It is remarkable that lieutenant Steup's tank made hits on a T-34, once at about 20 meters and four times at 50 meters, with Panzergranate 40 (caliber 5 cm), without any noticeable effect. But he drives staunchly through our line like an impregnable prehistoric monster. Half a dozen anti-tank guns fire shells at him, which sound like a drumroll.

Both types were encountered on the second day of the invasion – 23 June 1941. While most of the Soviet Union's armoured forces were composed of such tanks, the T-34 and the KV designs, which were previously unknown, took the Germans by surprise. Initial encounters Īt the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Germans were expecting little from their opponent's tank forces, which were composed of the old T-26 and BTs. By the end of December 1941, they had lost 2,300 T-34 and over 900 KV tanks, accounting for 15% of the 20,500 tanks lost that year. This experience prompted a notable leap in tank development in Nazi Germany, mainly in an effort to counter these new threats.īy 22 June 1941, the Red Army deployed almost 1,000 T-34 and over 500 KV tanks, concentrated in five of their twenty-nine mechanized corps. The Germans' standard anti-tank weapons were found to be ineffective against these new Soviet vehicles. As a result, they were surprised when they met them in combat for the first time in June 1941. Prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, the German armed forces were not aware of two newly developed Soviet tanks, the T-34 and the KV. T-34-76 (Model 1941) (26 tonnes) at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1987 KV-1 (45 tonnes) on display in Kirovsk

Battle of tank t 34