The first samples of heavy self-propelled artillery mounts were created in the Soviet Union even before the start of World War II. However, things did not reach their mass production then. The realities of the war, the appearance of new heavy tanks in the ranks of Hitler's Panzerwaffe, forced Soviet designers to return to the development of heavy self-propelled guns. Armed with powerful 152-mm guns, these combat vehicles became the most formidable anti-tank weapon of the Red Army. A projectile weighing half a centner tore the Tiger's turret off its shoulder strap and broke through the Panther's armor. It was for their success in the fight against the German armored “menagerie” that Soviet soldiers gave the heavy self-propelled guns the respectful nickname “St. John’s Wort.”