Or it may simply be a Propaganda Jack Beckett has been editor of War History Online since 2012. 504. 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). . For example, tanks lost due to a unit surrendering does not fit into neither a combat nor a non-combat category. (2) "German tank losses here include all fronts; the tank exchange ratio deletes estimated German losses to Anglo-American forces and so reflects only the Soviet-German loss. ThoughtCo. On average 11,000 small arms, 68 tanks, and 30 aircraft were lost each day. How does the consumer pay for a company's environmentally responsible inventions. This system allowed for very precise control of powered traverse, a light touch on the pedal resulting in a minimum traverse speed of 0.1 deg/sec (360 degrees in 60 min), unlike in most other tanks of the time (e.g. The Tiger I was a 57 tonne German heavy tank that has become one of the most famous tanks in history. Maintaining this fuel supply was tricky, and was susceptible to disruption by resistance fighters. 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 authors paid a visit to the Tiger II (Fgst.Nr. German tanks boasted better armor protection and more firepower. One of the most common assertions about the Tiger I and Tiger II was that it was notoriously unreliable. With the arrival of the Tiger II design in January 1944, Tiger I production began to wind down with the last units rolling out that August. The Tiger II was also used in significant numbers, distributed into four heavy panzer battalions, during the Ardennes Offensive (also known as the 'Battle of the Bulge') of December 1944. The crew were expected to change to normal battle tracks as soon as the tank was unloaded. [9][10] The Germans could build many more tanks and cheaper tank destroyers for the cost of one Tiger. Badly over-engineered, the Tiger I also proved expensive to build costing more than twice as much as a Panzer IV. As the war dragged on, Germany's money and resources depleted. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. This page was first created on 2021-05-09 and most recently updated on 2022-08-13. The thing that made this tank so feared and respected was the huge 88mm gun which could destroy a Sherman tank at ranges up to 3600 yards. B Heavy Tank - Restored Preserved Panzers", Tiger 213, December 44 Museum (accessed 2021-10-23), "The Real Story of Tiger 332: How Americans Captured a German King Tiger, Mark VI Tank on Christmas Eve, 1944", "Swiss museum restores German 1944 'King Tiger' tank to working order", Information about the Pz.Kpfw.Tiger Ausf.B "Tiger II" at Panzerworld, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tiger_II&oldid=1142306284, 5 (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver), Maybach OLVAR OG 40 12 16 B (8 forward and 4 reverse), Gearbox: Maybach OLVAR OG 40 12 16 B (eight forward and four reverse). The fate of Tiger 124 in August 1944 is reasonably well known. [45], On the Eastern Front, it was first used on 12 August 1944 by the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion (s.H.Pz.Abt. Work progressed as World War II began with the design morphing into the VK4501 project. Despite Henschels design being chosen, Ferdinand Porsche did give the tank its nickname, Tiger, with the Roman numeral added after the Tiger II entered production. Built with combat performance in mind, although superior on the battlefield, the Tigers complex design and a lack of thought to repairing individual components made it tricky and expensive for mechanics to maintain. Such fraud would have required the involvement of several people, and there are no indications this was widespread. The capture of three operational Tiger IIs allowed the Soviets to conduct tests at Kubinka and to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses[48]. Needing to optimise their war production, the Germans prioritised building many more tanks and cheaper tank destroyers for the cost of one Tiger indeed a single Tiger used enough steel to build 21 105mm howitzers. 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. Ground pressure was 0.76kg/cm2 (10.8 psi). It is estimated that this caused the loss in production of some 657 Tiger IIs. Nazi Germany's Tiger is arguably the most famous tank of World War II. The Tiger I was a German heavy tank that saw extensive service during World War II. Maintaining this fuel supply was tricky, and was susceptible to disruption by resistance fighters. The right suspension of one of the tanks had to be completely replaced, and its full functionality could not be re-established. These claims are usually not backed up by actual numbers. In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, opening up the Eastern Front in World War II a campaign to which more forces were committed than in any other theatre of war in history. ThoughtCo, Aug. 29, 2020, thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-tiger-i-tank-2361331. Image Credit: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-310-0899-15 / Vack / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons. In trials at Rastenburg, the Henschel design proved superior and was selected for production under the initial designation Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. The Tiger II was under-powered, like many other heavy tanks of World War II[citation needed], and consumed a lot of fuel, which was in short supply for the Germans. The thing that made this tank so feared and respected was the huge 88mm gun which could destroy a Sherman tank at ranges up to 3600 yards. . Featuring torsion bar suspension, the tank used a system of interleaved, overlapping road wheels running on a wide 725 mm (28.5 in) wide track. Stackpole Books, May 14, 2014. Other suggested improvements included stabilised sights, a stabilised main gun, an automatic ammunition feed (often known as an auto loader), a Carl Zeiss AG stereoscopic rangefinder, heated crew compartment, stowage for an additional 12 rounds, and an overpressure and air filtration system to protect against poison gas. [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. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. The firing test against the Tiger B turret front, however, was conducted after removal of the gun and mantlet, and resulted in penetrations close to armour openings, such as vision slits and gun location. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-tiger-i-tank-2361331. Marmon-Herrington Mk.I, the first of this lineage assembled in South Africa. You have to be more specific. Hickman, Kennedy. All it took was a German adversary like the awe-inspiring Tiger tank with its 88-millimeter gun. It is often claimed that more Tiger tanks were lost to various non-combat reasons than were lost in combat. As many as 400 Soviet and 80 German tanks were destroyed. [20], The turrets were designed to mount the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun. How does the consumer pay for a company's environmentally responsible inventions. 503) claimed approximately 500 kills in the period from January to April 1945 on the Eastern Front for the loss of 45 Tiger IIs (most of which were abandoned and destroyed by their own crews after mechanical breakdowns or for lack of fuel). 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. The vehicle was the costliest German tank to produce at the time. British tank crews first encountered Tigers in January 1943. In these battles the Tiger II Ausf B has performed remarkably well regarding armour, armament and mechanical reliability. Knowing these commanders would be operating their most vital and expensive piece of hardware, Panzer general Heinz Guderian allowed engineers to fill the Tigers manual the Tigerfibel with humour and a playful tone, as well as racy pictures of scantily-clad women to hold soldiers interest. It had a rear-mounted engine and used nine steel-tired, eighty-centimeter-diameter overlapping road wheels per side with internal springing, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original Henschel-designed Tiger I. 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. I don't know the total number of Also on the 19th, two Tigers were engaged by a Sherman, a 57 mm gun, and infantry with bazookas. As a result, they were surprised when they met them in combat for the first time in June 1941. KV heavy tank. Each page was printed in just black and red ink, with illustrations, cartoons, and easy-to-read technical diagrams. When it broke down, it was difficult and expensive to fix. 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. Likewise, the Soviet kept about 3,000 tanks in the Far East through much of the war." Production on the Tiger began in August 1942 in order to rush the new tank to the front. T-34-76 (Model 1941) (26 tonnes) at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1987. Anderson, Thomas (2017). Was the German Tiger Tank Really That Great? [30] There was also a program using the Simmering-Graz-Pauker Sla.16-cylinder diesel engine,[30] but the war's constraint on supplies and capitulation resulted in the cancellation of this program. The numbers in Klages' book are mainly based on German unit reports documented in other books. 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