World War II Database

The Kliment Voroshilov heavy tanks, or KV for short, were the result of a Russian desire for a modern heavy tank that was not designed for the WW1-era philosophy which restricted heavy tanks' image as a slow moving breakthrough tank. During the Winter War, three prototypes (SMK, KV, and T-100) were sent in combat conditions for field testing, with the KV prototype emerging as the chosen tank to be placed into production. There were two variants right from the start; the KV-1 variant (sometimes named KV Model 1939 through KV Model 1942) was the original heavy tank design with a 76-millimeter gun, while the KV-2 variant was mounted with a 152-millimeter howitzer in the turret instead of the tank gun.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Jun 1941, of the 22,000 tanks in the Soviet forces, 508 were KV-1 heavy tanks and about 100 to 200 were KV-2 heavy tanks. Equipped with heavy armor, German tanks found it extremely difficult to penetrate with tank guns unless in close range, thus needing to especially employ ground-attack aircraft or anti-tank guns to knock them out. Despite the weaknesses of slow speed, unreliable transmission, poor visibility, and poor ergonomics, Russian crews liked these heavy tanks due to the protection. Between 23 and 24 Jun 1941, a single KV-2 heavy tank pinned down a larger force for almost an entire day at the bridgeheads at the Dubysa River in Lithuania. On 14 Aug 1941, Lieutenant Zinoviy Kolobanov's five KV-1 heavy tanks laid in ambush for an oncoming German tank column near Leningrad, Russia; revealing only one tank at a time, the ambush knocked out 43 German tanks in about 30 minutes, while the Russian tanks were hit multiple times but none of the hits penetrated.

By 1942, as German tank guns improved, namely with the long-barrelled 50- and 75-millimeter guns, KV heavy tanks found themselves losing the armor advantage. Some crews looked to installing additional armor in the field to bolster defenses. Meanwhile, KV heavy tank's 76-millimeter guns were inadequate in penetrating the frontal armor of new German heavy tanks. Nevertheless, the KV-1 variant remained in production even after the migration of Russian heavy industries beyond the Ural Mountains; however, the KV-2 variant tanks were phased out at this time, after 250 had been built. To improve armor protection, variant design KV-1 Model 1942 was placed into production, which had thicker armor, but at the expense of mobility. The KV-1S variant tanks were thus released, which were lighter and smaller to improve performance, while commanders' cupolas were included in the design with all-around vision blocks, a visibility feature first found in a Russian tank design. In mid-1943, especially considering that KV-1 heavy tanks shared the same guns as the lighter and more agile T-34 medium tanks, KV production was almost ordered to stop, saved only by the apperance of German Panther heavy tanks. To counter the new German threat, between fall of 1943 and early 1944, 148 KV-1S heavy tanks were upgraded to become KV-85 heavy tanks by installing 85-millimeter tank guns. In the spring of 1944, production of all KV tanks ceased after the introduction of the Iosif Stalin heavy tanks. Although the designations were different, the original Iosif Stalin tank (IS-1/IS-85) was actually a modified KV-13 tank, renamed only because the politician that the KV tanks were named for, Kliment Voroshilov, had fallen out of Joseph Stalin's favor. Some KV heavy tanks remained in service through the end of the war, seeing combat as late as the Russian invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria in northeast China in Aug 1945.

Finnish forces captured two KV tanks; both of them received minor upgrades and were used against their former owners and both survived the war. German forces captured one KV tank, and it was also pressed into service, possibly seeing combat against American forces on the western front.

In total, about 5,219 KV heavy tanks were built during the design's production life.

SPECIFICATIONS

KV-1 Model 1940

Machinery	One V-2K 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 600hp
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Armament	1x76.2mm F-32 gun (111 rounds), 2x7.62mm DT machine guns
Armor	25–75mm
Crew	5
Length	6.75 m
Width	3.32 m
Height	2.71 m
Weight	43.0 t
Speed	35 km/h
Range	335 km

KV-1 Model 1941

Machinery	One V-2 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 600hp
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Armament	1x76.2mm F-34 gun (111 rounds), 4x7.62mm DT machine guns
Armor	30-90mm
Crew	5
Length	6.75 m
Width	3.32 m
Height	2.71 m
Weight	45.0 t
Speed	35 km/h
Range	335 km

KV-1 Model 1942

Machinery	One V-2 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 600hp
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Armament	1x76.2mm ZiS-5 gun (114 rounds), 4x7.62mm DT machine guns
Armor	20-130mm
Crew	5
Length	6.75 m
Width	3.32 m
Height	2.71 m
Weight	47.0 t
Speed	28 km/h
Range	250 km

KV-1S Model 1942

Machinery	One V-2 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 600hp
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Armament	1x76.2mm ZiS-5 gun (114 rounds), 4x7.62mm DT machine guns
Armor	30-82mm
Crew	5
Length	6.75 m
Width	3.32 m
Height	2.71 m
Weight	42.5 t
Speed	45 km/h
Range	250 km

KV-85 Model 1943

Machinery	One V-2 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 600hp
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Armament	1x85mm D-5T gun (70 rounds), 3x7.62mm DT machine guns
Armor	30-160mm
Crew	4
Length	6.75 m
Width	3.32 m
Height	2.71 m
Weight	46.0 t
Speed	40 km/h
Range	250 km

KV-2

Machinery	One V-2K 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 600hp
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Armament	1x152mm howitzer, 2x7.62mm machine guns
Armor	110mm max
Crew	6
Length	6.79 m
Width	3.32 m
Height	3.65 m
Weight	53.1 t
Speed	25 km/h
Range	140 km

Photographs

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