t-34 CHARACTERISTICS
T-34/76 Armour distribution
Hull front 47 mm /60° (upper part)
45 mm (1.8")/60° (lower part),
Hull side 45 mm/41°(upper part),
Hull rear 40 mm,
Hull top 20 mm,
Hull bottom 15 mm;
T-34-85 Turret front 90 mm (3.54"),
T-34-76 Turret front 52-45mm mm (2-1.7"),
T-34-85 Turret side 75 mm/30°,
T-34-76 Turret side 52-45 mm/30°,
T-34-85 Turret rear 60-52 mm,
T-34-76 Turret rear 45 mm,
Turret top 16 mm (all)
Main armament
76.2 mm (3.00 in) F-34 tank gun
(T-34-85: 85 mm ZiS-S-53 gun)
Secondary armament
2 × 7.62 mm (0.308 in) DT machine guns
Engine
Model V-2-34 38.8 L V12 Diesel engine
500 hp (370 kW)
Power/weight
17.5 hp/tonne
12.4 (MkIV by comparison)
Suspension
Christie
Ground clearance
0.4 m (16 in)
Operational range
300 (early)-460 km (T-34-43)
200 (Mk Iv by comparison)
Discussion
Armament
The F-34 76.2 mm (3 in) gun, equipped on the vast majority of T-34s produced through to the beginning of 1944, was able to penetrate any early German tank's armour at normal combat ranges (500m or less). When firing APCR shells, it could pierce 92 mm of armour at 500 m. The best German tanks of 1941, the Panzer III and Panzer IV, had no more than 50 or 60 mm frontal armour, generally poorly sloped and distributed. The F-34 also fired an adequate high explosive round.
The gun sights and range finding for the F-34 main gun (either the TMFD-7 or the PT4-7 were crude, especially compared to those of their German adversaries, affecting accuracy and the ability to engage at long ranges.This was made worse by the generally poor standard of crew training. T-34 performance was in summary adversely affected by the T-34's two-man turret, crew training, somewhat cramped layout, weak optics, and poor vision devices, according to contemporary the Germans reports. Soviet sources dont agree with that assessment. There was a lack of radios in the early versions that affected co-rdination of forces
T-34s operated in a disorganised fashion with little coordination, or else tended to clump together like a hen with its chicks. Individual tank commanders lacked situational awareness due to the poor provision of vision devices and preoccupation with gunnery duties. A tank platoon would seldom be capable of engaging three separate targets, but would tend to focus on a single target selected by the platoon leader. As a result T-34 platoons lost the greater firepower of three independently operating tanks.
The Germans noted that generally the T-34 was very slow to find and engage targets, while their own tanks could typically get off three rounds for every one fired by the T-34.
When new German tanks types with thicker armour began appearing in late 1942, the T-34's 76.2 mm cannon was unable to deal with them effectively . As a result, the T-34 was upgraded to the T-34-85 model. This model, with its 85 mm (3.35 in) ZiS gun, provided greatly increased firepower compared to the previous T-34/76 gun. This tank also had significant improvement to the armouring scheme, indicating the basic soundess of the design and its considerable "stretching ability in the design. The 85 mm gun could penetrate the front of a Tiger I tank between 200 and 500 m (220 and 550 yd), though in reverse the 88mm KWK could defeat the t-34 past 1000m . Against the frontal armour of the Panther, the T-34-85 could only penetrate the non-mantlet of its turret at 500 m (550 yd), meaning that even upgraded models of the T-34 usually had to flank a Panther to destroy it.
The greater length of the 85 mm gun barrel (4.645 meters) made it necessary for crews to be careful not to plough it into the ground on bumpy roads or in combat. A.K. Rodkin commented: "the tank could have dug the ground with it in the smallest ditch. If you fired it after that, the barrel would open up at the end like the petals of a flower." Standard practice when moving the T-34-85 cross-country in non-combat situations was to fully elevate the gun, or reverse the turret
Gunpower then started out as adequate, but was let down badly by other factors. The greatest advantages of the T-34 over its german counterparts and why it is a superior tank design overall, was in its range and overall mobility. The T-34 was powered by a Model V-2-34 38.8 L V12 Diesel engine of 500 hp (370 kW), giving a top speed of 53 km/h (33 mph). It used the coil-spring Christie suspension of the earlier BT-series tanks, using a "slack track" tread system with a rear-mounted drive sprocket and no system of return rollers for the upper run of track, but dispensed with the heavy and ineffective convertible drive.
During the winter of 1941–42, the T-34 had a marked advantage over German tanks through its ability to move over deep mud or snow without bogging down. The Panzer IV, its closest German equivalent at that time, used an inferior leaf-spring suspension and narrow track that tended to sink in such conditions. This was a very significant advantage in conditions of mud or heavy snow, conditions that affected the Russian Front for more than half the yearly cycle.
Edit
There is one, non battleground related area worthy of note. Whilst difficult to quantify, it seems pretty clear that the T-34 was much more cost effective than its opponents. Some sourcews claim that the average man hours per unit was 4000 for a T-34, whereas the Panther was about 55000 man hours. There are a LOT of caveats that need placed on that, bit the fact that the Soviet Union managed to out produce the Germans in just about every category of equipment suggests a serious systemic problem in the German procurement machine.