Wednesday 11 March 2015

Heavy Tank Decree

"Decree #231s for the People's Commissariat of Heavy Machine-building
April 9th, 1941
  1. On the KV-3 tank:
    1. Altering Decree #548-232ss of the USSR SNK and Central Commitee of the VKP(b) issued on March 15th, 1941, I order that:
      1. The front hull armour of the KV-3 must be 115-120 mm, the front turret armour must be 115 mm.
      2. The KV-3 will be armed with a ZiS-6 107 mm gun with a muzzle velocity of 800 m/s.
    2. Stamp KV-3 turrets for 107 mm guns with armour slopes of no less than 30 degrees, for which the director of the Kirov factory, comrade Zaltsmann, must:
      1. Produce blueprints for the new turret and hull jointly with Izhor factory and provide Izhor factory with the blueprints by April 15th, 1941.
      2. Produce a turret model jointly with the Izhor factory and present it to the NKO by April 25th, 1941.
      3. Factory #92 must provide Kirov factory with a 107 mm ZiS-6 gun with a mount and develop a gun mantlet jointly with Kirov factory.
      4. Factory #92 must provide the following amounts of 107 mm ZiS-6 guns to Kirov factory:
        1. July: 45
        2. August 80
        3. September: 110
        4. October: 110
        5. November: 110
        6. Before December 15th: 65
  2. On the KV-4 tank:
    Director of Kirov factory, comrade Zaltsmann must:
    1. Design and produce a KV-4 tank (with a lengthened chassis) according to tactical-technical characteristics approved by the USSR NKO with a ZiS-6 gun and main armour 125-130 mm thick, with the possibility of increasing some armour to 140-150 mm.
    2. Assemble one experimental prototype by October 1st, 1941, for which:
      1. Turret and hull blueprints must be produced and provided to Izhor factory.
      2. A model and a technical project must be provided to the NKO for approval.
      3. Izhor factory must finish the KV-4 hull and turret and provide it to Kirov factory by August 15th, 1941.
  3. On the KV-5 tank:
    Director of Kirov factory, comrade Zaltsmann must:
    1. Design and produce a KV-5 tank by November 10th, 1941. Design the hull and turret jointly with Izhor factory designers, based on the following main characteristics:
      1. Armour: 170 mm front, 150 mm side, 170 mm turret.
      2. Armament: 107 mm ZiS-6 gun.
      3. Engine: 1200 hp diesel.
      4. No more than 4200 mm in width.
        Keep the requirements for transporting the tank on the railroad in mind.
    2. Provide Izhor factory with blueprints for a hull and a turret by July 15th, 1941.
    3. Provide a model and a technical project to the NKO and GABTU for approval by August 1st, 1941.
      Izhor factory must finish the KV-5 hull and turret and provide it to Kirov factory by October 1st, 1941."
M. Svirin, Bronevoy Schit Stalina. Istoriya Sovetskogo Tanka (1937-1943)

5 comments:

  1. Its so funny to image a kv-3 fighting early war german tanks :)

    Was the attack of gemany the only reason why the kv-3 did never hit the battlefield?

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    Replies
    1. Yup. The hull, turret, gun, and engine were finished, trials and mass production were scheduled for 1941, with a three way trial of KV-3, 4, and 5 in 1942 to determine which tank they finally go with.

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    2. Thx for the answer.
      Maybe a little off-topic, but i was always wondering how historical the 122mm (D-25T) armament of the KV-3/4 in WoT is.

      Is there any historical background?

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    3. Pretty sure both the KV-3 and 4 were cancelled long before the D-25T was even thought of

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    4. Yup, the KV-4 and KV-5 were cancelled in 1941, the KV-3 was stuck in limbo until at least 1942 but was also cancelled that year. The D-25T was not envisioned until 1943. The caliber of choice for the new KV tanks was 107 mm.

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