During the Great Patriotic War, heavy armored vehicles made a significant contribution to the defense capability and victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. The military industry of the USSR created a line of heavy tanks. According to experts, the KV tank (Klim Voroshilov) posed a particular 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-1S tank is presented in this article.
Introduction
The KV-1S tank (a photo of the combat unit can be seen below) is one of the models of heavy armored vehicles produced by the USSR defense industry. Soviet heavy tanks produced from 1940 to 1943 are abbreviated KV. What does the Klim Voroshilov 1C mean in the tank? This index indicates that the combat unit is fast-moving and the first model in the entire series of tanks.
Beginning of creation
Already by 1942, the military noticed that the KV tanks were not perfect. Due to the large mass, it was difficult to operate them, which adversely affected the combat efficiency of the equipment. Also, the tank did not work at full engine power. The reason for this is problems in the system that cools the motor. As a result, 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 cupola, which significantly limited all-round visibility. The military was not satisfied with the inconvenient location of viewing devices. Some components in the diesel engine had defects. These shortcomings were reported to the State Defense Committee, which in February 1942 issued Decree No. 1334ss. According to this document, the designers of ChTZ (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-1S tank.
Initially, it was decided to reduce the allowable weight of 45 tons by reducing the width of the track to 60 cm, the thickness of the armor in the bottom and in the frontal part. In addition, the changes should have affected the ammunition load - it was decided to reduce it to 90 shells. The KV-1S tank (photo of the model is in the article) was produced without additional fuel tanks.
About production
Design work was carried out at the design bureau of the tractor plant in the cityChelyabinsk. Soon a prototype tank with a V-2K engine with 650 hp was ready. with. and new final drives. However, during testing it turned out that the power unit was inefficient. The opposite 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 gearbox, designed for 8 speeds, and a 700 hp engine. with. According to experts, it was not possible to test the engine to the end, and the gearbox soon began to equip the KV-1S tank. In total, the Soviet defense industry produced 1120 combat units.
About design
The Soviet heavy tank KV-1S is a modernization of the first original model, which is listed as KV-1. The main goal pursued by the designers was to make the new combat unit more reliable and faster. As a result, unlike its counterpart, the KV-1S tank has a less massive hull due to weakened armor, is equipped with new, more advanced turret and gearbox. The Chelyabinsk designers decided not to change the weapons and the engine group. The Soviet KV-1S tank came with a classic layout, typical for heavy and medium models produced at that time by the Soviet defense industry. The machine consists of three compartments: management, combat and motor-transmission. In the first one there is a place for the driver and gunner-radio operator, the second - for the crew members. The fighting compartment was combined with the middle part of the hull and the turret.
Here is the place for the main gun, ammunition and fuel tanks. The stern of the KV-1S tank was equipped with an engine and transmission.
About armor protection and tank turret
In the production of the Klim Voroshilov high-speed tank (a photo of this combat 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. Vehicle with differentiated anti-ballistic armor protection. The turret in the tank has a complex streamlined shape and was made by casting. In order to increase its projectile resistance, the designers of the turret side were placed at an angle of 75 degrees in the vertical plane. The sides, according to experts, had the largest thickness - 75 mm. An embrasure for the gun was also placed in the frontal turret. This part was cast separately. Then they were connected to the rest of the armored parts by welding. The gun mantlet was made on the basis of a rolled armored plate, which was bent and equipped with three holes for a cannon, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. As a result, a product was obtained in the form of a cylindrical segment 8.2 cm thick. The turret was placed on the lid in the fighting compartment on a shoulder strap, the diameter of which was 153.5 cm.
Inside a Soviet fast tank
The driver's workplace is the front part of the body in the center. The gunner-radio operator is to his left. The combat crew of three people was housed in the tower. To the left of the gun sat the gunner and the commandercars, on the right - loader. The commander had a cast observation turret, the armor of which was 6 cm thick. Two round hatches were provided in the tank for the landing and exit of the combat crew. One of them was under the loader, the second - in the upper case cover above the gunner-radio operator. In addition, the KV-1S was equipped with a bottom escape hatch. Repair of components and assemblies of the machine was carried out through additional small technical hatches. Through them it was possible to get to the fuel tanks, as well as load ammunition into the tank.
About weapons
The battle on the KV-1S tank was carried out from 76, 2 mm ZIS-5 guns. The weapon was mounted on trunnions. The guidance was carried out in a vertical plane from -5 to 25 degrees. Shooting was carried out by mechanical and electric triggers. 114 shots could be fired from the main gun. Ammunition for him lay in the tower along the sides. In addition, it was possible to hit the enemy with three DT machine guns of 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 with 3,000 rounds of ammunition. The DT machine guns were mounted in such a way that the crew could remove them at any time and fire separately from the KV-1S. The crew also had several F-1 hand grenades. The tank commander was supposed to have a signal pistol.
About powertrain
The tank used a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder V-2K diesel engine. The engine power was 600 horsepower. To start the unit, there wasstarter ST-700 (15 hp). Also for this purpose, compressed air was used, contained in two 5-liter tanks in the combat compartment. The volume of the main fuel tanks was 600 and 615 liters. Their location was the combat and transmission compartments. In addition, the tank had four more external fuel tanks that were not connected to the overall system. Each container is designed for 360 liters of fuel.
About transmission
KV-1S was equipped with a transmission, which consisted of the following components:
- Multi-disc main dry friction clutch.
- Four-speed gearbox using a demultiplier (8 gears forward and 2 reverse).
- Two multi-plate clutches.
- Two onboard planetary gears.
Tank with mechanical control drives. According to experts, a significant drawback of the Klim Voroshilov combat vehicles was that the transmission was not reliable enough. With a new gearbox, this flaw was corrected. Later it was decided to use it in the IS-2 model.
About chassis
In the design of this unit, the developers used a walker 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. The KV-1S came with an individual torsion bar suspension provided for each solid-cast gable track roller. In total there are 6 of them from each side. The diameter of the skating rink was 60 cm. The defense industry of the USSR produced two types of skating rinks: with round holes and triangular. The first type wasthe most common. Each roller was equipped with a travel limiter, which was welded to the armored body.
Running tank - with lantern gear and removable rims. The tension of the caterpillar was carried out by means of a special screw mechanism. The caterpillar was equipped with 86 single-ridge tracks. Unlike the base model, the width of the track in the high-speed tank was 60 cm.
About the means of observation and sights
According to experts, of all large-scale Soviet tanks, the high-speed KV-1S is considered the first to use a commander's cupola equipped with viewing slots. There were 5 of them in total, and they were covered with protective glasses. The driver had a viewing device. To protect the triplex there was a special armored flap. The location of this device was the manhole plug in the frontal part of the tank. In a non-combat situation, the driver could push this hatch a little forward to view a larger area. The KV-1S 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. The PT-6 was protected by a special armor cap. Thanks to the illumination devices that were equipped with the scales of the sights, firing was also possible at night. Aiming devices used in sniper rifles were attached to the course and stern DT machine guns. Each such sight provided3x magnification.
About communications
For communication between the combat crew and the command, the KV-1S was equipped with a 9R radio station and a TPU-4-BIS intercom. It could be used by four subscribers. The tanks were also equipped with 10R or 10RK radios. The kit included a transmitter, receiver and umformer. The latter was a single-anchor motor-generator, through which the stations were powered from an on-board electrical network of 24 V. According to experts, telephone communication was provided at a distance of 20 to 25 thousand meters. During the movement of the tank, the communication range was lower. For negotiations inside the tank, TPU-4-Bis was used. If the environment was too noisy, the crew could use a headset, which was also connected to external radio communications.
TTX
KV-1S has the following performance characteristics:
- Combat weight - 42.5 t.
- 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-1S moved at a speed of 42 km/h, on rough terrain - 15 km/h.
- Specific power index 14.1 s/t
- The tank overcame slopes no more than 36 degrees and 80 cm walls.
- The car could cross ditches, the dimensions of which did not exceed 270 cm.
- The specific pressure on the ground was 0.79 kg/cm2.
Expert Opinion
According to military experts, the design of the KV-1S was a response to failures inthe first stage of the war. Immediately after serial production was established, 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 projectiles used by the T-3 and T-4. These tanks pierced the 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 the KV-1S, then it was enough to destroy a fascist tank from a distance of 200 m. Improvement at the front was observed until the Germans began to produce Tigers and Panthers. Of course, the KV-1S could destroy such a tank, but due to the small caliber of the main gun, the Soviet crew had to get close to the Nazi armored vehicles for this. A KV-1S projectile pierced Tigers and Panthers from a distance of less than 200 m.
About the virtual unit
Today you can "fight" with a Soviet high-speed tank in computer games. Fans of World of Tanks are familiar with the upgraded KV-1. The KV-1S 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 highly appreciated good speed characteristics. In Blitz, KV-1S tanks can inflict significant one-time damage on an opponent. To do this, it is enough to use the D2-5T in the top gun instead of the baseThe 175mm projectile is premium at 217mm. With an accurate hit, the enemy will lose at least 390 HP of durability. Up to 14 shots can be fired within one minute.
