"Work on heavy SPGs in the Soviet Union began in the early 1930s. By the end of the decade, development stopped, but began anew in early 1940. The Red Army needed tanks to destroy enemy pillboxes. The result of this requirement was the 212 SPG which, for various reasons, was never built. In April of 1942, the 212 project was finally closed, giving way to another no less interesting project: the KV-7 assault tank.
From the Top
November of 1941 was a difficult time for the Soviet Union. The Germans were pushing to Moscow, only tens of kilometers away. Battles were fought on the approach to Tula. Rostov-on-the-Don was lost. Factories evacuated to the east were just beginning to produce tanks. The Chelyanbinsk Tractor Factory, renamed ChKZ (Chelabinsk Kirov Factory), became the only factory to produce heavy KV tanks. Tankograd first managed to ship over 100 tanks this month, as its numbers were boosted by workers and engineers evacuated from Leningrad.
In these difficult times, a project of a quite unusual vehicle with hardly any analogues in tank building worldwide appeared. The first mention of this tank on the KV-1 chassis is made in P.F. Solomonov's report about his trip to Chelyabinsk, dated November 28th, 1941. The goal of this trip, initiated by GAU, was the investigation of the issue of gun supplies for the KV-1 tanks. Aside from supply issues, the report had room for experimental works, which included the following:
"On Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin's orders, the Kirov factory is developing a mount for a KV tank with 1 F-34 gun and 2 45 mm guns (barrels without recoil mechanisms), with recoil mechanisms for the triplex taken from the ZiS-5. There is no 360 degree traverse, the traverse is +/- 7.5 degrees or +/- 15 degrees, depends on how the ammunition racks are placed. Ammunition capacity: 300 rounds (100 per gun), in addition to which there are 3-4 machineguns…"
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Amicalement
Armand
adds a tower to his 15mm trainyard.
