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'122 mm gun M1931/37 (A-19)' ('') was a Soviet field gun developed in early 1930s. The gun was used in the World War II and remained in service for a long time after the end of the war. The A-19 and its derivative 'D-25' were also used as vehicle-mounted guns.

Contents

Development history

Organization and employment

Variants

Ammunition data

References and external links

Development history

The A-19 was developed in 1928-31 by the ''All-Union Ordnance Trust'' team, led by S. P. Shukalov. The gun was adopted by the Red Army on 13 March 1936. Unlike earlier ordnance pieces used by the Red Army, it had split trail carriage with suspension, and consequently improved mobility and traverse. Additionally, the gun had greater range than its contemporaries.
In 1937 the weapon had its first notable upgrade at the Motovilikha Plants, under F. F. Petrov. The barrel was placed on the carriage of a 152-mm howitzer-gun ML-20 (52-L-504A), which resulted in improved mobility and elevation. Because of good elevation, in contemporary documents the gun was often referred to as gun-howitzer. The improved gun was still referred to as A-19.
The A-19 remained in production until 1946, with 2,926 guns eventually made.

Organization and employment

The A-19 was initially intended for corps artillery. Together with the 152-mm ML-20 it was to form the so called "corps duplex". However in the Great Patriotic War it was typically used by army-level artillery regiments, although some memoirs mention it used as a corps-level gun. From 1944 corps-level artillery regiments were receiving more mobile 100-mm BS-3, and the more powerful - and heavier - A-19 conclusively became an army-level piece.
The gun was also used by artillery brigades and regiments of the Reserve of the Main command.
The A-19 was primarily used for indirect fire against enemy personnel, fortifications and key objects in the near rear. It first proved its worth during the Winter War against Finland, where it was used by Main Command artillery units. Its great range allowed it to destroy Finnish artillery and fortifications and cause general disruptions while remaining safely out of reach of retaliation.
When World War II began, the Soviets soon found that the A-19 also usefull at destroying German tanks. The performance with anti-armor munitions however was poor compared to other guns. To be able to kill a King Tiger or Panther it had to be within 200m and 1500m respectively.
It is said that an A-19 was the first gun fired at the start of the Battle of Berlin .

Variants

★ 'D-25' - In 1943 a tank gun based on the A-19 was developed for the new Iosif Stalin tank, in particular because the existing 85 mm tank gun utilized in the early prototypes was deemed insufficient; the resulting prototype was the ''IS-122''. During initial testing it proved able to destroy a German Tiger at a range of a kilometer and a half. There were, however, safety concerns as the muzzle brake on the gun exploded, nearly killing the attending Marshal Kliment Voroshilov. The fact caused some initial resistance to the adoption of the gun, but Stalin supported the decision to arm the tank named after him with a 122 mm gun. The gun was redesigned to address the safety issue and the resulting weapon was named 'D-25'.

★
★ 'D-25T' - tank gun variant (''T'' stands for for ''tankovaya'', ‘tank’ adj.) . In the last days of November 1943, Fyodor Petrov's artillery design team tried the D-25 122mm corps gun on a mounting used for the D-5T 85mm tank gun against a captured German Panther tank. Tests took place in the Kubinka proving grounds (about 60 km west of Moscow). Firing from a distance of 1500 m, the round pierced the front glacis, made its way through the engine block and penetrated the rear plate too. After the overwhelming success of this trial, necessary adaptations were made during the following weeks, and the model was accepted as the D-25T on 31 December 1943. Production started immediately, to equip the IS-2 tank.

★
★ 'D-25S' - variant for use in late production ISU-122 self-propelled gun (''S'' for ''samokhodnaya'', ‘self-propelled’). The variant of ISU-122 armed with this gun was designated ''ISU-122S''.

★ 'A-19S' - Slightly modified variant of A-19 for use in ISU-122 self-propelled gun.

★ '152 H 88-31' - A Finnish modernization, involving the upgrading of the caliber to 152 mm.

Ammunition data

★ Ammunition:

★
★ HE/Fragmentation short: OF-471N

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★ HE/Fragmentation long: OF-471

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★ HE/Fragmentation: OF-462

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★ Fragmentation: O-530A

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★ AP: BR-471

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★ APBC: BR-471B

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★ Anti-concrete: G-471

★ Muzzle velocity, m/s

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★ HE/Fragmentation: 800

★
★ AP: 780–790

★ Projectile weight, kg

★
★ HE/Fragmentation: 25

★
★ AP: 25

★ Armor penetration at 1000 m at 30 degrees, BR-471: more than 150 mm

References and external links

★ Shunkov V. N. - ''The Weapons of the Red Army'', Mn. Harvest, 1999 (Шунков В. Н. - ''Оружие Красной Армии.'' — Мн.: Харвест, 1999.) ISBN 985-433-469-4

★ Zaloga, S - "IS-2 Heavy Tank 1944-73", Osprey, 1994 ISBN 1-85532-396-6

★ The tank master (photo gallery)

★ Another photo gallery