Jakow Grigoryevich Taubin

Jakow Grigorjewitsch Taubin ( Russian Яков Григорьевич Таубин , scientific transliteration : Jakov Grigor'evič Taubin ; * 1900 in Pinsk , Minsk Governorate , Russian Empire , today Belarus ; † October 28, 1941 in Kuibyshev was a Soviet army). Taubin was primarily concerned with the development of automatic weapons. The first automatic grenade launcher was developed under his leadership.

Life

The day and month of Taubin's birth are unknown. He was born in a poor family, his father worked as an accountant in a shipping company. After his father's death in 1915, Taubin dropped out of school. In 1929 he began at the Odessa Technological Institute for Grain and Flour ( Russian Одесский институт технологии зерна и муки ) an apprenticeship at the faculty of design engineers, which he did not graduate. In the early 1930s, Taubin developed the first ideas for developing an automatic grenade launcher. In order to realize his ideas, he was transferred in 1933 from the Mobilization Headquarters ( Russian Главное военно-мобилизационное управление ) to the toolmaking plant No. 2 in Kovrov . The group, led by Taubin, later continued its work in Moscow. It was there in 1934 that the Experimental Design Office 16 ( Russian опытно-конструкторское бюро 16 (ОКБ-16) ) of the People's Commissariat for Armament ( Russian Народный комиссариат вооружениат вооружениат вооружен Р ) was created, whose head was first. The world's first automatic grenade launcher was developed there.

The weapon had a caliber of 40.6 mm and used the rifle grenades developed by MG Djakonov. The weapon had a magazine. With it, single and continuous fire could be shot in direct and indirect direction. First the weapon was placed on a tripod, later a wheel mount similar to that of the Maxim machine gun was added. The Soviet military leadership, especially Marshal Grigory Ivanovich Kulik , head of the artillery headquarters , was hostile to Taubin's development. As a result of the tests in 1937/38, the 50 mm grenade launcher developed by Boris Iwanowitsch Schawyrin ( Russian Борис Иванович Шавырин ) was included in the armament of the Soviet Army . In November 1938 the weapon was tested on a type "D" river gunboat of the Dnieper flotilla. As a result, the leadership of the Soviet naval fleet ordered a small series in January 1939, but soon withdrew from the order. The few grenade launchers produced were used quite successfully during the Winter War. Nevertheless, the further development of the weapon was stopped.

Under Taubin's leadership, the OKB-16 developed the 23-mm MP-6 ( Russian МП-6 ) on -board cannon . From this weapon the tank cannon PT-23TB ( Russian ПТ-23ТБ ) and a 23-mm anti-aircraft gun were developed. The OKB-16 was also responsible for the development of the 12.7-mm on-board machine gun AN-12.7 ( Russian АН-12.7 ). However, the development of the weapons mentioned could not be completed within the given deadlines.

On May 20, 1940 Taubin received the Order of Lenin for his services in developing new weapon systems. A year later, on May 16, 1941, he was arrested on charges of membership in an anti-Soviet conspiracy and the development of imperfect weapons. By order of the public prosecutor's office of the USSR and the NKVD of October 17, 1941, Yakov Grigoryevich Taubin was shot on October 28, 1941 in the settlement of Barbysch ( Russian Барбыш ) in the Kuibyshev Oblast. He left two daughters and a son. On December 20, 1955, Taubin was rehabilitated.

Web links

• Биография и фотографии (Russian)
• Ванников Б. Л. Записки наркома. (Russian)
• Новиков В. Н. Накануне и в дни испытаний (Russian)