KV-1 Tank factory captured

trurle

Banned
One thing which i have wondered about is how the capture or destruction of the KV-1 production plant would have influenced the war.

Despite the T-34 taking the spotlight, the KV-1 was actually the tank which gave the Germans a massive headache in 1941.
I'd like to look at two possible scenarios:

1. KV-1 tank factory captured and pressed into service to strengthen Italian and Romanians tank forces.
Possibly KV-1 as fortifications later in the war.

2. KV-1 tank factory destroyed prior to being moved to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_Tractor_Plant

Thoughts and Ideas? Would the capture or destruction delay the introduction of the Tiger I tank?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_I
Likely the capture of the KV-1 factory will speed up the introduction of the Tiger tank by few months, but ATL Tiger will have some design elements of the KV-1 tank. The German engineers will simply reuse most generic templates and tools from the KV-1 factories, without bothering to completely replicate Soviet design which was questionable even among Soviet field commanders. Most likely, also will be early Tiger tank with the 76mm cannon instead of 88mm - to accommodate with the early KV-1 styled turrets.

Destruction of KV-1 plant would not make much difference from OTL until early 1942 - at this point the Soviets will start to have larger losses during offensives on the prepared German positions, due lack of the dedicated "breakthrough tank". This likely mean generally slower pace of the WWII on the Eastern front, with slightly more emphasis on attrition rather than on maneuver warfare.
 
Most likely, also will be early Tiger tank with the 76mm cannon instead of 88mm - to accommodate with the early KV-1 styled turrets.

The Tiger was 1830mm turret ring diameter

KV-1 with the 76mm was either 1580mm or 1670mm, and later KV-85 was bumped to 1800mm

The Panther was 1650mm

On July 18th 1941 Rheinmetall-Borsig in Dusseldorf had received the order to develop a gun with a penetration performance of 140 mm of steel armor at 1000 meters distance. As early as the beginning of 1942 a test barrel L/60, whose achievements were at the lower boundary of the required values from Army Ordnance was shot. Subsequently, the tube length has been increased to L/70. It was after a long trial, the 7,5cm KwK 42 L/70 gun, which was to be installed in the newly developed Panzerkampfwagen V (Sd. Kfz. 171) "Panther”.

Volume production should start in December 1942 with four pieces. None was completed until January 7th 1943


Problem is, 88mm/56 was the only decent AT gun around in 1941, the PaK40 had ammo too long to swing around in a KV-1 sized turret
 

trurle

Banned
The Tiger was 1830mm turret ring diameter

KV-1 with the 76mm was either 1580mm or 1670mm, and later KV-85 was bumped to 1800mm

The Panther was 1650mm

On July 18th 1941 Rheinmetall-Borsig in Dusseldorf had received the order to develop a gun with a penetration performance of 140 mm of steel armor at 1000 meters distance. As early as the beginning of 1942 a test barrel L/60, whose achievements were at the lower boundary of the required values from Army Ordnance was shot. Subsequently, the tube length has been increased to L/70. It was after a long trial, the 7,5cm KwK 42 L/70 gun, which was to be installed in the newly developed Panzerkampfwagen V (Sd. Kfz. 171) "Panther”.

Volume production should start in December 1942 with four pieces. None was completed until January 7th 1943


Problem is, 88mm/56 was the only decent AT gun around in 1941, the PaK40 had ammo too long to swing around in a KV-1 sized turret
I was thinking about using captured ZiS-3 / F-34 / ZiS-5 76 mm cannons. If had worse armor penetration (57-69mm vs 174mm for 7.5cm KwK 42 at 500m) - more comparable to Pz IV rather to Panther or Tiger, but still better than nothing. Especially if Soviet KV`s are becoming increasingly rare as OP of this thread assumes. No point to produce a dedicated armour-piercing cannon if universal one can do the same job.
 
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