Difference between pages "IJN Shimakaze" and "T-34-85"

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{{About
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| about = Soviet medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
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| usage = other versions
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| link = T-34 (Family)
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}}
 
{{Specs-Card
 
{{Specs-Card
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|code=jp_destroyer_shimakaze
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|code=ussr_t_34_85_zis_53
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|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
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|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png|ArtImage2_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
== Description ==
 
== Description ==
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<!-- ''In the first part of the description, cover the history of the ship's creation and military application. In the second part, tell the reader about using this ship in the game. Add a screenshot: if a beginner player has a hard time remembering vehicles by name, a picture will help them identify the ship in question.'' -->
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<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
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The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a squadron rank {{Specs|rank}} Japanese destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during [[Update "Raining Fire"]].
+
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. Though similar to the [[T-34-85 (D-5T)]], it has an improved gun and a full crew for combat efficiency.
 +
 
 +
The T-34-85 is an improvement over its predecessor, the T-34-85 (D-5T) with a better armament, a shorter reload time, APCR ammo, and an additional crew member. Aside from that, both tanks share the same technical specification.
 +
 
 +
The front hull armour is only 45 mm thick, even when sloped this is a pitiful amount of armour to fight with against the other vehicles at the same BR as every other tank gun can penetrate that armour. Thus if possible, do not prolong the exposure of the hull armour towards the enemy.
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
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{{Specs-Fleet-Armour}}
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{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}
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<!-- ''Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.'' -->
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<!-- ''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.'' -->
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Shimakaze is an extended [[Yugumo (Family)|Yugumo-class]] hull which comparatively gives her more crew and extra space & displacement for an additional torpedo launcher and other weight, but also higher crew count (+40 men). Additionally her survivability is further is aided by having ammunition stored deep underneath the water line, what ensures survival if faced with AP shells, and having torpedo turrets protected against fragmentation damage, though they are still one of the easiest components to damage on the ship.
+
Any enemy vehicle around the T-34-85's BR can destroy it if it can get a solid shot on the hull armour. Beware when exposing hull when coming out to take a shot on an enemy, someone is bound to be watching for the T-34-85 and they won't be afraid to plant a shell into the 45 mm hull armour.
  
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That said though, comparing to the equivalents in its BR, the ship has a relatively low crew count, sailing just a 2/3 of the [[Leningrad (leader)|Leningrad]] men, in a short-range fights Shimakaze has to rely on her overwhelming firepower to take down the enemy before suffering overwhelming causalities herself. This can either be the use of her main armament, her plentiful arsenal of torpedoes and/or 25 mm's.
+
'''Armour type:'''
  
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=== Mobility ===
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* Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof, Mantlet face around the gun)
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{{Specs-Fleet-Mobility}}
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* Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Cupola, Driver's hatch, Machine gun port)
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<!-- ''Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.'' -->
 
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[[File:Shimakaze (1).png|thumb|'''Shimakaze''' reaching her top speed of 40,9 kn]]
 
  
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Shimakaze is by far the fastest Japanese {{Annotation|ship|not including boats}} ever made, she could reach a top speed of 40.9 kn due her new experimental high temperature and pressure Kampon boilers that developed {{Annotation|79,240 shaft horsepower|59,090 kW}}, powering a new type of turbine, which generated 50 percent more power than typical turbines used in previous destroyers.
+
{| class="wikitable"
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|-
 +
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
 +
|-
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| Hull || 45 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 45 mm (60°) ''Lower glacis'' <br> 75 mm (60°) ''Driver's hatch'' <br> 65 mm (30°) ''Machine gun port'' || 45 mm (39-40°) ''Top'' <br> 45 mm ''Bottom'' || 45 mm (47-49°) ''Top'' <br> 45 mm (46°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
 +
|-
 +
| Turret || 90 mm (1-69°) ''Turret front'' <br>90 + 40 mm (8-38°) ''Gun mantlet''
 +
60 + mm (37-62°, 52°) 
  
−
{{NavalMobility}}
+
200mm (0°) Mantlet face around the gun
 +
| 90 mm (1619°) ''Front 1/4th'' 
 +
75 mm (19-22°) ''Middle 1/2'' <br> 52 mm (13-19°) ''Rear 1/4th''
 +
| 52 mm (9°) || 20 mm
 +
|-
 +
| Cupola || 90 mm || 90 mm || 90 mm || 20 mm
 +
|}
 +
'''Notes:'''
  
−
=== Modifications and economy ===
+
* The gun mantlet has 90 mm in front with additional small and thin 40 mm plates on the sides of the gun.
−
{{Specs-Economy}}
+
* Suspensions wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 18 mm thick
  
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== Armament ==
+
=== Mobility ===
−
{{Specs-Fleet-Armaments}}
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{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}
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=== Primary armament ===
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<!-- ''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.'' -->
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{{Specs-Fleet-Primary}}
 
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<!-- ''Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: <code><nowiki>{{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}</nowiki></code>. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.'' -->
 
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[[File:Shimakaze (7).png|thumb|'''Shimakaze''' shooting her main [[Type 3 (127 mm)|Type 3]] cannons]]
 
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{{main|127 mm/50 3rd Year Type (127 mm)}}
 
  
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Shimakaze's primary guns are shared with [[IJN Yugumo#Primary armament|Yugumo]] and [[IJN Ayanami#Primary armament|Ayanami]], offering the same capabilities and the same shell choice. They are quite accurate and have a higher muzzle velocity than most other destroyer guns. Despite of being in a higher BR the ship stands a fair chance against its counterparts, though with increasingly challenging opponents and added care has to be put in an accurate gunnery and torpedoes play an even more important role in disposing opponents. But like her parallel predecessor ([[Yugumo (Family)|Yugumo-class]]), her main armament isn't her selling point at this BR.
+
{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 775|rbMinHp= 442|AoAweight= 0.2}}
  
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=== Secondary armament ===
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=== Modifications and economy ===
−
{{Specs-Fleet-Secondary}}
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{{Specs-Economy}}
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<!-- ''Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control <code>Select secondary weapon</code>. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.'' -->
 
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{{main|25 mm/60 Type 96 (25 mm)}}
 
  
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Unlike other early refits of Japanese destroyers, which have very few anti-air defence, the Shimakaze is refitted in her 1944 fit, which gives her well enough air cover at semi-close ranges and decimates smaller patrol vessels within 2km range.
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== Armaments ==
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{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
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=== Main armament ===
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{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}
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<!-- ''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.'' -->
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{{main|ZIS-S-53 (85 mm)}}
  
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* Universal belts: good balance between firepower and tracer contents, useful for newcomers to the Japanese 25 mm autocannon.
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The {{PAGENAME}} is equipped with the fantastic ZiS-S-53 cannon, with penetrates about 145 mm on the close range with the stock BR-365K round. This might not be enough to fight Tiger IIs frontally, but it works perfectly with other tanks, which are less armoured or you can engage them from the side.
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* APT belts: Full of AP shells, good against boats but you might not meet lots of them in destroyer.
 
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* HEI belts: Trades tracer rounds for extra firepower, harder to aim but very good at knocking out aircraft.
 
  
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=== Anti-aircraft armament ===
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The gun depression is like on many other Soviet vehicles quite poor, with only 5° there are no hull-down manoeuvres possible.
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{{Specs-Fleet-AA}}
 
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<!-- ''An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control <code>Select anti-aircraft weapons</code>. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.'' -->
 
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{{main|Type 93 (13.2 mm)}}
 
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The Shimakaze has a single 13.2 mm HMG on the stern. Her 25 mm's are responsible for for air cover along with the 13 mm, but can't be manually controlled together with the 25 mm's at the same time.
 
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=== Additional armament ===
 
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{{Specs-Fleet-Additional}}
 
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<!-- ''Describe the available additional armaments of the ship: depth charges, mines, torpedoes. Talk about their positions, available ammunition and launch features such as dead zones of torpedoes. If there is no additional armament, remove this section.'' -->
 
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[[File:Shimakaze (5).png|thumb|'''Shimakaze''' launching all her torpedoes broadside.]]
 
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{{main|Type 93 Model 3 (610 mm)|Type 95 depth charge}}
 
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Shimakaze uses the Type 93 Model 3 torpedoes, which have a reduced range of 15 km compared to the standard 20 km [[Type 93 Model 1, Mod 2 (610 mm)|Type 93 Model 1]] found on other Japanese ships. While not gaining any speed advantage, it does gain an even larger warhead: ~1000 kg of TNT instead of ~600, which makes it possible to sink nearly any destroyer with a single hit.
 
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On top of having one of the best torpedoes, she racks a total of 15 torpedoes she can fire all at once due her lengthened hull compared to the [[Yugumo (Family)|Yugumo-class]] allowing for heavier quintuple launchers, and an extra 3rd torpedo turret due the added buoyancy.
 
  
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
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! colspan="8" | '''Torpedo Characteristics'''
 
 
|-
 
|-
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! Mass (kg) !! Maximum speed in water (km/h) !! Travel distance (km) !! Depth stroke (m) !! Arming distance (m) !! Explosive type !! Explosive mass (kg) !! TNT equivalent (kg)
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! colspan="5" | [[ZIS-S-53 (85 mm)|85 mm ZIS-S-53]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
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|-
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! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
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! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
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! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
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|-
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! ''Arcade''
 +
| rowspan="2" | 60 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+22° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 23.80 || 32.94 || 40.00 || 44.24 || 47.06 || rowspan="2" | 9.62 || rowspan="2" | 8.51 || rowspan="2" | 7.84 || rowspan="2" | 7.40
 +
|-
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! ''Realistic''
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| 14.88 || 17.50 || 21.25 || 23.50 || 25.00
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 2,800 || 91 || 15.00 || 1 || 50 || Type 97 || 780 || 998.4
 
 
|}
 
|}
  
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Without the presence of submarines, the usage of depth charges is very situational. If using the depth charges that drop off stern racks, there is no reason to use any depth charge activation time setting above the minimum 3 seconds, since higher times means the depth charge will sink further, and thus away from the target. With a fast boat, sailing up right next to a slower target and dropping the depth charges can lead to some success.
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==== Ammunition ====
 +
The stock round is the BR-365K APHE shell which has 148 mm of penetration at close range. It has a very good potential to take out enemies in a single shot with 48 g of A-IX-2 as explosive filler (74 g of TNT equivalent).
  
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The depth charges mounted on depth charge throwers are even more situational. They cannot be aimed and have a long flight time, making them difficult to use against moving targets. Their detonation times also cannot be changed, detonating 3 seconds after hitting the water. They can be used to hit an enemy behind cover, though as with other depth charge uses, this is extremely situational. They can also be detonated, instantly destroying the ship.
+
The second round, the BR-365A APHEBC shell, only has 135 mm penetration at close range. But instead of having 74 g TNT for explosive filler inside the shell, it has 164 g. This increases considerably the post-penetration damage. It also has a better penetration from 550 m and above than the BR-365K round.
  
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== Usage in battles ==
+
The BR-365P APCR shot is also available, but keep in mind that it performs poorly against sloped armour and it has very poor post-penetration damage. It penetrates about 195 mm of RHA on close range.
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<!-- ''Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
 
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[[File:Shimakaze (6).png|thumb|'''Shimakaze''' launching all her 15 [[Type 93 Model 1, Mod 2 (610 mm)|''Long Lance'' Torpedoes]] at once.]]
 
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The '''Shimakaze''' is one of the most formidable destroyers Japan can offer, owing largely to its outstanding torpedo armament of 3 quintuple launchers and only beaten by [[Tashkent (leader)|Tashkent]] as 2nd fastest ship in-game.
 
  
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Otherwise, she has a well-rounded mix of survivability and firepower, lagging behind slightly due to the lack of AP ammunition options, making it cannon fodder for most cruisers if the manoeuvrability isn't made use of. On the contrary, cruisers only have to worry about the Shimakaze like any other Japanese destroyer for the arsenal of torpedoes that will most likely wall them off in a wave of torpedoes and sinking them instantly.
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The HE shell is called O-365K. With 660 g of TNT inside it performs pretty well against trucks and halftracks.
  
−
The ''Long Lance'' is among the best torpedo in game with excellent range, speed and explosive filler. Like all torpedo-centric destroyers, Shimakaze excels in Arcade Battles with the ability to re-spawn torpedoes mid-battle and is better than other Japanese destroyers which have a 2nd reload for torpedoes which takes a few seconds between torpedo bursts unlike the full burst the Shimakaze can do at once and instantly reload the full rack. Meanwhile in realistic battles torpedoes should be used sparing as you can't reload them out of the capture zone and only reloads one torpedo per torpedo turret.
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{{:ZIS-S-53 (85 mm)/Ammunition|BR-365K, BR-365A, BR-365P, O-365K}}
  
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The Shimakaze is best used as a sniper of sorts, using her massive arsenal of powerful, long-range torpedoes and accurate, relatively high-velocity main armament to engage enemy ships at range, while using her speed and manoeuvrability to avoid return fire. At close range, the slow turret traverse and reload as well as her relatively average survivability make Shimakaze very vulnerable, especially against destroyers with harder-hitting main armament, like most American destroyers armed with the [[5 inch/38 Mk.12 (127 mm)]].
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==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
 +
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
 +
<!-- '''Last updated: 2.7.0.208''' -->
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
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|-
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! Full<br>ammo
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! 1st<br>rack empty
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! 2nd<br>rack empty
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! 3rd<br>rack empty
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! 4th<br>rack empty
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! 5th<br>rack empty
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! 6th<br>rack empty
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|-
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| '''60''' || 57&nbsp;''(+3)'' || 55&nbsp;''(+5)'' || 54&nbsp;''(+6)'' || 48&nbsp;''(+12)'' || 43&nbsp;''(+17)'' || 37&nbsp;''(+23)''
 +
|-
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! 7th<br>rack empty
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! 8th<br>rack empty
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! 9th<br>rack empty
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! 10th<br>rack empty
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! 11th<br>rack empty
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! Visual<br>discrepancy
 +
!
 +
|-
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| 31&nbsp;''(+29)'' || 25&nbsp;''(+35)'' || 19&nbsp;''(+41)'' || 17&nbsp;''(+43)'' || 1&nbsp;''(+59)'' || No
 +
!
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|-
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|}
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'''Notes''':
  
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=== Pros and cons ===
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* Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
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<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->
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* Rack 11 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 16 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
 +
* This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 11 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 10.
 +
* If you pack 17&nbsp;''(+43)'' shells, it will keep the hull empty of ammo.
 +
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 10 into rack 11. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.
  
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'''Pros:'''
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=== Machine guns ===
 +
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
 +
<!-- ''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.'' -->
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{{main|DT (7.62 mm)}}
  
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* Fastest Japanese destroyer
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
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** Good manoeuvrability
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|-
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** Top speed of {{Annotation|93|Arcade battles: 50 kn; 93 km/h; 58 mph}} / {{Annotation|76|Realistic battles: 41 kn; 76 km/h; 47 mph}} km/h
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! colspan="5" | [[DT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm DT]]
−
* 3 quintuple torpedo launchers
+
|-
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** Can release 15 torpedoes at once
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! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
−
** Very deadly torpedoes ([[Type 93 Model 3]])
+
|-
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* 127 mm guns have good ballistics
+
| Coaxial || 1,890 (63) || 600 || N/A || N/A
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* 21 x 25 mm AA cannons with a lot of ammunition
+
|-
 +
|}
  
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'''Cons:'''
+
== Usage in battles ==
 +
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
 +
The T-34-85's best playstyle is that of a flanker. Due to its high mobility, fast turret traverse, and a capable cannon with excellent post-penetration damage, the T-34-85 fills this role perfectly. Since the turret is so tall, it makes combat behind low obstacles difficult, as the turret segment above the main gun is visible. The T-34-85's other playstyle can be as a support tank, by keeping up with more protected vehicles like the [[IS-2]] and supplement firepower while their heavy armament reloads.
  
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* Average Japanese destroyer turrets ([[Type 3 (127 mm)]])
+
The T-34-85 would not make a very suitable short-range brawler though even with the 85 mm gun as the gun has a rather tedious reload for the specific playstyle and the [[T-34-57]]'s armour is very poor at its BR. With that, the T-34-85 would tend to be able to fire one shot at a close enemy before it gets taken out by other enemies nearby. However, it is understandable that the situation is unavoidable, so it is recommended to stay steady by firing one shot at an unsuspecting enemy at close range before retreating to reload, evading enemy shots.
−
** Slow turret traverse
 
−
** 127 mm guns have no AP (only HE and HE-DF)
 
−
** 127 mm guns are almost useless against air targets (due to slow traverse)
 
−
* Turrets tend to be taken out often
 
−
* Torpedo launchers are easily disabled
 
−
* 25 mm AA only effective at close range (max range about 3 km)
 
  
−
== History ==
+
If one decides to use the T-34 as a main battle tank, it's advisable to hide the hull as well as possible which has the weakest armour. Unfortunately, most heavy tanks like the Tiger II are nearly invulnerable from the front, but many mediums and even Cold War MBTs can still be destroyed. At this rank bracket, however, its speed, turret location, and poor armour push it towards a flanking role, away from the 1940-43 main battle comfort zone. The gun is still very potent, and the ammunition often knocks out nearly the entire crew, but the increases in armour of enemy vehicles necessitate learning their weak spots. The gun is generally accurate and most shells retain their velocity even into far ranges.
−
<!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
 
  
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[[File:Shimakaze (3).png|alt=Shimakaze seen from the broadside in-game|thumb|''Shimakaze'' in speed trials]]
+
'''Enemies worth noting:'''
−
[[File:Shimakaze 1943-3-5.jpg|alt=Shimakaze seen from the broadside|thumb|''Shimakaze'' in speed trials, 5 March 1943]]
 
−
''Shimakaze'' (島風, Island Wind) (Project N° F52; Hull N° 125) was a new end of the line experimental heavy destroyer which would be the lead ship of this new class of C-Type destroyers.
 
  
−
She was built under the Maru 4 programme together with another 16 of her kind planned and long term plans of extending her class to 32 ships to form 4 destroyer squadrons. These ambitious plans would be dropped down to 8 in the Maru 5 programme and eventually her sister ships would all be cancelled and re-planned on 30 June 1942 to 8 x [[Yugumo (Family)|''Yūgumo''-class]] and 7 x ''Super Akizuki''-class
+
[[Panther A]]/[[Panther D|D]], [[Tiger II (P)|Tiger II P]] - The Panthers are one of the most common tanks around BR 5.7, and they pose a great threat with their deadly long 75 mm cannon, thick frontal armour and adequate speed. You want to avoid engaging them at long range as the T-34 has only x3.5 scope magnification, making long range shooting super hard. Engage the Panthers within 500 m and avoid shooting their frontal hull. Their biggest weak spot is the gun mantlet, which is only 100 mm thick and has a flat part in the middle. That is where you want to aim at, the T-34's APHE has sufficient damage to instantly destroy the Panther even from its turret. The second weak spot is of course the sides, guaranteeing an instant kill. Generally APHE is enough to deal with the Panthers, and no APCR is needed.
  
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===Development===
+
For the Tiger II P, aim at the vertical area of the frontal turret which is also 100 mm. The best tactic is still to flank it however.
−
By 1939, the Imperial Japanese Navy had expanded massively with 3 Naval Armaments Supplement programmes and it wouldn't stop there. With their 4th Naval Armament Supplement programme ({{Annotation|マル4計画, 第四次海軍軍備充実計画|Maru 4 Keikaku, Dai-Yo-Ji Kaigun Gunbi Jūjitsu Keikaku}}), otherwise known as Maru 4, they planned to expand their navy with an additional 80 warships and 75 Naval Air Groups costing 1.6 billion Japanese Yen.
 
  
−
Under this Maru 4 there would be 3 modernized destroyer types
+
[[Tiger H1]]/[[Tiger E|E]] - The Tiger's weak spots are the opposite with the Panthers. Their hull are unsloped and rather thin, while the gun mantlet is weirdly shaped and can absorb quite some shells. The best engaging range remains the same, within 500 m. If the Tiger is angling, aim at the turret ring to disable the gunner and destroy the turret traverse, or aim at the hull side below the side skirt, which is only 60 mm. If it is not angling, aim between the driver's vision port and the MG for an instant kill. Avoid shooting at these two parts as they tend to bounce/absorb shells. For the Tiger E, don't shoot at the lower glacis as there will be add-on tracks installed there, making it harder to penetrate.
  
−
*Type A: ''Kagerō''-class, [[Yugumo (Family)|''Yūgumo''-class]] - Regular destroyers <small>(further expansion Of Maru 3)</small>
+
[[Ho-Ri Production|Ho-Ri]] - In a frontal engagement, APCR is required as the APHE shells don't have enough penetration. With APCR loaded, aim at the further sides of the fighting compartment, away from the gun, because the further from the gun, the thinner the armour gets, with the thinnest part being around 160 mm unsloped. Penetrating there will knock out its loader, gunner or commander, or detonate the ammo. Of course, the best way is still side-shooting with APHE.
−
*Type B: ''Akizuki''-class - Dedicated anti-air destroyers
 
−
*'''Type C''': ''Shimakaze''-class - High-end heavy duty destroyers
 
  
−
The top speed of any Japanese warship within the IJN went to a previous generation of ''Shimakaze'' (1920) coming from the ''Minekaze''-class destroyers with a max speed of 40.7 knots, while all other destroyers were to be designed with a top speed of only 35 knots. After that the Navy was seeking to improve cruising speed yet keeping the possibility of armament and hull improvements open.
+
[[Panzer IV/70(V)|Panzer IV/70]], [[Jagdpanzer 38(t)]] - These small tank destroyers with their well angled frontal armour can be quite a problem from a distance. With APHE, you can disable their transmission by shooting at their lower glacis. Now if you can, flank them. The 85 mm APHE does a great job at penetrating sloped, thin armour, so you don't have to get to their absolute sides. For the Pz IV/70, you can also aim at the downward part of the gun mantlet since the shell might ricochet downwards into the hull, knocking out every crew member. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) doesn't have this problem, so side-shooting is required to destroy it effectively.
  
−
These demands arose after Japan abolished the Washington Naval Treaty and withdrew from the London Naval Treaty in 1938 and began the rapid modernization of their navy in both tonnage and equipment. Together with Japanese intelligence gathering information on the USN developing a new destroyer with a top speed of 38 knots or more and the new generation of American cruisers and battleships having a projected speed of 27-33 kn. With those reasons the Navy wanted to outshine the Americans by having faster ships and high power torpedoes which they already had developed.
+
[[M4A3E2]] Jumbo - This is another common enemy. It is recommended to use the BR-365A, the one with less penetration but more explosive filler. The reason is that it is better at penetrating sloped armour, which the Jumbo has. With that shell you can easily destroy a M4A3E2 who's not angling. If it is, aim at the hull side just above the tracks, or load APCR and shoot straight at its gun mantlet. Against a 75 mm M4A3E2 you can relax a bit as it will struggle to penetrate your armour, but your cupola is a rather large weak spot and a shot through there can knock out the T-34. Be more careful with the M4A3E2 76 W, as they can easily pierce through your armour.
  
−
===Design===
+
=== Pros and cons ===
−
With the Maru 4 being specified and funded, construction of ''Shimakaze'' started in 1941 at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal. She was to be built as a high speed ship, heavily armed with torpedoes to excel at her role as a destroyer in the purpose of torpedo-combat.
+
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->
  
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''Shimakaze''<nowiki/>'s hull was essentially an elongated Type A ([[Yugumo (Family)|''Yūgumo''-class]]) destroyer hull with the same main armament but having an additional {{Annotation|7.62 m|25 ft}} of added length allowing for a third torpedo launcher. But because she was already quite top-heavy like other Japanese destroyers, her additional length was only able to cover an additional torpedo launch turret and AA mounts, but would become too heavy if she carried an additional reload for her torpedoes at sea.
+
'''Pros:'''
  
−
She was initially planned to carry 2 x 7 tube torpedo launchers, but due to the weight of the turret it would be impossible to hand crank the turret in case of a power outage and with this she got 3 x 5 tube torpedo launchers instead.
+
* Excellent firepower: adequate penetration, destructive damage and good reload rate
 +
* Has two types of APHE for players to choose from: BR-365K with higher penetration but less TNT, and BR-365A with less penetration but plenty of TNT, either of which are enough to knock out most tanks with a single shot
 +
* 56 km/h top speed and great manoeuvrability allows it to reposition or flank easily
 +
* 5-man crew improves survivability against solid shells
 +
* Similar playstyle with the previous T-34s which is beginner-friendly
 +
* Fast turret traverse to easily deal with targets from multiple directions
 +
* Sloped hull and round frontal turret might bounce low-penetrating guns like the 75 mm M3 on early [[M4]] Shermans
  
−
Her new experimental high temperature and pressure Kampon boilers which were designed further upon from the ''Kagerō''-class, ''Amatsukaze'' that developed {{Annotation|79,240 shaft horsepower|59,090 kW}} and would prove to be a very good combination with a new type of turbine would allow her to put out 50% more power compared to other destroyers.
+
'''Cons:'''
  
−
Due to set-backs in the Pacific War, other priorities shifted the budget of the Maru 4 plan and less resources would be spent on more of the already expensive Type C destroyer. After many delays of the lead ship ''Shimakaze'', her sister ships were cancelled and allocated to Type A & B destroyers instead. ''Shimakaze'' would finally leave port on the 10th May, 1943.
+
* Armour is extremely thin, providing very limited protection against common guns (American 76 mm, British 17-pdr, German 75 mm & 88 mm, etc)
 +
* Crew members are closely packed, a well-aimed shot tends to knock them all out
 +
* 5 degrees gun depression is below average, limiting its capability in hilly maps
 +
* Poor reverse speed
 +
* Large turret profile makes it easier to get spotted and shot
 +
* Awkward to place bushes on upper front hull due to the obstruction of MG port and driver's optics
  
−
''Shimakaze'' was one of the first Japanese ships to be equipped with a radar with her Type 22 radar due to her long time in port. This would be supplemented with a Type 13 radar in June 1944 together with an increase in 25 mm AA guns.
+
== History ==
 +
<!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
 +
===Development===
 +
The T-34, in its introduction, was a huge shock to the German army when they invaded as they did not have the adequate anti-tank weaponry to defeat the T-34 and its heavier companion [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tank. However, by 1943, the Germans began introducing newer tanks or upgrading their current tanks. They upgraded their [[Pz.IV G|Panzer IVs]] with the 75 mm KwK 40 gun, which could penetrate the T-34, and introduced the [[Tiger H1|Tiger I]] and [[Panther D|Panther]] tanks into their forces, which could not only destroy the T-34s easily, but can also take in the 76.2 mm shells the T-34 fires. The inferior firepower the T-34 forced the T-34 forces to close into a very close distance during the Battle of Kursk with the Tigers and Panthers in order to get to the sides and fire at the weaker armour. While the Soviets were victorious against the German offensive, the T-34s suffered high losses with this strategy.
  
−
===Service History===
+
The T-34's slow improvement from the [[T-34 (1941)|1941 model]] was due to the decision to keep changes to the model low to keep costs low and productivity high. This worked well in the first two years against the Germans, but the Battle of Kursk showed that the newer German tanks now outgun the T-34s. Soviet High Command, once conservative on the T-34's upgrades, now opted for an increase in the T-34 armament to be able to counter the German tanks. During the development, an interim solution for the problem was the equipping of the 57 mm ZiS-4M gun onto the T-34, which has better penetration capabilities compared to the 76.2 F-34 guns. This tank, the [[T-34-57]], performed as an adequate "tank-hunter", but the small HE shell on the 57 mm gun made it a poor tank armament so this was only an interim solution until a better design is made.<ref name="ZalogaM26vsT-34">Zaloga Steven. ''T-34-85 vs M26 Pershing: Korea 1950'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010</ref>
−
====1943====
 
  
−
;May
+
Testings with various guns in Soviet inventory against captured German tanks showed that the most capable gun was the 85 mm 52-K anti-aircraft gun. With this discovery, the 52-K underwent development to make derivatives able to be mounted onto a tank. The cannon was able to penetrate the front of the Tiger from 500 m out, the turret side from 600 m away, and the hull side from 800 m away. The 85 mm was first mounted onto the [[SU-85]]s, but the need for an upgraded tank had the Soviets find a way to fit the gun in the T-34. The cannon was much larger than the F-34 gun and so a much larger turret was necessary to house the gun. The solution to this was to transfer the turret from the cancelled T-43 tank program onto the T-34, this increased the turret ring diameter from the original 1,425 mm into 1,600 mm, which required a retooling in the manufacturing plants. While this delayed T-34 production, the 85 mm was finally able to be mounted onto the T-34 as the '''T-34-85'''.<ref name="ZalogaM26vsT-34">Zaloga Steven. ''T-34-85 vs M26 Pershing: Korea 1950'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010</ref>
  
−
As she left port on the 10th, she would be handed over to the Navy and assigned to the 11th destroyer squadron, 1st fleet. Desron 11 was a dedicated squadron to train crew on new or repaired destroyers before they were sent to the frontline waters.
+
===Design===
 +
The T-34-85, aside from the enlarged turret ring for the new turret, uses the same T-34 hull design. Armour was still about 45 mm thick, sloped at 60 degrees for a 90 mm effective thickness. The Christie suspension was retained, as well as the diesel engine. However, the biggest difference in the tank design is the three-man turret, though a turret basket is still exempt from the design. Before, the two-man turret on the older [[T-34 (1942)|T-34]] had the commander forced to do his job and the gunner's, the three-man turret on the T-34-85 separated the commander's duty by having a separate gunner to fire the gun, leaving the commander to do his job commanding the tank as a whole. The larger turret also has space for a radio (previously in the hull by the assistant driver), allowing the commander to effectively communicate between tank units. Aside from the enlarged turret ring, new turret, and the 85 mm gun, the internal specifications of the T-34 and its pros and cons were nearly identical to the older variants.
  
−
;July
+
The 85 mm gun on the T-34-85 was able to penetrate 125 mm of armour at 500 m away at a 90 degree meet angle with normal AP rounds. The 85 mm gun was derived from the 52-K anti-aircraft gun, which was developed from Vasilliy Grabin and Fyodor Petrov's design bureaus. Petrov's bureaus produced the 85 mm D-5T gun while Grabin's design, after being taken over by A. Savin, produced the 85 mm ZiS-53 gun. During trials in the Gorokhoviesky Proving Grounds, it was found that the ZiS-53 gun was much better than the D-5T and was much simpler, which was redesignated as the ZiS-S-53 after Savin's initials. However, as the new turret was optimized with the D-5T gun, the T-34-85 started with the D-5T as the [[T-34-85 (D-5T)|T-34-85 Model 1943]], which ran on from February to March 1944. After March 1944, the 85 mm ZiS-5 was used as the armament of the [[T-34-85|T-34-85 Model 1944]]. During its production life from 1943 to 1958, up to 48,950 T-34-85s were created (22,559 of which during World War II), consisting of more than half of the total 84,070 T-34 units created in its entire production life since 1940.
  
−
''Shimakaze''<nowiki/>'s first assignment was to escort and cover the evacuation of Japanese soldiers & personnel from Kiska, Aleutian Islands as part of the Japanese Operation ''{{Annotation|One Sword|Referring to one chance}}''「{{Annotation|ケ|Ke}}」 ({{Annotation|ケ号作戦|Ke gōsakusen}}), together with Desron 2 whom she would assigned to after being fully trained in Desron 11.
+
===Combat usage===
−
[[File:JapaneseKiska.jpg|left|thumb|On June 6, 1942, the Imperial Army occupied Kiska and raised the flag.]]
+
From its introduction in March 1944 and onwards, the T-34-85s were the main tank in Soviet service.<ref name="ZalogaM26vsT-34">Zaloga Steven. ''T-34-85 vs M26 Pershing: Korea 1950'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010</ref> The older [[T-34 (1942)|T-34s]] were still being used in the theatre as they are lost from combat and retribution and replaced. The T-34-85's 85 mm gun armour penetration and front turret armour nearly doubled compared to the older T-34, yet retain the same speed, mobility, and hull armour. The T-34-85 was vastly superior to the German's [[Pz.IV H|Panzer IVs]] and [[StuG III G|StuG IIIs]], and though it was still inferior against the [[Panther A|Panther]] and the [[Tiger E|Tiger I]], it had a better chance than the older T-34 models. The T-34-85s maintain numerical superiority throughout the entire war due to the Soviet's industrial base and design concept of mass producing single designs, while the Germans focus on newer, better tanks such as the heavier [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]], which restricted productivity and made logistics a hard job to maintain. The T-34-85s were the main Soviet spearhead weapon during Operation Bagration and its future offensives up until the Battle of Berlin. After the fall of Nazi Germany, the Soviets use the T-34-85s again in their invasion of Manchuria to fulfil their promise to invade Japan after the fall of Germany. The combined-arms forces of their armoured units overran the Japanese positions in Manchuria and were pushed all the way to a distance from the Yalu River. The Japanese surrender order was given out by the emperor on August 14, which was not carried out as a cease-fire until August 17.
−
During 1943, the captured islands of Attu and Kiska were to be taken back by Allied forces as they were captured during the start of the Pacific War by Japan. The American recapture of these 2 islands started off with taking the westmost island of Attu (Operation Landcrab) which was less militarily developed compared to Kiska, which had a port, airfield, and other military installations, and would create a naval blockade cutting off the island of Kiska completely from Japanese reach. In May, the Americans together with Canadians would be victorious in the Battle of Attu at great cost for both sides which would lead to poor decision-making towards the capture of Kiska (Operation Cottage).
 
  
−
Even though Kiska was cut-off for the Japanese making it no longer defensible, and Japan needing all the men they could muster, they wouldn't allow to turn it into a repeat of the Battle of Attu. With this, command greenlit the evacuation of Kiska.
+
After the end of World War II, the T-34-85s were given out in massive quantities to Soviet-occupied territories and their allies. The next action the T-34-85s faced was in the Korean War, in the hands of the North Koreans. The North Korean armoured forces are able to assault deep into South Korea with these tanks as South Koreans were severely under-equipped in anti-tank weaponry, only armed with US-supplied [[M24|M24 Chaffees]] and regular bazookas, which were useless against the T-34s. It wasn't until the deployment of US troops into the Korean peninsula that the tide turned against the North Koreans and their tanks. The US sent their [[M4A3 (76) W|M4A3E8 Shermans]], [[M26|M26 Pershings]], and "Super Bazookas" to arm the troops there. All these weapons are able to destroy the T-34-85s, with the M26 Pershing being able to penetrate straight through the front and back of the T-34-85 armour with HVAP rounds. The Shermans are nearly equal to the T-34-85s, but the better optic quality and crew training gave them an edge against the T-34-85s. These anti-tank weapons supplied by the coalition caused the North Koreans to suffer major tank losses and after their supply lines were cut by the US landings at Inchon, the armoured vehicles were abandoned as the North Koreans retreated. Pure tank-to-tank battles between the two sides were scarce after 1950 due to a heavy decline in armoured forces in the North Korean side.<ref name="ZalogaM26vsT-34">Zaloga Steven. ''T-34-85 vs M26 Pershing: Korea 1950'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010</ref>
  
−
''Shimakaze'' would take part of the evacuation as flagship of the screening force. The initial evacuation run was planned for 7 - 17 July, but was aborted due to bad weather on the 15th.
+
Past the Korean War, the T-34-85s were clearly obsolete with the development of newer tanks being developed worldwide. Despite that, many countries still use T-34-85s as their main tank or as reserves, even the Soviets and Finnish continue using them until the late 1960s. Warsaw Pact countries used them in large quantities and were involved in many conflicts within these countries, such as the East German uprising in June 1953, Hungarian revolution in 1956, Coup by Greek junta in July 1974, and the Turkish invasion in July-August 1974. The T-34-85s also saw conflicts in the Middle East in the hands of Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians, and Iraq; Vietnam with the North Vietnamese, and in the Bosnian War in the Bosnian Serb Army. African countries such as Somalia and Angola still use T-34-85s in their armies, and they could even be seen in the recent conflicts in Yemen and in Ukraine. Despite their age, it seems that the T-34-85 was to become a tank that will persist in the hands of smaller countries for years to come.
−
{{Break}}
 
  
−
[[File:Kiska Landings.png|thumb|Allied ''Operation Cottage'' landing sites]]
+
During late 1944, the Soviets were already searching for a successor to the T-34s that use most of the newest tank technology found in recent years. The result was the [[T-44]] medium tank, which did not enter service in time to see widespread usage and even combat during World War II. The T-44 underwent further development and redesigning to become a tank that would surpass the T-34 in the most produced tank in existence, the [[T-54 (1949)|T-54 tank]].
−
For the 2nd attempt, which was planned for 22 July - 1 August, weather conditions seemed to be very similar as those during the first evacuation run since the first day but command was losing time, fuel, and patience. At first, command wanted to wait for the weather to clear up, but decided to rush it through the weather regardless before they lost too much time due the vocal opinion of Shigenori Kami, captain of the ''Tama'', lead ship of the operation.
 
  
−
The fleet was preparing to rush into Kiska bay without waiting for their fueling party to top them off outside the USS patrol area, the cruiser ''Abukuma'' pushed her fuel reserve and refueled her accompanying destroyers. At midnight of the 29th, the fleet ran towards Kiska bay following the shadow of the island and passing from the west to evade any American patrols from the open south. On arrival at Kiska Bay, there was information on a detected vessel, though what it was was unknown, ''Shimakaze''<nowiki/>'s radar detected it as well, thinking it might be a USS destroyer on patrol. Detecting an enemy, her crew were excited for her first naval engagement, and at 13:00 she launched several torpedoes at the shadow of the enemy vessel together with the cruiser ''Abukuma'' who spotted it first and launched four torpedoes. But this target wasn't an allied vessel, but Little Kiska Island which appeared to look like a ship in the very thick fog.
+
{{break}}
 +
{{Navigation-Start|{{Annotation|Archive of the in-game description|An archive of the historical description of the vehicle that was presented in-game prior to Update 1.55 'Royal Armour'}}}}
 +
{{Navigation-First-Simple-Line}}
 +
This model of tanks received the new S-53 cannon with a 54.6 calibre barrel length mounted on a turret with an expanded traverse circle. Its armour-piercing 9.2 kg shell penetrated 111 mm and 102 mm thick armour at ranges of 500 and 1,000 metres respectively, while its subcalibre round penetrated 138 mm thick armour at a range of 500 metres. Tanks with this cannon used the improved TS-16 telescopic sight. To allow firing from cover, it had an elevation level and a turreted rangefinder. The turret's roof featured two MK-4 observation instruments which provided noticeably improved vision over the PTK-5 panoramic telescope. Another ventilator was also added and the command cupola was moved back. The turret's frontal armour was increased to 90 mm, and the sides to 60 mm.
  
−
The fleet would anchor at Kiska Harbor at 13:40 where at the time there was a temporary clear fog in the bay. An approximate 5,200 Kiska Island garrison members who had been waiting for their evacuation immediately embarked the fleet and leaving behind their Type 38 rifles which would be grossly outdated and save on weight while doing so. The whole garrison would be fully accommodated in the short time of 55 minutes with the help of [[Daihatsu-class Landing Craft|Daihatsu Landing Crafts]]. The fleet would leave Kiska at full speed (28 knots) surrounded once more by the deep fog they arrived in. In a detailed report, the amount of men accommodated on ships was as follows:
+
The 9RC radio set was installed on all the vehicles, and late production tanks received electric drive for turning the turret and the means to set up smokescreens. Combined manual and electric drives meant that the turret could be fully turned in 12-15 seconds, and its turning motion became steadier. Although the tank's weight was somewhat increased by the installation of its more powerful cannon and stronger armour, thanks to its powerful diesel engine, its mobility did not suffer.
  
−
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
+
Tanks of this model went into mass production in February 1944. By the end of the Second World War, around 20,500 of them were made in total. The tank was widely used in all conflicts in the war's final stage.
−
! colspan="6" |Recovered men
 
−
|-
 
−
!Cruisers
 
−
!Men
 
−
![[Yugumo (Family)|''Yugumo''-class]]
 
−
!Men
 
−
!Other
 
−
!Men
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Abukuma''
 
−
|1,202
 
−
|[[IJN Yugumo|''Yugumo'']]
 
−
|479
 
−
|''Hibiki''
 
−
|418
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Kiso''
 
−
|1,189
 
−
|''Kazagumo''
 
−
|478
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|''Akigumo''
 
−
|478
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|''Asagumo''
 
−
|468
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|''Usugumo''
 
−
|476
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="2" |Total
 
−
| colspan="4" |5,183
 
−
|}
 
  
−
The whole island garrison would be fully withdrawn to the island of Paramushir between July 31 to August 1, fully returning 2,518 navy crew, 2,669 army men and 30 others resulting in a total of 5,183 men. Because of the fog covering the withdrawal force, the success of Operation ''One Sword'' would be dubbed as a Miracle Operation ({{Annotation|奇跡の作戦|Kiseki no sakusen}})
+
In spite of the very significant upgrades present on the T-34-85, its battle characteristics could not be considered entirely satisfactory for the second half of the war in the context of improved German tanks and anti-tank weapons.
  
−
Even though Allied reconnaissance reported diminishing island movement, damage not being repaired, less and less anti-aircraft fire and on July 28 radio signals from Kiska completely going silent, American forces still proceeded to invade the island being fully prepared to fight Japanese soldiers dug into the mountains.
+
Captured tanks of this type were used by the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS until the end of the war.
  
−
As US and Canadian forces landed on opposite shores, once meeting, they mistook each other for Japanese and sporadic friendly fire occurred. Together with Japanese booby-traps and the [[Fletcher (Family)|USS ''Abner Read'' (DD-526)]] hitting a stray sea-mine, losing a large chunk of its stern, the invasion ended in around 200 Allied deaths, and 400 more casualties against a defending force of null.
+
The tank underwent several modernisations after the war, the last of which took place in 1969. In the 50s, it was mass-produced in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
 +
{{Navigation-End}}
  
−
;August
+
== Media ==
 +
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->
  
−
On July 5, ''Shimakaze'' arrived at Paramushir after her July operations near the Aleutian Islands, she would escort the cruiser ''Maya'' to Yokosuka, arriving on 6 August, where she then docked for maintenance.
+
;Skins
  
−
;September
+
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_t_34_85_zis_53 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
  
−
Once done with maintenance on the 15th she would escort the cruisers ''Chokai'' and ''Maya'' to Truk. They would arrive on the 20th and ''Shimakaze'' would escort the escort-carriers ''Chūyō'' and ''Taiyō'' back to Yokosuka the next day.
+
;Videos
−
 
+
{{Youtube-gallery|oa26g25qqP4|'''Best medium tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 5:46 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|yHuUGzezChI|'''Best after-party picks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 6:43 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}
−
3 days later on the way to Yokosuka on the 24th, ''Taiyō'' would be hit by a torpedo by USS ''Cabrilla'' (SS-288) (3 torpedo launches, 1 hit), and lost a propeller shaft. ''Shimakaze'' pulled 8 men that fell from the ship during the hit and ''Chūyō'' would tow her sister as she couldn't navigate on her own anymore. ''Cabrilla'' wanted to attack the ''Chūyō'' as well to stop both ships from continuing but as ''Shimakaze'' launched a depth charge to scare off the submarine (Shimakaze reported it would sink), took evasive manoeuvres and lost sight of the ships after looking for them again.
 
−
 
 
−
While and after chasing the submarine, ''Shimakaze'' struck upon the destroyers ''Sazanami'' and ''Shiratsuyu'' and they joined the group to escort towards Yokosuka where they would arrive on the 26th.
 
−
<!--
 
−
;October
 
−
 
 
−
====1944====
 
−
[[File:Shimakaze 1944-11-11.jpg|alt=Shimakaze seen from the broadside|thumb|'''Shimakaze''' under air bombardment, just after this image she would explode and sink, 11 November 1943]]
 
−
 
 
−
===Resting Place===
 
−
On December 1, 2017, the wreck of ''Shimakaze'' was found by RV ''Petrel'' in Ormoc Bay, Philipinnes at depth {{Annotation|-218 m|-715 ft}} with her torpedo launchers confirming her identity.
 
−
-->
 
−
 
 
−
===Name===
 
−
''Shimakaze'' isn't the only vessel named Shimakaze (島風, Island Wind);
 
−
 
 
−
* 1st generation: ''Shimakaze'' (1920) came in the form of a ''Minekaze''-class destroyer (1917-18), She was the only ship of her class reaching the speed of 40.7 knots, while her class had an estimated average speed of 39 kn. She would later be renamed to Patrol Boat No. 1 ({{Annotation|第一号哨戒艇|Dai-ichi-gō Shōkaitei}})
 
−
 
 
−
* 2nd generation: ''Shimakaze'' (1942) saw her as a class of her own with a whopping top speed of 40.9 knots.
 
−
 
 
−
* 3rd generation: ''Shimakaze'' (DDG-172) is currently in service within the JMSDF as a ''Hatakaze''-class (1988) guided-missile destroyer.
 
−
 
 
−
== Media ==
 
−
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->
 
−
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="150">
 
−
File:Shimakaze (2).png|
 
−
File:Shimakaze (8).png|Shimakaze (Right) leading in front of Yugumo (Left)
 
−
File:Shimakaze (9).png|Shimakaze leading in front of the fleet
 
−
</gallery>
 
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
−
<!-- ''Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
+
<!-- ''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
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* ''reference to the series of the ship;''
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* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' -->
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' -->
  
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;Related development
+
;Other T-34-85 variants
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*[[Yugumo (Family)|Yugumo-class]] <small>(parallel predecessor)</small>
 
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*[[IJN Shimakaze|Shimakaze-class]]
 
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;Ships of comparable role, configuration and era
 
  
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*[[IJN Kiyoshimo|Kiyoshimo]] <small>([[Yugumo (Family)|Yugumo-class]])</small>
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* [[T-34-85 (D-5T)]]
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*[[Tashkent (leader)|Tashkent <small>(Tashkent-class)</small>]]
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* [[T-34-85 No.215]]
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*[[Haida (G63)]] <small>([[Tribal (Family)|Tribal-class]])</small>
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* [[T-34-85E]]
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*[[Corazziere|Corazziere <small>(Soldati-class)</small>]]
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* [[Т-34-85 (S-53) (China)]]
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*[[Type 1934A (1944)]] <small>([[Type 1934 (Family)|Type 1934-class]])</small>
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* [[Т-34-85 Gai]]
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*[[Fletcher (DD-445)|Fletcher]] <small>([[Fletcher (Family)|Fletcher-class]])</small>
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* [[T-34-85 (Sweden)]]
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
 
<!-- ''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 
<!-- ''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
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* ''encyclopedia page on the ship;''
 
 
* ''other literature.'' -->
 
* ''other literature.'' -->
  
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*[[wt:en/news/6863-development-shimakaze-fast-as-the-wind-en|[Devblog] Shimakaze: Fast as the Wind]]
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* [[wikipedia:T-34|[Wikipedia] T-34]]
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*[[Wikipedia:Japanese_destroyer_shimakaze_(1942)|[Wikipedia] Japanese experimental destroyer ''Shimakaze'' (1942)]]
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* [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/soviet/soviet_T34-85 <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> T-34-85]
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*[https://www.rvpetrel.com/discoveries/ijn-shimakaze.php <nowiki>[RV Petrel] IJN </nowiki>''Shimakaze'' wreck]
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===References===
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<references />
  
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{{Japan destroyers}}
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{{TankManufacturer Morozov}}
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{{Squadron ships}}
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{{USSR medium tanks}}

Latest revision as of 23:25, 27 October 2023

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This page is about the Soviet medium tank T-34-85. For other versions, see T-34 (Family).
T-34-85
ussr_t_34_85_zis_53.png
GarageImage T-34-85.jpg
ArtImage T-34-85.png
ArtImage2 T-34-85.png
T-34-85

Description

The T-34-85 is a rank Soviet medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. Though similar to the T-34-85 (D-5T), it has an improved gun and a full crew for combat efficiency.

The T-34-85 is an improvement over its predecessor, the T-34-85 (D-5T) with a better armament, a shorter reload time, APCR ammo, and an additional crew member. Aside from that, both tanks share the same technical specification.

The front hull armour is only 45 mm thick, even when sloped this is a pitiful amount of armour to fight with against the other vehicles at the same BR as every other tank gun can penetrate that armour. Thus if possible, do not prolong the exposure of the hull armour towards the enemy.

General info

Survivability and armour

Any enemy vehicle around the T-34-85's BR can destroy it if it can get a solid shot on the hull armour. Beware when exposing hull when coming out to take a shot on an enemy, someone is bound to be watching for the T-34-85 and they won't be afraid to plant a shell into the 45 mm hull armour.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof, Mantlet face around the gun)
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Cupola, Driver's hatch, Machine gun port)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 45 mm (60°) Front glacis
45 mm (60°) Lower glacis
75 mm (60°) Driver's hatch
65 mm (30°) Machine gun port 		45 mm (39-40°) Top
45 mm Bottom 		45 mm (47-49°) Top
45 mm (46°) Bottom 		20 mm
Turret 90 mm (1-69°) Turret front
90 + 40 mm (8-38°) Gun mantlet

60 + mm (37-62°, 52°)

200mm (0°) Mantlet face around the gun

90 mm (1619°) Front 1/4th

75 mm (19-22°) Middle 1/2
52 mm (13-19°) Rear 1/4th

52 mm (9°) 20 mm
Cupola 90 mm 90 mm 90 mm 20 mm

Notes:

  • The gun mantlet has 90 mm in front with additional small and thin 40 mm plates on the sides of the gun.
  • Suspensions wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 18 mm thick

Mobility

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock AoA Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade -0.2 0.2 775 -3875 __.__
Realistic 442 -2210 __.__

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: ZIS-S-53 (85 mm)

The T-34-85 is equipped with the fantastic ZiS-S-53 cannon, with penetrates about 145 mm on the close range with the stock BR-365K round. This might not be enough to fight Tiger IIs frontally, but it works perfectly with other tanks, which are less armoured or you can engage them from the side.

The gun depression is like on many other Soviet vehicles quite poor, with only 5° there are no hull-down manoeuvres possible.

85 mm ZIS-S-53 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 60 -5°/+22° ±180° N/A 23.80 32.94 40.00 44.24 47.06 9.62 8.51 7.84 7.40
Realistic 14.88 17.50 21.25 23.50 25.00

Ammunition

The stock round is the BR-365K APHE shell which has 148 mm of penetration at close range. It has a very good potential to take out enemies in a single shot with 48 g of A-IX-2 as explosive filler (74 g of TNT equivalent).

The second round, the BR-365A APHEBC shell, only has 135 mm penetration at close range. But instead of having 74 g TNT for explosive filler inside the shell, it has 164 g. This increases considerably the post-penetration damage. It also has a better penetration from 550 m and above than the BR-365K round.

The BR-365P APCR shot is also available, but keep in mind that it performs poorly against sloped armour and it has very poor post-penetration damage. It penetrates about 195 mm of RHA on close range.

The HE shell is called O-365K. With 660 g of TNT inside it performs pretty well against trucks and halftracks.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
BR-365K APHE 148 143 126 106 90 77
BR-365A APHEBC 135 133 124 114 104 95
BR-365P APCR 195 187 154 122 96 76
O-365K HE 19 18 17 16 15 14
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Velocity
(m/s) 		Projectile
mass (kg) 		Fuse delay
(m) 		Fuse sensitivity
(mm) 		Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (g) 		Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
BR-365K APHE 792 9.2 1.2 14 77 47° 60° 65°
BR-365A APHEBC 792 9.2 1.2 14 164 48° 63° 71°
BR-365P APCR 1,050 4.99 - - - 66° 70° 72°
O-365K HE 785 9.54 0.2 0.1 741 79° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-34-85
Full
ammo 		1st
rack empty 		2nd
rack empty 		3rd
rack empty 		4th
rack empty 		5th
rack empty 		6th
rack empty
60 57 (+3) 55 (+5) 54 (+6) 48 (+12) 43 (+17) 37 (+23)
7th
rack empty 		8th
rack empty 		9th
rack empty 		10th
rack empty 		11th
rack empty 		Visual
discrepancy
31 (+29) 25 (+35) 19 (+41) 17 (+43) 1 (+59) No

Notes:

  • Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
  • Rack 11 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 16 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
  • This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 11 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 10.
  • If you pack 17 (+43) shells, it will keep the hull empty of ammo.
  • Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 10 into rack 11. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

Main article: DT (7.62 mm)
7.62 mm DT
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 1,890 (63) 600 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

The T-34-85's best playstyle is that of a flanker. Due to its high mobility, fast turret traverse, and a capable cannon with excellent post-penetration damage, the T-34-85 fills this role perfectly. Since the turret is so tall, it makes combat behind low obstacles difficult, as the turret segment above the main gun is visible. The T-34-85's other playstyle can be as a support tank, by keeping up with more protected vehicles like the IS-2 and supplement firepower while their heavy armament reloads.

The T-34-85 would not make a very suitable short-range brawler though even with the 85 mm gun as the gun has a rather tedious reload for the specific playstyle and the T-34-57's armour is very poor at its BR. With that, the T-34-85 would tend to be able to fire one shot at a close enemy before it gets taken out by other enemies nearby. However, it is understandable that the situation is unavoidable, so it is recommended to stay steady by firing one shot at an unsuspecting enemy at close range before retreating to reload, evading enemy shots.

If one decides to use the T-34 as a main battle tank, it's advisable to hide the hull as well as possible which has the weakest armour. Unfortunately, most heavy tanks like the Tiger II are nearly invulnerable from the front, but many mediums and even Cold War MBTs can still be destroyed. At this rank bracket, however, its speed, turret location, and poor armour push it towards a flanking role, away from the 1940-43 main battle comfort zone. The gun is still very potent, and the ammunition often knocks out nearly the entire crew, but the increases in armour of enemy vehicles necessitate learning their weak spots. The gun is generally accurate and most shells retain their velocity even into far ranges.

Enemies worth noting:

Panther A/D, Tiger II P - The Panthers are one of the most common tanks around BR 5.7, and they pose a great threat with their deadly long 75 mm cannon, thick frontal armour and adequate speed. You want to avoid engaging them at long range as the T-34 has only x3.5 scope magnification, making long range shooting super hard. Engage the Panthers within 500 m and avoid shooting their frontal hull. Their biggest weak spot is the gun mantlet, which is only 100 mm thick and has a flat part in the middle. That is where you want to aim at, the T-34's APHE has sufficient damage to instantly destroy the Panther even from its turret. The second weak spot is of course the sides, guaranteeing an instant kill. Generally APHE is enough to deal with the Panthers, and no APCR is needed.

For the Tiger II P, aim at the vertical area of the frontal turret which is also 100 mm. The best tactic is still to flank it however.

Tiger H1/E - The Tiger's weak spots are the opposite with the Panthers. Their hull are unsloped and rather thin, while the gun mantlet is weirdly shaped and can absorb quite some shells. The best engaging range remains the same, within 500 m. If the Tiger is angling, aim at the turret ring to disable the gunner and destroy the turret traverse, or aim at the hull side below the side skirt, which is only 60 mm. If it is not angling, aim between the driver's vision port and the MG for an instant kill. Avoid shooting at these two parts as they tend to bounce/absorb shells. For the Tiger E, don't shoot at the lower glacis as there will be add-on tracks installed there, making it harder to penetrate.

Ho-Ri - In a frontal engagement, APCR is required as the APHE shells don't have enough penetration. With APCR loaded, aim at the further sides of the fighting compartment, away from the gun, because the further from the gun, the thinner the armour gets, with the thinnest part being around 160 mm unsloped. Penetrating there will knock out its loader, gunner or commander, or detonate the ammo. Of course, the best way is still side-shooting with APHE.

Panzer IV/70, Jagdpanzer 38(t) - These small tank destroyers with their well angled frontal armour can be quite a problem from a distance. With APHE, you can disable their transmission by shooting at their lower glacis. Now if you can, flank them. The 85 mm APHE does a great job at penetrating sloped, thin armour, so you don't have to get to their absolute sides. For the Pz IV/70, you can also aim at the downward part of the gun mantlet since the shell might ricochet downwards into the hull, knocking out every crew member. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) doesn't have this problem, so side-shooting is required to destroy it effectively.

M4A3E2 Jumbo - This is another common enemy. It is recommended to use the BR-365A, the one with less penetration but more explosive filler. The reason is that it is better at penetrating sloped armour, which the Jumbo has. With that shell you can easily destroy a M4A3E2 who's not angling. If it is, aim at the hull side just above the tracks, or load APCR and shoot straight at its gun mantlet. Against a 75 mm M4A3E2 you can relax a bit as it will struggle to penetrate your armour, but your cupola is a rather large weak spot and a shot through there can knock out the T-34. Be more careful with the M4A3E2 76 W, as they can easily pierce through your armour.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Excellent firepower: adequate penetration, destructive damage and good reload rate
  • Has two types of APHE for players to choose from: BR-365K with higher penetration but less TNT, and BR-365A with less penetration but plenty of TNT, either of which are enough to knock out most tanks with a single shot
  • 56 km/h top speed and great manoeuvrability allows it to reposition or flank easily
  • 5-man crew improves survivability against solid shells
  • Similar playstyle with the previous T-34s which is beginner-friendly
  • Fast turret traverse to easily deal with targets from multiple directions
  • Sloped hull and round frontal turret might bounce low-penetrating guns like the 75 mm M3 on early M4 Shermans

Cons:

  • Armour is extremely thin, providing very limited protection against common guns (American 76 mm, British 17-pdr, German 75 mm & 88 mm, etc)
  • Crew members are closely packed, a well-aimed shot tends to knock them all out
  • 5 degrees gun depression is below average, limiting its capability in hilly maps
  • Poor reverse speed
  • Large turret profile makes it easier to get spotted and shot
  • Awkward to place bushes on upper front hull due to the obstruction of MG port and driver's optics

History

Development

The T-34, in its introduction, was a huge shock to the German army when they invaded as they did not have the adequate anti-tank weaponry to defeat the T-34 and its heavier companion KV-1 tank. However, by 1943, the Germans began introducing newer tanks or upgrading their current tanks. They upgraded their Panzer IVs with the 75 mm KwK 40 gun, which could penetrate the T-34, and introduced the Tiger I and Panther tanks into their forces, which could not only destroy the T-34s easily, but can also take in the 76.2 mm shells the T-34 fires. The inferior firepower the T-34 forced the T-34 forces to close into a very close distance during the Battle of Kursk with the Tigers and Panthers in order to get to the sides and fire at the weaker armour. While the Soviets were victorious against the German offensive, the T-34s suffered high losses with this strategy.

The T-34's slow improvement from the 1941 model was due to the decision to keep changes to the model low to keep costs low and productivity high. This worked well in the first two years against the Germans, but the Battle of Kursk showed that the newer German tanks now outgun the T-34s. Soviet High Command, once conservative on the T-34's upgrades, now opted for an increase in the T-34 armament to be able to counter the German tanks. During the development, an interim solution for the problem was the equipping of the 57 mm ZiS-4M gun onto the T-34, which has better penetration capabilities compared to the 76.2 F-34 guns. This tank, the T-34-57, performed as an adequate "tank-hunter", but the small HE shell on the 57 mm gun made it a poor tank armament so this was only an interim solution until a better design is made.[1]

Testings with various guns in Soviet inventory against captured German tanks showed that the most capable gun was the 85 mm 52-K anti-aircraft gun. With this discovery, the 52-K underwent development to make derivatives able to be mounted onto a tank. The cannon was able to penetrate the front of the Tiger from 500 m out, the turret side from 600 m away, and the hull side from 800 m away. The 85 mm was first mounted onto the SU-85s, but the need for an upgraded tank had the Soviets find a way to fit the gun in the T-34. The cannon was much larger than the F-34 gun and so a much larger turret was necessary to house the gun. The solution to this was to transfer the turret from the cancelled T-43 tank program onto the T-34, this increased the turret ring diameter from the original 1,425 mm into 1,600 mm, which required a retooling in the manufacturing plants. While this delayed T-34 production, the 85 mm was finally able to be mounted onto the T-34 as the T-34-85.[1]

Design

The T-34-85, aside from the enlarged turret ring for the new turret, uses the same T-34 hull design. Armour was still about 45 mm thick, sloped at 60 degrees for a 90 mm effective thickness. The Christie suspension was retained, as well as the diesel engine. However, the biggest difference in the tank design is the three-man turret, though a turret basket is still exempt from the design. Before, the two-man turret on the older T-34 had the commander forced to do his job and the gunner's, the three-man turret on the T-34-85 separated the commander's duty by having a separate gunner to fire the gun, leaving the commander to do his job commanding the tank as a whole. The larger turret also has space for a radio (previously in the hull by the assistant driver), allowing the commander to effectively communicate between tank units. Aside from the enlarged turret ring, new turret, and the 85 mm gun, the internal specifications of the T-34 and its pros and cons were nearly identical to the older variants.

The 85 mm gun on the T-34-85 was able to penetrate 125 mm of armour at 500 m away at a 90 degree meet angle with normal AP rounds. The 85 mm gun was derived from the 52-K anti-aircraft gun, which was developed from Vasilliy Grabin and Fyodor Petrov's design bureaus. Petrov's bureaus produced the 85 mm D-5T gun while Grabin's design, after being taken over by A. Savin, produced the 85 mm ZiS-53 gun. During trials in the Gorokhoviesky Proving Grounds, it was found that the ZiS-53 gun was much better than the D-5T and was much simpler, which was redesignated as the ZiS-S-53 after Savin's initials. However, as the new turret was optimized with the D-5T gun, the T-34-85 started with the D-5T as the T-34-85 Model 1943, which ran on from February to March 1944. After March 1944, the 85 mm ZiS-5 was used as the armament of the T-34-85 Model 1944. During its production life from 1943 to 1958, up to 48,950 T-34-85s were created (22,559 of which during World War II), consisting of more than half of the total 84,070 T-34 units created in its entire production life since 1940.

Combat usage

From its introduction in March 1944 and onwards, the T-34-85s were the main tank in Soviet service.[1] The older T-34s were still being used in the theatre as they are lost from combat and retribution and replaced. The T-34-85's 85 mm gun armour penetration and front turret armour nearly doubled compared to the older T-34, yet retain the same speed, mobility, and hull armour. The T-34-85 was vastly superior to the German's Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs, and though it was still inferior against the Panther and the Tiger I, it had a better chance than the older T-34 models. The T-34-85s maintain numerical superiority throughout the entire war due to the Soviet's industrial base and design concept of mass producing single designs, while the Germans focus on newer, better tanks such as the heavier Tiger II, which restricted productivity and made logistics a hard job to maintain. The T-34-85s were the main Soviet spearhead weapon during Operation Bagration and its future offensives up until the Battle of Berlin. After the fall of Nazi Germany, the Soviets use the T-34-85s again in their invasion of Manchuria to fulfil their promise to invade Japan after the fall of Germany. The combined-arms forces of their armoured units overran the Japanese positions in Manchuria and were pushed all the way to a distance from the Yalu River. The Japanese surrender order was given out by the emperor on August 14, which was not carried out as a cease-fire until August 17.

After the end of World War II, the T-34-85s were given out in massive quantities to Soviet-occupied territories and their allies. The next action the T-34-85s faced was in the Korean War, in the hands of the North Koreans. The North Korean armoured forces are able to assault deep into South Korea with these tanks as South Koreans were severely under-equipped in anti-tank weaponry, only armed with US-supplied M24 Chaffees and regular bazookas, which were useless against the T-34s. It wasn't until the deployment of US troops into the Korean peninsula that the tide turned against the North Koreans and their tanks. The US sent their M4A3E8 Shermans, M26 Pershings, and "Super Bazookas" to arm the troops there. All these weapons are able to destroy the T-34-85s, with the M26 Pershing being able to penetrate straight through the front and back of the T-34-85 armour with HVAP rounds. The Shermans are nearly equal to the T-34-85s, but the better optic quality and crew training gave them an edge against the T-34-85s. These anti-tank weapons supplied by the coalition caused the North Koreans to suffer major tank losses and after their supply lines were cut by the US landings at Inchon, the armoured vehicles were abandoned as the North Koreans retreated. Pure tank-to-tank battles between the two sides were scarce after 1950 due to a heavy decline in armoured forces in the North Korean side.[1]

Past the Korean War, the T-34-85s were clearly obsolete with the development of newer tanks being developed worldwide. Despite that, many countries still use T-34-85s as their main tank or as reserves, even the Soviets and Finnish continue using them until the late 1960s. Warsaw Pact countries used them in large quantities and were involved in many conflicts within these countries, such as the East German uprising in June 1953, Hungarian revolution in 1956, Coup by Greek junta in July 1974, and the Turkish invasion in July-August 1974. The T-34-85s also saw conflicts in the Middle East in the hands of Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians, and Iraq; Vietnam with the North Vietnamese, and in the Bosnian War in the Bosnian Serb Army. African countries such as Somalia and Angola still use T-34-85s in their armies, and they could even be seen in the recent conflicts in Yemen and in Ukraine. Despite their age, it seems that the T-34-85 was to become a tank that will persist in the hands of smaller countries for years to come.

During late 1944, the Soviets were already searching for a successor to the T-34s that use most of the newest tank technology found in recent years. The result was the T-44 medium tank, which did not enter service in time to see widespread usage and even combat during World War II. The T-44 underwent further development and redesigning to become a tank that would surpass the T-34 in the most produced tank in existence, the T-54 tank.


Archive of the in-game description

This model of tanks received the new S-53 cannon with a 54.6 calibre barrel length mounted on a turret with an expanded traverse circle. Its armour-piercing 9.2 kg shell penetrated 111 mm and 102 mm thick armour at ranges of 500 and 1,000 metres respectively, while its subcalibre round penetrated 138 mm thick armour at a range of 500 metres. Tanks with this cannon used the improved TS-16 telescopic sight. To allow firing from cover, it had an elevation level and a turreted rangefinder. The turret's roof featured two MK-4 observation instruments which provided noticeably improved vision over the PTK-5 panoramic telescope. Another ventilator was also added and the command cupola was moved back. The turret's frontal armour was increased to 90 mm, and the sides to 60 mm.

The 9RC radio set was installed on all the vehicles, and late production tanks received electric drive for turning the turret and the means to set up smokescreens. Combined manual and electric drives meant that the turret could be fully turned in 12-15 seconds, and its turning motion became steadier. Although the tank's weight was somewhat increased by the installation of its more powerful cannon and stronger armour, thanks to its powerful diesel engine, its mobility did not suffer.

Tanks of this model went into mass production in February 1944. By the end of the Second World War, around 20,500 of them were made in total. The tank was widely used in all conflicts in the war's final stage.

In spite of the very significant upgrades present on the T-34-85, its battle characteristics could not be considered entirely satisfactory for the second half of the war in the context of improved German tanks and anti-tank weapons.

Captured tanks of this type were used by the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS until the end of the war.

The tank underwent several modernisations after the war, the last of which took place in 1969. In the 50s, it was mass-produced in Poland and Czechoslovakia.


Media

Skins
Videos
Best medium tanks discusses the T-34-85 at 5:46 - War Thunder Official Channel
Best after-party picks discusses the T-34-85 at 6:43 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Other T-34-85 variants

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Zaloga Steven. T-34-85 vs M26 Pershing: Korea 1950 Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010


Kharkov Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering named after A. A. Morozov
Light Tanks 
BT-5  BT-5 · RBT-5
BT-7  BT-7 · BT-7M · BT-7A (F-32)
Medium Tanks 
T-34-76  T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1940) · T-34 (1941) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34 (1942) · T-34E STZ · T-34E
T-34-57  T-34-57 · T-34-57 (1943)
T-34-85  T-34-85 (D-5T) · T-34-85 · T-34-85E
T-34-100  T-34-100
T-44  T-44 · T-44-100 · T-44-122
Main Battle Tanks 
T-54  T-54 (1947) · T-54 (1949) · T-54 (1951)
T-64  T-64A (1971) · T-64B
Export/Captured 
T-34  ▀T 34 747 (r) · ▄T-34 · ▄T-34-85 · ␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53)
T-54  ▄T-54
See Also  Uralmashzavod · Uralvagonzavod

USSR medium tanks
T-28  T-28 (1938) · T-28 · T-28E
T-34-76  T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1940) · T-34 (1941) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34 (1942) · T-34E STZ · T-34E
T-34-57  T-34-57 · T-34-57 (1943)
T-34-85  T-34-85 (D-5T) · T-34-85 · T-34-85E
T-34-100  T-34-100
T-44  T-44 · T-44-100 · T-44-122
T-54  T-54 (1947) · T-54 (1949) · T-54 (1951)
T-55  TO-55 · T-55A · T-55AM-1 · T-55AMD-1
T-62  T-62 · T-62M-1
T-64  Object 435 · T-64A (1971) · T-64B
T-72  T-72A · T-72AV (TURMS-T) · T-72B · T-72B (1989) · T-72B3 · T-72M2 Moderna
T-80  T-80B · T-80U · T-80UD · T-80UK · T-80UM2 · Т-80U-Е1 · T-80BVM · Object 292
T-90  Т-90А · T-90M
Trophies/Lend-Lease 
Germany  ▂T-III · ▂T-V
Great Britain  ▂МК-IX "Valentine"
USA  ▂M3 Medium · ▂M4A2

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