Path: spln!rex!extra.newsguy.com!lotsanews.com!newsfeed.mathworks.com!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!news-out.visi.com!hermes.visi.com!gemini.tycho.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Approved: sci-military-moderated@retro.com Return-Path: news-bounce@mtu.ru Delivery-Date: Tue Sep 18 22:59:45 2001 Delivery-Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 22:59:45 -0700 for <sci-military-moderated@retro.com>; Tue, 18 Sep 2001 22:59:43 -0700 (PDT) id 15ja9Y-0007jR-00 for sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org; Wed, 19 Sep 2001 07:44:08 +0200 for sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org; Wed, 19 Sep 2001 09:44:02 +0400 (MSD) (envelope-from news-bounce@mtu.ru) To: sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org From: "å×ÇÅÎÉÊ ïÖÏÇÉÎ" <siber_bear@mtu-net.ru> Newsgroups: sci.military.moderated Subject: Armor in Korea Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 09:35:57 +0400 Organization: MTU-Intel ISP Message-ID: <9o9bb0$tk$1@gavrilo.mtu.ru> X-NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp132-131.dialup.mtu-net.ru X-Complaints-To: usenet-abuse@mtu.ru X-NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 05:44:02 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Priority: 3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Content-Length: 7278 Lines: 119 NNTP-Posting-Host: 1e655101.newsreader.tycho.net X-Trace: 1001099373 gemini.tycho.net 320 205.179.181.194 X-Complaints-To: abuse@tycho.net Xref: spln sci.military.moderated:39372 To whom it may concern. The article by Mikhail Baryatinsky is slated for the 6/2001 issue of the Arms magazine. Ivan the Bear =Nothing per-r-rsonal, just business= Tanks in Korea By Mikhail Baryatinsky At 05:00 hours 25 June 1950, T-34-85 MBTs of the Korean People's Army (KPA) 109th armoured regiment crossed the 38th parallel, thus beginning the Korean war. The formation of the KPA armoured units dates back to 1945 when the command activated the 15th armoured training unit equipped with US-made Stuart and Sherman tanks received from China and two Soviet T-34-85s. The Korean tankers were trained by 30 Soviet instructors. In May 1949, the unit was transformed into the 105th armoured brigade. By the end of that year, three more units (namely the 107th, 109th and 203rd) had been equipped with T-34s at full strength, each unit numbering 40 tanks. By the end of 1950, the KPA armour had numbered 258 T-34-85 tanks and 75 SU-76M self-propelled artillery systems. In addition to the tanks of the 105th brigade, there were 20 tanks operated by the 208th training regiment, the rest of the strength being in the newly-activated units. The 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 45th and 46th armoured regiments counted 15 tanks each, while the 16th and 17th armoured brigades had 40-45 ones each. The superiority of North Korean troops was overwhelming where the quantity and quality of the armoured forces available are concerned,. South Korea had no tanks whatsoever, and the US 8th army deployed in South Korea and Japan could boast only four self-sustained tank battalions equipped with M24 Chaffee light tanks. The state of the US armoured forces, as of the beginning of the Korean War, was critical. The numerous armoured troops were almost totally disbanded following the end of World War Two. The CONUS (Continental USA) numbered merely three tank battalions, namely the 6th battalion armed with M26 tanks, the 70th training battalion at Ft.Knox with M4A3s and M26 as well as the 73rd battalion at the Ft.Benning infantry school, equipped with M26s. Under the circumstances, the US top brass ordered 54 Sherman M4A3(76)W HVSS tanks de-mothballed and fixed to equip the newly-activated 89th battalion. The tanks were mostly known in Korea under their manufacturer designation - the M4A3E8. The mountainous terrain of the central part of the Korean Peninsula prevented the command from employing large armoured formations. That is why the armour of the KPA was attached to the 1st, 3rd and 4th infantry divisions pushing towards Seoul. The tank attacks were a magnificent success. The South Korean infantry units were totally demoralised. This was not only because many of the soldiers had never seen tanks before. They soon found out that their anti-tank weapons, i.e. 57-mm AT guns and 2.36-in bazookas, could not harm T-34-85s. On 28 June 1950, Seoul fell. On 5 July, 33 T-34-85 tanks of the KPA 107th regiment attacked the US Army 24th infantry division in their positions. The Americans tried to repel the attack by firing their 105-mm howitzers and 75-mm recoilless rifles. However, their HE ammunition proved ineffective and there were only six 105-mm shaped-charge rounds. By the way, it was them that killed two tanks from 500 yards away. During the battle, the US infantrymen made 22 bazooka shots, none of which was effective! 10 July 1950 saw the first encounter between T-34-85s and M24s of the Co A, 78th tank battalion. Two M24s were destroyed, while the T-34s suffered no losses. The 75-mm rounds could not penetrate the frontal arc of the Soviet-built tanks. The Able company lost three more tanks the following day, and by the end of July it had almost vanished as a combat unit since it numbered only two tanks out of the 14! This demoralised American tankmen and made infantrymen sapped infantrymen's morale, as they did not consider the M24 effective any longer. They felt some relief only when 3.5-in super-bazookas came in service. In the battle of Taechong the 105th brigade lost 15 T-34-85s, seven of which were killed by these anti-tank weapons. In late July 1950, the 89th battalion arrived at the Pusan area of operations (AO). It saw action on 2 August. A Sherman company assaulted North Koreans near Masan but had to fall back having encountered a North Korean platoon of 45-mm anti-tank guns. Only on 17 August 1950 did the T-34-85 tanks met a worthy rival. The tanks of the 107th armoured regiment assaulted positions of the 1st US Marine brigade at the Pusan area of operations. The North Koreans, who were used to win at no cost, were too self-assured when they saw familiar M24s. However, their smugness cost them dear. These were M26 Pershing tanks of the 1st US Marine brigade. The fires of 90-mm guns of the Pershings, coupled with those of super-bazookas, claimed three T-34-85s. This was the turning point of the war. The tankmen of North Korea, while well-trained for offensive operations, turned out to be unprepared to fight American tanks in positional warfare - the Americans finally showed an increased level of combat training. By September 1950, the Pusan area of operations featured a parity of forces. The American amphibious landing operation at Inchon wrestled superiority. Inchon was a stone's throw away from Seoul, where the KPA had only 16 T-34-85 tanks of the 42nd armour regiment manned with crews that had seen no action, as well as 10 to 15 tanks of the 105th brigade. In combat on 16-20 September, all of them were destroyed. The first real battle between T-34-85s and Shermans took place on 27 September. 10 T-34s launched an attack against one of the 70th tank battalion's M4A3E8 tank platoons. Three tanks of the latter were destroyed at once. Then one T-34-85 drove through a transport convoy smashing 15 trucks and jeeps to go up in flames due to a direct hit by a 105-mm enemy howitzer. Four more T-34-85s fell to super-bazukas, with another two being destroyed by the main body of the 70th tank battalion. By the end of the year, the North Korea troops had lost 239 T-34-85 tanks and 74 SU-76M self-propelled systems, most of them having been destroyed by super-bazookas and aircraft. Better training of US tankers took its toll on the Northerners, even though the T-34-85 was much superior to the M24 Chaffee in all fields. As to the M4A3E8, the T-34 featured virtually same characteristics but could boast a more formidable main armament. The T-34-85 had no problem with destroying the Sherman at the line-of-sight range with its organic armour-piercing (AP) rounds, while the US-made tank could be that effective only when firing the brand-new armour-piercing or high-explosive antitank (HEAT) rounds. The T-34-85 could not counter in Korea the M26 Pershing and the M46 Patton tanks only, as they featured an enhanced armour protection and armament. In late 1950, the US forces in Korea numbered 1,326 tanks, 679 of which being M4A3E8s. The Chinese People's Volunteers who launched an offensive in October 1950 had no tanks whatsoever. However, they sent 31 infantry divisions against 18 American ones, which resulted in the Americans having to pull out beyond the 38th parallel in early 1951. By mid-January, the 8th army numbered 670 tanks. In April that year, the active ground operations in Korea ceased.