Selected information on a small fraction of the inventions from the Great Patriotic War era that helped forge Victory.
81 years separate us from May 9, 1945. The world has been transformed beyond recognition. New states have emerged, social relations have changed and thanks to the rapid advancement of science, engineering and technology people’s lives have improved. None of this would have been possible without the great Victory in the Great Patriotic War, to which the soviet people made decisive contribution: soldiers and marshals, scientists and engineers, workers and farmers, each of them had their own “front”. Victory in battle was also secured by the efforts of the home front, including the power of scientific and inventive thought. The superiority in technology and weaponry over the enemy, achieved by the end of the war, was made possible through the use of numerous innovations, rationalization proposals and invention.
During the Great Patriotic War, inventing became a mass movement among scientists, engineers and ordinary workers.
In the USSR alone more than 24000 patent applications were filed and approximately 7000 inventor’s certificates were issued between 1941 and 1945. You can see the online resource: https://www.fips.ru/9may.php.
We present a selection of information regarding a very small fraction of the inventions from the Great Patriotic War era that helped forge the Victory.
1. Incendiary bottle. The author N.S. Kudrin; USSR AC № 65096, application №7141 (309579) dated May 25,1942.
The bottle was designed for use against enemy tanks equipped with protective netting barriers that caused standard incendiary bottles to ricochet without breaking.
Source: https://www.fips.ru/registers-doc-view/fips_servlet?DB=RUPAT&DocNumber=65096&TypeFile=html.
2. Artillery shell. The author S.P. Volohonenko, USSR AC №65073, application №6221 (300196) dated May 23, 1941.
Upon firing, the projectile enabled the simultaneous cleaning, lubrication and subsequent wiping of the gun barrel bore, thereby preventing barrel erosion a factor that significantly shortened the weapon’s service life. The invention of this projectile design made it possible to extend the service life of the guns and increase the rate of fire during combat operations.
Source: https://www.fips.ru/registers-doc-view/fips_servlet?DB=RUPAT&DocNumber=65073&TypeFile=html.
3. Method for combating tanks, armored vehicles, pillboxes, etc. Author: Ya. G. Pevzner, USSR AC № 65047, application № 6520 (300150) dated July 19,1943.
The method involves either throwing frangible containers at tanks or firing thin shelled, non-combat projectiles at them these contain a sticky, viscous, clogging substance (such as special resins or certain plastics) that expands, penetrates the vision ports of armored vehicles or defensive structures, and hardens rapidly upon contact with air.
Essentially, this amounts to using modern construction foam for a different purpose.
Source: https://www.fips.ru/registers-doc-view/fips_servlet?DB=RUPAT&DocNumber=65047&TypeFile=html
4. Device for binding hand grenades into a cluster. Author: A.V. Lukyanov, USSR AC № 65313, application № 8187 (322549) dated May 2, 1943.
Source: https://www.fips.ru/registers-doc-view/fips_servlet?DB=RUPAT&DocNumber=65313&TypeFile=html
Welding several strips each featuring a hook and an eyelet for interlocking with corresponding elements on another grenade onto the grenade body during manufacture made it possible to link two, three or more grenades together. This invention replaced the previous practice of assembling grenade clusters using improvised materials (such as twine, string, or wire) and saved time when connecting hand grenades whether in advance or directly on the battlefield, where every second of delay could cost soldiers their lives.
5. High-explosive flamethrower. The author: V.S. Bogoslovsky, and D.S. Bogoslovsky, USSR AC №65314, application №7011 (309307) dated February 10, 1942.
A flamethrower has been proposed for use against armored vehicles and automotive, it activates automatically when a moving vehicle runs over an elastic reservoir containing combustible liquid that is buried in the ground. The reservoir is connected with help a tube to a hook-shaped nozzle positioned at a certain distance and oriented toward the advancing armored vehicles. When a tank or armored vehicle runs over the elastic reservoir, the latter is compressed, forcing a powerful, fan-shaped jet of combustible liquid through the tube and drenching the advancing vehicle from the front and above. Ignition of the sprayed combustible liquid is achieved in various ways: liquid landing on the muffler ignites spontaneously, a friction igniter from the Klyuev flamethrower system may be mounted at the end of the tube, a small reservoir containing a liquid (acid) that triggers an ignition reaction upon contact with the fuel is attached to the tube's discharge end or the self-igniting KS liquid is used. Provision is made for mounting tubes along the sides of the flamethrower to douse advancing vehicles from the flank. The flammable liquid reservoirs were to be arranged in a strip, spaced 0.8 meters apart. The inventors calculated that, given the low hydraulic resistance of the tubes, the discharge velocity of the flammable liquid could reach 20–40 m/s when the tank was moving at 18 km/h, with a tube diameter of 1 inch, this resulted in a 20 liters burst of liquid. This quantity was sufficient to incinerate a tank or armored vehicle, even if it was only partially struck by the stream of flammable liquid.
Source: https://www.fips.ru/registers-doc-view/fips_servlet?DB=RUPAT&DocNumber=65314&TypeFile=html
