You can help expand this article with text translated from
the corresponding article in Russian. (January 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Vasily Degtyaryov | |
---|---|
Born | Vasily Alekseyevich Degtyaryov 2 January 1880 [1] |
Died | 16 January 1949[1] | (aged 69)
Occupation | Firearms designer [1] |
Vasily Alekseyevich Degtyaryov ( Russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Дегтярёв; 2 January 1880, Tula – 16 January 1949, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian engineer who specialized in weapons design. He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour in 1940.
He was a factory worker at the Tula Arms Plant. [2] He became married in 1905. Starting in 1918, Vasily Degtyaryov headed the first Soviet firearms design bureau [1] at Kovrov Arms Factory. [2]
In 1927, the Red Army was equipped with his 7.62 mm light machine gun DP-27. [1] [2] This design led to the development of the DT tank machine gun (1927) [2] and two aircraft machine guns: DA [2] and DA-2 (1928). [2]
In 1940 he became a Doctor of Technical Sciences, [1] and Hero of Socialist Labour [1] (he received the second such award in its history just two weeks after Joseph Stalin). He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1941. [1]
During the Axis invasion of the USSR in summer 1941 he created the PTRD-41 14.5mm anti-tank rifle. In 1944 he became Major General of the Engineering and Artillery Service of the Soviet Union. [1] [2] He designed a belt-fed light machine gun, the RPD, chambered for the 7.62×39mm intermediate cartridge. [2]
Vasily Degtyaryov was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941, 1942, 1944, and 1949 (posthumously). [1]
He was buried in a cemetery in Kovrov. [1]
Degtyaryov developed a total 82 types of machine guns, submachine guns and anti-tank rifles, 19 of them were officially adopted. [2]
On the day of the designer’s death, by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, monthly scholarships were established in his name: [3]
On October 17, 1954, a monument [4] was erected in Kovrov for Degtyaryov, and a bust and several plaques were installed on the territory of the weapons factory bearing his name. At the memorial for gunsmiths and designers, a bas-relief was made in his likeness. A museum was opened in Degtyaryov's house on January 6, 1978. [5] In addition, a technical school, a secondary school, a kindergarten, a recreation park, the House of Culture of Metal Workers and the former Komsomolskaya Street in Kovrov were named after him. [6] A pioneer camp near the village of Sukhanikha was named after Degtyaryov. [7] In many cities of the former USSR ( Kharkiv, Novosibirsk, Lomonosov, Saint Petersburg) streets carry the name of Degtyaryov. On November 6, 1979, on the occasion of the centennial of the designer's birth, the USSR Ministry of Communications issued a postal envelope with his image. [8] January 2, 1980 in Kovrov held a special cancellation of these envelopes. On August 18, 2004, the Russian Post also issued an envelope depicting Degtyaryov.