One tank against a tank division. "Klim Voroshilov" against a tank division With his wife and son
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The KV tank, or, as the Germans called it, “Gespenst” (ghost) is a real metal fortress, but even such a reliable block could not accomplish a feat near Raseiniai without cold calculation and hatred for the invaders. About seven centimeters of steel and one carriage, which for the Germans became the personification of the Russian character and unbending will - in this material.
By the evening of June 23, 1941, the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht captured the Lithuanian city of Raseiniai and crossed the Dubyssa River. The tasks assigned to the division were completed, but the Germans, who already had experience of campaigns in the west, were unpleasantly struck by the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops. One of the units of the group of Colonel Erhard Raus came under fire from snipers who took up positions on fruit trees growing in the meadow.
The snipers killed several German officers, delayed the advance of the German units for almost an hour, preventing them from quickly encircling the Soviet units. The snipers were obviously doomed because they were inside the location of the German troops. But they completed the task to the end. In the west, the Germans did not meet anything like this.
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 fact remains: one tank held back the advance of the Raus combat group ... Moreover, it delayed for a whole day one KB, blocking the road to the bridge over the Dubyssa River, and thus deprived half of the division of supplies. The battle group is almost half of the division and in this case, the most powerful.
Look at the composition of the battle group "Raus":
- II Panzer Regiment
- I/4th Motorized Regiment
- II/76th Artillery Regiment
- Company of the 57th tank sapper battalion
- Company of the 41st Tank Destroyer Battalion
- Battery II / 411th Anti-Aircraft Regiment
- 6th Motorcycle Battalion
And it's all against 4 people! The KV-1, with a crew of 4, “traded” itself for 12 trucks, 4 anti-tank guns, 1 anti-aircraft gun, possibly for several tanks, as well as several dozen Germans killed or died of wounds.
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 near 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.
So, while escorting several of our prisoners in a car to the rear of the Germans, a super-heavy KV-1 tank was discovered right on the road, which blocked the only supply route for the Routh group. Seeing the tank, our fighters attacked the guards, a struggle ensued, a shootout - as a result, several Red Army soldiers jumped from the car and hid in the forest, and the rest were killed.
The German car quickly turned around and rushed back to the bridgehead to report this unpleasant news for the Germans. At the same time, it was discovered that the tank crew had damaged the telephone connection with the headquarters of the Nazi division and destroyed 12 trucks with supplies that were coming from Raseiniai.
All attempts to bypass our tank were unsuccessful. The vehicles either got stuck in the mud or collided with scattered Red Army units still wandering through the forest.
Then the Nazis decided to destroy the tank. An anti-tank battery, consisting of four 50 mm cannons, secretly advanced towards the tank at a direct shot distance and opened fire. Eight hits were recorded. One should have seen the jubilation and joy of the Germans at the same time. But the tank, at least henna ... And then, to the surprise of the enemies, the KV-1 turret slowly turns around and fires four shots. As a result, two guns are blown to pieces, and two are damaged beyond repair in the field! The personnel of the Germans lost several people killed and wounded.
The Russian tank was still tightly blocking the road, so the Germans were literally paralyzed. The deeply shocked German soldiers returned to the bridgehead. The newly obtained weapons, which they implicitly trusted, were completely helpless against the monstrous Russian tank.
It became clear that of all the weapons that Routh's group had, only 88mm anti-aircraft guns with their heavy armor-piercing shells could cope with the destruction of the steel giant. In the afternoon, one such gun was withdrawn from the battle near Raseiniai and began to crawl cautiously towards the tank from the south. The KV-1 was still deployed to the north, since it was from this direction that the previous attack had been carried out.
Although the tank had not moved since the battle with the anti-tank battery, it turned out that its crew and commander had iron nerves. They coolly followed the approach of the anti-aircraft gun, without interfering with it, since as long as the gun was moving, it did not pose any threat to the tank. In addition, the closer the anti-aircraft gun is, the easier it will be to destroy it. The critical moment in the duel of nerves arrived when the crew began to prepare the anti-aircraft gun for firing. It is time for the tank crew to act. While the gunners, terribly nervous, aimed and loaded the gun, the tank turned the turret and fired first! Each projectile hit the target. A heavily damaged anti-aircraft gun fell into a ditch, several crew members died, and the rest were forced to flee. The tank's machine-gun fire prevented the cannon from being taken out and the dead picked up.
The optimism of the German soldiers died along with the 88-mm gun. They didn't have the best day munching on canned food, as it was impossible to bring hot food.
As night fell, the Germans decided to blow up the tank with explosives. For this, the best sappers of the group were selected. When they approached the tank at a fairly close distance, an amazing thing turned out - several civilians (apparently from the local population or partisans) approached the tank, knocked on the turret, the hatch opened and they were given food. The crew had a safe supper and went to bed inside the tank. The Germans at that time approached the tank, laid several powerful charges and blew it up. The next rejoicing of the Germans did not last long - a tank machine gun immediately came to life and began to pour lead all around. The Nazis barely took their feet!
The next attempt to attack the brave tank was made on the morning of June 25th. Now the Germans went to the trick - a false attack was carried out by PzKw-35t tanks (they themselves could not do anything with the KV-1 with their 37 mm guns), and under their cover they brought another 88 mm anti-aircraft gun closer. The crew was carried away by the battle with the nimble and light tanks of the enemy and did not notice the danger. Yes, and the area contributed to this. The crew of the KV-1 tank was confident in the strength of its armor, which resembled an elephant skin and reflected all the shells, continuing to block the road.
The anti-aircraft gun took up a position near the place where one of the same had already been destroyed the day before. Its barrel aimed at the tank and the first shot rang out. The wounded KV-1 tried to turn the turret back, but the German anti-aircraft gunners managed to fire 2 more shots during this time. The turret stopped rotating, but the tank did not catch fire. 4 more shots were fired with armor-piercing shells from an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun.
Witnesses of this deadly duel wanted to get closer to check the results of their shooting. To their great amazement, they found that only 2 shells penetrated the armor, while the remaining 5 88-mm shells only made deep gouges in it. They also found 8 blue circles marking the impact sites of 50mm shells. The result of the sappers' sortie was serious damage to the caterpillar and a shallow dent in the gun barrel. But they did not find any traces of hits from 37-mm cannons of PzKW-35t tanks.
Suddenly, the barrel of the gun began to move and the German soldiers rushed away in horror. Only one of the sappers retained his composure and quickly pushed a hand grenade into the hole made by the projectile in the lower part of the tower. There was a dull explosion and the manhole cover flew off to the side. Inside the tank lay the bodies of the brave crew, who until then had received only wounds. Deeply shocked by this heroism, the Germans decided to bury them with full military honors. They fought to the last breath, but it was only one small drama of the great war.
Today it is difficult to imagine how much courage they showed, how hotly hatred burned in their hearts. After all, a stationary tank is a good target, it is a steel coffin for the entire crew. We will never know what the tankers said then, what they thought ... But their act testifies that they were people of extraordinary will. The tank commander 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. The crew could blow up the tank so that the enemy would not get it and calmly go to their own, to the partisans. But they made the only right decision and remained to take their last fight.
The combat episode of the beginning of the war near Raseiniai is just one of the brightest moments characterizing the mass heroism of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War. Eternal memory to the fallen heroes!
P.S. The description of this feat of tankers is given according to the memoirs of the same Erhard Raus. Of the 427 pages of his memoirs, which directly describe the fighting, 12 are devoted to a two-day battle with the only Russian tank at Raseiniai. Routh was clearly shaken by this tank. Therefore, there is no reason for distrust.
P.P.S. Unfortunately, not all the names of these brave tankers are known, but most likely they were from the 2nd Panzer Division of the 3rd Mechanized Corps. It was the 2nd Panzer Division that opposed the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht in the battles along Raseiniai. In 1965 the grave was opened. According to the found receipt for the surrender of the passport, it was possible to restore the name of one of the crew members - Pavel Yegorovich Ershov. The surname and initials of another tanker are also known - Smirnov V.A.
Thank you for watching!
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 several batteries of 88-mm Flak18 anti-aircraft guns from the division command. 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 their 37mm guns, but their maneuverability and speed were excellent. They attacked the Soviet tank from three sides, maneuvering through 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 entire war on the Eastern Front, passing through Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, and finished it as commander of the 3rd Panzer Army and with the rank of colonel general. Of the 427 pages of his memoirs, which directly describe the fighting, 12 are devoted to a two-day battle with the only 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, “traded” itself for 12 trucks, 4 anti-tank guns, 1 anti-aircraft gun, possibly for several tanks, as well as for several dozen Germans killed or died of 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 the 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 near 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
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 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 the 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 launched, which 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.
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.
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 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 the 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 launched, which 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.
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.
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 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, which operated as part of the 20th tank brigade, were tested at the front. 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 the 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.
In 1942, the production of a modernized version, the KV-1s (high-speed), was launched, which 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.
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.