The T-54 Mod 1951 is a Tier 5 Soviet main battle tank.
About
During World War II, the Soviet Unions 76 mm and 85 mm guns were found to be insufficient against the German "Big Cat" tanks, such as the Panther, Tiger I, and Tiger II. The Red Army then requested for a larger gun for increased firepower, which led to the T-44 up-gunned to mount a 100 mm gun, designated as the T-44-100. Although its gun proved successful, the tank still suffered from many drawbacks.
The new 1951 tank model received a cast semi-spherical turret without shot traps and with improved traverse sealing and an apparatus for attaching a minesweeper. Its two SG-43 machine guns were replaced with a 7.62 mm SGMT machine gun. The T-54's main armament remained as before a 100 mm D-10T cannon with a 56 caliber barrel length. This weapon was developed in the No. 9 artillery factory's design bureau under the direction of F.F. Petrov. The 100 mm cannon's armor-piercing round was able to penetrate a 125 mm thick vertical armor plate at a range of 2,000 m.
After the Second World War, improved variants of this tank served for forty years after the basic model was developed. From 1946, all the characteristics of the T-54 and its variants surpassed those of foreign medium tanks, and its weapon had the best armor-piercing properties. A total of 7,009 units were produced between 1952 and 1955.
Playstyle
The T-54 mod. 1951 plays similar to the T-44, being excellent at flanking and chasing down unaware or retreating tanks. The increased armor and firepower that it brings to the battlefield make it better at performing it, and the low penetration value should incentivize the player to get on a heavily armored tank's sides or rear to make full use of the impressive DPM of the vehicle.
Brawling with Tier 4 tanks and above should be typically avoided, as their penetration values are usually high enough to simply punch through the T-54's hull without much trouble.
Pros
- Decent health pool: 1,550 in DM, 560 in KoTH/LS.
- Decent mobility: 50 km/h Forwards.
- Good armor: Relatively balanced all around.
- Acceptable Damage Per Shot: 320 Avg.
- Decent DPM: 2,143 at Crew Level 20.
- Average Penetration: 232 Avg.
Cons:
- Mediocre Reverse speed: 8 km/h.
- Poor gun depression.
Trivia
- This the most-produced tank in the world, with about 100,000 units produced (Including Chinese T-54's).
- The T-54 was actually classed as a medium tank, it was the T-55 that was classed as an MBT.