of its creators were awarded high state awards during the war.

The history of the creation of "Katyusha"

In the list of contractual work carried out by the Jet Research Institute (RNII) for the Armored Directorate (ABTU), the final payment for which was to be carried out in the first quarter of 1936, mentions contract No. 251618с dated January 26, 1935 - a prototype rocket launcher on the BT tank -5 with 10 missiles. Thus, it can be considered a proven fact that the idea of ​​​​creating a mechanized multiple-charging installation in the third decade of the 20th century did not appear at the end of the 30s, as previously stated, but at least at the end of the first half of this period. Confirmation of the idea of ​​using cars to fire missiles in general was also found in the book “Rockets, their design and use,” authored by G.E. Langemak and V.P. Glushko, released in 1935. At the conclusion of this book, in particular, the following is written: “ Home area the use of powder rockets - armament of light combat vehicles, such as airplanes, small ships, vehicles of all kinds, and finally escort artillery.”

In 1938, employees of Research Institute No. 3, commissioned by the Artillery Directorate, carried out work on object No. 138 - a gun for firing 132 mm chemical shells. It was necessary to make non-rapid-firing machines (such as a pipe). According to the agreement with the Artillery Department, it was necessary to design and manufacture an installation with a stand and a lifting and turning mechanism. One machine was manufactured, which was then recognized as not meeting the requirements. At the same time, Research Institute No. 3 developed a mechanized multiple rocket launcher mounted on a modified ZIS-5 truck chassis with 24 rounds of ammunition. According to other data from the archives of the State Scientific Center FSUE “Keldysh Center” (former Research Institute No. 3), “2 mechanized installations on vehicles were manufactured. They passed factory shooting tests at the Sofrinsky Artillery Ground and partial field tests at the Ts.V.Kh.P. R.K.K.A. With positive results" Based on factory tests, it could be stated: the flight range of the RHS (depending on the specific gravity of the explosive agent) at a firing angle of 40 degrees is 6000 - 7000 m, Vd = (1/100)X and Vb = (1/70)X, useful volume of the explosive agent in a projectile - 6.5 liters, metal consumption per 1 liter of explosive agent - 3.4 kg/l, radius of dispersion of explosive agent when a projectile explodes on the ground is 15-20 liters, the maximum time required to fire the entire ammunition load of the vehicle is 3-4 seconds.

The mechanized rocket launcher was intended to provide a chemical attack with chemical rocket projectiles /SOV and NOV/ 132 mm with a capacity of 7 liters. The installation made it possible to fire across areas with both single shots and a salvo of 2 - 3 - 6 - 12 and 24 shots. “The installations, combined into batteries of 4–6 vehicles, represent a very mobile and powerful means of chemical attack at a distance of up to 7 kilometers.”

The installation and a 132 mm chemical rocket projectile for 7 liters of toxic substance passed successful field and state tests; its adoption was planned in 1939. The table of practical accuracy of chemical missile projectiles indicated the data of a mechanized vehicle installation for a surprise attack by firing chemical, high-explosive fragmentation, incendiary, illuminating and other missile projectiles. Option I without aiming device – number of shells per salvo – 24, total weight of the toxic substance released in one salvo – 168 kg, 6 vehicles mobile installations replace one hundred twenty howitzers of 152 mm caliber, the vehicle reload speed is 5-10 minutes. 24 shots, number of service personnel - 20-30 people. on 6 cars. In artillery systems - 3 Artillery Regiments. II-version with control device. Data not provided.

From December 8, 1938 to February 4, 1939, tests were carried out on unguided 132 mm caliber rockets and an automatic launcher. However, the installation was submitted for testing unfinished and did not withstand them: a large number of failures were discovered when the missiles were discharged due to the imperfections of the corresponding installation components; the process of loading the launcher was inconvenient and time-consuming; the rotating and lifting mechanisms did not provide easy and smooth operation, and the sighting devices did not provide the required pointing accuracy. In addition, the ZIS-5 truck had limited cross-country ability. (See the gallery Tests of an automobile rocket launcher on the ZIS-5 chassis, designed by NII-3, drawing No. 199910 for launching 132 mm rockets. (Test time: from 12/8/38 to 02/04/39).

The letter about the bonus for the successful testing in 1939 of a mechanized installation for chemical attack (out. Scientific Research Institute No. 3, number 733c dated May 25, 1939 from the director of Scientific Research Institute No. 3 Slonimer addressed to the People's Commissar of Ammunition comrade I.P. Sergeev) indicates the following participants of the work: Kostikov A.G. - Deputy technical director parts, installation initiator; Gwai I.I. – leading designer; Popov A. A. – design technician; Isachenkov – installation mechanic; Pobedonostsev Yu. – prof. advised the subject; Luzhin V. – engineer; Schwartz L.E. - engineer .

In 1938, the Institute designed the construction of a special chemical motorized team for salvo firing of 72 rounds.

In a letter dated 14.II.1939 to Comrade Matveev (V.P.K. of the Defense Committee under the Supreme Soviet of the S.S.S.R.) signed by the Director of Research Institute No. 3 Slonimer and Deputy. Director of Research Institute No. 3, military engineer 1st rank Kostikov, says: “For ground forces, use the experience of a chemical mechanized installation for:

• the use of high-explosive fragmentation missiles to create massive fire in areas;
• the use of incendiary, illuminating and propaganda projectiles;
• development of a 203mm caliber chemical projectile and a mechanized installation providing double the firing range compared to existing chemicals.”

In 1939, Research Institute No. 3 developed two versions of experimental installations on a modified ZIS-6 truck chassis for launching 24 and 16 unguided rockets of 132 mm caliber. The installation of sample II differed from the installation of sample I in the longitudinal arrangement of the guides.

The ammunition load of the mechanized installation /on the ZIS-6/ for launching chemical and high-explosive fragmentation shells of 132mm caliber /MU-132/ was 16 missile shells. The firing system provided for the possibility of firing both single shells and a salvo of the entire ammunition load. The time required to fire a salvo of 16 missiles is 3.5 – 6 seconds. The time required to reload ammunition is 2 minutes with a team of 3 people. The weight of the structure with a full ammunition load of 2350 kg was 80% of the design load of the vehicle.

Field tests of these installations were carried out from September 28 to November 9, 1939 on the territory of the Artillery Research Experimental Test Site (ANIOP, Leningrad) (see photos taken at ANIOP). The results of field tests showed that the installation of the first model cannot be allowed for military testing due to technical imperfections. The installation of model II, which also had a number of serious shortcomings, according to the conclusion of the commission members, could be allowed for military testing after making significant constructive changes. Tests have shown that when firing, the installation of sample II sways and the elevation angle reaches 15″30′, which increases the dispersion of projectiles; when loading the lower row of guides, the projectile fuse can hit the truss structure. Since the end of 1939, the main attention has been focused on improving the layout and design of the II sample installation and eliminating the shortcomings identified during field tests. In this regard, it is necessary to note the characteristic directions in which the work was carried out. On the one hand, this is further development of the II sample installation in order to eliminate its shortcomings, on the other hand, the creation of a more advanced installation, different from the II sample installation. In the tactical and technical assignment for the development of a more advanced installation (“upgraded installation for RS” in the terminology of documents of those years), signed by Yu.P. Pobedonostsev on December 7, 1940, provided for: constructive improvements to the lifting and rotating device, increasing the horizontal guidance angle, and simplifying the sighting device. It was also envisaged to increase the length of the guides to 6000 mm instead of the existing 5000 mm, as well as the possibility of firing unguided rockets of 132 mm and 180 mm caliber. At a meeting at the technical department of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, it was decided to increase the length of the guides even to 7000 mm. The delivery date for the drawings was set for October 1941. Nevertheless, to conduct various types of tests in the workshops of Research Institute No. 3 in 1940 - 1941, several (in addition to the existing) modernized installations for RS were manufactured. Total number in different sources different values ​​are indicated: in some – six, in others – seven. The data from the archive of Research Institute No. 3 as of January 10, 1941 contains data on 7 pieces. (from the document on the readiness of object 224 (topic 24 of the superplan, an experimental series of automatic installations for firing RS-132 mm (in the amount of seven pieces. See letter UANA GAU No. 668059) Based on the available documents - the source states that there were eight installations, but at different times.On February 28, 1941 there were six of them.

The thematic plan of research and development work for 1940 of the Scientific Research Institute No. 3 of the NKB provided for the transfer to the customer - the Red Army AU - of six automatic installations for the RS-132mm. The report on the implementation of experimental orders in production for the month of November 1940 by Research Institute No. 3 of the NKB indicates that with the delivery batch of six installations to the customer by November 1940, the quality control department accepted 5 units, and the military representative - 4 units.

In December 1939, Research Institute No. 3 was tasked with developing a powerful rocket and rocket launcher in a short period of time to carry out the tasks of destroying the enemy’s long-term defensive structures on the Mannerheim Line. The result of the work of the institute's team was a finned missile with a flight range of 2-3 km with a powerful high-explosive warhead with a ton of explosives and an installation with four guides on a T-34 tank or on a sled towed by tractors or tanks. In January 1940, the installation and missiles were sent to the combat area, but a decision was soon made to conduct field tests before using them in combat. The installation with shells was sent to the Leningrad Scientific Testing Artillery Range. The war with Finland soon ended. The need for powerful high-explosive shells disappeared. Further work on the installation and projectile was stopped.

In 1940, the department of 2n Research Institute No. 3 was asked to carry out work on the following objects:

• Object 213 – Electrified installation on a ZIS for firing lighting and signal signals. R.S. calibers 140-165mm. (Note: for the first time, an electric drive for a rocket artillery combat vehicle was used in the design of the BM-21 Polevoy combat vehicle jet system M-21).
• Object 214 – Installation on a 2-axle trailer with 16 guides, length l = 6mt. for R.S. calibers 140-165mm. (remodeling and adaptation of object 204)
• Object 215 – Electrified installation on a ZIS-6 with a transportable reserve of R.S. and with a large range of aiming angles.
• Object 216 – Charging box for PC on trailer
• Object 217 – Installation on a 2-axle trailer for firing long-range missiles
• Object 218 – Anti-aircraft moving installation for 12 pcs. R.S. caliber 140 mm with electric drive
• Object 219 – Anti-aircraft stationary installation for 50-80 R.S. caliber 140 mm.
• Object 220 – Command installation on a ZIS-6 vehicle with an electric current generator, aiming and firing control panel
• Object 221 – Universal installation on a 2-axle trailer for possible range shooting of RS calibers from 82 to 165 mm.
• Object 222 – Mechanized unit for tank escort
• Object 223 – Introduction of mass production of mechanized installations into industry.

In the letter to the acting Director of Research Institute No. 3 Kostikov A.G. about the possibility of submitting to K.V.Sh. with the USSR Council of People's Commissars for the award of the Comrade Stalin Prize, based on the results of work in the period from 1935 to 1940, the following participants in the work are indicated:

• rocket launcher for a sudden, powerful artillery and chemical attack on the enemy using rocket shells - Authors according to the application certificate GB PR No. 3338 9.II.40g (author's certificate No. 3338 dated February 19, 1940) Kostikov Andrey Grigorievich, Gvai Ivan Isidorovich, Aborenkov Vasily Vasilievich.
• tactical and technical justification for the scheme and design of the automatic installation - designers: Pavlenko Alexey Petrovich and Galkovsky Vladimir Nikolaevich.
• testing of high-explosive fragmentation chemical rocket projectiles of 132 mm caliber. – Schwartz Leonid Emilievich, Artemyev Vladimir Andreevich, Shitov Dmitry Alexandrovich.

The basis for nominating Comrade Stalin for the Prize was also the Decision of the Technical Council of Research Institute No. 3 NKB dated December 26, 1940.

№1923

scheme 1, scheme 2

galleries

On April 25, 1941, tactical and technical requirements No. 1923 were approved for the modernization of a mechanized installation for firing rockets.

On June 21, 1941, the installation was demonstrated to the leaders of the All-Union Communist Party (6) and the Soviet government, and on the same day, literally a few hours before the start of the Great Patriotic War, a decision was made to urgently launch the production of M-13 rockets and M-13 installations (see. Scheme 1, Scheme 2). The production of M-13 units was organized at the Voronezh plant named after. Comintern and at the Moscow Kompressor plant. One of the main enterprises for the production of rockets was the Moscow plant named after. Vladimir Ilyich.

During the war, the production of component installations and shells and the transition from mass production to mass production required the creation of a broad structure of cooperation in the country (Moscow, Leningrad, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Nizhny Tagil, Krasnoyarsk, Kolpino, Murom, Kolomna and, possibly , other). It was necessary to organize a separate military acceptance of guards mortar units. For more information about the production of shells and their elements during the war, see our gallery website (follow the links below).

According to various sources, the formation of Guards mortar units began at the end of July - beginning of August (see:). In the first months of the war, the Germans already had information about the new Soviet weapons (see:).

In September-October 1941, on the instructions of the Main Armament Directorate of the Guards Mortar Units, the M-13 installation was developed on the STZ-5 NATI tractor chassis modified for installation. The development was entrusted to the Voronezh plant named after. Comintern and SKB at the Moscow plant “Compressor”. SKB carried out the development more efficiently, and prototypes were manufactured and tested in a short time. As a result, the installation was put into service and put into mass production.

In the December days of 1941, SKB, on the instructions of the Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army, developed, in particular, for the defense of the city of Moscow, a 16-round installation on an armored railway platform. The installation was a missile launcher of the serial M-13 installation on a modified ZIS-6 truck chassis with a modified base. (for more information about other works of this period and the war period in general, see: and).

At a technical meeting at SKB on April 21, 1942, it was decided to develop a normalized installation known as the M-13N (after the war BM-13N). The goal of the development was to create the most advanced installation, the design of which would take into account all the changes previously made to various modifications of the M-13 installation and the creation of such a throwing installation that could be manufactured and assembled on a stand and, when assembled, installed and assembled on a chassis cars of any brand without extensive processing of technical documentation, as was the case previously. The goal was achieved by dividing the M-13 installation into separate units. Each node was considered as an independent product with an index assigned to it, after which it could be used as a borrowed product in any installation.

When testing components and parts for the normalized combat installation BM-13N, the following were obtained:

• increase in the firing sector by 20%
• reduction of forces on the handles of guidance mechanisms by one and a half to two times;
• doubling the vertical aiming speed;
• increasing the survivability of the combat installation by armoring the rear wall of the cabin; gas tank and gas lines;
• increasing the stability of the installation in the stowed position by introducing a support bracket to disperse the load on the side members of the vehicle;
• increasing the operational reliability of the unit (simplification of the support beam, rear axle, etc.;
• significant reduction in the volume of welding work, machining, elimination of bending of truss rods;
• reducing the weight of the unit by 250 kg, despite the introduction of armor on the rear wall of the cabin and the gas tank;
• reduction of production time for the manufacture of the installation due to the assembly of the artillery part separately from the vehicle chassis and installation of the installation on the vehicle chassis using fastening clamps, which made it possible to eliminate the drilling of holes in the side members;
• reducing by several times the idle time of the chassis of vehicles arriving at the plant for installation of the unit;
• reduction in the number of standard sizes of fasteners from 206 to 96, as well as the number of part names: in the rotary frame - from 56 to 29, in the truss from 43 to 29, in the support frame - from 15 to 4, etc. The use of normalized components and products in the design of the installation made it possible to use a high-performance in-line method for assembling and installing the installation.

The launcher was mounted on a modified chassis of a Studebaker series truck (see photo) with a 6x6 wheel arrangement, which was supplied under Lend-Lease. The normalized M-13N mount was adopted by the Red Army in 1943. The installation became the main model used until the end of the Great Patriotic War. Other types of modified chassis of foreign-made trucks were also used.

At the end of 1942 V.V. Aborenkov proposed adding two additional pins to the M-13 projectile in order to launch it from dual guides. For this purpose, a prototype was made, which was a serial M-13 installation, in which the swinging part (guides and truss) was replaced. The guide consisted of two steel strips placed on an edge, each of them had a groove cut for the drive pin. Each pair of strips was fastened opposite each other with grooves in a vertical plane. The field tests carried out did not give the expected improvement in the accuracy of fire and the work was stopped.

At the beginning of 1943, SKB specialists carried out work to create installations with a normalized propellant installation for the M-13 installation on modified chassis of Chevrolet and ZIS-6 trucks. During January - May 1943, a prototype was manufactured on a modified Chevrolet truck chassis and field tests were carried out. The installations were adopted by the Red Army. However, due to the availability of sufficient quantities of chassis of these brands, they did not go into mass production.

In 1944, SKB specialists developed the M-13 installation on an armored chassis of the ZIS-6 vehicle, modified for installation of a missile launcher, for launching M-13 projectiles. For this purpose, the normalized “beam” type guides of the M-13N installation were shortened to 2.5 meters and assembled into a package on two spars. The truss was made of shortened pipes in the form of a pyramidal frame, turned upside down, and served mainly as a support for fastening the screw of the lifting mechanism. The elevation angle of the guide package was changed from the cockpit using handwheels and the cardan shaft of the vertical guidance mechanism. A prototype was made. However, due to the weight of the armor, the front axle and springs of the ZIS-6 vehicle were overloaded, as a result of which further installation work was stopped.

At the end of 1943 - beginning of 1944, SKB specialists and rocket projectile developers were faced with the question of improving the accuracy of fire of 132 mm caliber projectiles. To impart rotational motion, the designers introduced tangential holes into the projectile design along the diameter of the head working belt. The same solution was used in the design of the standard M-31 projectile, and was proposed for the M-8 projectile. As a result of this, the accuracy indicator increased, but there was a decrease in the flight range indicator. Compared to the standard M-13 projectile, whose flight range was 8470 m, the range of the new projectile, designated M-13UK, was 7900 m. Despite this, the projectile was adopted by the Red Army.

During the same period, NII-1 specialists (Lead Designer V.G. Bessonov) developed and then tested the M-13DD projectile. The projectile had the best accuracy, but it could not be fired from the standard M-13 mounts, since the projectile had a rotational motion and, when launched from the usual standard guides, destroyed them, tearing off the linings from them. IN to a lesser extent this also took place when launching M-13UK shells. The M-13DD projectile was adopted by the Red Army at the end of the war. Mass production of the projectile was not organized.

At the same time, SKB specialists began exploratory design studies and experimental work to improve the accuracy of fire of M-13 and M-8 rockets by testing the guides. It was based on new principle launching rockets and ensuring their sufficient strength for firing M-13DD and M-20 projectiles. Since imparting rotation to finned unguided rocket projectiles at the initial segment of their flight trajectory improved accuracy, the idea was born of imparting rotation to projectiles on guides without drilling tangential holes in the projectiles, which consume part of the engine power to rotate them and thereby reduce their flight range. This idea led to the creation of spiral guides. The design of the spiral guide took the form of a barrel formed by four spiral rods, three of which were smooth steel pipes, and the fourth, the leading one, was made of a steel square with selected grooves forming an H-shaped cross-section profile. The rods were welded to the legs of the ring clips. In the breech there was a lock for holding the projectile in the guide and electrical contacts. Special equipment was created for bending guide rods in a spiral, having different angles of twisting and welding of guide barrels along their length. Initially, the installation had 12 guides, rigidly connected into four cassettes (three guides per cassette). Prototypes of the 12-round M-13-CH installation were developed and manufactured. However, sea trials showed that the vehicle chassis was overloaded, and a decision was made to remove two guides from the upper cassettes. The launcher was mounted on a modified chassis of a Studebeker off-road truck. It consisted of a set of guides, a truss, a rotating frame, a subframe, a sight, vertical and horizontal guidance mechanisms, and electrical equipment. Except for the cassettes with guides and the truss, all other components were unified with the corresponding components of the M-13N normalized combat installation. Using the M-13-SN installation, it was possible to launch M-13, M-13UK, M-20 and M-13DD projectiles of 132 mm caliber. Significantly better indicators were obtained in terms of accuracy of fire: with M-13 shells - 3.2 times, M-13UK - 1.1 times, M-20 - 3.3 times, M-13DD - 1.47 times) . With the improvement in the accuracy of firing M-13 rocket projectiles, the flight range did not decrease, as was the case when firing M-13UK projectiles from M-13 installations that had “beam” type guides. There was no longer a need to manufacture M-13UK projectiles, which were complicated by drilling in the engine casing. Installation of the M-13-SN was simpler, less labor-intensive and cheaper to manufacture. A number of labor-intensive machine tools have been eliminated: gouging long guides, drilling a large number of rivet holes, riveting linings to the guides, turning, calibrating, manufacturing and cutting threads of spars and nuts for them, complex machining of locks and lock boxes, etc. The prototypes were manufactured at the Moscow Kompressor plant (No. 733) and were subjected to field and sea trials, which ended with good results. After the end of the war, the M-13-SN installation passed military tests in 1945 with good results. Due to the fact that the M-13 type projectiles had to be modernized, the installation was not put into service. After the 1946 series, on the basis of NCOM order No. 27 of October 24, 1946, the installation was discontinued. However, in 1950 it was produced Quick Guide on the BM-13-SN combat vehicle

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, one of the directions in the development of rocket artillery was the use of missile launchers developed during the war for installation on modified types of domestically produced chassis. Several variants were created based on the installation of the M-13N on modified chassis of the ZIS-151 (see photo), ZIL-151 (see photo), ZIL-157 (see photo), ZIL-131 (see photo) trucks. .

M-13 type installations were exported to different countries after the war. One of them was China (see photo from the military parade on the occasion National Day 1956, held in Beijing (Beijing).

In 1959, while working on a projectile for the future M-21 Field Rocket System, the developers were interested in the issue of technical documentation for the production of the ROFS M-13. This is what was written in the letter to the deputy director for scientific affairs of NII-147 (now FSUE SNPP Splav (Tula), signed by the chief engineer of plant No. 63 SSNH Toporov (State plant No. 63 of the Sverdlovsk Economic Council, 22.VII.1959 No. 1959c): “In response to your request No. 3265 dated 3/UII-59 about sending technical documentation on the production of ROFS M-13, I inform you that at present the plant does not produce this product, and the secrecy stamp has been removed from the technical documentation.

The factory has outdated tracing papers technological process mechanical processing of the product. The plant has no other documentation.

Due to the workload of the photocopying machine, the album of technical processes will be blueprinted and sent to you no earlier than in a month.”

Compound:

Main cast:

• M-13 installations (combat vehicles M-13, BM-13) (see. gallery images M-13).
• The main missiles are M-13, M-13UK, M-13UK-1.

• Machines for transporting ammunition (transport vehicles).

The M-13 projectile (see diagram) consisted of two main parts: the warhead and the rocket part (jet powder engine). Warhead consisted of a body with a fuse point, the bottom of the warhead and an explosive charge with an additional detonator. The projectile's jet powder engine consisted of a chamber, a nozzle cover that closed to seal the powder charge with two cardboard plates, a grate, a powder charge, an igniter and a stabilizer. On the outer part of both ends of the chamber there were two centering bulges with guide pins screwed into them. Guide pins held the projectile on the combat vehicle's guide before firing and directed its movement along the guide. The chamber contained a powder charge of nitroglycerin powder, consisting of seven identical cylindrical single-channel bombs. In the nozzle part of the chamber, the checkers rested on a grate. To ignite the powder charge, an igniter made of black gunpowder is inserted into the upper part of the chamber. The gunpowder was placed in a special case. Stabilization of the M-13 projectile in flight was carried out using the tail unit.

The flight range of the M-13 projectile reached 8470 m, but there was very significant dispersion. In 1943, a modernized version of the rocket was developed, designated M-13-UK (improved accuracy). To increase the accuracy of fire, the M-13-UK projectile has 12 tangentially located holes in the front centering thickening of the rocket part (see photo 1, photo 2), through which, during operation of the rocket engine, part of the powder gases escapes, causing the projectile to rotate. Although the projectile’s flight range decreased somewhat (to 7.9 km), the improvement in accuracy led to a decrease in the dispersion area and an increase in fire density by 3 times compared to M-13 projectiles. In addition, the M-13-UK projectile has a nozzle critical section diameter that is slightly smaller than that of the M-13 projectile. The M-13-UK projectile was adopted by the Red Army in April 1944. The M-13UK-1 projectile with improved accuracy was equipped with flat stabilizers made of steel sheet.

Performance characteristics:

According to the English catalog Jane's Armor and Artillery 1995-1996, section of Egypt, in the mid-90s of the 20th century due to the impossibility of obtaining, in particular, shells for combat vehicles of the M-13 type Arab Organization for Industrialization was engaged in the production of 132 mm caliber rockets. Analysis of the data presented below allows us to conclude that we are talking about a projectile of the M-13UK type.

The Arab Organization for Industrialization included Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia with the majority of production facilities located in Egypt and with major funding from the Gulf countries. Following the Egyptian-Israeli agreement in mid-1979, the other three Gulf states withdrew their funds earmarked for the Arab Organization for Industrialization, and at that time (Jane's Armor and Artillery catalog data 1982-1983) Egypt received other aid in projects.

Testing and operation

The first battery of field rocket artillery, sent to the front on the night of July 1-2, 1941 under the command of Captain I.A. Flerov, was armed with seven installations manufactured in the workshops of Research Institute No. 3. With its first salvo at 15:15 on July 14, 1941 year, the battery wiped out the Orsha railway junction from the face of the earth, along with the German trains with troops and military equipment located on it.

The exceptional efficiency of the battery of Captain I. A. Flerov and the seven more such batteries formed after it contributed to the rapid increase in the rate of production of jet weapons. Already in the autumn of 1941, 45 three-battery divisions with four launchers per battery operated at the fronts. For their armament in 1941, 593 M-13 installations were manufactured. As military equipment arrived from industry, the formation of rocket artillery regiments began, consisting of three divisions armed with M-13 launchers and an anti-aircraft division. The regiment had 1,414 personnel, 36 M-13 launchers and 12 37-mm anti-aircraft guns. The regiment's salvo amounted to 576 132mm shells. At the same time, enemy manpower and military equipment were destroyed over an area of ​​over 100 hectares. Officially, the regiments were called Guards Mortar Regiments of Reserve Artillery Supreme High Command. Unofficially, the rocket artillery installations were called "Katyusha". According to the memoirs of Evgeniy Mikhailovich Martynov (Tula), who was a child during the war, in Tula at first they were called infernal machines. We would like to note that multi-charge machines were also called hellish machines and in the 19th century.

Subsequently, by analogy with “Katyusha”, the nickname “Andryusha” was given by Soviet soldiers to another rocket artillery installation BM-31-12, but this nickname did not become so widespread and popular.

History of the creation of weapons

M-13 shell

Memorial complex in the village of Pishchalovo, Orsha district. Place of first use of the BM-13 “KATYUSHA” installation

Back in 1920, employees of the Riga VEF plant under the leadership of Alexander Tipainis developed an experimental prototype of the Oscars experimental rocket launcher. Despite the success of the prototype, no funds were allocated for further production, and the project never reached the mass production stage. In January 1921, the drawings and other important documentation fell into the hands of Soviet security officers and NKVD agents. [ ] In 1921, employees of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) N.I. Tikhomirov and V.A. Artemyev began developing rockets for aircraft.

In 1938-1941, at Research Institute No. 3 of the NKB (from 1938, former RNII) under the leadership of chief designer A.V. Kostikov, engineers: I.I. Gvai, V.N. Galkovsky, A.P. Pavlenko, R. I Popov, N.I. Tikhomirov, V.A. Artemyev and others created a multi-charge launcher mounted on a truck.

In March 1941, field tests of the installations, designated BM-13 (combat vehicle with 132 mm caliber shells), were successfully carried out. The 132 mm M-13 rocket and the launcher based on the ZIS-6 BM-13 truck were put into service on June 21, 1941; It was this type of combat vehicle that first received the nickname “Katyusha”. The BM-13 installations were first tested in combat conditions at 10 a.m. on July 14, 1941. The battery of Captain Flerov, who took part in the creation of the BM-13, fired at enemy troops and equipment at the railway junction of the city of Orsha. Since the spring of 1942, the rocket mortar was installed mainly on English and American all-wheel drive chassis imported under Lend-Lease. The most famous among them was the Studebaker US6. During the Great Patriotic War, a significant number of variants of RS shells and launchers for them were created; In total, Soviet industry produced approximately 10,000 rocket artillery combat vehicles during the war years.

Origin of the nickname

There is no single version of why the BM-13 began to be called “Katyusha”. There are several assumptions. The most common and well-founded are two versions of the origin of the nickname, which are not mutually exclusive:

• Based on the title of Blanter’s song, which became popular before the war, based on the words of Isakovsky “Katyusha”. The version is convincing, since Captain Flerov’s battery fired at the enemy, firing a salvo at the Market Square of the city of Rudnya. This was one of the first combat uses of Katyushas, ​​confirmed in historical literature. The installations were shooting from a high, steep mountain - the association with the high, steep bank in the song immediately arose among the fighters. Finally, until recently, Andrei Sapronov, a former sergeant of the headquarters company of the 217th separate communications battalion of the 144th Infantry Division of the 20th Army, was alive until recently, later a military historian, who gave it this name. Red Army soldier Kashirin, having arrived with him at the battery after the shelling of Rudnya, exclaimed in surprise: “What a song!” “Katyusha,” answered Andrei Sapronov (from the memoirs of A. Sapronov in the Rossiya newspaper No. 23 dated June 21-27, 2001 and in the Parliamentary newspaper No. 80 dated May 5, 2005). Through the communications center of the headquarters company, the news about a miracle weapon called “Katyusha” within 24 hours became the property of the entire 20th Army, and through its command - the entire country. On July 13, 2012, the veteran and “godfather” of Katyusha turned 91, and on February 26, 2013 he passed away. On the desk he left his latest work - a chapter about the first salvo of Katyusha rockets for the multi-volume history of the Great Patriotic War, which is being prepared for publication.
• The name may be associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Comintern plant. And front-line soldiers loved to give nicknames to their weapons. For example, the M-30 howitzer was nicknamed “Mother”, the ML-20 howitzer gun was nicknamed “Emelka”. Yes, and the BM-13 was at first sometimes called “Raisa Sergeevna,” thus deciphering the abbreviation RS (missile).

In addition to the two main ones, there are also many other, less well-known versions of the origin of the nickname - from very realistic to those of a purely legendary nature:

Similar nicknames

In addition to the popular nickname “Katyusha”, which became widely known throughout the world, in relation to Soviet rocket artillery combat vehicles during the Great Patriotic War, there were also a number of its analogues, less known.

There is an opinion, expressed in English-language sources, that the BM-31-12 combat vehicle, by analogy with the Katyusha, received the nickname “Andryusha” from Soviet soldiers, although, perhaps, “Andryusha” was called the M-30. Also very popular, it, however, did not receive such significant distribution and fame as the Katyusha, and did not spread to other models of launchers; even the BM-31-12s themselves were often called “Katyushas” rather than by their own nickname. Following the “Katyusha”, Soviet soldiers also christened a German weapon of a similar type with the Russian name - the 15 cm Nb.W 41 (Nebelwerfer) towed rocket mortar, which received the nickname “Vanyusha”. In addition, the high-explosive M-30 rocket, used from the simplest portable frame-type multiple rocket launchers, subsequently also received several humorous nicknames of a similar type: “Ivan Dolbay”, associated with the high destructive power of the projectile, and “Luka” - on behalf of the character Luka Mudishchev from a pornographic poem of the 19th century, in connection with characteristic shape projectile head; Due to the obvious obscene subtext of the joke, the nickname “Luka,” which had a certain popularity among soldiers, was practically not reflected in the Soviet press and literature and remained little known in general.

Mortar launchers were called “Marusya” (derived from MARS - mortar artillery rockets), and on the Volkhov Front they were called “guitar”.

While in the Soviet troops the BM-13 combat vehicles and analogues received the stable nickname “Katyusha”, in the German troops these vehicles were nicknamed “Stalin’s organs” (German: Stalinorgel) - due to the association appearance rocket launcher guide package with pipe system of this musical instrument and because of the characteristic sound made when launching rockets. Soviet installations of this type became known under this nickname, in addition to Germany, also in a number of other countries - Denmark (Danish Stalinorgel), Finland (Finnish Stalinin urut), France (French Orgues de Staline), Norway (Norwegian Stalinorgel), the Netherlands (Dutch. Stalinorgel), Hungary (Hungarian: Sztálinorgona) and Sweden (Swedish: Stalins orgel).

The Soviet nickname “Katyusha” also spread among German soldiers - Katjuscha. From the memoirs of intelligence officer N.P. Rusanov, we know about the inadequate reaction of some German soldiers to this word:

When they brought him (the sergeant major) to his team, there was a Katyusha at the headquarters. As soon as the German heard this word “Katyusha”, he immediately began to shake all over, rushed to the side, so that they could barely hold him back. How much laughter we boys had! .

Notes

1. Luknitsky P. N. Through the entire blockade. - L.: Lenizdat, 1988. - P. 193.
2. Gordon L. Rottman.// FUBAR (F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition): Soldier Slang of World War II. - Osprey, 2007. - P. 278-279. - 296 p. - ISBN 1-84603-175-3.
3. Katyusha- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
4. Steven J. Zaloga, James Grandsen. Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. - London: Arms and Armor Press, 1984. - P. 153. - 240 p. - ISBN 0-85368-606-8.
5. “Luka” and “Katyusha” against “Vanyusha”. “Equipment and weapons” No. 1 1995
6. AKIMOV V. N., KOROTEEV A. S., GAFAROV A. A. and others. Weapon of Victory - “Katyusha” // Research Center named after M. V. Keldysh. 1933-2003: 70 years at the cutting edge of rocket and space technology. - Mechanical engineering. - M, 2003. - P. 92-101. - 439 p.
7. Pervushin A.I."Red space. Starships of the Soviet Empire." 2007. Moscow. "Yauza", "Eksmo". ISBN 5-699-19622-6.
8. MILITARY LITERATURE - [Military History]- Fugate B., Operation Barbarossa
9. Andronikov N. G., Galitsan A. S., Kiryan M. M. et al. The Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945: Dictionary-reference book / Under. ed. M. M. Kiryana. - M.: Politizdat, 1985. - P. 204. - 527 p. - 200,000 copies.
10. "K-22" - Battle cruiser / [under general. ed. N. V. Ogarkova]. - M.: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1979. - P. 124. - (Soviet Military Encyclopedia: [in 8 volumes]; 1976-1980, vol. 4).
11. Alexander Borisovich Shirokorad. “Luka” and “Katyusha” against “Vanyusha”. Multiple launch rocket systems in the Great Patriotic War (undefined) . Independent Military Review (March 5, 2010). Retrieved November 29, 2011. Archived February 8, 2012.
12. Warbot J. J."Etymology // Russian language. Encyclopedia. - 2nd ed., revised and supplemented. - M.: Bolshaya Russian encyclopedia; Bustard, 1997. - pp. 643-647.
13. Lazarev L. L. The legend of the first "Katyusha"// Touching the sky. - M.: Profizdat, 1984. Archived March 4, 2016 on the Wayback Machine.

What “Katyusha” is to a Russian, is “hellfire” to a German. The nickname that Wehrmacht soldiers gave to the Soviet rocket artillery combat vehicle was fully justified. In just 8 seconds, a regiment of 36 mobile BM-13 units fired 576 shells at the enemy. The peculiarity of salvo fire was that one blast wave was superimposed on another, the law of addition of impulses came into force, which greatly increased the destructive effect. Fragments of hundreds of mines, heated to 800 degrees, destroyed everything around. As a result, an area of ​​100 hectares turned into a scorched field, riddled with craters from shells. Only those Nazis who were lucky enough to be in a securely fortified dugout at the moment of the salvo managed to escape. The Nazis called this pastime a “concert.” The fact is that the salvoes of Katyushas were accompanied by a terrible roar; for this sound, the Wehrmacht soldiers awarded the rocket mortars with another nickname - “Stalin’s organs”.

See in the AiF.ru infographics what the BM-13 rocket artillery system looked like.

The birth of Katyusha

In the USSR it was customary to say that the Katyusha was created not by some individual designer, but by the Soviet people. The country's best minds really worked on the development of combat vehicles. The creation of rockets using smokeless powder began in 1921 employees of the Leningrad Gas Dynamic Laboratory N. Tikhomirov And V. Artemyev. In 1922, Artemyev was accused of espionage and the following year he was sent to serve his sentence on Solovki; in 1925 he returned back to the laboratory.

In 1937, the RS-82 missiles, which were developed by Artemyev, Tikhomirov and who joined them G. Langemak, were adopted by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Air Fleet. In the same year, in connection with the Tukhachevsky case, everyone who worked on new types of weapons was subjected to “cleansing” by the NKVD. Langemak was arrested as a German spy and executed in 1938. In the summer of 1939, aircraft rockets developed with his participation were successfully used in battles with Japanese troops on the Khalkhin Gol River.

From 1939 to 1941 employees of the Moscow Jet Research Institute I. Gwai,N. Galkovsky,A. Pavlenko,A. Popov worked on the creation of a self-propelled multi-charger rocket fire. On June 17, 1941, she took part in a demonstration of the latest models of artillery weapons. Attended the tests People's Commissar of Defense Semyon Timoshenko, his Deputy Grigory Kulik And Chief of the General Staff Georgy Zhukov.

Self-propelled rocket launchers were the last to be shown, and at first the trucks with iron guides attached to the top did not make any impression on the tired commission representatives. But the volley itself was remembered for a long time: according to eyewitnesses, the military leaders, seeing the rising column of flame, fell into a stupor for some time. Tymoshenko was the first to come to his senses; he sharply addressed his deputy: “Why were they silent and not reported about the presence of such weapons?” Kulik tried to justify himself by saying that this artillery system was simply not fully developed until recently. On June 21, 1941, literally a few hours before the start of the war, after inspecting rocket launchers, he decided to launch their mass production.

The feat of Captain Flerov

The first commander of the first Katyusha battery was Captain Ivan Andreevich Flerov. The country's leadership chose Flerov to test top-secret weapons, among other things, because he had proven himself excellent during Soviet-Finnish war. At that time he commanded a battery of the 94th Howitzer Artillery Regiment, whose fire managed to break through. For his heroism in the battles near Lake Saunayarvi, Flerov was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

The full baptism of fire of the Katyushas took place on July 14, 1941. Rocket artillery vehicles under the leadership of Flerov fired salvos at the Orsha railway station, where a large amount of enemy manpower, equipment and provisions were concentrated. This is what I wrote about these salvos in my diary: Chief of the Wehrmacht General Staff Franz Halder: “On July 14, near Orsha, the Russians used weapons unknown until that time. A fiery barrage of shells burned the Orsha railway station and all the trains with personnel and military equipment of the arriving military units. The metal was melting, the earth was burning.”

Adolf Gitler I met the news about the emergence of a new Russian miracle weapon very painfully. Chief Wilhelm Franz Canaris received a beating from the Fuhrer because his department had not yet stolen the drawings of the rocket launchers. As a result, a real hunt was announced for the Katyushas, ​​in which they attracted chief saboteur of the Third Reich Otto Skorzeny.

Flerov’s battery, meanwhile, continued to smash the enemy. After Orsha followed successful operations near Yelnya and Roslavl. On October 7, Flerov and his Katyushas found themselves surrounded in the Vyazma cauldron. The commander did everything to save the battery and break through to his own, but in the end he was ambushed near the village of Bogatyr. Finding themselves in a hopeless situation, his fighters also accepted an unequal battle. The Katyushas fired all their shells at the enemy, after which Flerov self-detonated the rocket launcher, and the rest of the batteries followed the commander’s example. The Nazis failed to take prisoners, as well as receive the “Iron Cross” for capturing top-secret equipment in that battle.

Flerov was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, the commander of the first Katyusha battery was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

"Katyusha" versus "donkey"

Along the front lines of the Great Patriotic War, the Katyusha often had to exchange volleys with the Nebelwerfer (German Nebelwerfer - “fog gun”) - a German rocket launcher. For the characteristic sound that this six-barreled 150-mm mortar made when firing, Soviet soldiers nicknamed it “donkey.” However, when the soldiers of the Red Army repulsed enemy equipment, the contemptuous nickname was forgotten - in the service of our artillery, the trophy immediately turned into “vanyusha”. True, Soviet soldiers did not have any tender feelings for these weapons. The fact is that the installation was not self-propelled; the 540-kilogram rocket mortar had to be towed. When fired, its shells left a thick trail of smoke in the sky, which unmasked the positions of the artillerymen, who could immediately be covered by enemy howitzer fire.

Nebelwerfer. German rocket launcher. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The best designers of the Third Reich failed to construct their own analogue of the Katyusha until the end of the war. German developments either exploded during testing at the test site or were not particularly accurate.

Why was the multiple launch rocket system nicknamed “Katyusha”?

Soldiers at the front loved to name their weapons. For example, the M-30 howitzer was called “Mother”, the ML-20 howitzer gun was called “Emelka”. BM-13, at first, was sometimes called “Raisa Sergeevna,” as the front-line soldiers deciphered the abbreviation RS (missile). It is not known for certain who was the first to call the rocket launcher “Katyusha” and why. The most common versions link the appearance of the nickname:

• with a song popular during the war years M. Blanter to words M. Isakovsky"Katyusha";
• with the letter “K” stamped on the installation frame. This is how the Comintern plant labeled its products;
• with the name of the beloved of one of the fighters, which he wrote on his BM-13.

*Mannerheim Line- a complex of defensive structures 135 km long on the Karelian Isthmus.

**Abwehr- (German Abwehr - “defense”, “reflection”) - organ military intelligence and German counterintelligence in 1919-1944. He was a member of the Wehrmacht High Command.

***The last combat report of Captain Flerov: “Oct 7. 1941 21 hours. We were surrounded near the village of Bogatyr - 50 km from Vyazma. We will hold out until the end. No exit. We are preparing for self-explosion. Farewell, comrades."