During the years of World War II, heavy armored vehicles made a significant contribution to the defense capability and victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. The USSR military industry created a line of heavy tanks. According to experts, the KV tank (Klim Voroshilov) posed a special threat to the Nazis. This model, as military experts are convinced, already at the beginning of hostilities proved to be one of the best. An overview of the KV-1C tank is presented in this article.
Acquaintance
The KV-1C tank (photo of a combat unit can be seen below) is one of the models of heavy armored vehicles manufactured by the USSR defense industry. Soviet heavy tanks manufactured from 1940 to 1943 are designated by the abbreviation KV. What does the Klim Voroshilov 1C tank mean? This index indicates that the combat unit is the fast-moving and the first model of the entire series of tanks.
Start of creation
By 1942, the military noticed that the KV tanks were not perfect. Due to the large mass, it was difficult to operate them, which negatively affected the combat effectiveness of the equipment. Also, the tank did not work at full engine power. The reason for this is problems in the engine cooling system. As a result, in order to prevent overheating of the power unit, it had to be used in low speed mode. In addition, the tank was not equipped with a commander’s turret, which significantly limited the all-round visibility. The military was not happy with the inconvenient location of the viewing instruments. Some components in the diesel engine had defects. The State Committee of Defense informed about these shortcomings, which in February 1942 issued decree No. 1334ss. According to this document, the designers of Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant) were faced with the task of designing a tank weighing 45 tons and with an engine, whose power should be 560 horsepower. Three days later, the People’s Commissariat of Defense signed Decree No. 0039 on the start of work on the creation of the KV-1C tank.
Initially, they decided to reduce the permissible weight of 45 tons by reducing the track width to 60 cm, the thickness of the armor in the bottom and in the frontal part. In addition, the changes were supposed to affect the ammunition - they decided to reduce it to 90 shells. The KV-1C tank (photo of the model is in the article) was produced without additional fuel tanks.
About production
Design work was carried out in the design office of a tractor plant in the city of Chelyabinsk. Soon, a prototype tank with a 650-liter V-2K engine was ready. from. and new final drives. However, during testing, it turned out that the power unit is inefficient. The reverse situation was observed with the final drives, which it was decided to leave. Later their serial production was established. In April, they tested a new 8-speed gearbox and a 700 liter engine. from. According to experts, the engine could not be tested until the end, and the KV-1C tank was soon equipped with a gearbox. In total, the Soviet defense industry produced 1,120 combat units.
About design
Soviet heavy tank KV-1C is a modernization of the first original model, which is listed as KV-1. The main goal that the designers pursued was to make the new combat unit more reliable and faster. As a result, unlike its counterpart, the KV-1C tank has a less massive body due to weakened armor and is equipped with new, more advanced turret and gearbox. Chelyabinsk designers decided not to change the armament and motor group. The Soviet tank KV-1C was delivered with a classic layout typical for heavy and medium models manufactured at that time by the Soviet defense industry. The machine consists of three departments: managerial, combat and engine-transmission. The first is reserved for the driver and the radio operator, the second for crew members. The fighting compartment combined with the middle part of the hull and tower.
There is also a place for the main gun, ammunition and fuel tanks. The stern of the KV-1C tank was equipped with an engine and transmission.
About armor protection and tank turret
In the production of the Klim Voroshilov high-speed tank (photo of this military unit can be seen in the article), rolled armor plates were used, the thickness of which was 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7.5 cm. A machine with differentiated ballistic armor protection. The tower in the tank has a complex streamlined shape and was made by casting. In order to increase its projectile resistance, the designers of the side of the tower were placed at an angle of 75 degrees in the vertical plane. The sides, according to experts, had the largest thickness - 75 mm. In the frontal tower part was placed and the embrasure for the gun. This part was cast separately. Then connected to the other armored parts by welding. The gun mask was made on the basis of a rolled armored plate, which was bent and equipped with three holes for a gun, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. As a result, the product turned out to be a 8.2 cm thick cylindrical segment. The tower was placed on the cover in the fighting compartment for a shoulder strap, the diameter of which was 153.5 cm. To prevent it from falling off during a strong roll of the tank, it was securely fixed with special grips.
Inside a Soviet high-speed tank
The workplace of the driver is the front of the case in the center. The radio gunner is to his left. A combat crew of three was stationed in the tower. To the left of the gun were the gunner and the commander of the car, and to the right, the loader. The commander had a cast observation turret, the armor of which was 6 cm thick. Two round hatches were provided for the landing and exit of the combat crew in the tank. One of them was under the loader, the second - in the upper case cover above the radio operator gunner. In addition, the KV-1C was equipped with a bottom emergency hatch. Repair of machine components and assemblies was carried out through additional small technical hatches. Through them it was possible to get to the fuel tanks, as well as to load the ammunition in the tank.
About weapons
The battle on the KV-1C tank was carried out from the 76.2-mm gun ZIS-5. The weapon was mounted on the trunnions. The aiming was carried out in a vertical plane from -5 to 25 degrees. Shooting was carried out by mechanical and electric descents. From the main gun, 114 shots could be fired. Ammunition lay in the tower along the sides. In addition, it was possible to hit the enemy with the help of three machine guns DT 7.62 mm caliber. One of them was paired with the ZIS-5, the second - course, and the third was placed at the stern of the tank on a special ball mount. The combat set of small arms was presented by cartridges in the amount of 3 thousand pieces. Installation of DT machine guns was carried out so that the crew could at any time remove them and shoot separately from the KV-1S. The crew also had several F-1 hand grenades. The tank commander relied on a signal pistol.
About the powertrain
The tank used a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder diesel engine V-2K. Motor power was 600 horsepower. To start the unit there was a starter ST-700 (15 hp). Also, compressed air contained in two 5-liter tanks in the fighting compartment was used for this purpose. The volume of the main fuel tanks was 600 and 615 liters. Their location was the combat and transmission squads. Additionally, the tank had four more external fuel tanks that were not connected to the common system. Each capacity is designed for 360 liters of fuel.
About Transmission
KV-1C was equipped with a transmission, which consisted of the following components:
- Multi-disc main clutch of dry friction.
- A four-speed gearbox using a multiplier (8 forward gears and 2 rear gears).
- Two multi-disc side clutches.
- Two final planetary gearboxes.
Tank with mechanical control drives. According to experts, a significant drawback of Klim Voroshilov combat vehicles was that the transmission was not reliable enough. With a new gearbox, this flaw was fixed. Later, they decided to use it in the IS-2 model.
About the running gear
In the design of this node, the developers used a hodovka from KV-1. However, in order to reduce the total mass of the combat vehicle, the dimensions of some parts still had to be reduced. KV-1S came with an individual torsion bar suspension provided for each one-piece gable track roller. In total there are 6 of them on each side. The rink diameter was 60 cm. The USSR defense industry produced two types of rollers: with round holes and triangular. The first type was the most common. Each skating rink was equipped with a travel stop, which was welded to the armored hull.
Chassis tank - with pin gear and removable crowns. The track was tensioned using a special screw mechanism. The caterpillar was equipped with 86 single-ridge tracks. Unlike the base model, the track width in the high-speed tank was 60 cm.
About surveillance tools and sights
According to experts, of all the large-scale Soviet tanks, the high-speed KV-1C is considered the first to use a commander’s turret equipped with sight slots. There were 5 of them in total, and they covered themselves with protective glasses. The driver had a sighting device. To protect the triplex, there was a special armored shutter. The location of this device was the hatch in the frontal part of the tank. In a non-combat setting, the driver could push this hatch slightly forward to view a larger area. The KV-1C used two gun sights: the telescopic TOD-6, which provided direct fire, and the periscope PT-6. It was exploited if it was necessary to shoot from a closed position. PT-6 was protected by a special armored cap. Thanks to the illumination devices, which equipped the scales of the sights, firing was possible at night. Sighting devices used in sniper rifles were attached to the course and rear DT machine guns. Each such sight provided a triple increase.
About communications
To connect the combat crew with the command, the KV-1C was equipped with a 9P radio station and a TPU-4-BIS intercom. It could be used by four subscribers. The tanks were also equipped with 10P or 10RK radio stations. Included was a transmitter, receiver, and a shamer. The latter was a single-arm motor generator, through which the stations were powered from an on-board power supply of 24 V. According to experts, in telephone mode, communication was provided at a range of 20 to 25 thousand meters.When the tank was moving, the communication range was lower. For negotiations inside the tank, TPU-4-Bis was used. If the situation was too noisy, the crew could use a headset, which was also connected with external radio communications.
TTX
KV-1C has the following performance characteristics:
- The combat weight is 42.5 tons.
- The crew of the tank consisted of five people.
- The length of the case was 690 cm, width - 325 cm, height - 264 cm.
- On a flat surface, the KV-1C was moving at a speed of 42 km / h, over rough terrain - 15 km / h.
- The specific power indicator is 14.1 s / t.
- The tank overcame rises of no more than 36 degrees and 80-centimeter walls.
- The car could cross ditches, the sizes of which did not exceed 270 cm.
- The specific pressure on the ground was 0.79 kg / cm 2 .
The opinion of experts
According to military experts, the design of the KV-1C was a response to failure in the first stage of the war. Immediately after the serial production was launched, the tanks were transferred to the front. During the fighting, the command of the Red Army noted that the armor in the high-speed KV-1 is not enough to withstand the standard shells used by the T-3 and T-4. These tanks penetrated KV-1S from a distance of 200 m.
In addition, the cross-country ability of this combat vehicle left much to be desired. There were also complaints about the reliability of the transmission. If we consider the firepower of KV-1C, then it was enough to destroy the fascist tank from a distance of 200 m. Improvement at the front was observed until the Germans began to produce the Tigers and Panthers. Of course, the KV-1C could destroy such a tank, but due to the insignificant caliber of the main gun for this, the Soviet crew had to get close to the fascist armored vehicles. The projectile from the KV-1C pierced the Tigers and Panther from a distance of less than 200 m.
About the virtual unit
Today, a Soviet high-speed tank can be "fought" in computer games. Fans of World of Tanks are familiar with the upgraded KV-1. The KV-1C tank in WOT Blitz, judging by the numerous reviews of gamers, is considered the first serious example of armored vehicles at level 6.
Fans of virtual battles praised the good speed characteristics. In Blitz, KV-1C tanks can cause significant one-time damage to an opponent. To do this, it is enough to use a premium 217 mm instead of a basic 175-mm shell in the top D2-5T gun. With an accurate hit, the enemy will lose strength of at least 390 points. Up to 14 shots can be fired in one minute.