T-26 Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids T-26
T-26 mod. 1933 at the museum "Breaching of the Leningrad Blockade" near Kirovsk, Leningrad Oblast. This tank was raised from a river bottom at Nevsky Pyatachok in May 2003.
Type	Light infantry tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1931–1945 in USSR 1936–1953 in Spain 1940–1961 in Finland
Wars	Spanish Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War Soviet–Japanese Border Wars World War II Soviet invasion of Poland Winter War Eastern Front (World War II) Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran Soviet invasion of Manchuria Chinese Civil War
Production history
Designer	Vickers-Armstrongs, OKMO of Bolshevik Plant in Leningrad
Designed	1928–1931
Manufacturer	Factory No. 174 named after K.E. Voroshilov in Leningrad, Stalingrad Tractor Factory
Produced	1931–41
No. built	10,300 tanks and 1,701 other vehicles
Specifications (T-26 mod. 1933)
Mass	9.6 tonnes (10.6 short tons)
Length	4.65 m (15 ft 3 in)
Width	2.44 m (8 ft)
Height	2.24 m (7 ft 4 in)
Crew	3 (commander, gunner, driver)

Armour	Bottom: 6 mm (0.24 in) Roof: 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) Hull and Turret: 15 mm (0.59 in) (front, rear, sides)
Main armament	45 mm 20K mod. 1932/34 tank gun (122 rds.)
Secondary armament	7.62 mm DT tank machine gun (2,961 rds.)
Engine	4-cylinder gasoline flat air-cooled T-26 (Armstrong Siddeley type); engine volume 6,600 cc 90 hp (67 kW) at 2,100 rpm
Power/weight	9.38 hp/t
Transmission	single-disk main dry clutch, drive shaft, gearbox with five gears, steering clutches, final drives
Suspension	leaf quarter-elliptic springs
Ground clearance	380 mm (1 ft 3 in)
Fuel capacity	290 L (64 imp gal; 77 U.S. gal) [with additional 110-L fuel tank]
Operational range	Road: 220–240 km (140–150 mi) Off-road: 130–140 km (81–87 mi)
Maximum speed	Paved: 31.1 km/h (19.3 mph) Gravel: 22 km/h (14 mph) Off-road: 16 km/h (9.9 mph)

The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many wars of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was an improved version of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank. It was one of the best and last tank designs of the 1920s. The tank started to have problems when new anti-tank guns were invented. The tank had thin armor which the new guns could fire holes in.

More T-26s were produced than any other tank of the period. More than 11,000 were manufactured. During the 1930s, the USSR made 53 different types of T-26.

The T-26 together with the BT was the main tank of the Red Army in the 1930s. Even though it was no longer good enough to be used in battles at the beginning of World War II, the T-26 was the most important tank of the Spanish Civil War. It was also used during the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938 and in the Winter War in 1939–40. The Red Army mostly had T-26s during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The T-26 was used against the Germans in the Battle of Moscow in winter 1941/1942, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of the Caucasus in 1942–1943. Some tank units of the Leningrad Front used their T-26s until 1944. The Soviet T-26 light tanks were last used in August 1945, during the defeat of the Japanese in Manchuria.

The T-26 was sold to Spain, China and Turkey. In addition, captured T-26 light tanks were used by the Finnish, German, Romanian and Hungarian armies.

The T-26 was reliable and simple to maintain Its design was improved between 1931 and 1941. However, no new models of the T-26 were made after 1940.

Images for kids

The prototype of the TMM-1 light infantry tank during tests in early 1932
Maintenance of the T-26 mod. 1931 (with riveted hull and turrets). This tank was produced in the first half of 1932—the exhaust silencer is mounted with two clamps and the cover over the air outlet window. The Moscow Military District. Mid-1934.
Interior of T-26 mod. 1933 turret. Ammunition stowage is on the left side. The side observation device is visible, as is the revolver firing port, which is closed with a plug. Parola Tank Museum in Finland.
The prototype of STZ-25 (T-25) wheeled-tracked light tank during tests at the Kubinka Tank Proving Ground. September 1939.
A T-26 operated by Republican forces during the Battle of Belchite in 1937.
A column of T-26 mod. 1939 and T-26 mod. 1933 light tanks from the 20th Tank Brigade move towards a front line. The Western Front, Battle of Moscow. December 1941.
T-26 tanks of Chinese Nationalist Army during WW2
Twin-turreted T-26 mod. 1931 with riveted hull and turrets, armed with the 37 mm Hotchkiss gun (PS-1) in the right turret. Battle of Tolvajärvi. December 1939.
Twin-turreted T-26 armed with the 76.2 mm recoilless gun designed by L.V. Kurchevsky in the right turret. 1934.
Twin-turreted T-26 (with the 37 mm Hotchkiss gun (PS-1) in the right turret), equipped with the radio station No. 7N and the hand-rail frame antenna on the hull. Military exercises. 1934.
T-26 mod. 1933 with appliqué armour after running trials in early 1940
T-26 mod. 1931 with the A-43 welded turret developed by N. Dyrenkov. The ball mount for the DT tank machine gun is visible. Leningrad, 1933.
T-26 mod. 1933. El Goloso Museum in Madrid, Spain. 2007.

T-26 facts for kids

Images for kids

See also