Year of issue : 2009-2013
A country : Canada, USA
Genre : documentary, war
Duration : 3 seasons, 24+ episodes
Translation : Professional (Single Voice)

Director : Paul Kilbeck, Hugh Hardy, Daniel Sekulich
Cast : Robin Ward, Ralph Raths, Robin Ward, Fritz Langanke, Heinz Altmann, Hans Baumann, Pavel Nikolaevich Eremin, Gerard Bazin, Avigor Kahelani, Kenneth Pollack

Description of the Series : Large-scale tank battles unfold before you in full view, in all their beauty, cruelty and lethality. In the documentary series “Great Tank Battles”, the most significant tank battles are reconstructed using advanced computer technologies and animation. Each battle will be presented from a variety of angles: you will see the battlefield from a bird's eye view, as well as in the thick of the battle, through the eyes of the participants in the battle themselves. Each issue is accompanied a detailed story and analysis technical characteristics equipment that took part in the battle, as well as comments regarding the battle itself and the balance of enemy forces. You will see a variety of technical means combat, starting from the Tigers used during the Second World War, which were in service with Nazi Germany, to the latest developments - thermal target guidance systems, which were successfully used during battles in Persian Gulf.

List of episodes
1. Battle of Easting 73: The harsh, godforsaken desert of southern Iraq is home to the most merciless sandstorms, but today we will see another storm. During the 1991 Gulf War, the US 2nd Armored Regiment was caught in a sandstorm. This was the last major battle of the 20th century.
2. The Yom Kippur War: Battle for the Golan Heights / The October War: Battle For The Golan Heights: In 1973, Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel. How did several tanks manage to hold off superior enemy forces?
3. The Battle of El Alamein: Northern Africa, 1944: About 600 tanks of the combined Italian-German army broke through the Sahara desert into Egypt. The British deployed almost 1,200 tanks to stop them. Two legendary commander: Montgomery and Rommel fought for control of North Africa and the oil of the Middle East.
4. Ardennes operation: battle of PT-1 tanks - rush to Bastogne / The Ardennes: On September 16, 1944, German tanks entered the Ardennes forest in Belgium. The Germans attacked American units in an attempt to change the course of the war. The Americans responded with one of the most massive counterattacks in the history of their military operations.
5. Ardennes operation: battle of PT-2 tanks - attack of the German Joachim Pipers / The Ardennes: 12/16/1944 In December 1944, the most loyal and ruthless killers of the Third Reich, the Waffen-SS, carried out Hitler's last offensive in the west. This is the story of the incredible breakthrough of the Nazi Sixth Armored Army of the American line and its subsequent encirclement and defeat.
6. Operation Blockbuster - Battle of Hochwald(02/08/1945) On February 8, 1945, the Canadian Armed Forces launched an attack in the Hochwald Gorge area with the goal of giving Allied troops access to the very heart of Germany.
7. The Battle of Normandy June 06, 1944 Canadian tanks and infantry land on the Normandy coast and are hit by deadly fire, coming face to face with the most powerful German machines: armored tanks SS.
8. Battle of Kursk. Part 1: Northern Front / The Battle Of Kursk: Northern Front In 1943, numerous Soviet and German armies collided in the greatest and deadliest tank battle in history.
9. Battle of Kursk. Part 2: Southern Front / The Battle Of Kursk: Southern Front The battle near Kursk culminates in the Russian village of Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943. This is the story of the largest tank battle in military history, as elite SS troops face off against Soviet defenders determined to stop them at any cost.
10. The Battle of Arrcourt September 1944. When Patton's Third Army threatened to cross the German border, Hitler, in desperation, sent hundreds of tanks into a head-on collision.
11. Battles of the First World War / Tank Battles of the Great War In 1916, Britain, hoping to break the long, bloody, hopeless situation on the Western Front, used new mobile weapons. This is the story of the first tanks and how they changed the face of the modern battlefield forever.
12. Battle of Korea / Tank Battles of Korea In 1950 the world was taken by surprise because North Korea attacked South Korea. This is the story of American tanks rushing to the rescue South Korea and the bloody battles they wage on the Korean Peninsula.
13. The Battle of France At the start of World War II, the Germans pioneered a new form of mobile armored tactics. This is the story of the Nazis' famous Blitzkrieg, where thousands of tanks broke through terrain that was considered impassable and conquered Western Europe within a few weeks.
14. The Six Day War: Battle for the Sinai In 1967, in response to the growing threat from its Arab neighbors, Israel began preemptive strike against Egypt in Sinai. This is the story of one of the fastest and most dramatic victories in modern warfare.
15. The Battle for the Baltics By 1944, the Soviets had turned the tide of the war in the East and were driving the Nazi army back through the Baltic states. This is the story of German tank crews who continue to fight and win battles even though they cannot win the war.
16. The Battle of Stalingrad By the end of 1942, the German offensive on the Eastern Front begins to slow down, and the Soviets place their emphasis on defense in the city of Stalingrad. This is the story of one of the most dramatic battles in history, in which an entire german army, and the course of the war changed forever.
17. Tank Ace: Ludwig Bauer / Tank Ace: Ludwig Bauer After the success of the Blitzkrieg, young men throughout Germany flocked to the tank corps in search of glory. This is the story of one German tankman who comes face to face with the harsh reality of tank forces. He fights in several important battles and survives World War II.
18 October War: Battle for the Sinai / The October War: Battle for the Sinai Seeking to recapture lost territory six years earlier, Egypt launches a surprise attack against Israel in October 1973. This is the story of the final Arab-Israeli war in the Sinai, where both sides achieve success, suffer stunning defeats and - most importantly - enduring peace.
19. The Battle of Tunisia By 1942, Rommel's Afrika Korps had been driven back to Tunisia and met the new American Panzer Corps in North Africa. This is the story of the final battles in North Africa by two of history's most famous tank commanders, Patton and Rommel.
20. Battle of Italy / Tank Battles of Italy In 1943, the tanks of the Royal Canadian Armored Corps made their combat debut on the European mainland. This is the story of Canadian tank crews who fight their way across the Italian Peninsula and, in an offensive breakthrough, strive to liberate Rome from Nazi occupation.
21. Battle of Sinai. Wanting to regain lost territory, Egypt launched an attack on Israel in 1973. This is the story of how the war in the Sinai ended, bringing both defeats and victories to both sides.
22. Tank battles Vietnam War(part 1)
23. Tank battles of the Vietnam War (part 2)

Since its introduction, the tank has been and remains the main threat on the battlefield. Tanks became a tool of blitzkrieg and a weapon of victory in World War II, a decisive trump card in the Iran-Iraq war; Even equipped with the most modern means of destroying enemy personnel, the American army cannot do without the support of tanks. the site has selected the seven largest tank battles from the moment these armored vehicles first appeared on the battlefield until today.

Battle of Cambrai

This was the first successful episode of the massive use of tanks: more than 476 tanks, united in 4 tank brigades, took part in the Battle of Cambrai. Great hopes were placed on armored vehicles: with their help, the British intended to break through the heavily fortified Siegfried Line. The tanks, mostly the latest at that time Mk IV with side armor reinforced to 12 mm, were equipped with the latest know-how of that time - fascines (75 bundles of brushwood, fastened with chains), thanks to which the tank could overcome wide trenches and ditches.
On the very first day of fighting, a resounding success was achieved: the British managed to wedge 13 km into the enemy’s defenses, capture 8,000 German soldiers and 160 officers, as well as a hundred guns. However, it was not possible to develop the success, and the subsequent counter-offensive of the German troops virtually nullified the efforts of the Allies.

Irreversible losses in tanks among the Allies amounted to 179 vehicles, and more tanks failed due to technical reasons.

Battle of Annu

Some historians consider the Battle of Annu to be the first tank battle of World War II. It began on May 13, 1940, when Hoepner's 16th Panzer Corps (623 tanks, of which 125 were the newest 73 Pz-III and 52 Pz-IV, capable of fighting French armored vehicles on equal terms), advancing in the first echelon of the 6th German army, started battles with the advanced French tank units of the corps of General R. Priou (415 tanks - 239 Hotchkiss and 176 SOMUA).

During the two-day battle, the 3rd French Light Mechanized Division lost 105 tanks, while German losses amounted to 164 vehicles. At the same time, German aviation had complete air supremacy.

Raseiniai tank battle

According to data from open sources, about 749 people took part in the Battle of Raseiniai Soviet tanks and 245 German vehicles. The Germans had air superiority good connection and organization. The Soviet command threw its units into battle in parts, without artillery and air cover. The result turned out to be predictable - an operational and tactical victory for the Germans, despite the courage and heroism of the Soviet soldiers.

One of the episodes of this battle became legendary - the Soviet KV tank was able to hold off the advance of an entire tank group for 48 hours. For a long time, the Germans could not control a single tank; they tried to shoot it with an anti-aircraft gun, which was soon destroyed, and to blow up the tank, but all in vain. As a result, we had to use a tactical trick: the KV was surrounded by 50 German tanks and began firing from three directions to divert his attention. At this time, an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun was secretly installed in the rear of the KV. She hit the tank 12 times, and three shells pierced the armor, destroying it.

Battle of Brody

The largest tank battle in the early stages of World War II, in which 800 German tanks were opposed by 2,500 Soviet vehicles (figures vary greatly from source to source). Soviet troops advanced in the most difficult conditions: tankers entered the battle after a long march (300-400 km), and in scattered units, without waiting for the arrival of combined arms support formations. The equipment broke down on the march, and there was no normal communication, and the Luftwaffe dominated the skies, the supply of fuel and ammunition was disgusting.

Therefore, in the battle for Dubno - Lutsk - Brody, Soviet troops were defeated, losing more than 800 tanks. The Germans were missing about 200 tanks.

Battle of the Valley of Tears

The Battle of the Valley of Tears, which took place during the Yom Kippur War, clearly showed that victory is achieved not by numbers, but by skill. In this battle, numerical and qualitative superiority was on the side of the Syrians, who prepared more than 1,260 tanks for the assault on the Golan Heights, including the newest at that time T-55 and T-62.

All that Israel had was a couple of hundred tanks and excellent training, as well as courage and high stamina in battle, the latter the Arabs never had. Illiterate soldiers could leave the tank even after a shell hit it without penetrating the armor, and it was very difficult for the Arabs to cope even with simple Soviet sights.

The most epic was the battle in the Valley of Tears, when, according to open sources, more than 500 Syrian tanks attacked 90 Israeli vehicles. In this battle, the Israelis were desperately short of ammunition, to the point that the reconnaissance unit's jeeps moved from tank to tank with 105-mm ammunition recovered from the downed Centurions. As a result, 500 Syrian tanks and a large number of other equipment were destroyed; Israeli losses amounted to about 70-80 vehicles.

Battle of the Kharhi Valley

One of the largest battles of the Iran-Iraq War took place in the Kharkhi Valley, near the city of Susengerd in January 1981. Then the 16th tank division Iran, armed with the latest British Chieftain tanks and American M60s, faced an Iraqi tank division - 300 Soviet T-62s - in a head-on battle.

The battle lasted about two days, from January 6 to 8, during which time the battlefield turned into a real quagmire, and the opponents became so close that it became risky to use aviation. The result of the battle was the victory of Iraq, whose troops destroyed or captured 214 Iranian tanks.

Also during the battle, the myth about the invulnerability of the Chieftain tanks, which had powerful frontal armor, was buried. It turned out that the 115-mm armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile of the T-62 cannon penetrates the powerful armor of the Chieftain's turret. Since then, Iranian tank crews were afraid to launch a frontal attack on Soviet tanks.

Battle of Prokhorovka

The most famous tank battle in history, in which about 800 Soviet tanks faced 400 German tanks in a head-on battle. Most Soviet tanks were T-34s, armed with a 76mm cannon, which did not penetrate the newest German Tigers and Panthers head-on. Soviet tank crews had to use suicidal tactics: get closer to German vehicles on maximum speed and hit them on board.
In this battle, the Red Army's losses amounted to about 500 tanks, or 60%, while German losses amounted to 300 vehicles, or 75% of the original number. The most powerful strike force was drained of blood. The Inspector General of the Wehrmacht tank forces, General G. Guderian, stated the defeat: “The armored forces, replenished with such great difficulty, due to large losses in people and equipment on for a long time went out of order... and there were no more quiet days on the Eastern Front."

Traditionally, the largest tank battle is considered to be the battle near Prokhorovka in the summer of 1943. But, in fact, the world's largest tank battle took place two years earlier: in June 1941 in the Brody-Dubno-Lutsk area. If we compare the numbers, Prokhorovka is clearly inferior to the Western Ukrainian Tank Battle.

The Battle of Prokhorovka took place on July 12, 1943. According to official Soviet data, 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns converged on both sides: 800 Soviet against 700 Nazi Germans. The Germans lost 350 units of armored vehicles, ours - 300. Allegedly, after this, the turning point came in the battle on Kursk Bulge.

However, this officialdom was questioned even by many Soviet researchers. After all, such a calculation contains obvious distortion. Indeed, in the 5th Guards Tank Army of General Pavel Rotmistrov, which on that day counterattacked the advancing German troops, there were about 950 tanks. But as for the Germans, there were approximately 700 tanks and self-propelled guns in the entire German group on the southern flank of the Kursk Bulge. And near Prokhorovka there was only the 2nd SS Panzer Corps of Waffen-SS General Paul Hausser - about 310 combat vehicles.

Therefore, according to updated Soviet data, 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns converged near Prokhorovka: just under 800 Soviet versus just over 400 German (losses were not specified). At the same time, neither side achieved its goal, but the German offensive was objectively losing momentum.

According to very precise data, in the tank battle on July 12 near Prokhorovka, 311 German tanks and self-propelled guns took part against 597 Soviet ones (some of the vehicles of the 5th GvTA failed after a 300-kilometer march). The SS men lost about 70 (22%), and guardsmen - 343 (57%) armored vehicles. At the same time, their irretrievable losses in 2 SS TK were estimated at only 5 vehicles! The Germans even admitted Soviet military leaders, evacuation and repair of equipment were better organized. Of the Soviet vehicles damaged near Prokhorovka, 146 were subject to restoration.

According to Russian historian Valery Zamulin ( Deputy for Science, Director of the State Military Historical Museum-Reserve “Prokhorovskoye Field”), by decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, a commission was created to investigate the causes of the large losses suffered by the 5th GvTA near Prokhorovka. In the commission's report, the fighting Soviet troops July 12 near Prokhorovka was called “an example of an unsuccessful operation.” General Rotmistrov was going to be court-martialed, but by that time the general situation at the front had changed - and everything turned out okay. By the way, the landing of Anglo-American troops in Sicily had a great influence on the outcome of the Battle of Kursk, after which the headquarters of the 2nd SS Tank Corps and the Leibshatnadrt division were sent to Italy.

Now let’s go back two years to Western Ukraine and compare

If the battle of Prokhorovka lasted only one day, then the Western Ukrainian tank battle (it is difficult to determine it by any one region - Volyn or Galicia - not to mention one settlement) lasted a week: from June 23 to 30, 1941. It was attended by five mechanized corps of the Red Army (2803 tanks) of the Southwestern Front against four German tank divisions (585 tanks) of the Wehrmacht Army Group South, united in the First Tank Group. Subsequently, another tank division of the Red Army (325) and one tank division of the Wehrmacht (143) entered the battle. Thus, in a giant oncoming tank battle 3,128 Soviet and 728 German tanks (+ 71 German assault guns) converged. Thus, the total number of tanks and self-propelled guns that took part in the Western Ukrainian battle is almost four thousand!

On the evening of June 22, the troops of the Southwestern Front (the most powerful grouping of Soviet troops on the western border of the USSR) received the order “to encircle and destroy the enemy group advancing in the direction of Vladimir-Volynsky, Dubno. By the end of June 24, take possession of the Lublin region.”

Considering the balance of forces (primarily in tanks, but also in artillery and aviation), the counteroffensive had a very high chance of success. The Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Army General Georgy Zhukov, personally arrived to coordinate the actions of the Southwestern Front.

To implement the task, the command of the Southwestern Front decided to create two strike groups: each with three mechanized and one rifle corps. However, the breakthrough of the German tank group forced the front commander, General Mikhail Kirponos, to abandon this plan and give the order to launch a counteroffensive without waiting for the concentration of all forces. Tank formations entered the battle separately and without mutual coordination. Subsequently, orders changed several times, which is why some units made multi-kilometer marches under enemy air attacks.

Some units did not take part in the counterattack. Part of the forces was sent to cover Kovel from the Brest direction, from where German tanks were allegedly also advancing. But, as it later became clear, the intelligence report was completely inaccurate.

On June 27, the strike group of the 8th mechanized corps under the command of brigade commissar Nikolai Popel successfully counterattacked the Germans in the Dubno area, inflicting serious losses on the enemy. However, here the Soviet tankers stopped and, waiting for reinforcements, stood for two days! During this time, the group did not receive support and, as a result, was surrounded.

It is interesting that the German tank and motorized divisions, despite the Soviet tank counterattacks, continued the offensive, as if “running forward.” In many ways, the burden of the fight against Red Army tanks fell on the Wehrmacht infantry. However, oncoming tank battles enough too.

On July 29, the withdrawal of the mechanized corps was authorized, and on June 30, a general retreat. The front headquarters left Ternopil and moved to Proskuriv. By this time, the mechanized corps of the Southwestern Front were practically destroyed. About 10% of the tanks remained in the 22nd, about 15% in the 8th and 15th, about 30% in the 9th and 19th.

Member of the military council of the Southwestern Front, corps commissar Nikolai Vashugin, who at first actively organized counterattacks, shot himself on June 28. The remaining members of the Military Council proposed to retreat beyond the line of the old Soviet-Polish border (which existed until September 1939). However, German tanks broke through the line of fortified areas on the old border and reached the rear of the Soviet troops. Already on July 10, German troops took Zhitomir...

It cannot be said that the Soviet troops showed complete failure in those battles. It was then that the Germans first started talking about the superiority of the T-34 and KV, against which German anti-tank guns were powerless (only 88-mm anti-aircraft guns could take them)...

However, in the end, the defeat was complete. By June 30, the Southwestern Front troops participating in the counteroffensive had lost 2,648 tanks—about 85%. As for the Germans, the First Panzer Group lost about 260 vehicles during this period (for the most part these were not irretrievable losses).

In total, the Southwestern and Southern Fronts lost 4,381 tanks in the first 15 days of the war (according to the collection “Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the 20th Century: Losses of the Armed Forces”) out of 5,826 available.

The losses of the First Tank Group by September 4 amounted to 408 vehicles (of which 186 were irrecoverable). A little more than half. However, with the remaining 391 tanks and assault guns, Kleist managed to link up with Guderian by September 15 and close the encirclement ring around the Southwestern Front.

One of the main reasons for the defeat lies in the unprecedentedly large non-combat losses of the Red Army. For example, non-combat losses in tanks (abandoned due to a lack of fuel and lubricants, breakdowns, falling from a bridge, getting stuck in a swamp, etc.) in different divisions amounted to about 40-80%. Moreover, this cannot be attributed solely to the poor condition of supposedly outdated Soviet tanks. After all, the newest KV and T-34 failed in the same way as the relatively old BT and T-26. Neither before nor after the summer of 1941 did Soviet tank forces experience such non-combat losses.

Considering that the number of missing soldiers and those lagging behind on the march also noticeably exceeded the number of killed and wounded, we can say that the Red Army soldiers sometimes simply ran away, abandoning their equipment.

It is worth looking at the reasons for the defeat from the angle of Stalin’s postulate “personnel decide everything.” In particular, compare the biographies of the commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal Gerd von Runstedt, and the commander of the Southwestern Front, Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos.

66-year-old Runstedt graduated from the Military Academy back in 1907 and became an officer of the General Staff. During World War I he was chief of staff of the corps, in 1939 he commanded an army group during the war against Poland, and in 1940 - an army group in the war against France. For successful actions in 1940 (it was his troops who broke through the front and surrounded the allies at Dunkirk) he received the rank of field marshal.

49-year-old Mikhail Kirponos started out as a forester. During the First World War he was a paramedic, during the Civil War he commanded a regiment for some time, then held various positions (from commissar to head of the economic command) at the Kyiv School of Red Petty Officers. In the 1920s he graduated from the Military Academy. Frunze, then was chief of staff of the division for three years and head of the Kazan Infantry School for four years. During Finnish war was a division commander and distinguished himself in the battles for Vyborg. As a result, having jumped over several steps of the career ladder, in February 1941 he headed the Kiev Special Military District (the largest in the USSR), which was transformed into the Southwestern Front.

Soviet tank forces were inferior to the Panzerwaffe in training. Soviet tank crews had 2-5 hours of driving practice, while German tank crews had about 50 hours.

As for the training of commanders, the Germans noted the extremely inept conduct of Soviet tank attacks. This is how he wrote about the battles of 1941-1942. German General Friedrich von Mellenthin, author of the study “Tank battles 1939-1945: Combat use tanks in the Second World War":

“Tanks concentrated in dense masses in front of the front German defense, in their movement one felt uncertainty and the absence of any plan. They interfered with each other, bumped into our anti-tank guns, and in the event of a breakthrough of our positions, they stopped moving and stopped, instead of building on their success. During these days, individual German anti-tank guns and 88-mm guns were most effective: sometimes one gun disabled over 30 tanks in an hour. It seemed to us that the Russians had created an instrument that they would never learn to use.”

In general, the very structure of the mechanized corps of the Red Army turned out to be unsuccessful, which already in mid-July 1941 were disbanded into less cumbersome formations.

It is also worth noting factors that cannot be attributed to defeat. First of all, it cannot be explained by the superiority of German tanks over Soviet ones. Quite a lot has already been written about the fact that at the beginning of the war, Soviet supposedly outdated tanks, in general, were not inferior to German ones, and the new KV and T-34 were superior to enemy tanks. There is no way to explain the Soviet defeat by the fact that the Red Army was led by “backward” cavalry commanders. After all, the German First Panzer Group was commanded by Cavalry General Ewald von Kleist.

Finally, a few words about why Brody-Dubno-Lutsk lost the championship to Prokhorovka.

In fact, they talked about the Western Ukrainian tank battle in the Soviet period. Some of its participants even wrote memoirs (especially the memoirs of Nikolai Popel - “In a difficult time”). However, in general, they mentioned it in passing, in a few lines: they say there were counterattacks that were not successful. Nothing was said about the number of Soviet ones, but it was emphasized that they were outdated.

This interpretation can be explained by two main reasons. First of all, according to the Soviet myth about the reasons for the defeat in the initial period of the war, the Germans had superiority in technology. To be convincing, in Soviet history about the initial period of the Second World War, the number of all German tanks (and their allies) was compared with the number of only medium and heavy Soviet tanks. It was generally accepted that the Red Army soldiers stopped the German tank hordes only with bunches of grenades, or even bottles with a combustible mixture. Therefore, there was simply no place for the largest tank battle in 1941 in the official Soviet history of the Second World War.

Another reason for the silence of the greatest tank battle the fact that it was organized by the future Marshal of Victory, and at that time the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Georgy Zhukov. After all, the marshal of victory had no defeats! In the same connection soviet history The Second World War hid Operation Mars, the failed large-scale offensive at the end of 1942 against the German-held Rzhev salient. The actions of two fronts here were led by Zhukov. So that his authority would not suffer, this battle was reduced to a local Rzhev-Sychev operation, and they knew about the large losses from Alexander Tvardovsky’s poem “I was killed near Rzhev.”

Apologists for the Marshal of Victory even made candy out of the catastrophe of the Southwestern Front. Allegedly, already in the first days of the enemy invasion, Zhukov organized a counterattack on the Southwestern Front with the forces of several mechanized corps. As a result of the operation, the plan of the Nazi command to immediately break through to Kyiv and reach the left bank of the Dnieper was thwarted. Then the enemy suffered considerable losses in military equipment, which noticeably reduced its offensive and maneuver capabilities.

At the same time, about the initial goal of the offensive (to capture the Lublin region), they said that the order given was unrealistic, based on an overestimation of one’s troops and an underestimation of the enemy. And they preferred not to talk about the ruined tank armada, only casually mentioning that the tanks were outdated.

In general, it is not surprising that the tank championship was given to Prokhorovka.

Dmitro Shurkhalo, for ORD

The large-scale tank battle near Prokhorovka was a defensive phase Battle of Kursk. This confrontation with the use of armored vehicles of the two strongest armies at that time - Soviet and German - is still considered one of the largest in military history. The command of the Soviet tank formations was carried out by Lieutenant General Pavel Alekseevich Rotmistrov, and the German ones by Paul Hausser.

On the eve of the battle

At the beginning of July 1943, the Soviet leadership learned that the main German attack would be on Oboyan, and a secondary one would be directed at Korocha. In the first case, the offensive was carried out by the Second Panzer Corps, which included the SS divisions “Adolf Hitler”, “Totenkopf” and “Reich”. They managed to literally break through two lines of Soviet defense in just a few days and approach the third, located ten kilometers southwest of the Prokhorovka railway station. At that time it was located on the territory of the Oktyabrsky state farm in the Belgorod region.

German tanks appeared near Prokhorovka on July 11, overcoming the resistance of one of the Soviet rifle divisions and the second tank corps. Seeing this situation, the Soviet command sent additional forces to this area, which were finally able to stop the enemy.

It was decided that it was necessary to launch a powerful counterattack aimed at completely destroying the SS armored corps wedged into the defense. It was assumed that three guards and two tank armies would take part in this operation. But the rapidly changing situation has made adjustments to these plans. It turned out that only the 5th Guards Army under the command of A.S. Zhadov, as well as the 5th Tank Army led by P.A. Rotmistrov, would participate in the counterattack from the Soviet side.

Full-scale offensive

In order to at least slightly delay the Red Army forces concentrated in the Prokhorovsky direction, the Germans prepared a strike in the area where the 69th Army was located, moving out from Rzhavets and heading north. Here one of the fascist tank corps began to advance, trying to break through from the southern side to the desired station.

Thus began the full-scale battle of Prokhorovka. Its start date was the morning of July 12, 1943, when the headquarters of the 5th Tank Army of P. A. Rotmistrov received a message about the breakthrough of a significant group of German armored vehicles. It turned out that about 70 units of enemy equipment, having entered from the southwest, immediately captured the villages of Vypolzovka and Rzhavets and were rapidly moving on.

Start

In order to stop the enemy, a pair of combined detachments were hastily formed, which were assigned to the command of General N.I. Trufanov. The Soviet side was able to field up to hundreds of tanks. The newly created units had to rush into battle almost immediately. The bloody battle continued all day in the area of ​​Ryndinka and Rzhavets.

Then almost everyone understood that the battle of Prokhorovka decided not only the outcome of this battle, but also the fate of all units of the 69th Army, whose troops found themselves in a semi-ring of enemy encirclement. Therefore it was not surprising that soviet soldiers showed truly massive heroism. Take, for example, the feat of the anti-tank platoon of Art. Lieutenant K. T. Pozdeev.

During the next attack, a group of fascist tanks with machine gunners on board, numbering 23 vehicles, rushed towards his position. An unequal and bloody battle ensued. The guardsmen managed to destroy 11 tanks, thereby preventing the rest from penetrating into the depths of their own battle formation. Needless to say, almost all the soldiers of this platoon died.

Unfortunately, it is impossible in one article to list the names of all the heroes who were killed in that tank battle near Prokhorovka. I would like to briefly mention at least a few of them: Private Petrov, Sergeant Cheremyanin, Lieutenants Panarin and Novak, Military Paramedic Kostrikova, Captain Pavlov, Major Falyuta, Lieutenant Colonel Goldberg.

By the end of the next day, the combined detachment managed to knock out the Nazis and take control of the settlements of Ryndinka and Rzhavets. As a result of the advance of part of the Soviet troops, it was possible to completely localize the success that one of the German tank corps had achieved a little earlier. Thus, by its actions, Trufanov’s detachment thwarted a major Nazi offensive and prevented the threat of the enemy entering the rear of Rotmistrov’s 5th Tank Army.

Fire support

It cannot be said that the battles on the field near Prokhorovka took place exclusively with the participation of tanks and self-propelled guns. Artillery and aviation also played an important role here. When the enemy strike force launched an offensive early in the morning of July 12, Soviet attack aircraft attacked tanks that were part of the SS Adolf Hitler division. In addition, before Rotmistrov's 5th Tank Army began to launch a counterattack to the enemy forces, artillery preparation was carried out, which lasted about 15 minutes.

During heavy fighting in the bend of the river. The Psel 95th Soviet Rifle Division confronted the SS Totenkopf tank group. Here our military was supported by its strikes by the 2nd Air Army under the command of Marshal S.A. Krasovsky. In addition, long-range aviation also operated in this area.

Soviet attack aircraft and bombers managed to drop several thousand anti-tank bombs on the heads of the enemies. Soviet pilots did everything to support the ground units as much as possible. To do this, they delivered crushing blows to large concentrations of enemy tanks and other armored vehicles in the area of ​​villages such as Pokrovka, Gryaznoye, Yakovlevo, Malye Mayachki, etc. At the time when the battle of Prokhorovka took place, dozens of attack aircraft, fighters and bombers were in the sky . This time Soviet aviation had undoubted superiority in the air.

Advantages and disadvantages of combat vehicles

The Kursk Bulge near Prokhorovka began to gradually transform from a general battle into individual tank duels. Here the opponents could show each other not only their skills, but also their knowledge of tactics, as well as demonstrate the capabilities of their tanks. German units were mainly equipped with medium T-IV tanks two modifications - H and G, in which the thickness of the armored hull was 80, and the turret - 50 mm. In addition, there were heavy T-VI Tiger tanks. They were equipped with 100mm armored hulls and their turrets were 110mm thick. Both tanks were equipped with fairly powerful long-barreled guns of 75 and 88 mm caliber, respectively. They could penetrate a Soviet tank almost anywhere. The only exceptions were heavy IS-2 armored vehicles, and then at a distance of more than five hundred meters.

The tank battle near Prokhorovka showed that Soviet tanks were in many ways inferior to German ones. This concerned not only the thickness of the armor, but also the power of the guns. But the T-34 tanks, which were in service with the Red Army at that time, surpassed the enemy ones both in speed and maneuverability, and in maneuverability. They tried to wedge themselves into enemy battle formations and shoot the enemy’s side armor at close range.

Soon the battle formations of the warring parties were mixed. Too dense a concentration of vehicles and too short distances deprived German tanks of all their advantages. powerful guns. Closeness from large cluster technology prevented both of them from performing the necessary maneuvers. As a result, armored vehicles collided with each other, and often their ammunition began to explode. At the same time, their torn towers soared several meters in height. Smoke and soot from burning and exploding tanks obscured the sky, making visibility on the battlefield very poor.

But the equipment burned not only on the ground, but also in the air. The damaged planes dived and exploded right in the thick of the battle. Tank crews Both warring sides left their burning cars and boldly entered into hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, wielding machine guns, knives and even grenades. It was a real terrible mess of human bodies, fire and metal. According to the recollections of one of the eyewitnesses, everything around was burning, there was an unimaginable noise that made the ears hurt, apparently, this is exactly what hell should look like.

Further course of the battle

By the middle of the day on July 12, intense and bloody battles were taking place in the area of ​​​​height 226.6, as well as near railway. The soldiers of the 95th Infantry Division fought there, who tried with all their might to prevent all attempts by the “Dead Head” to break through in a northern direction. Our second tank corps managed to oust the Germans to the west of the railway and began a rapid advance towards the villages of Teterevino and Kalinin.

And at this time, the advanced units of the German division “Reich” moved forward, while occupying the Storozhevoy farm and the Belenikhino station. At the end of the day, the first of the SS divisions received powerful reinforcements in the form of artillery and air fire support. That is why the “Dead Head” managed to break through the defenses of two Soviet rifle divisions and reach the villages of Polezhaev and Vesely.

Enemy tanks attempted to reach the Prokhorovka-Kartashovka road, but they were still stopped by the 95th Infantry Division. Only one heroic platoon, commanded by Lieutenant P.I. Shpetnoy, destroyed seven Nazi tanks. In the battle he was seriously wounded, but despite this, he took a bunch of grenades and rushed under the tank. For his feat, Lieutenant Shpetnoy was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.

The tank battle of Prokhorovka, which took place on July 12, resulted in significant losses in both the SS Totenkopf and Adolf Hitler divisions, thereby causing great damage to their combat capabilities. But, despite this, no one was going to leave the battle or retreat - the enemy furiously resisted. The Germans also had their own tank aces. Once, somewhere in Europe, one of them managed to single-handedly defeat an entire convoy consisting of sixty vehicles and armored vehicles, but he died on the Eastern Front. This proves that Hitler sent selected soldiers here to fight, from whom the SS divisions “Reich”, “Adolf Hitler” and “Totenkopf” were formed.

Retreat

By evening, the situation in all sectors became difficult and the Germans had to bring all available reserves into battle. During the battle, a crisis arose. In contrast to the enemy, the Soviet side also brought into battle its last reserve - a hundred heavy armored vehicles. These were KV tanks (Klim Voroshilov). That evening, the Nazis still had to retreat and later go on the defensive.

It is believed that it was on July 12 that the turning point of the famous Battle of Kursk, which the whole country had been waiting for, came. This day was marked by the offensive of the Red Army units that were part of the Bryansk and Western fronts.

Unfulfilled plans

Despite the fact that the Germans lost the tank battle near Prokhorovka on July 12, the fascist command still intended to continue the further offensive. It planned to encircle several Soviet divisions belonging to the 69th Army, which were defending in a small area located between the Lipov and Seversky Donets rivers. On July 14, the Germans sent part of their forces, consisting of two tank and one infantry divisions, to capture the previously lost villages of Ryndinki, Shchelokovo and Vypolzovki. Further plans included advancing in the direction of Shakhovo.

The Soviet command unraveled the enemy's plans, so P. A. Rotmistrov gave the order to the combined detachment of N. I. Trufanov to stop the breakthrough of German tanks and prevent them from reaching the desired line. Another battle ensued. Over the next two days, the enemy continued to attack, but all attempts to break through were unsuccessful, as Trufanov’s group switched to a solid defense. On July 17, the Germans decided to withdraw their troops, and the heroic combined detachment was transferred to the reserve of the army commander. Thus ended the greatest tank battle near Prokhorovka.

Losses

It should be noted that none of the warring parties completed the tasks that were assigned to them on July 12, since Soviet troops were unable to encircle the German group, and the Nazis were unable to take possession of Prokhorovka and break through the enemy’s defenses.

In this difficult battle, both sides suffered not only significant casualties, but also a large loss of equipment. On the Soviet side, about five hundred tanks out of eight that took part in the battle were disabled. The Germans lost 75% of their armored vehicles, that is, three out of four hundred vehicles.

After the defeat, the commander of the German tank corps, Paul Hausser, was immediately removed from his post and blamed for all the failures that befell Hitler’s troops in the Kursk direction. In these battles, the enemy lost, according to some sources, 4,178 people, which amounted to 16% of the total combat strength. 30 divisions were also almost completely destroyed. The largest tank battle near Prokhorovka broke the warlike spirit of the Germans. After this battle and until the end of the war, the Nazis no longer attacked, but fought only defensive battles.

According to some reports, there is a report by the Chief of the General Staff A.M. Vasilevsky, which he provided to Stalin, which contained figures characterizing the outcome of the tank battle near Prokhorovka. It said that in two days of fighting (meaning July 11 and 12, 1943), the greatest losses suffered by the 5th Guards Army, as well as the 9th and 95th divisions. According to this report, losses amounted to 5,859 people, including 1,387 killed and 1,015 missing.

It is worth noting that all the above figures are highly controversial, but we can say with confidence: this was one of the hardest battles of the Second World War.

It was opened in 2010 just 35 km from Belgorod and is dedicated to all the heroes who died and survived in that largest and most terrible tank battle, which went down in world history forever. The museum was named “The Third Military Field of Russia” (the first was Kulikovo, the second was Borodino). In 1995, the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was erected on this legendary site. The soldiers who died at Prokhorovka are immortalized here - seven thousand names are carved on marble slabs covering the walls of the church.

The symbol of Prokhorovka is a belfry with an alarm bell suspended from it, which weighs about three and a half tons. It is visible from everywhere, because it is located on a hill, on the outskirts of the village of Prokhorovka. The center of the memorial is considered to be a truly grandiose sculptural composition consisting of six tanks. Its authors were monumentalist F. Sogoyan and Belgorod sculptor T. Kostenko.

On July 12, 1943, a grandiose tank battle took place near Prokhorovka as part of the Battle of Kursk. According to official Soviet data, 800 Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns and 700 German ones took part in it on both sides.

Since World War I, tanks have been one of the most effective weapons of war. Their first use by the British at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 ushered in a new era - with tank wedges and lightning blitzkriegs.

Battle of Cambrai (1917)

After failures using small tank formations, the British command decided to launch an offensive using large number tanks. Since the tanks had previously failed to live up to expectations, many considered them useless. One British officer noted: "The infantry thinks that the tanks have not justified themselves. Even the tank crews are discouraged."

According to the British command, the upcoming offensive was supposed to begin without traditional artillery preparation. For the first time in history, tanks had to break through enemy defenses themselves.
The offensive at Cambrai was supposed to take the German command by surprise. The operation was prepared in strict secrecy. Tanks were transported to the front in evening time. The British constantly fired machine guns and mortars to drown out the roar of tank engines.

A total of 476 tanks took part in the offensive. The German divisions were defeated and suffered heavy losses. The well-fortified Hindenburg Line was broken through greater depth. However, during the German counter-offensive, British troops were forced to retreat. Using the remaining 73 tanks, the British managed to prevent a more serious defeat.

Battle of Dubno-Lutsk-Brody (1941)

In the first days of the war, a large-scale tank battle took place in Western Ukraine. The most powerful group of the Wehrmacht - "Center" - was advancing to the north, to Minsk and further to Moscow. The not so strong Army Group South was advancing on Kyiv. But in this direction there was the most powerful group of the Red Army - the Southwestern Front.

Already on the evening of June 22, the troops of this front received orders to encircle and destroy the advancing enemy group with powerful concentric attacks from mechanized corps, and by the end of June 24 to capture the Lublin region (Poland). It sounds fantastic, but this is if you don’t know the strength of the parties: 3,128 Soviet and 728 German tanks fought in a gigantic oncoming tank battle.

The battle lasted a week: from June 23 to 30. The actions of the mechanized corps were reduced to isolated counterattacks in different directions. The German command, through competent leadership, was able to repel a counterattack and defeat the armies of the Southwestern Front. The defeat was complete: Soviet troops lost 2,648 tanks (85%), the Germans lost about 260 vehicles.

Battle of El Alamein (1942)

The Battle of El Alamein is a key episode of the Anglo-German confrontation in North Africa. The Germans sought to cut the Allies' most important strategic highway, the Suez Canal, and were eager for Middle Eastern oil, which the Axis countries needed. The main battle of the entire campaign took place at El Alamein. As part of this battle, one of the largest tank battles in World War II took place.

The Italo-German force numbered about 500 tanks, half of which were rather weak Italian tanks. The British armored units had over 1000 tanks, among which were powerful American tanks- 170 "Grants" and 250 "Shermans".

The qualitative and quantitative superiority of the British was partly compensated by the military genius of the commander of the Italian-German troops - the famous “desert fox” Rommel.

Despite the British numerical superiority in manpower, tanks and aircraft, the British were never able to break through Rommel's defenses. The Germans even managed to counterattack, but the British superiority in numbers was so impressive that the German strike force of 90 tanks was simply destroyed in the oncoming battle.

Rommel, inferior to the enemy in armored vehicles, widely used anti-tank artillery, among which were captured Soviet 76-mm guns, which had proven themselves to be excellent. Only under the pressure of the enemy’s enormous numerical superiority, having lost almost all of its equipment, did the German army begin an organized retreat.

After El Alamein, the Germans had just over 30 tanks left. The total losses of the Italo-German troops in equipment amounted to 320 tanks. The losses of the British tank forces amounted to approximately 500 vehicles, many of which were repaired and returned to service, since the battlefield was ultimately theirs.

Battle of Prokhorovka (1943)

The tank battle near Prokhorovka took place on July 12, 1943 as part of the Battle of Kursk. According to official Soviet data, 800 Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns and 700 German ones took part in it on both sides.

The Germans lost 350 units of armored vehicles, ours - 300. But the trick is that the Soviet tanks that participated in the battle were counted, and the German ones were those that were generally in the entire German group on the southern flank of the Kursk Bulge.

According to new, updated data, 311 German tanks and self-propelled guns of the 2nd SS Tank Corps took part in the tank battle near Prokhorovka against 597 Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army (commander Rotmistrov). The SS lost about 70 (22%), and the guards lost 343 (57%) armored vehicles.

Neither side managed to achieve its goals: the Germans failed to break through the Soviet defenses and gain operational space, and the Soviet troops failed to encircle the enemy group.

A government commission was created to investigate the reasons for the large losses of Soviet tanks. The commission's report called the military actions of Soviet troops near Prokhorovka "an example of an unsuccessful operation." General Rotmistrov was going to be put on trial, but by that time the general situation had developed favorably, and everything worked out.

Battle of the Golan Heights (1973)

The major tank battle after 1945 took place during the so-called Yom Kippur War. The war received this name because it began with a surprise attack by the Arabs during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (Judgment Day).

Egypt and Syria sought to regain territory lost after the devastating defeat in the Six-Day War (1967). Egypt and Syria were helped (financially and sometimes with impressive troops) by many Islamic countries - from Morocco to Pakistan. And not only Islamic ones: distant Cuba sent 3,000 soldiers, including tank crews, to Syria.

On the Golan Heights, 180 Israeli tanks faced approximately 1,300 Syrian tanks. The heights were a critical strategic position for Israel: if Israeli defenses in the Golan were breached, Syrian troops would be in the very center of the country within hours.

For several days, two Israeli tank brigades, suffering heavy losses, defended the Golan Heights from superior enemy forces. The most fierce battles took place in the “Valley of Tears”; the Israeli brigade lost from 73 to 98 tanks out of 105. The Syrians lost about 350 tanks and 200 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

The situation began to change radically after the reservists began to arrive. Syrian troops were stopped and then driven back to their original positions. Israeli troops launched an offensive against Damascus.