One Soviet tank fought for two days against a Wehrmacht tank division. One tank against a tank division What nickname did the kv tank get

"), Soviet Union became the only state that had in 1941 massive quantities of heavy tanks with anti-shell armor. The Germans called the KV a monster.

Searches and experiments

The main drawback of most tanks of the second half of the 30s was weak armor, which was pierced by fire anti-tank guns and heavy machine guns. KV-1 was different from them. It was created in 1939 under the leadership of J. Ya. Kotin. The tank had a 76 mm gun and three 7.62 mm guns. machine gun. The crew of the tank - 5 people. The first KVs passed military tests during Soviet-Finnish war, which was the first conflict where heavy tanks with anti-cannon armor were used. At that time, Soviet heavy tanks KV and multi-turreted SMK and T-100, operating as part of the 20th tank brigade, were tested at the front.

If in tank battles, which in Finnish war were a rare occurrence latest machines did not take part, they turned out to be indispensable in breaking through the enemy fortifications. KV-1 withstood hits from almost any anti-tank gun projectiles. At the same time, the 76-mm gun was not powerful enough to deal with enemy pillboxes. Therefore, already during the war, on the basis of the KV-1, the development of a tank with an enlarged turret and an installed 152 mm began. howitzer (future KV-2). At the same time, based on the experience of the Soviet-Finnish war, it was decided to abandon the creation of heavy multi-turreted tanks, which turned out to be expensive and difficult to manage. The choice was finally made in favor of KV.

Unmatched

As of June 1941, the KV could be considered one of the strongest heavy tanks in the world. In total, at the beginning of June 1941, there were 412 KV-1s in the Red Army units, very unevenly distributed among the troops. There is a well-known case in June 1941 in the Rassenaya area, when one KV-1 fettered the actions of a German division for almost two days. This KV was part of the 2nd Panzer Division, which delivered German troops a lot of troubles in the first days of the war. Apparently having used up its fuel supply, the tank took up a position on the road near a swampy meadow. One of the German documents noted:

“There were practically no means to deal with the monster. The tank cannot be bypassed, around the swampy terrain. Ammunition could not be brought in, the seriously wounded were dying, they could not be taken out. An attempt to destroy the tank with fire from a 50-mm anti-tank battery from a distance of 500 meters led to heavy losses in crews and guns. The tank was not damaged, despite the fact that, as it turned out, received 14 direct hits. From them there were only dents on the armor. When the 88-millimeter gun was brought to a distance of 700 meters, the tank calmly waited until it was put into position and destroyed it. Attempts by sappers to undermine the tank were unsuccessful. The charges were insufficient for the huge caterpillars. Finally, he became a victim of cunning. fifty German tanks feigned an attack from all sides to divert attention. Under cover, they managed to advance and disguise the 88-mm gun from the rear of the tank. Of the 12 direct hits, 3 pierced the armor and destroyed the tank."

Unfortunately, most of the KV was lost not due to combat reasons, but due to breakdowns and lack of fuel.

KV-1s In 1942, the production of a modernized version, the KV-1s (high-speed), was put into service on August 20, 1942. The mass of the tank was reduced from 47 to 42.5 tons by reducing the thickness of the armor plates of the hull and the size of the turret. Tower - cast, acquired a slightly different appearance and was equipped commander's cupola. The armament remained similar to the KV-1. As a result, the speed and maneuverability increased, but the armor protection of the tank decreased. It was supposed to install a more powerful 85-mm gun on the KV-1s (similar to prototype preserved in Kubinka), but this tank did not go into production. Subsequently, on the basis of the Kv-1s with an 85 mm gun, the KV-85 was created, which, however, did not become massive due to the switch in production to IS tanks. The soldiers nicknamed the tank "kvass".

End of the road

In tank battles, at least until the middle of 1942, the German troops could do little to oppose the KV-1. However, during the fighting, the tank's shortcomings were also revealed - relatively low speed and maneuverability compared to the T-34. Both tanks were armed with 76 mm guns. True, the KV had more massive armor in comparison with the "thirty-four". HF also suffered from frequent breakdowns. When moving, the tank broke almost any road, and not every bridge could withstand a 47-ton tank. Heavy tank The "Tiger" appeared with the Germans at the end of 1942, surpassing any heavy tank at that time of the war. And the KV-1 turned out to be practically powerless against the "Tiger", armed with a long-barreled 88-mm cannon. The "Tiger" could hit KB at great distances, and a direct hit by an 88-mm projectile would disable any tank of that time. So, on February 12, 1943, near Leningrad, three "Tigers" knocked out 10 KB without damage from their side.

Since the middle of 1943, the KV-1 has become less and less common on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War - mainly near Leningrad. Nevertheless, the KV-1 served as the basis for the creation of a number of Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns. So, on the basis of the KV, the SU-152 was created, armed with 152 howitzer-guns. Only a few KV-1 units have survived to this day in Russia, which have become museum exhibits.

On the morning of June 24, the 2nd Panzer Division of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the Red Army launched an attack on the positions occupied by the group of Lieutenant Colonel Seckendorf. The purpose of the Soviet counterattack was to return Raseiniai. Here the Germans first got acquainted with the KV-1 tanks, the armor of which was not penetrated by almost any German shells. They were not taken even by 150 mm howitzers. Moreover, the KV, which weighed almost 50 tons, crushed not only German guns and cars, but also Czechoslovak tanks (they weighed less than 10 tons) with their tracks. Only in the evening, the Seckendorf group received from the division command several batteries of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns Flak18. Almost until the end of the war, it was these guns that remained for the Germans the only effective means of fighting Soviet tanks. With their help, the Germans, having suffered significant losses and surrendering part of the positions captured the day before, fought back, holding Raseiniai. The Soviet attack was very poorly prepared, air support was out of the question, but it created huge problems for the Germans.

The Routh group could not come to the aid of the Seckendorf group. She fought with one tank. This combat episode is one of the most striking not only for the first days of the Great Patriotic War, but, perhaps, for the entire war as a whole. True, how many of these episodes remained generally unknown?

How the only KV-1 ended up in the rear of the Routh group on the morning of June 24 is not clear. It's possible that he just got lost. However, in the end, the tank blocked the only road leading from the rear to the positions of the group. The Baltic wooded and swampy area was distinguished by the fact that without roads only caterpillar vehicles could move along it, and even then with difficulty. And the rear supply was provided by ordinary cars that did not have tracks.

The KV shot and crushed a convoy of 12 supply trucks that was heading towards the Germans from Raseiniai. Now the Routh group could not receive fuel, food and ammunition. She could not evacuate the wounded, who began to die. Attempts to bypass the tank over rough terrain were unsuccessful, the trucks got stuck in the swamp. Colonel Routh gave the order to destroy the tank to the commander of a battery of 50mm Pak38 anti-tank guns.
For several hours, the gunners dragged the cannons through the forest on their hands, getting as close as possible to the KV. The tank stood motionless in the middle of the road, some Germans even thought that the crew had abandoned it. They were wrong.

The battery was finally deployed just 600 meters from the tank and fired the first salvo. The distance was "pistol", a miss is impossible. All four shells hit the tank, however, without giving any visible effect. The battery fired a second salvo. Four more hits, again no result.

After that, the KV tower turned towards the battery. Four shots from the 76 mm KV gun destroyed the German guns and most of their crews.

I had to remember the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun. On the evening of June 24, Raus took one such cannon from Seckendorf, who was exhausted from Soviet attacks. The Germans began to carefully drag the anti-aircraft guns to the tank, disguising themselves behind their trucks that they had previously burned. This fascinating process took several more hours. Finally, the crew got to the edge of the forest just 500 meters from the tank, the turret of which was deployed in the opposite direction. The Germans, confident that the tankers did not see them, began to prepare the anti-aircraft guns for firing.

Tankers, it turns out, saw everything. And with amazing composure let the enemy as close as possible. When the gunners began to point the gun at the tank, the KV turret turned around and the tank fired. Fragments of anti-aircraft guns fell into a ditch, most of the crew died. The Germans fell into a trance. The problem turned out to be much more serious than might have been expected at first.

At night, 12 German sappers went to the battle with the tank with the task of quietly getting close to the KV and laying charges under it. They managed to do this, because the tank crew, apparently, fell asleep. The charges were installed on the caterpillar and on the side of the tank and were successfully blown up. It was possible to partially kill the caterpillar, but the tank was not going to leave anyway. The Germans once again failed to break through the armor of the tank. After undermining the charges, the KV opened machine-gun fire. Having lost one person, a group of sappers returned back. However, the lost sapper was soon found. Having shown undoubted heroism, he sat out the explosions next to the tank, made sure that the tank was practically undamaged, hung another charge to the KV cannon and managed to blow it up and leave. However, that didn't help either.

The epic went on for days. Suppressing his tank pride, Colonel Raus turned to the Luftwaffe with a request to send a squadron of Ju-87 dive bombers. Having learned that it was necessary to destroy a single stationary tank in the German rear, while aviation was urgently needed on the front line, the pilots answered Raus not quite censorship.

The situation was becoming overwhelming. Because of one Russian tank, the entire division could not carry out the assigned task. It was now necessary to destroy the KV at any cost. Apart from 88 mm anti-aircraft guns, there were no means to solve the problem, but it was necessary to ensure that they were able to fire. I had to expose a whole battalion of PzKw-35t to HF fire.
The tanks built by the Slav brothers had no chance of penetrating the KV armor with shots from their 37-mm cannons, but their maneuverability and speed were excellent. They attacked soviet tank from three sides, maneuvering among the trees. Our tankers were seized with excitement. Whether they knocked out German tanks, and if so, how many, history is silent. But the Germans achieved the main thing: they managed to quietly drag Flak18 to the battlefield. The anti-aircraft gun crew set fire to the KV with the first two shots, and then fired five more shots - so much they wanted to destroy the monster that created such huge problems.

German soldiers surrounded the tank, wanting to make sure that the enemy was finally defeated. They found that only two 88-mm shells penetrated the armor, the rest left only dents. Suddenly, the KV tower started moving again (as it turned out, the tankers were wounded, but still alive). The Germans began to scatter in horror, but one, jumping on the armor, threw a grenade into the hole. This grenade put an end to the two-day battle. The shocked Germans buried the crew with the required military honors.

This episode was described not by full-time communist propagandists, but by Erhard Raus himself. Raus then won the whole war on Eastern Front, passing Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, and finished it as commander of the 3rd tank army and the rank of Colonel General. Of the 427 pages of his memoirs, which directly describe fighting, 12 are devoted to a two-day battle with a single Russian tank at Raseiniai. Routh was clearly shaken by this tank. Therefore, there is no reason for distrust. Soviet historiography ignored this episode. Moreover, since for the first time in the domestic press he was mentioned by Suvorov-Rezun, some "patriots" began to "expose" the feat. In the sense - this is not a feat, but so-so.

The KV, with a crew of 4, "exchanged" itself for 12 trucks, 4 anti-tank guns, 1 anti-aircraft gun, possibly for several tanks, as well as several dozen Germans killed and died from wounds. This in itself is an outstanding result, given the fact that until 1945, in the vast majority of even victorious battles, our losses were higher than German ones. But these are only direct losses of the Germans. Indirect - losses of the Seckendorf group, which, reflecting the Soviet strike, could not receive help from the Raus group. Accordingly, for the same reason, the losses of our 2nd Panzer Division were less than if Raus had supported Seckendorf.

However, perhaps more important than the direct and indirect losses of people and equipment was the loss of time by the Germans. On June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht had only 17 tank divisions on the entire Eastern Front, including 4 tank divisions in the 4th Panzer Group. One of them was held by KV alone. Moreover, on June 25, the 6th division could not advance solely because of the presence of a single tank in its rear. One day of delay for one division is a lot in conditions when the German tank groups were advancing at a high pace, tearing apart the defenses of the Red Army and setting up a lot of "boilers" for it. After all, the Wehrmacht actually completed the task set by Barbarossa, almost completely destroying the Red Army that opposed it in the summer of 1941. But due to such "incidents" as an unforeseen tank on the road, he did it much more slowly and with much greater losses than planned. And in the end he ran into the impenetrable mud of the Russian autumn, the deadly frosts of the Russian winter and the Siberian divisions near Moscow. After that, the war turned into a hopeless protracted stage for the Germans.

And yet the most surprising thing in this battle is the behavior of four tankers, whose names we do not know and will never know. They created more problems for the Germans than the entire 2nd Panzer Division, to which, apparently, the KV belonged. If the division delayed the German offensive for one day, then the only tank - for two. No wonder Raus had to take away anti-aircraft guns from Seckendorf, although, it would seem, it should have been the other way around.

It is almost impossible to assume that the tankers had a special task to block the only supply route for the Routh group. Intelligence at that moment was simply absent. So the tank ended up on the road by accident. The tank commander himself realized what an important position he had taken. And deliberately began to hold her. It is unlikely that the tank standing in one place can be interpreted as a lack of initiative, the crew acted too skillfully. On the contrary, standing was the initiative.

To sit without getting out in a cramped iron box for two days, and in the June heat, is torture in itself. If this box is also surrounded by an enemy whose goal is to destroy the tank along with the crew (in addition, the tank is not one of the enemy’s targets, as in a “normal” battle, but the only target), for the crew this is already an absolutely incredible physical and psychological stress. And almost all this time the tankers spent not in battle, but in anticipation of the battle, which is morally incomparably harder.

All five combat episodes - the destruction of a convoy of trucks, the destruction of an anti-tank battery, the destruction of anti-aircraft guns, firing at sappers, the last battle with tanks - in total they hardly even took an hour. The rest of the time, the KV crew wondered from which side and in what form they would be destroyed next time. The battle with anti-aircraft guns is especially indicative. The tankers deliberately hesitated until the Germans set up the cannon and began to prepare for firing - in order to shoot for sure and finish the job with one shell. Try to at least roughly imagine such an expectation.

Moreover, if on the first day the crew of the KV could still hope for the arrival of their own, then on the second, when their own did not come and even the noise of the battle at Raseinaya subsided, it became clearer than clear: the iron box in which they are fried for the second day will soon enough turn into their common coffin. They took it for granted and continued to fight.

Back to the past. 1914

KV-1 - Soviet heavy tank of the times of the Great Patriotic 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 August 1939 to August 1942. He took part in the war with Finland and the Great Patriotic War. The abbreviation KV means Kliment Voroshilov.

Tank KV-1 – video

The need to create a heavy tank carrying anti-cannon armor was well understood in the USSR. According to domestic military theory, such tanks were needed to break open the enemy’s front and organize a breakthrough or overcome fortified areas. Most armies developed countries the world had their own theories and practices of overcoming the powerful fortified positions of the enemy, experience in this was gained during the First World War. Such modern fortified lines as, for example, the Maginot Line or the Siegfried Line were considered even theoretically insurmountable. There was 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. BUT giant size tanks 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 D. G. Pavlov.

At the beginning of V.O.V, not a single German anti-tank gun and not a single German tank could knock out the KV-1,The KV-1 could only be destroyed with the help of 105 mm howitzers and 88 mm anti-aircraft guns.

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, KV (so called experimental tank) 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 engineer of the 2nd rank (driver)
- Lieutenant Polyakov (gunner)
- K. Kovsh (driver, tester of the Kirov Plant)
- A. I. Estratov (mechanic / loader, tester of the Kirov Plant)
- P. I. Vasiliev (transmission operator / radio operator, tester of 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 new tank KV-2 armed with a 152 mm howitzer.

On the proposal 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 , possessed large sizes and weight, as well as the worst dynamic characteristics.

Production

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, 139 KV-1 and 104 KV-2 were built in 1940, and 393 in the first half of 1941 (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. In addition, in October, the military received three experimental KVs: 1 T-150 and 2 T-220.

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 KV-1s and KV-8). 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 big weight tank and the unreliability of its transmission. In total, it was released: 1 experienced (U-0) and 3162 production tank KV-1, 204 KV-2 and 102 KV-8, as well as 1 T-150 and 2 T-220. Total 3472 KV tanks.

In addition, in besieged Leningrad, at plant No. 371 from November 1941 to 1943, at least 67 more KV-1s (No. S-001 - S-067), armed with cannons as F- 32, and ZIS-5. Since these machines were only for the needs of the Leningrad Front, cut off from " big land”, then they were not included in the reports of the GABTU. The total production of KV tanks, therefore, today can be estimated at 3539 tanks.

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 have been repeatedly implemented earlier in 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 get the most high level security and a large modernization potential within the framework of this concept in comparison with the previous production model of the T-35 heavy tank and experimental SMK and T-100 vehicles (all of the multi-turret 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 the second half of 1941 welded towers and the 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. This was done to increase protection against German 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. 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 (KV armor was not affected by regular 37-mm and 50-mm anti-tank guns of the Wehrmacht , but could be penetrated by 88 mm, 105 mm and 150 mm guns). 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 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 curtailed, since chassis could not withstand the weight of the machine, which increased to 50 tons. This problem was later partly overcome by the installation of heavy duty cast road wheels. Shielded tanks were used on the Northwestern 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 overturning of the tank. Inside the turret shoulder strap 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 workplace arrow-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.

A Soviet KV-1 tank knocked out near the prison in the city of Venev. The tank belonged to the 32nd tank brigade and was hit on November 27, 1941 during the battles for the city. At least 20 hits are visible on the starboard side of the turret different caliber, shot through and the gun barrel. The barrel was specially pierced by tanker German Bix, apparently from the 37-mm cannon of the Pz III tank, due to the fact that there was no other way to stop the tank. The fate of the tank crew is unknown.

Armament

On the tanks of the first releases, the L-11 cannon of 76.2 mm caliber was installed with an ammunition load of 111 rounds (according to other sources - 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 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 larger 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 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 geometric axis 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 hand grenades F-1 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.

Attack of Soviet KV-1 tanks of the Stalingrad Front with infantry support

Engine

KV-1 was equipped with a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder diesel engine V-2K with a capacity of 500 liters. 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 abolition of planing of 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-1 tank was equipped with a mechanical transmission, which included:

- multi-plate 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;
— Tape 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.

Division of Soviet submachine gunners before the battle. Behind the line of soldiers are two Soviet heavy tanks KV-1 of the 1942 project, late production series. The author's name of the picture: "Penal battalion".

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 traverse 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;
- electrician of the motor group - starter ST-700, starting relay RS-371 or RS-400, etc.

Soviet tank KV-1 moves in the forest

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 vehicle had a viewing device in the tower - a PTK panorama, which had a 2.5-fold increase and a field of view of 26 degrees, an onboard periscope and a viewing slot.

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, as well as a periscope. 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 24 V on-board electrical network.

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 telegraph mode, when information was transmitted by telegraph key in 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, one KV (T-150) with 90 mm armor (with a 76 mm F-32 gun) and two more (T-220) with 100 mm armor (one with a 76 mm F-32 gun) were made , the other - with an 85-mm F-30 cannon). But things did not go beyond the manufacture of prototypes. All of them in October 1941 were equipped with standard KV-1 turrets with F-32 cannon and left for the front.

In September 1941, 4 KV-1 tanks (including one after repair) were equipped with a flamethrower. It was placed in the frontal part of the hull in a small outbuilding instead of a course machine gun. The rest of the weapons remained unchanged. 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 and rear of the hull were thinned to 60 mm, the forehead of the cast turret 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.

In 1941-1942, a rocket modification of the tank was developed - KV-1K, equipped with the KARST-1 system (short artillery missile system tank).

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.

German sappers are building a bridge over a collapsed Soviet KV-1 tank. Vehicle produced in May 1941 from the 27th Tank Regiment of the 14th Tank Division of the 7th Mechanized Corps of the Western Front. Initially, this tank was sent to the Kharkov Armored School in May 1941, and with the outbreak of war, as part of the tank battalion of the Kharkov BTU, it arrived in the 14th Tank Division. According to the "Report on the movement of the materiel of the 27th TP of the 14th TD" on July 15, 1941 " tank KV-M of the first tank battalion, following from the repair to the Vitebsk region along the Vitebsk highway, failed with the bridge.

Combat experience

Apart from the essentially experimental use of HF in the Finnish campaign, the tank went into battle for the first time after the German attack on the USSR. The very first meetings German tankers with HF 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 vertical side of the KV from a distance of 300 m, and an inclined 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 destroyed any road - wheeled vehicles could no longer move behind him, which is why KV was always placed at the end of the column. On the other hand, the tank showed itself excellently on the battlefield, when organizing tank ambushes and counterattacks by German mechanized columns.

In general, according to some 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.

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). A new version was named KV-1s.

The creation of the KV-1s was a justified step in the conditions heavy 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 against any German armored vehicles, and there was no reason 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, last operation, in which HF were used in 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.

Thanks to the creation of the KV ("Kliment Voroshilov") tanks, the Soviet Union became the only state in 1941 that had massive quantities of heavy tanks with anti-cannon armor. The Germans called the KV a monster. Searches and Experiments The main drawback of most tanks of the second half of the 30s was weak armor, which was penetrated by the fire of anti-tank guns and heavy machine guns. KV-1 was different from them. It was created in 1939 under the leadership of J. Ya. Kotin. The tank had a 76 mm gun and three 7.62 mm guns. machine gun. The crew of the tank - 5 people. The first KVs passed military tests during the Soviet-Finnish War, which was the first conflict where heavy tanks with anti-ballistic armor were used. At that time, Soviet heavy tanks KV and multi-turreted SMK and T-100, operating as part of the 20th tank brigade, were tested at the front. If in tank battles, which were a rare occurrence in the Finnish War, the latest vehicles did not take part, then they turned out to be indispensable in breaking through enemy fortifications. KV-1 withstood hits from almost any anti-tank gun projectiles. At the same time, the 76-mm gun was not powerful enough to deal with enemy pillboxes. Therefore, already during the war, on the basis of the KV-1, the development of a tank with an enlarged turret and an installed 152 mm began. howitzer (future KV-2). At the same time, based on the experience of the Soviet-Finnish war, it was decided to abandon the creation of heavy multi-turreted tanks, which turned out to be expensive and difficult to manage. The choice was finally made in favor of KV. Unparalleled By June 1941, the KV could be considered one of the strongest heavy tanks in the world. In total, at the beginning of June 1941, there were 412 KV-1s in the Red Army units, very unevenly distributed among the troops. There is a well-known case in June 1941 in the Rassenaya area, when one KV-1 fettered the actions of a German division for almost two days. This KV was part of the 2nd Panzer Division, which brought a lot of trouble to the German troops in the first days of the war. Apparently having used up its fuel supply, the tank took up a position on the road near a swampy meadow. One of the German documents noted: “There were practically no means to cope with the monster. The tank cannot be bypassed, around the swampy terrain. Ammunition could not be brought in, the seriously wounded were dying, they could not be taken out. An attempt to destroy the tank with fire from a 50-mm anti-tank battery from a distance of 500 meters led to heavy losses in crews and guns. The tank was not damaged, despite the fact that, as it turned out, received 14 direct hits. From them there were only dents on the armor. When the 88-millimeter gun was brought to a distance of 700 meters, the tank calmly waited until it was put into position and destroyed it. Attempts by sappers to undermine the tank were unsuccessful. The charges were insufficient for the huge caterpillars. Finally, he became a victim of cunning. 50 German tanks feigned an attack from all sides to divert attention. Under cover, they managed to advance and disguise the 88-mm gun from the rear of the tank. Of the 12 direct hits, 3 pierced the armor and destroyed the tank. "Unfortunately, most of the KV was lost not due to combat reasons, but breakdowns and lack of fuel. KV-1s In 1942, the production of a modernized version, the KV-1s (high-speed) , put into service on August 20, 1942. The weight of the tank was reduced from 47 to 42.5 tons by reducing the thickness of the armor plates of the hull and the size of the turret. 1 As a result, speed and maneuverability increased, but the armor protection of the tank decreased.It was supposed to install a more powerful 85-mm cannon on the KV-1s (a similar prototype was preserved in Kubinka), but this tank did not go into production. Subsequently, on the basis of the Kv-1s with an 85 mm gun, the KV-85 was created, which, however, did not become widespread due to the switch in production to IS tanks. Soldiers nicknamed the tank "kvass". Ans' troops could do little to oppose the KV-1. However, during the fighting, the tank's shortcomings were also revealed - relatively low speed and maneuverability compared to the T-34. Both tanks were armed with 76 mm guns. True, the KV had more massive armor in comparison with the "thirty-four". HF also suffered from frequent breakdowns. When moving, the tank broke almost any road, and not every bridge could withstand a 47-ton tank. The heavy tank "Tiger" appeared with the Germans at the end of 1942, surpassing any heavy tank at that time of the war. And the KV-1 turned out to be practically powerless against the "Tiger", armed with a long-barreled 88-mm cannon. The "Tiger" could hit KB at great distances, and a direct hit by an 88-mm projectile would disable any tank of that time. So, on February 12, 1943, near Leningrad, three "Tigers" knocked out 10 KB without damage from their side. Since the middle of 1943, the KV-1 has become less and less common on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War - mainly near Leningrad. Nevertheless, the KV-1 served as the basis for the creation of a number of Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns. So, on the basis of the KV, the SU-152 was created, armed with 152 howitzer-guns. Only a few KV-1 units have survived to this day in Russia, which have become museum exhibits.

Searches and experiments

The main drawback of most tanks of the second half of the 1930s was weak armor, which was penetrated by the fire of anti-tank guns and heavy machine guns.
KV-1 was different from them. It was created in 1939 under the leadership of J. Ya. Kotin. The tank had a 76 mm gun and three 7.62 mm guns. machine gun. The crew of the tank - 5 people.
The first KVs passed military tests during the Soviet-Finnish War, which was the first conflict where heavy tanks with anti-ballistic armor were used. At that time, Soviet heavy tanks KV and multi-turreted SMK and T-100, operating as part of the 20th tank brigade, were tested at the front.

If in tank battles, which were a rare occurrence in the Finnish War, the latest vehicles did not take part, then they turned out to be indispensable in breaking through enemy fortifications. KV-1 withstood hits from almost any anti-tank gun projectiles. At the same time, the 76-mm gun was not powerful enough to deal with enemy pillboxes. Therefore, already during the war, on the basis of the KV-1, the development of a tank with an enlarged turret and an installed 152 mm began. howitzer (future KV-2). At the same time, based on the experience of the Soviet-Finnish war, it was decided to abandon the creation of heavy multi-turreted tanks, which turned out to be expensive and difficult to manage. The choice was finally made in favor of KV.

Unmatched

As of June 1941, the KV could be considered one of the strongest heavy tanks in the world. In total, at the beginning of June 1941, there were 412 KV-1s in the Red Army units, very unevenly distributed among the troops.
There is a well-known case in June 1941 in the Rassenaya area, when one KV-1 fettered the actions of a German division for almost two days. This KV was part of the 2nd Panzer Division, which brought a lot of trouble to the German troops in the first days of the war. Apparently having used up its fuel supply, the tank took up a position on the road near a swampy meadow. One of the German documents noted:

“There were practically no means to deal with the monster. The tank cannot be bypassed, around the swampy terrain. Ammunition could not be brought in, the seriously wounded were dying, they could not be taken out. An attempt to destroy the tank with fire from a 50-mm anti-tank battery from a distance of 500 meters led to heavy losses in crews and guns. The tank was not damaged, despite the fact that, as it turned out, received 14 direct hits. From them there were only dents on the armor. When the 88-millimeter gun was brought to a distance of 700 meters, the tank calmly waited until it was put into position and destroyed it. Attempts by sappers to undermine the tank were unsuccessful. The charges were insufficient for the huge caterpillars. Finally, he became a victim of cunning. 50 German tanks feigned an attack from all sides to divert attention. Under cover, they managed to advance and disguise the 88-mm gun from the rear of the tank. Of the 12 direct hits, 3 pierced the armor and destroyed the tank."

Unfortunately, most of the KV was lost not due to combat reasons, but due to breakdowns and lack of fuel.

KV-1s

In 1942, the production of a modernized version, the KV-1s (high-speed), was put into service on August 20, 1942. The mass of the tank was reduced from 47 to 42.5 tons by reducing the thickness of the armor plates of the hull and the size of the turret. The tower was cast, acquired a slightly different appearance and was equipped with a commander's cupola. The armament remained similar to the KV-1. As a result, the speed and maneuverability increased, but the armor protection of the tank decreased. A more powerful 85 mm cannon was supposed to be installed on the KV-1s (a similar prototype was preserved in Kubinka), but this tank did not go into production. Subsequently, on the basis of the Kv-1s with an 85 mm gun, the KV-85 was created, which, however, did not become massive due to the switch in production to IS tanks. The soldiers nicknamed the tank "kvass".

End of the road

In tank battles, at least until the middle of 1942, the German troops could do little to oppose the KV-1. However, during the fighting, the tank's shortcomings were also revealed - relatively low speed and maneuverability compared to the T-34. Both tanks were armed with 76 mm guns. True, the KV had more massive armor in comparison with the "thirty-four". HF also suffered from frequent breakdowns. When moving, the tank broke almost any road, and not every bridge could withstand a 47-ton tank. The heavy tank "Tiger" appeared with the Germans at the end of 1942, surpassing any heavy tank at that time of the war. And the KV-1 turned out to be practically powerless against the "Tiger", armed with a long-barreled 88-mm cannon. The "Tiger" could hit KB at great distances, and a direct hit by an 88-mm projectile would disable any tank of that time. So, on February 12, 1943, near Leningrad, three "Tigers" knocked out 10 KB without damage from their side.