Armoured train
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. Usually they are equipped with artillery and machine gun railroad cars.
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Design and equipment
Armoured trains can be made up from various types of railroad cars, including:
- Artillery - fielding mixture of guns and machine guns
- Infantry - designed to carry infantry units, may also mount machine guns.
- Machine gun - dedicated to machine guns
- Anti-air - equiped with anti-air guns
- Command - similar to infantry wagons, but designed to be a train command center
- Anti-tank - equipped with anti-tank guns, usually in a tank turret
- Platform - unarmoured, with purposes ranging from transport of ammunition or vehicles, through track repair to derailing protection
Different types of armour were used to protect from attack by tanks. In addition to various metal plates, cement and sand bags were used in some cases.
Armoured trains were sometimes escorted by a kind of rail-tank called a draisine.
History
Armoured trains saw use during in the 19th century in the American Civil War (1861?1865), the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the Boer Wars (1880-81 and 1899-1902), and the First (1914-1918) and Second World Wars (1939-1945). The most intensive use of armoured trains was during the Russian Civil War (1918-1920). There are also reports of a limited use of armoured trains in the Second Chechen War (1999-).
During the Boer War on 15 November 1899, Winston Churchill, then a war-correspondent, was travelling onboard an armoured train when it was ambushed by Boer commandos. Churchill and many of the train's garrison were captured, though many others escaped, including wounded placed on the train's engine.
After the First World War the usage of armored trains declined. Poland used them extensively and successfully during the Polish September Campaign, which in turn prompted Nazi Germany to reintroduce them into its own armies.
One armored train that remains in regular use is the private train of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, which the former received as a gift from the Soviet Union.
Tactics
The advantage of armoured trains is that they can be quickly moved across great distances (which was especially important in the extremely mobile Russian Civil War). They can also carry a large quantity of supplies (including ammunition and materials for track repairs).
The obvious disadvantage is that they are tied to rail tracks, and destroying tracks immobilizes them. They are also easy to spot and destroy from the air. Because of this, armoured trains have virtually disappeared since World War II.
List of armored trains
Armoured trains of different countries:
Poland: to be moved from Polish wiki
Russia: Zaamurets, Khunkhuz, General Annenkov.
External links:
- Polish armoured trains (http://derela.republika.pl/armtrain.htm)
- Railway Gun Museum (http://www.railwaygun.co.uk/)
- Russian armoured trains (http://www.tankmuseum.ru/train.html)
- "Panzerzüge (http://www.dampflokomotiven-dr.de/html/panzerzuege.html)". German language site with lots of photos.
Quotes
- "Poland had only few armoured trains, but their officers and soldiers were fighting well. Again and again they were emerging from a cover in thick forests, disturbing German lines"
- from the history of Wehrmacht: "Wie das Gesetz es befehl"ja:装甲列車
pl:Pociąg pancerny pt:Comboio blindado sl:Oklepni vlak
