The 17th Tank Division (

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: войсковая часть, в/ ч; Ukrainian: військова частина, в/ ч) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet ...

6061) was a tank division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

that was formed in mid-1940. The division suffered heavy losses during fighting against German forces during the Battle of Smolensk and was converted into a tank brigade in late August 1941.

History

The 17th Tank Division was formed in July 1940 at Crossing 77 with the 5th Mechanised Corps from the 37th Light Tank Brigade. It also included the 199th Flamethrower and 526th Transport Battalions. The 17th Tank Division's structure in 1941 included the 33rd and 34th Tank Regiments, the 17th Motor Rifle Regiment, the 17th Howitzer Artillery Regiment, the 17th Reconnaissance Battalion, the 17th Transport Battalion and the 17th Maintenance Battalion. The division was commanded by Major General

Ilya Alekseyenko Ilya Prokofyevich Alekseyenko (; 20 June 1899 – 3 August 1941) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian Red Army major general. After joining the Red Army in 1918, Alekseyenko served as a junior commander in machine gun units during the Russian Civil War an ...

. On 1 March 1941 Colonel

Ivan Korchagin Ivan Petrovich Korchagin (; – 24 July 1951) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Korchagin volunteered for the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, during which he was wounded multiple times and decorated. ...

took command. Beginning on 12 June 1941 the division was relocated to

Izyaslav Iziaslav or Izyaslav (, ), also known as Zaslav (, ; , ), is one of the oldest cities in Volhynia. Situated on the Horyn River in western Ukraine, the city dates back to the 11th century. Iziaslav belongs to Shepetivka Raion of Khmelnytskyi Oblast ...

. After the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

, the division moved with the corps to

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. The division was 60% Ukrainian in early July, and German troops attributed its reportedly poor performance to its ethnic composition. On 6 July, the division had 413 tanks, including 237

BT tank The BT tank (, lit. "fast moving tank" or "high-speed tank") was one of a series of Soviet light tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had the best mobil ...

s and 130

T-26 The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...

tanks. The remainder were flamethrower or amphibious tanks. The division fought in the 5th Mechanized Corps' counterattack towards

Senno Syanno or Senno (; ; ; ) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is located southwest of Vitebsk on the southern shore of Senno Lake. In 2018, its population was 7,092. As of 2024, it has a population of 7,090. History The village is first ...

and

Lepel Lyepyel or Lepel (; , ; ; ) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus, located near Lyepyel Lake on the Vula River. It serves as the administrative center of Lyepyel District. Its population in the 1998 census was 19,400. As of 2024, it has a pop ...

. The division was placed in the corps' first echelon during the counterattack. When it reached the region south of Senno, the division, reinforced by 6

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV; ) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour ...

and 10

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

tanks, ran into the

17th Panzer Division The 17th Panzer Division () was a formation of the Wehrmacht in World War II. It was formed in November 1940 from the 27th Infantry Division. It took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and in the winter o ...

. The counterattack failed with heavy losses. The division was encircled in the Smolensk Pocket, in which it defended the Dnieper line to the west of the city. The division fought against the 17th and

18th Panzer Division The 18th Panzer Division () was a German World War II armoured division that fought on the Eastern Front from 1941 until its disbandment in 1943. Formation The 18th Panzer Division was formed on 26 October 1940 at Chemnitz from parts of the ...

s, which were attempting to establish positions on the southern bank of the river. On 25 July, the division had three KV tanks, four T-34s, 73 BT tanks, 28 T-26s, and 16 KhT-26 flamethrower tanks, for a total of 124 tanks. On the night of 31 July to 1 August, the division and the rest of the corps escaped the Smolensk Pocket through the gap in the German encirclement line. On 28 August, it was converted into the 126th Tank Brigade. On 31 August, the 17th Motor Rifle Regiment was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

. The brigade was destroyed in the Vyazma Pocket in October. It was not officially disbanded until 22 August 1942.

Notes

References

* * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Tank divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 1940 establishments in the Soviet Union 1941 disestablishments in the Soviet Union