Post
by aferguson » Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:15 am
everyone likes the kv-2. It has a lot of character. But it is much ridiculed. And it shouldn't be. It was a very good vehicle, for what it was designed for. And that was to rumble up to enemy fortifications and blast them to bits, impervious to counter fire. It was not intended for rapid advances, or lightning warfare. The russians had the t-34 for that.
There is more than one story, from the early days of barbarossa, of a kv-1 or kv-2 holding up entire german divisions for days. One kv-2 held up an armiy's advance for a week. The germans could do nothing to put it out of action. Their tank guns were too small, as were their anti tank guns. All they had was the 88 but everytime they tried to set one up, the kv-2 took it out of action before it could fire a shot. So the army commanders called the luftwaffe for help, but the luftwaffe refused to deploy a sortie of stukas for one tank (CAS back then was not like it is today, where a zillion planes will descend on the enemy if ground troops call for it). So, finally the germans launched an all out offensive against the KV on its flank, with a hail of fire, meanwhile an 88 crew set up a gun on the other flank and was finally able to put the monster out of action. Took a week.
There are other stories like that from kv-1's and 2's. They were very good at what they were good at.
i never met an airplane i didn't like...