Stalingrad Tractor Plant and T-34 Monument

[Woolgar]

The factory was designed by American Architect Albert Kahn
Once the contract was agreed, design and construction of the plant proceeded without delay, and the entire facility was installed within a period of six months under the supervision of American engineers. The steel structures were manufactured in New York by the McClintic-Marshall Company, and then transported to Stalingrad for field assembly. The huge flow of cargo was shipped via the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and Black Sea, then along the Volga river and over land to the place of construction. The plant was kitted out with equipment from more than eighty US engineering companies and several German firms.

Tank production began in 1932 with the launch of the T-26 light infantry tank, which was easy to manufacture and operate, and considered to be more reliable than foreign equivalents. In 1939, the first automated machine tool line in the USSR was designed and commissioned at the Volgograd Tractor Plant on the initiative of I. P. Inochkina, a design engineer who worked at the plant for 35 years. By the end of the 1940s, dozens of such lines were in operation at bearing and automotive plants.

By the time war broke out in September 1939, the tractor plant had produced a quarter of a million standard tractors as well as 40,000 tracked versions. During World War II, the plant was retooled to produce military equipment and weapons for the Soviet Red Army, most notably the T-34 tank. The plant became world-famous during the Battle of Stalingrad. When the German Wehrmacht reached the city in the summer of 1942, the tractor plant was their first target, and it was largely destroyed during the fierce fighting that ensued over the next few months. Once the hostilities had ended with the final victory in February 1943, the site was cleared of shells and debris so that restoration work could begin immediately. Full-scale production resumed at the plant within months of the city being liberated.

[The Devil's Bank]

Very interesting my friend.

[AZPhil]

Thanks Woolgar,
I like the Then and Now pic's. I also appreciate the history lesson behind it!!
Good Deal and Great Pic's

Semper Fi
Phil

[TWS]

Nice write up and +1 on a love for before and after photos. Thanks for posting.

I regret to report that when I toured Volgograd we merely drove past the gates slowly but I had my face pressed to the window glass like a little kid.