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
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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