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The T-35 was one of the major disappointmentsfor the Soviet tank designersbefore World War II. It had itsorigins in design studies that began in1930, and the first prototype was rolledout in 1932. In appearance and in manyother ways the T-35, via the T-28, wasgreatly influenced by the design of theBritish Vickers Independent, a tankthat was produced as a one-off onlyand which featured in a notorious 'spy1court case of the period. The T-28 carriedover from the Vickers design onemajor feature, namely the multi-turretconcept.Although there were changes betweenthe various production batches,the tanks of the main batch (producedbetween 1935 and 1938) were longerthan the originals, This increase inlength made the T-35 an unwieldlybeast to steer, and its ponderousweight did little to improve matters.The multi-turret approach to tankweaponry also proved to be of doubtfulvalue, Aiming and co-ordinating thefire of the five turrets proved very difficult,and the overall effectiveness ofthe armament was further limited bythe relatively small calibre of the maingun, ,In fact the main gun and turretwere exactly the same as those usedon the lighter T-28 medium tank.Armour varied from 10 to 30 mm (0,39to 1.18 in) in thickness.Production of the T-35 was slow andlimited compared with that of otherSoviet tank programmes of the time.The huge size of the T-35 can bereadily appreciated in this shot of adamaged and captured examplebeing put on show by Germansoldiers. Themain turret had a 76.2-mm (3-in) gun with limited antiarmourperformance, and two of thesmaller turrets had 37-mm or 45-mm(1.45-in or 1.77-in) guns.Only 61 were produced between 1933and 1939, and all of these vehiclesserved with just one tank brigade stationednear Moscow. This was politicallyhandy, for the T-35s featured regularlyin the Red Square parades of thetime and thus provided a false impressionof Soviet tank strengths. Themassive vehicles made a great impressionas they rumbled past, but'theservice reality was considerably different,When they had to go to war in 1941only a relative handful actually saw action,for many were retained in Moscowfor internal duties and for purelylocal defence. There appears to be norecord of any T-35s going into actionaround Moscow, but the few used elsewhereto try to halt the German advancesdid not fare well. They were toolightly armed and their weight andbulk made them easy meat for the Pan-SpecificationT-35Crew: 11Weight: 45 tonnesPowerplant: one M-17M V-12 petrolengine developing 373 kW (500 hp)Dimensions: length 9.72 m (31 ft10.7 in); width3.2 m (10 ft 6 in); height3.43 m (11 ft 3 in)Performance: maximum road speed30 km/h (18.6 mph); maximum roadrange 150 km (93,2 miles); fording notknown; gradient 20°; vertical obstacle 1.20 m (4 ft); trench3.50 m (l l ft 6 in)
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