Stalin's "St. John's wort": what role did the legendary Soviet self-propelled gun play in the Great Patriotic War. Stalin's "St. John's wort": what role did the legendary Soviet self-propelled gun play in the Great Patriotic War Photos of ISU 152

History of creation and development.

Work on the creation of the ISU-152 heavy self-propelled artillery mount (SAU) began in June 1943. By this time, Soviet designers were faced with a very pressing question about developing a new heavy tank for the needs of the Red Army. Using their previous developments on the experimental KV-13 tank, the design bureau team of pilot plant No. 100 created “object 237” - a prototype of future production IS-1 tanks. After the tests, it became clear that the new vehicle had serious advantages over the KV-1S tank, which was mass-produced at that time. The consequence of this was the order of the State Defense Committee (GKO) to launch this prototype into series as soon as possible at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ). The production of new tanks, designated IS-85 (IS-1), was given the highest priority, and earlier plans for the production of other combat vehicles at ChKZ were adjusted downwards. At that time, ChKZ produced the KV-85 heavy tank, the T-34 medium tank and the SU-152 self-propelled guns. The latter was precisely the direct predecessor of the ISU-152. This self-propelled gun was armed with a powerful 152.4-mm howitzer-cannon ML-20S in a fixed armored cabin, which was placed instead of a turret on the chassis of the base KV-1S tank. The SU-152 received its baptism of fire at the Kursk Bulge, immediately winning respect from both Soviet and enemy soldiers. Only they, out of all Soviet armored vehicles, could effectively defeat the formidable “Tigers”, “Panthers” and “Elephants”, for which they received the honorary nickname “St. John’s Wort”. During the offensive stage of the Oryol-Kursk operation, the SU-152 was just as effectively used for its intended purpose as a heavy assault weapon in support of attacking tanks and infantry.

The start of serial production of IS tanks was accompanied by a gradual but complete curtailment of the production of all other types of vehicles produced at ChKZ, including the much-needed SU-152 for the front. Therefore, even at the prototype development stage, the designers of the IS tank were immediately faced with the question of creating an SPG based on it, equivalent to the SU-152 in armament. At the stages of design and construction of the prototype (June - September 1943), this machine was referred to in the documents of that time as the "IS-152". Despite the completely identical artillery system, the conning tower had to be developed anew for the new self-propelled gun, since it was impossible to borrow its old version from the SU-152 due to the different geometric shape of the hull of the IS tank compared to the KV tank. Since the hull of the IS tank had a lower landing, the cabin of the new self-propelled gun turned out to be higher compared to the SU-152 and the vehicle acquired its easily recognizable characteristic appearance. The larger size of the cabin increased the visibility of self-propelled guns on the battlefield, but at the same time provided better working conditions for the crew compared to the SU-152 (the volume of the cabin was increased due to slightly lower angles of inclination of the zygomatic and side sheets than the SU-152, and the associated this some decrease in security was compensated by thickening the armor). Thanks to the previously accumulated experience and a fairly large range of parts borrowed from the SU-152, a prototype self-propelled gun based on the IS tank was built in a very short period of time by the end of October 1943 and received the designation “object 241”. At the beginning of the next month, its tests began at the Chebarkul test site; On November 6, 1943, the new self-propelled gun was adopted by the Red Army under the name ISU-152 and put into production at ChKZ. Tests of the first production model were carried out at the Chebarkul and Gorokhovets artillery ranges, starting on November 21, 1943. According to the plan, the first 5 vehicles were to be handed over to military acceptance in November, and in December the plant was to deliver another 30 self-propelled guns.

The high combat qualities of the base tank (more precisely, its improved version of the IS-2) entailed the desire of the top leadership of the country and the army to increase their production to the maximum, which naturally could not but affect the quality of the products: in January 1944, neither one of the ISU-152 self-propelled guns presented for testing (however, the same fate befell all tested IS-2s). The consequence of this was the government’s decision to give priority to improving the quality of combat vehicles produced at ChKZ, even at the cost of temporarily stopping work on promising equipment. According to military acceptance reports, even in April 1944 there was no noticeable improvement in quality, but already in the summer of 1944 there was a positive shift in the current situation: many tanks and self-propelled guns were already working out their warranty service life. In the fall of the same year, many reports from front-line units noted that the IS-2 and self-propelled guns based on it were already exceeding the warranty indicators with their trouble-free operation. Another consequence of the maximum increase in the production of the IS-2 tank was the full employment of the armored hull capacities of ChKZ: all the hulls it produced were intended for tanks. Armored hulls for self-propelled guns were supplied by the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant.

However, the ML-20S howitzer guns were not enough to arm these armored hulls. It is possible that this situation was a consequence of the maximum increase in the production of A-19 hull guns in 1943 due to a reduction in the production volume of the ML-20 howitzer-gun. This decision was made in order to provide the Red Army with the means to combat the new German heavy tank Pz Kpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger". At that time, only the 122-mm A-19 gun could penetrate the frontal armor of the Tiger at any distance with an armor-piercing projectile. As a result, as of January 1944, there was a sufficient supply of A-19 guns in warehouses, while ML-20 howitzer guns for self-propelled guns came directly from factories and were in short supply; Therefore, A-19 guns began to be installed in some of the heavy self-propelled guns being produced. Since in the towed version both the ML-20 and the A-19 were installed on a single normalized 52-L-504A carriage, replacing the receiver did not cause any particular problems; a prototype of a heavy self-propelled gun equipped with a 122-mm A-19 "object 242" cannon was built back in December 1943. This version (ISU-122) went into production a little later - from April 1944. Subsequently, until the end of the war, the ISU-152 and ISU-122 were produced in parallel; during this period (according to data from the book) 4030 heavy self-propelled guns of the ISU series were produced.

On the other hand, in terms of its artillery armament, the ISU-122 did not have any advantages over the base IS-2 tank, so their production was discontinued after the end of the war, and the ISU-152 remained in production for some time. The Leningrad Kirov Plant joined the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant in 1945 - it mastered the production of both the IS-2 base tank and the ISU-152 self-propelled gun. Total in 1943-1947. 3,242 ISU-152 units were produced, of which 1,885 were produced between November 1943 and May 1945 inclusive.

During the production process, small but important changes were repeatedly introduced into the ISU-152 design. Later production vehicles were equipped with a 10RK radio station (instead of 10R), a 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun (from October 1944), and the capacity of the main and additional fuel tanks was increased compared to the base tank. In order to increase security, the thickness of the moving part of the gun mantlet was increased from 60 mm to 100 mm. On these self-propelled guns it was also possible to install two smoke bombs with an electric ignition and a manual release device.

During 1944-45. On an experimental basis, attempts were made to increase the firepower of self-propelled guns - in SKB-2 of plant No. 100 a prototype “object 246” (aka ISU-152-1 or ISU-152BM) was built, armed with a powerful 152.4-mm BL-8 cannon, developed in OKB-172 NKVD. The large overhang of the barrel made it very difficult to operate the machine; many other shortcomings were also identified, which is why the installation was not accepted for service. The second option was to install the BL-10 cannon with a shorter barrel compared to the BL-8 of the same developer (“object 247” or ISU-152-2). But this self-propelled gun was not put into service for the same reasons as “object 246”.

The development of ISU-152 self-propelled guns did not stop after the Great Patriotic War. In terms of their combat and operational characteristics, they well met the requirements of the army of the 50s and early 60s, so the remaining vehicles in service underwent a serious modernization in 1956: the V-2IS engine was replaced with a V-54K, communication devices were updated (a radio station was installed R-113 and intercom R-120) and surveillance (the direct fire sight was replaced with a PUR-26, a commander’s cupola with a TPKU device and seven TNP viewing blocks was introduced). Changes also affected a number of chassis components, the capacity of fuel tanks and ammunition were increased (30 rounds). The modernized version of the self-propelled gun received the designation ISU-152K (“object K-241”). The second version of the post-war modernization of the ISU-152 followed in 1959 - components and assemblies of a modernized version of the base IS-2M tank were installed on the self-propelled guns. Among the important innovations of this modernization is the installation of a night vision device. The vehicle improved in this way was designated as ISU-152M (“object M-241”) and was quite noticeably different in appearance from the original version of the self-propelled gun. Both of these modernization programs made it possible to increase the reliability and combat properties of the basic ISU-152 model, which allowed it to remain in service with the Soviet Army for a long time.

ACS device.

A detailed description of the technical structure of the ISU-152 is available in article (5); here we note only those points that for some reason were overlooked by its authors.

Since the words of the famous artillery designer V.G. Grabin that it is only a cart for a cannon apply to a self-propelled gun with much greater accuracy than to a tank, it makes sense to dwell in more detail on its main weapon - the ML-20S howitzer-cannon. This gun was developed by a group of designers from the artillery plant in Motovilikha, headed by F. F. Petrov, in 1936. The design bureau of the plant already had an assignment from the Main Artillery Directorate to design a gun of this class. However, F. F. Petrov and his group of engineers developed an alternative design in parallel. Its undeniable advantage was the use of the best components and mechanisms from the 152-mm gun of the 1910/1934 model, which was produced at the plant in Motovilikha and for which the necessary technological equipment was prepared. According to the results of comparative tests carried out at the end of 1936, the winner was the ML-20, which was adopted by the Red Army under the name “152-mm howitzer-gun model 1937 (ML-20).” Borrowed from the gun mod. 1910/1934, the 35-caliber barrel was equipped with a powerful slot-like muzzle brake. This barrel for the ML-20 was produced in monoblock, bonded and free-tube versions. The howitzer-gun had a piston bolt, which allows it to achieve a maximum rate of fire of 3 - 4 rounds/min. The shutter opens and closes by turning the handle. The design of the gun includes mechanisms for mutual closure and retention of the projectile cartridge case at large elevation angles. The ISU-152 self-propelled gun was equipped with a fully swinging part of the ML-20 howitzer-gun with minor changes compared to the towed version (in particular, the ML-20S barrel was 3 calibers shorter than that of the ML-20). The following types of ammunition are used for the gun:

• OF-540 high-explosive fragmentation cannon grenade
• OF-530 high-explosive fragmentation steel howitzer grenade
• steel cast iron fragmentation howitzer grenade O-530A
• armor-piercing tracer sharp-headed projectile BR-540
• concrete-piercing howitzer shell G-530

The OF-540 high-explosive fragmentation grenade weighing 43.56 kg at the exit from the barrel has a speed of 655 m/s and, when the fuse is set to fragmentation, causes damage with fragments 40 m along the front and 8 m in depth. The BR-540 armor-piercing tracer projectile, when exiting the barrel with an initial speed of 600 m/s, penetrated the frontal armor of all Wehrmacht tanks at a distance of up to 1500 m (with the possible exception of the Tiger Ausf B). When it hit the tower, it tore it off the shoulder strap. Due to its very large mass of 48.8 kg (for comparison, an 85-mm armor-piercing projectile had a mass of 9.2 kg), even if it did not penetrate a heavily armored target (for example, “Elephant”), it was guaranteed to disable it due to breakdowns of components and mechanisms due to shock and damage crew due to numerous internal armor spalls. Firing enemy vehicles with high-explosive and concrete-piercing shells produced good results. When using the G-530 concrete-piercing projectile for its intended purpose, it penetrated a reinforced concrete wall about 1 m thick.

Combat use.

Organizationally, ISU-152s were used in separate heavy self-propelled regiments (OTSAP). Each regiment was armed with 21 self-propelled guns consisting of 4 batteries of 5 vehicles each plus one commander. Some of them replaced the SU-152 in existing units, and some (together with the ISU-122) went to form new ones. Despite the identical officially established tactics for using ISU-152 and ISU-122, whenever possible they tried not to mix them in the ranks of the same regiment, although there were cases of mixed composition in several units. A total of 53 OTSAP were formed.

Heavy self-propelled guns were intended to destroy field and long-term fortifications, fight tanks at long distances, and support infantry and tanks on the offensive. Combat experience has shown that the ISU-152 is capable of successfully solving all these problems. A kind of “division of labor” also emerged between the ISU-152 and the ISU-122: the former were better suited for assault operations and fighting fortifications, and the latter for the destruction of enemy armored vehicles. Although, as mentioned above, the ISU-152 could hit any type of Wehrmacht tanks and self-propelled guns. The nicknames of the ISU-152 speak for themselves: the Soviet “St. John’s wort” and the German “Dosenoffner” (can opener). The self-propelled gun's solid armor allowed it to approach firing positions inaccessible to towed artillery and hit the target with direct fire shots. The ISU-152 had good survivability under enemy fire and maintainability; an excellent illustration of these qualities of the self-propelled gun is the page about military operations in the Arctic on the website of the Military-Historical Reconstruction Club “4th Jaeger Battalion of the Finnish Army.”

The weaknesses of the ISU-152 were also revealed in battle. Limited horizontal aiming angles made it vulnerable to flank attacks. The lower elevation angle (20 degrees versus 65 for the towed version) narrowed the possibilities of fire maneuver at long distances. Due to the use of separately loaded shots of large mass, the rate of fire suffered, which reduced the effectiveness of the self-propelled gun against tanks and in close combat. Finally, the transportable stock of 20 rounds was often insufficient in a combat situation, and loading all the ammunition into the closed conning tower was a very tedious operation, sometimes taking more than 40 minutes. It is quite obvious that all these disadvantages are the flip side of the advantages of the ISU-152. The greater fire efficiency of the ML-20 howitzer-gun is ensured by heavy, large-caliber, separate-loading projectiles. The dimensions of the conning tower limit their transportable ammunition and the maximum elevation angle of the gun. A wide angle of horizontal fire can be achieved by placing the gun in a rotating turret. During the war, when mass production and manufacturability of the design were of paramount importance, it was objectively impossible to fulfill all the desired requirements for a heavy self-propelled gun. Even after the end of the war, it took a lot of time and effort to obtain a self-propelled gun with reliable protection, all-round fire, high accuracy, rate of fire and range.

However, experienced commanders compensated for the weaknesses of the single ISU-152 self-propelled gun with their collective use. When repelling enemy tank attacks, forming self-propelled guns in a fan was often practiced in order to avoid being flanked. When firing from closed positions, ammunition was delivered to them in advance and while some of the self-propelled guns were firing, the other was reloading, which ensured uninterrupted shelling of the enemy.

But the most effective use of the ISU-152 was shown during assaults on fortified areas and cities. Mobility, good armor and the enormous destructive power of a 43-kilogram high-explosive projectile made the self-propelled gun a terrible enemy for an entrenched enemy. For their valor during the liberation of Belarusian cities, 8 OTSAP received their honorary titles, and another 3 were awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle. Subsequently, they were used in almost all assault operations of the Red Army. A significant part of the success in the capture of Konigsberg and Berlin belongs to the self-propelled gunners who fought in the ISU-152. They fired their last salvos in World War II at the other end of the Eurasian continent during the operation to defeat the Japanese Kwantung Army.

After World War II, the ISU-152 took part in armed conflicts several more times. These vehicles took part in the Hungarian events of 1956; a number of self-propelled guns were transferred to Egypt - there they served as fixed firing points along the banks of the Suez Canal.

Even disarmed ISU-152 continued to serve in the Soviet Army. Their chassis were used as a base for self-propelled guns of special power, launchers and special support vehicles for missile systems, ARVs. Some of the disarmed self-propelled guns “changed their uniform from military to service” - they worked as tractors and tilters in emergency situations on railway transport. According to unconfirmed reports, a small number of such special vehicles are still in the inventory of Russian railways.

Comparison of ISU-152 with other self-propelled guns.

Despite the apparent simplicity of the question, determining the place of the ISU-152 among equivalent machines of our former opponents and former allies is very difficult, and here it is very difficult to avoid certain subjective assessments and opinions. Therefore, the author immediately abandons any attempts to identify the self-propelled gun “champion” and the other two “winners” according to any (usually very controversial) criteria. It would be much more appropriate to consider the ISU-152 in the light of possible design solutions for vehicles of this class, which are unique to each side that participated in the Second World War. First, you need to decide in which category of machines you can select more or less adequate samples for comparison. The term “self-propelled artillery installation” is interpreted very broadly and it is quite logical to subdivide it into the following types:

• tank destroyer (English Tank destroyer, German Jagdpanzer);
• assault gun (English Assault gun, German Sturmgeschutz);
• self-propelled carriage with semi-open or open gun placement (English Self-propelled gun, German Selbstfahrlafette);

The ISU-152 can be considered both as a heavy tank destroyer and as a heavy assault gun. In the first category, it is appropriate to rank it with tank destroyers created on the basis of vehicles of the same weight category as the Soviet IS-1 tank. The Allies did not have full-fledged vehicles of this class; for their self-propelled tank destroyers, they gave preference to speed and maneuverability, while sacrificing armor protection. Many of the American vehicles of this class had an open top rotating turret and relatively light armor, which was more in line with the German Panzer Jager concept than the fully and heavily armored JagdPanzer. And of the German vehicles, by and large, only the Jagdpanther falls under the listed conditions, since the Elephant and Jagdtiger were significantly heavier in mass than the ISU-152. Naturally, the specialized tank destroyer Jagdpanther wins both in terms of the declared armor-piercing power of its 88-mm StuK43 cannon, and in terms of rate of fire and the amount of ammunition it carries. On the other hand, the hit of an armor-piercing BR-540 projectile or a high-explosive fragmentation round OF-540 in any type of Wehrmacht armored vehicle in the vast majority of cases resulted in its incapacitation even if the armor was not penetrated; very often the damage was irreversible. And this despite the fact that the main ammunition in the ISU-152 was a high-explosive fragmentation projectile! Consequently, taking into account everything said above, it can be noted that the ISU-152 had more than serious anti-tank capabilities, but still did not reach a full-fledged tank destroyer like the Jagdpanther, SU-100 or ISU-122 in terms of rate of fire and transportable ammunition .

Jagdpanther,

Jagdpanther,

If we consider the ISU-152 as a heavy assault weapon, then our self-propelled gun has nothing to compare with: neither the Germans nor the Anglo-Americans had large-scale vehicles of this class. German fully armored assault guns were built on the basis of medium tanks, and the heavy Sturmtiger self-propelled guns had a very specific artillery system, which imposed strict restrictions on their use, and the total production was only 18 vehicles. It would be clearly incorrect to compare both of them with the ISU-152. There was a project for a 150 mm assault gun based on the Panther, but the Germans did not get around to implementing it in metal. As for our former allies, they simply did not have production vehicles of the same class as the ISU-152 (a fully armored self-propelled gun based on a heavy tank). Of course, both the German and Anglo-American troops had self-propelled artillery systems with a caliber of 150, 155 mm or 6 inches. But almost all of them belonged to the class of open or semi-open self-propelled (usually lightly armored) carriages on the chassis of medium (Hummel) or light (StuIG I, II, 38t) tanks - putting them on a par with the heavy, fully armored ISU-152 it would be wrong. The representative of Wehrmacht equipment closest in purpose to the ISU-152 was the “assault tank” “Brummber”. However, it was built on the basis of the Pz Kpfw IV medium tank and was armed with a short-barreled 150 mm gun with a low muzzle velocity, which does not allow it to be considered a fairly complete analogue of the ISU-152.

Hummel,

Apparently, the uniqueness of the ISU-152 lies precisely in the fact that this combat vehicle quite successfully combines all the qualities that more specialized self-propelled guns performed in the armies of other countries. Although its main purpose was the direct support of attacking tanks and infantry, it had serious anti-tank potential, as well as the ability to fire from closed positions. Accordingly, the combat use of the ISU-152 was very wide. When breaking through enemy defenses, these self-propelled guns could conduct artillery barrage from closed firing positions (in reality this was not often the case, usually in the absence of towed artillery support, but the practical possibility of such use is important here). In an attack on enemy positions, the ISU-152 supported tanks and infantry with its powerful fire, hitting difficult targets such as long-term firing points and dugouts. At the next stage of the offensive operation, the ISU-152, thanks to its good speed for heavy self-propelled guns, accompanied units that had broken through into the enemy’s defenses, now acting as a tank destroyer to disrupt possible enemy counterattacks. Finally, the ISU-152 was more than in demand during assaults on heavily fortified defensive zones and cities.

In the German army, to perform all these tasks would require up to four different types of vehicles (possible option: artillery preparation - Hummel, offensive escort - StuH 42, tank destroyer - Jagdpanther, urban fighting - Brümmbär). Despite their narrower specialization, they would not always have a clear advantage over the ISU-152 (although for the sake of objectivity, it must be said that in some cases the ISU-152 could seriously lose in its combat qualities to the enemy’s more specialized self-propelled gun). In addition, the combat situation was very often such that the Germans might not have some type of vehicle from this four at the right time - which turns out to be another plus for the ISU-152.

In general, the ISU-152 self-propelled artillery mount at the time of its creation and for a long subsequent period of time was easy to learn, effective, reliable (naturally, after eliminating “childhood diseases”) and a universal tool for solving a wide range of combat missions facing the vehicle of this class. Long service in the ranks of the Soviet Army, the respectful attitude of its soldiers towards it and the proper assessment of its combat qualities by enemy soldiers are the best reward for both the self-propelled gun itself and its creators. And the ISU-152 themselves made a more than significant contribution to the Great Victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.

To this day, many copies of the ISU-152 have survived. It is on display at the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg and the Armored Museum in Kubinka. The latter also displays the above-mentioned experimental version of the “object 247”, equipped with a 152.4 mm BL-10 gun. The ISU-152 captured from the Egyptians is on display in a tank museum in Israel. Several more ISU-152 serve as self-propelled guns-monuments in various places in Russia and Belarus.

Tactical and technical characteristics.

Characteristics of ISU-152 In service since November 7, 1943 Developed by design bureau of plant No. 100 Manufacturer ChKZ, LKZ Production series 1944-47. Base heavy tank IS Combat weight, t 45.5 - 46.0 Length, mm - with gun forward 9050 - 9180 - hull 6770 - supporting surface 4310 Width, mm 3070 Height, mm 2480 Ground clearance, mm 460 - 470 Average specific ground pressure, kgf/ cm 2 0.81 - 0.82 Engine Brand V-2-IS Type 4-stroke V-shaped
12-cylinder diesel Developed by design bureau of plant No. 75 Ch. designer I. Ya. Trashutin Manufacturer plant No. 75 Max. power, hp 520 Electroinertial starter Liquid cooling system with fan Devices and assemblies Electrical equipment - single-wire type - voltage, V 24 and 12 - batteries, pcs. 2 - generator power, W 1000 Power transmission mechanical Main dry friction clutch Eight-speed gearbox, with a range-shifter Final drives two-stage with planetary gear Chassis Suspension type independent torsion bar Caterpillar type stamped small link Type of engagement lantern Direction of the caterpillar with track ridges Tracks in the caterpillar, pcs. 90 Track pitch, mm 162 Track width, mm 650 Drive wheels - cast type with 2 removable rear rims - diameter, mm 820 - number 2 Guide wheels - cast type with steel rim front - diameter, mm 550 - number 2 Tension method caterpillars crank turn Support rollers - cast type with steel rim - diameter, mm 385 - number 6 Support rollers - cast type with steel rim - diameter, mm 550 - number 12 Air cleaner "Multicyclone" Fuel capacity, l - main tank 500 - additional tanks 360 Specific power, l. s./t 11.3 - 11.4 Maximum speed, km/h 35 Cruising range, km 145 - 220 Obstacles overcome - ascent, 36 degrees - roll, 30 degrees - ditch, m 2.5 - wall, m 1.0 - ford, m 1.3 - 1.5 Armor, mm (tilt angle, degrees) - hull top forehead 90 (60) - hull bottom forehead 90 (30) - hull side 90 (0) - hull rear 60 (41, 49) - deckhouse forehead 90 (30) - cheekbone cabin 75 (15) - cabin side 60 (15) - cabin stern 60 (0) - mask 120 (60 moving part + 60 fixed) - roof 30 (90) - bottom 20 (90) Crew, persons 5 Radio station 10-R (10-RK) Intercom TPU-4bisF Warranty service life, km 1000 Artillery weapons Quantity x type 1 x howitzer-gun ML-20S Developer Design Bureau of Plant No. 172 Ch. designer F. F. Petrov Manufacturer plant No. 172 Caliber, mm 152.4 Type of loading separate-case type Bolt type piston Firing range, m - maximum up to 13000 - direct fire 3800 - direct shot 800 Combat rate of fire, rounds/min 2 - 3 Initial projectile speed , m/s - high-explosive fragmentation 655 - 670 - armor-piercing 600 Armor penetration, mm (normal to 1000) 123 Pointing angles, degrees - vertical from -3 to +20 - horizontal in sector 10 Length of the rifled part, mm 3467.1 Barrel length, mm (club) 4925 (32) Number of rifling 48 Normal recoil length, mm 875 - 1250 Pressure in the retractor, atm 45 Volume of liquid in the recoil, l 22 Volume of liquid in the recoil, l 22 Nomenclature of ammunition OF-450, F-530, G -530
O-530A, BR-540, 30F25 Projectile weight, kg 43.51 (43.56) - HE, 48.8 - Br Ammunition, 20 rounds (13 high-explosive fragmentation + 7 armor-piercing) Sights - direct fire ST-10 (KT-5) - s closed positions switch with panorama Additional weapons Anti-aircraft machine gun - number x type 1 x 12.7-mm DShK - ammunition, 250 rounds Machine guns in ammunition rack - number x type 2 x PPSh (PPS) - ammunition, 421 rounds
Material: Alexander Sorokin. (N. Novgorod)

• Shunkov V.N. Weapons of the Red Army. - Mn: Harvest, 1999. - 544 p.
• Karpenko A.V. Heavy Soviet self-propelled guns //Tankomaster No. 4, 2001
• Zheltov I. and others. IS Tanks //Tankomaster (special issue)
• The Russian Battlefield website
• Solyankin A, Pavlov M., Pavlov I., Zheltov I. and others. Soviet heavy self-propelled guns 1941 -1945. M: Eksprint, 2005, 48 p.

Introduction

For re-equipment in the Red Army, a heavy artillery vehicle, moving under its own power and replacing the SU-152, having significantly better tactical and technical indicators, The ISU-152 self-propelled gun began to be supplied en masse in 1943.

Many people mistakenly believe that the ISU-152 is our answer to such an element of Hitler’s “superweapon” as the newest Tiger and Panther tanks. However, its main purpose was the destruction of enemy fortifications, that is, it was designed as an assault weapon.

Of course, the first clashes with the new Nazi tank technology only spurred work on the design and mass production of the SAU-152.

“IS” decoding: “Joseph Stalin”, i.e. The self-propelled gun is made on the basis of the IS heavy tank.

History of creation

Having launched offensive operations, the Soviet command came face to face with the problem of breaking through the enemy’s well-organized and, most importantly, fortified by German engineering and hands. As always, there was a lack of standard equipment in the form of large-caliber artillery and, in addition, they fired from closed positions, that is, “across areas,” and moved like horse-drawn or mechanically-drawn trailers. And very often in battle direct fire of a large-caliber gun was required.

To solve this problem, at the end of 1943, in an emergency, using the SU-152 and the IS-2 tank as a basis, the first copies of the “241 object” were created and tested, and immediately it went into production, receiving the name SAU-152 mm caliber. In just 4 years of production, about 3.3 thousand units were produced, including prototypes, to which the nickname “St. John’s Wort” passed from the SU-152.

ISU-122

Since there was a catastrophic shortage of barrels for the standard ML-20 cannon, in the spring of 1944 it began production of self-propelled guns ISU-122, differing from the SAU-152 only in another gun - an anti-tank 122 mm caliber, since there was an oversupply of them in the warehouses of the relevant department. And from the end of the summer of the same year, instead of a single solid-cast hull nose, a welded one made of rolled armor plates began to be installed on the self-propelled gun, and the gun’s armored mask increased the armor by 2/3 - up to 10 cm. Also, a 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun was installed on the top of the turret near one of the hatches .

On a note! The ISU-122 differs from the ISU-152 only in the caliber of the gun. Due to the fact that 122 mm guns were in abundance, they were also mounted on the chassis of the Joseph Stalin tank and the ISU-122 self-propelled guns were obtained.

There is reliable evidence that the armies of Nazi Germany and its ally Finland each had one captured SAU-152 “St. John’s Wort” vehicle. By the way, in the Wehrmacht this Soviet self-propelled gun had a very remarkable name - “Dosenöffner”, which means "Can opener".

Description

The vehicle was protected by rolled armor plates of various thicknesses with optimal armor angles of up to 30 degrees. All-round visibility was provided by a periscope and five viewing devices on the roof of the cabin, and the mechanical drive has its own retractable hatch for visibility, which, if necessary, is closed with armored glass or an armored flap.

Conning tower

Created on the chassis of the Joseph Stalin heavy tank, SAU-152 has a well-armored front wheelhouse with a mask and a howitzer-type cannon - this is a combined command and control compartment, where a crew of 5 soldiers was located, all the ammunition was located and a fuel tank was located to the left of the driver.

On the roof of the cabin there were 2 round hatches for crew members (through the left hatch of the “mechanical driver” a “Hertz panorama” was brought out for firing at a distance of more than a kilometer, and a sight for direct fire up to 1 kilometer was located on the howitzer barrel), another rectangular 2- x the hinged hatch is located at the rear at the junction of the roof and the armor plate, and the emergency hatch is located at the bottom of the tank.

There were 3 tankers to the left of the gun, and the remaining two, including the commander, were located to the right.

For your information! The crew of the ISU-152 self-propelled artillery mount consisted of 5 people: commander, driver, gunner, loader and lock.

Aft compartment

In the aft part of the self-propelled gun, separated from the wheelhouse by a bulkhead, there is a technical compartment, engine, transmission, fuel tanks and a heating device for the entire self-propelled gun. Chassis of self-propelled gun ISU-152"St. John's wort" consists of a carrier roller and 6 support rollers on each side. Torsion bar suspension. The electrical wiring is single-wire, since the second wire was the body of the self-propelled gun.

Characteristics of the self-propelled gun ISU-152 “St. John’s wort”:

• Country of origin: USSR.
• Manufacturers: Chelyabinsk (ChKZ) and Leningrad (LKZ).
• The basis is the Joseph Stalin heavy tank.
• Combat crew - 5 people (commander - officer, driver, gunner, loader and lock - privates and non-commissioned officers).
• Weight - up to 46.0 tons.
• Length with howitzer - up to 9.2 m.
• Body length - 6.8 m.
• The length of the supporting surface is 4.3 m.
• Width - up to 3.25 m.
• Height - up to 2.5 m.
• Ground clearance – up to 0.47 m.
• Engine – 4-stroke, 12-cylinder, diesel, V-shaped V2IS, power 520 l/s.
• Maximum speed, range and fuel – 35 km/h, up to 220 km, up to 0.9 tons.
• Suspension, gearbox, final drives, cooling system - independent torsion bar, mechanical, 8-speed with range, 2-speed with planetary gear, liquid with fan.
• Allowable lift and roll are 30 and 36 degrees.
• The width of the ditch and wall to be overcome is 2.5 m and 1.0 m.
• Reservation of the “mask” – 120 mm, 60 mm (moving part) and 60 mm (fixed part).
• Reservation of the hull (except for the stern) and the “forehead” of the fighting compartment is 90 mm.
• Reservation of the “cheekbones” of the combat compartment is 75 mm.
• Reservation of the stern and sides of the fighting compartment is 60 mm.
• Bottom armor – 20 mm.
• The gun is a 152.4 mm ML-20S model 1937, “six-inch”.
• Tilt angles, loading type, ammunition - “-”5 +18 degrees vertical and horizontal up to 12 degrees, separate-case, 21 shots.
• Firing range, including direct fire, rate of fire, armor penetration - up to 13.0 km, including up to 3.8 km, 2-3 rounds per minute, up to 123 mm. armor and up to 1 meter of concrete.
• Characteristics of projectiles - OFG (high-explosive fragmentation grenade) strikes with fragments within a radius of up to 40 m, if the fuse is set to fragments, and if a high-explosive can severely damage a tank and tankers without penetrating the armor, an armor-piercing shot penetrates any armor at a distance of up to 1.5 km , and when it hits a tower, it “rips off” it; a special projectile for destroying enemy fortifications pierced any wall up to one meter thick.

"St. John's wort" is extremely successful in battle combines the triune essence:

1. It was a heavy weapon for storming enemy fortifications.
2. He destroyed enemy armored vehicles in an exemplary manner.
3. It fired like a howitzer artillery gun, while moving independently.

Organizational aspects

The SAU-152 fought as part of 56 regiments (according to wartime standards, these were four batteries of five self-propelled guns, plus a command tank). There were regiments of different composition, which also included ISU-122 - actually the same self-propelled guns, but due to a shortage of “six-inch” guns equipped with 122 mm guns, which fought better against enemy armored vehicles, but were worse at “destroying” enemy fortifications.

Fact!"St. John's worts" with a smaller caliber, 122 mm, were more effective against enemy armored vehicles, most likely due to the greater velocity of the projectile, which was decisive in destroying armor.

There were also individual exceptions such as the 66th Guards Nevelsk Brigade from the reserve of the main command of the 3rd regimental composition.

As a rule, “self-propelled guns,” as tankers jokingly called them, marched simultaneously with tanks in the battle formations of infantry units, destroying fortifications and destroying enemy armored vehicles and firing points. They were also used to participate in pre-attack shelling, but their elevation angle, three times smaller than that of conventional howitzers, did not allow them to fire at a number of targets.

In urban battles, temporary special assault detachments (groups) of 2-3 self-propelled guns were created from the SAU-152, with infantry platoons, snipers, and occasionally backpack flamethrowers attached to them, to defend strongholds or suppress pockets of resistance in individual houses, destroy rubble and barricades As a rule, one landmine hit in a standard house was enough to stop all resistance in it.

Advantages and disadvantages

SAU-152 a little inferior in effectiveness to specialized anti-tank self-propelled guns, therefore, armored vehicles were not used intentionally as a “fighter”, but the course of a real battle was often unpredictable and its armor-piercing projectile could only withstand the frontal armor of the fascist Ferdinands and Jagdtigers, and even then not always.

Armor-piercing St. John's wort! Most often, the ISU-152 was used in the destruction of enemy fortifications. The 152 mm caliber left no chance for any brick or concrete masonry.

Advantages:

• Universalism.
• Powerful frontal armor.
• Maintainability, without sending deep to the rear.
• Quick learning even by untrained crews.
• It is not necessary to accurately hit a target with a high-explosive projectile to defeat it, including fatally.

Flaws:

• Relatively small ammunition, which was enough for no more than 15 minutes of active combat (2/3 of it consisted of high-explosive fragmentation shells).
• Relatively long (45 minutes) loading of new ammunition.
• Due to the long turn, it is vulnerable to attack from the side and rear. We had to repel attacks from enemy armored vehicles by placing several self-propelled guns in a fan formation.
• Insufficient accuracy of the panoramic sight when shooting was carried out at a distance of more than one kilometer.
  

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Its design has lost many of the shortcomings of its predecessor. It was mass-produced from November 1943 to 1946 (some sources indicate the end of production in 1947), a total of 2,790 cars of this brand were produced. It was successfully and actively used in the second half of the Great Patriotic War along the entire length of the Soviet-German front as a means of strengthening tank breakthrough units

Prerequisites for the creation of a self-propelled gun based on the IS tank

In 1943, the Red Army, having recovered from the defeats of the initial stage of the war, was increasingly faced with the need to break through the enemy’s fortified defensive positions and fight new heavy German tanks. The troops needed a powerful, mobile, protected artillery system. The self-propelled gun that had proven itself well in the battles on the Kursk Bulge was used in the role of such a self-propelled gun. SU-152, created at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ) on the basis of a tank KV-1S and armed with a 152.4 mm howitzer gun ML-20S in a fixed armored cabin.

However, the same battles in the summer of 1943 acutely raised the question of replacing the outdated KV tank with a new heavy IS tank. The production of this tank took place at the same ChKZ. Due to the fact that ChKZ capacity for simultaneous production IS-2, KV, self-propelled guns on their basis, and even T-34 could not be enough; already at the design stage of the IS tank, the designers were given the task of transferring the successful design SU-152 to a new base. Thanks to the accumulated experience and a fairly large range of products borrowed from SU-152 And HF parts, a prototype self-propelled gun based on the IS tank was built quite quickly.

Mass production

Received factory index "object 241" The prototype entered testing on November 21, 1943. After their successful completion, the new self-propelled gun was put into mass production under the final designation ISU-152. According to the plan, the first 5 vehicles were to be handed over to military acceptance in November, and in December the plant was to deliver another 30 self-propelled guns.

After the liberation from the blockade, the Leningrad Kirov Plant joined ChKZ in 1945 - it mastered production as a base tank IS-2, and self-propelled guns ISU-152. Only at two factories in 1944-1947. 3242 installations were released ISU-152.

Development of self-propelled units ISU-152 did not stop after the Great Patriotic War. The remaining vehicles underwent several major upgrades, which allowed them to remain in service with the Soviet Army for a long time.

Description of design

By design, the heavy self-propelled gun ISU-152 is a chassis of an IS tank, in the front of which there is an armored wheelhouse with an ML-20S howitzer gun mounted in it. In the wheelhouse there is a fighting compartment, combined with a control compartment, and the engine-transmission unit is located in the aft part and is separated from the wheelhouse by a partition.

• Armament

Howitzer gun ML-20S in a massive armored mask protecting the recoil devices, located to the right of the central axis of the vehicle. The moving part of the mask additionally serves as a balancing element. To the left of the gun is the driver's seat, equipped with a viewing device. The ammunition is located in the lower part of the cabin in racks along the walls and amounts to 20 separate-loading artillery rounds. To access the wheelhouse, there are two round hatches on the roof, and at the junction of the roof and the rear armor plate there is another rectangular double-leaf hatch. A turret with a 12.7 mm machine gun was installed on the right hatch on late-production vehicles DShK.

In a self-propelled gun ISU-152 the swinging part of the ML-20 howitzer-gun was used with minor changes compared to the towed version (in particular, the ML-20S barrel was 3 calibers shorter than that of the ML-20). The ML-20S howitzer gun had a piston bolt, which allowed it to achieve a maximum rate of fire of 3-4 rounds/min.

The OF-540 high-explosive fragmentation grenade weighing 43.56 kg, when the fuse was set to fragmentation action, caused damage with fragments 40 m along the front and 8 m in depth. The BR-540 armor-piercing tracer projectile penetrated the frontal armor of all Wehrmacht tanks at a distance of up to 1500 m. When it hit the tower, it tore it off the shoulder strap. When using the G-530 concrete-piercing projectile for its intended purpose, it penetrated a reinforced concrete wall about 1 m thick.

• Engine and transmission

The engine-transmission installation of the self-propelled gun is similar to that used in tanks IP. The engine room housed a diesel 12-cylinder V-shaped engine V-2IS with a power of 520 hp. with all auxiliary components and assemblies. The transmission consisted of a multi-disc main dry friction clutch, an eight-speed gearbox, planetary turning mechanisms and final drives.

• Chassis

The self-propelled chassis consisted of 12 double carrier rollers, six support rollers, drive gears and idlers. The suspension of the load-bearing rollers is individual torsion bar. The rear drive wheels had two removable ring gears of 14 teeth each. The sloth wheels were identical in design to the road wheels and, together with the tension mechanisms, were located in the bow of the vehicle. Each caterpillar consisted of 86 tracks with a width of 650 mm.

• Surveillance, communication and navigation equipment

For fire control ISU-152 equipped with a telescopic sight ST-10 And Hertz panorama, which provided both direct fire and indirect fire. The communications equipment installed on the self-propelled gun included a radio station 10R or 10RK and tank intercom TPU-4-BisF.

• Crew

Crew ISU-152 consisted of 5 people: commander, gun commander (gunner), driver, lock and loader. The crew had submachine guns (PPSh or PPS) and F-1 grenades as personal weapons.

Self-propelled guns based on ISU-152

• ISU-122- serial self-propelled gun, armament - 122 mm A-19S cannon. A total of 1,435 of these self-propelled guns were produced until June 1945.
• ISU-122-1 (ISU-122BM, Object 243)- experimental version with a 122 mm BL-9 (OBM-50) cannon. It did not go into mass production due to unsatisfactory test results.
• ISU-122-2 (ISU-122S)- serial self-propelled gun, armament - 122 mm D-25S cannon. A total of 475 of these self-propelled guns were produced until June 1945.
• ISU-122-3 (ISU-122BM, Object 251)- experimental version with 122 mm S-26-1 cannon. It did not go into mass production due to unsatisfactory test results.
• ISU-130 (Object 250)- experimental version with 130 mm S-26 cannon. It did not go into mass production due to unsatisfactory test results.
• ISU-152-1 (ISU-152BM, Object 246)- experimental version with a 152 mm BL-8 (OBM-43) cannon. It did not go into mass production due to unsatisfactory test results.
• ISU-152-2 (ISU-152BM, Object 247)- experimental version with 152 mm BL-10 cannon. It did not go into mass production due to unsatisfactory test results.

Combat use

Organizationally ISU-152 used in separate heavy self-propelled regiments (OTSAP). Each regiment was armed with 21 self-propelled guns consisting of 4 batteries of 5 vehicles each plus one commander. A total of 53 OTSAP were formed.

Heavy self-propelled guns were intended to destroy field and long-term fortifications, fight tanks at long distances, and support infantry and tanks on the offensive. Combat experience has shown that ISU-152 are able to successfully solve all these problems. A kind of “division of labor” also emerged between ISU-152 And ISU-122: the former were better suited for assault operations and fighting fortifications, and the latter for the destruction of enemy armored vehicles. The nicknames speak for themselves ISU-152: Soviet "St. John's wort" and German "Dosenöffner"(can opener).

Since the spring of 1944, heavy self-propelled artillery regiments SU-152 re-equipped with installations ISU-152 and ISU-122. They were transferred to new states and all were given the rank of guards. In total, 56 such regiments were formed before the end of the war, each with 21 vehicles. ISU-152 or ISU-122(some of these regiments are of mixed composition). On March 1, 1945, the 143rd separate tank Nevelsk brigade in the Belarusian-Lithuanian military district was reorganized into the 66th Guards Nevelsk heavy self-propelled artillery brigade of the RVGK of three regiments (1804 people, 65 ISU-12 2, 3 SU-76).

Heavy self-propelled artillery regiments attached to tank and rifle units and formations were primarily used to support infantry and tanks in the offensive. Following in their battle formations, self-propelled guns destroyed enemy firing points and ensured successful advancement for infantry and tanks. In this phase of the offensive, self-propelled guns became one of the main means of repelling tank counterattacks. In a number of cases, they had to move ahead of the battle formations of their troops and take the blow themselves, thereby ensuring freedom of maneuver for the supported tanks.

So, for example, on January 15, 1945, in East Prussia, in the Borowe region, the Germans, with up to one regiment of motorized infantry, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, counterattacked the battle formations of our advancing infantry, along with which the 390th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment was operating. The infantry, under pressure from superior enemy forces, retreated behind the battle formations of the self-propelled guns, who met the German attack with concentrated fire and covered the supported units. The counterattack was repulsed, and the infantry was again able to continue its offensive.

Heavy self-propelled guns were sometimes involved in artillery preparations. At the same time, fire was carried out both direct fire and from closed positions. In particular, on January 12, 1945, during the Sandomierz-Silesian operation, the 368th Guards Regiment ISU-152 The 1st Ukrainian Front fired at the enemy strong point and four artillery and mortar batteries for 107 minutes. Having fired 980 shells, the regiment suppressed two mortar batteries, destroyed eight guns and up to one battalion of enemy soldiers and officers. It is interesting to note that additional ammunition was laid out in advance at the firing positions, but the shells in the combat vehicles were consumed first, otherwise the rate of fire would have been significantly reduced. It took up to 40 minutes for the subsequent replenishment of heavy self-propelled guns with shells, so they stopped firing well in advance of the attack.

Heavy self-propelled guns were used very effectively in the fight against enemy tanks. For example, in the Berlin operation on April 19, the 360th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment supported the advance of the 388th Rifle Division. Parts of the division captured one of the groves east of Lichtenberg, where they entrenched themselves. The next day, the enemy, with the strength of up to one infantry regiment, supported by 15 tanks, began to counterattack. When repelling attacks during the day, heavy self-propelled gun fire destroyed 10 German tanks and up to 300 soldiers and officers. In the battles on the Zemland Peninsula during the East Prussian operation, the 378th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, when repelling counterattacks, successfully used the formation of the regiment's battle formation as a fan. This provided the regiment with shelling in a 180° sector, which made it easier to fight enemy tanks attacking from different directions. One of the batteries ISU-152, having built its battle formation in a fan along a front length of 250 m, successfully repelled a counterattack of 30 enemy tanks on April 7, 1945, knocking out six of them. The battery suffered no losses. Only two cars received minor damage to the chassis. At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, a characteristic feature of the use of self-propelled artillery was fighting in large populated areas, including well-fortified ones. As is known, an attack on a large populated area is a very complex form of combat and in its nature differs in many respects from an offensive battle under normal conditions. Fighting in the city was almost always divided into a number of separate local battles for individual objects and centers of resistance. This forced the advancing troops to create special assault detachments and groups that had great independence to conduct battle in the city. Assault detachments and assault groups formed the basis of the battle formations of formations and units fighting for the city.

Self-propelled artillery regiments and brigades were attached to rifle divisions and corps; in the latter, they were fully or partially assigned to rifle regiments, in which they were used to strengthen assault detachments and groups. The assault groups included self-propelled artillery batteries and separate installations (usually two). Self-propelled guns, which were part of the assault groups, had the tasks of directly escorting infantry and tanks, repelling counterattacks of enemy tanks and self-propelled guns, and consolidating them at occupied targets. Accompanying the infantry, self-propelled guns with direct fire from the spot, less often with short stops, destroyed the enemy's firing points and anti-tank guns, his tanks and self-propelled guns, destroyed rubble, barricades and houses adapted for defense, and thereby ensured the advance of troops. Volley fire was sometimes used to destroy buildings, which gave very good results. In the battle formations of assault groups, self-propelled artillery units usually moved together with tanks under infantry cover, but if there were no tanks, then they moved along with the infantry. The deployment of self-propelled artillery units to operate ahead of the infantry turned out to be unjustified, since they suffered heavy losses from enemy fire.

Classification:	Assault gun
Combat weight, t:
Crew, persons:
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Track, mm:
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Booking
Armor type:
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Hull side (bottom), mm/deg.:
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Hull rear (bottom), mm/deg.:
Bottom, mm:
Housing roof, mm:
Cutting edge, mm/deg.:
Gun mask, mm/deg.:
Cabin board, mm/deg.:
Feed cutting, mm/deg.:
Cabin roof, mm/deg.:
Armament
Caliber and brand of gun:	152.4 mm howitzer-gun ML-20S mod. 1937/43
Barrel length, calibers:
Gun ammunition:
Angles VN, degrees:
Angles GN, degrees:
Firing range, km:
	ST-10, Hertz Panorama
Machine guns:	1 × 12.7 mm DShK
Mobility
Engine's type:	V-shaped 4-stroke 12-cylinder diesel
Engine power, l. With.:
Highway speed, km/h:
Speed ​​over rough terrain, km/h:
Cruising range on the highway, km:
Cruising range over rough terrain, km:
Specific power, l. s./t:
Suspension type:	Individual torsion bar
Specific ground pressure, kg/cm²:
Climbability, degrees:
Wall to be overcome, m:
Ditch to be overcome, m:
Fordability, m:

Mass production

Description of design

Armored hull and deckhouse

Armament

Engine

Transmission

Chassis

Electrical equipment

Surveillance equipment and sights

Means of communication

Serial variants

Upgraded options

Vehicles based on ISU-152

Combat use

Machine evaluation

Organization

Interesting facts about ISU-152

Where can you see

ISU-152 in computer games

Models ISU-152

ISU-152- Soviet heavy self-propelled artillery unit (SPG) during the Great Patriotic War. The abbreviation in the car name ISU means “self-propelled unit based on the IS tank” or “IS unit”; letter "AND" in addition to the standard Soviet designation "SU" military equipment of this class was required to distinguish it from self-propelled guns of the same caliber SU-152 at another tank base. Index 152 means the caliber of the vehicle's main armament.

Developed by the design bureau of experimental plant No. 100 in June - October 1943 and adopted by the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) on November 6 of the same year. At the same time, its serial production began at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ), which continued until 1946. Several cars of this brand were produced in 1945 by the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ). ISU-152 were widely used at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War in almost all aspects of the use of self-propelled artillery. In addition to the Red Army, ISU-152s were in service with the armies of Poland and Czechoslovakia, and single captured vehicles were used by the Wehrmacht and the Finnish army. There is only one known photograph of an ISU-152 used by the Finnish Army, dated 1944.

In the post-war period, the ISU-152 underwent modernization and was in service with the Soviet army for a long time. They were also supplied to equip the Egyptian armed forces. Self-propelled guns transferred to Egypt took part in the Arab-Israeli armed conflicts in the Middle East. They took part in the Seven Days War in the form of fixed firing points buried in the sand up to the fenders. Non-modernized versions were supplied to Egypt, but they were equipped with a night vision system with an IR spotlight mounted in pairs with a headlight in a protective basket to the left of the gun. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the ISU-152 was withdrawn from service with the Soviet Army and replaced by more modern self-propelled guns; A number of machines that survived the cutting into metal now serve as monuments and exhibits in museums around the world.

The slang name for ISU-152 is “St. John’s wort.” In the Wehrmacht they called her “Dosenöffner” (German). "can-opener").

History of creation

Work on the creation of the ISU-152 self-propelled guns began in June 1943 in the design bureau of pilot plant No. 100 in Chelyabinsk in connection with the final decision to replace the KV-1s heavy tank in production with the new promising IS-1 tank.

However, on the basis of the KV tank, the SU-152 heavy assault gun was produced, the need for which in the active army was extremely high (in contrast to the need for heavy KV tanks). The excellent combat qualities of the SU-152 served as the basis for the creation of its analogue based on the IS-1 tank.

The development of the ISU-152 was carried out under the leadership of Joseph Yakovlevich Kotin, the main developer of the entire Soviet line of heavy tanks. The chief designer of the ISU-152 was G. N. Moskvin. In the early stages, the project of the new self-propelled guns was designated as IS-152. In October 1943, the first prototype, Object 241, was built. It successfully passed factory and state tests; On November 6, 1943, by decree of the State Defense Committee, a new self-propelled gun was adopted by the Red Army under the final name ISU-152. In the same month, serial production of the ISU-152 began at ChKZ. In December 1943, the SU-152 and ISU-152 were still produced jointly at ChKZ, and from the next month the ISU-152 completely replaced its predecessor SU-152 on the assembly lines.

During the production process, minor changes were made to the design of the ISU-152, aimed at increasing combat and operational qualities and reducing the cost of the vehicle. In the second half of 1944, a new welded hull nose made of rolled armor plates was introduced instead of one solid part, and the thickness of the gun's armored mask was increased from 60 to 100 mm. They also began installing a 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun on the self-propelled guns and increased the capacity of the internal and external fuel tanks. The 10P radio station was replaced by an improved version 10RK.

Experimental prototypes: SU-152-M (IS-152 No. 1) and IS-152, “Object 241”

The planned replacement of the KV-1 heavy tank with the promising IS-85 breakthrough tank also required the transfer of the SU-152 to a promising base. But work on improving self-propelled guns was not limited to this. Even before the combat debut of the SU-152, a number of serious shortcomings were identified. In this regard, on May 25, 1943, by order of plant No. 100, the self-propelled artillery design group began modernizing the vehicle. The group was headed by G.N. Moskvin and N.V. Kurin, seconded to it, who had extensive experience in creating self-propelled artillery installations. Together with the customer, expanded tactical and technical requirements were developed for a modernized model of a heavy self-propelled gun, which at that time was designated in documents as SU-152-M. According to primary sources, they included the following:

The development of the SU-152-M heavy self-propelled gun is being carried out to replace the KV-14 self-propelled gun. 1) for self-propelled vehicles, use the chassis and mechanical equipment of the “Object 237” tank; 3) it is necessary to supplement the cannon armament of a heavy self-propelled gun with a defensive all-round machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber or an anti-aircraft machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber; 4) increase the thickness of the armor of the frontal hull plate to 90-100 mm; 5) increase visibility by using several Mk-IV type viewing devices on a rotating base; 6) improve the ventilation of the fighting compartment by introducing an additional fan or provide for purging of the gun barrel after firing...

The project was planned to be completed by July 1, 1943, but the group completed the task ahead of schedule; at the end of July, construction of a prototype, called IS-152, began.

However, in the future, ambiguity sets in - new tanks IS-85, KV-85 and self-propelled guns IS-152 were shown in the Kremlin to the country's leadership headed by I.V. Stalin, however, in the memoirs of participants in the events and available archival documents there are no: the exact date of this review and an exact list of those present. The day is called July 31, 1943, but according to ChKZ documents, the KV-85 and IS-85 tanks were being tested at that time. Historian M. N. Svirin suggests holding the show on August 31, and a group of authors of numerous publications on armored vehicles under the leadership of Colonel I. G. Zheltov - on September 8. It is also not clear which self-propelled guns were shown to management. It is assumed that this was an experimental IS-152 self-propelled gun, but there is a photograph showing I.V. Stalin in the Kremlin on a self-propelled gun, externally identical to the SU-152. It is possible that the management was shown a modernized model of the SU-152, on which the improvements planned for implementation on the IS-152 were tested.

One way or another, by the above-mentioned GKO decree No. 4043ss of September 4, 1943, it was the IS-152 self-propelled gun that was put into service along with the KV-85 and IS-85, but according to ChKZ documents it turned out to be much more expensive than the serial SU-152. During September - October 1943, the design of the IS-152 self-propelled guns was improved, and a second prototype was built: Object 241 based on the IS tank, which turned out to be comparable in cost to the serial SU-152. It was accepted for serial production on November 6, 1943 as the ISU-152.

Comparative characteristics of self-propelled guns: SU-152 and ISU-152

Comparison table

Base tank:
Case length, mm
Length with gun, mm
Width, mm
Height, mm
Ground clearance, mm
Booking elements:	thickness, mm/slope, degrees	thickness, mm/slope, degrees
Body forehead (top)		60/78°; (90/60°)
Body forehead (bottom)
Hull side (top)
Hull side (bottom)
Hull stern (top)
Hull stern (bottom)
Bottom, front (rear)
Housing roof
Forehead cutting
Chine of the cabin
Cabin side		75/15°; (60/15°)
Feed cutting
Cabin roof
Gun mask
Gun ammunition, pieces
		telescopic ST-10, + Hertz panorama
Engine make	Diesel engine: V-2K	Diesel engine: V-2-IS
Maximum engine power, hp
Engine rated power, hp
Engine operating power, hp
Specific power, hp/t
Specific ground pressure, kg/cm²
Maximum highway speed, km/h
Speed ​​over rough terrain, km/h
Cruising range on the highway, km
Cruising range over rough terrain, km
Climbability
Wall to be overcome, m
Ditch to be overcome, m
Fordability, m

Mass production

On November 6, 1943, by decree of the State Defense Committee, a new self-propelled gun was adopted by the Red Army under the final name ISU-152. In the same month, serial production of the ISU-152 began at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ). In December 1943, the SU-152 and ISU-152 were still produced jointly at ChKZ, and from the next month the ISU-152 completely replaced its predecessor SU-152 on the assembly lines.

During the production process, minor changes were made to the design of the ISU-152, aimed at increasing combat and operational qualities and reducing the cost of the vehicle.

Due to the heavy workload of ChKZ with the production of heavy IS-2 tanks, the armored hulls for ISU self-propelled guns were supplied by the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant (UZTM).

Due to the shortage of ML-20S howitzer gun barrels, in April 1944 the serial production of the ISU-122 self-propelled guns began, which differed from the ISU-152 only in the installed artillery system (respectively, the sight, ammunition and trends in combat use) - instead of the ML-20S in an armored hull 121.92-mm A-19S guns were mounted, which at that time were in abundance in arms depots.

In the second half of 1944, a new welded hull nose made of rolled armor plates was introduced instead of one solid part, and the thickness of the gun's armored mask was increased from 60 to 100 mm. They also began installing a 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun on the self-propelled guns and increased the capacity of the internal and external fuel tanks. The 10P radio station was replaced by an improved version 10RK.

From the beginning of 1945, self-propelled guns began to be equipped with a 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.

In 1945, several ISU-152 vehicles were produced by the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ).

From November 1943 to May 1945, ChKZ and LKZ built 1,885 ISU-152s. Serial production of self-propelled guns ended in 1946 (some sources indicate the end of production in 1947); a total of 3,242 vehicles of this brand were produced. Licenses for the production of ISU-152 were not sold to other countries.

Description of design

The ISU-152 had the same layout as all other serial Soviet self-propelled guns of that time (with the exception of the SU-76). The fully armored hull was divided into two parts. The crew, gun and ammunition were located in front in the armored cabin, which combined the fighting compartment and the control compartment. The engine and transmission were installed at the rear of the vehicle.

Armored hull and deckhouse

The armored body of the self-propelled gun was welded from rolled armor plates with a thickness of 90, 75, 60, 30 and 20 mm. On the first series of vehicles, the frontal part of the hull was an armor casting; Subsequently, as more resistant rolled armor became available, the design of the frontal part of the hull was replaced with a welded one. Armor protection is differentiated, anti-ballistic. The armor plates of the wheelhouse were installed at rational angles of inclination. Compared to the previous model of self-propelled guns of the same class and purpose - SU-152 - the armored hull of the ISU-152 was distinguished by a slightly higher height (since it did not have such a deep landing as that of the KV series vehicles) and a larger volume of the armored cabin due to reduced angles of inclination zygomatic and side armor plates. The associated slight decrease in security was compensated by thickening the armor of these parts of the cabin. Compared to the SU-152, the larger cutting volume provided better working conditions for the crew. The main armament - a 152.4-mm howitzer-cannon ML-20S - was mounted in a frame-type installation to the right of the center line of the vehicle. The gun's recoil devices were protected by a fixed cast armor casing and a movable cast spherical armor mask, which also served as a balancing element.

Three crew members were located to the left of the gun: in front was the driver, then the gunner, and behind was the loader. The vehicle commander and the castle commander were located to the right of the gun. The crew entered and exited through a rectangular double-leaf hatch at the junction of the roof and rear sheets of the armored cabin and through a round hatch to the right of the gun. The round hatch to the left of the gun was not intended for the crew to get in and out; it was required to bring the panoramic sight extension out. The hull also had a bottom hatch for emergency escape by the crew of the self-propelled gun and a number of small hatches for loading ammunition, access to the necks of the fuel tanks, and other components and assemblies of the vehicle. The crew emergency escape hatch, which had a round shape, was located on the left side of the hull behind the second torsion bar. “Small hatches” were located as follows: hatches for access to transmission elements: behind the first torsion bar on the right, behind the third torsion bar on the right, 2 hatches on the left behind the fourth torsion bar, on two sides of the side behind the fifth torsion bar, at the right sprocket. The hatch for filling oil into the transmission elements is behind the 3rd torsion bar on the left along the direction. The hatch for loading ammunition was located on the left side of the Isu-152 behind the third support roller at the level of the mud cleaner. The Isu-152K was equipped with a figured (with cutouts) 20mm. armor plate on the bottom in front of the sprockets.

Armament

The main armament of the ISU-152 was the 152-mm howitzer-cannon ML-20S mod. 1937/43 (GAU index - 52-PS-544S). The gun was mounted in a frame on the front armor plate of the wheelhouse and had vertical aiming angles from −3 to +20°, the horizontal aiming sector was 10°. The height of the firing line was 1.8 m; direct shot range - 800-900 m at a target 2.5-3 m high, direct fire range - 3800 m, maximum firing range - 6200 m. The shot was fired using an electric or manual mechanical trigger.

The gun's ammunition load was 21 rounds of separate loading. The shells were placed along both sides of the cabin, the charges were placed there, as well as on the bottom of the fighting compartment and on the rear wall of the cabin. Compared to the range of ammunition for the ML-20 towed guns, the ISU-152 ammunition was significantly less diverse. It included:

• armor-piercing tracer sharp-headed projectile 53-BR-540 weighing 48.8 kg, initial speed 600 m/s;
• high-explosive fragmentation cannon projectile 53-OF-540 weighing 43.56 kg, initial speed 655 m/s at full charge.

Instead of 53-BR-540 armor-piercing tracer shells, blunt-headed armor-piercing tracer shells with a 53-BR-540B ballistic tip could be used (from the beginning of 1945).

To destroy reinforced concrete bunkers, a 53-G-545 concrete-piercing cannon shell could be inserted into the ammunition load. The range of propellant charges was also significantly reduced - it included a special charge 54-Zh-545B for an armor-piercing projectile and a full charge 54-ZhN-545 for a high-explosive fragmentation projectile. In principle, the ML-20S howitzer gun could fire all types of shells and charges from its towed version ML-20. However, in the manuals and shooting tables for the ISU-152 from the Great Patriotic War, only the above ammunition is listed. This does not exclude the possibility of firing with other types of ammunition at that time, but there is no documentary evidence of such firing in the form of reports, manuals and regulatory documents of that time. This point is an issue that has not yet been fully explored and often becomes the cause of controversy in military-themed forums. On the other hand, in the post-war period, when the focus of using the ISU-152 shifted from an assault gun to a self-propelled howitzer, the possibility of firing the entire range of ammunition from a towed ML-20 became significantly more likely.

From the beginning of 1945, the ISU-152 was equipped with a large-caliber 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun with an open or K-8T anti-aircraft sight on a turret mounted on the right round hatch of the vehicle commander. The ammunition load for the DShK was 250 rounds.

For self-defense, the crew had two PPSh or PPS machine guns (submachine guns) with 1,491 rounds of ammunition (21 disks) and 20 F-1 hand grenades.

Engine

The ISU-152 was equipped with a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder diesel engine V-2-IS with a power of 520 hp. With. (382 kW). Engine starting was ensured by an inertia starter with manual and electric drives or compressed air from two tanks in the fighting compartment of the vehicle. The electric drive of the inertia starter was an auxiliary electric motor with a power of 0.88 kW. The V-2IS diesel engine was equipped with an NK-1 high-pressure fuel pump with an RNA-1 all-mode regulator and a fuel supply corrector. To clean the air entering the engine, a Multicyclone type filter was used. Heating devices were also installed in the engine-transmission compartment to facilitate engine starting in the cold season. They could also be used to heat the fighting compartment of the vehicle. The ISU-152 had three fuel tanks, two of which were located in the fighting compartment, and one in the engine compartment. The self-propelled gun was also equipped with four external additional fuel tanks, not connected to the engine fuel system.

Transmission

The ISU-152 self-propelled gun was equipped with a mechanical transmission, which included:

• multi-disc main clutch of dry friction “steel on ferodo”;
• four-speed gearbox with range (8 forward gears and 2 reverse);
• two onboard two-stage planetary rotation mechanisms with a multi-disc dry friction locking clutch “steel on steel” and band brakes;
• two double-row combined final drives.

All transmission control drives are mechanical. Compared to the previous model of the heavy self-propelled gun SU-152, a new element of the transmission was planetary rotation mechanisms. The use of this unit made it possible to increase the overall reliability of the transmission as a whole, which was precisely the most significant drawback of the KV series tanks and vehicles based on it.

Chassis

The ISU-152 has an individual torsion bar suspension for each of the 6 solid-cast gable road wheels of small diameter on each side. Opposite each road wheel, travel limiters of the suspension balancers were welded to the armored body. The drive wheels with removable pinion gears were located at the rear, and the idlers were identical to the road wheels. The upper branch of the caterpillar was supported by three small solid support rollers on each side; these rollers were borrowed from the design of the SU-152 self-propelled gun. The caterpillar tension mechanism is screw; each caterpillar consisted of 86 single-ridge tracks with a width of 650 mm. The tracks could be distinguished by the presence of an egg-shaped lightening hole in the middle of the ridge of each track (these tracks were installed on military vehicles of later series; this type was also typical for the Is-3).

Electrical equipment

The electrical wiring in the ISU-152 self-propelled guns was single-wire; the second wire was the armored hull of the vehicle. The sources of electricity (operating voltages 12 and 24 V) were a P-4563A generator with a 1 kW RRA-24F relay-regulator and two series-connected 6-STE-128 batteries with a total capacity of 128 Ah. Electricity consumers included:

• external and internal lighting of the vehicle, illumination devices for sights and scales of measuring instruments;
• external sound signal and signaling circuit from the landing force to the vehicle crew;
• instrumentation (ammeter and voltmeter);
• electric trigger of a howitzer-gun;
• means of communication - radio station and tank intercom;
• electrics of the motor group - electric motor for inertia starter, reels of spark plugs for winter engine starting, etc.

Surveillance equipment and sights

All hatches for entering and disembarking the crew, as well as the artillery panorama hatch, had Mk IV periscopic devices for monitoring the environment from inside the vehicle (3 pieces in total). In combat, the driver conducted observation through a viewing device with a triplex, which was protected by an armored flap. This viewing device was installed in an armored hatch on the front armor plate of the wheelhouse to the left of the gun. In a quiet environment, this plug hatch could be pulled forward, providing the driver with a more convenient direct view from his workplace.

For firing, the ISU-152 was equipped with two gun sights - a telescopic ST-10 for direct fire and a Hertz panorama for firing from closed positions. The ST-10 telescopic sight was calibrated for targeted shooting at a distance of up to 900 m. However, the firing range of the ML-20S howitzer gun was up to 13 km, and for shooting at a distance of over 900 m (both direct fire and from closed positions) the gunner I had to use a second, panoramic sight. To provide visibility through the upper left round hatch in the cabin roof, the panoramic sight was equipped with a special extension. To ensure the possibility of fire in the dark, the sight scales had illumination devices.

Means of communication

Communication equipment included a 10P (or 10RK) radio station and a TPU-4-BisF intercom for 4 subscribers.

Radio stations 10Р or 10РК were a set of a transmitter, receiver and umformers (single-armature motor-generators) for their power supply, connected to an on-board 24 V power supply.

10P was a simplex tube heterodyne shortwave radio station operating in the frequency range from 3.75 to 6 MHz (wavelengths from 50 to 80 m). When parked, the communication range in telephone (voice) mode reached 20-25 km, while on the move it decreased somewhat. A greater communication range could be obtained in telegraph mode, when information was transmitted by a telegraph key using Morse code or another discrete coding system. Frequency stabilization was carried out by a removable quartz resonator; there was no smooth frequency adjustment. 10P allowed communication on two fixed frequencies; to change them, another quartz resonator of 15 pairs included in the radio set was used.

The 10RK radio station was a technological improvement of the previous 10P model; it became simpler and cheaper to manufacture. This model now has the ability to smoothly select the operating frequency; the number of quartz resonators has been reduced to 16. The communication range characteristics have not undergone significant changes.

The TPU-4-BisF tank intercom made it possible to negotiate between members of the self-propelled gun crew even in a very noisy environment and connect a headset (headsets and laryngophones) to the radio station for external communication.

Serial and modernized options

Serial variants

• The ISU-152, based on the IS tank produced in 1943, had a one-piece, monolithic frontal part of the hull;
• The ISU-152, based on the IS tank produced in 1944, had a frontal part of the hull welded from two rolled armor plates. This version of the self-propelled gun was distinguished by an increased thickness of the gun's armored mask, from 60 to 90 mm, and more capacious fuel tanks.

From the beginning of 1945, the ISU-152 began to be equipped with a 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. A number of previously produced vehicles also received this machine gun during repairs.

Upgraded options

The high combat and operational qualities of the ISU-152, as well as some stagnation in the development of Soviet cannon self-propelled artillery in the late 1950s (affected by the fascination of the army and the country's leadership with missile technology) led to the decision to modernize the remaining vehicles of this brand in service. Modernization was carried out in two directions:

• ISU-152M (the prototype was designated Object 241M);
• ISU-152K (the prototype was designated Object 241K).

The program of both post-war modernizations of the ISU-152 included:

• installation of a night vision device and an infrared spotlight;
• replacing the V-2IS engine with a more modern V-54;
• increase in ammunition from 20 to 30 rounds;
• replacement of sights and telecommunications equipment (radio station and intercom) with more modern ones.

The modernized vehicles were equipped with tracked fenders similar to the IS-2M tank, additional fuel tanks and a log for self-pulling in the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, in their appearance, the modernized ISU-152M and ISU-152K were noticeably different from the original version of the self-propelled gun.

Differences of Isu-152K:

• Instead of a fan system for blowing radiators, an ejection system is used.
• A different coolant heating system has been installed.
• The radiators, fuel tanks, oil tank, and individual elements of the power plant systems have been changed.
• New air cleaners have been installed.
• The design of the power compartment roof, wheelhouse and partition of the power compartment has been changed, and changes have been made to the structure of the wheel arch liners and wings.
• A new PS-10 sight was introduced instead of the ST-10, and the design of the commander's cupola was changed.
• Changes have been made to the gun mounting units, gun stoppers and sights (in particular, a ring has been added around the sight on the gun mantlet, which serves to protect against weather conditions and reduce glare from the sun).
• The ammunition capacity has been increased and the placement of ammunition inside the ammunition has been changed.
• The placement of the anti-aircraft machine gun has been changed and an additional third hatch has been introduced on the roof of the wheelhouse.
• Changes have been made to the design of the front gearbox.
• Automatic fire-fighting equipment has been installed.
• Changes were made to the design of the bottom, additional aft armor and armor for hatches serving the chassis were installed (varied from the production series).
• Tracks from the T-10 were used; it was possible to install expansion plates in the holes in the track for movement on soft soils.
• New boxes were installed on the sides for transported property (as a result, the spare parts and accessories were removed from the body).
• New arrangement of fuel tanks in pairs on the modified stern.
• Both types of ISU were subject to modernization, the early ones with a welded and rolled nose (the design of the attachments was different).
• On some models, additional armor was installed on the top of the moving part of the armored mask (reinforced with 15 mm armor plate).

Vehicles based on ISU-152

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the ISU-152 chassis (as well as the ISU-122) served as the basis for the development of self-propelled artillery systems of high and special power, and tactical missile launchers. The disarmed ISU-152 and ISU-122 with a welded gun embrasure in the front wheelhouse, called ISU-T, were used as tank tractors, staff vehicles, and mobile artillery observation posts. A number of these vehicles were transferred to civilian departments for use as tractors or transport in difficult terrain. On the railways of the USSR, a small number of disarmed ISU-152s were, and are, used in recovery trains as tilters or tractors in emergency situations. There is even unconfirmed information about the presence of several such machines in the inventory fleet of JSC Russian Railways.

The BTT-1 tank tractors with expanded functionality compared to the ISU-T were built on the same base. Dampers were welded to the BTT-1 body to push the emergency tank using a log; at the rear the vehicle was equipped with openers, a platform above the engine and transmission compartment and a collapsible boom of a manual crane with a lifting capacity of up to 3 tons. Instead of a gun and ammunition, the wheelhouse housed a powerful winch driven by a power take-off from the main engine of the vehicle. The BTT-1T version was equipped with a set of rigging equipment instead of a winch.

Also based on the ISU-152, experimental vehicles known as the ISU-152BM (high power) were created:

• ISU-152-1 (object 246) with BL-8 cannon,
• ISU-152-2 (object 247) with a BL-10 cannon.

Combat use

The ISU-152 as a whole successfully combined three main combat roles: a heavy assault gun, a tank destroyer and a self-propelled howitzer. However, in each of these roles, as a rule, there was another, more specialized self-propelled gun with better characteristics for its category than the ISU-152.

In addition to World War II, ISU-152s were used in the suppression of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, where they once again confirmed their enormous destructive power. Particularly effective was the use of the ISU-152 as a powerful “anti-sniper rifle” to destroy rebel snipers hiding in residential buildings in Budapest, who inflicted significant damage on Soviet troops. Sometimes, just the presence of a self-propelled gun nearby was enough for the inhabitants of the house, in fear for their lives and property, to expel the snipers or bottle throwers who had settled there.

In the Arab-Israeli wars, ISU-152s were used mainly as stationary firing points along the banks of the Suez Canal and showed little success in the hands of Egyptian troops. A number of these vehicles were captured by the Israeli army.

ISU-152 as a heavy assault gun

The main use of the ISU-152 was fire support for advancing tanks and infantry. The 152.4 mm (6-inch) ML-20S howitzer gun had a powerful OF-540 high-explosive fragmentation projectile weighing 43.56 kg, loaded with 6 kg of TNT (trinitrotoluene, TNT). These shells were very effective against both unsheltered infantry (with the fuze set to high explosive) and against fortifications such as pillboxes and trenches (with the fuze set to high explosive). One hit from such a projectile into an ordinary medium-sized city house was enough to destroy all life inside.

ISU-152s were especially in demand in urban battles, such as the assault on Berlin, Budapest or Königsberg. The self-propelled gun's good armor allowed it to move into direct fire range to destroy enemy firing points. For conventional towed artillery, this was mortally dangerous due to enemy machine gun and targeted sniper fire.

To reduce losses from fire from “Faustniks” (German soldiers armed with “Panzerschrecks” or “Faustpatrons”), in urban battles the ISU-152 used one or two self-propelled guns along with an infantry squad (assault group) to protect them. Typically, an assault team included a sniper (or, at a minimum, just a marksman), machine gunners, and sometimes a backpack flamethrower. The DShK heavy machine gun on the ISU-152 was an effective weapon for destroying “faustniks” hiding on the upper floors of buildings, behind rubble and barricades. Skillful interaction between the crews of self-propelled guns and the assigned infantry soldiers made it possible to achieve their goals with the least losses; otherwise, the attacking vehicles could very easily be destroyed by the Faustians.

Shortly before this, the Nazis began shelling the Emcha standing under the arches with an anti-tank gun, which they dragged at night to the top floor of one of the houses north of the Town Hall. Its fire damaged the tracks of two tanks. It was necessary to take urgent action, otherwise most of the combat vehicles east of the Town Hall, the university and the parliament could suffer from the fire of this weapon, and if we change their positions, we will lose several blocks. He called the commander of the ISU-152 battery and ordered him to immediately suppress the enemy firing point. The self-propelled gun, slapping the asphalt with its wide tracks, took up a position on one of the streets facing the south-eastern side of the square. The same curiosity that has killed more virgins than love dragged us out into the street to watch how the self-propelled guns would blow the German artillerymen and their cannon to pieces with one shell. The tankers and paratroopers settled down near the “St. John’s wort” and began to wait... Even now, remembering those minutes, I cannot forgive myself, a commander with considerable combat experience, for making a mistake. Why did you allow these “screenings”? They had to pay a high price for them. The Viennese streets, running in different directions from the central square, are not wide. Beautiful houses with Venetian windows rise on both sides. A shot from a large-caliber self-propelled gun rang out. The air shook sharply. One and a half floors of the house, along with the enemy anti-tank gun and its servants, collapsed to the ground. And in our location, from the powerful air wave of the shot, thick glass in the houses located next to the self-propelled gun burst with a bang. Their heavy fragments rained down on the heads of the “spectators”; as a result, the arms and backs of ten people were wounded, and the collarbones of two were broken. Fortunately, the tankers were wearing helmets, the paratroopers were wearing helmets, and their heads remained intact!

There is an opinion that the ISU-152, based on the realities of its use (in fact, very often, like other Soviet self-propelled guns, it fought in the formation of advancing infantry, that is, it performed the tasks of tanks), can be classified as a heavy turretless tank.

ISU-152 as a tank destroyer

The ISU-152 could also successfully act as a tank destroyer, although it was significantly inferior to specialized tank destroyers that were armed with anti-tank guns. In this capacity, she inherited the nickname “St. John’s Wort” from her predecessor SU-152. The BR-540 armor-piercing projectile weighing 48.9 kg with a muzzle velocity of 600 m/s was intended to destroy armored targets; the BR-540 hitting the target was very destructive, the chance of surviving after it was negligible.

It is pertinent to note that the ISU-152 was not a true tank destroyer; it had a low rate of fire compared to "real" tank destroyers such as the German Jagdpanther or the domestic SU-100 (their rate of fire reached 5-8 rounds per minute, albeit for a short period of time). On the other hand, careful camouflage, quick changes of firing positions and the use of ISU-152 in groups of 4-5 vehicles significantly mitigated the lack of rate of fire. In addition, in 1944-1945. a sufficient number of specialized tank destroyers of the SU-85, SU-100 and ISU-122 types had already appeared in the Red Army, so combat clashes between the ISU-152 and enemy armored vehicles were no longer as frequent as those of the SU-152 in 1943, when the latter was the only one Soviet powerful anti-tank weapon. They tried to use the ISU-152 more as an assault weapon, since its firepower was significantly superior to any other Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns.

Another quote from the memoirs of D. F. Loza:

The current situation must be reversed immediately, and, thank God, I had an effective means in my hands - self-propelled guns. We discussed the action plan in detail with the battery commander, Senior Lieutenant Yakov Petrukhin. It was agreed that the installations, using the range and firepower of their 152-mm guns, would first knock out the advancing Panthers, and then finish off those previously knocked out. I paid special attention to the battery commander to the secrecy of self-propelled guns entering firing positions, which the Sherman crews would cover, firing mainly to distract the German tankers. Yakov Petrukhin chose two very convenient places for shooting, where stone fences protected the hulls of the vehicles from enemy armor-piercing shells. On our side, the fire intensified along the entire eastern line. “Emchists” tried to prevent the Nazis from entering the central square, locking them in the streets adjacent to it, and also to cover the exit of self-propelled guns to firing positions. How slowly time passes when in a battle with the enemy you are waiting for the decisive moment that can turn the tide of the battle. Here it is, the long-awaited moment! Two thunderous shots hit the eardrums, breaking the glass in the windows of nearby houses. The “second Viennese spectacle” turned out to be no less impressive... On one of the “Panthers”, which had almost crawled into the square, the tower was demolished by the impact of a large-caliber concrete-piercing shell. The second heavy tank burst into flames. And the ISU-152 immediately left their positions. The German tanks hastily began to retreat back, leaving the infantry without support, who immediately scattered through the courtyards and alleys.

The OF-540 high-explosive fragmentation projectile could also be used against tanks with good results. D. F. Loza briefly characterizes this possibility as follows: “But there was no huge roar. Of course, maybe, if such a monster as the ISU-152 crashes, you will hear it! And he will demolish the tower along with their heads.”

ISU-152 as a self-propelled howitzer

ISU-152 is very rare, but was used as self-propelled howitzers for indirect fire. The Red Army did not have specialized vehicles for this purpose, like the German Hummel, the American Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 or the English Sexton. Tank and mechanized units of the Red Army were well equipped with towed artillery, but towed guns were vulnerable on the march, and they could not support tanks and motorized infantry as they quickly advanced into enemy defenses. In this role, ISU-152s were also used for artillery preparations. The maximum firing range of the ISU-152 was about 13 km, despite the limited 20° gun elevation angle. However, the ability to fire from closed positions was severely limited by the low speed of loading shells. In addition, unlike the towed version of the ML-20 gun, which had an elevation angle of 65°, the ISU-152 could not fire along high-steep trajectories. This significantly reduced the scope of application of this vehicle as a self-propelled howitzer.

Indirect firing of the ISU-152 is also a subject of debate in military forums. According to the documents, two facts of such use of self-propelled guns have been reliably established; there is also a photograph of an ISU-152 firing from closed positions with ammunition placed next to the self-propelled gun. Several more pieces of evidence were found in memoir sources. It is likely that, in addition to these cases, this was practiced more than once, since front-line reports and photographic documents contain only part of the information about the combat use of vehicles. However, their small number indicates that the use of the ISU-152 as a self-propelled howitzer during the Great Patriotic War was a rare occurrence.

However, in the post-war period, aspects of the combat use of the ISU-152 began to shift from an assault gun towards a self-propelled howitzer. The new tanks of the T-55 and T-62 types, which became widespread, had higher tactical and operational speed so that heavy, slow-moving control systems could successfully accompany them on the offensive. The armor of the ISU-152 was no longer sufficient against new anti-tank weapons, and the new 100-mm and 115-mm guns of the T-55 and T-62 tanks had good high-explosive fragmentation projectile power against enemy field fortifications. In conditions of stagnation in the development of Soviet cannon self-propelled artillery, thanks to the rapid development of missile weapons, the ISU-152 was preserved as assault guns for urban battles and began to be used as self-propelled howitzers, where the requirements for security and operational mobility were not so critical.

Machine evaluation

In general, the ISU-152 was a fairly successful example of a universal heavy self-propelled artillery mount. Mentioned above in the section Combat use The features and long service of the vehicle in the Soviet army serve as additional confirmation of this.

The ISU-152's armor was quite adequate for the late stages of World War II. Frontal 90-mm armor plates, inclined at an angle of 30°, confidently protected the vehicle from the most common German 75-mm anti-tank gun Pak 40 at distances of over 800 m. The ISU-152 was easy to repair; Self-propelled guns often knocked out by the enemy were returned to service after a couple of days of repairs in the field. After eliminating the “childhood diseases” of the ISU-152 vehicle, it proved to be a very reliable and unpretentious self-propelled gun; it was easily mastered by untrained crews.

However, in addition to its advantages, the ISU-152 also had disadvantages. The largest of them was a small transportable ammunition load of 20 rounds. Moreover, loading new ammunition was a labor-intensive operation, sometimes taking more than 40 minutes. This was a consequence of the large mass of the projectiles; as a result, greater physical strength and endurance were required from the loader. The telescopic sight of the ST-10 was calibrated for firing at a distance of up to 900 m, while the gun allowed direct fire at a distance of over 3.5 km. Therefore, when accurately shooting at a distance of over 900 m, the gunner was forced to use a less convenient panoramic sight. Another way to solve this problem was to concentrate the fire of several self-propelled guns at the desired point. What it lacked in accuracy it made up for in firepower. A hit by a high-explosive fragmentation projectile in the close vicinity of a heavily armored target often disables it even without penetrating the armor (the gun, chassis, and sighting devices of the target were damaged by the blast wave and fragments). Firing powerful high-explosive fragmentation shells at armored targets was quite common, since 13 out of 20 rounds in the ammunition load were high-explosive fragmentation shells. The remaining 7 were concrete or armor-piercing.

The compact layout made it possible to reduce the overall size of the vehicle, which had a beneficial effect on its visibility on the battlefield. However, this same arrangement forced the placement of fuel tanks inside the fighting compartment. If they were breached, the crew had a high risk of being burned alive. However, this danger was somewhat reduced by the worse flammability of diesel fuel compared to gasoline and the presence of a tetrachlorine fire extinguisher. In front-line reports, it was often noted that vehicles on fire based on the heavy IS tank (including the ISU-152) could easily be extinguished.

It is very difficult to compare the ISU-152 with other self-propelled guns from different countries of that period due to the lack of analogues in terms of the combination of tactical use, the weight of the vehicle and its weapons. Only lightly armored self-propelled howitzers Hummel (Germany) and Gun Motor Carriage M12 (USA) based on medium tanks, which were neither anti-tank self-propelled guns nor assault guns, were equipped with a long-barreled gun of 150-155 mm caliber. In the 45-50 t weight category, there is only the German Jagdpanther tank destroyer, which was not also an assault gun. The German assault guns, which also performed anti-tank functions, the StuG III and StuG IV, were significantly lighter than the ISU-152 in terms of armament and weight, and were also weaker armored. The assault tank (actually self-propelled gun) StuPz IV “Brummbär” was also lighter in weight and equipped with a short-barreled 150 mm gun; its anti-tank capabilities were significantly limited. To some extent, the German Jagdtiger can be considered an analogue of the ISU-152, which also had a very powerful 128 mm cannon and extremely strong armor. On the other hand, the German self-propelled guns still had a pronounced anti-tank orientation; in addition, its mass was 1.7 times greater than that of the ISU-152. The armored vehicles of the Second World War of the USA and Great Britain did not have any production models of heavy self-propelled artillery units.

Organization

ISU-152, together with SU-152 and ISU-122, were used in separate heavy self-propelled artillery regiments (OTSAP). From May 1943 to 1945, 53 such units were formed.

Each OTSAP had 21 self-propelled guns consisting of 4 batteries of 5 vehicles each plus the regiment commander’s self-propelled guns. The regiment commander usually had the rank of colonel or lieutenant colonel, battery commanders - the rank of captain or senior lieutenant. Self-propelled gun commanders and driver mechanics, as a rule, were lieutenants or junior lieutenants. The remaining crew members were sergeants or privates according to the staff list. OTSAP usually had several unarmored support and support vehicles - trucks, jeeps or motorcycles.

Beginning in December 1944, Guards heavy self-propelled artillery brigades began to be formed to provide heavy fire support for tank armies. Their organization was borrowed from tank brigades, the number of vehicles in both cases was the same - 65 self-propelled guns or tanks, respectively.

For their valor during the liberation of Belarusian cities, 8 OTSAP were awarded their honorary names, and three more regiments were awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle.

Interesting facts about ISU-152

• The work of the loader for these self-propelled guns was very difficult - it was necessary to single-handedly carry shells weighing more than 40 kg in the cramped fighting compartment of the vehicle.
• On military-historical forums, there are frequent and very heated debates about torn off turrets (especially from the Tiger tank) after they were hit by shells from the ISU-152. In fact, the BR-540 armor-piercing projectile has sufficient kinetic energy and momentum to destroy the turret ring elements of a heavy tank and displace it several tens of centimeters from the axis of rotation. In this sense, the term “failure” is quite legitimate. The collapse of towers several meters upward and to the side, widely shown in cinema and computer games, can only be a consequence of the detonation of ammunition in the fighting compartment, which, in principle, can result from a strong blow to the tank’s hull. No documents have yet been found on reliable cases of combat clashes between the ISU-152 and the Tigers (unlike the Panthers), only mentions are known in memoirs. This is the reason for the fierce disputes mentioned above, especially since those arguing do not always distinguish between shelling of “Tigers” from ISU-152 or towed ML-20 guns.
• Soviet and foreign publications about the ISU-152 often cited deliberately false facts, caused either by confusion with the SU-152, or by the authors’ desire to show that in 1943 the USSR had an adequate response to the “Tiger”.

Where can you see

Many ISU-152 survived the Great Patriotic War and became museum exhibits or self-propelled guns-monuments. ISU-152 is present in the exhibitions:

• Armored Museum in Kubinka
• Kazakhstan. Kostanay region, Kostanay. Recovery train.
• Park and memorial complex "Victory Park" in Saratov
• Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps in St. Petersburg
• Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow
• in the exhibition of the Panorama Museum “Battle of Stalingrad” in Volgograd
• Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kyiv
• Museum of Military Glory in Gomel.
• Kyiv Motorcycle Plant, well-preserved example.
• in the Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol on Sapun Mountain in Sevastopol (the Sevastopol exhibit was made in 1943-1950)
• in the Museum of Military Glory of Omsk in Omsk,
• in the museum of military equipment in Verkhnyaya Pyshma (Sverdlovsk region)
• In Brest, Belarus, the Brest Fortress memorial
• In Kostopil (Rivne region)
• In Kazan Victory Park
• Isu-152M can be seen in Nakhabino at the SPUR training ground, the state of preservation is average
• in Perm, Museum of OJSC "Motovilikha Plants"

Self-propelled guns-monuments ISU-152 are located in many cities of the CIS and military units of the Russian army:

• on a pedestal in the city of Kremenchug, Poltava region
• on a pedestal in the town of Kozelets, Chernihiv region
• on a pedestal in the city of Novosibirsk on the Monument of Glory
• on a pedestal in the city of Priozersk, Leningrad Region, in the Korela Fortress Museum
• on a pedestal in the city of Perm, Dzerzhinsky district
• on a pedestal at the Kursk Bulge Memorial Complex in the city of Kursk
• in the village of Prosti, Nizhnekamsk region of the Republic of Tatarstan
• in the village of Dolgoderevenskoye, Sosnovsky district, Chelyabinsk region
• in the city of Kurchatov, Kursk region
• in the village of Soskovo, Oryol region
• on the pedestal of the monument in honor of the feat of the crew of Hero of the Soviet Union Pyotr Alekseevich Kozlov in the village of Pukhovo, Liskinsky district, Voronezh region
• in r.p. Sargatskoye, Omsk region.
• memorial on Mount Kremenets in Izyum, Kharkov region
• The city of Zolochev in the Kharkov region is a monument to soldiers and officers of the 5th Guards Tank Army of General Rotmistrov
• City of Ekaterinburg, Kirovsky district, MZhK microdistrict, in one of the courtyards
• City of Kazan, Victory Park (instead of ISU-152 it is written SU-152).
• The city of Krasnoarmeysk, Moscow region, memorial of military glory.
• City of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region, Volzhskaya embankment.
• Tchaikovsky city, Ural Tankmen Square
• City of Tolyatti, Samara region, Victory Park.
• Ulyanovsk city, Victory Park.
• The city of Korosten, Zhytomyr region.
• City of Irbit, Sverdlovsk region.
• Chelyabinsk city, ChTZ Victory Garden.
• City of Syktyvkar, School No. 25.
• City of Makushino, Kurgan region, City Garden.
• Voronezh city, Diorama Museum.
• The village of Safonovo, Murmansk region, Museum of the Northern Fleet. About 10 units are rusting, there are examples with a 122 mm gun
• Svente village, (Daugavpils region, Latvia). Located in a private museum.
• Tambov city - Pekhotka district, on a pedestal at the checkpoint of military unit 64493

Outside the countries of the former USSR, ISU-152 is presented in museums in Poland, Finland and Israel.

• The city of Yampol, Vinnytsia region.
• Talnoe city, Cherkasy region. Ukraine
• Israeli Tank Forces Museum in Latrun

ISU-152 in computer games

The ISU-152 appears in a fairly large number of computer games of various genres - in simulators of armored vehicles and aircraft (as a target), in real-time strategies and even in turn-based strategies:

• war game "World War II";
• turn-based strategy "Panzer General III";
• real-time strategy "Blitzkrieg";
• real-time strategy “Behind Enemy Lines”;
• real-time strategy "Stalingrad";
• real-time strategy "Order of War";
• real-time strategy "Rush for Berlin"
• real-time strategy "Rush for the bomb"
• real time strategy "Sudden Strike 2"
• real-time strategy "Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory";
• MMO game "World of Tanks".
• game for Playstation “Panzer front”
• the game Close Combat III: The Russian Front and its remake Close Combat: Cross of Iron
• military game "Call of Duty" (in online game mode);

The reflection of the tactical and technical characteristics of armored vehicles and the features of their use in battle in many computer games is far from reality.

Models ISU-152

Scale copies of the ISU-152 are produced by a number of model manufacturing companies. However, in many regions of Russia, practically the only available option is a plastic prefabricated model of the ISU-152 from Zvezda on a scale of 1:35. The Isu-152 model with a cast nose is produced by the Dragon company, the model is orders of magnitude better than the Zvezda, however, it is outdated (produced in the 90s). Tamiya has released the ISU-152 model with a cast nose, this model is the best of all at the moment. The Zvezda model is made extremely inaccurately and requires significant effort and expense to bring it to a replica state. In 2007 (No. 77), M-hobby magazine published drawings of the Isu-152 K by Viktor Malginov. Drawings for self-construction of the model were repeatedly published in the magazine “Modelist-Constructor”.

POWERFUL SELF-PROPELLED UNIT ISU-152 (SU-152)

SELF-PROPELLED UNIT ISU-152 (SU-152) NAMED

SELF-PROPELLED UNIT ISU-152 (SU-152) CALLED

Introduction

When I was preparing an article about my beloved, it suddenly turned out that almost everyone was interested ONLY in the ISU-152 (SU-152). Moreover, the requests are not technical, but emotional - tell me about the POWERFUL self-propelled gun. And be sure to voice the legend about the fact that the soldiers called her ST. At the very beginning of the article, examples of such requests are given.
At first I was surprised, but then I realized that these were apparently apologists for a very popular game in which tanks stupidly fight tanks.
For those who are not aware of the basics of tactics, I will tell you. Air combat is normal - some fly to bomb, others destroy them. Even a fighter-to-fighter fight is normal - the more we shoot down strangers now (and not so much planes as pilots), the calmer our bombers will be in the future.
But if there was a battle between tanks, then one hundred percent that at least one of the commanders is a fool who does not understand tactics. Why? Read the articles - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DARK GERMAN GENIUS AFTER THE WINTER OF '41? and T-44 THE BEST TANK OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

Well, as for fans of one tank game, they exclusively love everything very BIG AND POWERFUL, and therefore they search for an exceptionally POWERFUL self-propelled gun SU-152 (SU-152), forgetting to indicate that it was not only self-propelled but also ARTILLERY.

This is what they think something worthy of attention looks like.
It’s a shame that there are almost no requests for the SU-76 self-propelled artillery mount, although it had a more modern layout and was produced in the amount of twelve thousand versus six hundred SU-152 and one and a half thousand ISU-152. Well, what can you do, because she was not POWERFUL and was called not a St. John's wort but a bitch.
The most important thing is that many people confuse these two artillery installations. And this is not surprising. Both have the same weapons - a one hundred and fifty-two millimeter ML-20 howitzer cannon. These numbers are naturally included in the names of both self-propelled units. The conning tower of both self-propelled guns resembles an armored box. And the box is also a box in Africa.
Well, let's not talk about sad things. Let's just look at the design of the ISU-152 (SU-152) self-propelled gun and try to determine who has a better chance with a tiger or a hunter.

Design of self-propelled gun ISU-152 and (SU-152)

I read the articles in the top ten. The authors have a mess in their heads. One mixed the description of the SU-152 and the modern AKATSIA howitzer, at the same time giving it a rotating turret and an electric gun drive and a wedge breech instead of a piston one. Another, his article on photographs, voiced a legend that goes something like this. The self-propelled gun was created on the basis of the KV tank in the spring of forty-three. She defeated everyone on the Kursk Bulge. And of course about the flying towers of panthers and tigers. Below I will explain why this is not possible in principle. The author also confused the effective range of a telescopic optical SIGHT with the DIRECT SHOT range of a gun and announced fantastic figures exceeding three kilometers.
Unfortunately, he is not the only one. Now every day on TV they talk about how Bandera’s supporters are DIRECTLY firing at Donetsk, Lugansk, and further down the list, using MORMORS. In general, for those who are not at all literate, I’ll explain - A DIRECT FIRE SHOT is when the trajectory of the projectile does not EXCEED THE HEIGHT OF THE TARGET.

A mortar, by definition, cannot fire direct fire, because any trajectory it has exceeds the height of the target.
And the distance of a direct shot also depends on the height of the target. If the person in the bottom photo gets down on all fours, the direct shot distance will be reduced from six hundred to three hundred meters. When referring to the direct firing range for tank guns, the target height is usually taken to be two meters.

Let's clarify. By the summer of '43, literally several SU-152s based on the KV tank were produced, and they may have participated in the Battle of Kursk. Then they stopped producing the KV tank, replacing it with a tank from the Joseph Stalin series. Accordingly, the history of the SU-152 self-propelled artillery mount ended there. By this time, just over six hundred of them had been produced. Much later, the same gun and almost the same conning tower were installed on the new chassis of the IS-2 tank, and legally the new self-propelled gun should be called ISU-152. But few people know these details and the name ISU-152 did not stick. Hence the confusion in the heads of many authors.

The ISU-152 self-propelled gun has a simple box-shaped body. The IS-2 tank is used as a basis. The tank had a modern chassis with torsion bar suspension and an engine from a T-34, supposedly an uprated one.

Accordingly, all this was inherited by the ISU-152 self-propelled artillery mount.
The layout of the self-propelled gun was the most primitive - a stationary wheelhouse with a cannon was simply placed on the tank's hull. Moreover, the conning tower was located in the front part of the hull. The designers had before their eyes both German samples and their own developments with a more rational layout. But there was neither time nor opportunity to produce a self-propelled gun of a different configuration.

The photographs show that our designers had an idea of ​​rational layouts. In both cases, the fixed conning tower is located at the rear of the hull.
The weapon chosen was powerful enough to destroy field fortifications. The tiger was the last thing on our minds. What is my belief based on? There was simply a special anti-tank version with a powerful 122 mm gun, but it was not put into production. Apparently at the end of the war the tigers didn’t bother us much.

Anti-tank version of a self-propelled gun based on the IS-2 tank. True, there were cases when, instead of an ML-20 howitzer, a one hundred and twenty-two millimeter caliber gun was installed, but this happened because the ML-20 barrels were sorely lacking.

The barrel with a primitive shel muzzle brake and an equally primitive piston bolt was taken from the ML-20 long-range howitzer

This is an outstanding gun, its barrel was used on many post-war systems.

The D-20 cannon and the AKATSIA self-propelled howitzer have an ancient barrel from the ML-20. The history of this barrel can be read in the article THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GUN.

The bolt with recoil devices occupied most of the fighting compartment. The heavy projectile and primitive piston bolt did not allow more than two aimed shots per minute. The barrel could deviate twelve degrees in both directions horizontally and eighteen degrees up and five down. This limited the firing range to six kilometers; the ML-20 howitzer, without such restrictions on vertical aiming, fired at eighteen kilometers. The ammunition load was only twenty shells.

Combat use of the ISU-152 self-propelled gun

I don’t know whether SU-152 self-propelled guns met tigers on the Kursk Bulge, there were very few of them.
Subsequently, the ISU-152 and SU-152 self-propelled guns were mainly used against field fortifications. There were cases of its use in battles in the city. True, in the city, along with the ISU-152, there was always an infantry assault group that tried to protect the combat vehicle from grenade launchers. The main advantage of the self-propelled gun was its powerful projectile, which could bring down half a house or make a passage through the rubble blocking the street.
But what about the tiger towers flying through the air and blocking the sun? The self-propelled gun appeared at the front in the summer of 1944, when massive tank battles were a thing of the past and encounters with tigers were the exception rather than the rule. But of course there were meetings, what chances of victory did the opposing sides have?

St. John's wort vs tiger

First, let's go over the terms. The real firing distance is the distance at which the hit was meaningful and not accidental. For that time it was approximately one thousand eight hundred meters.
So, at real fire range, the tiger’s cannon easily penetrated the sixty-millimeter armor of the SU-152. The self-propelled gun penetrated the tiger's one hundred millimeter frontal armor even more easily. So both the tiger and the St. John's wort were completely naked to each other. The main thing was to get there first. But here the tiger had a HUGE advantage. First of all, the sight. Zeiss still surpasses the sights of the VOLOGDA OPTICAL PLANT, but there is nothing to say about those times. I read about the moral torment of the commander St. John's wort who knocked out several tanks from a distance of two kilometers, and then drove for a whole kilometer and thought that he would be rewarded or shot. The poor quality of the optics did not allow him to identify the panthers he shot down or the T-34.
Both guns had a muzzle brake that directed the powder gases to the sides and made it difficult to observe the tracer of an armor-piercing projectile. Our muzzle brake still managed to throw dirt from the ground onto the optical sight. The caliber and power of the gun had an impact here. When shooting in the city at a distance of fifty meters from the muzzle brake, all the window glass was guaranteed to fly out.
The second point is the rate of fire - two shots from St. John's wort versus at least six aimed shots from a tiger. It's even worse at close range. The ISU-152 self-propelled gun had a low initial projectile velocity and, accordingly, a short direct shot range. Many articles indicate a direct fire range of 3800 meters, but this is due to illiteracy. This refers to the range at which the TELESCOPIC SIGHT allowed you to shoot. And direct fire assumes that the trajectory of the projectile does not exceed the target height. For long-range shooting, the HERTZ PANORAMA was used.
True, sometimes it helped. The tiger crew tried to block the forest road and violated the main rule of defense - you cannot take up defensive positions along the border of the forest, since the forest is an excellent reference point for artillery. Moreover, the tiger itself was placed with its stern against a pine tree. Our crew hid the self-propelled gun behind a tiny mound and fired at the trunk of a pine tree without seeing the enemy tank. Due to the steep trajectory of the projectile, the tiger was caught.
Well, the last thing - the tiger’s gun was in a rotating turret with a wonderful electric drive, ours has a gun facing straight forward. And the number of shells is ninety for the tiger and twenty for the ISU-152.
In general, if you take an open field, the St. John's wort had a chance against a tiger, but it was very small.

Why couldn't tiger towers fly over the battlefield?

Blame the damned laws of physics. If the turret does not fly off when fired from a tank, then the turret should not fly off when hit by a shell. It may be objected to me that the ISU-152 self-propelled gun did not have a turret and the gun was very powerful.

Here in the photo is a modern self-propelled artillery mount. Moreover, for the purity of the experiment, it was made on the basis of a tank. The gun is twice as powerful as that of the ISU-152 with the same caliber. The tower has virtually no armor. That is, by definition it is lighter than a tiger tower. And when fired, it doesn’t fly anywhere. Why should the tower fly away when hit by a shell? If I haven’t convinced you, then try to knock out the window frame yourself by hitting the glass with a hammer. The example is, of course, a little exaggerated, but it illustrates the physical meaning of the phenomenon.
But what about the numerous photographs of torn tank turrets, you ask? The towers simply fall off after the ammunition explodes.