The Red Army “railroad torpedo” ЖДТ-3 (ZhDT-3) was developed by the Ordzhonikidze Machine Plant of Podolsk in 1935 as a weapon against enemy armoured trains.
It consisted of a small, two-axle, battery-powered trolley armed with a 495lb (225 kg) bomb containing a 220lb (100 kg) high-explosive charge.
The ZhDT-3 had a top speed of 37 mph (60 km/h) and a range of about 6 miles (10 km). Production started in 1938 and it was planned to equip each armoured train with five of these devices. While many of these were in service in 1941 at the outset of the war, there is no record of their actual use in combat.
The solution to non-standard problems is always associated with non-trivial sentences. This fact, as well as the flight of the imagination of gunsmiths, often leads to the appearance of unusual and surprising systems. A vivid example of this design, surprising by the very fact of its existence, appeared in the mid-thirties in the Soviet Union. They became the so-called. railway torpedo ZHTT-3.
During the First World War and the Civil War, an armoured train proved to be a reliable vehicle with high combat potential. Despite the possibility of moving only on existing railways, such equipment could timely appear in an important area, lead the offensive and support the troops. The only serious threat to armoured trains for a long time was the field artillery, the possibilities of which made it possible to hit protected wagons and platforms. However, armoured trains retained an advantage in the form of mobility.
In the mid-thirties of the last century, the Red Army command continued to see in armoured trains a serious force that could fully participate in the coming war from both sides of the front. As a result, the army needed some kind of mobile means of defeating such equipment, which had sufficient power. The result of theoretical research was the proposal to create a so-called. railway torpedoes. It was proposed to develop a special railway platform with its own power plant and explosive charge.
Such weapons were supposed to move along the tracks and undermine the opposing armoured trains or enemy transport vehicles.
In 1935, the armoured Army Directorate of the Red Army created the requirements for advanced railway weapons and transferred them to the design office of the KES plant (“Cracking-electric locomotive”) in Podolsk. This company had quite a wide experience in the development and construction of railway equipment. For this reason, the customer in the person of ABTU hoped for the quick completion of all necessary work.
Engineers of the plant IES conducted a study of possible options for the construction of a railway torpedo, which resulted in the commencement of work on the project ZhDT-3. The figure in the designation of the project may indicate the existence of several developments in this direction, however, no mention of the development of other similar rail torpedoes could be found. Perhaps the unit and the two were left for the preliminary projects, but we can not exclude that the new project immediately received the number “3”, without reference to other developments.
In addition to the Podolsk design bureau, several other enterprises were involved in the project. Thus, plant No. 80 of the People’s Commissariat of Ammunition (Dzerzhinsk, Gorky Region) was instructed to create remote and contact fuses for a torpedo, and since 1936 the Red Profintern factory has been working on a launching device for this weapon.
By the end of 1935, the specialists of the KES plant had completed all the design work and presented the finished version of the project of ZhDT-3. At the beginning of the next 1936, the plant was ready to present for testing several experienced torpedoes of the new model. At the same time, however, the products of ZhDT-3 were supposed to be used for the time being without special starting devices. Nevertheless, the project of the railway torpedo itself was already ready and later did without major changes.
The developed railway torpedo ZhDT-3 had a fairly simple design, which made it possible to organize the mass production of such products at a variety of engineering enterprises. There could be problems with the delivery of individual components, but in general, the assembly of such torpedoes was simple.
The main unit of torpedoes ZhDT-3 was a frame assembled from several metal rods of different lengths, sections and shapes. The mainframe elements were the front and rear axles. The axis consisted of two semi-axes welded to the central ring. Half shafts were additionally connected to the ring with the help of two pairs of struts. At the ends of the axles were provided mounts for wheels with a flange. Between themselves, the two axes of complex construction were connected with the help of several rods. A set of such parts was welded to the central rings, two more relatively long rods formed a concave downward X-shaped structure at the bottom of the torpedo. Finally, on X-shaped rods and longitudinal “spars”, two L-shaped trays of sheet metal were fixed.
Chassis torpedoes ZhDT-3 consisted of four wheels mounted on the axles. Leading was the front axle: its wheels were equipped with a system of interaction with electric motors (apparently, a gear). As the power plant used two automotive starters. Such engines were installed on the front axles and rotate the drive wheels. The use of starters made it possible to provide the required driving performance at the lowest cost. The engines were connected to two car batteries. The latter was fixed on the chutes of the frame and allowed the torpedo to pass the required range.
The central rings of the axes and the longitudinal “spars” formed a tray in which the charge was located. As a warhead, the ZhDT-3 railway torpedo should have used a special product in a streamlined metal body with an explosive charge of 100 kg A small triangular design with fuse contacts was attached to the front axle ring. There was also a remote fuse that undermined the warhead at a given distance from the launch site.
According to some reports, the warhead of a torpedo train consisted of two 152-mm artillery shells, laid with the ends of each other and connected with a special clamp. If this version is true, then the above 100 kg may not reflect the weight of TNT, but indicate the total weight of the two projectiles. The mass of explosive, in this case, could not exceed 10-12 kg.
The product of ZhDT-3 turned out quite large and heavy. However, the dimensions and weight of the structure were primarily related to the limitations imposed by the railway track and the requirements for the power of the warhead. The torpedo cart had dimensions of about 1.7 m by 1.7 m and a height of 456 mm. According to the project, the weight of the combat-ready weapons was to reach 225 kg.
The power of two car starters was enough to accelerate the torpedo to a speed of about 60 km / h. The battery capacity was enough to move for about 10 minutes, so the range reached 10 km.
The first products of ZhDT-3 were manufactured in the last weeks of 1935. Soon, the military conducted tests of new weapons and decided to adopt. By the end of the first half of the 36th, the first 20 serial torpedoes of the new model were handed over to the troops. By this time, the plant IES received a new name: Podolsk Machine-Building Plant. Ordzhonikidze.
In mid-1936, simultaneously with the adoption of rail torpedoes for service, the basic requirements for their use were developed. Thus, each armoured train of the Red Army was supposed to carry five units of such weapons. It was assumed that such a number of torpedoes would allow the most effective way to supplement the artillery available on the train, increasing its combat capabilities.
In the 36th, the Red Profintern plant was attracted to participate in the new project. He was instructed to create a set of tools for installation on existing armoured trains. Elements of this complex were supposed to ensure the launch of rail torpedoes on enemy trains, as well as to protect their armoured train from similar enemy weapons. In 1936, several units of such equipment were built. They were mounted on control sites and transferred to tests in one of the regiments operating the armoured trains. The following year, it was supposed to launch full-fledged mass production of starting devices and protection systems.
Judging from the creation of means of protection against railway torpedoes, the Red Army command not only hoped to master this weapon but also expected the appearance of similar systems in a potential enemy. This means that the highest hopes were pinned on the CFM-3. Indeed, of all the means of destruction of the armoured train, the torpedo was the most powerful. Despite the short-range and insufficient protection against countermeasures, such weapons could cause serious damage to both the combat armoured train and the usual composition with cargo.
For a number of reasons, the production of railway torpedoes of the ZhDT-3 went at an insufficient pace. In accordance with the plans for 1936, the troops were to receive dozens of such items. In the 37th it was planned to build another 74 torpedoes. However, as far as we know, in 1937 the production of these weapons was not conducted. Only in the 38th Podolsk plant them. Ordzhonikidze fired three dozen torpedoes. In 1939, the release amounted to 36 units.
The troops regularly launched the ZHTT-3 torpedoes for training purposes and trained to use such weapons correctly. However, with each training launch, soldiers and officers became increasingly disillusioned with the new weapons. It was too difficult to operate, and also had insufficient efficiency. In practice, it turned out that the torpedo has a very vulnerable design, because of which the enemy can destroy it on the way to his armoured train. In addition, the inclusion of several control sites in the armoured train, which was practiced to avoid the detonation of mines, sharply reduced the effectiveness of the torpedo or even made it useless.
At the beginning of 1940, the military again conducted tests of railway torpedoes of ZhDT-3 under conditions close to real ones. These tests fully confirmed all the fears: if the enemy used the simplest means of defence, the torpedoes would be useless. The result of the operation and testing was a letter from the head of the ABTU D. Pavlov dated May 16, 1940. In this document, the head of the armoured Directorate offered to the People’s Commissariat of Defense to abandon torpedoes due to their extremely low characteristics.
Apparently, the military department had more important matters than determining the future fate of the torpedoes. For more than a year, the question of continuing or discontinuing the use of Railway Railway Products-3 was never resolved. Of the 86 torpedoes built by the beginning of the war, 26 remained in the army. 10 remained in the warehouses of the Kiev Special Military District, 4 in the North Caucasus Military District, and 12 more in the Far East. Due to its low characteristics, this weapon was not used in a combat situation. Any information about the successful destruction of targets with the help of ZHDT-3 is missing. The exact fate of the latest torpedoes is unknown.
It should be noted, the idea of a railway torpedo had the right to life. In the book of I.G. Starinov’s “Notes of the Saboteur” mentions a case of real combat use of similar weapons of artisanal production. At the end of October 1943, a partisan detachment under the command of A.M. Grabchak with the help of a self-propelled torpedo railway destroyed the bridge over the River Ubort in the Zhytomyr region of the Ukrainian SSR without a loss.
The bridge was an extremely difficult goal, as it was guarded by a fairly large garrison, and all approaches were mined. In addition, the German troops were assisted by a high embankment, from which all the surrounding space was shot. Thus, an attempt to break through to the bridge with a battle or secretly mine it was doomed to failure.
The guerrillas managed to find out that the German commandant came to the bridge twice a week. For such trips in order to verify the personnel, he uses a trolley. This prompted the partisan to an interesting and bold idea. For two weeks, they made their own handcar from available materials. Five unexploded aerial bombs were laid on its platform, in one of which a fuse was placed. A long stick was placed between the bombs – an oblique action target sensor. In case of deviation from the vertical position, she had to pull out the check and blow up the bombs. For camouflage on the bombs, they sat down two “Germans”: a pair of captured uniforms stuffed with grass and other materials at hand.
On October 31, a railcar with bomb cargo and “officers” was installed on tracks one kilometre from the bridge. The partisans started the engine and sent their train torpedo to the target. Seeing the familiar silhouette of the train with people, the guard of the bridge made no attempt to stop it. As a result, the torpedo quietly drove onto the bridge, caught the target sensor on one of the beams and exploded. Crossing the river for a long time out of order. As recalled I.G. Starinov, security opened fire only a few minutes after the explosion, when it was too late to protect the object.
The book “Notes saboteur” also mentioned that after the destruction of the bridge over the river. A new railway torpedo, which was produced at Kharkov enterprises, was designed for cleaning. More information on this is missing.
As we see, in spite of a number of interesting and original ideas, railway torpedoes and ZhDT-3, in particular, turned out to be a very specific weapon. The ability to independently reach the target and deliver the warhead to it could not be fully realized due to the simplicity of countering such weapons. As a result, one of the most unusual projects of the mid-thirties did not lead to real results. Crews of armoured trains still had to fight targets with artillery, and railway torpedoes remained in history as a technical curiosity.
