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KV-2 tank
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I vote the KV-2 for most hilarious tank of WWII.
Though despite being near useless the Germans reused them.
Well, what about the Bishop?
you mean that ruthless detective-inspector??
(tip; watch monty python)
The bishop is a very different case, it had a fixed turret and was designed for firing arty from distances at which they weren't even fighting directly.
The armour is also siginifactly thinner and the weight is much less.
What is hilarious about a 152mm howitzer on a heavy tank that most weapons couldn't penetrate, which in return could turn tanks into scrap metal with 1 shot? I love this tank =P
The KV2 was reused by the germans for recon purpose, because of its hight, it was possible to have a good look. I don't know if they used it in combat thow...
Near useless? A single KV-2 tank halted two German divisions in Riga for two days until it was bombarded by aviation since everything the Germans put up against it failed to penetrate its armor.
Events like that really don't reflect the greater usefulness of a vehicle. You can take any of the early war heavy tanks-Matilda IIs, Churchill Is, KVs, ect.-and find instances where they seemed like unstoppable beasts, but these events are far outnumbered by the ones were the heavy tanks end up abandoned in a ditch without ever firing a shot.
Ultimately though, the KV2 was a victim of its circumstances. It was a vehicle designed for assaulting hardpoints being operated in a time when the Soviets were doing very few offensive operations. By the time the Soviets' situation improved, German weapons had improved enough that the tank's armor was no longer sufficient to make up for its massive profile, slow speed, and short range.
It had too many mechanical problems and there were too little of them built to have any effect on the German invasion.
Sure, they had some tactical victories, but so did the Germans in 1944/1945. I use 'useless' in the same vein that the king tiger is useless in that it was 70 tonnes and was extremely prone to mechanical breakdowns.
The fact that it couldn't even go up slight inclines due to the weight of the turret also contributes to my conclusion.
Also pretty much everything the intergral said.
@sempizdetz
well, yeah 80mm armor ain't gonna get penetrated by small calibre automatic cannons... it doesn't show a tank's effectiveness by comapring it against a Panzer I, II or III, almost all Allied tanks were better than the early Panzer I-III. Even frensh and polish tanks...
Nothing to be amazed about that.
HURF DURF HEAVY TANK BETTER THAN LIGHT TANK... please
I dunno I prefer a STUH rather than a KV
the KV is just too big for an assault gun
French and Polish tanks were kinda old in the WW2,because their general didnt notice about the importance of the tanks,so they lost the war.
Yeah,Bishop was very heavy and it had many mechanical problems.And because the allies had controlled the sky,so its difficult for Bishop to move.But German heavy tanks can beat the American Sherman because its cannon.
The Bishop was not heavy, weighing under 20 tons, and while I don't know much about its reliability record I would assume it is similar to that of the Valentine(which shared the same chassis), which was a quite reliable tank.
Sorry,my fault.Bishop was based on Valentine and its 17.5 ton.
Weight 17.5 t (38,580 lb)
Length 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m)
Width 9 feet 1 inch (2.77 m)
Height 10 feet (3.0 m)
Crew 4 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Speed 15 mph (24 km/h)
Armour hull: .31 - 2.36 in
(8-60 mm)
superstructure: .51 - 2 in (13-51 mm)
Primary
armament QF 25 pounder gun-howitzer
with 32 rounds
Secondary
armament 0.303 inch Bren machine gun
Engine AEC A190 diesel
131 hp (98 kW)
Power/weight 7.4 hp/tonne
Number built 149