This included the driver and radio operator which were situated in the front, as well as loader in the hull and the commander and gunner in the turret. As a result, even when shells did not penetrate the armour, there was often a large amount of spalling from the inside of the plates, which damaged the transmission and rendered the tank inoperable. KV heavy tank. . The Tiger I saw service until the end of the war despite the arrival of the Tiger II in 1944. However, Soviet testing contradicted this as they found that the frontal glacis could be destroyed by firing 34 shots at the weld joints from the ranges of 500600m[57] which were found to be inferior in quality to that of previous German designs like the Tiger I or Panther. [55], The heavy armour and powerful long-range gun gave the Tiger II an advantage against all opposing Western Allied and Soviet tanks attempting to engage it from head on. Up to fourteen Tiger IIs of the 501st were destroyed or captured in the area between 11 and 14 August to ambushes and flank attacks by both Soviet T-34-85 and IS-2 tanks, . The Tigerfibels success resulted in more unorthodox manuals emulating its style. These carried only 63 rounds of 8.8cm ammunition to provide room to accommodate the extra radios and equipment,[8] and had additional armour on the engine compartment. https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-tiger-i-tank-2361331 (accessed March 1, 2023). American forces with a captured Tiger I tank in North Africa, 1943. Wa Prf 6 was not supportive of this as the Heer had not accepted the cannon itself. 268. Protected by armor between 25 mm to 145 mm thick and armed with a fearsome 88mm KwK 36 L/56 main gun, the Tiger I was arguably the most feared tank of World War II by Allied soldiers. Aircraft were more . This jammed the turret and effectively prevented the Tiger from fighting. While many of the combat losses are not specified, it is clear from the numbers above that the common myth about Allied aircrafts being the scourge of the Tiger tank has no basis in fact. document of February 1945 estimated that the British (76.2 mm) QF 17-pounder gun, using armour-piercing discarding sabot shot was theoretically capable of penetrating the front of the Tiger II's turret and nose (lower front hull) at 1,100 and 1,200yd (1,000 and 1,100m) respectively although, given the lack of a stated angle, this was presumably at the ideal 90 degrees and in combat the Tiger II was never penetrated frontally by the QF 17-Pounder. [32], A standard battalion (Abteilung) comprised 45 tanks:[32], Units that used the Tiger II were as follows:[33], Early Tiger IIs proved unreliable, owing principally to leaking seals and gaskets, an overburdened drive train originally intended for a lighter vehicle, and teething problems with the final drive and steering unit; both of which had been newly designed for the Tiger II. From June 6, 1944 through May 15, 1945 for US tank and tank destroyer losses in the European Theater of Operations, United States Army (Western Front): around 7,000 (including 4,2954,399 M4 tanks, 178 M4 (105mm howitzer), 1,507 M3 Stuart tanks and 909919 tank destroyers, of which 540 M10 tank destroyers, 217 M18 Hellcat and 152 M36 tank destroyers). In addition to its near-impervious armour, it could also destroy an enemy tank from over a mile away, and on the right terrrain, was highly effective, causing the Allies to devote considerable time to tracking their movements. Privacy policy. The first was to restart production of the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun which possessed the penetrative power pierce the Tiger's armor. Tigers suffered a large number of non-combat losses, however, as the chaos of wartime and the Tigers mechanical finickiness chipped away at the number of deployable tanks. At least 1,741 tanks destroyed in 1939-1940, 549 light and medium tanks destroyed in 1944-1945 and 134 combat cars. The Tigers were thoroughly destroyed. In July 1944 the Germans had over 1,500 tanks in Normandy and several hundred in other theatres such as Italy and the Balkans. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1972-064-61 / CC-BY-SA 3.0. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. The same American tanks were superior to their rivals in other important ways. Unlike other captured German vehicles, this Tiger II was never used by the French Army. complex to repair in the field. The number of Tigers in Africa is too small to make any strong conclusions. Mounting the 88 mm KwK 36 L/56 gun and thick armor, the Tiger proved formidable in combat and forced the Allies to alter their armor tactics and develop new weapons to counter it. The Tiger was in production for two years, from July 1942 to August 1944. Rather than incorporate the Soviet tank's sloping armor, the Tiger sought to compensate by mounting thicker and heavier armor. 159,144 Anti-tank guns and Artillery destroyed or captured. The Tiger I was a German heavy tank that saw extensive service during World War II. (Image Credit: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-022-2935-24 / CC). Though effective on the battlefield, the Tiger was badly over-engineered making it . Production peaked at 104 per month in April 1944. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia Of Military Aircraft, 1914-1980 (1988) p.546. What Was the Atlantic Wall and When Was It Built? So was the Tiger tank great? To compete, orders for a German prototype for a new tank thus required a weight increase to 45 tonnes and an increase in gun calibre to 88mm. Both the Henschel and Porsche companies displayed designs to Hitler at his base in Rastenburg for him to inspect. [8] (Sd.Kfz. Writer on Defense and Security issues, lives in San Francisco. [citation needed] A Wa Prf 1 report estimated that the Tiger II's frontal aspect was impervious to the Soviet 122mm D-25T, the largest calibre tank gun of the war. Probably the most effective was just to wait until it broke down or ran out of gas. [12], The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army and the Waffen-SS. For example, tanks lost due to a unit surrendering does not fit into neither a combat nor a non-combat category. So they had just short of 500 armored vehicles on the entire Western . 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. In combat, Tigers had the ability to dominate the battlefield as T-34s equipped with 76.2 mm guns and Shermans mounting 75 mm guns were unable to penetrate its frontal armor and only had success from the side at close range. They had a handful of Tigers. The Sprenggranate 43 (SpGr) high-explosive round was available for soft targets, or the Hohlgranate or Hohlgeschoss 39 (HlGr HEAT or High-explosive anti-tank warhead) round, which had 90mm (3.5in) penetration at any range, could be used as a dual-purpose munition against soft or armoured targets.[21]. The categories and groups are listed to allow those who disagree with the classifications to create their own analysis. It was only used by South African forces, mostly in Eastern Africa during WW2. Germans may have had to leave them behind after destroying them. 267 was to have used FuG 8 and FuG 5 radio sets, with the most notable external changes being a two-metre-long (6.6ft) rod antenna mounted on the turret roof and a Sternantenne D ("Star antenna D"), mounted on an insulated base (the 105mm Antennenfu Nr. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. This had six road wheels per side mounted in paired bogies sprung with short longitudinal torsion bars that were integral to the wheel pair; this saved internal space and facilitated repairs. [64] [32] [notes 3] [32]. What are the disadvantages of shielding a thermometer? Like all German tanks, the Tiger II had a petrol engine; in this case the same 700 PS (690hp, 515kW) V-12 Maybach HL 230 P30 which powered the much lighter Panther and Tiger I tanks. Panther & its variants by Walter J. Spielberger p. 276. Note: Table does not include assault guns or any other type of SPG. The units war diary simply states; Crew members of Tiger 131 panic and abandon the tank after two harmless hits from a Churchill. The evidence shows that the tank was subject to several direct hits which were far from harmless. When it broke down, it was difficult and expensive to fix. Any other battlefield machine produced in such limited numbers would be quickly forgotten, but the Tigers impressive combat performance was worth it. This was especially true on the Western Front where, until the arrival of the few M26 Pershings in 1945 and the few M4A3E2 Sherman "Jumbos"[clarification needed] that were scattered around Europe after D-Day, as well as a few late Churchill models, neither the British nor US forces brought heavy tanks into service. Also on the 19th, two Tigers were engaged by a Sherman, a 57 mm gun, and infantry with bazookas. For protection, the Tiger's armor ranged from 60 mm on the side hull plates to 120 mm at the front of the turret. the Division had some 648 Sherman tanks completely destroyed . ThoughtCo. The Tiger (II) was the heaviest tank used during World War Two, weighing 57 tons, and its engine was so powerful that it could keep pace with tanks less than half its weight, at 40 kph. One of the iconic tanks of the conflict, over 1,300 Tiger Is were built. Further testing showed that the armour plate itself exhibited deficiencies in quality compared to earlier German tanks such as the Tiger I and Panther. The number of Tiger tanks reported to have been lost due to a lack of fuel is low, as is the number lost to Allied aircrafts. On the Western Front in 19441945, 4,477 British Commonwealth tanks were destroyed, including 2,712 M4 Sherman tanks, 656 Churchill tanks, 609 Cromwell tanks, 433 M3 Stuart light tanks, 39 Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger tanks, 26 Comet tanks, 2 M24 Chaffee light tanks.[8]. The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latter's thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank. [9][10] The numbers above indicate that the Tiger II generally fared worse than the Tiger I. Building on the experience garnered on the Eastern Front, the Tiger I mounted the formidable 88 mm Kwk 36 L/56 gun. The fate of Tiger 124 in August 1944 is reasonably well known. On October 18th, 1943, one Tiger led by Sepp Rannel, destroyed 18 Russian tanks. SHAEF, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. The turret could be rotated 360 degrees at 6/second in low gear independent of engine rpm, at 19/second the same as with the Tiger I with the high speed setting and engine at 2000 rpm, and over 36/second at the maximum allowable engine speed of 3000 rpm. After their first encounters on the battlefield, Allied tank crews reported virtually every tank they encountered as a Tiger Tank, which was unlikely because the Germans only managed to build 1,347 before production stopped in August 1944. The s.H.Pz.Abt 503 noted in 'Combat Report in Hungary, October 1944': The Abteilung saw combat in two groups under the command of different units. Despite their strengths, Tigers were so expensive to producejust 1,340 were . The ZF AK-7-200 gearbox was also explored as an alternative to the Maybach Olvar-B semi-automatic gearbox, but Waffenamt research and development department Wa Prf 6 found that it offered inferior driving characteristics and so the Maybach Olvar-B was retained. The transmission was the Maybach OLVAR OG 40 12 16 Model B, giving eight forward gears and four reverse, which drove the steering gear. Mounting the 88 mm KwK 36 L/56 gun and thick armor, the Tiger proved formidable in combat and forced the Allies to alter their armor tactics and develop new weapons to counter it. Recorded combat performance was lower, but still over 80 percent at 1,000m, in the 60s at 1,500m and the 40s at 2,000m. Penetration of armoured plate inclined at 30 degrees was 202 and 132mm (8.0 and 5.2in) at 100m (110yd) and 2,000m (2,200yd) respectively for the Panzergranate 39/43 projectile (PzGr armour-piercing shell), and 238 and 153mm (9.4 and 6.0in) for the PzGr. German crews had been thorough in carrying out their orders to completely destroy abandoned Tigers in order to prevent them falling into enemy hands. In the years since World War II, much mythmaking has mucked up history with various often incredible claims about the effectiveness of certain weapons. The Armys Next 'Tank' Could Look Like Anything, Russia Dredges Up Ancient BTR-50 Vehicles, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. In March 1943 s.Pz.-Abt. The ratio for Italy, which is strongly influenced by 62 tanks lost due to mechanical failures, indicates that the Tiger I was not able to cope with the mountainous terrain. Notable tanks of the time included the German Panzer tanks, the famous Soviet T-34 tank (that proved so highly effective at the Battle of Kursk) and the US M4 Sherman tank. After trials, the Henschel design was considered superior and the more practical to mass produce, largely as the Porsche VK 4501 prototype design needed large quantities of copper a strategic war material that was in limited supply. The Porsche hull designs included a rear-mounted turret and a mid-mounted engine. . [8] The Sd.Kfz. Green, Michael. A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? [61], During August 1944, two Tiger Ausf B tanks were captured by the Soviets near Sandomierz, and were soon moved to the testing grounds at Kubinka. Hickman, Kennedy. The M1917, the United States' first mass-produced tank, was based on the French Renault. Will China Give Lethal Support to Russia? In these battles the Tiger II Ausf B has performed remarkably well regarding armour, armament and mechanical reliability. Attempts were made to adapt this gun to the T-34 but without meaningful success. Image Credit: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-022-2935-24 / Wolff/Altvater / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons. A World War II horror story. This analysis is based on the losses assembled and tabulated by Ron Klages in his book Trail of the Tigers. [26] Among others, five raids between 22 September and 7 October 1944 destroyed 95 percent of the floor area of the Henschel plant. 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