Distinctive hatches make T-34 tank easy to ID

Published 2:00 pm Thursday, May 22, 2014

As the Soviets worked to improve the T-34 tanks, one thing they changed were the hatches. Starting with the T-34/76D, the machines had a pair of large round hatches mounted on the top of a new hexagonal turret. When both of the hatches were flipped up, they gave the tank a distinct profile. German infantry men, often trudging by abandoned and burnt-out T-34s, hatches popped open, nicknamed them “Mickey Mouse” tanks. The FHC’s T-34/85, on display on May 26th for TankFest Northwest, retains that recognizable trait.