MOSCOW AND MINSK BEARING PLANTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A053300580001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 6, 1960
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United states within the meaning of the ispionage Laws. Title
18, U.S.C. Sm. ?93 and 794. the transmisdon or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorised person Is prohibited by law.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Moscow and Minsk Bearing Plants
INFO.
PLACE &
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. PAGES
APr: 1 1960
2 50X1-HUM
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE. 50X1-HUM
Comparison of Production of DliLrsk Fall Beare n~ p~ ant NO.._~1 tit3lrh that of
Moscow Ball Bearing Plant 2. 50X1-HUM
1. All ho s of the Minsk Ball Bearing Plant No.11 were open
bearings produced there.
the existence of secret shops at either the Moscow plant or the
Minsk plant. Both plants were subordinate to the former Ministry of Automobile
and Tractor Industry, however the Moscow plant was known to produce bearings
for the SAF and other military branches of service. The Moscow ,plantw
frequently visited by Air Force officers, whereas military 50X1-H NUMassibly
armored) visited the Minsk ball bearing plant.
2. Ball Bearing Plant No. 11, located near Mogilevskoye shosse, in Stalinskiy rayon,
Minsk was between eight and ten kilometers from the center of the city.
C 0-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
X
ARMY
I NAVY
AIR NSA
(Note: Washington distribution indicated by "X"; Field distribution by "#".)
50X1-HUM0-
NIC X 16,W011
O<
50X1-HUM
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Smaller sized bearing bills were
not produced at this plant. The material usedbs ShKh high-grade chrome steel. The
plant also produced roller bearings (cylindrical and tapered) of no less than the
above-stated size. All plant equipment w&* designed for the production of
large size bearings.
3. The final destination of the bearings was unknown,
tractor plant and the automobile plant in Minsk were consumer ractories.
the bearing products were largely produced for use in railroad cars
and agricultural machinery. 50X1-HUM
4. The Minsk plant had no air raid alarm system or air raid shelters. Civil defense
instruction was limited to first-aid training and fire-fighting procedures. 50X1-HUM
On various occasions employees were taker, to an unknown firing range for rifle
and revolver firing practice.
5. The Moscow Ball Bearing Plant No. 2 produced ball bearings in standard sizes and in
miniature sizes as small as three millimeters in diameter. The Air Force officer
visited the production shops openly no secret sections 50X1-HUM
existed at this plant
Moscow Ball Bearing Plant No. 2
- 50X1-HUM
6. An eight-page report describing the layout of Moscow Ball Bearing Plant No 2 as of
1956
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BALL ]k$ARING PLANT NO. 2 IN M=W
1. Ball Bearing Plant No. 2 (Vtoroy Gosudarstvenn y Podabipailsovyy Zavod) in
Moscow was not known by any other name and had no numerical designation.
It was subordinate to the Ministry of Automobile and Tractor Industry. The
plant employed about 1,000 persons in three shifts. It was located at 45
ulitsa Shabolovka, Leninskiy rayon, in Moscow and faced west. The plant
area was 500 x 1400 meters and was surrounded by a wooden fence about 2.5
meters high except where the buildings marked the plant boundary. There
were two underground shelters which were said to be intended for protection
against atomic attack, one of which had been built in 1955 and the other in
1956s new buildings were
2. Following is the legend fort sketch of the plant. The num-
bers in parentheses are keyed to those on the sketch. 50X1-HUM
Urban area outside plant area.
Konnyy pereulok.
Vehicular entrance.
Vehicular entrance.
Urban area outside plant area.
Four-story brick building with a sheet metal roof, measuring about
100 x 60 meters, and with a basement in which four boilers were installed
in two sections. The boilers serviced the heating system and showers
and supplied steam to heat the liquid degreasing agent, known as
emulsiya, for the ball bearings. The building was not fireproof.
Following is a description of the four stories.
A. The first floor contained the automatic lathe shop and the beat
treatment shop. The automatic lathe shop, which produced the i
side and outside rings of the bell bearings, cont 50X1-HUM
automatic lathes with one, four, and six headstocks.
(Soviet lathes
or the es Gonomatjc* uncuey, ev, and. MMW P7roletariy.
The Conomatic lathes had four headstocks and the Gridley and Kiev
lathes had six.
There were about six mach-
ines of an unknown make for rough grinding of bans; these were
built about 1900 and were in good condition. There were two Soviet
machines to out the grooves in which the ball rode in the inside
ring of the bearing; these machines were built about 1910 and were
in good condition. this shop, which employed about
100 persons in the e athdi s, produced between 10,000 and 50,000
rings daily with a permitted error of plus or minus one or two.
tenths (sic). The rings were then sent to the heat treatment shop
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which tempered them as well as tools made for plant use. The
balls were tempered in another shop. The heat treatment shop
contained three sma11 electric furnaces for tempering rings and
other parts and two larger electric furnaces for a tempering
process consisting of reducing the hardness of the metal by
heating it to a certain temperature which varied according to
the hardness, then letting it cool slowly in powdered carbon.
This shop had a section which welded ceramic cutting tools. It
employed about 50 persons in three shifts. The items in this
shop went to the grinding shop.
B. The second floor contained the ring grinding shop in which about
120 grinding machines were installed. Most of these were of
Soviet make; two were Cincinnati make. All were in good operating
condition. About 500 persons worked in this shop. Finished rings
were sent to the fourth floor to a storehouse for completed parts.
Co About one-half of the third floor was taken up by the automatic
shop which contained about ten Olathes with four headstocks,
built about 1900 and in fair operating condition, ten Soviet 50X1 -HU M
Kraeryy Proletariy screw lathes in fair condition, and five
Soviet milling machines. Another part of the floor was an annex
to the grinding shop and contained about 40 grinding machines in
good condition although they needed periodic repairs because of
their age. Also on this floor was the shop that made cardboard
boxes for packing and the shop that produced and finished the
retaining ring (separator). This latter shop contained about 15
drill presses and five turret lathes, all of Soviet make and in
good condition. It employed about 50 persons.
D. One-half of the fourth floor was taken up by the ba.Ll-bearing
assembly shop; the other half contained the plant technical and
administrative offices.
(7) Packaging storehouse for finished ball bearings ready for shipping, a
two-story brick building, about 15 x 20 meters, with a sheet metal roof
and no basement. About 15 persons were employed here.
(8) Wooden building in which metal scrap was shredded.
(9) Underground storehouse for heavy oil for the automatic and heat treat-
ment shops.
(10) Urban area outside plant area.
(ii) Garage and repair shop for plant vehicles, a one-story brick building
measuring about 20 x 30 meters with a sheet metal roof and no basement.
(12) A one-story stone building housing a transformer not further identi-
fied. The building had a sheet metal roof, no basement, was not
fireproof, and measured about 4 x 5 meters.
(13) Approximate position of the entrance to the shelter built under point
No. 14 below.
(14) Garden measuring about 25 x 50 meters, under which a shelter from four
to five meters deep had been built in swmner 1955. All shelter walls,
inside and outside, were brick; the shelter roof on which the garden
rested was of reinforced concrete and measured more than half a meter
in thickness. The shelter door was iron and closed hermetically.
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50X1-HUM
az
(15) Stand selling mineral water and sandwiches.
(16) A one-story stone building measuring about 20 x 8 meters that had a
sheet metal roof and no basement. It was not fireproof. It was used
to store work clothes for plant personnel and tools such as pickaxes,
shovels, and paints.
(17)
Gasoline, oil, grease, and petroleum storage; an area surrounded by a
wire mesh fence.
(18) Plant personnel and vehicular main entrance.
(19) Nursery for nursing babies, formerly a residence for women employed at
the plant, a two-story brick building measuring about 30 meters square
with a sheet metal roof; it was not fireproof.
(20) A four-story building supplying housing for plant personnel and their
families.
(21)
(22)
A two-story brick building measuring about 15 x 10 meters that had a
sheet metal roof and no basement. It was not fireproof. On the first
floor was a heat treatment shop for shop No. 28, containing a furnace
for tempering of the balls. This floor also housed the firehouse.
The second floor was occupied in its entirety by trade union offices
and the Party secretariat.
(23) Ironworks, a one-story brick building with no basement, measuring about
15 x 10 meters.
(24+) Electrical shop for plant repairs, measuring about 15 x 10 meters.
(25) Open-air storage for pipes and steel bars received at the plant.
(26) One-story brick building with a sheet metal roof that measured about
(27)
(28)
10 x 8 meters and contained two circular saws for cutting piping to
desired lengths. This shop employed about five persons.
Ulitsa Shabolovka.
A four-story brick building measuring about 100 x 4.00 meters; it had a
basement in which four boilers feeding the showers and heating system
were installed. It was not fireproof. Following is a description of
the activities which took place on each floor.,
for the manufacture of balls; 13 were Soviet made
A. The first floor had a shop producing unpolished balls and a mach-
inery repair shop. The ball shop had about 15 cold stamina 'presses
All were in go con om.
For rough grinding of stock, the shop had about 20 very old grind-
ing machines in good operating condition. The shop also had about
30 very old machines in good condition for ball grinding, one large
hot stamping press for the manufacture of balls which was old but
in good operating condition, and one furnace for tempering the
balls. The machinery repair shop repaired only plant machinery and
had lathes, milling machines, gear cutting machines, grinding mach-
ines, and drill presses, all of Soviet make. About 500 persons
worked in this shop.
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B. On the second floor were showers and dressing rooms.
C. The third floor bad a tool and dieing shop, die-stamping shop,
and ball-polishing shop. The tool and die-making shop produced all
kinds of tools and dies for the plant and contained about 35
lathes, some of which were turret lathes, of Soviet and foreign
makes; about seven milling machines; four planers; and about eight
grinding machines, none further identified. About 200 workers were
employed in this shop. The die-stamping shop produced the retain-
ing ring. It had about 20 Soviet stamping machines not further
identified and employed about 150 persons. The ball-polishing shop
contained about ten very old Soviet-made polishing machines.
D. The fourth floor did not run the entire length of the building but
faced ulitsa Sbabolovka and was entered by a stairway from this
street. It contained the dining roam, the meeting hell, the
technical and literary libraries, and the workers' technical
school which prepared workers to be shop masters or for matricu-
lation in schools and tekhnik+ .
(29) Open-air pipe-cleaning area fenced with wire netting.
(30) Drovyannaya ploshchad.
(31) Urban area.
(32) Shelter constructed in 1956 beneath a garden.
(33) A three-story brick building measuring 30 x 40 meters with a sheet
metal roof and a basement in which two boilers were installed to
service this building and No. 28. On the first floor were welding,
polishing, and plumbing shops. The second and third floors contained
collective housing.
(34) Pool measuring about 10 x 20 meters, to be used when necessary by plant
firemen.
(35) Infirmary with X-ray equipment, a wooden building measuring about 10
meters square.
(36) Wooden building measuring about 10 meters square, used as housing for
plant employees.
(37) Stairway shaped like a bridge, giving access to a wooden gallery at the
second-story level of No. 33, dedicated to collective housing.
(38) A one-story construction materials warehouse with no basement, measuring
about 10 x 5 meters.
(39) Carpentry shop making crates and doing necessary plant repairs, a one-
story brick building measuring about 15 x 30 meters with no basement.
(40) Wooden building in which the watch dogs which guarded the plant at night
were housed during the day.
(41) Housing for plant personnel, a two-story building measuring about 25 x
20 meters.
(42) Garden.
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years, this area bad formerly been a coal dump.
(44) Open-air coal dump.
(45) Open-air lumber storage area for plant carpentry shop.
(46) Nursery, a two-story building.
(47) Urban area outside plant area.
(43) open area surrounded by a brick fence one meter high; unused for several
50X1-HUM
The plant's only product consisted of ball bearings with an outside diameter
of from 15 or 20 millimeters to about 150 millimeters. The diameter of the
balls was from one-fourth to seven-eighths of an inch. The plant trademark
was -0-rPZ_ F_
The finished product was packed in
cardboard and wooden boxes; the latter bore the ant trademark. No military
e ui nt was manufactured or repaired[
50X1-HUM
4. The first operation in the manufacture of rings consisted of cleaning the
bars and classifying them, transporting them to the automatic shop where they
were rough turned to the necessary diameter for the outside ring, and then
cut. They went to the automatic lathes where the inside and outside rings
were rough turned and than they were inspected. Later they went to the
machines for chamfering and for the cutting of the spherical channel in
which the balls rode. Following inspection, they went to the automatic shop
for tempering, then to the degreasing bath, following which they were
inspected for hardness and strength by the "Dean" and "Rockwell" systems,
then to the grinding shop where the outside ring had its outside and inside
diameters and the inside ring, its inside diameter, ground to specifications,
then to the polishers, following which they were inspected, and finally, they
went to the assembly shop.
5?
The rolls of wire went to the cold stamping presses, than to rough grinders
which removed the ring left as a result of the stamping operation, then to
the furnaces for tempering and cleaning, than to the rough grinders again,
then to the precision grinders followed by inspection, then to the polishing
machines, and finally, to the assembly shop.
6. The first operation on the retaining ring consisted of cutting steel sheeting
into strips of the required measurements. These sheets went to the press
wtich stamped the retaining ring which was then finished, the holes were
drilled and the union made with a rivet, the piece was cleaned with sand
blasting, and, finally sent to the assembly shop.
7?
The plant received the following raw materials: bars, pipes, and wire, all
of steel, oil, coal, charcoal, gasoline, and greases. The bars and pipes
bore the identifying trademark Sh-lb-15 which denoted the chemical composi-
tion of the steel. All raw materials arrived at the plant by truck. The
plant was not dependent on foreign imports.
8. Water was brought in via underground pipe from the Moscow water system.
Electricity was supplied by the Moscow electrical system via underground
cable at 220 volts. The supply was adequate.
9?
The plant had no railroad installation. It had about 25 or 30 three- to
five-ton ZIS and ZIM trucks.
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10. Only the main entrance was guarded. There were about 15 guards, armed
with rifles and pistols. They were drawn from retired plant personnel,
both male and female. The propusk was required to enter the plant.
There were 2+- +.^-n 14yywr--n &nA twn fire tomicks- me of which was
tank truck.
50X1-HUM
11. The plant director was Viktor Vakhvalov, a mechanical engineer, good
organizer and technician, Communist Party member, who had been awarded
the Stalin Prize for an invention related to the cutting of metallic
materials. The deputy director was Viktor Nikolyevich Ssenokratov, a
technician, good organizer and orator, a Communist Party member, and
very much respected by the workers because of his personal qualities.
The chief of the automatic shop was Iosif Gindin, mechanical engineer,
considered to be the best shop chief in the plant; he was constantly
being sent to other shops to display his organizing talents. Be was
not a Party member# Norisoners, convicts, or foreigners worked at
the plant. o strikes, complaints, or special privi-
leges. Absenteeism was not a problem.
50X1-HUM
is Comment: From 194,6 until 1947, this ministry was called
Automobile Industry; from 1947 until 1953, it was known as
the Automobile and Tractor Industry; from 1953 until 1954, the
Machine Building Industry; and from 1954 until 1955, the
Automobile, Tractor, and Agricultural Machine Building Industry.
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