BM-13

BM-13 is a Soviet combat vehicle of rocket artillery, the most massive Soviet combat vehicle (CV) of this class during World War II. It is widely known under the nickname “Katyusha”. German soldiers called it the “Stalin’s organ” because of the special sound of shells issued by the rocket engine exhaust. The first experimental launchers of the BM-13 on the chassis of the ZIS-6 trucks were produced in June 1941 in a quantity of eight units – two in Voronezh, at the Kominern Plant, and six in Moscow at the NDI-3 of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, with one launcher sent to Sevastopol for testing. Therefore, seven installations were used to form the first experimental battery in the Moscow Military District (commander – Captain I. Flerov). Until April 1943, different chassis were used to mount the M-13-16 launchers (for sixteen 132-mm rocket shells M-13), including the ZIS-6 from July to October 15, 1941 (372, including a small number of BM-8-36), then on the chassis of the tracked artillery tractor STZ-5-NATI and the ZIS-5 truck. From the beginning of 1942, the launchers were mounted on American, British, and Canadian trucks delivered to the USSR under Lend-Lease: Studebaker US6 (USA), GMC CCRW 352 (USA), International M-5 “Inter” (International M-5H-6-318, USA), Ford-Marmon-Herrington NN6-COE4 (USA), Chevrolet G7107 / G7117 (USA), Dodge T203 (Dodge T-203B, Canada), Bedford OYD (UK), Ford WOT-8 “Fordson” (Canada – “Ford”), and the three-axle Austin K-6 (UK). From April 1943, the BM-13N modification appeared on the chassis of only Studebaker US6 trucks. The “N” index stands for normalized. Over the 4 years of the war, out of 3,374 automotive chassis used to mount the launchers of the guard rocket mortars, Studebakers US6 accounted for 1,845 units – 54.7%, ZIS-6 – 372 – 11%, and other 17 types of chassis – 115.