The Rarest KV-2 Variants | Cursed by Design

In a previous video we talked about the legendary  KV-2 and its development in today's video we'll   be taking a deeper dive into some of the  lesser-known details regarding this tank   throughout history there have been countless  tanks all designed to kill but not all   have been a success what happened to the  ones that never made it and why did they fail   my name is ConeOfArc join me as we journey through  time uncovering failed projects and forgotten   creations in cursed by design a quick thanks  to the coldest water for sponsoring this video   if this is the first video of mine you've watched  you may not have heard about them before but you   definitely should check them out they offer  high quality bottles with insulation capable   of keeping your water cold for over 36 hours I  actually ordered a second one from my friend Pom   who helped out on one of my previous videos and  got it engraved with her name I highly recommend   using the link in the description to at least see  what they have to offer because they have so much   more than just water bottles and all of it's  very reasonably priced for the quality be sure   to use the code cone at checkout for 10% off your  entire order now let's get back to Stalin's fridge   if you haven't watched my video detailing the  history behind the kv-2 I highly recommend   checking it out now or after you finish watching  this one as it will help you understand the   development of this tank our focus today will  be primarily on the variations on this design   the first of these rare variants is also the  one you will most likely already have heard of   the KV-2 Zis 6 details surrounding this machine  are shaky at best but according to the sources   I can find a single KV-2 was produced with the  107 millimeter Zis 6 in may of 1941. testing then   began in the tank until mid-June the gun proved  to be both powerful and reliable being capable   of knocking out almost any tank on the battlefield  at up to a kilometer due to it using single piece   ammunition it also had a higher rate of fire than  the 152 millimeter theKV-2 was previously equipped   with these tests showed that the 107 millimeter  gun was ready for battle but it was not intended   to be used on the KV-2 rather this was just  a test bed for future designs like the KV-3,   4, and 5. although production would begin on the  guns the planned tanks would never be completed   this would eventually lead to a halt on the gun  manufacturing reportedly only five Zis 6 guns were   completed by the end of their run although Vasily  Grabin gives a different story in his memoirs   according to him as many as 800 were completed but  due to the lack of tanks to use them on they ended   up being melted down whether there's any truth to  that is unclear as for the kv-2 equipped with the   improved cannon no details exist of it after the  tests given the rapid advance of the Germans at   the time we can likely assume it would have been  utilized in combat but without any documentation   about this it's impossible to say in the end  the 122 millimeter cannon would be the one   eventually adopted by the soviets for their later  heavy tanks not the 107 millimeter this situation   shows yet another case of the issues plaguing  Soviet tank development during this time period   had the Zis 6 been adapted to other tanks that  could have mounted it such as the KV-2s already in   service or even the IS-1 it would have potentially  given the Red Army a leg up against the German   armor obviously this is mostly speculation using  hindsight on my part and I'm sure numerous factors   played into its cancellation but it's interesting  to think about nonetheless this situation reminds   me a bit of a similar scenario regarding the 57  millimeter gun used on the T-34 around this same   time I'm currently helping Pom with a video on  that topic for her channel TankParty so if that   sounds interesting to you I'll include a link to  her channel below and add a card here once it's   posted the KV-2 discussion isn't over yet though  so let's get on to the next weird use of this tank   the last use of the KV-2 I could find is also one  of the strangest as it isn't a tank according to   the Tankograd book on the KV-2 on July 19th, 1942  a Russian armored train was captured near Shakhty   this train called “Za Rodinu” or “For the  Motherland” like other Soviet trains at the   time used tank turrets to increase its firepower  however mounted on top alongside an early A-20   turret armed with a 45 millimeter gun was an MT-2  model of the KV-2 turret from what I could find   construction began on this train in Bryansk before  it was moved to Krasny and completed sometime in   mid-1941 it would go on to see combat multiple  times over the following months helping defend   vital areas ensuring the rail lines to Moscow  were protected the various armored trains would   also assist defending soviet soldiers by firing  upon advancing German tanks during attacks the   KV-2 equipped train would make itself a target  of interest for the Germans with numerous raids   attempting to destroy it with attack aircraft the  anti-aircraft gunners were able to take out two   of these planes during one attack with the train  suffering some damage and needing to be recovered   although it was repaired and placed back into  service in January the train would be sent to   the Popasna region where it reportedly surprised  the Germans who had believed it to be destroyed   the end for the train would come in July of 1942  when the Germans seemingly had enough of dealing   with the armored behemoth three consecutive  waves of bombers were sent against the train   the first raid was driven off by intense fire but  it was followed by a second attack at some point   the train must have been immobilized at least  momentarily as the third and final attack would   strike at a stationary target unable to move the  train was bombed to pieces by the German attackers   before being later captured by ground forces on  the 19th of July after the Soviets abandoned it   the soldiers would only return briefly during the  night to retrieve any salvageable weapons and to   scuttle anything they couldn't take before leaving  the train behind as this is from a Russian source   the complete validity of the actions of this  train might not be 100% accurate but not much   else exists on this subject that I could find so  please feel free to leave any information you may   have in the comments one final thing I'd like to  mention that didn't make it into my original video   is regarding one documented wooden KV-2 created by  the Germans during the war both sides used wooden   mock-ups not just to assist in designing tanks  but also to train their soldiers on how to knock   out tanks used by the enemy this was quite common  for tanks like the T-34 but at least one KV-2 was   created for this purpose the level of detail you  can see is quite surprising actually considering   this is just meant to be a training dummy a  special thanks to Francis Pulham once again for   helping me locate some additional information  I used in this video if you enjoyed the video   please be sure to subscribe and leave a like  on the video if you did if you haven't seen my   previous video on the KV-2 there will be a link  to that on your screen right now see you there

Channel: ConeOfArc

Views: 292,121

Keywords: ConeOfArc, cursed by design tanks, cursed by design, cursed tanks, cone of arc cursed tanks, cone of arc cursed by design, ww2 tanks, ww2 tanks history, war thunder kv-2, kv 2, tank history, mark felton productions tanks, weirdest tanks, kv2 zis 6, kv2 zis 6 war thunder, kv2 train, armored train, armored trains in ww2, ww2 armored train, ww2 armoured train, The FORGOTTEN KV-2 Variants, forged for battle, soviet union, kv2 war thunder, cursed by design cone of arc

Id: YZGDAw7eIs4

Length: 6min 45sec (405 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 19 2021