World War 2 In Review No. 32: Soviet Fighting Vehicles

By Merriam Press

Merriam Press World War 2 In Review Series. The following articles are in this issue: (1) Kliment Voroshilov KV-1, KV-2 and KV-85 Heavy Tanks, flamethrower tanks and experimental models (2) T-35 Heavy Tank (3) T-100 Heavy Tank (4) SMK Heavy Tank (5) IS-1, IS-2 and IS-3 Heavy Tanks (6) T-42 Super-Heavy Tank. 349 B&W/color photos/illustrations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387498598

Book preview

World War 2 In Review No. 32: Soviet Fighting Vehicles

World War 2 In Review No. 32: Soviet Fighting Vehicles

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Hoosick Falls, New York

2018

First eBook Edition

Copyright © 2017 by Ray Merriam

Additional material copyright of named contributors.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

The views expressed are solely those of the author.

ISBN 9781387498598

This work was designed, produced, and published in the United States of America by the Merriam Press, 489 South Street, Hoosick Falls NY 12090.

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Mission Statement

This series presents articles and pictorials on topics covering many aspects of World War 2. In addition to new articles and pictorials on topics not previously covered, future volumes may include additional material on the subjects covered in this volume. The volumes in this series will comprise a single source for innumerable articles and tens of thousands of images of interest to anyone interested in the history and study of World War 2. While no doubt some of these images and other materials could be found online, countless hours could be spent searching thousands of web sites to find at least some of this material.

The Images

These photos are seventy-plus years old, were taken under less than ideal conditions, and some were taken by individuals who were neither professional photographers nor using professional equipment. Thus the quality of the original image may be less than perfect. While Merriam Press tries to obtain the best quality images possible, the quality of the images in this publication will no doubt vary greatly.

This series of publications utilizes the editor’s collection of tens of thousands of photographs and other illustrative material acquired since 1968. Hundreds of sources over the years have been searched for material on every subject.

Photographs Needed

Merriam Press welcomes any contributions of photographs

of this or any subject for future volumes in this series.

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Welcome to No. 32 of the World War 2 In Review Series

The following articles are in this issue of World War 2 In Review:

(1) On the Cover

(2) Kliment Voroshilov (KV) Heavy Tanks

(3) T-35 Heavy Tank

(4) T-100 Heavy Tank

(5) SMK Heavy Tank

(6) IS Heavy Tanks

(7) T-42 Super-Heavy Tank

with 349 B&W and color photographs and illustrations.

Watch for future issues of this series with more articles on the history of World War II.

On the Cover

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Collective farmers from the Moscow suburbs handing over KV-1 tanks manufactured with their money to Soviet servicemen. 10 December 1941.

Kliment Voroshilov (KV) Heavy Tanks

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KV-1 heavy tank. The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defense commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov and used by the Red Army during World War II. The KV series were known for their extremely heavy armor protection during the early part of the war, especially during the first year of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defense commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov and used by the Red Army during World War II. The KV series were known for their heavy armor protection during the early part of the war, especially during the first year of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In certain situations, even a single KV-1 or KV-2 supported by infantry was capable of halting the enemy’s onslaught. German tanks at that time were rarely used in KV encounters as their armament was too poor to deal with the Russischer Koloss - Russian Colossus.

They were practically immune to the 3.7 cm KwK 36 and howitzer-like, short barreled 7.5 cm KwK 37 guns mounted, respectively, on the early Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks fielded by the invading German forces. Until more effective guns were developed by the Germans, the KV-1 was invulnerable to almost any German weapon except the 8.8 cm Flak gun. Even then, in a speech to the Panzerkommission on 18 November 1941, Guderian stated that the sloped armor causes hits from the 8.8 cm Flak gun to ricochet referring to the KV-1.

Prior to Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of the USSR), about 500 of the over 22,000 tanks then in Soviet service were of the KV-1 type. When the KV-1 appeared, it outclassed the French Char B1, the only other heavy tank in operational service in the world at that time. Yet, in the end, it turned out that there was little sense in producing the expensive KV tanks, as the T-34 medium tank performed better (or at least equally well) in all practical respects. In fact the only advantage it had over the T-34-76 was its larger and roomier three man turret. Later in the war, the KV series became a base for the development of the IS (IS - Josif Stalin) series of tanks.

Development History

After disappointing results with the multi-turreted T-35 heavy tank, Soviet tank designers started drawing up replacements. The T-35 conformed to the 1920s notion of a ‘breakthrough tank’ with very heavy firepower and armor protection, but suffered from poor mobility. The Spanish Civil War demonstrated the need for much heavier armor on tanks, and was the main influence on Soviet tank design just prior to World War II.

The doctrine of Soviet deep battle called for the existence