A floating crane lifts a KV-1 tank from the Neva river, which was found underwater 13 metres in depth near Kirovsk, 50 kilometres east of St. Petersburg. Experts believe this was the last heavy tank in this region
A floating crane lifts from the Neva river a KV-1 tank which was found underwater near Kirovsk, 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of St. Petersburg, Russia, 16/11/2011
The Soviet Union tank apparently fell into the river in November 1941 when the Red Army was fighting against German Nazi troops.
The Kirov Factory embarked upon the design process of the new tank, named the KV – after the Soviet Peoples' Commissar of Defense, Kliment Voroshilov, on February 1st, 1939. This was prior to the approval of its technical specifications. As a result, the preceding specifications regarding the SMK tank were used as the basis for the new tank. The basic design made use of the graduate project developed by the students from the Mechanisation and Motorisation Academy, who had been sent to work at Design Bureau No. 2 in March 1939, upon receiving their diploma.
As of June 22nd, 1941, the Red Army possessed 693 KV tanks. In the 1941, the KV tank could destroy any tank the Wehrmacht had to offer, while remaining virtually unassailable to enemy tanks itself. This is corroborated by several accounts of solitary KVs holding up entire German units for a significant period of time. Thus, one KV, having taken up a position on the motor road outside of Ostrov, halted the German advance along the road to Leningrad for a number of days. During this time, the crew of the KV succeeded in destroying 7 German tanks, a battery of anti-tank artillery, one 88 mm gun with its crew, along with several lorries and armoured personal carriers. The tank was eventually destroyed by an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun

News source: demotix.com
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