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KV-1


KV-1 M1941

The KV-1 (in Cyrillic Климе́нт Вороши́лов (KB) or Kliment Voroshilov (KV)) was a Soviet heavy assault tank during the early stages of the Second World War.

History[]

Development[]

The need to create a heavy tank carrying anti-tank armor was well understood in the USSR. According to Soviet military theory, such tanks were necessary for breaking the enemy's front and organizing a breakthrough or overcoming fortified areas. Most of the armies of the developed countries of the world had their own theories and practices for overcoming powerful fortified positions of the enemy, experience in this was acquired 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 a misconception that the tank was created during the Finnish campaign to break through the Finnish long-term fortifications (the Mannerheim line). In fact, the tank began to be designed at the end of 1938, when it became finally clear that the concept of a multi-turret heavy tank, like the T-35, is a dead end. It was obvious that the presence of a large number of towers, although it is an advantage in firepower, but inevitably entails side effects in the form of complexity of the design and as a result, its increase in cost, speed of manufacture and less reliability. And the huge size of the tank only makes it heavier and unmasks it and does not allow you to use thick enough armor.

In the late 1930s, attempts were made to develop a tank of reduced size (compared to the T-35), but with thicker armor. However, the designers did not decide to abandon the use of several towers: it was believed that one gun would fight with the infantry and suppress firing points, and the second must be anti-tank-to fight with armored vehicles. The new tanks created under this concept (SMK and T-100) were two-turreted, armed with 76 mm and 45 mm guns. And only as an experiment, we also developed a smaller version of the QMS — with a single tower. This reduced the length of the machine (by two support rollers), which had a positive effect on the dynamic characteristics. The KV prototype, unlike its concurrents, was equipped with a diesel engine and a 76.2mm L-11 gun and was sent to Moscow on September 5, 1939 and presented to the Soviet government on the 25th, it was then resent to Leningrad on October 8 for several tests. After a trial during the Winter War, show its superiority on the SMK and T-100, the KV was official baptized KV-1 and enter active service December 19, 1939, eliminating its concurrence.

However due to the 76.2mm L-11 gun was too complicated to produce and not very powerful into the combat it was replaced by the 76.2mm F-32 and a third machine-gun was added on the hull thus becoming the KV-1 m1940, a variant of the model 1941 called KV-1e model 1940 was equipped with additionnal armor plates, a new cast turret and the more performant 76.2mm F-32 gun. In 1941, a new model equipped with the ZiS-5 (and sometimes with the F-34) came called the KV-1 model 1941. In December 1941, the KV-1 model 1942 made its appearance with a new and more armored cast turret (reaching 120mm) and its hull goes up to 110mm. The ultimate modification, called the KV-1s model 1942, was a lighten version of the KV-1 to try match the speed of the T-34, with a smaller turret and a light armor on some parts and got improved version of its engine with the V-2K-s. The Red Army in need of more armored tanks discontinued the KV-1 production in 1943 in favour of the KV-85.

After its performance during the Winter War, its gun was judged inefficient against all sort of pillboxes by the Soviet High Command. Four KV-1 were diverted to be tested with a heavy 152mm howitzer, giving birth to the KV-2.

Operational History[]

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began. The military did not miss the opportunity to test the new heavy tanks. The day before the start of the war the KV, alongside the SMK and the T-100 went to the front and were transferred to the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade, equipped with medium T-28 tanks. It saw its first battle on December 17 when the Hottinsky fortified area of the Mannerheim line was breached. The tank successfully passed the battle tests as it was impervious to any enemy anti-tank gun.

During Operation Barbarossa, the KV-1 was alongside the T-34 a very unpleasant surprise for German troops, the Panzer III and Panzer IV were unable to pierce its armor, only the mighty Flak 88mm was able to destroy those armored monsters. First facing the Germans during the Battle of Raseiniai, their front armor was strong enough to deflect anything fire at them. However the Germans quickly learned to destroy them using desperate actions to destroy them liken using its difficulty to steer and lack of coordination, they were able to outflank the tanks and set explosive charges behind the turret or grenades into the barrel tube. The Russians lost more KV-1 due to gearbox and engine problems than by German.

In 1942, with the introduction of the long-barreled 50mm and 75mm, the KV-1 lost its advantage and its armor was no longer impenetrable especially with the arrival of the Tiger tank. As the war continue continued to get more armour to compensate for the increasing effectiveness of German weapons at the expense of the mobility and speed, having no firepower advantage over the T-34, the final entry was the KV-1S very similar in term of performance to its medium counterpart but the appearance of the new Panther tank convince the Red Army to stop the KV-1 production. However the KV-1 remained in service, although in very limited number, until the end of the war. Some were also deployed in Manchuria.

Some were captured by Germany and used under designation Panzerkampfwagen KV-1 756(r). Some were equipped with a cupola and rearmed with 75mm KwK 40 L/43 gun.

Finland captured two KV-1s, nicknamed Klimi, that both survived the war.

Romania also captured two KV-1s, one in November 1942 and another one in March 1944.

In Girls und Panzer[]

Drama[]

When lost on a deserted island, Mika and Aki can be overheard discussing about a KV-1 "borrowed" to Pravda Girls High School.

Der Film[]

At some point Pravda Girls High School lent a KV-1 to Jatkosota High School. They will later file a complaint to the Sensha-do Federation about the non-return of the lent tank. The complaint can be shown on a webpage.

Saga of Pravda[]

Pravda High School third years fielded two KV-1s during a match against the first years. Near the end of the battle, the third-year tanks surrounded the two remaining first years T-34/85, commanded by Katyusha and Nonna. When they tried to counterattack the KV-1 tanks, along with other tanks, unleashed a fire barrage at them, trying to stop the tanks. However, they only managed to destroy Katyusha's tank and did not succeed to reload in time. Nonna destroyed the third-year flag tank soon after.

Das Finale[]

Jatkosota High School operated a single KV-1 in the semi-finals match against Ooarai Girls' Academy. Its performance in the match is currently unknown.

Trivia[]

  • The tank is named after the Soviet Defense Commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov.
  • The manga KV-1 features a ZIS-5 gun which designate a KV-1 model 1941.
  • The KV-1 stolen by Jatkosota is a reference the two KV-1 captured by the Finnish during the Continuation War.
    • It has apeared in trailers for Das Finale 4, proving that Jatkosota really stole it.

Gallery[]

Main article: KV-1/Gallery
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