The T-54 tanks of the liberation army were equipped with 100mm rifled guns capable of destroying all the best armored equipment the US provided to the Republic of Vietnam.
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| The image of tanks passing through the gates of the Independence Palace - where the headquarters of the Republic of Vietnam government was located - has gone down in the history of Vietnam's war of national liberation. These were also the tanks that smashed many fortified enemy lines on the way to liberate Saigon. Photo source: TL |
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| About 200 tanks were mobilized by the Vietnam People's Army for the campaign to liberate the South and unify the country. Of these, the T-54s played the role of the "backbone" of the entire tank force participating in the historic campaign, completely unifying the country after 21 painful years of division between the North and the South. Photo: Dai Duong |
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| Photo of T-54B tank numbered 843 in the Independence Palace yard on April 30. Tank 390 that crashed into the Independence Palace gate was a Chinese-made T59, but the T59 was basically built entirely on the basis of the T-54. If you put two T-54 and T59 tanks next to each other, it would be difficult to tell them apart because they look like “two drops of water”. Photo source: Youtube |
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| The Vietnam People's Army received the first T-54 tanks from the Soviet Union on February 29, 1962, including 11. In the following years, we received dozens more. On June 22, 1965, the 203rd Tank Regiment was established, mainly equipped with T-54 tanks. This was the most modern tank of the Vietnam People's Army during the resistance war against the US. Photo source: TTG Corps BTL |
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| The T-54 is a legendary tank in the history of world tanks. It was officially born in 1946 and was continuously improved until 1966 in the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia. It is estimated that nearly 40,000 T-54s of many variants were produced. Photo source: TTG Corps BTL |
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| By 1950s standards, the T-54 was “a superb tank with deadly firepower, excellent armor protection, and good reliability." In addition, it was smaller and lighter than contemporary NATO tanks such as the M48 Patton and Centurion. The 100mm D-10T tank gun was also more powerful than Western guns. Photo source: TTG Corps BTL |
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| The T-54 tank is equipped with a 100mm D-10T main gun or D-10T2S with the STP-2 Tsyklon stabilization system on the T-54B version, which is considered stronger than the 90mm barrel of the M48 Patton and the 76.2mm barrel of the M41 Bulldog equipped in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The D-10T gun is capable of penetrating the armor of M48 and M41 tanks. Photo: Dai Duong |
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| This type of artillery has a maximum range of 14.6km or 16km, an effective straight range of 1,000m, and a muzzle velocity of 1,000m/s. Photo source: Wiki |
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| The tank system at that time did not have a modern fire control system, but mainly optical equipment to support gunners' aiming. However, that was enough because the enemy tanks were not much more modern. Photo source: Wiki |
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| The reserve ammunition is up to 43 rounds, reload speed is 6-7 rounds/minute with a skilled, experienced and healthy gunner crew. Photo source: Wiki |
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| The main gun can fire many types of ammunition including: UOF-412 high explosive fragmentation shells; UBR-412 and UBR-412D armor-piercing shells; 3BUK4 anti-tank hollow-point shells and 3UBM6 under-barrel-piercing shells (capable of penetrating 260mm of armor at a distance of 1,000m). The T-54 tank is capable of destroying solid fortifications such as bunkers, trenches, and destroying all tanks and armored vehicles of the Republic of Vietnam... Photo: Dai Duong |
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| Secondary firepower includes a 7.62mm PKT machine gun coaxial with the main gun… Photo source: Wiki |
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| …and a 12.7mm DShK machine gun on the turret roof that can be used for air defense when needed. Photo:Dai Duong |
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| The armor protection is quite good with the front of the hull being 100mm thick, the front of the turret being 205mm thick; the sides of the hull being 80mm thick, the sides of the turret being 130mm thick; the rear of the hull being 60mm thick, the rear of the turret being 60mm thick; the top of the hull being 33-16mm thick, the turret being 30mm thick. Photo source: Wargaming |
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| The T-54 has good mobility with a 500 horsepower diesel engine for a speed of 45-55km/h, and can wade through water 5m deep with support equipment that needs 30 minutes of preparation. Photo: Dai Duong |
According to Kienthuc
