Intro:
It’s been a while since I’ve made a post for an old Soviet monstrosity, but I was quite surprised to find that U-0, the original KV-1 prototype didn’t have a dedicated suggestion post yet despite being quite unique, so I wanted to make one. So here is the story of the first ever KV tank!
Development of a New Heavy Tank:
After viewing reports from the Spanish War, the Soviets came to realize a new aspect of modern combat that they hadn’t prepared all that well for: tank-on-tank engagements. Almost their entire tank fleet were ill suited for this purpose with their thin skin, with their only true heavy tank being the T-35. The T-35 however were incredibly few in numbers and still only had 30mm of armor.
Recognizing this, a program was started to create a new breakthrough heavy tank, for which Plant No.185 and LKZ were designated. The new tank was to have three turrets, weigh no more than 60 tons, and it was to have at least 60mm of armor. Realizing that it was physicaly imposible to create a vehicle that large under 60 tons, only two turrets were now required, one with a 76mm gun, and one with a 45mm gun. Plant No.185 came up with the T-100, and LKZ with the SMK, both of which were completed in early 1939.
Allongside this however, another project was started by LKZ for a much smaller heavy tank, with only one turret. Creating a second prototype, designated ‘KV’, after the People’s Commissar for Defense of the Soviet Union, Kliment Y. Voroshilov, with the very first KV being completed on the night between the 31st of August and 1st of September, with serial number U-0.
While U-0 used several components developed for the SMK, it was a completely different vehicle. The hull you should be quite familiar with, being very similar to the production KV-1 we have in-game, with the most notable difference being the lacking hull machinegun.
With the turret things get a lot more interesting though. The turret used for U-0 and the subsequent pilot batch of KVs were fitted with a “rounded” turret design similar to other Soviet turrets at the time, like on the T-100 or SMK for instance. This turret should not be confused with the later casted turrets used for the KV-1 model 1941 and 42, the one on U-0 was made from welded and bolted plates. But most interestingly, the two guns that formerly were placed in separate turrets were now placed in just one, also not leaving any space for a machinegun, meaning that U-0 had no forward facing machineguns.
The designers of U-0 were actually incredibly enthusiastic about the project, stating that it was something that the entire Plant was excited to work on. P.I. Petrov, the driver of the KV during its initial trials even expressed how pleasant the designers were to work with, with them being very happy and cooperative, in contrast to a lot of other designers who would "foam at the mouth and defend their invention, trying to prove the infallibility of the design".
The two guns left very little space inside the turret for the three crewmembers placed there however, and the 45mm gun was very quickly dropped. U-0 saw several modifications after this as well, but this post is about the very first version armed with both cannons, hence the ‘Pre War’ designation I gave it.
Further History of U-0:
U-0 has quite some history after its initial prototype stage, but seeing as it’s not really relevant to the version this post was made for, I’ll detail it further here.
Spoiler
First Combat in Finland with the Boys:
On November 30th 1939 the Soviet Union started its war with Finland, dubbed the Winter War. Seizing all initial trials, all three prototype tanks were to be sent to Finland for live combat trials after some minor modifications. The T-100 had its L-10 gun swapped for the newer and more powerful L-11 gun, and U-0 had its 20-K 45mm gun replaced with a 7.62mm DT machinegun for easier use, after which the 3 tanks were attached to the 91st Tank Battalion of the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade for combat use.
While driving in a convoy, the SMK drove over a landmine and was significantly damaged. Recovery attempts were made, with the T-100 and U-0 defending it, but the SMK was abandoned after a while, only to be recovered and scrapped after the war.
Second Combat in Finland without the Boys :(
U-0 would see more action in Finland, now in a convoy with T-28’s. A T-28 in front of U-0 was damaged and abandoned, blocking U-0. U-0 was ordered to try and drive around the damaged T-28 into a ditch, but this resulted in U-0 taking heavy fire from the Finnish. Through the heavy shelling by the Finnish, U-0 was unable to properly fight back due to the smoke and continuous hits, sounding “as if they are hitting the side with a strong sledgehammer”. U-0 and its crew were fine though, and were ordered to tow away the damaged T-28 and retreat.
Inspecting the tank afterwards, U-0 seemed to have been hit directly by a 37mm anti tank gun nine separate times, taking damage to its gun barrel, tow hook, wheels and tracks, but was completely fine otherwise. Here are some of the hits in more detail:
Further Development of the KV Series:
Seeing the success of U-0 over the other prototypes, the design was somewhat improved first in a pilot batch, and it was shortly after officially accepted for mass production as the KV-1. Another breakthrough heavy tank was needed though, one armed with a 152mm howitzer to take out bunkers and pillboxes. This would of course become the renowned KV-2, with U-0’s hull being used for the very first prototype. During this time, the turret from U-0 was placed on the newly produced hull U-2.
U-0 fitted with the first iteration of the MT-1 “large turret”, which would eventually become the KV-2.*
Final Combat from U-0:
U-0 was fully repaired by LKZ at the Leningrad Kirov Plant in April 1941, remarrying its original hull and turret together again, but also having its entire gun assembly and mantlet replaced with a production L-11 one from the KV-1 Model 1939, in-game known as KV-1 L-11. U-0 was send to the 8th Tank Division of the 4th Mechanized Corps alongside U-17 to combat the nazi’s, where it was lost in combat and abandoned, later to be photographed by the Germans.
This Vehicle’s Place in The Game:
While this particular configuration never saw combat, it’d be a fantastically fun tank to play with, and one of the most unique KV variants left to add. I believe a battle rating of 4.0 is fair, seeing as the turret is slightly weaker compared to the 1939 variant as it cannot be angled, and it has no forward facing machineguns, but in turn gets an additional 45mm cannon which is a significant upgrade.
I personally don’t mind how U-0 gets added, but as an event or squadron vehicle would fit well I think, considering how many KVs we already have in the tech tree.
Specifications:
Armor: 75mm all around, 40mm on hull roof, 30mm on turret roof.
Weight: 42 tons
Engine/Transmission: Diesel V-2K, 600hp @ 2000rpm
Speed: 34km/h max
Crew: 5 (same as production KV-1)
-Driver
-Assistent driver
-Commander
-Gunner
-Loader
Armaments:
*7.62mm DT machineguns
-Rear of the turret
*20-K 45mm
Reload: 3.8 seconds, 2.9 seconds aced.
Note that due to the placement of the 45mm gun, the gunner was very likely responsible for loading it, and thus eliminating the loader in-game wouldn’t affect the reload rate for the 45mm.
Ammunition:
*BR-240SP
-APBC, 1.43kg, 757m/s, 73mm max penetration
*BR-240
-APHEBC, 1.43kg, 29.26g filler, 760m/s, 70mm max penetration
*O-240
-HE, 2.14kg, 118g filler, 335m/s, 4mm penetration
*BR-240P
-APCR, 0.85kg, 985m/s, 94mm max penetration
*L-11 76mm
Reload: 9.3 seconds, 7.1 seconds aced
Ammunition:
*BR-350A
-APHEBC, 6,3kg, 150g filler, 612m/s, 76mm max penetration
*BR-350SP
-APBC, 6,5kg, 612m/s, 88mm max penetration
*Sh-354T
-Shrapnel, 6,44kg, 85g filler, 612m/s, 34mm max penetration
*OF-350M
-HE, 6,2kg, 621g filler, 612m/s, 11mm max penetration
Conclusion:
I sencerely hope you enjoyed this suggestion post for this gem of a vehicle, and it would be awesome to be able to control U-0 in-game. Any questions or additional info are more than welcome, let me know what you think, and God bless!
More Pictures:
Spoiler
Below here are the remaining photographs of U-0 in it’s original prototype configuration.
Below here are photographs of U-0 in its final configuration after being abandoned in 1941.
Sources:
Spoiler
Tank Archives: World of Tanks History Section: KV-1
https://dzen.ru/a/YymyqlStoCrBm2iP
https://iam-krasnoyarsk.livejournal.com/179828.html
Первый бой танка КВ: iam_krasnoyarsk — LiveJournal
КВ-1 с "круглой" башней
KV (U-0) - Tank Encyclopedia
Some statistics were taken from the game directly, in particular the 20-K 45mm gun and L-11 76mm gun.
- Yes
- No
- In the tech tree
- As a premium (wrong answer)
- As an event vehicle
- As a squadron vehicle
- In a battlepass
- I don’t want this vehicle in the game
