The KV-1 tank earned contradictory assessments. They rightly criticized it for lack of reliability - the transmission, which could not withstand the loads of a heavy tank, especially often failed. But at the same time, the tank was hardly vulnerable to enemy fire, very tenacious.
The projectile stuck in the tower like a knife thrown into a tree
One of the most striking examples of this kind is given in his memoirs by Major General of Tank Forces Ivan Vovchenko. In 1942 he commanded the 3rd Guards Tank Brigade. Initially, it was equipped with the KV-2, then with the KV-1:
“The situation was such that I often had to leave the command post and sit in KB No. 11385, which was commanded by senior lieutenant Vakhnov, and the tireless Rogov was the driver.
In the midst of the battle, our KV took the lead. Artilleryman Abramkin set fire to an enemy vehicle with two shots. A few minutes later a second German tank also flared up. But the enemy shell hit the frontal part of our tank and slipped off the armor. Through the periscope, I saw red-hot "blanks" flying in the air like meteorites. The second shell hit the right side. This shell was stuck in the tower like a knife thrown into a tree. From the blow, fragments of armor rained down and killed the commander of the car, Senior Lieutenant Vakhnov. Now I was in command of the tank. Abramkin knocked out two more vehicles, but enemy guns also damaged our tank. Rogov was wounded in the arm. The HF stopped. We continued to fight from the spot. All night, the repair brigade was bewitching near the tank number 11385. By morning the tank was ready for battle. Only yesterday two "blanks" were stuck in his tower. Hundreds of times the tank was scratched by shrapnel and bullets, it had a dozen dents from bomb fragments. The armor was as rough as oak bark, so cracked from the blows. However, the car survived. But the crew … The commander of the tank, senior lieutenant Vakhnov was killed, the driver-mechanic Rogov was wounded, though not seriously. On the same morning, Lieutenant Kuznetsov became the commander of tank No. 11385, and Sergeant Major Sviridenko, who replaced the wounded Rogov, became the driver.
The survivability of tank # 11385 was not surprising; the KV-1's ability to withstand multiple German shells by 1942 was well known.
The tank was gone
But then the tank and its crew had a chance to survive a new test:
“Bombers appear again. This time the Ju-88 … Not far from the observation post, under a lone tree, there was a heavy tank of the brigade's command, which was commanded by Kuznetsov. There were four more vehicles near it. Suddenly, a huge bomb whistles directly at the tank, and the car disappears into the smoke. When the wind blew away the smoke and dust, we saw only a dry tree. The tank was gone. I sent a submachine gunner to find out what happened there. Meanwhile, the planes, dropping their entire stock of bombs, disappeared. The smoke gradually dissipates. I couldn't believe my eyes. A gun with a turret rises from the pit under a dry tree. The weapon strikes towards the enemy. Kuznetsov's tank is alive!
The battle died down. We go to Kuznetsov. Behind the KV is a funnel from a heavy bomb. The funnel is ten meters wide and almost five meters deep. The tank survived because the bomb from the plane does not fly vertically, but at a large angle. It crashed into the ground under the tank and exploded, throwing out several tens of cubic meters of earth.
The force of the explosion threw the tank and then lowered it into the funnel.
Lieutenant Kuznetsov said:
“After the explosion, we all lost consciousness. Bleeding from the nose and ears. When I came to myself, I heard the groan of the tower. His head was in my lap. I took out a baklag with alcohol and gave him some to drink. Then the two of us helped the other crew members. Rogov started the engine. And only then did I notice that we could not see anything. Like in a cellar. A few minutes later, we realized: the tank sat down in a deep crater. Gradually, rocking the car back and forth, we finally brought it out of the funnel. You can continue the fight …
- Withstood a thousand-kilogram bomb! - I was surprised.
We examined the tank. The bottom, 40 millimeters thick, was concave in the middle. But the frame, on which the motor is mounted, withstood, did not move."
How many tankers of the Second World War survived such a flight and after its completion, having survived, could tell the commander about their feelings at the same time? And how many tanks would have had their engine started after such an explosion and flight?
