Recovery of the STZ-5 Artillery Tractor

During the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army made extensive use of tracked agricultural tractors as artillery tractors, although specialised vehicles of this class were also produced. The most common was the high-speed STZ-5 artillery tractor, used to tow divisional artillery such as the 122 mm M-30 howitzer and the 152 mm M-10 howitzer. The STZ-5 was produced at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant from 1937 to 1942. Before fighting reached the city, the plant had built 9,944 vehicles, including 3,438 before the war. At the beginning of the war, the BM-13-16 Katyusha Guards rocket launcher was mounted on the STZ-5 chassis. The STZ-5 was similar in design to the mass-produced SKhTZ-NATI, the first mass-produced tractor designed entirely in the Soviet Union. Its four-cylinder 52 hp 1MA petrol engine gave the 5,800 kg tractor a maximum speed of 20–22 km/h, although this fell to 10–15 km/h when towing a gun along an unpaved road. When towing, the STZ-5 could negotiate gradients of up to 17 degrees. The engine could run on several fuels: it was started on petrol and then switched to the heavier kerosene or ligroin. When towing a gun, fuel consumption was 1.5–2.5 litres per kilometre. On each side, in addition to the drive sprocket and idler, the running gear comprised four rubber-tyred road wheels arranged in two spring-balanced bogies, and two return rollers. Only a handful of STZ-5 tractors that served throughout the Great Patriotic War have survived to the present day. This is despite the fact that the STZ-5 remained in demand for many years after the war, including in the civilian economy. Thanks to its parts compatibility with the STZ-3, these tractors continued to serve reliably in the country's economy into the 1950s.