Brief Operational History

During the late 1920's the Soviets felt that they would need a light tank with the ability to cross small rivers in order to pursue a fleeing enemy or conduct reconnaissance.  They took their lead from the British who had been developing a light amphibious tank known as the Vickers Carden-Lloyd A4E11.  The Soviets bought several examples in 1929 and began work on designs of their own.

The first two Soviet amphibious tanks were built by a design team headed by N. A. Astarov at Zavod 47 near Moscow.  They were designated T-33 and T-41.  The T-33 was almost identical to the A4E11 in that it weighed about the same and had a two man crew.  The T-41 was slightly larger than the T-33 and had better buoyancy.  Neither tank performed well during trials.  The Carden-Lloyd suspension suffered from numerous problems, and the T-41's waterproofing was found to be lacking.  Neither of the two tanks were accepted for mass production.

A complete redesign would be needed before the tank could enter service.  The suspension system was completely changed to a modified Horstmann spring system.  A boat propeller with adjustable blades and an improved drive system was added to give it better water maneuverability.  Its engine, gearbox, and transmission were taken from the GAZ-AA truck so maintenance was easier.  Balsa wood floats over the tracks were added to improve buoyancy.  The hull was strengthened and the drive system for the propeller was improved.  The finished design was quite unusual, with the gunners machine gun turret on the right side of the vehicle and the driver on the left.

The new design was sent to the proving ground in 1933 to test its durability.  For eleven days a group of seven T-37's traveled over 700 miles overland and 600 miles across water.  It was accepted for series production on 11 August of that year.  It seemed as though the T-37 was destined to see service with the Red Army, but while the tank was still in trials a group of engineers under N. N. Kozyrev felt that the vehicle could be further improved.  The army decided to go with his recommendation and stopped production of the T-37 before it entered service.  Kozyrev's modified design was designated the T-37, although this was later changed back to T-37.  Production of the vehicle began in late 1933.

Like many Soviet projects of the era, the T-37 underwent many modifications during its production run.  Die-formed armor was added along with a commander's cupola.  In 1935 the hull of the tank was welded instead of being riveted in a bid to improve its waterproofing.  By 1936 the armored skirting filled with balsa wood was removed on the final variants.

Command versions of the tank were also made for platoon and company commanders.  These were designated T-37TU and were equipped with radio sets.  They could easily be identified by the characteristic hand-rail antennae around the hull.

During the 1935 the Soviets began a series of bold experiments involving the T-37 tanks.  The first of these involved the successful transporting the tank by fitting it underneath TB-1 and TB-3 bombers.  Other T-37's were used in early attempts to create a self propelled gun.  These T-37's were fitted with a centerline 37mm 1931 anti-tank gun and a DT machine gun mounted to the left of the main gun.  This design never progressed past the testing stages.

There were even attempts to use the tank in coastal amphibious landing operations.  During these exercises the T-37's were lowered into the water from ships, then moved towards the beach.  The tank was only marginally successful in this role as it was only designed to cope with inland waterways.

The T-37 had a relatively short operational life.  Around 1200 of these vehicles were completed before production ended in 1936 when it was replaced by the T-38 light amphibious tanks.  They were used against Finland during the Winter War, but were no match for the anti-tank guns of the period.  The tanks were also used in the 1940 occupation of Bessarabia when they were transported to the region by TB-1 and TB-3 bombers.  The Great Patriotic War marked the end of the tank's career.  During the war the T-37 served with armored, cavalry, and mechanized units in the Red Army until 1942.  

Tactical Use and Limitations

The T-37 light amphibious tank was designed to enable the Red Army to pursue a fleeing enemy across water obstacles and prevent them from taking up a defensive position there.  The tank was also to be used in the reconnaissance role.  It had a number of features that made it well suited to its task.  It had a reasonable ground speed and good speed in the water as well.  Its propeller was also able to reverse if the tank got into trouble.

Unfortunately the armor was very light.  It provided protection from bullets and shell fragments, but not from enemy anti-tank guns.  Its machine gun was also two light to affect anything other than infantry.   The gasoline engine was also prone to catch fire if damaged in combat.  By the time of the Great Patriotic War the tank was no longer able to compete with front line armor of any sort..

Deployment Chronology

The T-37 was the first of a long line of Soviet light tanks.  In this section you can see what vehicles the T-37 light amphibious tank replaced and what tank eventually replaced it.  You will be able to find more about each vehicle if we have them on our site by clicking on the links below.

Sources Cited

Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you.  We hope you can find them as useful as we have.

• Russian Tanks of World War II - Stalin's Armored Might, by Tim Bean and Will Fowler, published by MBI Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN, 2002

• The Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World, by David Miller, published by MBI Publishing Company, 2001

• Russian Tanks and Armored Vehicles 1917-1945, by Wolfgang Fleischer, published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1999

• The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, edited by Chris Bishop, published by Barnes and Noble Inc., 1998