picture 192029

T-34 T (Tyagach) Armored Recovery Vehicle. The USSR did not build specialized armored recovery vehicles during World War II, and generally used S-60 tractors to tow damaged or brokendown tanks along with some US M31 ARVs received through lend-lease. Some T-34s with severe damage to their turrets were fielded again with the turret removed and plated over and used as armored recovery vehicles. These were variously referred to as T-34 T (for Tyagach or tractor) or T-34 TT. Some appear to have had small cranes and winches attached, and likely aided in the 6th Guards Tank Army’s crossing of the Greater Khingan Mountains, with one vehicle winching a tank down a slope, attached to another vehicle serving as an anchor.