KV-2
In service 1940 - 1942
Based onKV-1 (derived from)
A 152 mm howitzer in a slab-sided turret the size of a room - the bunker-buster that shocked the Wehrmacht in 1941.
Built byKirov Factory, Leningrad
Development history
The KV-2 was built to smash Finnish bunkers in the Winter War, and its enormous turret carried a 152 mm howitzer whose shells could destroy any fortification or tank it hit. In 1941 German crews found their guns simply bounced off, and individual KV-2s held up whole columns. But the turret was so heavy it could barely traverse on a slope, the vehicle was slow, thirsty and unreliable, and most were lost in the first months to breakdowns and abandonment. Production stopped in 1941 in favour of the simpler KV-1.
Variants
One canonical record, 2 recorded variants.
KV-2 model 1940
1940Early tall slab-sided MT-1 turret
KV-2 model 1941
1941Simplified lower turret, revised vision devices
Notable actions
- Winter War
- Operation Barbarossa
- Battle of Raseiniai