[Torpedo Fodder]

After the 100mm-gunned T-34 prototype was deemed unviable for service, the Soviets decided that if they wanted a 100mm-gunned medium tank, they'd have to build a new design, and so the T-44 was was born. Based on cancelled pre-war plans for an advanced T-34M, the T-44 had a similar turret design to the T-34/85, but an all-new, more heavily armored hull. The T-44's hull design was later used for the T-54/T-55 series. The T-44 never saw action, and it had numerous mechanical problems, so much that production was actualy halted before T-34/85 production, and only 2,000 were built. In the end, both tanks were replaced in production by the T-54, although the T-44s were later upgraded to the mechanical and fire control standards of the T-55 and remained in service until the mid '70s.