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- In the case of equipment: a photo sniper, a front-line cinema camera and a commander's GAZ-67B
In the case of equipment: a photo sniper, a front-line cinema camera and a commander's GAZ-67B
The collection of the Polytechnic Museum preserves various monuments of science and technology from the time of the Great Patriotic War. Some of them can rightfully be called "participants and direct witnesses" of those stormy years. A movie camera used to create a military chronicle, a special device for remote photo reconnaissance, a GAZ-67B command vehicle, a radio station for bombers and a field telephone. Izvestia tells about several unique exhibits that reflect the era.
Polytechnic Museum during the War
In 1941, the Polytechnic Museum turned 69 years old. By that time, it had 12 departments. There were chemical, physical, electrical, optical laboratories, as well as an automotive cabinet. Field lectures and traveling exhibitions were held. The museum's staff consisted of 345 employees, and the total number of visitors reached 1 million per year.
After June 22, a 24-hour duty of the local air defense headquarters was organized at the museum. On June 23, 1941, the air defense headquarters began operating around the clock at the Polytechnic Museum. A shelter for 250 people was set up in the basement of the building. At the request of enterprises and institutions, objects were transferred from the museum's funds: radios, communications equipment. On October 29, an explosive wave from an aerial bomb that hit a neighboring building shattered windows, partially destroyed the roof and walls of some halls. Nine of the 12 exhibition departments were damaged.
But the Polytechnic continued to work. Training courses for radio operators, telephone operators, drivers, and translators were created here. And in January 1942, new exhibitions on physics and natural sciences were opened to help schoolchildren. Traveling exhibitions were launched in parks, clubs and cultural centers: "Rear and front", "Metal in the service of defense", "Electricity in the service of defense", "Fuel economy" and others.
Despite the difficulties of the war, the museum staff continued to give lectures and lead tours. In addition, they collected and donated to the funds those documents and objects that tell us about the Great Patriotic War today.
Konvas cinema camera
Modern people's perception of the war era is largely shaped by newsreel footage. About 260 cameramen worked on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. 17 film groups were formed on 17 fronts and fleets. In 1941, the documentary "The Defeat of the German troops near Moscow" was awarded the Stalin Prize of the first degree, and in 1943, after showing it in Britain and the United States, it won the Oscar. Front-line cameraman Dmitry Rymarev was sent to Sevastopol in July 1941, where he shot the film Chernomorets. His "weapon" was the Konvas film camera, created before the war at the Moscow Film Equipment Factory. The name came from the abbreviation "Designer Vasily Konstantinov". Dmitry Rymarev recalled that on July 20, he arrived at the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol with a new Konvas camera, which Vasily Konstantinov himself had given him.
"That phone had serial number six. Regular bombing missions against German positions were conducted from the long-range aviation base in Sevastopol. Dmitry Rymarev wanted to get on board to take pictures. However, he was refused, as in this case the plane would have been able to take fewer bombs. But they allowed the camera to be mounted on the bomber near the hatch, and the wire from it was carried into the cockpit of the navigator, who pressed the button during the bombing. This turned out to be a very good material, which was shown in Soyuzkinozhurnal literally two weeks later," said Tatyana Platonova, senior researcher at the Polytechnic Museum and curator of the film equipment collection.
During the next flight, the plane with this camera on board was overtaken by the Junkers... The museum has preserved an act stating that a movie camera and a stock of film for it were lost in battle.
Photosniper FS-3
Snipers are a special kind of photographic equipment designed for taking close—ups of remote objects. They differ from a conventional camera equipped with a telephoto lens by a special rifle or pistol-type butt on which the lens is mounted. To work as part of the photosniper, changes were made to the camera, including the possibility of interacting with the butt, so that the shutter could be released with a "weapon" trigger from the bottom of the camera.
The domestic Photosniper "photographic weapon" was developed in 1937 by the State Optical Institute (GOI), based on the already time-tested and well-proven rangefinder sensor.
— In August 1941, GOI was evacuated from Leningrad to Yoshkar-Ola. With the permission and with the support of the then director Dmitry Chekhmataev, energetic work began on the design and manufacture of a photographic reconnaissance device. Created approximately in 1943 for the Baltic Fleet, the FS-3 photosniper was designed for long-range reconnaissance missions and was equipped with a GOI lens with the same f/4.5 aperture, but with a focal length of 600 mm," said Olga Tikhomirova, senior researcher at the Polytechnic Museum.
All-terrain vehicle GAZ-67B
The GAZ-67B is one of the first domestic off—road passenger cars used for servicing medium command personnel in intelligence and communications services, as well as for towing light guns.
It was developed by the Gorky Automobile Plant Design Bureau. Work began in February 1941, and in March the prototype GAZ-64 was ready. However, the car was found to have a serious drawback — a narrow track width, which is why these cars often overturned. The modified version was named GAZ-67B. On September 23, 1943, the first such machine rolled off the assembly line.
— Cars were used in the last years of the Great Patriotic War and later during the Korean War. The GAZ-67B mainly served as a staff and reconnaissance vehicle, carrying infantry and wounded, but could also be used as a light artillery tractor. A total of 92,843 GAZ-67 and GAZ-67B units were produced by the end of production in 1953. In the Red Army, these machines were nicknamed "goat" or "goat," said Maxim Kartashev, a senior researcher at the Polytechnic Museum.
RSB-3BIS Aircraft radio Station
The RSB family of radio stations began to be produced in 1936. They were designed for bomber aircraft and provided reliable communication over long distances. In 1943, a new RSB-3BIS model appeared based on the RBS after a number of alterations. As a result of all the upgrades, this version has become 20 kg lighter than the base version — 36 versus 56 kg. We have improved the quality of telephone communication and reduced the power consumed by the radio station.
— RSB-3BIS type radio stations were used on Il-4, Pe-2, Pe-3, Er-2, Tu-2 bomber aircraft, as well as on the Li-2 military transport aircraft. The range of two-way communication with terrestrial radio stations, depending on the conditions, could vary from 350 to 2000 km in telegraphic mode and from 150 to 500 km in telephone mode. In the "receive" mode, the radio station consumed 55 watts, and in the "transmit" mode — 610 watts. The receiver was designed for continuous operation, and the transmitter in cyclic mode — work for five minutes — a break of ten minutes," said Roman Artemenko, senior researcher at the Polytechnic Museum.
TAU-FI-43 field telephone
The UNA field telephones are the first unified, standardized and most widespread domestic model that entered service with the Red Army back in 1928, but was also actively used during the war. UNA is a unified device. The letters "F" and "I" in the name meant the type of device — with a phonic (using an electric sound device — buzzer) or inductive (using a bell) call.
The UNA-F were designed for platoon–company level communications. Due to the low volume of the phonetic call, the operator had to be always on the alert — to hold the handset to his ear. UNA-I was used for communications at the "headquarters battalion" level and above. With the help of a simple dynamo (electromagnetic inductor), an alternating current was sent into the line, which activated a loud polarized electric bell - it was not necessary to hold the handset constantly to the ear. Inductor-operated devices were more convenient than phonic ones, but heavier, more complex, and more expensive to manufacture.
— TAU-PHI-43 is a hybrid phonoinductor call device, which was adopted in 1943. Compared to previous versions, the communication range has increased by 30%: up to 25 km when using a PTF field telephone cable and up to 200 km when using a permanent two-wire overhead line. The weight of the device with batteries is 7.6 kg," Roman Artemenko said.
To improve the quality of communication, the electrical circuits of the device were improved, a so-called anti-place circuit appeared, which reduced the speaker's own voice in the telephone capsule, thus helping to improve the intelligibility of the interlocutor's speech, the specialist added.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
