The new KV-1E tank is the return of a WoT random legend. How to get a?

This time the developers didn’t come up with anything, but simply took a good car and threw armor on it, which will be a tangible advantage, given the level of battles. Once upon a time, the “oldies” still farmed silver on a pumped-up KV-1 and collected statistics on it, but those days are long gone. Although this is not a gift to veterans, it is still a tribute to nostalgia for the tank that was once beloved by many players.

Greetings, tankers! Here's Wotpack and a review of the Tier 5 premium tank KV-1E in World of Tanks. This is a new technique added to the game in patch 1.15, but in general the feature is already familiar to many and the prefix in the form of the letter “e” means “shielded.” In this article, we will look at its differences from the upgradeable KV-1 and how it stands out from other level 5 premiums.

TTX KV-1 Shielded

Let's compare the parameters with the upgradeable KV-1 and other premium tier 5 tanks.

Firepower

The KV-1E was given a 75 mm gun (the upgraded one had 85 mm). Therefore, the one-time damage is 110 units, at the same level in other premium TT 5, only they have a preferential level of battles. Armor penetration with the basic projectile is one of the best 120 mm. The special projectile is also a sub-caliber with a penetration of 150 mm, both types of projectiles have a good flight speed of 950 m/s.

The turret's traverse speed is rather low, but the dispersion of the gun will be less, which is also important, because the stabilization here is good. The gun reloads in 3.84 seconds, which allows it to fire 15.65 shots per minute with a potential damage of 1721 units.

The accuracy at 100 meters is 0.43, and the aiming time is 2.4 seconds. The tilt angle is 5°, and the gun rises by 25°. In general, these indicators are far from ideal.

Vitality

The safety factor of 990 units is one of the largest among its classmates. The hull armor is no different from the upgraded KV-1, but received additional screens in the upper part of the hull and along the sides.

Surprisingly, the nominal turret armor turned out to be weaker than that of the KV-1, but has additional protection in the form of screens.

Mobility

Dynamics are, in principle, the weak side of all “shielded” vehicles and this tank is no exception. Large mass and weak engine - as a result, the specific power is only 10.22 hp / t. Average maximum speed 30/10 km.h. And of course, the reinforcement with screens did not leave its mark on the visibility of the tank - only 300 meters.

Combat use of the Klim Voroshilov (KV-1) heavy tank

The first combat use dates back to December 17, 1939 during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line. However, only a prototype of the tank participated. Serial production was launched only in 1940.

Great Patriotic War (1941-1944) – Actively took part in the Second World War. During 1940-1942, 2769 tanks were produced. True, he did not fight until the end of the war. Until 1943 (the appearance of the Tiger tank), the KV-1 was the most powerful tank of the Second World War, which played a significant role in containing the onslaught of German troops.

• M4 Sherman
• New deadly tank T90MS

Advantages and disadvantages

Summing up the tactical and technical characteristics of the KV-1E, we can highlight its strengths and weaknesses.

Advantages:

• armor penetration;
• projectile speed;
• stabilization;
• large margin of safety;
• additional protection in the form of screens.

Flaws:

• poor accuracy;
• long mixing time;
• low damage per minute;
• poor gun declination angle;
• weak dynamics.

Equipment for KV-1E

Considering that at level 5 there are no profile slots and the choice of equipment is limited (for example, the Vertical Stabilizer is not available), we recommend the following assembly:

• Improved hardening to increase tank survivability.
• Gun rammer – increases damage per minute.

In the third slot, the choice of module depends on your preferred playing style:

• Rotation mechanisms to improve gun stabilization and tank agility.
• Strengthened aiming drives or an improved sight will make shooting more effective.
• Coated optics will add 30 meters to the viewing radius, which will put the KV-1E on par with other level 5 TTs.

of a Turbocharger has a right to life , since battles at low levels are fleeting and often end in “turbochargers”.

Last in the KV series

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the main requirements of Soviet tank crews boiled down to the fact that the weight of the KV-1 needed to be reduced.
The Soviet leadership met the military halfway and obliged the Leningrad tank builders to consider their demands. According to the NKTP designers, the new tank should have a mass not exceeding 32 tons and armor no thinner than 60-75 mm in frontal projections. Initially, the project was called a “high-speed tank with reinforced armor.” The author does not know when exactly the engineers began work on the new tank, but by December 11, 1941, the preliminary design, which was assigned the index KV-13, was reviewed by the head of the Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army. Initially, the project was headed by the chief engineer of ChKZ S.N. Makhonin, and the main calculations and theoretical work were led by leading engineer N.V.
Zeitz By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the only heavy Soviet tank whose mass production continued was the KV-1. At that time, it was the most armored and well-armed tank in the world, which did not stop Red Army tank crews from constantly voicing complaints about its design. In fairness, it should be noted that there were objective reasons for this. The transmission, especially its important component - the gearbox (hereinafter referred to as the gearbox), was simply not designed for such a large mass of the vehicle, and due to its breakdown, many tanks had to be abandoned during large-scale retreats of the first stage of the war.

Lightening the KV-1

The designers had to constantly listen to complaints about the overweight of the forty-seven-ton tank. After driving just a few KVs along a dirt road, it became impassable for other types of equipment (including tracked ones); in addition, crossing rivers became incredibly difficult, since most bridges were simply not designed for such a load.

KV-1, captured by the Germans and collapsing the bridge with its mass Source – opoccuu.com

The military also did not like the tank’s maneuverability on loose or swampy soils. All their demands boiled down to one thing - the mass of the KV-1 must be reduced. It is interesting that in the same area in the Leningrad region, where KV tanks were most actively used, and where the most complaints came from, after a year and a half, the Germans will begin to actively use “tigers”. And this despite the fact that the mass and specific ground pressure of these tanks were significantly higher than that of the KV-1 - 55 tons versus 47 and 1.03 kg/cm² versus 0.77, respectively. However, the Soviet leadership met the tankers halfway and obliged the Leningrad tank builders to consider their demands.

The engineers of the 2nd Specialized Design Bureau (hereinafter referred to as SKB-2) of the Leningrad Kirov Plant (hereinafter referred to as LKZ) could not immediately get down to business, since in late summer and early autumn the plant was evacuated to Chelyabinsk, where the legendary Tankograd - Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (hereinafter - ChKZ). At first, the primary task was to establish serial production of tanks in a new location and increase their monthly production, but in the late autumn of 1941, the designers got around to considering the task of reducing the weight of the KV-1. Work progressed in two directions: the creation of a lightweight modification of a heavy tank and the design of a completely new vehicle, which would be average in size and weight. As a result of work on the modification, the KV-1s (high-speed) was born by July 1942.

An ardent supporter of the radically new tank in the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry (hereinafter referred to as NKTP) was the head of the department of the chief designer S.A. Ginzburg, who believed that the KV tank “is not technologically advanced enough and in its existing form is unsuitable for mass production in wartime conditions.”

Semyon Aleksandrovich developed the concept of a “single tank”, the tactical and technical characteristics of which would allow it to solve problems typical of both heavy and medium tanks. In fact, Ginzburg invented main tanks more than twenty years before their appearance. The introduction of such a vehicle into production promised clear benefits - the country would receive a tank that would be equal in combat qualities to a heavy KV, but at the same time approaching the T-34 in speed and manufacturability. If the experiment had been a success, the entire tank industry of the USSR could have been transferred to the production of one single universal “product,” which promised enormous cost savings, an increase in the production of armored vehicles, and a solution to problems with the supply of tank units with spare parts. Of course, such a project could not fail to interest the People's Commissar of the Tank Industry V.A. Malyshev, and he readily gave the go-ahead for the development of a promising machine.

According to the designers of the NKTP, the “single tank” should have a mass not exceeding 32 tons and armor no thinner than 60-75 mm in frontal projections. With these parameters, the maximum speed of the car when driving on the highway was planned at 45 km/h, and on rough terrain - at least 20 km/h. The weapons included a 76 mm cannon and two machine guns. Initially, the project was called a “high-speed tank with reinforced armor”, and during its development it was supposed to solve the following problems: “To create a project for a medium-weight combat vehicle that combines the ability of wide and fast maneuver with the power of a frontal impact, and also to simplify the production of the most labor-intensive parts - the hull, the turret , transmission".

The author does not know when exactly the engineers from SKB-2 began work on the new tank. But by December 11, 1941, the preliminary design, which was assigned the developer index “Object 233” and the “combat” index KV-13, was reviewed by the head of the Main Armored Directorate (hereinafter referred to as GABTU) of the Red Army, Lieutenant General Ya.N. Fedorenko. Initially, the project was headed by the chief engineer of ChKZ S.N. Makhonin, and the main calculations and theoretical work were led by leading engineer N.V. Zeits. The original hull shape was developed by a group of designers under the guidance of engineers K.I. Kuzmina and S.V. Mitskevich, and the general layout of the machine was handled by G.N. Moskvin. In addition, A.S. participated in the design of components and assemblies of the KV-13. Ermolaev, V.I. Torotko, M.I. Kreslavsky, G.M. Rybin, N.M. Sinev, E.P. Dedov, B.A. Krasnikov and others.

Military officials had a lot of questions about the new tank. The frontal armor of the vehicle depicted in the sketches reached 120 mm, which meant that the German 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, which knocked out heavy KV-1s in batches, would have a more difficult time dealing with the new medium tank, and this despite its planned weight of 32 tons! Designer L.I. Gorlitsky recalled:

“It seemed incredible to everyone. I remember how during one meeting, Zeitz answered the phone five times and answered some bosses from Moscow that all the declared characteristics of the “thirteenth” were verified by calculations... I liked the tank, the only thing that bothered me was its number. But then Kotin said that communists are not superstitious people and that, on the contrary, the new tank will be successful.”

Sketch KV-13 (done by V. Malginov) Source – alternathistory.org.ua

In the end, the designers managed to convince military bureaucrats of the advisability of further work on the KV-13. In January 1942, Deputy Head of the Armored Directorate of the GABTU of the Red Army, military engineer 1st rank N.N. Alymov in a certificate addressed to the deputy of the NKTP Zh.Ya. Kotina wrote: “When drawing up a plan for experimental work for 1942, I ask you to include the following indicative work of the BTU GABTU KA: Tank KV-13 - carried over from 1941 - completion, production of a prototype at the Kirov plant by May 1, 1942.”

It is curious that Kotin was also the chief designer of NKTP and the chief designer of ChKZ - that is, he actually made plans for the development of tanks for himself.

In 1942, Joseph Yakovlevich personally headed the KV-13 project. Already on March 8, 1942, his deputy A.S. Ermolaev reported to the People's Commissar of the NKTP V.A. Malyshev about the progress of work: “...a layout diagram of a new tank has been developed, in which, through the use of liquid armor, compaction of the layout, reduction of the dimensions of the hull and turret, it was possible to significantly reduce the weight of a heavy tank to the level of a medium one.”

The project owed all these successes to Nikolai Valentinovich Zeits, who was soon appointed its leading designer.

Lead designer

This outstanding engineer was a man with a difficult fate. Zeitz was born in 1889, and therefore his youth fell on the turbulent years of two revolutions, the First World War and the Civil War. Zeitz graduated from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University quite late - at the age of thirty-three (in 1922), after which he was lucky enough to end up in the design bureau of the Ordnance Arsenal Trust, which was designing the first samples of Soviet armored vehicles. Here Zeitz met S.A. Ginsburg.

At the end of the 20s, Nikolai Valentinovich was sent to Kazan, where a joint Soviet-German tank school was created on the territory of the former barracks of the Kargopol regiment, which had its own military camp, shooting range and tank training ground. Experimental German tanks were tested at the test site, which, for purposes of secrecy, were called “tractors” in all documents. Zeitz adopted the experience of German specialists, and also “copied” the technical solutions that they implemented in metal.

N.V. Zeits. Photo from the archive of P. Kirichenko and M. Pavlov

However, close communication with foreign colleagues ended very sadly for the Soviet engineer. On October 2, 1930, Tseitz was arrested on charges of participating in counter-revolutionary activities, and on April 10, 1931, by a resolution of a Special Meeting at the OGPU Collegium, he was found guilty under Articles 58-8, 58-11 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and sentenced to ten years in the camps. The designer’s imprisonment was replaced by work in the design bureau of the technical department of the economic department of the OGPU - here Nikolai Valentinovich worked for a whole year on the project of a heavy seventy-ton tank, which, however, did not advance beyond research.

On April 22, 1932, Tseits was released early, and as a civilian worker he began improving the design of the five-turret heavy tank T-35, recently created in Kharkov. In 1934, Tseits was transferred to the Leningrad Experimental Mechanical Engineering Plant No. 185, where he headed a group of designers that worked on the project of the three-turret T-29 - this vehicle was supposed to be an improved modification of the T-28 tank, which was manufactured at LKZ. In connection with the work on the project, Zeitz had to collaborate with the management of this industrial giant, and in 1937 he was offered to move to SKB-2. It was during this period that LKZ was hit by a wave of arrests among the management and design personnel of the enterprise, and in 1938 Nikolai Valentinovich was removed from work and arrested again. At the same time, he was returned to work as a valuable scientific specialist, while at the same time remaining under arrest.

In the “kingdom” of the glorious Kotin

After the start of the war, Zeitz, along with the entire SKB-2, was evacuated to Chelyabinsk, and here he began work on the KV-13. Due to the status of Nikolai Valentinovich, his last name was not indicated in the documents. Some Soviet-era authors did not know how to describe this slippery situation, and sometimes resorted to subterfuge. So, D.S. Ibragimov, in his book “Confrontation,” explains the appointment of Tseits as the leading engineer for the KV-13 as follows: “At the beginning of 1942, Nikolai Valentinovich Tseits, who had disappeared in Leningrad, appeared out of nowhere at SKB-2. Kotin entrusted him with the development of the KV-13 medium tank.”

In fact, he did not disappear anywhere, but was released from custody.

In March 1942, on the basis of the order of the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry No. 55 dated March 23, 1942, on the basis of the former ChTZ Experimental Plant, an Experimental Tank Engine Plant was created through the People's Commissariat, this decision was to be less dependent on the production facilities involved in the serial production of tanks when developing new vehicles. Designers involved in the creation of new models of equipment were transferred to a new enterprise. This transfer took place only on paper, since the specialists were located in the same premises in which they had worked before. Sometimes they sat in the same premises with the engineers of the Kirov plant, and sometimes they simultaneously held positions at two enterprises, as was the case with Zh.Ya. Kotin, who headed plant No. 100 and at the same time worked as the chief designer of ChKZ.

Tank KV-13 in the courtyard of Chelyabinsk plant No. 100. March 1943 Source – modelist-konstruktor.com

The design bureau of the new enterprise transferred all current developments, including “Object 233”. In parallel, work progressed on the KV-1s, the KV-9 assault tank and the KV-12 flamethrower tank.

Tank made of liquid armor

In the design of the KV-13, the designers used an original solution - its frontal armor part was made of solid cast (in documents of that time the word “liquid”) armor of high hardness was used, which significantly simplified and reduced the cost of production. When designing the tank, engineers tried to make maximum use of casting, which eliminated the need to use expensive thick armor plates and significantly reduced the number of welds. Due to this, the overall strength of the structure increased significantly. In addition, casting was used in the manufacture of the rear lower part of the hull, as well as the turret box. The parts were connected by welding them, with a quarter adjustment at the joints. The number of parts in the KV-13 turned out to be significantly less than that of its predecessor, the KV-1. In addition, the designers have reduced the number of bolted connections by an order of magnitude and simplified the geometry of the welds. To simplify production processes, connecting holes were bored not in the assembled body, as in the KV-1, but directly in the parts before they were submitted for assembly.

The thickness of the upper part of the frontal armored part was 120 mm at an angle of 30°, the middle - 80 mm at 70°, the bottom - 100 mm at -40°. At the top of the side armor the thickness reached 85 mm, at the bottom - 75 mm. To armor the upper part of the stern, a 60-mm armor plate was used, welded to the hull at an angle of 55° (it was made removable with fourteen bolts). In order to facilitate transmission maintenance, two hatches were cut into the sheet. The lower 85-mm cast part of the stern was given an angle of -15°, the front part of the bottom was made of 30-mm sheet (to protect the crew from the effects of mines), and the hull roof and the rest of the bottom were made of 20-mm armor.

Reservation scheme for the KV-13 tank Source – modelist-konstruktor.com

The designers achieved an increase in the tank's armoring power mainly by reducing its dimensions. The width of the KV-13 in relation to the KV-1 decreased from 3320 mm to 2800 mm, the height - from 2710 to 2000 mm. The length of the case changed slightly (by only 25 mm) and amounted to 6650 mm. Such results were achieved largely due to the reduction of the crew to three people (the responsibilities of the gunner were transferred to the tank commander). Of course, such a load reduced the efficiency of the tank crews’ response to changes in the situation, but they planned to compensate for this with the invulnerability of the vehicle.

The turret of the new tank was made similar to the turret of the KV-1s, which was developed in parallel with the KV-13, but it was given more streamlined lines. It was cast in virtually a single piece with the cannon frame in a common injection mold. Due to the reduction of the crew, its dimensions and the diameter of the shoulder straps were significantly reduced. The thickness of the turret walls along the entire perimeter reached 85 mm, and the gun mantlet was made 90 mm thick. Four embrasures were left on the sides for firing from small arms (in the normal non-combat position they were closed with armored plugs). In the middle part of the turret box, a hole was made for installing the turret, which included the lower shoulder strap of its support with a diameter of 1420 mm.

The roof of the tower was made removable to simplify installation of the gun. In the front part there were three holes (the two outer ones were for installing the PT-4-7 and PTK periscopic devices, and the middle one was for installing the fighting compartment fan motor). From above, the middle hole was closed with an armored cap. Cutouts were made at the aft sides for the installation of four periscope viewing devices. A hatch was installed in the middle of the roof for disembarkation and embarkation of the crew.

By reducing the weight of the HF, instead of six road wheels on board, the designers designed five lightweight rollers with a steel rim, which were manufactured by injection molding. When attaching them, an individual torsion bar suspension was used with a maximum torsion bar twist angle of 28°. In addition, there were three support rollers with rubber bands on each side. Cast guide wheels with a steel rim had a screw mechanism for tensioning the tracks.

In the compartments of the new tank

The layout of the vehicle remained the same as that of most Soviet tanks: the control compartment was located in front, and then there were the combat, engine and transmission compartments.

Layout of the KV-13 tank Source – foto-transporta.ru

The driver's seat was located in the center control compartment. Fuel tanks with a capacity of 180 and 245 liters were attached to the sides, which, in addition to their main function, played the role of protective screens. Their contents provided the KV-13 with a highway range of up to 320 km. In addition to the drives and control devices necessary to control the tank, there were two 5-liter compressed air cylinders, which were used to start the tank, as well as spare parts, tools and spare parts.

The inspection hatch in the frontal armored part allowed the driver to monitor the road, but was too small in size for evacuation from the tank. In the “stowed” position it was usually kept open, and in battle it was closed with an armored cover with a viewing slot with triplex protective glass (the engineers borrowed its design from the KV-1). In addition, two side mirror viewing periscopes were installed in the roof of the control compartment and two holes were cut for access to the filling necks of the fuel tanks, which were closed with armored plugs on the threads. The escape hatch was located in the bottom of the car under the driver's seat.

KV-13 – front view. The driver's inspection hatch and the embrasure of the coaxial machine gun are clearly visible. Source – modelist-konstruktor.com

The fighting compartment contained the tank's weapons, observation and aiming devices, a radio station, as well as the other two crew members: the commander and the loader. As the main weapon, the 76.2-mm ZIS-5 gun of the 1941 model, already tested on the KV-1, with a wedge breech and mechanical semi-automatic type, was mounted in the KV-13 turret. The length of the gun barrel reached 41.5 calibers, and the aiming angles ranged from -5 to +25° horizontally. The tower could be rotated either electrically or manually. Hand and foot triggers were used to fire the shot. The recoil devices consisted of a hydraulic recoil brake and a hydropneumatic knurler. Under the breech, on a special bracket in the rear part of the gun cradle trough, a cartridge case catcher (rubberized canvas bag) was attached, into which up to eight cartridges were placed. It was intended to reduce gas pollution in the fighting compartment during intense fire.

A coaxial 7.62-mm DT machine gun was installed in a single mantlet along with the cannon. For weapon guidance, the DT-7 (9T-7) telescopic sight with illuminated scale and crosshairs for night shooting, as well as the PT4-7 tank periscopic sight, were intended.

The tank's ammunition consisted of 57-65 unitary rounds for the cannon and 945 rounds (15 discs) for the DT machine gun. The shells were placed in serial-type cassettes, which were placed in the housing on the floor of the fighting compartment. Machine gun discs were stored in the side niches of the turret box. There were also six magazines for two 7.62 mm PPSh submachine guns. In addition, it was planned to provide the crew with a rocket launcher with a set of signal flares and 15 F-1 grenades.

KV-13 – rear view Source – panzer35.ru

The engine compartment housed the power plant, but for the KV-13 it remained the same - a V-2K tank diesel engine with a power of 600 hp. With. (441 kW) with a specific fuel consumption of 185 g/l.h. Starting was carried out with compressed air, which made life easier for tank crews in winter conditions, or with an inertial starter with electric motor and manual drives. The lubricant circulated in the system under pressure. Two oil tanks, which held 160 liters of oil, were located under tubular oil radiators. In the upper part of the sides of the engine compartment there were special slots for air flow, which were shielded from the outside by external armor mounted on brackets. The cracks were covered with a protective mesh at the top.

The transmission compartment was located in the rear of the hull behind the engine compartment. It housed a multi-disc main clutch with steel and cast iron friction discs, a gearbox (hereinafter referred to as the gearbox), two multi-disc dry friction side clutches (steel on steel) with band floating brakes with double-sided servo action and linings made of gray cast iron SCH-15-32 . Two round hatches in the inclined upper rear armor plate, which were closed with hinged lids, provided free access to the interior of the compartment. A mechanical system was used to control the movement of the tank.

Open transmission compartment of the KV-13 tank Source – weaponscollection.com

The electrical equipment of the KV-13 was powered using a single-wire circuit (on-board voltage was 24 V). The main source of electrical energy when the engine was not running were four ZSTE-80 batteries. When the engine was running, the system was powered by a GT-6543-A generator with a power of 1 kW. The main consumers of electricity included the electric motors of the inertial starter (SA-189), the turret rotation mechanism (MB-20K), the fighting compartment fan, as well as the radio station and elements of internal and external lighting.

For external radio communications, a 10P shortwave radio station was installed in the tank turret. The crew communicated with each other using the TPU-3-BIS tank intercom.

Unlucky number "13"

The first tests of the units of the new tank were carried out in May 1942, when the vehicle was still being assembled. In the period from May 4 to May 11, the reliability of the tank's lightweight road wheels and lightweight tracks was tested on the production KV-1 (tracks with a ridge were alternated with tracks without ridges; later such tracks were used on the KV-1s). However, it turned out that, despite the austerity, the mass of the tank still did not fit into the framework established by the technical specifications - 32 tons. In this regard, engineers developed the option of using drive wheels with removable pinion gears and 500-mm tracks from the T-34, which significantly reduced the weight of the tank's propulsion system. At the same time, 608-mm tracks and drive wheels, identical to those of the KV-1s, could be used in times of mud.

However, even with the new propulsion unit, the KV-13 did not fit into strict weight limits - its mass reached 32.4 tons. However, in the early summer of 1942, testing of the vehicle began. They showed that the tank was still “raw” (elements of its chassis and gearbox required improvements, the engine overheated, and the tracks flew off when turning). Concerns were also confirmed that the turret would be too cramped for the crew, and the tank commander would be overloaded with the large number of functions assigned to him. However, on the highway the car reached a maximum speed of 51.7 km/h, that is, in terms of mobility it was comparable to the T-34-76. One way or another, the first breakdowns did not worry the management too much, apparently considering that there are no easy ways in tank building.

KV-13 – view from the starboard side Source – foto-transporta.ru

The lead designer worked day and night, 12-14 hours a day. It was originally planned that the main part of the factory tests would start on July 5-7, 1942, but soon everything changed. Due to the unsuccessful Kharkov offensive operation in the Barvenkovo ​​area and the subsequent massive offensive of the Wehrmacht, the front urgently needed a large number of tanks. On June 15, the NKTP demanded that work on all projects be curtailed, except those that promised an immediate increase in monthly output. Pilot Plant No. 100 concentrated on the speedy launch into series of a more technologically advanced than KV-1, lightweight KV-1s.

On July 14, 1942, the leadership of the NKTP changed - instead of the one who had been at fault, according to I.V. Stalin, V.A. Malyshev was appointed director of ChKZ I.M. to the post of People's Commissar. Zaltsman. Zaltsman was left in charge of the enterprise, obliging him to launch production of the T-34 in Chelyabinsk as soon as possible without compromising the production of the KV-1s. There could be no talk of any further work on the KV-13.

Nevertheless, such a change influenced the fate of Nikolai Valentinovich Tseits in the most favorable way. Director of Plant No. 100 Zh.Ya. Kotin called the designer to his place and said that for the creation of the KV-13, the management decided to grant him an extraordinary week's leave and award him the Order of Lenin. Zeitz was even given a two-seater plane to take him to the hunting lodge and back. However, either the rest knocked the designer’s body out of its usual intense regime, or some kind of evil fate was hanging over him, but on July 19, 1942, he died of a heart attack. Nikolai Valentinovich’s student, colleague and friend, designer N.F. Shashmurin recalled that on that day he saw him in a city park near a flower garden with a bust of Stalin. Zeitz was sitting on a bench in an unusual position, resting his head on the left shoulder of his other colleague, M.P. Reznichenko.

N.F. Shashmurin Source – alternathistory.org.ua

When Zeitz was already lying on the trestle bed in the factory first aid station, he handed Shashmurin an old slide rule with the last words: “Nikolai Fedorovich, find my son, you know, he is at the front, a pilot, give him this ruler, I have nothing else...”

Long-range bomber radio operator Yuri Nikolaevich Tseits died in May 1944 in a plane crash near Ternopil.

Work on the KV-13 resumed only in September 1942, when Kotin appointed N.F. as the lead designer of the project. Shashmurina. On September 11 and 12, at the Sverdlovsk artillery range, the tank hull was tested by firing from captured 76-mm tank and 88-mm anti-aircraft guns from a distance of 50 meters. By reducing the powder loads, the testers simulated shelling from distances of 400, 600 and 1000 m. A total of fourteen 76-mm armor-piercing shells and eight 88-mm shells were fired.

The KV-13's hull withstood hits from the 75-mm cannon well, but out of the eight 88-mm armor-piercing shells that hit its frontal projection, five penetrated the armor. This meant that it was necessary to increase the thickness of the frontal armor to at least 120 mm, which automatically led to an increase in the weight of the vehicle and an increase in the load on the power plant and transmission.

Test firing showed that the load on the crew commander was too heavy. In this regard, on October 1, 1942, an entry was made into the minutes of the NKTP meeting to eliminate the shortcomings of the KV-13: “To provide for the installation of a three-man turret on the existing hull.”

The engineers were not happy with the sea trials either. Designer L.I. Gorlitsky recalled:

“What I remember most about this tank is that it broke down every day as soon as it left the factory... Some workers even bet on a piece of sugar whether the “devil’s dozen” would break down outside the factory gates or would have time to return from the test site. I remember how one elderly worker secretly baptized the departing tank, but nothing helped. He was breaking down again."

The design team of plant No. 100, together with the new project manager Shashmurin, got involved in the work. During October, the KV-13 was redesigned for failed chassis components, engine cooling systems, and electrical equipment. Instead of onboard clutches, Nikolai Fedorovich developed a planetary rotation mechanism.

KV-13 near the factory floor Source – bronetehnika.narod.ru

Shashmurin proposed replacing the gearbox with one developed by L.E. Sychev and A.F. Marishkin nine-speed version with three gears and three gear stages. The new gearbox did not perform well (the tank continued to fail), and it was replaced with an eight-speed gearbox designed by Shashmurin himself (by that time it had already been successfully used on the heavy KV-1s). The new box had four gears and two gearbox stages. Its main advantage was the replacement of the silumin crankcase with a cast iron one (the coefficient of linear expansion of cast iron is close to steel, and therefore when the unit overheated, the gears did not rest against it and did not wear out prematurely, in addition, overloaded gearbox bearings did not “fly out”).

In the KV-13 transmission, Shashmurin also applied an innovation that had already been tested on the KV-1s - alloy steel products were replaced with carbon ones, hardened with high-frequency currents. As a result, the reliability of the unit has increased, and the cost has decreased significantly. The KV-13 was generally distinguished by a low level of use of expensive non-ferrous metals - for example, a report dated April 19, 1942 indicated that in the approved design of the tank, non-ferrous metals were present only in the power plant and electrical circuits.

At that time, the entire tank industry of the USSR worked in a regime of severe economy, therefore, in accordance with the order of the State Defense Committee of February 23, 1942, tank builders were obliged to save armored steel. Plant directors had to regularly inform the NKTP management not only about the availability of conditioned rolled sheets, but even scraps, which were divided into three categories according to their sizes.

From "KV" to "IS"

Meanwhile, in the fall of 1942, the NKTP analyzed the results of the September shelling of the KV-13 from captured artillery systems, as well as information about the appearance at the front of new German heavy Tiger tanks, armed with 88-mm tank guns. In the end, it was decided to create two new KV-13 prototypes with reinforced armor of 120 mm for the frontal parts and 90-110 mm for the side parts. They decided to increase the shoulder strap from 1420 to 1560 mm to install a three-man turret on it. As a result, according to preliminary calculations, the mass of the tank increased to 38 tons, but this was considered acceptable.

In a report to the leadership of the NKTP dated February 1, 1943, the director of plant No. 100 Zh.Ya. Kotin reported: “Currently, we can say that we have practically resolved the issue of creating a tank with moderate weight, reliably armored against all types of anti-tank artillery, which will have mobility on the battlefield no worse than the average T-34.”

However, the production of the hull and turret was delayed - Experimental Plant No. 100 itself could not produce such large castings, and ChKZ’s capacities were fully loaded due to the start of production of the T-34 tank. In this regard, orders were placed at other enterprises - the armored parts of the hull arrived from Sverdlovsk (from the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant) only in January 1943, and the Chelyabinsk Plant No. 200 produced the three-man turret by February 10-15.

However, plans soon changed. This was caused by a clash between Soviet units and the “tigers” of the 503rd heavy tank battalion of the Wehrmacht during Operation Iskra to relieve Leningrad at the end of January 1943. Largely because of these few tanks, Soviet troops were unable to develop an offensive and completely liberate the Kirov railway. In this regard, on February 24, 1943, an emergency meeting was held at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In addition to members of the State Defense Committee (hereinafter referred to as the State Defense Committee) of the USSR, it was attended by “military” people’s commissars, chief designers of tanks and artillery systems, representatives of the Red Army command, etc. The message was made by Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov – he called the appearance of Tiger tanks sudden. The new German tanks made, in his words, an “amazing impression”

.

The ZiS-5 tank gun could not effectively combat the armor of the “tigers” Source – dishmodels.ru

Based on the results of the meeting, the State Defense Committee adopted resolution No. 2943ss “On the production of experimental prototypes of heavy IS tanks (Joseph Stalin).” To reduce the time for their construction, they decided to use almost ready-made KV-13 hulls. The main changes were to affect the armament of the new tanks - the 76-mm ZiS-5 cannon was useless in clashes with tigers.

The appearance of the “IP” index in the document is not accidental. The managers of many enterprises tried to get the opportunity to use these letters in the names of their products in order to please the leader. This is what designer L.I. recalled about it. Gorlitsky: “In general, many then fought to get the IP name for their weapons. Maksarev and Morozov in 1941, Kotin since 1942, but only when Zaltsman became People’s Commissar did this succeed. Zaltsman was superstitious and believed that the “devil’s dozen” should be removed from the name and then things would go smoothly.”

One of the attempts by Zh.Ya. Kotina's ability to obtain the coveted index was also associated with the KV-13. On April 21, 1942, in a collective letter-report to Stalin from employees of the Experimental Tank Plant No. 100, which was dedicated to the birthday of V.I. Lenin, wrote:

“...the staff of the plant and design bureau, inspired by the victories of the Red Army over the German hordes near Moscow... take upon themselves the obligation to give the Red Army a new offensive tank. This tank will be in the forefront of the Native Red Army, contributing to its VICTORY over the Nazi invaders... The plant and design bureau staff will unanimously decide to give the new tank the name of our Great Leader - Comrade Stalin, the organizer and inspirer of our victories over the Nazi invaders..."

Both tanks were ready in March 1943. The first prototype IS “Sample No. 1” (its developer index remained the same as that of the KV-13 – “Object 233”) received a 76-mm F-34M cannon, and the second IS “Sample No. 2” (“Object 234") installed a KV-9 turret with a 122 mm U-11 howitzer. Both experimental ISs were tested together with the serial KV-1s. By April 1, 1943, “Sample No. 1” covered 489 km, “Sample No. 2” - 405 km, KV-1s - 475 km. Sea trials showed that the chassis of the new tanks turned out to be reliable, but with shooting, things were much worse. Thus, out of fifteen shots fired from a 122-mm howitzer from a distance of 400 meters, not a single shell hit the target. In addition, the 76-mm cannon could penetrate the side armor of the Pz.Kpfw.VI tank only from a distance of 200 meters, which was unacceptable.

Tanks IS "Object 233" (right) and IS "Object 234" (left) in the courtyard of ChKZ. Chelyabinsk, spring 1943 Source – bronetehnika.narod.ru

As a result, the NKTP decided to develop a radically new tank with a spacious three-man turret for the installation of more advanced artillery systems and with a base increased by one roller. This is how the project for the new IS-85 tank, or otherwise – IS-1, appeared. It is interesting that Zh.Ya. Kotin considered it a continuation of the same KV-13. In his interview with the magazine “Standards and Quality”, he stated: “... from this point of view (unification and continuity), the IS tank was just another modification of the KV tank; at first it even had its own serial number “KV-13”.

Equipment selection

Economy assembly with minimal silver costs. We recommend using an Automatic Fire Extinguisher, as it will significantly increase survivability and save more hit points than a Manual Fire Extinguisher.

To increase the efficiency of the tank, the last slot can be replaced with a Dop Rack.

What skills (perks) should I upgrade on the KV-1?

Everything is simple here. We pump the commander's light bulb, and everyone else's - according to their specialty or repair. Combat brotherhood comes last.

Commander Skills:

• Sixth Sense
• Repair
• Handyman
• The Brotherhood of War

Gunner:

• Smooth rotation of the tower
• Repair
• Sniper
• The Brotherhood of War

Driver mechanic:

• King of off-road
• Repair
• Virtuoso
• The Brotherhood of War

Radio operator:

• Repair
• Radio interception
• Inventor
• The Brotherhood of War

Charging:

• Intuition
• Repair
• Non-contact ammunition rack
• The Brotherhood of War

How to play the KV-1E

This is a typical assault heavy tank. The main task is to push through enemy positions, active play on the front line. At the top of the list, armor is very important, especially if you know how to diamond, then many same-level enemies will not be able to deal damage.

However, the KV-1E can perform well in defense, maintaining its direction even against an enemy outnumbered. In any case, do not forget to look at the mini-map, especially pay attention to the departure of allies. Despite all the stiffness of the armor, even he can be “gnawed to death” by the crowd. At the bottom of the list, it is better to play as a support tank, shooting from behind the hulls of more armored tier 6-7 vehicles.