To us tank enthusiasts, it is no doubt that the USSR- or simply put the Soviet Union- was the single largest manufacturer of AFVs (Armored Fighting Vehicles) during the Second World War with a total number of 110,000 AFVs built, that is including light, medium and heavy tanks as well as tank destroyers. When we think about the Soviets in relation to WW2- or the Great Patriotic War as the Soviets called it- our minds are instantly drawn towards the stubby looking T-34/76s charging en masse, or the lumbering KV-2s firing their 152mm howitzer from their colossal "fridge" turret.
One Soviet tank did not leave afterimages like those tanks mentioned above. Derived and redesigned from its big brother: the KV-1, came the lighter, faster and more powerful KV-1S with the "S" standing for "skorostnoy" or "speed".
KV-122, a KV-1S model mounting the excellent A19 122mm D-25T. Note the commander's cupola on the turret, the first on a Soviet heavy tank.
DEVELOPMENT
Following the deployment of the original KV-1 during the Winter War of 1939-40 with Finland and the consequent German invasion in 1941, reports from its combat record had shown that while the KV-1 had extremely good armor and fire power against the German tanks of the period, it was severely lacking in mobility. Being weighed in at a whopping 45 tonnes, the KV-1 achieved only a top speed of 35 kph. The Soviet High Command saw the need for a "universal" tank which embodied both the firepower of a heavy tank as well as the speed and mobility of a medium tank. In 1942, while the T34/76s achieved great successes countering German panzers, designers took on the task of re-designing the chassis of the KV-1 and generally modifying it in terms of weight, speed and armour. The result was the KV-1S. The 90mm of frontal hull armour on the KV-1 was reduced to 75mm and the 110mm turret armour trimmed to 100mm. This resulted in the KV-1S achieving a top speed of up to 50kph.
The KV-1S was also given a newly designed turret which would later be used on the IS and IS2 models. The turret was designed to have a high chance of ricochet by being rounded and sloped all around. A new feature unseen on any previous soviet heavy tanks was the inclusion of a commander's cupola with all round vision slates. This allowed for maximum combat efficiency.
The guns used on the KV-1S were somewhat interesting. A selection of existing tank guns were tried and tested and two were chosen for the KV-1S: 85mm ZiS-5 and the A19 122mm D-25T. The 85mm models of the KV-1S were known as KV-85 and the 122mm variant were called KV-122. Most of the KV-1S were mounted with the 122mm D-25T due to its proven penetration value of 175mm and its ability to defeat a Panther's frontal glacis armour at ranges up to 500 meters. But the problem which was to plague Soviet heavy tanks later on was the seperate shell and charge layout. The KV-1S could only carry a maximum of 28 shells and charges combo. The reload of the 122mm gun was also to be the bane of the tank- a terrifying 2 rounds per minute. The 85mm was later implemented on the upgrade T34/85 medium tank.
Production started in late 1942 and was halted in early 1944 when production switched over to IS and IS2. Overall around 1370 KV-1S were built.
Another view of the KV-122, showing the rear machine gun on a ball mount
OPERATION
The KV-1S took part in all major Soviet operations following the defeat of the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. It saw limited action during the Battle of Kursk where it had proven that the new German Panthers and Tigers were not completely invincible. The last known action was the siege of Berlin in 1945. It had advanced shoulder to shoulder with the similar looking IS-2 and was engaged in street fighting, as well as being tasked to act as self-propelled artillery by firing its 122mm high explosive shell into buildings at point blank range, with devastating effect.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Personally I would have liked to see more of these tanks on the Eastern Front. But being the same chasis as the KV-1 it would have been shot down immediately as soon as the IS series came into production. All together this tank was a good test type for the IS-2 and did manage to act as a stop gap measure during a period of rapid transition of Soviet manufacturing geographically.
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