Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger
The Tiger I , Tiger , is one of the most known tanks and one of most powerful of the Second world war, much more than the American Sherman, the German Panther or the Soviet T-34. Contrary to the others, it forever be present in great number on the battle field and forever endivisionné. These are the dimensions, its solidity, and its firepower which marked the spirits, at such a point that this tank is practically regarded as a myth. Its development started in 1937 and, when it appears for the first time on the face, on August 29th 1942, close to Leningrad, Tiger I doubled in term of weight compared with its predecessors.
Of 1937 with 1941, various projects of average and heavy tanks were carried out by the firms Henschel and Porsche. It is only in May 1941 that Hitler required at these firms to design a heavy tank for the été 1942. Name of code : Tigerprogramm.
The new tank was to weigh 45 tons and being armed with a derivative of the famous gun of DCA of 88 mm which had been illustrated at the beginning of the war, in particular in anti-tank North Africa of use. The two firms built each one a prototype but, although the program Porsche was more advanced and more modern, of too many engineering problems made that the Henschel model was preserved. He inherited nevertheless the turret Krupp of the project Porsche.
At its exit, and during all the end of the war, Tigre I was never gathered into large unité : it was useful in Schwerepanzerabteilungen, of the special units of heavy tanks which took part in all the campaigns: Africa, Eastern and Western Europe. It accepted the official name of Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger - Sd.Kfz.181. Throughout its career, it was only modified very little, receiving for example sand filters for the desert of Africa, or certain parts standardized with Panthers and Königtigers. The latter are not a version of this tank, but of the machines of different design.
Tiger I was armed with a gun of 88 mm with high swiftness, ensuring to him a range and an unknown firepower hitherto for a heavy tank, as well as Machine-gun S Maschinengewehr 34. Its thick shielding (until 100mm at certain places), though nontilted, made it almost invulnerable. It was necessary to await the Soviet T-34/85 and the gun of 76.2 mm of the last Sherman S (Firefly) American so that other tanks are in measurement initially to counter it and then, with much chance and address, to destroy it. This only with very short range, whereas the gun of the Tiger could destroy T-34, for example, until 3500-4000 m of distance. Indeed, in addition to higher ballistic characteristics, the gun was also equipped with an optics of first choice, derived from the optics of the gun of DCA which was used to him as a basis.
But this had a price: 650 horses of the 12 cylinders out of V Maybach HL 210 P 45 were insufficient to make it possible such a monster to quickly move. Carried with 700 horses thereafter, the performances improved, but remained in a general way insufficient. The Tiger excelled, on the other hand, in the capacity to be swivelled on oneself. The first Tigers were provided with Schnorchel S enabling them to move under water with 5 meters of depth, and this during 2 h 30. Caterpillars of 72 cm broad made the enormous vehicle too broad to enable him to be transported by train, also a set of caterpillars of 52 cm was envisaged for this purpose. These two sets of caterpillars tended to be stopped because of freezing or of mud on the theater of the operations Is.
This tank did not have indeed only avantages : too much heavy, too slow, it moreover was handicapped by the fact that certain bridges could not support such a mass. Its tactical mobility was some reduced by as much. Moreover, its amazing consumption gave him a very weak autonomy, and the restrictions of gasoline which Germany knew after the crushing of Ploesti and of its synthetic oil refineries did not arrange the things. Moreover, the technical complexity of Tigre I returned it fragile, subjected to many breakdowns, and awfully expensive: a Tiger cost the price of two Panther S. It of was thus built less as much of it.
Many Tigers were abandoned after sabotage, in consequence of technical breakdown, of dry breakdown, or lack of ammunition. The majority of those which were destroyed it were by aviation, in particular by the jabos (of German " Jagdbomber" , fighter-bomber) by crushing numerical superiority towards the end of the war. The others, fighting under conditions of numerical inferiority, were lost vis-a-vis other tanks such IS-2, even in 1945 of the armored vehicles which reached almost the same characteristics like the M26 Pershing.
Before that, the ratios of losses appear incredible: the 7 juillet 1943, only one Tiger met on the face of the East 50 T-34 with Psyolknee, in the South of covering Koursk. This one destroyed 22 T-34 before returning in its lines, except but without Russian ammunition, the other tanks having taken the escape. During the Battle of Normandy, a battalion of 45 Tigers entirely was lost, destroyed or given up by its crews continuation in particular with air raids on behalf of the allies, with gasoline breakdowns and mechanical problems. One of the legendary figures remains the SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) Michael Wittmann which in two years had destroyed not less 138 tanks and allied guns of attack. Much less known, Kurt Knispel would have a " for its part; palmares" of 168 victories!
External bonds
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Article very detailed on Tiger I (color photos)
- museum of the armoured tanks of Saumur
- Photo
of tank tiger moving: http://www.achtungpanzer.com/images/t55tig.jpg
- Kingtiger of Patton Museum, the USA:
- kingtiger @ Thun museum, Switzerland:
- kingtiger @ bovington tank museum England (Porsche turret)
- Tiger I @ Vimoutiers (Normandy):
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