How the tank "Klim Voroshilov" stopped the German army. "KV" fought to the last shell

Not a single army in the world was armed with heavy tanks. With one exception. The Red Army had them.

Why do we need heavy tanks

War is, first of all, work, hard, dirty and very dangerous. A soldier spends most of his time digging the ground. The more he extracts the soil, the higher his chances of surviving. There are other types of work that are no less laborious, and each of them requires its own tool. A heavy bomber is not suitable for delivering bombing strikes on individual point targets - an attack aircraft is needed. To destroy the industrial potential of the enemy, a fighter should not be used, strategic bombers are required here, and there should be many of them. Light tanks are needed for deep and rapid raids, bypassing enemy defenses and creating “cauldrons” in which significant military formations, deprived of supplies and communications, will not be able to survive for a long time. If we draw analogies with a working tool, then they perform the functions of a blade, flexible and convenient. But there are situations when something more powerful is required, but sharpness does not matter much (a cleaver, for example, or an ax). Heavy tanks are needed when it is impossible to take or bypass fortified positions with a quick swoop, and a methodical breach, a strong frontal blow, all-destroying and merciless, is required.

In December 1939, there were heavy and bloody battles in Karelia. Terrible crackling frost, waist-deep snow, swamps under it, and not freezing. If we add mines to the weather conditions, the detection of which is very problematic; the work of snipers; unexpectedly emerging secret firing points, protected by thick reinforced concrete; the polar night, which has a depressing effect on the psyche; the inability to make a fire and generally keep warm; boulders, hidden, again, under the snow, and much, much more, it becomes clear "why it took so long to fiddle with some little Finland there." For the first time, heavy tanks played an important role in the difficult task of breaking through the Mannerheim Line. The USSR, represented by the Stalinist leadership, decided to create a super-powerful armored fist before other countries. Experimental models, in particular the QMS, took part in the Finnish War. On December 17, trying to overcome the Hottinen fortified area, one of them, at the disposal of the 20th brigade, blew up on the crew. The crew suffered no losses, but was forced to leave the car. It was one of the first cases of the use of new weapons.

In the military industry, nothing is done just like that. It is difficult to imagine a situation in which I. V. Stalin calls the designers of armored vehicles and, puffing on his pipe, says to them: “Make me a heavy tank. I really want this. I have such a whim ... ". In this case, no state will have enough funds to carry out the most urgent tasks of protecting its borders. No, all the tasks that the Kremlin assigned to specialists were justified.

Designing a combat vehicle that meets modern requirements for assault weapons began at the beginning of 1939, following the decision of the State Defense Committee adopted in December 1938. According to the USSR, combat operations in the event of a probable (and expected) war should have been deployed on the territory of the enemy in the face of his stubborn opposition at the initial stage. This nature of the conflict required certain technical means, in connection with this, the designers were given the appropriate technical specifications. It was assumed that through wide gaps in the defensive lines, large formations would move forward, equipped with light, high-speed tanks of the BT class, capable of moving along roads at high speed. In this likely scenario, assuming complete air supremacy, victory was guaranteed with minimal casualties.

Start of design work

The design of the SMK tank was supervised by Zh. Ya. Kotin, general designer of the Leningrad plant named after Kirov. The name immortalizes the memory of the recently murdered leader, the head of the party organization "cradle of the revolution". Another machine was developed under the leadership of A. S. Ermolaev at the neighboring plant number 185, it was called the T-100. The design idea of ​​those years was multidirectional, in particular, one of the main directions was considered a multi-tower scheme, in which the sector of fire could be circular. The weight of the SMK turned out to be too large, and instead of three towers, they decided to install two on it in order to improve driving performance and armor.

However, soon after the start of design work, a group of graduate trainees VAMM (Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization) named after. Stalin, led by N. F. Shashmurin, proposed to go further: remove another tower (which young specialists considered redundant), install a diesel engine instead of a carburetor engine and reduce the undercarriage by two rollers. In essence, the team intuitively came to a scheme that became classic for many decades, ahead of all foreign colleagues who accepted this idea only in the fifties.

Thus was born the Soviet tank KV-1.

From blueprints to metal

The lead designer N. L. Dukhov was entrusted with finishing the single-turret tank. Today, no one needs to be reminded that it was dangerous to procrastinate in the Stalin years. Any delay could cause a job change to a less prestigious one, in a padded jacket and with a saw or an ax. The chief designer of the KV tank, comrade Dukhov, coped with the task. By August, heavy tanks KV and SMK were ready and presented to the state commission, and in September, the Kubinka training ground shook from the roar of engines during the demonstration of new models. Their acceptance into service took place just as quickly, a “liberation campaign” against Finland was already underway, and this equipment was urgently needed. Designers were also interested in the effectiveness of the application of developments. Tank "Klim Voroshilov" went into battle.

How the KV-2 appeared

The Mannerheim Line was heavily fortified. Unlike the French Maginot, it rested on the edges of the coast (in the west to the Gulf of Finland, in the east to Ladoga), and it was impossible to bypass it. The fortifications were built competently, with a high degree of autonomy and all the infrastructure necessary for defense. In general, the heavy KV tank performed well, but the 76 mm guns were clearly not enough to destroy reinforced concrete structures covered with a layer of soil. Something more efficient was needed, for example, a 152-mm howitzer, which was already in service, although a powerful tractor tractor was needed to transport it. The Leningrad designers were given a new task: to combine two important elements, a huge cannon and a tracked undercarriage, and at the same time provide reliable protection for the crew with gun crew. This is how the KV-2 appeared, a hammer tank designed to crush any fortifications.

During the interwar period

The Finnish war, although it was bloody, ended quickly, but despite this, the production of heavy vehicles, including the siege type, continued. Since February 1940, the tank in two versions was launched from the series at the LKZ (Leningrad Kirov Plant), and starting from June at the ChTZ (Chelyabinsk Plant, called Tractor Plant). Enthusiasm in those years was extremely high, the first Ural-assembled HFs left the shop soon, and a separate building was built to increase capacity, the dimensions of which suggested very large possibilities. The design teams did not stop work either, continuing to improve technical indicators and eliminate the shortcomings identified during the hostilities. In the autumn of the fortieth, two new samples were to appear with armor reinforced to 90 mm with more powerful artillery weapons (85 mm, a caliber that tankers from other countries of the world could not even dream of). By the end of the year, another giant was planned, this time with 100 mm protection. These machines were secret developments, they were called objects 220, 221 and 222. So that no one would know ...

Comparison with a potential adversary

In 1941, it was planned to produce 1200 heavy vehicles, in particular KV-1 - 400, KV-2 - 100 (it had a very specific function, and the need for it was lower), and KV-3 - as many as 500 pieces. And this is only in Leningrad! ChTZ was supposed to give another 200 units. In 1949, the KV-1 heavy tank and the KV-2 super-heavy tank were also produced, and in considerable numbers (243). In total, there were 636 of them in service with the Red Army. Is this a lot or a little? Soviet historians, explaining the causes of the disaster in the summer of 1941, expressed the opinion that we did not have enough. At the same time, they forgot to mention that the Wehrmacht crossed the border of the USSR, having at its disposal a little more than three thousand tanks, and all of them, without exception, were light. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to call them new. The European blitzkrieg was, of course, a fun ride, but the engine doesn't care, it wears out even when driving on a very good autobahn. The vehicles captured in France and Czechoslovakia also could not be compared even with our light BTs. Romania, an ally of Nazi Germany, even had Renault-17s in service (17 is the year of manufacture, 1917), there were 2 of them in the USSR, they were in museums.

And yet, it's time to remember that not only heavy tanks were produced in the Soviet Union. There were also medium, T-34, the best in the world, and they were built very actively. And light, they were produced in unprecedented numbers. And in terms of armament, and in terms of armor protection, and in terms of the characteristics of engines (mainly, by the way, diesel, V-2, which no one else in the world could repeat during the entire war), they surpassed Wehrmacht equipment. The Soviet KV tank, as of mid-1941, had no analogues at all.

Design

At the time of the creation of the first prototypes, the capabilities of Soviet tank factories made it possible to use the most advanced technologies. There was no talk of any riveted joints, the body was made by welding. The same applied to the gun turret, which was further improved using the all-cast method. The thickness of the armor plates was 75 mm. The modification capabilities of the design made it possible to further increase the protection to 105 mm due to the installation of additional armored screens on the bolts, but in 1941 not a single German side gun could hit the KV-1 tank without it.

The general scheme was classic for Soviet armored vehicles of the second half of the thirties (later adopted as a model by engineers around the world): a rear transmission that excludes a cardan shaft, inclined armor, a powerful diesel engine and a 76 mm caliber gun (L-11, F-32, and later ZIS -5).

Chassis

The V-2K engine was the heart of this machine, its power was 500 horsepower at a rotation speed of 1800 rpm. The multi-plate friction transmission had design flaws, it often failed, because it was not designed for the efforts required to change the speed of such a heavy vehicle as the KV tank (its mass exceeded 47 tons), especially in the first two gears (there were 5 in total).

The basis of the undercarriage was a torsion individual suspension of relatively small road wheels (there were six of them on each side). The sagging of the tracks was eliminated by additional supporting rollers, three for each. Until 1942, they were covered with rubber to reduce noise, but due to a shortage of materials, this "luxury" had to be abandoned. The caterpillars were made wide (700 mm) to reduce the specific load on the ground.

Armament

The experience of operating against a desperate enemy, ready to go against a tank with a bottle, set a new requirement - the possibility of creating a barrage of fire. To solve this problem, the car was equipped with three machine-gun points, one of which was directed backwards to protect the engine compartment. Another machine gun was a turret, he covered from an attack from the air. The free internal space was ergonomically filled with ammunition, quite sufficient for a long exhausting battle (135 shells and 2770 cartridges). The accuracy of shooting was provided by optical equipment, which consisted of sights (TOD-6 telescopic, PT-6 periscopic). The commander's panorama provided the opportunity for a good overview. According to the combat schedule, there were five people in the tank, they could communicate using an intercom, external communication was provided by a 71-TK-3 or YuR radio.

An almost 48-ton colossus could reach speeds of up to 34 km / h and had a motor resource of 250 km. This is a lot.

At the beginning of the great war

It is well known that the war began in extremely unfavorable conditions for the USSR. On the one hand, various intelligence sources warned about the Nazi strike, on the other hand, it was extremely illogical. If the headquarters knew about the concentration of German troops, it was no secret for it that the Wehrmacht was not ready for military operations against the Soviet Union, which consisted in the absence of warm uniforms and frost-resistant fuel and lubricants. Nevertheless, Hitler ordered an attack on our borders, and a huge amount of Soviet military supplies were destroyed or captured by the aggressor. The KV tank caused a real shock, both among the German command and among the soldiers on the Eastern Front. The very presence of such a monster in the enemy, despite the successful advance deep into the USSR, caused a vague feeling of their own technological backwardness. With amazement, the Germans looked at the huge KV-2 self-propelled howitzers they captured, and learned that in the neighboring areas one KV-1 tank held back the superior forces of the advancing battalions. Another issue was the poor effectiveness of these monsters in defensive battles. If during an offensive it is necessary to “smoke out” the enemy from the trenches, then the hinged trajectory of the projectile is just what you need. The fire falls on the heads of soldiers sitting in shelters directly from the sky, and there is nowhere to hide. But when repelling an attack, a flat trajectory is needed to mow the advancing chains and smash equipment. Both the light and the heaviest tanks turned out to be useless. The USSR was not ready for defense.

The military specialists of the Wehrmacht, of course, understood what the captured equipment was intended for. Its study, in addition to understanding the power of the Soviet defense industry, made it possible to draw other conclusions. The KV tank also confirmed Stalin's intention to strike at Germany. Photos of damaged armored siege guns were also used by Goebbels propaganda as proof of the aggressive intentions of the Bolsheviks. The Wehrmacht used some of the captured vehicles for their own needs.

Light armored vehicles and other types of offensive equipment were soon taken out of production as unnecessary in the current situation. The same fate befell the armored 152-mm howitzers. It seemed that such a fate would befall all Klima Voroshilovs. But history decreed otherwise. Despite the fact that the tanks of the KV series were inferior to the T-34 in almost all respects, their production continued even in besieged Leningrad. For obvious reasons, it was impossible to restructure the technological cycle here, and the front demanded armored vehicles, so the production of vehicles was not only not curtailed, but even increased by connecting the Metal and Izhora plants. The same was done in "Tankograd" of the city of Chelyabinsk. Difficulties arose with the V-2 engines: the main production facilities were located in Kharkov before the war, and the Nazis occupied it. They got out of this difficulty by installing M-17 gasoline engines, which, of course, reduced the combat capabilities of the equipment.

"S" stands for "fast"

Despite the fact that the modern nature of hostilities meant the abandonment of low-speed armored vehicles, the history of the KV-1 tank did not end. With many shortcomings of this car, it also had obvious advantages, such as good protection and high cross-country ability. The low speed characteristic of siege equipment forced attempts to adapt the characteristics of the Klimov to the conditions of modern maneuverable combat. This is how the KV-1S tank appeared, the mass of which decreased to 42.5 tons. Such “lightness” was achieved by thinning the armor, narrowing the tracks and reducing the ammunition load to 94 shells (later 114). The front-line soldiers' claims to the gearbox were also taken into account, it was replaced with a more advanced one. The medium tank still didn’t work out, the T-34 weighed a little over 30 tons, and with the same power plant it was much more maneuverable. And the letter "C" added to the name meant "high-speed".

Other modifications

In August 1942, the unit received a new model of armored vehicles, the KV-85 tank. It was a deep modification of the same KV-1S, the difference was in the caliber of the turret gun (for the DT-5 gun, as their names make clear, it was 85 mm), reducing the crew size to four people (the radio operator turned out to be unnecessary), cutting ammunition while maintaining the same chassis. The tower was made by casting.

There were other attempts to use the successful sides of the HF. On their basis, self-propelled guns were built, tracked "armored trains" were created, armed with two or more guns of different calibers (KV-7), 122-mm howitzers U-11. After the victory near Moscow, it became clear that a counteroffensive was inevitable, and samples of offensive weapons were again required. The KV-8 tank was outwardly very similar to the prototype, and even its silhouette was imitated by a special decoration depicting an artillery barrel, but it was a flamethrower. A cannon was also installed in the tower, a modest “forty-five” for those times.

And there were other types of auxiliary equipment based on the chassis of the KV: evacuators from the battlefield of damaged vehicles and tractors.

KV and "Tiger"

The fate of the KV tank was historically not very successful. In the first half of the war, it was in little demand, a completely different technique was needed, and by the time the Soviet troops went on a decisive offensive, it was outdated. New heavy IS tanks appeared, the characteristics of which were as correlated with the qualities of the KV, just as the political weight of Joseph Stalin surpassed the influence in the Politburo of the “first red officer”.

At the turn of 1942 and 1943, the Germans had a "Tiger". This vehicle was extremely clumsy and heavy, its undercarriage was even less reliable than that of the KV, but the 88-mm cannon gave it the ability to hit heavily armored targets at distances that did not allow return fire. In February 1943, 10 KV-1s were killed in one day near Leningrad, at which three Tigers fired with impunity from afar. Since 1943, their production has been curtailed.

Nevertheless, the KV tanks made their contribution to the cause of the Victory, and many monuments erected in honor of our tankers in many cities through which the fiery shaft of battles swept through serve as confirmation of this. The once formidable machines remind us of the feat of the victors who forged the sword and selflessly brought our bright holiday closer.

Soviet heavy tank of World War II. Usually called simply "KV": the tank was created under this name, and only later, after the appearance of the KV-2 tank, the KV of the first sample retrospectively received a digital index. Produced from August 1939 to August 1942. Participated in the war with Finland and the Great Patriotic War.

History of creation

The need to develop and create a heavy tank carrying anti-cannon armor was well understood in the USSR. Based on domestic military theory, such tanks were simply necessary to break through the enemy’s front and ensure a breakthrough or overcome fortified areas. Most of the armies of the developed countries of the world had their own theories and practices of overcoming the powerful fortified positions of the enemy; experience in this matter was acquired during the First World War. Such modern fortified lines as, for example, the Maginot Line or the Mannerheim Line were considered even theoretically impregnable. There was even an erroneous opinion that the KV tank was created during the Finnish campaign specifically to break through the Finnish long-term fortifications (the Mannerheim line). In fact, the tank began to be created at the end of 1938, when it became completely clear that the concept of a multi-turreted heavy tank like the T-35 was a dead end. It was obvious that having a large number of towers was not an advantage. And the gigantic dimensions of the tank only make it heavier and do not allow the use of sufficiently thick armor. The initiator of the design of the tank was the head of the ABTU of the Red Army commander D. G. Pavlov.

At the end of the 1930s, attempts were made to create a tank of reduced (compared to the T-35) size, but with thicker armor. However, the designers did not dare to completely abandon the use of several towers: it was assumed that one gun would fight infantry and suppress firing points, and the second must be anti-tank - to fight armored vehicles.

The new tanks designed under this concept (SMK and T-100) were double-turreted, armed with 76 mm and 45 mm guns. And only as an experiment, they also created a smaller version of the QMS - with one tower. Due to this, the length of the machine was reduced (by two road wheels), which had a positive effect on the dynamic characteristics. Unlike its predecessor, the KV (as the experimental tank was called) was equipped with a diesel engine. The first copy of the tank was built at the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ) in August 1939. Initially, the chief designer of the tank was A. S. Ermolaev, then - N. L. Dukhov.

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish War began. The military did not miss the chance to put the new heavy tanks to the test. The day before the start of the war (November 29, 1939), the SMK, T-100 and KV were sent to the front. They were handed over to the 20th heavy tank brigade armed with T-28 medium tanks.

The KV tank took its first battle on December 17 during the breakthrough of the Khottinensky fortified area of ​​the Mannerheim line.

KV crew in the first battle:

Lieutenant Kachekhin (commander)
-AND. Golovachev military engineer 2nd rank (driver)
- Lieutenant Polyakov (gunner)
-TO. Ladle (driver, tester of the Kirov plant)
-BUT. I. Estratov (mechanic / loader, tester of the Kirov plant)
-P. I. Vasiliev (transmission operator / radio operator, tester at the Kirov Plant)
The tank passed the battle test with honor: not a single enemy anti-tank gun could hit it. The military was upset only by the fact that the 76-mm L-11 gun was not strong enough to deal with pillboxes. For this purpose, a new KV-2 tank, armed with a 152-mm howitzer, had to be designed.

On the recommendation of the GABTU, by a joint resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 19, 1939 (already a day after the tests), the KV tank was put into service. As for the SMK and T-100 tanks, they also showed themselves quite well (however, the SMK was blown up by a mine at the very beginning of hostilities), but they were never accepted into service, since they were equipped with higher firepower less thick armor, had significant size and weight, as well as worse dynamic characteristics.

Production

Serial production of KV tanks started in February 1940 at the Kirov Plant. In accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 19, 1940, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) was also ordered to begin production of KV. On December 31, 1940, the first KV was built at ChTZ. At the same time, the plant started the construction of a special building for the assembly of HF.

In 1941, it was planned to produce 1200 KV tanks of all modifications. Of these, at the Kirov Plant - 1000 pcs. (400 KV-1, 100 KV-2, 500 KV-3) and another 200 KV-1 at ChTZ. However, only a few tanks were built at ChTZ before the start of the war. In total, 243 KV-1 and KV-2 were produced in 1940 (including 104 KV-2), and in the first half of 1941 - 393 (including 100 KV-2).

After the start of the war and the mobilization of industry, the production of tanks at the Kirov plant increased significantly. The production of KV tanks was given priority, so the Leningrad Izhora and Metal Plants, as well as other plants, joined the production of many components and assemblies for heavy tanks.

But already starting from July 1941, the evacuation of the LKZ to Chelyabinsk began. The plant is located on the territory of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. On October 6, 1941, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was renamed the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant of the People's Commissariat of Tank Industry. This plant, which received the unofficial name "Tankograd", became the main manufacturer of heavy tanks and self-propelled guns during the Great Patriotic War.

Despite the difficulties associated with the evacuation and deployment of the plant in a new location, in the second half of 1941, the front received 933 KV tanks, in 1942, 2553 of them were already produced (including KV-1s and KV-8).

In addition, in besieged Leningrad, at factory No. 371 in 1942, at least 67 more KV-1s armed with both F-32 and ZIS-5 cannons were built from unused backlogs of hulls and turrets and units supplied from ChKZ. Since these machines were only for the needs of the Leningrad Front, cut off from the "mainland", they were not included in the reports of the GABTU. The total production of KV tanks, therefore, today can be estimated at 3539 tanks.

tank design

For 1940, the serial KV-1 was a truly innovative design that embodied the most advanced ideas of that time: an individual torsion bar suspension, reliable bulletproof armor, a diesel engine and one powerful universal gun in a classic layout. Although individually solutions from this set were often implemented earlier on other foreign and domestic tanks, the KV-1 was the first combat vehicle to embody their combination. Some experts consider the KV tank to be a milestone in world tank building, which had a significant impact on the design of subsequent heavy tanks in other countries. The classic layout on a serial Soviet heavy tank was used for the first time, which allowed the KV-1 to obtain the highest level of security and a large modernization potential within this concept in comparison with the previous serial model of the T-35 heavy tank and experimental SMK and T-100 vehicles (all - multi-tower type). The basis of the classic layout is the division of the armored hull from bow to stern into the control compartment, the fighting compartment and the engine-transmission compartment. The driver and gunner-radio operator were located in the control compartment, three other crew members were placed in the fighting compartment, which combined the middle part of the armored hull and the turret. The gun, ammunition for it and part of the fuel tanks were also located there. The engine and transmission were equipped in the stern of the machine.

Armored corps and turret

The armored hull of the tank was welded from rolled armor plates 75, 40, 30 and 20 mm thick. Equal-strength armor protection (armor plates with a thickness other than 75 mm were used only for horizontal armor of the vehicle), anti-cannon. The armor plates of the frontal part of the machine were mounted at rational angles of inclination. The serial KV tower was produced in three versions: cast, welded with a rectangular niche and welded with a rounded niche. The thickness of the armor for welded turrets was 75 mm, for cast ones - 95 mm, since cast armor was less durable. In 1941, the welded turrets and side armor plates of some tanks were additionally reinforced - 25-mm armor screens were bolted onto them, and there was an air gap between the main armor and the screen, that is, this version of the KV-1 actually received spaced armor. It is not entirely clear why this was done. The Germans began to create heavy tanks only in 1941 (a heavy tank in the German theory of blitzkrieg did not find its application), therefore, for 1941, even the standard KV-1 armor was, in principle, redundant (KV armor was not affected by regular 37-mm and 50-mm anti-tank guns Wehrmacht, but still could be pierced by 88-mm, 105-mm and 150-mm guns). Some sources erroneously indicate that the tanks were produced with rolled armor 100 mm or more thick - in fact, this figure corresponds to the sum of the thickness of the tank's main armor and screens.

The decision to install "screens" was made at the end of June 1941, after the first reports of losses from German anti-aircraft guns, but already in August this program was discontinued, since the chassis could not withstand the mass of the vehicle, which increased to 50 tons. This problem was later partially solved by the installation of reinforced cast road wheels. Shielded tanks were operated on the North-Western and Leningrad fronts.

The frontal part of the turret with an embrasure for the gun, formed by the intersection of four spheres, was cast separately and welded with the rest of the turret armor. The gun mask was a cylindrical segment of bent rolled armor plates and had three holes - for a cannon, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. The tower was mounted on a shoulder strap with a diameter of 1535 mm in the armored roof of the fighting compartment and was fixed with grips to avoid stalling in case of a strong roll or capsizing of the tank. The shoulder strap of the tower was marked in thousandths for firing from closed positions.

The driver was located in the center in front of the armored hull of the tank, to the left of him was the workplace of the gunner-radio operator. Three crew members were housed in the turret: the gunner and loader's jobs were equipped to the left of the gun, and the tank commander's to the right. The landing and exit of the crew was carried out through two round hatches: one in the tower above the workplace of the commander and one on the roof of the hull above the workplace of the gunner-radio operator. The hull was also equipped with a bottom hatch for emergency evacuation by the crew of the tank and a number of hatches, hatches and technological openings for loading ammunition, access to fuel tank fillers, other units and assemblies of the vehicle.

Armament

On the tanks of the first issues, the L-11 cannon of 76.2 mm caliber was equipped with 111 rounds of ammunition (according to other information - 135 or 116). It is interesting that the original project also provided for a 45 mm 20K cannon paired with it, although the armor penetration of the 76 mm L-11 tank gun was practically in no way inferior to the anti-tank 20K. Apparently, strong stereotypes about the need to have a 45 mm anti-tank gun along with a 76 mm were explained by its higher rate of fire and large ammunition load. But already on the prototype, aimed at the Karelian Isthmus, the 45-mm cannon was dismantled and a DT-29 machine gun was installed instead. Subsequently, the L-11 cannon was replaced with a 76-mm F-32 gun with similar ballistics, and in the fall of 1941, with a ZIS-5 gun with a longer barrel length of 41.6 calibers.

The ZIS-5 gun was mounted on trunnions in the turret and was fully balanced. The turret itself with the ZIS-5 gun was also balanced: its center of mass was located on the geometric axis of rotation. The ZIS-5 gun had vertical aiming angles from -5 to +25 degrees, with a fixed position of the tower, it could be aimed in a small sector of horizontal aiming (the so-called "jewelry" aiming). The shot was carried out by means of a manual mechanical descent.

The ammunition load of the gun was 111 rounds of unitary loading. The shots were stacked in the turret and along both sides of the fighting compartment.

Three 7.62-mm DT-29 machine guns were mounted on the KV-1 tank: coaxial with a gun, as well as course and stern in ball mounts. Ammunition for all diesel engines was 2772 rounds. These machine guns were mounted in such a way that, if necessary, they could be removed from the mounts and used outside the tank. Also, for self-defense, the crew had several F-1 hand grenades and was sometimes equipped with a pistol for firing flares. On every fifth KV, an anti-aircraft turret for diesel fuel was installed, however, in practice, anti-aircraft machine guns were rarely installed.

Engine

The KV-1 was equipped with a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder V-2K diesel engine with a capacity of 500 hp. with. (382 kW) at 1800 rpm, subsequently, due to a general increase in the mass of the tank after the installation of heavier cast towers, screens and the elimination of shavings from the edges of the armor plates, the engine power was increased to 600 hp. with. (441 kW). The engine was started by a ST-700 starter with a capacity of 15 liters. with. (11 kW) or compressed air from two tanks with a capacity of 5 liters in the fighting compartment of the vehicle. The KV-1 had a dense layout, in which the main fuel tanks with a volume of 600-615 liters were located both in the combat and in the engine compartment. In the second half of 1941, due to the shortage of V-2K diesel engines, which were produced at that time only at plant No. 12-cylinder carburetor engines M-17T with a capacity of 500 liters. with. In the spring of 1942, a decree was issued on the conversion of all KV-1 tanks with M-17T engines back into service with V-2K diesel engines - the evacuated plant No. 75 set up their production in sufficient quantities at a new location.

Transmission

The KV-1 tank was equipped with a mechanical transmission, which included:

Multi-disc main friction clutch of dry friction "steel according to Ferodo";
- five-speed tractor-type gearbox;
-two multi-plate friction clutches with "steel on steel" friction;
-two onboard planetary gears;
- tape floating brakes.
All transmission control drives are mechanical. When used in the army, the greatest number of complaints and complaints against the manufacturer were caused precisely by defects and the extremely unreliable operation of the transmission group, especially for overloaded wartime KV tanks. Almost all authoritative printed sources recognize the low reliability of the transmission as a whole as one of the most significant shortcomings of the KV series tanks and vehicles based on it.

Chassis

Suspension of the machine - individual torsion bar with internal shock absorption for each of the 6 stamped dual-slope road wheels of small diameter on each side. Opposite each track roller, suspension balancers were welded to the armored hull. Drive wheels with removable lantern gears were located at the rear, and sloths at the front. The upper branch of the caterpillar was supported by three small rubber stamped support rollers on each side. In 1941, the technology for the production of track and support rollers was transferred to casting, the latter lost their rubber tires due to the general shortage of rubber at that time. Caterpillar tension mechanism - screw; each caterpillar consisted of 86-90 single-ridge tracks with a width of 700 mm and a pitch of 160 mm.

electrical equipment

The electrical wiring in the KV-1 tank was single-wire, the armored hull of the vehicle served as the second wire. The exception was the emergency lighting circuit, which was two-wire. The sources of electricity (operating voltage 24 V) were a GT-4563A generator with a RRA-24 relay-regulator with a power of 1 kW and four 6-STE-128 batteries connected in series with a total capacity of 256 Ah. Electricity consumers included:

Turret slewing electric motor;
- external and internal lighting of the machine, illumination devices for sights and scales of measuring instruments;
- an external sound signal and an alarm circuit from the landing party to the crew of the vehicle;
- instrumentation (ammeter and voltmeter);
- means of communication - a radio station and a tank intercom;
-electrics of the motor group - starter ST-700, starting relay RS-371 or RS-400, etc.

Means of observation and sights

The general visibility of the KV-1 tank back in 1940 was assessed in a memorandum to L. Mekhlis from military engineer Kalivoda as extremely unsatisfactory. The commander of the machine had the only viewing device in the tower - the PTK panorama. The driver in battle carried out observation through a viewing device with a triplex, which was equipped with an armored shutter. This viewing device was mounted in an armored plug hatch on the frontal armor plate along the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle. In a calm environment, this plug hatch moved forward, providing the driver with a more convenient direct view from his workplace.

For firing, the KV-1 was equipped with two gun sights - a telescopic TOD-6 for direct fire and a periscope PT-6 for firing from closed positions. The head of the periscope sight was protected by a special armor cap. To ensure the possibility of fire in the dark, the scales of the sights had illumination devices. Forward and aft DT machine guns could be equipped with a PU sight from a sniper rifle with a threefold increase.

Means of communication

The means of communication included the radio station 71-TK-3, later 10R or 10RK-26. On a number of tanks, 9R aviation radio stations were equipped from shortages. The KV-1 tank was equipped with an internal intercom TPU-4-Bis for 4 subscribers.

Radio stations 10R or 10RK were a set of a transmitter, receiver and umformers (single-arm motor-generators) for their power supply, connected to the on-board electrical network with a voltage of 24 V.

10P simplex tube shortwave radio station operating in the frequency range from 3.75 to 6 MHz (respectively, wavelengths from 80 to 50 m). In the parking lot, the communication range in the telephone (voice) mode reached 20-25 km, while in motion it slightly decreased. A longer communication range could be obtained in the telegraph mode, when information was transmitted by a telegraph key using Morse code or another discrete coding system. Frequency stabilization was carried out by a removable quartz resonator, there was no smooth frequency adjustment. 10P allowed communication on two fixed frequencies; to change them, another quartz resonator of 15 pairs was used in the radio set.

The 10RK radio station was a technological improvement of the previous 10R model, it became easier and cheaper to manufacture. This model has the ability to smoothly select the operating frequency, the number of quartz resonators has been reduced to 16. The characteristics of the communication range have not undergone significant changes.

The tank intercom TPU-4-Bis made it possible to negotiate between members of the tank crew even in a very noisy environment and connect a headset (head phones and throat phones) to a radio station for external communication.

TTX KV-1 arr. 1940

Classification: heavy tank
- Combat weight, t: 47.5
-Layout scheme: classic
- Crew, people: 5

Dimensions:

Case length, mm: 6675
- Hull width, mm: 3320
-Height, mm: 2710
-Clearance, mm: 450

Booking:

Armor type: steel rolled homogeneous
- Forehead of the hull (top), mm / city: 75 / 30 degrees.
- Forehead of the hull (middle), mm / city: 60 / 70 degrees.
- Forehead of the hull (bottom), mm / city: 75 / 25 degrees
- Hull board, mm / city: 75 / 0 city
- Hull feed (top), mm / city: 60 / 50 degrees.
- Hull feed (bottom), mm / city: 75 / 0-90 degrees.
- Bottom, mm: 30-40
- Hull roof, mm: 30-40
- Forehead of the tower, mm / city: 75 / 20 degrees.
- Gun mantlet, mm/deg.: 90
- Tower board, mm/deg.: 75 / 15 deg.
- Tower feed, mm / city: 75 / 15 degrees
- Tower roof, mm: 40

Armament:

Gun caliber and brand: 76 mm L-11, F-32, F-34, ZIS-5
- Gun type: rifled
- Barrel length, calibers: 41.6 (for ZIS-5)
-gun ammunition: 90 or 114 (depending on modification)
- VN angles, deg.:? 7 ... + 25 deg.
-Sights: telescopic TOD-6, periscopic PT-6
-Machine guns: 3 x DT

Mobility:

Engine type: V-shaped 12-cylinder four-stroke liquid-cooled diesel
- Engine power, l. p.: 600
-Speed ​​on the highway, km / h: 34
- Cruising on the highway, km: 150-225
-Cruising range over rough terrain, km: 90-180
- Specific power, l. s./t: 11.6
- Suspension type: torsion bar
- Specific ground pressure, kg/sq.cm: 0.77

Tank KV-1: history of creation, specifications, armament, advantages and disadvantages, combat use

The heavy tanks of the KV series, of course, cannot be called "little-known", but for several decades after the end of the Great Patriotic War, they were hardly remembered. This is largely due to the influence of cinema - in the filming of numerous "military" films, almost exclusively T-34s were used, since there were very few serviceable KVs after 1945. Meanwhile, these combat vehicles once made a truly shocking impression on the enemy. Unfortunately, the command of the Red Army at the initial stage of the war failed to take full advantage of the outstanding characteristics of the KV-1, which is partly due to its own "innate" shortcomings.

History of creation

In November 1937, D.G. Pavlov, one of the most experienced Soviet tankmen, was appointed head of the Armored Directorate of the Red Army. The former leaders of ABTU (At first, I.A. Khalepsky, and then G.G. Bokis) before that fell under the growing rink of “Yezhov’s” political repressions. The new chief undertook the task entrusted to him very energetically, since he personally experienced all the shortcomings of the armored vehicles that were in service at that time.

Assessing the results of the fighting in Spain, Pavlov believed that the new Soviet tanks needed the most reliable protection possible. The small-caliber, but quick-firing anti-tank guns, created back in the early 1930s, left almost no chance for Soviet technology, and something had to be done about it. In addition, D.G. Pavlov already knew that tanks with anti-shell armor appeared in France.

In December 1937, the new head of ABTU sent a letter to the director of the Leningrad Pilot Machine Building Plant No. 185. This document for the first time clearly formulated the requirements for the level of armoring of new tanks. In particular, it was pointed out that heavy tanks should be fully protected from 76 mm caliber projectiles at a distance of 800-1000 meters, and from fire from a 47 mm anti-tank gun at all possible distances. D.G. Pavlov believed that 60 millimeters of armor would be required to solve this problem.

It should be noted that Pavlov's immediate predecessor, G.G. Bokis also believed that the protection of heavy tanks should be anti-ballistic. Therefore, in the summer of 1937, he demanded from the designers of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, where the “land cruiser” T-35 was mass-produced in the 30s, to increase the frontal armor of this machine to 75 mm.

The arrest of Bokis and the search for "enemies of the people" at the KhPZ itself delayed the fulfillment of this order. However, from the very beginning it was clear that an increase in the thickness of the armor on a huge five-turreted tank would inevitably lead to an excessive increase in the mass of the vehicle, which already did not differ in either maneuverability or speed. It was necessary to develop a project of some fundamentally new machine.

The terms of reference formulated in the early spring of 1938 called for the creation of a heavy three-turreted tank armed with three cannons and eight machine guns (two of which were large-caliber). It soon became clear that KhPZ was overloaded with other work. The designers of two Leningrad factories - No. 185 and Kirovsky could help their colleagues.

In August 1938, a state design contract was drawn up, in accordance with which it was planned to manufacture two experimental heavy tanks - the T-100 was created at plant No. 185, and the SMK (stands for "Sergey Mironovich Kirov") at Kirovsky.

Already at this stage, there was a tendency to further reduce the number of towers. She expressed herself in the fact that the projects of both experimental combat vehicles were created in two versions - the first of them coincided with the original terms of reference, and the second involved the creation of a two-tower tank armed with 76.2 mm and 45 mm caliber guns.

Drawings and models of machines were prepared by October of the same year. Around the same time, a group of graduates of the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization (now the Military Academy of Armored Forces) arrived at the Kirov Plant. It included S. Krasavin, B. Pavlov, L. Pereverzev, V. Sinozersky, G. Turchaninov and L. Shpuntov. All of them had completely completed their course of study and now had to prepare a graduation project. His theme was the creation of another heavy tank - a single-turret one.

The work of graduates was supervised by the engineers of SKB-2 (the official designation of the design bureau of the Kirov Plant). N.L. was appointed project manager. Dukhov. The future tank received the preliminary name U0. Apparently, the chief designer of SKB-2, Zhores Kotin, initially took this project much more seriously than ordinary training work.

The "base" for the U0 was the project of the SMK heavy tank. The "liquidation" of one of the towers made it possible to make the car more compact and light. At the same time, one of the main requirements at the first stage was the preservation of the former main armament complex, consisting of two guns. This meant that the 76.2 mm and 45 mm guns would be placed together in the same turret.

Apparently, it is necessary to explain why in those years heavy and medium tanks were made "multi-gun". This was done not just in the name of increasing firepower - the main thing was the desire to create a universal vehicle suitable both for combat with enemy infantry and for destroying enemy armored vehicles. Small caliber quick-firing guns were thought to be best suited for the second task, which is why they were considered essential for tanks such as the T-35, T-28, SMK and T-100.

Such an approach may seem strange today, but it was fully justified. In particular, the American Sherman tanks had to be made in two versions - one armed with an anti-tank gun, the other with a gun capable of firing more or less effective high-explosive fragmentation projectiles. It is far from always possible to combine these two qualities in one weapon model. In much later times, for example, the creators of the M1 Abrams tank faced similar problems.

The "diploma" tank U0 differed from the SMK not only in its size and "one-tower". The following changes have been proposed:

• The use of a diesel engine rather than a carburetor engine as a power plant;
• Introduction of new MTO controls;
• Installation of a planetary gearbox of a special design.

Otherwise, Y0 coincided with the QMS. Meanwhile, the gain in weight, obtained due to the rejection of the tower, made it possible to significantly increase the thickness of the reservation and optimize its scheme. This had to be used - of course, subject to the transformation of the training project into a real combat vehicle.

In December 1938, during a joint meeting of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars and the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the "double-turret" versions of the T-100 and SMK tanks were approved. Whether the U0 project was considered at the same time is not known for sure, but already on February 27, 1940, at the government level, permission was given for the construction of a single-turret "breakthrough tank" that meets the tactical and technical requirements approved by the Defense Committee of the Council of People's Commissars. The future combat vehicle was given the designation KV - in honor of Klim Voroshilov, People's Commissar of Defense and one of the closest associates of I.V. Stalin. Subsequently, they began to call tanks after military leaders and politicians abroad - we can recall, in particular, the Churchill tank.

Former graduate students who became engineers returned to SKB-2 in March 1939 and began further work on the project. On the initiative of N. Dukhov, it was decided to replace the planetary gearbox with a five-speed manual one. Its design basically coincided with a similar unit developed for the T-28 medium tank.

Despite the fact that the use of a diesel engine was envisaged as part of the graduation project, the KV was originally created based on the M-17F carburetor engine. This power plant provided a significant gain in power - approximately 60 horsepower (660 versus 600). Nevertheless, in June 1939, the situation changed - diesel was finally “registered” on the tank. This was due to two main factors: firstly, the use of solar oil instead of gasoline made it possible to reduce the size of the tanks while maintaining the power reserve, and secondly, the transmission in any case did not allow to “remove” more than 580 horsepower from the power plant.

On the last day of the summer of 1939, the first prototype of the KV tank was delivered to the factory site, after which its testing began. They only lasted a few days. At the same time, the military representative of the Kirov Plant noted that the machine did not have a large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun DK, which was installed on the SMK. The designers could not eliminate this drawback, since the tower was already overloaded - after all, two guns and a rear machine gun were installed in it to protect the rear hemisphere.

The second stage of testing began in October 1939. Simultaneously with the HF, the QMS was also tested at the factory test site. The double-turret tank was then considered the main one, and the main attention was paid to it. For this reason, at the end of November, the mileage of the QMS exceeded a thousand kilometers, while the HF covered only 485 km. The most notable event of this period was the abandonment of the 45 mm gun. It was dismantled, putting an additional DT machine gun in its place. Subsequently, the single-gun variant became the main and only one.

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish War began. This conflict allowed the Red Army to try out new types of military equipment, including heavy tanks. The "debut" of KV took place on December 18. These days the Red Army was trying to break through the Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus. The new heavy tank successfully coped with the task, but the decision to put it into service, which followed literally the next day, today looks like a gross mistake.

In fact, the Defense Committee showed real frivolity by ordering the start of mass production of a machine that did not even complete the factory test cycle, focusing on the results of just one battle. The consequences of this mistake were extremely severe. Meanwhile, the designers were ordered to urgently create a special version of the KV, armed with a powerful 152 mm howitzer.

In principle, such a task did not come as a “surprise” for SKB-2 - after all, D. Pavlov, head of the Armored Directorate, pointed out in January 1938 the need to use large-caliber guns on new models of heavy tanks. Therefore, the possibility of "re-equipment" was envisaged even at the design stage of the QMS and KV. The "Winter War" only pushed the relevant developments - it was necessary to urgently provide the army with a tank capable of destroying long-term concrete fortifications, gouges and pillboxes.

The designers of SKB-2 still failed to catch up with the start of the second assault on the Mannerheim Line - when the KV with a new enlarged turret and a 152-mm gun was delivered to the front line, Soviet troops had already captured Finnish pillboxes. Nevertheless, these tanks still brought some benefit at the final stage of the war - they were used to break through field defenses. In addition, test shelling of hollows and empty pillboxes was carried out. Subsequently, already in 1941, the tank with a 152-mm gun received the designation KV-2, while the original model with a 76-mm gun became known as the KV-1.

In the spring of 1940, the government approved a plan for mass production of heavy KV tanks. It was assumed that from July to December 100 KV-2s and 130 KV-1s would be produced.

To fulfill this plan, some changes had to be made to the design of combat vehicles, making their production more “technological” and cheaper. The list of major innovations is as follows:

1. Stamped-welded tanks were replaced with welded ones;
2. Simplified gearbox;
3. Reduced number of support bearings;
4. Changed the shape of the wings;
5. Most of the screws have been replaced with bolts.

The most noticeable change was the appearance of a faceted tower, which was made much simpler than the previous, "round" one. All this allowed to reduce the cost of the machine by about 15%.

Meanwhile, on June 10, KV tests were resumed near Leningrad. One tank with a "small" turret and two with a 152-mm gun were tested. The corresponding order was given by Marshal G. Kulik, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, who for a long time did not like the hasty decision to adopt the KV. As expected, the tests immediately revealed a lot of flaws and design defects. Among them, in particular, noted:

1. Low engine resource;
2. Constant severe damage to the gearbox and final drives;
3. Poor operation of the cooling system at an air temperature of more than 20 degrees;
4. The inability of the tank to develop "passport" speed;
5. Constant and rapid clogging of the air filter - it became unusable within an hour and a half after the start of the movement;
6. Weak turret traverse mechanism. It was "borrowed" from the T-28 medium tank and did not cope well with the increased load - it sparked and burned out.

All these defects, especially problems with the transmission, made the KV tanks virtually incompetent. It would seem that this situation should be immediately corrected, however, in September 1940, no changes were made to the design of the machine. This was hindered by the already deployed mass production.

Notorious L.Z. Mekhlis, who was then working in the People's Commissariat for State Control, received a report in the fall about the ongoing problems with the KV tanks, conducted a personal check and made sure that the list of design defects was even longer than it seemed during the summer tests. So, the undercarriage remained clearly unfinished, the turret shoulder strap did not have the proper reinforcement, and the L-11 gun did not meet the requirements of the People's Commissariat of Defense both in terms of its main characteristics and in terms of workmanship.

In November, Mekhlis sent I.V. A letter to Stalin detailing the depressing results of an inspection carried out at the Kirov Plant. It would seem that in those harsh years, the perpetrators should have been severely punished, but this did not happen. The case was limited to disciplinary sanctions, and the serial production of obviously defective tanks continued. Subsequently, Mekhlis, and Kulik, and D. Pavlov repeatedly reported this “upstairs”, but nothing changed. In fact, only the turret rotation mechanism was corrected.

The “finishing” of the KV tanks was partly hampered by the not entirely correct results of the analysis of the Wehrmacht’s military operations against France in May-June 1940. The command of the Red Army was well aware that the French army had heavily armored tanks. It would seem that it would be difficult for the German troops to cope with these powerful machines, but the result was extremely unexpected - the Wehrmacht triumphantly completed the campaign in just 40 days. Assessing this fact, some Soviet experts suggested that Germany managed to create some kind of particularly powerful model of an anti-tank gun.

To protect against a new threat (which in reality did not exist), the designers took measures to further strengthen the armor of the KV tanks. In addition, it was decided to switch to a more powerful gun with a caliber of 107 mm. All these works took a lot of effort, but were not crowned with particular success. At the same time, all the previous shortcomings were preserved.

The only significant achievement of this period was the production of the first cast towers for the KV-1. This promised a significant simplification of the mass production of combat vehicles. Unfortunately, before the start of World War II, the transition to cast towers did not have time to be implemented. In addition, SKB-2 was loaded with work on the creation of another heavy tank, the KV-3 (the designation T-150 was also used). It was not possible to implement this project, like the subsequent KV-4 and KV-5. It would be much more correct to focus the designers' efforts on "finishing" the original model, but this conclusion is based on modern "afterknowledge".

Already after the German attack on the USSR, in early July 1941, the production of KV-2 tanks was discontinued. This allowed the Kirov Plant to increase the production of the KV-1, but this machine was still unfinished. In addition, the rapid advance of the German troops led to the need to deploy mass production in the rear - at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. In Leningrad, the last KV tank was made on October 18, 1941, a month after the city was surrounded.

In August 1942, the production of the KV 1C tank began. From the original model, this car differed primarily in lightweight armor. This made it possible to improve the dynamic characteristics of the tank, but after 11 months the serial production of the KV-1S was stopped.

Much more powerful equipment was needed to fight the Tigers and Panthers. In addition, the KV-1S already differed little in its characteristics from the average T-34-76, which made it simply redundant.

As you can see, the history of the heavy tank "Klim Voroshilov" turned out to be rather short - it was designed in about a year, and mass production continued for over three years. The fate of this combat vehicle could have been much more successful if not for a number of mistakes that were not so much technical as organizational. In 1944, heavy IS tanks replaced the KV - today everyone knows how this abbreviation stands for.

Main goals and objectives

Initially, the KV-1 was intended to break through strong defensive fortifications and "clear" the road for the offensive of medium and light tanks. Within the framework of this general task, the following goals were supposed to be achieved:

1. Identification and destruction of enemy anti-tank batteries;
2. Suppression of infantry resistance at the forefront, destruction of machine-gun nests, wood-and-earth firing points and dugouts;
3. Breakthrough of wire barriers;
4. Exit to the positions of the enemy field artillery and its destruction;
5. Reflection of counterattacks of armored vehicles.

Thick armor allowed the KV-1 to maneuver quite freely under fire from anti-tank guns, and the presence of a rear machine gun, as the designers believed, would make it possible to operate without direct infantry escort.

During the war, the KV-1 repeatedly acted in full accordance with its "theoretical" purpose. In particular, this is how these tanks were used in the early days of the counteroffensive near Stalingrad, as well as in 1944 during the Vyborg operation.

Much more often, the KV was used in approximately the same way as the T-34 - as a universal combat vehicle for infantry support, defensive operations, counterattacks and raids in the operational rear of the enemy.

Combat vehicle design

The KV-1 has a classic layout: the engine and transmission are located in the aft part, the control compartment is located in front, and the fighting compartment and turret are in the middle. Today, this does not look like something unusual, but until the advent of this machine, Soviet heavy tanks were multi-turreted, and against such a background, the Klim Voroshilov clearly stood out. The main feature of the KV-1 was a fairly harmonious combination of the most progressive design solutions of that time - the use of a diesel engine, the presence of thick anti-ballistic armor, an individual torsion bar suspension and a fairly powerful universal gun.

Department of Management

The front part of the KV-1 tank was assigned to the control compartment. There were places for two crew members - a gunner-radio operator, who was sitting on the left side, and a driver, whose seat was installed in the center. To get inside the control compartment, a hatch was used, located directly above the seat of the gunner-radio operator.

The driver was to take his place first, and the exit from the tank was carried out in the reverse order. True, there was another small hatch directly in front of the driver, but it was impossible to squeeze through it - this “window” was intended solely for observation. In battle, the driver's hatch was closed, it was necessary to navigate by looking into a very narrow viewing slot with a triplex, or into a mirror device mounted on the roof of the hull.

In front of the gunner-radio operator, a DT course machine gun was placed in a ball mount. The radio station was located on the port side, its power was provided by four batteries. In addition, the control department had control devices, fuel valves, a pump and compressed air cylinders (used when starting the engine). In emergency situations, the driver and gunner-radio operator could leave the tank through a spare hatch cut into the bottom.

fighting compartment

The artillery turret was installed in the middle part of the KV-1 tank, directly above the fighting compartment, on a ball bearing. The commander's seat was on the left side of the gun, while the gunner and loader were on the right. All these crew members entered the tank and left it through the upper turret hatch (there was only one). When landing, the gunner took his place first, then the commander, and only after that - the loader.

An all-round view was provided with the help of a panorama and four mirrored periscopes installed around the perimeter of the fighting compartment. The gunner, in addition, had a telescopic sight. To the left of it, a viewing slot was cut in the hull of the tank, closed by a triplex. In the aft part of the tower there was a DT machine gun, discs with cartridges for it, as well as part of the ammunition for the gun. Other shells were placed on the bottom of the fighting compartment, along the sides of which, in addition, there were tanks for fuel and engine oil.

Armor

The hull of the KV-1 tank was made of rolled steel of various thicknesses. Frontal projection protection was provided by three armor plates. The upper and lower were located at a slight angle, their thickness was 75 mm. The middle sheet was significantly thinner - only 40 mm, but it was installed with a significant slope, which significantly reduced its vulnerability.

The sides of the hull and the lower armor plate at the rear of the tank were 75 mm thick, and the upper stern plate was 60 mm thick. The thinnest were the roof and bottom. The thickness of the steel sheets covering the engine and transmission compartments from below and above was only 30 mm, and there was forty-millimeter armor above and below the fighting compartment.

The tower was the most protected from shells. In addition to the main 75-mm armor, a mask was installed in the front to protect the gun and machine gun - 90 millimeters of high-strength steel. The thickness of the armor on the cast towers was increased first to 82, and then to 110 millimeters. The external elements of the observation devices were protected from damage by special caps.

Power plant and transmission

The KV-1 tank was powered by a V-shaped four-stroke V-2 diesel engine. This motor could develop up to 600 horsepower, but the operational power was 500 hp. As a fuel, either diesel fuel oil DT or gas oil grade "E" was used. Fuel tanks, located in the control compartment and fighting compartment, could hold up to 615 liters. Sometimes additional fuel tanks were mounted on the fenders. Their number ranged from three to five.

Regular start of the engine was carried out with starters with an electric drive. At first, two such devices were installed on KV-1 tanks, but at the end of 1941, preference was given to a launch scheme with one more powerful starter. In the event that all this equipment did not work for some reason, it was possible to turn on the motor using compressed air. Cylinders with him, as already noted, were in the control department.

The KV-1 transmission included the following main elements:

1. Main clutch (multi-disc, dry friction);
2. Gearbox - two-shaft, five-speed (excluding reverse gear);
3. Side clutches;
4. Onboard planetary gearboxes.

It should be noted that the engine and transmission compartments on the KV tanks were separated from each other.

Governing bodies

The driver controlled the movement of the KV-1 tank using the main clutch and gas pedals, as well as three levers. One of them was intended for gear shifting, while the other two were used for turns.

The gun was controlled by an electric horizontal pickup and a manual flywheel for vertical pickup. The shot could be carried out by pressing the manual or foot trigger. The loading of the gun, as you might guess, was carried out manually.

Tank armament

The original terms of reference assumed that the KV-1 tank would be equipped with the same set of guns and machine guns as the experimental SMK. Later, however, this idea had to be abandoned. In particular, the 45-mm gun was removed from the turret at the stage of factory testing. Since then, all KV-1s have been armed with only one gun.

Artillery armament

The first KV tanks were equipped with a 76.2 mm L-11 gun developed at the Kirov Plant. It was a development of the earlier L-10 gun, already used on the T-28. The length of the rifled part of the barrel of this gun reached 30 calibers, which made it possible to give the shells an initial speed of 615 meters per second.

With the help of the L-11, it was possible to break through armor 60 millimeters thick at a distance of a kilometer. Meanwhile, German tanks of the late 30s and early 40s of the last century were protected by armor with a maximum thickness of only 30 mm. Thus, the power of the L-11 was enough for their confident destruction even at a distance of 3 kilometers.

A serious drawback of this gun was a structural defect in the recoil device, which was guaranteed to fail in some firing modes. This fact was well known at the design stage of the KV-1, so it was planned to equip the tank with a more advanced F-32 gun designed by V. Grabin, created simultaneously with the L-11. It was not possible to do this only due to the fact that the L-11 was easier to put into mass production.

Subsequently, the defect of the "Leningrad" gun was successfully eliminated, the recoiler began to work without breakdowns, however, already in January 1941, the KV-1 was nevertheless re-equipped - the simplicity of the device and the relative cheapness of the F-32 gun allowed it to get ahead of the L-11. At the same time, the ballistic and "armor-piercing" characteristics of both guns were practically the same.

In the meantime, Grabin developed and prepared for mass production of another tank gun - the F-34. It was more powerful than the F-32 and at the same time somewhat simpler in design. These guns began to arm T-34 medium tanks, they were also installed on individual copies of the KV-1, but then the transition to the F-27 gun seemed a more promising option.

Tests of heavy tanks equipped with the F-27 took place in the spring of 1941 and were unsuccessful. The length of the barrel of the new gun was recognized as excessive, and the military did not like the significant dimensions of the unitary shots. As a result, the design of the F-27 was somewhat changed, and already during the war, in October 1941, this gun was put into service under the designation ZiS-5.

The barrel of the new gun had a length of 41.5 calibers, which made it possible to give the shells an initial speed of 680 meters per second. Ammunition was 90 shells (sometimes increased to 114 pieces).

Machine gun armament

The original terms of reference provided for arming the KV-1 with a DK heavy machine gun, but there was simply no place for it in the turret. For this reason, all modifications of the heavy tank had only DT machine guns of 7.62 mm caliber. They were a special tank modification of the famous Degtyarev light machine gun.

One diesel engine was installed in front of the gunner-radio operator in a ball mount. The second was paired with a cannon, and the third was located in the rear of the tower and was used to protect the vehicle from enemy infantry approaching from the rear. In addition, another machine gun was carried inside the turret, which could be used as a spare or anti-aircraft gun. In the latter case, the diesel engine had to be installed on the turret that was on the turret hatch. This device was installed on every fifth serial KV tank.

Ammunition for machine guns was 48 disks, inside of which 3024 rounds were placed. In addition, F-1 hand grenades could be used for self-defense. There were 25 of them. The tank commander was additionally armed with a submachine gun (PPD or PPSh).

Specifications

The main parameters of the KV-1 tank are given for its two most common variants - the basic serial model and the "high-speed" modification, known as the KV-1S:

	KV-1	KV-1S
Tank weight	47.5 tons	42.5 tons
Length	6.625 m	6.9 m
Width	3.32 m	3.25 m
Height	2.71 m	2.64 m
Clearance	0.45 m	0.45 m
Highway speed	34 km/h	42 km/h
Cross-country speed	5-10 km/h	10-15 km/h
Power reserve	Up to 225 km	Up to 180 km
Specific power	11.6 HP per ton	14.1 HP per ton

The armament and engine of the machines of both modifications coincided.

Advantages and disadvantages of the KV-1 tank

The main advantage of the KV-1 tank was its high level of security. Both during the Winter War and at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, it was almost impossible to hit this combat vehicle from most types of anti-tank weapons. As a result, the KV-1 could easily win duels with enemy tanks and artillery batteries.

The design of "Klim Voroshilov" was perhaps the most advanced for the early 40s of the last century. Only another Soviet machine, the T-34, could compare with it in this regard. The creators of the KV managed to combine in their brainchild all the most progressive innovations of those years - a long-barreled gun, sloping armor, a good suspension system, and a diesel engine.

An additional advantage of the KV was the correctly selected speed of its movement in first gear - unlike the T-34, this tank did not overtake the infantry following it, which made it possible to coordinate actions much more successfully during the attack.

The KV-1 had many shortcomings, but it is worth highlighting the two most serious ones. The first of them and the most obvious was the general "dampness", lack of knowledge of the design. In 1939, the car should not have been put into service, but sent for in-depth tests, after which all defects could be eliminated - after all, there was still time for this. Unfortunately, quality was sacrificed in favor of quantity, which was a serious mistake, for which both the tankers themselves and the Red Army soldiers, who remained on the battlefield without the support of armored vehicles, paid with their blood.

The second and no less significant drawback of the KV-1 was the uncertainty of its intended purpose. This tank never got its own "niche". At the beginning of the war, the much cheaper and more maneuverable T-34 was almost as invulnerable to enemy anti-tank guns as the KV, while possessing almost the same weaponry. As a result, the very meaning of the existence of a separate heavy tank was lost. And in the second half of the Second World War, when Tigers and Panthers appeared on the battlefields, the KV 1 armor and its armament immediately became clearly insufficient.

Unfortunately, the SKB-2 designers were unable to provide their heavy tank with sufficient modernization potential, which would allow the vehicle to be re-equipped with a more powerful large-caliber gun in a timely manner. A controversial decision was the transition to the production of the "high-speed" KV-1S, which, in terms of its parameters, was even closer to the T-34, which was generally quite pointless.

KV modifications

Despite the fact that the KV-1 was mass-produced for less than four years, several rather significantly different variants of this tank were created.

The list of the most famous modifications is as follows:

1. KV-2. In fact, it is an independent model. The main difference is a new turret with a powerful 152 mm M-10T gun;
2. KV-1E. These tanks were manufactured from July to August 1941. They were distinguished from the basic modification by the installation of additional armor screens in the front of the hull. It is sometimes claimed that this measure was taken to protect against the German 88 mm gun, but such a version is doubtful;
3. KV-1S. Produced since August 1942. The main difference is a reduced weight due to a decrease in the thickness of the armor (mainly onboard). In addition, the designers managed to partially eliminate the shortcomings of the transmission and make the tank more reliable;
4. KV-85. Latest serial modification. It was a KV-1 chassis with a turret of the future IS-1 tank installed on it. The KV-85 was created as a transition model. The main reason for its appearance was the high Soviet tanks in battles with the "Tigers" and "Panthers".

Separately, it is necessary to mention the flamethrower tanks KV-6 and KV-8. The first of them was made in besieged Leningrad in a small series (at least 4 and no more than 8 units). There is little information about this combat vehicle. The KV-8 was built in much larger numbers. The basis for the flamethrower tank was at first the KV-1, and then the KV-1S.

The main feature of the KV-8 is the replacement of the ZiS-5 gun with a 45-mm cannon, next to which, instead of a coaxial machine gun, a flamethrower was installed. To prevent the enemy from distinguishing the KV-8 from other heavy tanks, the 45-mm gun was covered with a special casing imitating the ZiS-5. Such combat vehicles were used, for example, during the defense of Stalingrad in 1942.

Combat use of heavy tanks KV-1

For the first time, the KV-1 appeared on the battlefield during the Soviet-Finnish War. It was an experimental machine that did not have time to complete the factory test cycle. On December 17, 1939, the crew of the tank, which included two representatives of the Kirov Plant (K. Kovsh and A. Estratov), ​​was ordered to join the 20th tank brigade. This formation was to attack the fortified area of ​​Baboshino (one of the sections of the Finnish defense line on the Karelian Isthmus) the next morning.

On December 18, after a short artillery preparation, the KV-1 moved forward along with the T-28 tanks. Fearing a mine explosion, the driver P. Golovachev did not move out to the country road, despite the intensive shelling of the road. Several burning T-28s testified to the effectiveness of Finnish anti-tank artillery fire.

Having approached the anti-tank ditch, the KV-1 moved along this obstacle. Immediately, several shells hit the side of the tank at once, but the thick armor withstood all the blows. The firing positions of the enemy artillery could not be found, but several fortified positions were identified, on which the tank immediately opened fire. Almost immediately after that, some powerful projectile hit the frontal armor. From the concussion, the car's engine stalled, but it managed to start.

Continuing to be under enemy fire, the KV-1 came close to the previously shot down T-28, took it in tow and delivered it to the location of the Soviet troops. This ended the fight. The next day, a military commission arrived and carefully examined the tank. As it turned out, the barrel of the L-11 gun was shot through during the battle, the track rollers were also damaged, and some tracks were deformed. In general, the tank remained quite serviceable.

Soon the damaged barrel of the L-11 was replaced, but the KV-1 did not participate in the battles anymore. How justified are the conclusions of the military commission that the new tank can be safely taken into service is a very controversial issue. In principle, the KV-1 did not demonstrate anything phenomenal - after all, the Finns fired at it from a rather weak Bofors cannon, which could not penetrate 75 mm thick armor.

In further battles on the Karelian Isthmus, the KV-1 no longer took part (unlike the KV-2 created in a hurry). Therefore, all other episodes of the combat biography of a heavy tank fell on the Great Patriotic War.

As of June 22, 1941, the Red Army had a total of 545 KV-1 and KV-2 tanks. 278 of them were transferred to the Kyiv Special Military District, and 116 to the Western Special Military District. The main problem in those days was an acute shortage of trained crews. There were no more than 150 of them in total. Because of this, only 75 KV tanks were in operation on the eve of the war.

The very first episode involving the KV-1 was, apparently, the battle against the 6th German Panzer Division, which took place on June 24, 1941. On that day, the German positions were attacked by Soviet heavy tanks, the number of which is not precisely established. At first, the KV-1 crushed the defense of the motorcycle battalion, putting it to flight, then forded the Dubyssa River and continued the attack, all the while being under heavy fire from German artillery.

According to Erhard Raus, the commander of the 6th Panzer Division, even hits from heavy 150-mm shells did not cause any noticeable damage to the KV-1. Soviet combat vehicles were subjected to sudden flank fire - the fire was fired by an anti-tank battery.

KV-1s slowly turned towards the enemy, and then, having reached the German guns, they simply passed them over. Seeing that the Soviet vehicles were heading towards the rear artillery positions, the commander of the 11th German tank regiment ordered a counterattack with the forces of one hundred tanks (from 30 to 34 Pz.IVs and at least 70 Pz.35 (t)). Nothing came of this idea - the shelling of the KV-1, even at close range, turned out to be inconclusive. At the same time, the German tanks were knocked out one by one.

In the end, panic and a general flight began. Unfortunately, this success was private - after the defeat of the German positions, the KV-1 stopped. Apparently, they simply did not receive an order for further actions.

The shock experienced by the German soldiers after a personal acquaintance with the latest Soviet armored vehicles, as a whole, did not affect the course of hostilities. Events developed extremely unfavorably for the Red Army. Particularly depressing was the fact that most of the KV-1 losses suffered in these first months of the war fell on various technical malfunctions. So, the 41st Soviet tank division, which included 31 KV-1, lost 22 such vehicles by the beginning of July 1941, and the enemy managed to knock out only five of them - all the rest became victims of breakdowns and insufficiently qualified handling.

This already bad situation was aggravated by the inept orders of the command - tanks senselessly drove along the front for many hundreds of kilometers. It soon became clear that the Voroshilovets tractor was not able to fully tow the broken KV. It was necessary to use another to evacuate one heavy tank, which often led to the fact that the second vehicle also failed. The main vulnerabilities in the design of the KV-1 and KV-2 remained the same nodes - side clutches, gearbox and air filter.

Perhaps the brightest page in the combat use of the KV-1 tanks at the initial stage of the war was the battle near the city of Krasnogvardeisk, which took place on August 19, 1941. In this tank company under the command of Z.G. Kolobanova managed to disable 43 German tanks. This success was made possible thanks to the competent choice of position and the excellent armor protection of the KV-1. Suffice it to say that more than 120 dents from enemy shells were counted on Kolobanov's tank after the battle - and not a single through hole.

Similar episodes, although perhaps not so impressive, were noted later. In a number of cases, even single HFs inflicted heavy damage on the enemy. So, for example, a heavy tank under the command of P. Gudz on December 5, 1941 entered into battle with eighteen German tanks, destroying at least ten of them. In the same collision, the KV-1 crushed four enemy anti-tank guns and safely left the battle.

Nevertheless, the attitude towards the KV-1 tank in the Red Army was not the best. The reason for this was not only numerous breakdowns, but also the overweight of the combat vehicle. Much lighter T-34s proved to be no worse in battles, but at the same time they did not destroy the road surface and did not require particularly strong bridges when crossing rivers - but the same could not be said about the KV. This feature of the tank, in particular, was mentioned in a personal conversation with Stalin by M. Katukov, whose opinion the commander-in-chief highly appreciated.

In 1942, Soviet heavy tanks faced a new serious problem - the enemy began to use cumulative shells. Separate cases of their use were noted earlier. In addition, it turned out that in the conditions of spring thaw, the probability of a breakdown of the KV-1 transmission increases significantly.

During the summer and autumn of 1942, the level of reliability of the undercarriage, clutches and gearbox of the KV-1 was somewhat increased. The tanks that returned to the troops from the factories after repairs were no longer as “tender” as at the beginning of the war. In addition, in August, the release of the lightweight KV-1S was launched, which has established itself as the most reliable of all the Klimov Voroshilovs. All this made it possible to organize a fairly successful combat use of heavy tanks during the counteroffensive near Stalingrad.

Interestingly, both in the German memoirs and in the documents of the Romanian divisions that came under attack by Soviet formations armed with the KV-1, this tank is called "fifty-two-ton". Meanwhile, only the KV-2 had such a significant mass, which in 1942 was no longer in the Red Army. In addition, the "high-speed" KV-1S operated near Stalingrad, the weight of which was "only" 42.5 tons.

In general, at the end of 1942 and the first half of 1943, the number of KV tanks in the Red Army was significantly reduced. A large number of these vehicles were lost in battle, and episodes of clashes with the German "Tigers" have already been noted, which invariably ended not in favor of the KV.

After large-scale tank battles on the Kursk Bulge, it became completely clear that the KV-1 was outdated. But before the appearance of the IS-2, there was still almost a year left, and therefore, the “transitional” KV-85, which received a new turret and an 85 mm caliber gun, had to be used as a breakthrough tank. Generally speaking, this was still not enough to fight the "Tigers", however, the latest modification of the KV still played a certain role in the battles in Ukraine in the winter of 1943-44.

At least one episode of the successful use of the KV-85 against Pz.VI Tiger tanks has been documented. This happened on January 28, 1944, when three Soviet heavy tanks and two SU-122 self-propelled guns from the 7th Separate Guards Regiment (4th Ukrainian Front) fought heavy battles with superior enemy forces throughout the day, destroying five "Tigers" and seven other tanks, and without losing a single one of their vehicles.

After the IS tanks began to enter the troops, the surviving KV-1s were converted into tractors, designated as KV-T. Their use proved to be quite effective and significantly reduced the losses among the evacuation teams.

The last notable combat episode in which a significant number of KV-1s took part was the Vyborg operation, carried out in the summer of 1944. The newest IS-2 tanks for that time were also involved in these battles.

A number of KV-1 tanks were captured by the enemy. The use of these machines in the Wehrmacht was insignificant - the same breakdowns interfered, which the Germans could hardly fix - after all, they did not have spare parts. According to various sources, the Nazis managed to put into operation up to 50 of these tanks. They were designated by the same abbreviation, only in the German version - KV. Apparently, the decoding of this abbreviation, which was not the most appropriate for the Wehrmacht, for some reason did not bother the enemy. In a number of cases, captured vehicles were converted and re-armed, receiving German commander's cupolas and 75-mm guns borrowed from later versions of the Pz.IV.

Finland also had several captured HFs. One of these tanks was used by the Finnish army until 1954. These vehicles were protected and there is no information about their participation in hostilities.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The world's first heavy armored tank

Heavy tank KV-1A, raised from the bottom of the Neva in the spring of 2003

In accordance with the decision of the USSR Defense Committee, at the end of 1938, at SKB-2 of the Kirov Plant in Leningrad (chief designer Zh. Ya. Kotin), the design of a new heavy one with anti-ballistic armor, called the SMK (Sergey Mironovich Kirov), began. The development of another heavy tank, called the T-100, was carried out by the Leningrad Experimental Machine Building Plant. Kirov (plant number 185). In parallel with the QMS, a project was being developed for a single-turret heavy tank KV.

The leading designer of the SMK tank was A.S. Ermolaev. The initial project provided for the creation of a three-tower machine weighing 55 tons. In the process, one turret was abandoned, and the saved weight was used to thicken the armor. In parallel with the QMS, a group of graduates of the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization named after. Stalin, who had an internship at the Kirov Plant, under the leadership of L. E. Sychev and A. S. Ermolaev, a project was developed for a single-turret heavy tank KV (“Klim Voroshilov”). In fact, the KV was a reduced in length by two road wheels SMK with one tower and a diesel engine. At the final stage of designing a single-turret tank, N. L. Dukhov was appointed the lead designer of the project.

In August 1939, the KV tank was made in metal, and at the end of September it participated in the demonstration of new models of armored vehicles at the NIBT training ground in Kubinka. Factory testing began in October. In November, the first prototype of the tank was sent to the front on the Karelian Isthmus to participate in hostilities against the Finns. On December 19, 1939, the KV tank was adopted by the Red Army.

Serial production of KV tanks with 76-mm guns ("tanks with a small turret") and hastily developed from the experience of fighting on the Mannerheim line of KV tanks with 152-mm howitzers ("tanks with a large turret") began in February 1940 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ). Until the end of the year, the Kirov Plant managed to produce 243 tanks (139 KV-1 and 104 KV-2), having completely fulfilled the plan lowered from above. In accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of June 19, 1940, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) was also to be connected to the production of KV. On December 31, 1940, an experimental assembly of the first Ural-made KV was made. At the same time, the construction of a special building for the assembly of heavy tanks began in Chelyabinsk.

This KV-2 tank was only stopped by a projectile hitting the left track.

The production plan for 1941 provided for the production of 1200 KV tanks. Of these, at the Kirov Plant - 1000, at ChTZ - 200. However, the war made adjustments to this plan. By the beginning of the war, only 25 KV-1s were manufactured in Chelyabinsk, and the production of KV-2s was never mastered. In total, 393 KV tanks were manufactured in the first half of 1941.

The hull of the KV-1 tank was welded from rolled armor plates, the maximum thickness of which reached 75 mm. The tower was made in two versions - welded and cast. The maximum armor thickness of welded turrets reached 75 mm, cast - 95 mm. In 1941, the thickness of the armor of the welded turrets was increased to 105 mm by installing 25 mm screens, which were fastened with bolts.

On tanks of the first releases, a 76-mm L-11 gun was installed, then - F-32 of the same caliber, and from the end of October 1941 - a 76-mm ZIS-5 gun. In addition, the tank was armed with three machine guns - coaxial, course and stern. A DT anti-aircraft machine gun was also installed on some of the machines. Ammunition consisted of 135 cannon shots and 2772 rounds for machine guns.

12-cylinder V-shaped diesel V-2K with a capacity of 600 liters. with. allowed a 47.5-ton combat vehicle to reach a speed of 34 km / h. Cruising on the highway was 250 km. The crew of the tank consisted of five people.

The main difference between the KV-2 tank was the installation of a new large turret. The total height of the machine reached 3240 mm. In the tower, in a mask, closed from the outside with an armor casing, a 152-mm M-10 tank howitzer of the 1938-1940 model and a DT machine gun coaxial with it were installed. There was a door in the stern of the tower, next to which another diesel engine was placed in a ball bearing. The tank also retained a course machine gun in the frontal hull plate. Ammunition consisted of 36 shots of separate loading and 3087 rounds. The power plant, power transmission, chassis, electrical and radio equipment remained the same as on the KV-1. The KV-2 tank was produced in limited quantities, and after the start of the Great Patriotic War on July 1, 1941, its production was stopped.

KV-1

As of June 1, 1941, the troops had 504 KV tanks. Of this number, most were in the Kiev Special Military District - 278 vehicles. The Western Special Military District had 116 KV tanks, the Baltic Special - 59, Odessa - 10. In the Leningrad Military District there were 6 KV tanks, in Moscow - 4, in the Volga - 19, in Orlovsky - 8, in Kharkov - 4. Of this number 75 KV-1 and 9 KV-2 were in operation. From June 1 to June 21, another 41 KV tanks were sent to the troops from the factory.

The training of crews for new heavy tanks was often (if at all) carried out on any type of tank. For example, on December 3, 1940, the directive of the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army No. 5/4/370 prescribed "to train personnel and save the material part of combat vehicles, to release, exclusively as training, for each battalion of heavy tanks, 10 tankettes T-27". It remains a mystery how it was possible to learn how to drive and maintain the KV-1 or KV-2 on the T-27. As a result, by June 1941, the number of trained crews for these machines did not exceed 150.

In the very first days of the Great Patriotic War, both the obvious advantages and disadvantages of the new heavy tanks, as well as all the shortcomings in the combat training and organizational structure of the tank forces of the Red Army, were fully manifested. So, for example, in the report on the combat operations of the 8th mechanized corps from June 22 to June 26, 1941 (by the beginning of the war, the corps had 71 KB, 49 T-35, 100 T-34, 277 BT, 344 T-26, 17 T-27) the following was reported: “The drivers of the KB and T-34 combat vehicles for the most part had a practical driving experience of 3 to 5 hours. Over the entire period of the existence of the corps, combat materiel and personnel were not fully withdrawn to tactical exercises and were not practically tested both in terms of march training and in actions in the main types of combat. Tactical cohesion was carried out no higher than the scale of a company, battalion and partly a regiment.

From the report of the commander of the 41st Panzer Division of the 22nd Mechanized Corps dated July 25, 1941, on the combat operations of the division (by the beginning of the war it had 312 T-26 and 31 KV-2 tanks), it follows that the 152-mm KV- 2 did not have a single projectile.

According to the memoirs of D. Osadchy, the commander of a company of KV-1 tanks in the 2nd Panzer Division, “On June 23-24, even before entering the battle, many KB tanks, especially KV-2, failed during the marches. Very big problems were with the gearbox and air filters. June was hot, there was a huge amount of dust on the roads of the Baltic States and the filters had to be changed after an hour and a half of engine operation. Before entering the battle, the tanks of my company managed to replace them, but not in the neighboring ones. As a result, by the middle of the day, most of the vehicles in these companies broke down.

Well-trained crews worked miracles on KV tanks. On August 18, 1941, five KV-1 tanks of the company of senior lieutenant Z. G. Kolobanov took up defense on the outskirts of the city of Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina). By evening, the tanks were covered up to the turrets in caponiers. For his KV, Kolobanov chose a position in the most threatened area - the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeysk. The units of the 1st German Panzer Division advancing here could strike at the rear of the Soviet troops occupying the defenses on the borders of the Krasnogvardeisky fortified area, and then, having gone through the old Gatchina parks to the Kyiv highway, almost unhindered to move towards Leningrad.

On the morning of August 19, on the left flank, one of the company's tanks engaged the enemy. In the second hour of the day, German tanks also appeared in front of Kolobanov's position. 22 enemy vehicles marched along the road in a column at short distances, substituting their left sides almost strictly at right angles to the KV gun. The hatches were open, many Germans were sitting on the armor. Our tankers even distinguished their faces, since the distance to the enemy column was small - only about 150 m. When there were several meters left to landmark No. the fire. With a few shots, Usov set fire to two enemy lead and two trailer tanks. The column was in a bag. Maneuver for the Germans was limited to wetlands on both sides of the road. The enemy did not immediately determine where the fire was coming from, but then brought down a shower of shells on Kolobanov's position. Tankers suffocated from powder gases, from the impact of enemy shells on the armor of the tank, everyone was shell-shocked. Usov, not looking up from the sight, continued to shoot tank after tank. Finally, the last 22nd tank was destroyed. During the battle, which lasted more than an hour, Usov fired 98 shells at the enemy. For this battle, Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and Senior Sergeant Usov was awarded the Order of Lenin.

In the same battle, other KV crews from Kolobanov's company also distinguished themselves. In the battle on the Luga road, the crew of Lieutenant Sergeev knocked out 8 German tanks, the crews of Lieutenant Lastochkin and junior lieutenant Degtyar - 4 each, and the crew of junior lieutenant Evdokimenko - 5. At the same time, Evdokimenko died in battle, three members of his crew were wounded, and the fifth tank mechanic - the driver Sidikov destroyed with a ramming blow. In total, on August 19, 1941, Kolobanov's company disabled 43 German tanks.

As for rams, which are quite often described in various publications, in the summer of 1941 they were indeed a frequent occurrence, but sometimes not from a good life. Here is what was reported in the report of the commander of the 43rd Panzer Division of the 19th Mechanized Corps on the battles from June 22 to August 10, 1941: “Chasing the enemy infantry, our tanks were met by enemy tank fire from an ambush from a place, but (the ambush) was attacked KB and T-34 tanks burst forward, and after them the T-26 tanks ... The KB and T-34 tanks, not having enough armor-piercing shells, fired fragmentation shells and crushed and destroyed enemy and anti-tank tanks with their mass guns, moving from one line to another.

However, despite powerful armor, strong weapons and the heroism of individual crews, KB tanks did not play any significant role in the summer battles of 1941. The main part of these machines failed for technical reasons, due to illiterate operation, lack of spare parts, means of evacuation and repair. In addition, the Germans, having found out that it was impossible to fight KB with conventional anti-tank weapons, they successfully used 88-mm Flak 36 anti-aircraft guns and 105-mm (according to the German notation - 10 cm) K18 corps field guns against them.

Nevertheless, in the documents of the autumn of 1941, there are reports of the quite successful use of KV tanks. True, mostly on the defensive. So, for example, on November 8, 1941, the crew of the KV tank, Lieutenant A. Martynov from the 16th Tank Brigade of the Volkhov Front, in a battle near the village of Zhupkino (Leningrad Region), repulsed an attack of 14 German tanks from an ambush, destroying five and capturing three more as trophies German cars. Soon these tanks were repaired and already fought as part of the 16th tank brigade. For this battle, Lieutenant Martynov was introduced to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On December 5, 1941, the crew of the KV-1 tank, Lieutenant Pavel Gudz from the 89th separate tank battalion, entered the battle with 18 German tanks, knocked out 10 of them, as well as four anti-tank guns. For this fight, Gudz was awarded the Order of Lenin. I must say that this tanker was well acquainted with the KV tank, since he began to fight on it from the first days of World War II. His further combat fate is also associated with combat vehicles of this type.

In July 1942, Pavel Gudz, already in the rank of captain, was appointed commander of the 574th tank battalion of the 212th tank brigade, which was part of the troops of the Don Front. In November of the same year, Captain Gudzyu was promoted to the rank of major and appointed to the post of deputy commander of the 8th Separate Breakthrough Guards Tank Regiment. However, he could not serve in this position for a long time, since he was wounded the next month.

In one of the battles, his tank caught fire. In addition, the caterpillar flew off and the combat vehicle froze in place. And on the armor, the flames from the outbreak of diesel fuel were already buzzing, threatening to penetrate inside the car stuffed with ammunition. The tankers arrived in time to save the crew, and their commander with six penetrating wounds was urgently sent to the hospital. After such wounds, they do not return to combat formation. But the major wrote a report personally to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and achieved his goal - he was sent to the front.

The new duty station of Major Gudz was the 5th Separate Guards Tank Regiment of the Breakthrough, which was part of the troops of the Southwestern (later the 3rd Ukrainian) Front, in which he accepted the post of deputy commander in May 1943. When approaching Zaporozhye, in order to ensure the crossing of the Dnieper by infantry units, it was necessary to capture the hydroelectric dam. For two days there was a fierce battle. When our tanks reached the target, a Tiger suddenly jumped out of the ambush. A gun duel ensued. Suddenly, the tank in which Hudz was located was shaken by a blow of enormous force. The loader and gunner were killed. Gudz's left clavicle was damaged and his left hand was shattered: it dangled on one vein. The pain clouded his consciousness, and in the field of view of the sight, the Tigers blurred like iridescent spots of diesel fuel on the water. Overcoming the pain, Lieutenant Colonel Gudz cut his tendon with a Finn. The brush slipped out of the overalls. Now all the attention is "Tiger". Here is one framed board. The descent pedal worked well. The tank shuddered from the shot - and the enemy vehicle, engulfed in flames, froze on a sandbar. The second "Tiger" still managed to deploy its cannon, and Hudz saw the black circle of its barrel. "Tiger" and KB fired at each other almost simultaneously...

Exploded KV-2 with MT-1. In the background is another KV-2

When I woke up, it dawned on my consciousness that it was already evening and the battle was going on in the distance, and he was lying near the tank, in a fresh crater from an air bomb. A driver-mechanic was squatting beside him. Noticing that the commander came to his senses, he happily reported: “And the second you, too ...”

The reader will probably immediately have a question: were there "Tigers"? Indeed, after the Battle of Kursk, the inclusion of almost any German tank in the “tiger” class became a mass phenomenon in the Red Army. Well, we can say firmly - there were "Tigers"! It was at this time and in this place, in the area of ​​the Dneproges dam, that the 506th German heavy tank battalion was fighting. Of course, the KV, frankly, did not "pull" against the "Tiger" in a tank duel, but since the described battle was fought at a short distance, the chances were evened out. Well, for such an experienced tanker as Pavel Gudz, it cost nothing to hit the "Tiger" from the first shot. So it's safe to say that in this battle he really knocked out two "Tigers", moreover, from a broken tank and with a torn off left hand! The fact that we most likely will not find any confirmation of this in the combat log of the 506th German heavy tank battalion means absolutely nothing - the Germans took into account only their irretrievable losses, while knocked out tanks do not appear in their reports at all.

It should be emphasized that the KB tank itself is a machine of a rather contradictory fate. As paradoxical as it sounds, in 1941 this tank was not needed - it simply did not have a worthy opponent. It had no obvious combat advantages over the medium T-34, with the exception of thicker armor. The armament was the same, and the maneuverability was worse than that of the thirty-four. The tankers did not really like this car: the KB could smash any road to pieces (wheeled vehicles could no longer follow it), almost no bridge was able to withstand it, with the exception of capital stone ones. But the main drawback is the extremely unreliable transmission, the failure of which was a mass phenomenon.

Some of the shortcomings of the transmission were eliminated on the KV-1s modification that appeared in 1942 (“s” - high-speed). However, on this modification, in pursuit of maneuverability, the thickness of the armor was reduced, and in terms of its combat properties, the heavy KB even closer to medium tanks.

Thus, the only justification for the release of KB in 1941-1942 in parallel with the T-34 could only be a more powerful gun, for example, an 85 mm. But this was not done for the reason that at that time the 76 mm caliber gun was quite capable of dealing with all enemy armored targets.

Captured by the Germans KV 2. German mechanized division on the march

A tank of a similar class KB - "Tiger" appeared with the Germans only at the end of 1942. And then fate played a second cruel joke with KB - it instantly became outdated. Our tank was simply powerless against the "Tiger" with its "long arm" - an 88-mm cannon with a barrel length of 56 calibers. "Tiger" could hit KB at distances beyond the limits for the latter. It didn't take long to show up in battle. So, for example, on February 12, 1943, during the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad, three "Tigers" of the 1st company of the 502nd heavy tank battalion destroyed 10 KV. At the same time, the Germans had no losses.

The appearance of the KV-85 tank allowed the situation to be somewhat smoothed out. But these vehicles were mastered late, there were few of them and they could not make a significant contribution to the fight against German heavy tanks. A more serious opponent for the "Tigers" could be the KV-122 - the serial KV-85, armed in an experimental order with a 122-mm D-25T cannon. But at this time, the ChKZ workshops began to leave the first tanks of the IS series. The latter, at first glance continuing the KB line, were already completely new machines.

KV-85 - Soviet heavy tank of the Great Patriotic War period. The abbreviation KV means "Klim Voroshilov" - the official name of the serial Soviet heavy tanks produced in 1940-1943. Index 85 means the caliber of the main armament of the vehicle.

From 1940 to 1943, 4775 KB tanks of all modifications were produced. They fought on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War, first as part of mixed tank brigades, then as part of separate breakthrough tank guards regiments. Until 1945, very few KB survived, used as battle tanks. Basically, after the dismantling of the tower, they served as evacuation tractors.

KV-1 arr. 1940
Classification:	heavy tank
Combat weight, t:
Layout scheme:	classical
Crew, people:
Years of production:
Years of operation:
Number of issued, pcs.:
Main Operators:	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Case length, mm:
Hull width, mm:
Height, mm:
Clearance, mm:
Booking
armor type:	Steel rolled homogeneous
Forehead of the hull (top), mm/deg.:
Forehead of the hull (middle), mm/deg.:
Forehead of the hull (bottom), mm/deg.
Hull board, mm/deg.:
Hull feed (top), mm/deg.:
Hull feed (bottom), mm/deg.:
Bottom, mm:
Hull roof, mm:
Forehead of the tower, mm/deg.:
Gun mantlet, mm/deg.:
Turret side, mm/deg.:
Tower feed, mm/deg.:
Tower roof, mm:
Armament
Gun caliber and make:	76 mm L-11, F-32, F-34, ZIS-5
Gun type:	rifled
Barrel length, calibers:
Gun ammunition:	90 or 114 (depending on modification)
Angles VN, degrees:
	Telescopic TOD-6, periscopic PT-6
Machine guns:
Mobility
Engine's type:	V-shaped 12-cylinder four-stroke liquid-cooled diesel
Engine power, l. with:
Highway speed, km/h:
Range on the highway, km:
Power reserve over rough terrain, km:
Specific power, l. s./t:
suspension type:	Individual torsion bar
Specific ground pressure, kg/cm²:

tank design

Armored corps and turret

Armament

Engine

Transmission

Chassis

electrical equipment

Means of observation and sights

Means of communication

Modifications of the KV tank

Operating experience

In the service of the Wehrmacht

Interesting Facts

Surviving copies

KV-1 in computer games

KV-1(Klim Voroshilov) - Soviet heavy tank of the Second World War. Usually called simply "KV": the tank was created under this name and only later, after the appearance of the KV-2 tank, the KV of the first sample retrospectively received a digital index. Produced from March 1940 to August 1942. He took part in the war with Finland and the Great Patriotic War.

The history of the KV-1

The need to create a heavy tank carrying anti-shell armor was understood only in the USSR. According to domestic military theory, such tanks were necessary to break open the enemy's front and organize a breakthrough or overcome fortified areas. In fact, not a single army in the world (except the USSR) had either the theory or the practice of overcoming the powerful fortified positions of the enemy. Such fortified lines as, for example, the Maginot Line or the Mannerheim Line were considered even theoretically insurmountable. There is an erroneous opinion that the tank was created during the Finnish campaign to break through the Finnish long-term fortifications (Mannerheim Line). In fact, the design of the tank began as early as the end of 1938, when it became finally clear that the concept of a multi-turreted heavy tank like the T-35 was a dead end. It was obvious that having a large number of towers was not an advantage. And the giant dimensions of the tank only make it heavier and do not allow the use of sufficiently thick armor. The initiator of the creation of the tank was the head of the ABTU of the Red Army commander Pavlov D.G.

At the end of the 1930s, attempts were made to develop a tank of reduced (compared to the T-35) size, but with thicker armor. However, the designers did not dare to abandon the use of several towers: it was believed that one gun would fight infantry and suppress firing points, and the second must be anti-tank - to fight armored vehicles.

The new tanks created under this concept (SMK and T-100) were double-turreted, armed with 76 mm and 45 mm guns. And only as an experiment, they also developed a smaller version of the QMS - with one tower. Due to this, the length of the machine was reduced (by two road wheels), which had a positive effect on the dynamic characteristics. Unlike its predecessor, the KV (as the experimental tank was called) received a diesel engine. The first copy of the tank was made at the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ) in August 1939. Initially, the leading designer of the tank was A. S. Ermolaev, then - N. L. Dukhov.

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish War began. The military did not miss the opportunity to test new heavy tanks. The day before the start of the war (November 29, 1939), the SMK, T-100 and KV went to the front. They were handed over to the 20th heavy tank brigade, equipped with T-28 medium tanks.

KV crew in the first battle:

• lieutenant Kachekhin (commander)
• I. Golovachev military technician of the 2nd rank (driver)
• lieutenant Polyakov (gunner)
• K. Bucket (driver, tester of the Kirov plant)
• A. I. Estratov (mechanic / loader, tester of the Kirov Plant)
• P. I. Vasiliev (transmission operator / radio operator, tester at the Kirov Plant)

The tank successfully passed combat tests: not a single enemy anti-tank gun could hit it. The military was upset only by the fact that the 76-mm L-11 gun was not strong enough to deal with pillboxes. For this purpose, it was necessary to create a new KV-2 tank, armed with a 152-mm howitzer.

On the recommendation of the GABTU, by a joint resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 19, 1939 (already a day after the tests), the KV tank was put into service. As for the SMK and T-100 tanks, they also showed themselves in a rather favorable light (however, the SMK was blown up by a mine at the beginning of hostilities), but they were not accepted into service, because with higher firepower they carried less thick armor , had a large size and weight, as well as the worst dynamic characteristics.

Serial production of KV tanks began in February 1940 at the Kirov Plant. In accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 19, 1940, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) was also ordered to start producing KV. On December 31, 1940, the first KV was assembled at ChTZ. At the same time, the construction of a special building for the assembly of HF began at the plant.

In 1941, it was planned to produce 1200 KV tanks of all modifications. Of these, at the Kirov Plant - 1000 pcs. (400 KV-1, 100 KV-2, 500 KV-3) and another 200 KV-1 at ChTZ. However, only a few tanks were assembled at ChTZ before the start of the war. In total, 243 KV-1 and KV-2 were built in 1940, and 393 in the first half of 1941.

After the start of the war and the mobilization of industry, the production of tanks at the Kirov plant increased significantly. The production of KV tanks was given priority, so the Leningrad Izhora and Metal Plants, as well as other plants, joined the production of many components and assemblies for heavy tanks.

However, starting from July 1941, the evacuation of the LKZ to Chelyabinsk began. The plant is located on the territory of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. On October 6, 1941, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was renamed the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant of the People's Commissariat of Tank Industry. This plant, which received the unofficial name "Tankograd", became the main manufacturer of heavy tanks and self-propelled guns during the Great Patriotic War.

Despite the difficulties associated with the evacuation and deployment of the plant in a new location, in the second half of 1941 the front received 933 KV tanks, in 1942 2553 of them were built (including the KV-1s).

In August 1942, the KV-1 was taken out of production and replaced by a modernized version, the KV-1s. One of the reasons for the modernization was, oddly enough, the powerful armor of the tank. A total of 2769 KV-1 tanks were produced.

tank design

For 1940, the serial KV-1 was a truly innovative design that embodied the most advanced ideas of that time: an individual torsion bar suspension, reliable anti-ballistic armor, a diesel engine and one powerful universal gun in a classic layout. Although individually solutions from this set were repeatedly implemented earlier on other foreign and domestic tanks, the KV-1 was the first combat vehicle to embody their combination. Some experts regard it as a milestone in world tank building, which had a significant impact on the development of subsequent heavy tanks in other countries. The classic layout on a serial Soviet heavy tank was used for the first time, which allowed the KV-1 to obtain the highest level of security and a large modernization potential within this concept compared to the previous serial model of the T-35 heavy tank and experimental SMK and T-100 vehicles (all - multi-tower type). The basis of the classic layout is the division of the armored hull from bow to stern into the control compartment, the fighting compartment and the engine-transmission compartment. The driver and gunner-radio operator were located in the control compartment, three other crew members had jobs in the fighting compartment, which combined the middle part of the armored hull and the turret. The gun, ammunition for it and part of the fuel tanks were also located there. The engine and transmission were installed in the stern of the car.

Armored corps and turret

The armored hull of the tank was welded from rolled armor plates 75, 40, 30 and 20 mm thick. Equal-strength armor protection (armor plates with a thickness other than 75 mm were used only for horizontal armoring of the vehicle), anti-ballistic. The armor plates of the frontal part of the machine were installed at rational angles of inclination. The serial KV tower was produced in three versions: cast, welded with a rectangular niche and welded with a rounded niche. The thickness of the armor for welded turrets was 75 mm, for cast ones - 95 mm, since cast armor was less durable. In 1941, the welded turrets and side armor plates of some tanks were additionally reinforced - 25-mm armor screens were bolted to them, and there was an air gap between the main armor and the screen, that is, this version of the KV-1 actually received spaced armor. It is not entirely clear why this was done. The Germans began to develop heavy tanks only in 1941 (a heavy tank was not used in the German theory of blitzkrieg), so for 1941 even the standard KV-1 armor was, in principle, redundant. Some sources erroneously indicate that tanks were produced with rolled armor 100 mm or more thick - in fact, this figure corresponds to the sum of the thickness of the tank's main armor and screens.

The frontal part of the turret with an embrasure for the gun, formed by the intersection of four spheres, was cast separately and welded with the rest of the turret armor. The gun mask was a cylindrical segment of bent rolled armor plates and had three holes - for a cannon, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. The tower was mounted on a shoulder strap with a diameter of 1535 mm in the armored roof of the fighting compartment and was fixed with grips to avoid stalling in case of a strong roll or overturning of the tank. The shoulder strap of the tower was marked in thousandths for firing from closed positions.

The driver was located in the center in front of the armored hull of the tank, to the left of him was the workplace of the gunner-radio operator. Three crew members were located in the turret: to the left of the gun were the jobs of the gunner and loader, and to the right - the tank commander. The landing and exit of the crew were carried out through two round hatches: one in the tower above the commander's workplace and one on the roof of the hull above the workplace of the gunner-radio operator. The hull also had a bottom hatch for emergency evacuation by the crew of the tank and a number of hatches, hatches and technological openings for loading ammunition, access to fuel tank fillers, other units and assemblies of the vehicle.

Armament

On the tanks of the first issues, the L-11 cannon of 76.2 mm caliber was installed with an ammunition load of 111 rounds (according to other sources - 135). It is interesting that the original project also provided for a 45 mm 20K cannon paired with it, although the armor penetration of the 76 mm L-11 tank gun was practically not inferior to the anti-tank 20K. Apparently, strong stereotypes about the need to have a 45 mm anti-tank gun along with a 76 mm were explained by its higher rate of fire and large ammunition load. But already on the prototype, aimed at the Karelian Isthmus, the 45-mm cannon was removed and a DT-29 machine gun was installed instead. Subsequently, the L-11 cannon was replaced with a 76-mm F-32 gun, and in the fall of 1941, with a ZIS-5 gun with a longer barrel length of 41.6 calibers.

The ZIS-5 gun was mounted on trunnions in the turret and was fully balanced. The turret itself with the ZIS-5 gun was also balanced: its center of mass was located on the geometric axis of rotation. The ZIS-5 cannon had vertical aiming angles from −5 to +25 °, with a fixed position of the turret, it could be aimed in a small sector of horizontal aiming (the so-called "jewelry" aiming). The shot was fired by means of a manual mechanical descent.

The ammunition load of the gun was 111 rounds of unitary loading. The shots were stacked in the turret and along both sides of the fighting compartment.

Three 7.62-mm DT-29 machine guns were installed on the KV-1 tank: coaxial with a gun, as well as course and stern in ball mounts. Ammunition for all diesel engines was 2772 rounds. These machine guns were mounted in such a way that, if necessary, they could be removed from the mounts and used outside the tank. Also, for self-defense, the crew had several F-1 hand grenades and was sometimes equipped with a pistol for firing flares. On every fifth KV, an anti-aircraft turret for diesel fuel was mounted, however, in practice, anti-aircraft machine guns were rarely installed.

Engine

The KV-1 was equipped with a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder V-2K diesel engine with a capacity of 500 hp. with. (382 kW) at 1800 rpm, subsequently, due to a general increase in the mass of the tank after the installation of heavier cast towers, screens and the elimination of shavings from the edges of the armor plates, the engine power was increased to 600 hp. with. (441 kW). The engine was started by a starter ST-700 with a capacity of 15 liters. with. (11 kW) or compressed air from two tanks with a capacity of 5 liters in the fighting compartment of the vehicle. The KV-1 had a dense layout, in which the main fuel tanks with a volume of 600-615 liters were located both in the combat and in the engine compartment. In the second half of 1941, due to a shortage of V-2K diesel engines, which were then produced only at plant No. 75 in Kharkov (the process of evacuating the plant to the Urals began in the autumn of that year), the KV-1 tanks were produced with four-stroke V-shaped 12- cylinder carburetor engines M-17T with a capacity of 500 liters. with. In the spring of 1942, a decree was issued on the conversion of all KV-1 tanks with M-17T engines back into service with V-2K diesel engines - the evacuated plant No. 75 set up their production in sufficient quantities at a new location.

Transmission

The KV-1s tank was equipped with a mechanical transmission, which included:

• multi-disc main friction clutch of dry friction "steel according to Ferodo";
• five-speed tractor-type gearbox;
• two multi-plate side clutches with steel-on-steel friction;
• two onboard planetary gears;
• band floating brakes.

All transmission control drives are mechanical. During operation in the army, the greatest number of complaints and complaints against the manufacturer were caused precisely by defects and the extremely unreliable operation of the transmission group, especially for overloaded wartime KV tanks. Almost all authoritative printed sources recognize the low reliability of the transmission as a whole as one of the most significant shortcomings of the KV series tanks and vehicles based on it.

Chassis

Suspension of the machine - individual torsion bar with internal shock absorption for each of the 6 stamped dual-slope road wheels of small diameter on each side. Opposite each track roller, suspension balancers were welded to the armored hull. Drive wheels with removable lantern gears were located at the rear, and sloths at the front. The upper branch of the caterpillar was supported by three small rubber stamped support rollers on each side. In 1941, the technology for manufacturing track and support rollers was transferred to casting, the latter lost their rubber tires due to the general shortage of rubber at that time. Caterpillar tension mechanism - screw; each caterpillar consisted of 86-90 single-ridge tracks with a width of 700 mm and a pitch of 160 mm.

electrical equipment

The electrical wiring in the KV-1 tank was single-wire, the armored hull of the vehicle served as the second wire. The exception was the emergency lighting circuit, which was two-wire. The sources of electricity (operating voltage 24 V) were a GT-4563A generator with a RRA-24 relay-regulator with a power of 1 kW and four 6-STE-128 batteries connected in series with a total capacity of 256 Ah. Electricity consumers included:

• turret slewing electric motor;
• external and internal lighting of the machine, illumination devices for sights and scales of measuring instruments;
• external sound signal and alarm circuit from the landing party to the crew of the vehicle;
• instrumentation (ammeter and voltmeter);
• means of communication - a radio station and a tank intercom;
• motor group electrician - starter ST-700, starting relay RS-371 or RS-400, etc.

Means of observation and sights

The general visibility of the KV-1 tank back in 1940 was assessed in a memorandum to L. Mekhlis from military engineer Kalivoda as extremely unsatisfactory. The commander of the machine had the only viewing device in the tower - the PTK panorama. The driver in battle conducted observation through a viewing device with a triplex, which was protected by an armored flap. This viewing device was installed in an armored plug hatch on the frontal armor plate along the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle. In a calm environment, this plug hatch could be pushed forward, providing the driver with a more convenient direct view from his workplace.

For firing, the KV-1 was equipped with two gun sights - a telescopic TOD-6 for direct fire and a periscope PT-6 for firing from closed positions. The head of the periscope sight was protected by a special armor cap. To ensure the possibility of fire in the dark, the scales of the sights had illumination devices. Forward and aft DT machine guns could be equipped with a PU sight from a sniper rifle with a threefold increase.

Means of communication

The means of communication included the radio station 71-TK-3, later 10R or 10RK-26. On a number of tanks, 9R aviation radio stations were installed from a shortage. The KV-1 tank was equipped with an internal intercom TPU-4-Bis for 4 subscribers.

Radio stations 10R or 10RK were a set of transmitter, receiver and umformers (single-arm motor-generators) for their power supply, connected to the on-board electrical network with a voltage of 24 V.

10R was a simplex tube shortwave radio station operating in the frequency range from 3.75 to 6 MHz (respectively, wavelengths from 80 to 50 m). In the parking lot, the communication range in the telephone (voice) mode reached 20-25 km, while in motion it slightly decreased. A longer communication range could be obtained in the telegraph mode, when information was transmitted by a telegraph key using Morse code or another discrete coding system. Frequency stabilization was carried out by a removable quartz resonator, there was no smooth frequency adjustment. 10P allowed communication on two fixed frequencies; to change them, another quartz resonator of 15 pairs was used in the radio set.

The 10RK radio station was a technological improvement of the previous 10R model, it became easier and cheaper to manufacture. This model has the ability to smoothly select the operating frequency, the number of quartz resonators has been reduced to 16. The characteristics of the communication range have not undergone significant changes.

The tank intercom TPU-4-Bis made it possible to negotiate between members of the tank crew even in a very noisy environment and connect a headset (head phones and throat phones) to a radio station for external communication.

Modifications of the KV tank

KV became the ancestor of a whole series of heavy tanks.

The first "descendant" of the KV was the KV-2 tank, armed with a 152 mm M-10 howitzer mounted in a high turret. The KV-2 tanks were intended to be heavy self-propelled guns, as they were intended to fight pillboxes, but the battles of 1941 showed that they are an excellent tool for fighting German tanks - shells of any German tank did not penetrate their frontal armor, but the KV-2 shell , as soon as he hit any German tank, he was almost guaranteed to destroy it. KV-2 fire could only be fired from a place. They began to be produced in 1940, and soon after the start of the Great Patriotic War, their production was curtailed.

In 1940, it was planned to put into production other tanks of the KV series. As an experiment, by the end of the year, two KVs with 90 mm armor were made (one with a 76 mm F-32 gun, the other with an 85 mm F-30 gun) and two more with 100 mm armor (with similar weapons). These tanks received a single designation KV-3. But things did not go beyond the manufacture of prototypes.

In April 1942, the KV-8 flamethrower tank was created on the basis of the KV. The hull remained unchanged, a flamethrower (ATO-41 or ATO-42) was installed in the turret. Instead of a 76 mm gun, a 45 mm gun mod. 1934 with a camouflage casing that reproduces the external outlines of a 76 mm gun (a 76 mm gun, along with a flamethrower, did not fit in the turret).

In August 1942, it was decided to begin production of the KV-1s ("s" means "high-speed"). The leading designer of the new tank is N. F. Shamshurin.

The tank was lightened, including by thinning the armor (for example, the sides of the hull were thinned to 40 mm, the forehead of the cast turret was up to 82 mm). She still remained impenetrable to German guns. But on the other hand, the mass of the tank decreased to 42.5 tons, and the speed and maneuverability increased significantly.

The KV series also includes the KV-85 tank and the SU-152 (KV-14) self-propelled gun, however, they were created on the basis of the KV-1s and therefore are not considered here.

Operating experience

Apart from, in fact, the experimental use of KV in the Finnish campaign, the tank went into battle for the first time after the German attack on the USSR. The very first meetings of German tankers with KV put them into a state of shock. The tank practically did not make its way from German tank guns (for example, a German sub-caliber projectile of a 50-mm tank gun pierced the side of the KV from a distance of 300 m, and the forehead only from a distance of 40 m). Anti-tank artillery was also ineffective: for example, the armor-piercing projectile of the 50-mm Pak 38 anti-tank gun made it possible to hit the KV in favorable conditions at a distance of only less than 500 m. The fire of 105-mm howitzers and 88-mm anti-aircraft guns was more effective.

However, the tank was "raw": the novelty of the design and the haste of introducing it into production affected. The transmission, which could not withstand the loads of a heavy tank, caused especially a lot of trouble - it often failed. And if in open combat the KV really had no equal, then in the conditions of retreat, many KVs, even with minor breakdowns, had to be abandoned or destroyed. There was no way to repair or evacuate them.

Several KVs - abandoned or knocked out - were recovered by the Germans. However, captured HFs were used for a short time - the lack of spare parts affected them with the same frequent breakdowns.

HF caused conflicting assessments of the military. On the one hand - invulnerability, on the other - insufficient reliability. And with cross-country ability, not everything is so simple: the tank could hardly overcome steep slopes, many bridges could not withstand it. In addition, he thoroughly destroyed any road - wheeled vehicles could no longer move behind him, which is why KV was always placed at the end of the column.

In general, according to contemporaries, the KV did not have any special advantages over the T-34. The tanks were equal in firepower, both were less vulnerable to anti-tank artillery. At the same time, the T-34 had the best dynamic characteristics, was cheaper and easier to manufacture, which is important in wartime.

The disadvantages of the KV also include the unfortunate location of the hatches (for example, there is only one hatch in the turret, in case of fire it was impossible for the three of us to quickly get out through it), as well as “blindness”: the tankers had an unsatisfactory view of the battlefield (however, this was typical of all Soviet tanks start of the war).

In order to eliminate numerous complaints in the summer of 1942, the tank was modernized. By reducing the thickness of the armor, the weight of the vehicle has decreased. Various major and minor flaws were eliminated, including "blindness" (a commander's cupola was installed). The new version was named KV-1s.

The creation of the KV-1s was a justified step in the conditions of the unsuccessful first stage of the war. However, this step only brought the KV closer to medium tanks. The army never received a full-fledged (by later standards) heavy tank, which would differ sharply from the average in terms of combat power. Arming the tank with an 85-mm cannon could be such a step. But things did not go further than experiments, since ordinary 76-mm tank guns in 1941-1942 easily fought with any German armored vehicles, and there were no reasons to strengthen weapons.

However, after the appearance in the German army Pz. VI ("Tiger") with an 88-mm cannon, all KVs became outdated overnight: they were unable to fight German heavy tanks on equal terms. So, for example, on February 12, 1943, during one of the battles to break the blockade of Leningrad, three Tigers of the 1st company of the 502nd heavy tank battalion destroyed 10 KV. At the same time, the Germans had no losses - they could shoot KV from a safe distance. The situation in the summer of 1941 was exactly the opposite.

KV of all modifications were used until the very end of the war. But they were gradually replaced by more advanced heavy IS tanks. Ironically, the last operation in which HFs were used in large numbers was the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line in 1944. The commander of the Karelian Front, K. A. Meretskov, personally insisted that his front receive the KV (Meretskov commanded the army in the Winter War and then literally fell in love with this tank). The surviving KVs were collected literally one at a time and sent to Karelia - to the place where the career of this machine once began.

By that time, a small number of KVs were still in use as tanks. Basically, after the turret was dismantled, they served as evacuation vehicles in units equipped with new IS heavy tanks.

In the service of the Wehrmacht

Captured KV-1s during the Great Patriotic War were in the service of the Wehrmacht under the designations:

• Panzerkampfwagen KV-IA 753(r) - KV-1,
• (Sturm)Panzerkampfwagen KV-II 754(r) - KV-2,
• Panzerkampfwagen KV-IB 755(r) - KV-1s.

• The crew of the KV tank near the city of Raseiniai (in Lithuania) in June 1941 held back the Kampfgruppe (combat group) of the 6th Panzer Division of V. Kempf, equipped mainly with light Czech tanks Pz.35 (t), for a day in June 1941. This battle was described by the commander of the 6th motorized infantry brigade of the division E. Raus. During the battle on June 24, one of the KVs turned left and took up a position on the road parallel to the direction of the Kampfgruppe Seckendorf, being behind the Kampfgruppe Raus. This episode became the basis for the legend about the entire 4th German Panzer Group, Colonel General Gepner, stopped by one KV. The combat log of the 11th Tank Regiment of the 6th Tank Division reads: “The foothold of the Kampfgruppe Raus was held. Before noon, as a reserve, the reinforced company and the headquarters of the 65th tank battalion were pulled back along the left route to the crossroads northeast of Raseiniai. Meanwhile, a Russian heavy tank was blocking the communications of the Kampfgruppe Raus. Because of this, communication with the Kampfgruppe Raus was interrupted for the entire afternoon and the following night. Battery 8.8 Flak was sent by the commander to fight this tank. But her actions were as unsuccessful as the 10.5 cm battery, which fired on the instructions of the forward observer. In addition, an attempt by an assault group of sappers to blow up a tank failed. It was impossible to get close to the tank because of the heavy machine-gun fire." The lone KV in question fought with the Seckedorf Kampfgruppen. After a night raid by sappers, which only scratched the tank, they were engaged for the second time with the help of an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun. A group of 35(t) tanks distracted the KV with their movement, and the 8.8 cm FlaK crew scored six hits on the tank.
• Z. K. Slyusarenko describes the KV battle under the command of Lieutenant Kakhkhar Khushvakov from the 1st heavy tank battalion of the 19th tank regiment of the 10th tank division. Since the checkpoint failed, the tank, at the request of the crew, was left as a disguised firing point near Staro-Konstantinov (South-Western Front). The tankers fought the enemy for two days. They set fire to two German tanks, three fuel tanks, exterminated many Nazis. The Nazis doused the bodies of the dead tank heroes with gasoline and burned them.
• It was on the KV that Senior Lieutenant Zinovy ​​Kolobanov (1st Tank Division) fought, in one battle on August 20, 1941 (the date August 19 was erroneously mentioned in post-war journalism) near Gatchina (Krasnogvardeisky), who destroyed 22 German tanks and two anti-tank guns, and Lieutenant Semyon Konovalov (15th tank brigade) - 16 enemy tanks and 2 armored vehicles.
• At the beginning of the war, the Germans prone to mysticism, the KV-1 tank received the nickname "Gespenst" (translated from it. ghost), since the shells of the standard 37-mm Wehrmacht anti-tank gun most often did not even leave dents on its armor.
• In the original version of the text of the famous song "Tanks rumbled on the field ..." there are lines: "Farewell, Marusya dear, And you, KV, my brother ..."

Surviving copies

In total, to date, about 10 KV-1 tanks and a number of copies of its various modifications have been preserved in different countries of the world.

On the territory of Russia, the KV-1 and KV-2 tanks can be seen in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow, and the experimental KV-1s with an 85-mm gun can be seen in the Kubinka Tank Museum (Moscow Region). As monuments, KV-1 are installed in the village of Ropsha (KV-1), at the memorial in the village. Maryino (near the city of Kirovsk, Leningrad Region, 2 KV-1 tanks and 1 KV-1s tank) and the village of Parfino, Novgorod Region (KV-1 with a KV-1s turret). The KV-85 tank (a further development of the KV-1s) was installed in St. Petersburg near st. Metro "Avtovo" The turret of the KV-1 tank, converted into a firing point, was installed in the Sestroretsky Frontier exhibition complex, the city of Sestroretsk (Kurortny district of St. Petersburg).

The Finnish tank museum Parola exhibits two KV-1s captured by the Nazis and handed over to the Finnish ally - a shielded tank with an F-32 cannon and a tank with a ZIS-5 cannon and a cast turret (both with Finnish markings and swastikas). The KV-1 with the F-32 cannon is in the tank museum in Saumur (France). KV-1 with a cast turret is located at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the USA. And another KV-1 with a cast turret is on display at the Bovington Tank Museum (Great Britain).

In the spring of 2011, at the bottom of the Neva in the Kirovsky district of the Leningrad region, another Klim Voroshilov was discovered, which drowned during the battle for the Nevsky Piglet in 1941, and on November 16, 2011 it was raised to the surface. The operation was carried out by servicemen of the 90th Separate Special Search Battalion of the Western Military District together with the staff of the Museum of the Battle for Leningrad. KV-1 near Nevsky Piglet.

KV-1 in computer games

The KV-1 can be seen in the following games:

• "World of Tanks";
• R.U.S.E.;
• Panzer General;
• "Panzer Front";
• domestic game "Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory" (in two versions: KV-1 and KV-1 "Shielded");
• domestic game "Behind Enemy Lines"; "Behind Enemy Lines 2: Brothers in Arms"; "Behind Enemy Lines 2: Desert Fox"; Behind Enemy Lines 2: Assault;
• domestic game "Blitzkrieg";
• in the modification "Liberation 1941-45" (Liberation mod) for Operation Flashpoint: Resistance;
• in the game-tank simulator "Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942" (the tank is added by an unofficial developer patch);
• in the wargame "Front Line: Battle for Kharkov" (world title: "Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943");
• in Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
• In the game "Close Combat III: The Russian Front" and its remake "Close Combat: Cross of Iron"

It should be noted that the reflection of the tactical and technical characteristics of armored vehicles and the features of their use in combat in many computer games is often far from reality.