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ZIS-6: The Original Soviet Truck Platform For the BM-13 Katyusha "Stalin's Organ"

Just as much as photographs and museum exhibits, the sounds of war are vital to telling their stories. World War II brought humanity many new sounds. The roar of a nuclear explosion, the howl of a Rolls Royce Merlin, and the scream of a Stuka dive bomber's blow horns immediately come to mind.
ZIS-6 9 photos
Photo: Wikimedia User Adam Jones (own work)
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If a Stuka was like Hitler's trumpet, the Soviet Union raised them Stalin's Organ. Or, as it was more officially known, the BM-13 Katyusha rocket launcher system. The BM-13's trademark howl as it fired a barrage of multiple tons of rockets arguably struck more fear into the hearts of German soldiers than the damage inflicted on enemy hardware. Whether it was strategically effective depends on the specific battle.

But this fear which the Germans came to associate with this weapon's ghostly howl, can not be underestimated. But such a weapon needed a fitting vehicular transportation system. Though the Soviets tried to mount the BM-13 on the tops of tanks, they soon learned it was more fit mounted in the backs of trucks. When the Katyusha rocket system was first deployed in battle, it rolled in one of these, the ZIS-6. This is the story of that truck.

Though abandoned in 2012, the Zavod Imeni Stalina factory (ZIS or ZiS), as it was known during World War II, was a pivotal cog in the Soviet war-production machine in the 20th century. Based out of Moscow, not far from the furthest point the Germans ever advanced into Russia, the factory stopped building passenger cars inspired by British and American vehicles and started solely making Army trucks after Operation Barbarossa's beginning.

One of the most prolific trucks manufactured in the USSR during this period was the predecessor to the heavy-duty ZIS-5, the ZIS-6. Over one million of these durable 73 horsepower straight-six utility vehicles were built between 1933 and 1958. That's despite the production plant being moved from Moscow to the city of Ulyanovsk on the Volga River in 1941.

Katyusha Launch System ZIS 6
Photo: Wikimedia User Chris O (own work)
Given how quickly the two-axle ZIS-5 could be slapped together, adding a third axle wasn't much of a fuss. The triple-axle ZIS-6 began production three years after its smaller sibling in 1936. At the onset of the Second World War, the ZIS-6 was employed in many diverse roles in everything from searchlight trucks, troop transports, rapid response ambulances, and even one with a special tank for carrying aviation fuel for the Soviet Air Force.

With the same six-cylinder engine under the hood as its ZIS-5 counterpart, a top speed of 34 mph (55 kph) sounds understandable. But a payload capacity of 4,000 kilograms (8,818 lbs) on paved roads and 2,500 kilograms (5,512 lbs) on unpaved roads afforded by its third axle made it perfect for the Katyusha program. The weapon was first deployed to battle via a ZIS-6 on July 14th, 1941. Though it didn't single-handedly turn the tide of the German invasion, Katyusha's distinct wail as it fired its 132mm rockets out of 24 separate launch tubes became a rallying cry for Soviet resistance.

As reliable as the ZIS-6 may have been, better trucks from American, British, Canadian, and domestic sources took the place of the aging truck model as the Red Army as they drove the Germans back into their territory to their eventual capitulation. 6x6 trucks from companies like GMC and Studebaker were especially adept at carrying the range of Katyusha-class rocket launchers ranging from 82mm to 300mm. Large mobile arrays of missile launchers similar in function to Katyusha continue to be used to this day.

Meanwhile, only a handful of ZIS-6 trucks remain in 2022. So if you find yourself in some Eastern European car museum and see one parked somewhere, know you're likely never to see another ever again.
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