"Klim Voroshilov" - the triumph of the iron warrior
I read the publication with great interest. S. Petrov "Iron Witness Breakthrough" and I also wanted to share information with readers stories this wonderful car - tank “KV-1C”, tell about the talented specialists of the design bureau involved in its creation, which will soon turn 80 years old.
It is known that heavy tanks were produced during the Great Patriotic War in the city of Chelyabinsk, where the Leningrad Kirov Plant was evacuated, which became a powerful tank plant there - Tankograd, where more than 30 thousand people worked.
The creators of the powerful weapons became a team of design bureaus, and the chief designer of J.I. Kotin.
The author of these lines knew many personally, working hand in hand, sharing the difficulties and joys of creative work together. 47 years ago, fate brought him to the design bureau of the Kirov Plant (now Spetsmash OJSC) and still does not let go of the enterprise that has already become a relative of the whole country.
It all started like this
The Special Design Bureau of Transport Engineering (Spetsmash OJSC) —the tank design bureau of the Kirov Plant — was established in 1932 in Leningrad at the Krasny Putilovets plant in pursuance of the Government Decision “On the Urgent Development of Production of Domestic Tanks in the Country”.
The tank bureau originates from the development and organization of production (together with the KE Voroshilov plant) of the T-26 tank, the latest in those years.
17 February 1932. created a special department "Bureau T-26". It is headed by Ivan Komarchev, who is entrusted with the development and organization of the most powerful in those times serial T-28 tank. This is a three-turbo machine, which used many technical innovations. The serial tank production was developed, the young design bureau was expanded and strengthened with personnel. Soon the engineer O.M. Ivanov.
But the trouble came: the flywheel of repression increased its ominous turnovers - “Yezhovshchina” has reached the Kirov factory. Ivan Komarchev, Olympian Ivanov were arrested and sentenced to death.
In May, 1937, the military engineer of the 2 rank J.I. Kotin. He was well aware that a well-coordinated team of highly qualified specialists and a well-equipped material and technical base were needed for the development of new advanced tank designs. Work is beginning on the creation of a new vehicle - the T-29 wheeled / tracked tank. The speed of the tank on wheels reached 72 km / h. Among his developers were later known stars of armored vehicles, among them M.I. Koshkin, the future chief designer of the famous T-34 tank.
In August, 1938, in accordance with the decree of the USSR Defense Committee "On the Tank Armament System", the tank bureau of the Kirov factory was appointed the main developer of heavy tanks.
The tense, truly heroic, work began on a three-turreted QMS tank, named after Sergei Mironovich Kirov. The design team, headed by A.S. Yermolaev, included G.F. Burkhanov, D.D. Kekelidze, L.E. Sychev, M.I. Kreslavsky, N.V. Zeitz and others.
On the value that was given to the development of this tank, says such a fact. Already in December 1938, the plant director I.M. Zaltsman and chief designer Z.Ya. Kotin reported at a meeting of the Defense Committee on the progress of work on the new machine. After the report of I.V. Stalin went to a small wooden layout of the QMS, removed one tower from it and asked:
- Comrade Kotin, so why on the tank three towers?
“Powerful weapons: one 76 mm gun and two 45 guns,” answered Joseph Yakovlevich.
- There is nothing to do from the tank “Mure and Meriliz” (the big department store was called in Moscow - later TSUM) ... Pay them for reinforcement of armor protection, you need to focus on armor thickening and strengthening crew protection ... it’s better that one tower remain.
This idea turned out to be so vital and extremely timely that it determined the general line of development of the national, and indeed world tank building, for many years. The group of designers of a one-mounted KV tank (Klim Voroshilov) included N.L. Spirits, young engineers, designers, EP Dedov, V.A. Kozlovsky, P.S. Tarapatin, V.I. Torotko. In general, KV turned out to be shorter than the QMS on 2 m and weighed 47 tons. It is equally important that the B-2 diesel engine was installed, the HP 500 power. It was unmatched in terms of firepower, defense and mobility, a heavy tank that had no equal.
The first sample of the KV tank was made on September 1 1939. Comprehensive testing began. The best factory drivers K.I. Kovsh, V.N. Lyashko drove cars on 12 hours per day. But the war began with the White Finns, and prototypes of the QMS and KV tanks were sent to the North-Western Front to take part in the fighting to break through the “Mannheim Line”.
Tanks entered the battle 17 December 1939, and already 19 December heavy tank "Klim Voroshilov" was adopted by the Red Army. LKZ started mass production.
War of wits
Even before the perfidious attack of fascist Germany, it was decided to organize the mass production of heavy tanks at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. The Ural was chosen with its energy resources and remoteness from the western borders. A year before the Great Patriotic War, the order issued by the USSR People's Commissar for Mechanical Engineering "On organizing the production of KV tanks at the ChTZ named after Stalin"
"The director of the plant t. Solomonov:
a) to organize in 1940, at ChTZ, the production of a tank according to LKZ drawings;
b) in 1940, to release an experimental batch - 5 pcs. "
By the end of 1941, more than 15 of thousands of workers of the Leningrad Kirovsky Plant and their family members were transported from the blocked city. Having teamed up with teams from other factories, they became a single team. And the tanks went to the front. From the first days such a pace of work was set that sometimes it seemed that for them nothing impossible exists. Only in the fourth quarter of 1941. Tankograd gave the front of the 441 a KV tank.
The Great Patriotic War has entered a new stage - now only the one who has the engineering idea or rather, the design calculation more precisely could win. And those who had better weapons, safer, he had a better chance of winning. An intensive search began for ways to improve and modernize KV tanks, the war of our design minds with the design ideas of heavy tank designers in Germany, led by Evi Anderson and Ferdinand Porsche.
At the same time, two models of tanks were developed that received the name KV-13 and KV-1С. Terms of creation were set unprecedented. People did not know the weekend, they worked around the clock, giving all their strength to the holy cause - the victory over the fascist invaders.
The KV-13 undercarriage with five rollers was adapted for use of both KV and T-34 tracks - this unification was introduced for different classes of tanks for the first time. When tested, the KV-13 showed a speed of more than 50 km / h, but shortcomings in the design, lack of reliability allowed, in general, a good car, to remain only a prototype.
Another car has become a modernized version of Klima Voroshilov - KV-1С. Weight in 42,5 tons and partially reduced in height of the body, with lightweight (narrowed to 608 mm) caterpillar. The speed increased from 34 to 42 km / h, for which it became with the letter “C” - “high-speed”.
While working on the KV-1C model, we faced a most difficult technical problem - the supply of aluminum sheet for the manufacture of cooling system radiators stopped. The designers immediately proposed to produce radiators from thin iron, and since it is susceptible to corrosion, the chemists recommended filling the tank cooling system with water with a brompe inhibitor. Of course, this had to be checked, and tests should be carried out at negative temperatures close to minus 40C.
It was a hot summer. Here is what NM writes in his memoirs. Sinev was the then deputy chief designer of the Chelyabinsk Plant Experimental Plant.
“There was an idea - to test the KV-1С tank, equipped with an iron radiator in the Chelyabinsk city refrigerator, which had a large-sized refrigerating chamber. It took about a week to conduct several test cycles. We are going to the leadership of the city with Joseph Yakovlevich Kotin. The conversation was difficult. ” However, mutual understanding was achieved. Tests conducted by engineer G. Butyrsky, were successful.
The upgraded KV-1С was put into service in August 1942, the serial production began. The production of heavy tanks was steadily increasing, and despite the fact that KV tanks were made in parallel with the T-34 tanks, the output in Tankograd not only did not decrease, but almost doubled. If in 1941g. It was handed over to the troops of 1358 KV tanks, then in 1942 already 2553.
Then the KV tanks were the only heavy tanks in the world tank building. After all, the German "tigers" have not yet appeared. It is not surprising that the British and the Americans were interested in these machines. Soon an order was received from Moscow to send two KV-1С tanks to the Aberdeen range in the USA. After examining the car, American experts noted that the Soviet tank has powerful armor, its gun is simple and reliable. However, they also noted weaknesses.
I must say that there were no complaints about them on the front. KV-1S showed themselves brilliantly in the counteroffensive at Stalingrad. The car was reliable, had good maneuverability. There is information that during the Kursk battle (in July, 1943), when the 5 tank army was stationed under its own power (more than 400 km), the tanks turned out to be very reliable. At the same time, the production of self-propelled artillery mounts on the chassis of the KV-1С tanks (SU-152 "Zveroboyi" and the KV-8С tank with a flamethrower machine developed by designer IA Aristov) began.
The production of the KV-1 was stopped in August of 1943 in connection with the transition of the plant to the production of the last Klim Voroshilov family tank, the KV-85. Several attempts were made to improve its technical characteristics, including the 122 mm cannon, but the serial production of the heavy Joseph Stalin (IS) heavy tank family prevented it. For the successful development of the KV-1С heavy tank, the State Prize was awarded to N.L. Dukhov, A.S. Ermalaev, N.M. Sinev, as well as engineers EP Dedov, A.F. Lesokhin, G.A. Mikhailov, A.N. Sterkin, N.F. Shashmurin and lieutenant colonel A.I. Blagonravov.
Results for the anniversary
... years have passed. It is safe to say that the Special Design Bureau of Transport Engineering (Spetsmash OJSC) celebrates its seventy-five years anniversary as the flagship of the domestic engineering industry.
It developed 148 samples of various combat and transport engineering equipment, including more than 100 military samples, and 38 adopted by the army.
KB developed almost 600 thousands of drawings. Is this not an example of unique performance? The question arises, what prompted the KB staff to such titanic feats? The reason for the highest efficiency can only be creative inspiration, the solidarity of the collective known to the whole country and pride in their work and the prestige of the country.
Having a great scientific, technical and production potential, over the past decades, the company has created and put into production more than ten types of unique machines. Among them, the place of honor is taken by the first serial in the domestic and world tank building T-80 tank, with a gas-turbine power plant. Only the United States was able to create a similar machine - "General Abrams", and on 5 years after the start of mass production of our tank.
At international exhibitions of military equipment, the tank invariably aroused delight and respect for its perfection and high maneuverability. Only a great power could create a main battle tank with such unsurpassed characteristics and with such inexhaustible potential. And there is nothing accidental that the tank T-80 was created at the Kirov factory. It can rightly be considered one of the symbols of the city on the Neva, the technical embodiment of the national idea.
It is not by chance that at the international shows professional military, experts in their field, applaud when they admire his “flying” course, when they note his excellent fighting qualities.
Tank T-80 holds a special place among our products. We can say that, due to its importance, the T-80 tank is also our glorious past, present and future.
The developer of the tank can rightfully be called, first of all, the General Designer of the tank N.S. Popov. He, along with the chief designer of the gas turbine engine S.P. Izotov, was the main ideologue, and carried all the responsibility for its creation.
Today, the coordinated and efficient work of the Board of Directors and the administration of the Joint Stock Company Spetsmash, headed by Academician SPb IA, Director General V.I. Kozishkurt, laureate of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation 2005 g. - the key to effective use of its creative and intellectual potential of the famous team of KB. Ahead of the solution of major scientific and industrial problems and developments. The team of designers today has a lot of ideas and ideas. Stops in the work can not be.
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