Vasily Alekseyevich Degtyaryov (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.

Biography

He was a factory worker at the Tula Arms Plant. He became married in 1905. Starting in 1918, Vasily Degtyaryov headed the first Soviet firearms design bureau at Kovrov Arms Factory. In 1927, the Red Army was equipped with his 7.62 mm light machine gun DP-27. This design led to the development of the DT tank machine gun (1927) and two aircraft machine guns: DA and DA-2 (1928). In 1940 he became a Doctor of Technical Sciences, and Hero of Socialist Labour (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. 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. He designed a belt-fed light machine gun, the RPD, chambered for the 7.62×39mm intermediate cartridge. Vasily Degtyaryov was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941, 1942, 1944, and 1949 (posthumously). He died on January 16th of 1949 and was later buried in a cemetery in Kovrov.

Inventions

Degtyaryov developed a total 82 types of machine guns, submachine guns and anti-tank rifles, 19 of them were officially adopted.

Honours and awards

Commemoration

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: On October 17, 1954, a monument 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. 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. A pioneer camp near the village of Sukhanikha was named after Degtyaryov. 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. 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.

In popular culture

Footnotes