Russian WWII KV Tank Found.

A Russian KV-1 (Klementi Voroshilov) main battle Tank was found in the Neva river in Russia. It had been there since Autumn 1941, this tank was one of many that was sent to defend the Nevskij Bridge-head near Leningrad.

The Nevskij Bridge-head is a battle ground of about a square mile in size where some 200,000 men died between 1941 and 1943. It was known also as Nevskij Pjatachok (five-copeck coin) because it was so comparatively small to other battlefields in Russia.

The Battle for Leningrad began September 8th 1941 when the German Army seized the town of Schlisselburg. Four days later General Zhukov of the Russian Army was appointed commander of the 'Lenningrad Front' and he ordered the crossing of the Neva river to defend Leningrad and repel the Germans starting from Schlisselburg, across the Neva river.

The river crossing began on 20th September 1941 but severe German counter-offensives repulsed the Russians and kept them at bay. Both sides won and lost ground over the next two years, and it was during this conflict that the Russians got tanks across on pontoons.

The particular KV-1 that this page is about was spotted by the Germans as it was crossing the river at night on a pontoon and was subsequently shelled. Direct hits from very accurate and close artillery fire on the pontoon made it sink, taking the intact and undamaged tank with it.

And there she remained until 2003 when she was salvaged from the murky depths of the Neva.

The red star indicates where the Russian KV-1 Tank serial number M6069 rested, as is evident, the tank almost made it to the river bank before she was sunk.

The salvage begins and the tank is slowly hauled out of the river, the gun barrel is the first to appear...

The tank had sunk near to the bank at a distance of only ten meters. It was pulled to the river bank by heavy duty winch's. Soon the whole tank is completely out of the river.

The KV1 tank was very heavily armour plated and due to the thickness of the metal very little of the tank had succumbed to any rust whatsoever. Even smaller parts of the tank were made of thick gauge steel, so disintegration and degeneration by rust was naturally kept to an absolute negligible amount. The whole tank is intact, with no battle damage. The tank even rolled out showing that the wheels, axels and bearings had not seized up. They sure knew how to build em !

Some slight expected surface rust but apart from that its condition is sound. It might be worth mentioning here that all vehicles prior to 1945 were made out of metal that is known as " pre fall out steel " in that there was no radiation in the air before the detonation of atomic bombs in 1945 and onwards.

All steel today will rust 1000 times quicker unless it is either treated or has chromium added to it...such is the legacy of atomic detonations.

Anyway, to continue...she finally makes it to the other side of the river bank...60 years too late !

Specification of the KV1 tank is presented below

Weight ..........48 tons
Crew..........5
Weapons..........76mm main gun, two 7.62mm M40 guns with 111 rounds, three DT-type MG with 3024 rounds
Armor..........hull 25-110mm (nose 70mm+25mm, sloped plate 75mm, front 75mm+35mm, sides 75-77mm, top 25mm, bottom 35mm, rear 75mm); turret 35-110mm (front 75mm+35mm, sides 75mm, top 35mm)
Engine size..........580hp diesel V2 K, 12-cylinder, liquid cooled.
Range on Full tank 225km
Length 6.85 meters
Width 3.34 meters
Height 3.24 meters
Speed 35Kmh

There were no human remains in the tank, so it can be assumed that they either all got out or were not in the tank as it crossed the river.

Below image shows a man wearing a Russian Captain tank drivers uniform from 1941 and poses on the KV-1. Note also some of the tanks machine guns that are displayed on the hull.

The hatches opened easily and although they are covered in silt and mud there is no rust around the lip, and the locking mechanism still worked !

After being pumped clear of all the water and silt, the inside of the tank still has all of its components in situ only the leather on the seats had gone. The breach of the main gun can be seen middle-top right in the photo.

This image below shows the machine gun that was fixed to the back of the turret, to shoot any enemy who may get on the back of the tank.

Some of the artifacts found inside the tank. Along with lots of different items we can see hand grenades, machine gun drum magazines, a 7.62mm machine gun, gas mask and a radio set...

A closer view of the 7.62mm machine guns, one with its horizontally mounted drum magazine still in place.

The tank is taken away on a low loader for restoration

The tank is now fully restored, up and running, as good as new

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