KV-13 (Object 233)
In service 1942 - 1943
Based onKV-1 (derived from)
Prototype only. A universal tank with medium weight and heavy armour; its hull and turret work led straight to the IS series.
Built byChelyabinsk Kirov Works
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
Nikolai Tseits proposed a single vehicle to replace both the T-34 and the KV, using cast armour to get 120 mm of frontal protection on a 32-tonne hull with a three-man crew. Trials in 1942-43 exposed cooling and transmission faults and the cramped fighting compartment, but the cast nose and suspension were carried over into the IS-1, making the KV-13 the direct ancestor of the Soviet heavy line.
Variants
One canonical record, 2 recorded variants.
First prototype
1942Cast nose and turret, three-man crew; failed cooling and transmission trials
Second prototype (Object 233)
1943Revised suspension and enlarged turret ring; work fed directly into the IS-1