Tiger hunting trails. The hidden truth about the Nazi monster who killed the allies: “The Tiger Tank is a waste of time Tiger Tank 1

German heavy tank from the Second World War, the prototype of which was the VK4501 (H) tank, created in 1942 by the Henschel company under the leadership of Erwin Aders. In the departmental end-to-end classification of armored vehicles of Nazi Germany, the tank was initially designated Pz.Kpfw.VI (Sd.Kfz.181) Tiger Ausf.H1, but after the adoption of the new heavy tank of the same name - PzKpfw VI Ausf. B had the Roman numeral "I" added to its name to distinguish it from the later machine, which in turn was called the "Tiger II". Although minor changes were made to the design of the tank, there was only one modification to the tank. In Soviet documents, the Tiger tank was designated as T-6 or T-VI.

Along with the prototype of the Henschel company, the Reich command was shown the Porsche project, VK4501 (P), but the choice of the military commission fell on the Henschel version, despite the fact that Hitler himself was more favorable to the Porsche product.

For the first time, Tiger tanks took part in battle on August 29, 1942 at the Mga station near Leningrad, began to be used on a massive scale starting from the battle and capture of Kharkov in February - March 1943, and were used by the Wehrmacht and SS troops until the very end of World War II.

The total number of cars produced is 1354 units.
The cost of building one Tiger tank is 800,000 Reichsmarks (twice as expensive as any tank of that time). Officially, the tank was designated Pz.VIH, or in full German Panzerkampfwagen VI “Tiger”, Ausf. N (Pz. Kpfw.VIH). The Armament Directorate assigned all Wehrmacht vehicles, in addition to everything else, its own designation, in this case SdKfz 181 (that is, a special-purpose vehicle). Since February 1944, the official designation has changed to Pz.Kpfw. "Tiger", Ausf.E (or T-VIE). In literature, especially foreign literature, the name “Tiger” is found.

History of creation

The first work on the design of the Tiger tank began in 1937. By this time, the Wehrmacht did not have any heavy breakthrough tanks in service, similar in purpose to the Soviet T-35 or French Char B1. On the other hand, in the planned military doctrine (tested later in Poland and France) there was practically no place for heavy, sedentary vehicles, so the military’s requirements for such a tank were rather vague and unclear. However, Erwin Aders, one of the chief designers of the Henschel company, began developing a 30-ton “breakthrough tank” (Durchbruchwagen). During 1939-1941 Henschel created two prototypes, known under the designations DW1 and DW2. The first of the prototypes was without a turret; the second one was equipped with a turret from the production PzKpfw IV. The thickness of the armor protection of the prototypes did not exceed 50 mm.

After the invasion of the Third Reich into the USSR, the German military became aware of the need to qualitatively strengthen the Wehrmacht's tank fleet. German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf. The E-F was much inferior in basic characteristics to the Soviet medium tank (in the German classification of those years, Mittlerschwerer - medium-heavy) T-34 mod. 1941 There was no analogue of the KV-1 in the Wehrmacht tank forces at all. At the same time, in a significant number of combat episodes, in the hands of competent Soviet tankers, the T-34 and KV clearly showed that good visibility and excellent ergonomics still do not fully compensate for the weak armor and armament of the PzKpfw IV Ausf. E-F - with overcoming the chaos and confusion of the first stage of the war, these vehicles began to pose an increasingly greater threat to the Wehrmacht. In addition, as the war progressed, German troops increasingly had to face pre-prepared enemy defenses, where the need for a heavy breakthrough tank was no longer in doubt. The solution to the problems that arose was divided into two directions - the modernization of those models of armored vehicles that already existed (PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV) and the accelerated design of its analogue of the Soviet KV-1.

Soon after the invasion of the Soviet Union, the design bureaus of two well-known engineering firms, Henschel and Porsche, received tactical and technical requirements for a heavy breakthrough tank with a design weight of 45 tons. The head of the first design bureau, Erwin Aders, already had quite a significant amount of developments on DW1 and DW2, while Ferdinand Porsche, who headed the “competitors,” was just taking his first steps in tank building. The display of prototypes was timed to coincide with April 20, 1942 - the Fuhrer's birthday; there was little time to develop and build prototypes. Erwin Aders and the staff of his design bureau followed the traditional path of the German tank-building school, choosing for the new heavy tank the same layout scheme as the PzKpfw IV, and using the invention of the designer G. Kniepkamp on the tank - a “chessboard” arrangement of road wheels in two rows. Before that, it was used only on tractors and armored personnel carriers of the Hanomag company; its use for a tank was an innovation in the world tank building. Thus, the problem of increasing the smoothness of the ride, and, accordingly, increasing the accuracy of shooting on the move, was successfully solved.

The Henschel prototype was designated VK4501 (H). Ferdinand Porsche, better known at the time for his pioneering work in the automotive (including sports) field, tried to transfer his approach to a new area. Its prototype used solutions such as highly efficient longitudinal torsion bars in the suspension system and electric transmission. However, compared to the Henschel prototype, F. Porsche's car was structurally more complex and required more scarce materials, such as copper (which was used in the generators necessary for the electric transmission).
Dr. F. Porsche's prototype was tested under the designation VK4501 (P). Knowing the Fuhrer’s attitude towards him and not the least bit doubting the victory of his brainchild, F. Porsche, without waiting for the commission’s decision, gave the order to put into production the chassis for his new tank without testing, with the start of deliveries by Nibelungenwerk in July 1942 . However, during the demonstration at the Kummersdorf training ground, a Henschel tank was chosen due to the greater reliability of the chassis and better cross-country ability, and also because of lower financial costs. The turret was taken from a Porsche tank, since the turrets ordered for the Henschel tank were in the process of being modified or were in the prototype stage. In addition, turrets with a KWK L/70 7.5 cm gun were created for the above combat vehicle, the caliber of which (75 mm) in 1942 no longer met the needs of the Wehrmacht. As a result, this hybrid with a Henschel & Son chassis and a Porsche turret became famous throughout the world under the designation Pz VI “Tiger” Ausf E, and Porsche “Tigers” were produced in the amount of 5 vehicles, but from the 90 chassis manufactured, 89 heavy ones were created assault guns, which received the name of its “father”, F. Porsche - “Ferdinand”.

Design

The tank was controlled using a steering wheel similar to a car. The main controls of the Tiger tank are the steering wheel and pedals (gas, clutch, brakes). In front of the seat on the right there is a gear shift lever and a parking brake lever (on the left there was an auxiliary parking brake lever). Behind the seat on both sides there were emergency control levers. At the same time, the control itself was quite simple and did not require special driving skills.

Armored hull and turret

The turret is located approximately in the center of the hull, the center of the turret shoulder strap is located 165 mm aft from the central perpendicular of the hull. The sides and rear of the turret are made of a single strip of armor steel 82 mm thick. The 100 mm thick turret front plate is welded to a bent side armor plate. The roof of the tower consists of one flat armor plate 26 mm thick, in the front part installed with an inclination of 8 degrees to the horizon. The roof of the tower is attached to the sides by welding. There are three holes in the roof, two for the top hatches and one for the fan. The roofs of the turrets of the Tiger tanks of later production had five holes. Many photographs show improvised locking devices on hatches; the purpose of these devices is one - protection from uninvited guests. Turret No. 184 and all subsequent ones were equipped with a loader's periscope; the periscope was installed on the right side of the turret just ahead of the roof break line. The fixed periscopic device was protected by a steel U-shaped bracket. Between the loader's hatch and the fan on the turrets of tanks of late production (starting with turret No. 324), a hole was made for the Nahvertteidigungwaffe (a mortar for firing smoke and fragmentation grenades for short ranges). To make room for the mortar, the fan had to be moved to the longitudinal axis of the tower. The fan was covered with an armored cap with horizontal slits for air intake. The height of the turret, including the commander's cupola, was 1200 mm, weight - 11.1 tons. The turrets were produced and installed on the chassis at the Wegman plant in Kassel.

For the first time in German tank building, the tank hull has a variable width. The width of the bottom is essentially the width of the body. The upper part had to be expanded due to the fender sponsons. This was done to accommodate a turret with a shoulder strap diameter of 1850 mm - the minimum diameter of the shoulder strap allowing the installation of an 88 mm caliber gun in the turret. The size of the supporting armor plate of the hull floor is 4820x2100 mm, the thickness of the plate is 26 mm. The thickness of the side armor plates varies: the sides of the upper part of the hull are 80 mm, the rear is 80 mm, the forehead is 100 mm. The thickness of the sides of the lower part of the hull is reduced to 63 mm, since the support rollers play the role of additional protection here. Most hull armor plates are connected at right angles. Thus, almost all surfaces of the Tiger's body are either parallel or perpendicular to the ground. The exception is the upper and lower frontal armor plates. The frontal 100-mm armor plate, in which a directional machine gun is equipped and the driver's observation device is almost vertical - its inclination is 80 degrees, to the horizon line. The upper frontal armor plate, 63 mm thick, is installed almost horizontally - with an inclination angle of 10 degrees. The lower frontal armor plate, 100 mm thick, has a reverse slope of 66 degrees. The armor plates are connected using the dovetail method (trademark of German tanks), using welding. The junction of the turret and the hull is not covered by anything - one of the most vulnerable points of the Tiger, which has constantly been criticized. The thickness of the hull roof - 30 mm - contrasts with the thick frontal armor. The tank hull, without turret and chassis, weighed 29 tons and had very impressive dimensions. According to many tankers, the thickness of the roof was clearly insufficient. Many Tigers were lost only because the turret was jammed by shell fragments. On later production Tigers, an armored ring was installed to protect the junction of the turret and the hull. In general, the Tiger's armor provided the highest level of security for its time. In order to increase the morale of the crews of heavy tanks, the vehicle of Lieutenant Zabel from the 1st company of the 503rd heavy tank battalion was delivered to the training center in Paderborn from the Eastern Front. During two days of fighting near Rostov, as part of the Zander battle group, Zabel’s tank received 227 direct hits from 14.5 mm anti-tank rifle bullets, 14 hits from 45 and 57 mm caliber shells, and 11 hits from 76.2 mm caliber shells. Having withstood so many hits, the tank managed to make a 60-km march to the rear for repairs under its own power. The quality of the armor was highly appreciated by the British who studied the captured Tiger. According to British experts, English armor equivalent in terms of projectile resistance will be 10-20 mm thicker than the Tiger armor.

Since August 1943, the outer vertical surfaces of the tank's hull and turret began to be coated with a composition called Zimmerit, which makes it difficult to magnetize magnetic mines to the hull. The antimagnetic coating was abandoned in the fall of 1944.

Engine and transmission

Maybach HL 230P45 - V-shaped 12-cylinder water-cooled carburetor engine (HL 230 was a development of the HL 210, which was equipped with the first 250 Tiger tanks). The engine has a displacement of 23,095 cm3 (1925 cm3 per cylinder).

The Maybach HL210P45 and HL230P45 engines each had four Solex 52 FF J and D carburetors, and the HL230P30 had one Bosch PZ 12 carburetor. The maximum power was 700 hp. With. (515 kW) at 3000 rpm. Maximum torque 1850 Nm at 2100 rpm. Fuel tanks - 534 liters. The fuel supply was enough for 100-110 km over rough terrain.

The crankcase and cylinder block are made of gray cast iron. The cylinder heads are made of cast iron. The engine weighs 1200 kg and has linear dimensions of 1000x1190x1310 mm. The engine required 28 liters of oil. Fuel - leaded gasoline OZ 74, octane number 74. The fuel tanks were designed to hold 530 liters of fuel.

Motorenol der Wermacht brand oil was used in the oil system. To change you need 32 liters of oil, but the engine held 42 liters of oil. Oil pump driven from the main engine. The oil system includes a reservoir with a capacity of 28 liters. Power is transmitted from the engine to the gearbox by a shaft consisting of two parts. Approximately 5 l. With. selected for the turret rotation drive. The engine compartment is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system: if the air temperature in the engine compartment exceeds 120 degrees. Thermal sensors automatically turn on fire extinguishers located in the area of ​​fuel pumps and carburetors. When the fire extinguishing system is activated, an emergency light on the driver's dashboard lights up. A manual fire extinguisher is stored in the tower, which can be used as an emergency means of fighting a fire in the engine compartment.

Engine cooling is a 120-liter water radiator and four fans. Fan motor lubrication - 7 liters of oil.

Maybach-Olvar gearbox with eight forward gears and four reverse gears. The control drive is hydraulic (capacity - 30 liters of oil), semi-automatic.

Chassis

Suspension - individual torsion bar, "chessboard" arrangement of rollers in four rows, eight on board, designed by G. Kniepkamp. The rollers are of large diameter, without support rollers. The drive wheel is located at the front.

The sloth with a diameter of 600 mm is connected to a mechanism for adjusting the track tension. The drive wheel with a diameter of 840 mm is located in the front part of the housing. The track rollers have an independent torsion bar suspension; the torsion bars are placed across the tank hull. The support rollers of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth suspension units are the inner row. Torsion bar length 1960 mm, diameter 58 mm. The torsion bar is fixed with an octagonal tip in the wall of the side of the hull opposite the support roller. The track rollers on the left side are shifted forward relative to the track rollers on the right side. Early type drive wheel, road wheels with rubber tires. Trucks - Kgs-63/725/130. The Tiger tank uses two types of tracks. Transport tracks are made from K.gs-63/520/l30 tracks, 520 is the width of the track in mm, 130 is the distance between the fingers of adjacent tracks. Combat tracks - from tracks Kgs-63/725/130, 725 - track width in mm. The caterpillar is made up of 96 tracks. The tracks are connected to each other by pins 716 mm long and 28 mm in diameter. On later modifications, rollers with internal shock absorption were installed, in smaller quantities.

Surveillance equipment

A stationary optical sight was installed to the left of the gun. Initially, the Tigers were equipped with TZF-9b binocular sights from Zeiss, and from April 1944 - with TZF-9c monocular sights. The TZF-9b sight had a constant 2.5x magnification and a field of view of 23 degrees. The magnification of the TZF-9c sight varied in the range from 2.5x to 5x. The sight scale was graduated in the range from 100 m to 4000 m in hectometers (from 0 to 40) for a cannon and from zero to 1200 m for a machine gun. The aiming mark was moved by rotating a small steering wheel.

Communications

FuG-5 radio units are equipped next to the radio operator's seat. The radio equipment includes a S.c. transmitter. 10 with a power of 10 W and a Ukw.E.e. receiver. The operating range of the radio station is from 27.2 to 33.3 MHz. The radio station provides stable two-way communication within a radius of up to 6.4 km in telephone mode and up to 9.4 km in Morse code mode. The radio station is powered by a 12-volt battery, assembled in a box measuring 312 x 197 x 176 mm. The battery box is equipped on the same frame with the receiver and transmitter. The radio station is equipped with a standard 2-meter whip antenna StbAt 2m. The antenna input is located in the right rear corner of the roof of the fighting compartment.

All crew members have laryngophones and headphones connected to a tank intercom (TPU). In battle, the internal communication system turned out to be very vulnerable, so some units experimented with installing a light signaling system on tanks, which allowed the commander to give simple commands to the driver if the intercom failed.

Armament

The main armament of the Tiger is the 8.8 cm KwK 36 cannon, a tank version of the Flak 18/36 anti-aircraft gun. The gun barrel was equipped with a two-chamber muzzle brake, in addition, compared to the anti-aircraft gun, the design of the recuperator has changed. The gun was equipped with a semi-automatic vertical wedge lock. The lock lever was located on the right side of the breech. 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 gun complete with mantlet. To the right and left of the breech there are reel and pump cylinders. Charge ignition is electrical (electric ignition). The electric igniter button is located on the steering wheel of the gun's vertical guidance mechanism. The gun's safety devices are similar to those used on the gun of the T-IV tank (Pz.Kpfw. IV). The ballistic characteristics are identical to the Flak 18/36/37 anti-aircraft guns, which have the same L/56 barrel length.

For firing, unitary cartridges with a 88x570R sleeve from 8.8 cm Flak anti-aircraft guns were used (case index 6347St.), in which the impact primer sleeve was replaced with an electric ignition one. In this regard, ammunition from anti-aircraft guns could not be directly used in a tank gun, and vice versa.

The length of the gun from the muzzle brake to the breech is 5316 mm. The gun barrel protruded beyond the dimensions of the hull if the turret was installed at 12 o'clock at 2128 mm. The barrel length is 4930 mm (56 calibers), the length of the rifled part of the barrel is 4093 mm. The twist of the rifling is right. There are a total of 32 grooves in the barrel, 3.6 mm wide and 5.04 mm deep. A brass trench covered with a tarpaulin was mounted to the breech; A spent cartridge case fell into the chute after opening the lock. From the chute the sleeve slid into a box, also made of brass. The box could simultaneously accommodate no more than six spent cartridges, so in combat the loader often had to be distracted by clearing the box of cartridges. At first, the loader simply threw the cartridges out through a hatch in the turret wall, but starting from the 46th turret, the right hatch was replaced with an emergency hatch. The cartridges had to be thrown out through the upper rectangular hatch. An indicator of barrel travel during normal recoil was attached to the gutter; the normal recoil length of the barrel after a shot was 580 mm. Initially, the gun was balanced using a compression spring mounted on the gun and on the right side of the inner wall of the front of the turret (below the loader's viewing hole). On tanks of later production, the balancer was moved to the left side of the turret behind the commander's seat. Now the balancer connected the gun breech and the turret floor. The knurling and recoil mechanism were attached to the trunnions of the gun. On the Flak-18/36 anti-aircraft gun, the recoil and retractor were placed in a vertical plane, on the tank version of the anti-aircraft gun - in a horizontal plane, the recoil on the left, the recoil on the right.

A coaxial MG-34 machine gun was mounted to the right of the gun. The machine gun, as the name “coaxial” implies, was aimed along with the cannon, and the gunner fired from it by pressing the pedal with his right foot. Until 1943, standard KwMG-34 machine guns were mounted, later - KwMG-34/40, KwMG-34/S and KwMG-34/41. The KwMG-34 machine gun enjoyed deserved popularity for its simplicity, but at the same time, for a tank machine gun, it had an insufficient rate of fire, and there were often delays when firing. Tankers constantly complained about these “improved” tank machine guns. The return to the infantry MG-34 and MG-42, however, gave zero results in terms of increasing efficiency.

Modifications

-Pz.VI Ausf E(F) (tropical version).

Additionally, it was equipped with larger-volume “Feifel” air filters.

-Pz.VI Ausf E (with MG 42 anti-aircraft machine gun).

Used on the Western Front.

-Panzerbefehlswagen Tiger (Sd.Kfz. 267/268).

In 1942, a command version of the Tiger heavy tank was created. 48 battle tanks built in early 1943 were converted at the Henschel plant into command tanks Panzerbefehlswagen Tiger Ausf. H1 (Sd.Kfz. 267/268). Machine Sd.Kfz. 267 was intended for operation at the regimental headquarters level; it was equipped with a FuG-8 radio station. Tank Sd.Kfz. 268 was intended for the battalion commander; the FuG-7 radio station was mounted on it.

Vehicles based on the Tiger I

-38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmorser Tiger, Sturmpanzer VI, “Sturmtiger”

A heavy self-propelled gun equipped with a converted 380-mm rocket-propelled anti-submarine bomb launcher, not adopted by the Kriegsmarine, located in a fixed armored wheelhouse. “Sturmtigers” were converted from linear “Tigers” damaged in battles; a total of 18 vehicles were converted.

An armored repair and recovery vehicle, unarmed, but equipped with a recovery crane.

One Tiger tank built in 1943, after heavy damage received in the battles near Anzio in Italy, was converted into a heavy engineer vehicle by technicians from the 508th Heavy Tank Battalion. The turret was rotated 180 degrees, secured with bolts, and the gun was removed. The opening in the frontal part of the tower was sealed with a steel sheet, which was attached to the tower with six large bolts. An embrasure for an MG-34 machine gun was cut in the center of the sheet. A winch and a crane with a lifting capacity of 10 tons were installed on the roof of the tower. The vehicle was used to make passages in minefields. She received the name Ladungsliger Tiger. At the end of April or beginning of May 1944, the Ladungsliger Tiger was lost. The British at one time mistakenly called this unique specimen “Bergetiger with crane”, and then this mistake spread across numerous publications dedicated to the Tiger tank. Bergepanzer Tiger Three Tiger tanks from the 509th Heavy Tank Battalion were converted into recovery vehicles in the field in 1944. In November 1944 they were transferred to the 501st Tank Battalion. These three tanks became the only Bergepanzers on the Tiger chassis. A number of publications give the name Sd.Kfz. 185, which actually has nothing to do with field modification. Designation Sd.Kfz. 185 was assigned to the heavy tank destroyer Jagdtiger, armed with the 88 mm KwK-43 L/71 cannon, which was never built. Another heavy tank destroyer based on the Tiger, the Sd.Kfz, was also created. 186. This project also did not find completion in the form of serial production.

TTX

Classification: heavy tank
-Combat weight, t: 56
-Layout diagram: Control and transmission compartments in front, engine compartment in rear
-Crew, people: 5

Dimensions

Case length, mm: 6316
-Length with gun forward, mm: 8450
-Case width, mm: 3705
-Height, mm: 2930
-Clearance, mm: 470

Booking

Armor type: chrome-molybdenum rolled surface hardened - Hull forehead (top), mm/deg.: 100 / 8 deg.
-Hull forehead (middle), mm/deg.: 63 / 10 deg.
-Body forehead (bottom), mm/deg.: 100 / 21 degrees - 80 / 65 degrees
- Hull side (top), mm/deg.: 80 / 0 deg.
-Hull side (bottom), mm/deg.: 63 / 0 deg.
-Hull stern (top), mm/deg.: 80 / 8 deg.
-Hull stern (bottom), mm/deg.: 80 / 48 deg.
-Bottom, mm: 28
-Hull roof, mm: 26 (40 mm from February 1944)
-Tower forehead, mm/deg.: 100 / 0 deg.
-Gun mantlet, mm/deg.: Varies from 90 mm to 200 mm in the gun area.
-Tower side, mm/deg.: 80 / 0 deg.
- Tower feed, mm/deg.: 80 / 0 deg.
-Tower roof, mm: 28 (40mm from February 1944)

Armament

Gun caliber and brand: 88 mm KwK 36 L/56
-Gun type: rifled
-Barrel length, calibers: 56
-Cannon ammunition: 92-94 (approximately 120 since 1945)
-VN angles, degrees: ?8…+15 degrees
-GN angles, degrees: 360 (hydraulic drive)
-Sights: telescopic TZF 9a
-Machine guns: 2-3 x 7.92 mm MG-34
-Other weapons: anti-personnel mortar type “S” (principle of operation - the mine was fired to a height of 5-7 meters and exploded, hitting enemy infantry with shrapnel trying to destroy the tank in close combat)

Mobility

Engine type: first 250 Maybach HL210P30; on the remaining Maybachs HL230P45 V-shaped 12-cylinder carburetor liquid cooling
-Highway speed, km/h: 44 (38 with a rev limiter of 2500)
-Speed ​​over rough terrain, km/h: 20-25
- Cruising range on the highway, km: 195 (Depending on the conditions of use. On average, when moving the tank, both on the highway and off the road, fuel consumption was 8-10 liters per 1 km of run.)
- Cruising range over rough terrain, km: 110
-Specific power, l. hp/t: 12.9 (for the first 250 - 11.9 hp/t)
-Suspension type: individual torsion bar
-Specific pressure on the ground, kg/cm2: 1.03
- Climbability, degrees: 35 degrees
-Overcome wall, m: 0.8
-Ditch to be overcome, m: 2.3
-Fordability, m: 1.2

The history of the conquests of the Third Reich began not with loud victories over France or the Benelux countries, but in a much more peaceful time and without the use of active hostilities.

German tank "Tiger"

We are talking about the “Munich Agreement,” when Czechoslovakia was divided into several parts, each of which went to certain European countries. Including Germany. Along with the territory, the German government also took possession of the technically advanced factories located on it. In particular, tank production with an established conveyor for the production of light t38.

After this operation, in September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The battles for it lasted less than a month and ended with the flight of the leadership to England. Thus the Second officially began World War, which will last for another 6 long years.

In 1940, German troops bypassed the Maginot Line through the Belgian Ardennes and subjugated France. The main striking force during this campaign were tanks, mainly T-2 and T-3.

Fast, light armored vehicles rushed into the operational space, almost unprotected by the armed forces of the Third Republic, disrupting supply lines and denying French troops the opportunity to fight back.

After several months of resistance and the ignominious escape of the British Expeditionary Force through the port of Dunkirk, France capitulated. Part of its territory became part of the Reich, the second half began to be led by a puppet government.

The trophies were tanks Samua S35, AMX-30, B1, etc.

The main distinguishing feature of the requisitioned tanks was their thick shell-proof armor, frontal and side. It was these vehicles that became the most armored and protected in the Panzerwaffe troops before the appearance of the Tiger in 1942.

Photo of what the Tiger Tank looks like

In 1941, on June 22 at 4 am, without warning or declaration of war, the forces of the German army began to invade the territory of the USSR. As in the case of France, the same tactical and strategic techniques were used. Breakthrough of tank armadas deep into the country, complete suppression of enemy aviation and cutting off enemy units from supplies. Hitler's tank forces were modified T-2, T-3 and T-4.

Fast but lightly armored combat vehicles with 37, 50 and 75 mm cannons. They had high maneuverability; for communication, each was equipped with a powerful walkie-talkie. In principle, the weapons were enough to fight the Soviet BT-7 and T-26 tanks.

The real threat was posed by the KV and T-34, whose armor easily withstood 37-mm and 50-mm shells from both tanks and anti-tank guns. They even began to call such guns “beater guns.” Only an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun was guaranteed to penetrate the armor of Soviet medium and heavy tanks.

Tank T-34, the strongest opponent of the German Tiger

Despite the heroism of Soviet soldiers and the strong armor of tanks, the German army was actively breaking through in the direction of Moscow. But in the fall of 1941, after titanic efforts, numerous losses and the use of new types of weapons by the Red Army, the terrible enemy was driven back from the capital and a long positional war began.

Hills and cities turned into fortified centers, networks of trenches stretched like a web for tens of kilometers.

To break through the defense, vehicles heavier than Pz.4 and Pz.3 were required.

Work in the design bureaus on the heavy tank was carried out long before the start of World War II, starting in 1937. After the invasion of the Soviet Union, it became clear that the army needed a heavy breakthrough tank. The task was entrusted to the design bureaus of Henschel and Porsche.

Heavy tank Pz VI Ausf.H "Tiger"

Based on the results of field tests and modifications, the command’s choice settled on the option proposed by the Henschel plant.

The vehicle was named Panzerkapfvagen VI “Tiger” and was sent to the eastern front and as a reinforcement for Rommel, in Africa. Despite a number of shortcomings and problems with the engine and suspension, the new tank turned out to be a formidable weapon and remained in service until the fall of Berlin.

History of creation

It is worth noting that the Henschel company was actively developing a heavy vehicle and the design bureau already had serious developments and experience in creation. Erwin Aders, head of the first design bureau, was involved in similar projects. He is the man who created the Tiger tank. The first versions of the combat vehicle were designated by the abbreviations DW1 and DW2. Therefore, when the Fuhrer entrusted them with the creation of a German analogue of the KV, work began using old developments.

Henschel vs Porsche

The second design bureau tasked with creating a breakthrough tank was Dr. Porsche's design bureau. Unlike their competitors, they had to start from scratch. Before this, the bureau was not involved in tank building and one of the main directions was the creation of racing cars. For this reason, Porsche introduced technological solutions into the design of the tank, previously used only in civilian areas.

Both design bureaus presented their vehicles on April 20, 1942. The date was not chosen by chance. It was on this day that Hitler was born and the display of these cars became a kind of gift. However, a lot of German weapons were adopted precisely after demonstrations to the Fuhrer on his holiday.

German heavy tank "Tiger" from Porsche

The heavy tank prepared by the Henschel Design Bureau was called VK 4501 (H) and was developed according to classic scheme. The designers did not experiment, and took as a basis the location of the nodes, as on the Pz. 4. Transmission in front, engine compartment behind, fighting compartment in the center.

The pendant created by Kniepkamp deserved special attention.

Made according to a “chessboard” pattern, it made it possible to achieve a smooth ride and, accordingly, high precision on the move.

Porsche presented the VK 4501 (P) tank, equipped with an advanced electromechanical transmission and a specially designed torsion bar suspension. In the frontal projection, the vehicle had an armor plate 200 mm thick, and an 8.8 cm gun was installed in the turret.

Ferdinant Porsche, a close friend of the German Fuhrer, was confident that Hitler would choose his tank and ordered the production of hulls to begin even before the end of the competition.

However, the German command chose the VK 4501 (H). This was facilitated by a number of reasons:

• the classic layout ensured a quick start to full-scale production;
• The “checkerboard” suspension provided stabilization of the gun while moving;
• the future Tiger had less weight than the analogue from the Porsche design bureau, which ensured higher maneuverability and suitability for transportation;
• the VK 4501 (P) featured an electric transmission that required a large amount of scarce copper for its elements;

True, the adopted “Tiger”, created under the leadership of Aders, had a significant drawback - there was no turret for it. Initially, it was planned to install a 7.5 cm gun with a length of 70 calibers on the tank. Later it became clear that something more powerful was required and the turret began to be redesigned for an 8.8 mm gun, 56 caliber long. By the time of field testing, the towers had been completed.

The Tiger is equipped with an 8.8 mm gun, 56 caliber long.

Therefore, a turret from a Porsche combat vehicle was installed on Henschel’s tank, and such a hybrid was put into production in 1942 under the army name Pz. VI “Tiger”.

What happened to VK 4501 (P)?

At the time the tank described above was adopted by the Wehrmacht, Porsche's production lines produced 98 finished chassis. 7 of them were retrofitted with turrets and sent for field testing, and then some of them, according to various sources, arrived on the eastern front.

On the basis of unfinished tanks, an anti-tank assault self-propelled gun, the Ferdinant, was developed and put into small production. The caliber of the gun installed in the wheelhouse was 128 mm, and the armor created problems for Soviet guns not only in the frontal projection, but also along the sides and stern.

Self-propelled gun "Ferdinand" of the 5th company of the 654th tank destroyer division

This self-propelled gun was actively used by the Panzerwaffe during Operation Citadel, known to us as the Battle of Kursk Bulge. Often, to destroy one vehicle, several medium tanks were sacrificed or bombs were dropped. After the failure of the operation, the surviving Ferdinants were sent by the German command for revision.

The modernization affected only the installation of an MG-42 machine gun, for firing at infantry, in the frontal part. The new version is called “Elephant”. It was put into service with German units in Italy, where they were successfully destroyed by Allied troops.

Work on improving the Tiger

Immediately after the launch of the series, shortcomings were revealed that had not been discovered by anyone before. They mainly concerned the chassis and power plant of the tank. Through a series of modifications, problems with shock absorbers and the fuel system were resolved. They also decided to install a more powerful HL230 engine instead of the HL210. The modification received the designation “H”. Over the entire period of its existence, 1354 cars were produced.

By this year, the USSR and the Allies had guns capable of hitting the T-6 not only on the sides, but also on the front armor plates

Therefore, in 1943, work began at the Henschel Design Bureau to create a more armored tank, with better weapons and armor. The new model was given the name Pz. VI Ausf. B "Tiger 2". The gun retained the caliber, but the length changed to 71 caliber. The front armored part began to have a slope of 50 degrees and a thickness of 120 mm.

The history of the creation of the heavy tank "Royal Tiger"

The first 100 cars were equipped with turrets designed by the Porsche Design Bureau, the rest by Henschel. The tank turned out to be heavy and clumsy and rarely could anyone penetrate its armor. At least it was on paper. But the quality of armor steel in the Reich of those years left much to be desired. There was a shortage of nickel, manganese and molybdenum - important components that prevent the metal from crumbling under the impact of shells.

This vehicle primarily served on the Western Front, where such armor was not required. While simple Tigers continued to be deployed against Soviet tanks. A lighter modification of the second Tiger was also being developed - the semi-mythical Panther 2.

Panther 2

Design

The tank was made according to the classical design, had a crew of 5 people and weighed 57 tons. The layout of the nodes was distributed as follows:

• in the front part there are places for the driver and gunner, shifted to the left and right, respectively, as well as transmission elements, a machine gun and tank controls;
• in the central part there were racks for ammunition and a radio station. A turret was mounted on top of the hull, which housed the tank commander, gunner and loader, as well as means for monitoring the terrain and the breech of the gun. Each tank was required to have a FuG-5 radio installed;
• the engine, fuel tank, exhaust elements and radiators for cooling were installed in the stern.

Design of the Tiger tank

Tank turret

The tank's turret was located in the center of the hull on the shoulder strap. It was welded. The front armor plate was welded to the part that formed the sides and stern. The roof was also secured by welding. For the needs of the crew, hatches were provided for loading into the vehicle.

It was planned to install a fan that would blow out powder gases from the fighting compartment. Slots were installed along the sides for observation. In later modifications, an installation for shooting smoke or fragmentation grenades appeared.

Design of the Tiger tank

A KwK 36 rifled gun with an 88-mm caliber was installed in front of the turret. It was served by a gunner and loader. Aiming was carried out through a binocular, and in 1944 - a monocular sight, with optics from Zeiss. It was located to the left of the gun and had a constant magnification of 2.5. The gun could penetrate the armor of Soviet T-34s at a distance of 2 km.

The shells are unitary. There were caliber, high-explosive fragmentation and sub-caliber options. For the latter, the penetration rate was close to 150 - 160 mm. 7.92 mm MG-34 machine guns were intended as weapons to suppress enemy personnel.

Powerplant and transmission

The engine is a petrol carburetor with 12 cylinders. Manufacturer: Maybach. Most of the tanks were equipped with the HL230 version, with a power of 700 l/s. The full fuel load was 530 liters. Power was supplied separately from the engine to the turret drives.

In the event of a fire, the automatic fire extinguishing system was activated. In case of emergency there was a manual fire extinguisher. In general, in the event of a fire, the crew often left the combat vehicle.

12-cylinder V-shaped engine Maybach HL-210 P-30.

To prevent engine overheating, a water-cooled radiator with 4 fans was provided. The gearbox is semi-automatic, with 12 gears. Through it, power was supplied to the transmission located in the front of the tank.

Chassis

The suspension consisted of rollers arranged in a “checkerboard” pattern. 8 rollers on each side, arranged in 4 rows. To soften the ride, individual torsion bars were used. Such a system increased the smoothness of the ride, but had a number of disadvantages.

If the roller located in the center broke, it took a long time to disassemble half of the chassis to replace it.

High sensitivity to icing did not add to reliability.

Partisans, and often just children, poured water on the Tigers’ skating rinks at night. After such a procedure, the Germans had to defrost them for a long time and persistently, otherwise the combat vehicle simply could not budge.

Torsion bar suspension

The tracks are wide, metal, with large clearances. The tank's maneuverability was good. There were two types of tracks: combat and transport. Transport ones were used when loading the T-6 onto a railway platform for transportation.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the Tiger tank (TTX)

• the mass of the tank was 57 tons;
• crew consisted of 5 people;
• length, height, width of the body, cm – 631, 293, 370;
• type of armor steel – chrome-molybdenum, rolled;
• hull armor thickness, mm – front 100, rear and side – 80;
• turret armor thickness, mm – forehead 100, mantlet up to 200, side and rear – 80;
• armor of the turret roof, hull, and bottom is 28 mm. Since 1944, the roof of the tower is 40 mm;
• the rifled 88-mm gun had a length of 56 calibers and was aimed vertically: down - 8, up - 15 degrees;
• the full ammunition load since 1945 has been up to 120 unitary shells;
• maximum firing range: 4 km from a cannon, 1.2 km from a coaxial machine gun;
• the number of machine guns varied and depended on the tank model. 2 – 3 MG-34 with 7.92 mm caliber;
• a mortar firing fragmentation or smoke grenades was used as an additional weapon;
• The gun's combat rate of fire is 5 – 6 rounds per minute;
• a v-shaped twelve-cylinder carburetor gasoline engine made it possible to accelerate the tank along the highway to 44 km/h;
• off-road speed was limited to 20 – 25 km/h;
• Cruising range on highways and rough terrain – 195 and 110 km;
• fuel consumption was 10 liters per 1 km;
• engine power – 700 l/s.

Modifications and vehicles based on “Tiger”

	Pz. 6 “Tiger” Ausf. H	Improved version of the production model. We installed a more powerful engine and made a number of minor fixes
	Pz.VI Ausf E(F)	Intended for war in the tropics. Featured “tiger” camouflage and improved filters
	Sd.Kfz. 267/268	Commander options. Equipped with improved FuG-7/8 radios
	Sturmpanzer VI	“Sturmtiger” - conversion of a linear vehicle into a siege weapon. It was equipped with a fixed wheelhouse in which a 380 mm gun (Rocket Bomb Launcher) was installed. “Tigers” damaged in battles were subjected to alteration
	Bergetiger	Repair and recovery vehicle based on the linear Tiger. Created in the field

Advantages and disadvantages of the Tiger tank

Positive qualities

• reservations did not lose relevance even in the later stages of the war. The Tiger is considered to be one of the safest tanks for tank crews;
• Due to its size, the fighting compartment of the vehicle was spacious. It comfortably accommodated all crew members;
• The 8.8 cm gun rarely failed to penetrate enemy tanks. Perhaps only the frontal part of the IS-2 hull could withstand a caliber projectile from the T-6 cannon at close range;
• excellent means of visual observation. Zeiss optics had high quality, and the company itself still exists.

Disadvantages of the Tiger tank

• Despite the technical characteristics of the Tiger tank and the installation of a 700-horsepower engine, the mobility of the vehicle remained at a low level. However, this did not prevent the rapid transfer of armored vehicles along the entire front line;
• most main drawback Pz. 6 – high cost and complexity of production. A number of historians believe that the mass production of this tank was a mistake;
• The complexity of the design and the heavy weight of the Tiger-1 tank often forced the damaged vehicles to be left on the battlefield. However, the Germans sometimes managed to drag them away with the help of evacuation vehicles.

Application

The first use of the Tiger took place at the end of the summer of 1942 near Leningrad, near the Mga station. The experiment was unsuccessful - the cars got stuck in swamps and often broke down. One of the Tigers was captured by Soviet soldiers.

On the other hand, new armor for heavy vehicles was tested in practice. The result was impressive. Soviet anti-tank artillery could not penetrate the armor, even at close range. Tank guns of 76 mm caliber also “did not take” the new German tank.

Tiger tank in the "Battle of Kursk"

One of the most widespread use of “Tigers” PZ-6 (T-6) was recorded on the Kursk Bulge - 188 vehicles . Which amounted to 7% of the total number of the Wehrmacht tank group that took part in Operation Citadel.

After the defeat of the tanks in 1943, the German command began to use Pz. 6, as a qualitative reinforcement on individual sections of the fronts.

In addition to the eastern front, the Tiger T-6 tank participated in operations on the African continent and on the western front, after the Allied landing in Normandy.

Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger" is a heavy German tank from World War II. Development by Henschel engineers under the supervision of Erwin Anders. One of the most famous tanks World War II. It was used from the spring of 1942 until the surrender of Germany. A total of 1,354 vehicles were produced. Officially it was in service in Germany, and also in a few units in Hungary.

On the way to the Tiger tank.

The development of anti-tank weapons, the construction of heavily armored tanks and the saturation of potential enemy troops with them pushed German designers to continue design work towards the creation of 30-ton and heavier combat vehicles. In 1937, the Henschel company received a contract for the construction of a prototype. As soon as the company began testing the hull and chassis of the first Henschel DW1 the following year, work had to be stopped.

Henschel was told to begin designing a much larger tank: the 65-ton WK 6501, which in many respects was an evolution of the VK 6501 with its additional machine-gun turrets that did not stand the test of reality. The Henschel company completed two prototypes, but then, on the threshold of 1940, customers abandoned the WK 6501, and the company was ordered to return to a 30-ton class vehicle, which was to receive the designation DW2.

However, this program was also canceled in 1941 in order to turn to a new version of the machine of the same concept. The companies Daimler-Benz, MAN and Porsche, Henschel presented their projects, and the latter two received an order for the construction of four prototypes each, which were to be called WK 3001 (P) and WK 3001 (H) respectively.

In 1941, Henschel completed the design of the VK 3001(H), weighing thirty tons. At the design stage, the experience of creating DW1-2 tanks, the previous generation of experimental heavy tanks, was taken into account. The project provided for 35-50 mm armor protection, a 265 hp gasoline engine, as well as a maximum speed of 35 km/h, and a “checkerboard” type suspension.

As is clear from the name of the suspension, the rollers of the latter are arranged in a “checkerboard” order, for which they were mounted on axles of different lengths. A special feature of the suspension was that it absorbed shocks and shocks well and contributed to the smooth running of the tank. VK 3001(H) did not go into production, but prototypes used to test a new type of caterpillar and gearbox.

Simultaneously with the Henschel, F. Porsche, a talented Austrian designer and inventor, was designing a heavy tank. The Porsche tank received the VK 3001(P) index. A distinctive feature of his car was its electric transmission.
A pair of gasoline engines rotated electric generators, the electricity they generated rotated electric motors. The chassis consists of six rollers, a pair in each of those bogies, plus two support rollers.

Like all prototypes of German heavy tanks before it, they were armed with the KwK 40 L/43 - a lengthened version of the short 75 mm gun that was previously installed on the first Pz.Kpfw IV and was distinguished by a lower projectile velocity. Later, they planned to equip the tank with a 105-mm cannon, 28 calibers long. Reservation 35-50 cm. During the winter of forty-first - forty-second years, VK 3001 was tested.

Mechanically, the vehicle turned out to be quite successful, but while the tests were underway, information began to arrive from the battlefields in the Soviet Union about the use of essentially the same Pz.Kpfw IV. Protected by 30 mm thick frontal armor, the Pz.Kpfw IV proved extremely vulnerable to fire from the latest Soviet tanks encountered in Operation Barbarossa.

While their 75-mm KwK 37 cannons, firing a 6.75-kg armor-piercing projectile at a muzzle speed of 385 m/s, turned out to be unable to hit the 45-mm sloping frontal armor of enemy tanks except from a suicidal close range. On November 20, 1941, fears were confirmed - the Germans had the opportunity to test the new Soviet T-34s, which were received by the troops in a more or less usable condition.

After just a few days, they decided to abandon the projects to create WK3001/WK 3601. Instead, the military demanded that all possible means be tried to build a heavier tank, which had much more powerful armor protection and a gun capable of penetrating 100 mm armor from a distance of one and a half kilometers. This would make it possible to destroy enemy equipment at long distances, when its weapons would remain ineffective against the tank.

At present, it is difficult to say whether the Germans did the right thing by curtailing the 30-ton tank construction program, which was eventually implemented by MAN, creating the Pz.Kpfw V “Panther”. And shouldn’t it have been continued then, instead of the program for the construction of the Tiger tank.

At the same time, it was decided to use an 88-mm long-barreled gun instead of the 75 mm. It was the impossibility of installing a Krupp-made turret armed with the 8.8 cm KwK 36 on the Henschel hull that put an end to the VK 3001(H) project.

In May of '41, Hitler supported the concept of a heavy tank, which later became known as the Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger". The main purpose of the tank of the future tank was considered to be to break through the enemy’s long-term defense. It was assumed that the infantry divisions would have about 20 such tanks. These vehicles were needed as an armored ram, which would ensure the use of more lightly armored tanks. Based on this concept, it was designed and built experienced tank VK 3601(H), the design of which was a development of the VK 3001(H). The most significant changes affected the chassis, which lost its support rollers. The tank's turret was made by the Krupp concern, while the hull was made by Henschel. The armor protection was increased to one hundred millimeters, and the speed was forty kilometers per hour.

The order included the production of a prototype, as well as six pre-production vehicles. During the current year, the army was supposed to receive 116 vehicles and subsequently another 172.

During the design process, the requirements for a tank gun changed. Initial plans to arm the tank with a 75 mm gun with a conical table channel went awry. There is a shortage of tungsten, necessary for the production of armor-piercing projectile cores. The first prototype of the tank was used for various types of tests, while the remaining four were converted into ARVs.

The first Pz.Kpfw tanks. VI "Tiger".

Hitler's desire to get an invulnerable and all-destructive tank led to a further increase in the weight of the vehicle and the VK 3601(H) was replaced by its even heavier modification VK 4501(H).

Along with Henschel and Krupp, F. Porsche also received an order to design a tank of his own design VK 4501 (P), the unofficial name of the tank was the name “Tiger I”. The vehicle was supposed to be equipped with a Krupp turret and a 400 hp engine. The transmission design did not differ significantly from that in the VK 3001(P) and used electric motors and generators. The decision was controversial for wartime Germany due to copper shortages. Largely because of the electric transmission, preference was given to the Henschel car.

The Henschel prototype was ready on April 17, 1942; two days later, both Henschel and Porsche cars arrived for testing at the railway station near the Wolf's Lair headquarters. During tests, the car from Henschel proved to be slightly less fast, but more maneuverable, although the engine constantly overheated.

The tests failed to reveal a clear favorite. Hitler, after consultations with Speer and the Secretary of the Ministry of Armaments, ordered additional tests, which were completed in May of '42. Based on the test results, the commission chose a tank from Heschel.

Porsche's order - for a total of 90 Tiger tanks - served as a kind of safety net if Henschel was unable to produce a more successful vehicle within the allotted time. It soon turned out that at the Henschel company plant in Kassel everything was going smoothly without unnecessary complications and Porsche began converting the unfinished Tiger tanks into the Elefant self-propelled guns, aimed at fighting tanks.

The Tiger tank from Henschel received the standard Wehrmacht index - Pz.Kpfw VI "Tiger" and production began in July of the forty-second year. From August 1942 to May 1943, the first 258 Tiger tanks left the Henschel factory floors. Before production ended in 1944, 1,355 tanks were produced, with 1,376 ordered.

Brief description of the Pz.Kpfw VI design.

Created in just twelve months, the Pz.Kpfw VI was a rather bulky and heavy vehicle. Classic layout:

• power plant in the stern;
• in the front part are the drive wheels and transmission.

Workstations for the commander and loader are located in the tank's turret, and the driver and gunner-radio operator are located in the front part of the hull. The hull of the Pz.Kpfw VI "Tiger" tank is box-shaped. All armor plates are installed vertically. German designers completely ignored all the benefits provided by the inclined arrangement of armor plates. Although frontal armor of one hundred millimeters and side armor of eighty-two provided good protection against the most common anti-tank weapons.

The first 250 Tiger tanks were equipped with a Maybach HL 210 P45 engine (650 hp), later vehicles were equipped with a 750-horsepower HL 210 P45 engine. The tank's transmission consisted of:

• semi-automatic transmission (8 speeds forward and 4 reverse);
• planetary rotation mechanism;
• multi-disc main clutch;
• final drives

Controlling the tank was quite easy, thanks to a hydraulically driven steering wheel.

The road wheels of the Pz.Kpfw VI "Tiger" tank were arranged in a checkerboard pattern, the rollers of the first series of vehicles had rubber, the latter were non-rubberized with internal shock absorption to save rubber. The undoubted disadvantage of this solution was the increased noise level. Therefore, it was quite difficult to secretly concentrate the Pz.Kpfw VI battalion.

The Tiger's chassis used two types of tracks. The so-called “wide” tracks were used to move the tank under its own power. When transported by rail, the tank on such tracks did not fit into the rail gauge.

The significant mass of the Tiger tank gave rise to another problem. Most bridges on the Eastern Front could not support their weight without additional reinforcement. In theory, this problem should have been solved by underwater equipment, but there is no evidence of its combat use, and subsequently it was decided to abandon it.

On the highway, the Tiger tank could move at a quite decent speed of 45 km/h. When traveling off-road, the heavy tank was capable of overcoming walls 1.2 meters high and ditches about 2.6 meters wide.

The most structurally advanced armament in the tank was undoubtedly the armament of the Tiger tank. An 8.8 cm KwK 36 cannon, created on the basis of the famous 8.8 cm Flack 36 anti-aircraft gun, was installed in the tank turret. The tank gun differed from its prototype primarily in its muzzle brake and electric trigger. To reduce gas contamination inside the fighting compartment, the gun is equipped with a barrel purging system.

For aiming, a binocular telescopic sight was initially used, which later replaced the monocular one. The high efficiency of the tank armament of the Tiger tank was brilliantly confirmed by the famous SS tank ace Wittmann, who knocked out 198 enemy tanks.

The auxiliary weapons were two MG machine guns, one coaxial with the cannon, and the other in the front hull plate, in a ball mount. Three smoke mortars were mounted on the sides of the tower. Tiger tanks, which were used on the Eastern Front, were initially equipped with five mortars for shooting anti-personnel fragmentation mines.

Production of Tiger I tanks.

Month	year
	1942	1943	1944
January		35	93
February		32	95
March		41	86
April	1	46	104
May		50	100
June		60	75
July		65	64
August	8	60	6
September	3	85
October	11	50
November	25	60
December	3	65
Total	78	649	623

Tactical and technical characteristics of the Tiger tank

Combat weight, i.e.	56,9
Crew, people	5
Overall dimensions, mm:
length with gun forward	8450
body length	6316
width	3705
height	3000
clearance	470
Height of the firing line, mm.	2195
Max. speed, km/h.
along the highway	40
over rough terrain	20-25
Power reserve, km.
along the highway, km.	100
over rough terrain	60
Obstacles to be overcome:
elevation angle, degrees	35
wall height, m.	0,79
ford depth, m.	1,2
ditch width, m.	2,3
Length of the supporting surface, mm.	3606
Specific pressure, kg/cm 2	1,05
Specific power, hp/t.	11,4

There was also a command modification of the Tiger tank. It differed from the linear one by more powerful means of radio communication. Why did we have to abandon the coaxial machine gun and reduce the ammunition load. In appearance, the command tanks were distinguished by the presence of a second antenna. In total, eighty-four Tiger command tanks were produced.

Design evaluation.

The Tiger heavy tank was one of the most successful German tanks produced during the war. In terms of its combat qualities, it remained the strongest tank in its class until 1944. The appearance of the Tiger tank had a powerful influence on the development of both anti-tank weapons and tanks. Both German and countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Among the undoubted advantages of this tank are powerful armor and armament, high-quality optics, communication devices and very satisfactory ergonomics. The tank enjoyed a good reputation among its crews, but was demanding in terms of their level of training.

The disadvantages include, first of all, high design complexity and, as a consequence, high price.

• Tank Pz VI "Tiger" video
• Video of the Pz VI tank "Tiger Day 2014"
• Tiger Tank 131 At Bovington

Original taken from egor_23 in "Tiger" against IS-2

Years pass and new myths are born. Especially often in lately These myths are self-derogatory. For example, in one Topic on the Forum Razgovorchik someone Ivan Ermakov solemnly announced that the Tiger was the best tank of the Second World War. And he is met with stormy applause, everyone agrees, everyone is very happy to spit on our history and our outstanding designers. And together with the designers, they should belittle our entire people: they say that the bast workers, fools, only knew how to use numbers... And in unison they throw out a humorous story about how one Tiger burned dozens, even hundreds of Russian tanks at a time during a battle. Everyone believes, everyone is delighted... So it turns out as it was.... Where do such tales come from? Who needs them? It is simply no longer possible to tolerate such insanity. You definitely have to fight him! So let's look at the famous tank" Tiger" and reveal its deadly shortcomings in comparison with any Soviet tank, including the heavy Soviet tank IS-2.


The mass of the "Tiger" is 57 tons, the mass of the "Royal Tiger" is 70 tons.

Weight of Soviet heavy tank IS-2 46 tons . This is a death sentence for the Tiger! Actually German" masterpiece“I had to carry an additional 11 tons on my transmission (we won’t even consider the Royal Tiger). We’ll talk further about the monstrous consequences and reasons for this factor, which is insurmountable for German designers... But maybe with such super-heavy performance the tank" Tiger"had better weapons? After all, what is most important for a heavy tank: firepower and armor. Let's compare: On the Tiger company " Henschel“We installed a turret from a Porsche tank with an 88 mm cannon (8.8 cm KwK 36) (before that there was a 75 mm cannon). The IS-2 was initially equipped with a 122-mm D-25 gun . These are killer indicators for the Tiger. Weighing 11 tons more, the tank had a gun one and a half times smaller in diameter and penetrating power. I would like to note that IS-2 tanks successfully penetrated the vaunted armor of the Tigers from a distance of more than 1 km! The German cannon could not penetrate the armor of the IS-2 from such a distance. Why were Tiger tanks so heavy? Does anyone know the answer? For some reason this aspect " advancement"German designers Ivan Ermakov didn't illuminate. How good it is to casually glorify everything foreign and denigrate everything domestic... It’s so fashionable in recent years. IS-2 frontal armor - 122 mm, side 95 mm, rear 90 mm, having a streamlined turret shape from which shells simply ricocheted, the IS-2 tank was simply invulnerable to the Tiger both in a frontal attack and during maneuvers. Tiger-1 frontal armor - 100 mm, did not have side or rear armor as such and was vulnerable from these attack vectors even to conventional regimental guns. Why is the streamlined tank shape adopted today, the prototype of which was the Soviet T-34 and IS-2 (IS-1) tanks? Why didn't they take a box-shaped form? advanced"German designers?
In summary, we have: Tigers were inferior to the IS-2 both in combat power and in armor protection. So maybe they were faster and had a longer range? Let's check: IS-2 Speed ​​on the road - 37 km/h; off-road - 24 km/h. Cruising range on the road - 250 km; off-road – 210 km Tiger-1 Road speed - 38 km/h; It is almost unsuitable for off-road use due to its gigantic mass and serious errors in the chassis. It simply elms even in an ordinary peat puddle. Cruising range on the road - 140 km Depressing indicators for the Tiger. Having the same speed indicators on the road, the Tigers were significantly inferior to the Russian IS-2 tank in off-road speed and maneuverability. And in terms of power reserve, they generally lost almost twice. The last parameter is extremely important, especially in conditions of total war and major strategic offensive operations. In simple terms, even if German tanks had begun a forced march from near Volokolamsk to Moscow and NOBODY would have held them back, they would have stopped in the Krasnogorsk area, having used up their power reserve and worn out the main technical components. And our soldiers, having cut off communications for the supply of fuel and lubricants and consumable spare parts, would simply shoot standing tanks point-blank into the unprotected sides. But these are all very rosy assumptions for tanks." Tiger". The fact is that they were generally not suitable for winter companies.
Now let's talk about who burned whom in reality, the Tigers, Russian tanks in the hundreds at a time, or our IS-2s. It is worth noting that many unscrupulous " experts"for some reason the most famous German tank is often compared" Tiger-1"with the most famous Soviet tank" T-34"But this is not a correct and amateurish comparison. The fact is that The T-34 was a medium tank, and the Tiger was heavy . You cannot arrange a fight between a middleweight boxer and a heavyweight. These tanks had different tactical goals and objectives. For quick entry into a breakthrough and rapid tank breakthroughs, there were no tanks equal to the T-34.... This unique vehicle has become the pride of our people absolutely deservedly. Heavy tanks are intended specifically for tank battles. So let's see how the fights on the battlefield between the vaunted " Tiger" and IS-2.
Let's start with testing the gun: State tests of the IS-122 tank (object 240) were very quick and successful. After which the tank was transferred to one of the training grounds near Moscow, where a 122-mm cannon was fired from a distance of 1500 meters in the presence of K. E. Voroshilova a shot was fired at an empty captured German tank " Panther" The shell, having pierced the side armor of the turret turned to the right, hit the opposite sheet, tore it off at the weld and threw it several meters away. That is, Heavy Tank " Panther"Easily destroyed by the IS-2 cannon from a distance of 1500 m!!! The shell tore holes right through the German monsters, piercing two walls of armor. It is worth noting that according to numerous memoirs of WWII participants, German heavy tanks had a very weak turret mount (the turret was removable, any engine repair required the mandatory removal of the turret, we'll talk later). The frontal impact of the IS-2 shell simply demolished the Tiger's turret and threw it back. The non-streamlined shape of the Tiger tank led to the fact that the entire power of the 122 mm blank hitting it turned into a powerful force and the tank failed after the first hit. No rate of fire or other conveniences during charging saved the German tanks, because while the German tank was approaching the distance of a conditional opportunity to inflict at least some damage on the IS-2 (about 300 m when hit on the side), the Russian miracle machines calmly shot at the approaching slow-moving Tigers starting from one and a half kilometers.
The IS-2 received its baptism of fire at the final stage of the liberation of right-bank Ukraine . During this period, the regiment of the 1st GvTA led fighting in the area of ​​Obertin (Ivano-Frankivsk region). Over twenty days of continuous fighting, the regiment’s personnel destroyed 41 tanks.” Tiger" and self-propelled guns " Ferdinand" ("Elephant""), 3 armored personnel carriers with ammunition and 10 anti-tank guns, while irretrievably losing 8 IS-122 tanks. (Not from enemy tank fire) In December 1944 The formation of separate Guards heavy tank brigades began. Usually they were created on the basis of brigades with T-34. The appearance of these units was caused by the need to concentrate heavy tanks in the directions of the main attacks of fronts and armies in order to break through heavily fortified defensive lines, as well as to fight enemy tank groups.
The first meeting of the ISs with " Royal Tigers"(Tiger II) was not in favor of the Germans. August 13, 1944 platoon of IS-2 tanks, guard senior lieutenant Klimenkova from the 3rd Tank Battalion of the 71st Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, from previously prepared positions, entered into battle with German tanks, knocked out one Royal Tiger and burned another. Around the same time, a single IS-2 guard senior lieutenant Udalova, acting from an ambush, entered into battle with 7 Royal Tigers, and also burned one and knocked out another. The surviving five vehicles began to retreat. Udalov's tank, having maneuvered towards the enemy, burned another Royal Tiger. So who burned whom, the Russian Tigers, or our German Ivanov ISs?
With the appearance on the battlefield of Soviet IS-2 tanks, which easily dealt with the clumsy Tiger-1, the German command requested the creation of a new tank capable of resisting the Soviet Tiger fighter. So, at the very end of the war, a 68-ton monster appeared, called " Royal Tiger". Considering the gigantic cost of this machine ( 119 tons of steel were spent on the production of one tank ) he was released in small quantities. But the main task - to be invulnerable against the Russian IS-2 - was solved using the ax method: the armor was made even heavier and the barrel of the old 88-mm cannon was lengthened. Having an extremely clumsy and bulky appearance, " Royal Tiger"it was intended to be used only from ambushes and as a mobile command post officers. Let's think about what tank the famous "was based on" Royal Tiger"? No, not at all on the Tiger-1 base." Royal Tiger" called a hybrid between " Elephantome" And " Panther"From the first he received the famous 88-mm cannon, and from the second - the shape of the hull with rational angles of inclination of the armor plates. Why didn’t the designers take the main components for optimization from the Tiger I??? The answer is obvious - since 1944 the Tiger-1 has been irrevocable morally obsolete. The Tiger-1 could not withstand the much more advanced Soviet IS-2 tanks with any additional modifications. Therefore, only an amateur can say that the Tiger-1 was the best tank of the Second World War. Moreover, the formulation itself is not correct. speak " best heavy tank". Why were German tanks so heavy and expensive?? The answer lies in the mistaken decision to make tanks rear-wheel drive. The Germans never managed to make a front-wheel drive tank, while Russian designers made front-wheel drive vehicles. To transmit torque to the front shaft, it was necessary to additionally install a multi-ton and bulky driveshaft, which stretched across the entire hull and made German tanks heavier and larger.. But that's not all. This design miscalculation forced hundreds of German tanks to be written off as non-combat losses. The thing is that the often breaking gimbal could not be repaired and replaced without dismantling the Tiger turret. And to raise such a colossus, special workshops are needed. As you understand, the Germans could not afford such a service in the second half of the Second World War. Soviet tanks did not have a similar problem, because they did not have a driveshaft itself. Moreover, all the main components of Soviet tanks were easily removed through the side technical hatches. The German monsters almost had to remove the tower. But in addition to these problems, the very weight of the tank led to inevitable costs for all components of the chassis. Their wear and tear became significantly higher than that of the much lighter IS-2 tanks.
Total: The Tiger, in addition to having a significantly smaller power reserve and service life, was extremely inconvenient during repair work. And this is a very important component, if not the main one.
I will continue to study the misunderstandings of the Tiger-1 in comparison with the Soviet IS-2 tank.
Power density: Tiger: 11.4 hp/t IS-2: 11.3 hp/t specific ground pressure: Tiger: 1.06 kg/cm IS-2: 0.8 kg/cm. That is, with almost the same power, the Tiger had almost 30% more pressure on the ground! And this is not a trifle at all, this is an extremely important point, more important than any conveniences for pointing and charging. A tank is, first of all, mobility in any conditions. And what do we see: since the specific pressure of the Pz.Kpfw.VI was 30% greater than that of the IS-2, already in the first battle September 22, 1942, When " Tigers"went on the attack near the village Tortolovo near Leningrad , they are stuck in the mud! Three tanks, supported by artillery and infantry, were evacuated a few days later, but the fourth tank remained in no man's land and a month later was blown up on Hitler's orders. Not only dirt was an insurmountable obstacle for Pz.Kpfw.VI. Many bridges in Russia could not support the weight of a 55-ton tank and the help of sappers was needed to cross a small stream. Cruising range on the highway was 100 km, and over rough terrain only 60 km. The tank needed constant escort from gas stations. But a gas station is a tasty target for enemy attack aircraft and fighter-bombers! In conditions of air supremacy of enemy aircraft, the organization of movement " Tigers» developed on its own into a serious problem. Transportation « Tigers"by rail also presented a big problem. They could only be transported on a special transporter. In the train between two conveyors, it was necessary to hook up four ordinary cars so as not to exceed the permissible load on the railway bridges. But even on a special conveyor it was impossible to load “ Tiger» without additional problems. He needed " change shoes» into special transport tracks and remove the outer row of road wheels. But this is not all the problems associated with the Tiger’s super-heavy mass. The tigers were absolutely unable to withstand mines. Any mine exploding under a caterpillar resulted in an expensive colossus being captured by the enemy.. At all Soviet tanks, even if the roller turns out to be broken, the tank has at least five of them and changing them is not a problem. The main thing is that the tank remained on the move, quickly inserted a spare track and continued the attack. Well, running a tank for another day on four rollers instead of five is not a problem, but after the battle they will install a new roller. Any Soviet tank, including the IS-2, but not the Tiger. The tiger on four rollers could not continue moving - the load became prohibitive. Therefore, it simply stopped and needed major repairs. Without a truck crane and a dozen assistants, it was impossible to cope with replacing the skating rink. How to do this in combat conditions? Therefore, after the battles, almost untouched Tigers stood as trophies, and German aviation tried to blow up the irretrievably lost tanks due to the failure of just one roller. ( IS 2 Victory Tank ) Well, about other misunderstandings of this " the best tank"... Here Ivan alone on Razgovorchik praises the rate of fire of the Tiger tank. Yes, it was like that, it really took 8 seconds to reload the gun and fire a new shot. But for some reason, our brilliant weapons expert kept silent about the main parameter aimed shooting in battle. For accurate and aimed shooting you need a quick rotation of the turret. Let's compare this most important aspect of aimed fire: Tiger-1 turret rotation 360 degrees - 60 seconds IS-2 turret rotation 360 degrees -22 seconds. The question immediately arises (by the way, it was also asked on Razgovorchik): who needs such a rate of fire if the turret does not have time to turn behind targets? Like a similar one" hut on chicken legs"can be called" the best tank"?! Therefore, the main trump card of the rate of fire was simply offset by the slowness of the turret rotation. Below is another important characteristic of armor-piercing at a distance of 1 km: Tiger- 100 mm in the range of 60 degrees Is-2- 142 mm in the range of 90 degrees And there is no need to treat naive listeners that the 88 mm gun installed on the Tigers was better than the 122 mm IS-2 gun due to its super design. Yes, indeed, the best weapon of the Second World War is, perhaps, 88 mm FlaK 18 anti-aircraft gun . No doubt about it. But even it, with all its advantages, could not compete with the super-powerful 122 mm IS-2 cannon. Considering the thickness of the frontal armor, the IS-2 could easily shoot German Tigers from a distance of more than 1 km, and while the barely crawling Tiger reached the conditional distance to hit the IS, all the ammunition could be sent to it. But, I repeat, ONE hit was enough. And why didn’t the Germans install a more powerful gun on the Tiger, no one knows? In summary, we state: the Tiger loses to the IS-2 in all main characteristics.
Let's look again at what the Tigers can get caught up in in a dispute with the IS-2. All the pro-German Ivans sing in chorus the same story about the rate of fire. As we have convincingly proven, with the Tiger’s super-sluggish turret, such a rate of fire lost its meaning. More Tiger supremacists begin to sing the anthem about semi-automatic bolt of a German 88 mm cannon. Allegedly, it was convenient for the Germans, but extremely inconvenient for ours, they pushed it manually.... Now let's see how things really were on the IS-2. Since the beginning of 1944 The IS-122 began to be equipped with a gun D-25T(this designation was given to the D-2-5T gun in general production), distinguished by the presence of a horizontal wedge semi-automatic bolt and a new muzzle brake “ German type"(its design was to a certain extent borrowed from the muzzle brake of German 88 mm guns and 105 mm howitzers). The gun was equipped with more compact recoil devices, and the location of the controls was improved for the convenience of the gunner in the cramped fighting compartment of the tank. The introduction of a semi-automatic bolt almost doubled the gun's rate of fire from 1...1.5 to 2...3 rounds per minute. The designers put a lot of work into the creation of the D-25T Usenko, Pyankov, Gromov and others. The employees of the experienced KB Kotina. He sent to KB Petrov their designers G.M. Rybin and K.N. Ilyina , who, in a difficult situation for that time, accepted the most active participation in the development and debugging of a new semi-automatic bolt for such a powerful weapon. But our outstanding compatriots did not stand still and went further than the Germans! In March 1944 muzzle brake " German type" of the D-25T gun was replaced by a domestically designed TsAKB muzzle brake, which had more simple technology manufacturing and high efficiency. Our designers were the best in the world and very quickly caught up with the enemy in those few components where they lagged behind. Therefore, fairy tales about manual loading of the IS-2 cannon are nothing more than a fairy tale. Belief in such fairy tales is amateurism of the purest water.
We will continue to smash supporters of the theory of the total superiority of German tank building over the domestic one. Very often, supporters of the latter theory say that the Germans had everything better: a walkie-talkie, machine guns, and optical sights... Yes, it was like that... at the beginning of the war. It is what it is. The presence of a radio on German tanks was indeed an extremely effective innovation. But we are now considering the entire war, and not the tragedy of the 41st... we are looking for best samples weapons that the participating countries were able to recreate and put into serial production. Let us return in this aspect to the IS-2 and once again record the depressing indicators for the Tiger-1 in terms of main weapons: Excellent weapons allowed the IS-2 tank to be guaranteed to hit " Tiger" from a distance of 2000m from all angles. The presence of a powerful cannon on the Is-2 forced the enemy to open fire on it from greater distances than they usually started shooting at the T-35/85, KV-85 and Is-85. " Tigers"they were forced to open fire on the Is-2 from a distance of already 1300m, since even at this range the Is-2 could already calmly shoot them, but they weren’t there yet and they had nothing left to do. The powerful weapons of the Is-2 indirectly increased the tank’s security A 7.62mm DT machine gun was paired with the cannon. Another 7.62mm DT machine gun was located in a ball mount in the rear plate of the turret. They were used to destroy enemy personnel and lightly armored targets. For protection against attacks in the air, a 12.7mm was installed. anti-aircraft machine gun DShKT. Devices: For the gunner - articulated telescopic sight rangefinder TSh-17 4x magnification . For the commander - articulated telescopic sight rangefinder PT-8 , commander's cupola with a 360-degree rotating sector. device MK-4 , 6 sighting slits with triplex. The loader is given a prismatic, periscope device MK-4. The driver - two MK-4 devices, a sighting slit with triplex. Optical sight for the rear and anti-aircraft machine gun, main sight TSh-17 for the coaxial machine gun. Communications - radio station 9RM and TPU for four subscribers, from the beginning of 1944, the IS-2 was not just a cool tank - it was a miracle of tank building. All the most advanced technologies have been included in this masterpiece. In addition to super-powerful weapons and super-sufficient armor, ALL tank crews had radio communications, and there were TWO MACHINE GUNS on convenient mountings. And on top there was an anti-aircraft machine gun, which made it possible to destroy diving attack aircraft. All crew seats were equipped with excellent optics. IS-2 is the pride of the Russian tank industry. It was not for nothing that he bore the name of the leader. These tanks were ahead of their time in all respects and therefore they remained in service with the USSR until 1954. Unlike the Tiger-1, which was already obsolete by the beginning of 1944, and in comparison with the IS-2 it looked like an ugly duckling against the background of a white swan. The outstanding qualities of the IS-2, undeservedly forgotten in our time, were well known during the war years. It’s no wonder he’s very stingy with praise Stalin said: " This is a victory tank! we will end the war with him" For its gigantic contribution to the defeat of the German Wehrmacht, it is the IS-2 (and not the T-34) that stands on a pedestal in Karlshorst near the house where G. K. Zhukov accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany... It was this tank that for many years personified for the whole world the all-crushing power of the Soviet Union and the greatest potential of domestic designers and people who created this masterpiece. Created and rode it to Berlin! ( May 9.. remember )
Therefore, let all pro-German Ivans, Stepans, Fritzes, Hans throw aside propaganda treatises about the greatest tank" Tiger“and look at things with a sober, unclouded look.

Before we move on to studying other WWII tanks, their general disadvantages and advantages, we will finish with the Tiger-I and undoubtedly the best heavy tank of that war, the IS-2. Many stubborn supporters of Tiger-I, after presenting the above table, stubbornly disagree with the characteristics that are deadly for the Tiger. And they clutch at a saving straw. Allegedly, yes, the Germans had only an 88 mm cannon versus the 122 mm of the IS-2, but it was the best, and also anti-aircraft, cannon and the projectile energy was greater than that of the D-25T. Here is one tank lover from Krasnoyarsk "authoritatively" states: Quote" Where did you get this from? I'm talking about muzzle energy... The initial speed of the Germans is higher. The difference between the guns is that 88 has armor-piercing specialization, and 122 has high-explosive specialization. 122 breaks through armor, if you're lucky, and 88 penetrates.
It was as if they had made a special cannon for each projectile: for some it was high-explosive, for others it was armor-piercing. :) It's amazing what cockroaches are in people's heads. We will not discuss the seriousness of such allegations here. Let's just present the facts and close this issue: Quote 1 The 22-mm D-25T tank gun was the most powerful serial tank gun of the Second World War - its muzzle energy was 820 tm, while the 88-mm KwK gun had 43 German heavy tank PzKpfw VI Ausf B “Tiger II” it was 520 t.m. Total: the Is-2’s cannon gave the projectile a muzzle energy of 820 t.m. versus 520 t.m. the Tiger-II (the most powerful German tank with an extended modification of the 88 mm gun). And the Tiger I had even less, 368 tm, due to a shorter muzzle. That is, this indicator is " bad"IS-2 guns are better than those" good"Tiger guns more than doubled! I think we are done with this issue too. Regarding the shells. Soviet specialists developed unique shells for the IS-2. Both high-explosive and armor-piercing. But the high-explosive shell with the High-Explosive Fragmentation Cannon Grenade became especially famous OF-471 weighing 25 kg (mass of explosive - TNT or ammotol - 3 kg). When hit by this shell, the Tigers simply burned like torches. Moreover, when hit at an angle of 60 degrees. the effect was even better. If an armor-piercing projectile simply pierced the German monsters and they could continue the fight even after being hit, then the Soviet high-explosive fragmentation grenade OF-471 from a shell from the IS-2 tank destroyed the seams upon impact and simply burned out the Tiger until its gas tanks burst into flames along with the ammunition. This grenade simply did not leave the Tigers a chance.

And the IS-2 had different shells:

(Cases and shells of the D-25T tank gun. From left to right: armor-piercing shot casing, high-explosive fragmentation shot casing, OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation cannon grenade, sharp-headed armor-piercing tracer projectile BR-471, a blunt-nosed armor-piercing projectile with a ballistic tip BR-471B. All shells are shown from both sides.)
The IS-2 was decades ahead of its time and was later used in the USSR army until the introduction of the T10 tank. No new modifications could compare with the IS-2 in terms of reliability and efficiency. IS-3 was withdrawn in 1946, because it was inferior to the more ancient IS-2 ... The same fate befell the IS-4...IS-7. Therefore, it was decided to stop at the IS-2, modernizing it a little - it was too good. They didn’t even rename it, they just added the letter M - modernized. So the IS-2M served until the eighties of the last century as one of the main tanks of the most powerful tank power in the world!!! The last known exercise with the participation of the IS-2M took place in 1982 near Odessa . The official order of the Minister of Defense to remove the IS-2M from service Russian army was given only in 1995! This is what the tank was like...

Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf.B - Tiger II Konigstiger.

The heavy German tank Tiger 2, also known as the Royal Tiger, was supposed to be an indestructible weapon of the Wehrmacht, easily destroying enemy equipment. Its predecessor, the Tiger, was already a formidable enemy for Soviet and allied vehicles, unable to withstand an 88 mm shell. New tank It was developed for several years, acquired an even more powerful weapon and even thicker armor, but this was not enough. Tiger 2 could destroy any vehicle in a duel, but opponents simply avoided such situations, negating all the advantages of the German heavy tank.

Creation

Possessing a conventional Tiger that could easily dispatch its rivals, German engineers began work on a new project already in 1942, as data appeared about new Soviet tanks with modern characteristics. In addition, Hitler wanted to install a long-barreled KwK 43 L/71 cannon, which was distinguished by increased dimensions to the chassis and turret due to its size.

As usual, Ferdinand Porsche, competing with Henschel, presented his prototype VK4502(P) and, without waiting for victory in the competition, began production of the towers. Due to the complex and expensive electric transmission, in January 1943, the project of another company, Henschel, was approved, but with requirements to modify it. It was only in October 1943 that the VK 4503(H) was born, on which it was decided to install the already manufactured 50 towers of the Porsche design.

The Royal Tiger had exactly the same layout as all other German tanks of World War II - that is, with a front-mounted transmission.

The vehicle was constantly modernized, the largest being the replacement of the turret (after the production of 50 tanks), the gun was improved (the barrel bore was purged without the help of a compressor, using recoil energy). Installation of a new sight and strengthening of the engine compartment armor. There were also inconsistencies with the armor (replacing molybdenum with tungsten did not have the best effect on projectile resistance). Towards the end of the war, constant simplifications were made to the design, for example the lack of interior coloring in the latest releases.

It took about 14 days to make one Royal Tiger.
To produce one tank, 119.7 tons of steel were required, 50 tons went into “chips.” For example, the Panther required 77.5 tons of metal

In the front of the vehicle there was a control compartment, which housed the gearbox, levers and pedals for controlling the tank, as well as control panels and a radio station. There were also seats for the driver and radio operator.

View of the workplace of the tank driver and gunner-radio operator

In the center there was a fighting compartment, above which a turret with weapons was installed. The loader's seat was attached to the left of the gun, and the gunner and tank commander to the right. The fighting compartment housed the ammunition, and under the rotating floor there was a hydraulic drive for turning the turret and two fuel tanks.

In the aft part there was an engine compartment in which the engine, radiators with fans and fuel tanks were located.
The hull of the "Royal Tiger", identical in shape to the hull of the "Panther", was made of armor plates 150 - 250 mm thick, connected to each other "in a tenon" followed by welding. In front of the hull roof, viewing devices for the driver and gunner-radio operator were installed, as well as manholes for their landing. To make it easier to dismantle the transmission units, the entire front part of the hull roof (in front of the turret) was made removable.

The aft part was divided into three compartments using armor plates - the central one housed the engine, and the right and left ones housed radiators and cooling system fans. When overcoming water obstacles, the radiator compartments could be filled with water, but the central one was sealed and no water entered it. From above, the radiator compartments were covered with armored grilles to allow access and exhaust of air from their cooling system. Above the engine there was a hinged hatch with holes for air access to the air filters. At the bottom of the hull there were hatches for access to the suspension torsion bars, as well as various taps for draining water, fuel and oil. In the front part, in front of the driver's seat, there was an emergency hatch.

The tank was equipped with a welded turret with a clear ring diameter of 1850 mm, made of 40 - 180 mm armor plates connected into a dovetail tenon, followed by welding. In the front plate there were cutouts for installing a cannon, as well as holes for a sight and a machine gun coaxial with the cannon, and in the rear there was a hatch for dismantling the cannon. The roof of the turret had a loader's hatch, a commander's cupola with a commander's hatch, openings for fans and grenade launcher installations. As already mentioned, the first 50 “Royal Tigers” were equipped with a “Porsche” turret, which differed from the “Henschel” one in a bent frontal plate, a protrusion in the left side for installing a commander’s cupola and holes in the sides for ejecting spent cartridges.

The rotation of the turret was carried out by a hydraulic turning mechanism driven by the tank engine, and the rotation speed depended on the number of revolutions. So, at 2000 rpm the turret rotated 360 degrees in 19 s, and at 1000 rpm - in 77 s. A backup manual drive was also provided, when working with which the gunner had to “turn” the flywheel about 700 times in order to make a full revolution of the turret.
An 88 mm KwK 43 cannon with a barrel length of 71 caliber (with a muzzle brake - 6595 mm) was installed in the tank's turret. Recoil devices were placed above the barrel. The gun had a vertical pin breech and was equipped with a system for purging the barrel after firing with compressed air, for which a special air compressor was installed under the gunner's seat.
To aim the gun at the target, the first production vehicles were equipped with a TZF 9d/1 binocular telescopic sight, which was later replaced by a TZF 9d monocular telescopic sight.
On the first 50 “Royal Tigers” the ammunition load for the gun was 77 rounds, then it was increased to 84. 22 rounds were placed in the rear niche of the turret, and the rest in the fighting compartment and control compartment.

In addition to the cannon, the “Royal Tiger” had two more 7.92-mm MG-34 machine guns - one coaxial with the gun, and the second, a course gun, installed in the front plate of the hull. The course machine gun was equipped with a TZF 2 telescopic sight. In addition, the commander’s cupola had a special mount that made it possible to fire the machine gun at enemy aircraft. The ammunition load for the machine guns was 4,800 rounds.
The power plant of the “Royal Tiger” was completely borrowed from the “Panther” - the tank was equipped with a 12-cylinder Maybach HL 230P30 carburetor engine with a power of 700 hp. - the same ones were on the “Panthers”. The engine was equipped with four Solex 52 carburetors, the fuel was supplied by two diaphragm pumps.

The engine cooling system included four radiators (two on each side) with a capacity of 114 liters and Cyclone fans. To make it easier to start the engine in cold weather, there was a thermosyphon heater, which was heated with a blowtorch through a special hole in the lump sheet of the housing.

The engine was started using a starter, and in case of its failure - manually or with a special device driven from the car.
"Tiger" Ausf. E. It consisted of a gearbox, a main clutch and a turning mechanism (all in a single unit), disc brakes and a cardan drive from the engine.
The Maybach OVLAR OG(B) 40 gearbox provided 8 forward gears and four reverse gears. To facilitate control, it was equipped with an automatic hydraulic servo drive. In addition, unlike the Tiger I gearbox, the new gearbox was equipped with a special water radiator for cooling the oil.

The electrical equipment of the “Royal Tiger” was made according to a single-wire circuit and had a voltage of 12 V. The sources were a Bosch generator and two batteries with a capacity of 150 A/h.
German tank Royal Tiger characteristics of the device, the chassis (on board) included nine dual road wheels with a diameter of 800 mm with internal shock absorption (five in the outer row and four in the inner), a front drive wheel with 18 teeth on two removable ring gears, and a guide wheel with a diameter of 650 mm. The small track consisted of 92 tracks with a width of 818 mm. For transportation by rail, the “Royal Tiger” was “re-shoeed” onto transport tracks 658 mm wide.

For external communications, all tanks were equipped with a Fu 5 radio station with a range of up to 6.5 km in telephone mode and up to 9.5 km in telegraph mode.
The Royal Tigers were equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system with a capacity of 3 liters installed in the engine compartment. The system worked at a temperature of 120 degrees.

Development options

In August 1942, technical specifications were developed for a heavy tank, which was supposed to eventually replace the Tiger tank. The new vehicle was supposed to use an 88-mm cannon with a barrel length of 71 calibers, which was designed by Krupp in 1941. In the autumn of 1942, the Henschel company and the design bureau of Ferdinand Porsche, who again entered into competition with Erwin Aders, began designing the tank.

Dr. Porsche did not offer anything fundamentally new. His tank VK 4502(P) - factory designation Tour 180/181 or Sonderfahrzeug III - was a slightly redesigned tank VK 4501(P) in relation to the new technical specifications. From the latter they borrowed the chassis and a power plant consisting of two Simmering-Graz-Pauker carburetor engines with a power of 200 hp. each and an electric transmission.

Other project options proposed by the Porsche AG design bureau involved the use of other types of engines, including twin diesel engines with 370 hp each. each or one X-shaped 16-cylinder diesel engine with a power of 700 hp, and a hydromechanical transmission. Two layout options for the VK 4502(P) tank were developed: with a front and rear turret. When the turret was placed at the rear, the engine was located in the middle part of the hull, and the control compartment was in front.

The main disadvantages of the VK 4502(P) project were the lack of development and low reliability of the electric transmission, high cost and low manufacturability. It had practically no chance of winning the competition with E. Aders' car, however, in 1943, the Friedrich Krupp AG plant in Essen managed to produce 50 turrets for a tank designed by Porsche.

Layout of the VK 4502 (P2) tank

Operation and changes

The very first battles with the participation of the “Royal Tigers” revealed some shortcomings in the first 50 tanks on which Porsche-designed turrets were installed, for example, the tendency of shells to ricochet downwards when they hit the lower part of the mantlet. Such ricochets threatened to create a hole in the relatively thin roof of the hull. By May 1944, the Krupp company had developed a new turret, which began to be installed on tanks from the 51st vehicle. This turret had a straight 180 mm frontal plate, eliminating the possibility of ricochet. The larger reserved volume of the new turret made it possible to increase the ammunition load from 77 to 84 rounds.

Tank production

In addition to the change of the turret, which became the largest modernization, other, smaller changes were made to the design of the tank during mass production. The design of the gun was improved, the armor of the engine compartment was strengthened, and a new sight was installed. At the end of November 1944, a new Kgs 73/800/152 track appeared on the Royal Tigers, and in March 1945, compressorless purging of the gun bore was introduced. It was carried out with air from a special cylinder, into which it was pumped using the recoil energy of the gun. By this time, the MG-34 machine guns were replaced by the MG-42, and the ball mount of the course machine gun was replaced by the MP-40 submachine gun. As the end of the war approached, more and more simplifications were made to the design of the tank. On the latest cars, for example, there was not even any interior painting. Throughout serial production, repeated but unsuccessful attempts were made to improve the tank's final drives and engine.

At the beginning of 1945, 10 tanks with a Henschel turret were converted into command tanks. Having reduced the ammunition load to 63 rounds and dismantled the coaxial machine gun, Fu5 and Fu7 (Sd.Kfz. 267 variant) or Fu5 and Fu8 (Sd.Kf/. 268 variant) radio stations were placed in the free space. The conversion was carried out by the Wegmann company. The first command tank, the Panzerbefehlswagen Tiger II, left the factory floor on February 3, 1945.

At the end of 1944, the Krupp company began designing the Tiger II tank, armed with a 105 mm cannon with a barrel length of 68 calibers. The cannon was placed in a standard Henschel turret. An armor-piercing projectile weighing 15.6 kg left its barrel with an initial speed of 990 m/s. This project was not implemented.

Combat use of the Tiger II tank (Royal Tiger)

The Royal Tigers entered service with heavy tank battalions (schwere Panzerabteilung - sPzAbt), in which they replaced the Tiger I tanks. No new units were created to equip these tanks either in the Wehrmacht or in the SS troops. Battalions were recalled from the front and to training centers at the training grounds in Ordurf and Paderborn they received new equipment and underwent retraining. Training was facilitated by the use of a large number of components and assemblies standard for other German tanks on the “Royal Tiger”. In particular, the controls almost completely corresponded to those on the simple Tiger.
Organizationally, by the spring of 1944, the German heavy tank battalion included three tank companies of three platoons each. The platoon consisted of four vehicles, the company - of 14 (two of them were command vehicles). Taking into account the three headquarters tanks, the battalion should have had 45 combat vehicles.

One of the first “royal tigers” was the 503rd battalion. On April 22, 1944, he was recalled from the front for reorganization. His 1st company was armed with 12 new tanks with a Porsche-type turret. The other two companies retained the old Ausf.E Tigers. This mixed armament was not accidental, considering that from January to April 1944, Henschel was able to produce only 20 Ausf.B Tiger tanks. During the same time, 378 Ausf.E “tigers” left the workshop. At the end of June, the battalion was sent from Ordurf to France - the battle in Normandy was in full swing. However, this unit did not reach Normandy in full force. Several “tigers” were destroyed by Allied aircraft during the march to the front line, and several vehicles had to be left in a warehouse in Pontoise near Paris due to technical malfunctions.

After arriving at the front, the 503rd battalion came under operational subordination to the 22nd Tank Regiment of the 21st tank division Wehrmacht, which fought heavy battles with British troops in the vicinity of Caen. His first combat operation was the elimination of an enemy breakthrough near Kolombel. In this battle involving the Royal Tigers, 12 Shermans of the 148th Royal Tank Regiment were shot down. The answer did not take long to arrive.

On July 18, 1944, the 503rd Battalion's positions were attacked by 2,100 Allied aircraft! In any case, this is exactly the number indicated in foreign sources. However, the number of aircraft is clearly overestimated; apparently, someone in the combat report added an extra zero to the real figure. However, aviation did become the most effective means of combating German tanks for the Allies. Fortunately, they had absolute air supremacy. These days, if you believe the bitter joke of German soldiers, they began to develop the so-called “German look”, that is, a look directed to the sky in anticipation of the next attack by the British or American Jabo (Jagdbombenflugzeug - fighter-bomber) - “tempests”, “ typhoons" and "thunderbolts".
As for ground weapons, the first adequately armed American combat vehicle was the 90-mm M36 self-propelled gun, which appeared on the Western Front in September 1944. Those armed with 17-pound cannons could somehow fight the "tigers" British tanks"Sherman Firefly" and "Challenger", self-propelled guns "Achilles" and "Archer".
Here is what Charles Geisell, who fought with the rank of lieutenant in the 628th American tank destroyer battalion, recalls on this occasion: “Our unit was one of the few equipped with the new M36 tank destroyer with a 90-mm cannon. Most other battalions were equipped with M10 tank destroyers armed three-inch guns. When we received the new vehicles, we were told that our 90-mm gun was superior to the German 88-mm. But in the first battle of Company B of our battalion with the only “Royal Tiger”, we discovered that our armor-piercing shells could not. penetrate the turret armor of the German tank. Only by hitting the upper part of the turret was it possible to disable it. In this short battle, Company B suffered losses.
Until the end of the war, our battalion, with great difficulty, managed to knock out only one more “Royal Tiger”.

The Allies also used other methods to combat heavy German tanks. US Army Lieutenant General James Hollingsworth, a participant in World War II, spoke about one of them: “On November 16-19, 1944, there were battles on the Worm and Pep rivers. The 2nd Battalion of the 67th Tank Regiment found itself face to face with 22 “Royal Tigers.” We used a technique that consisted of simultaneously firing all available firepower at one target. Firing from 105-, 155-, 203- and 240-mm guns, we forced the enemy to turn back. Three “royal tigers” were left burning on the battlefield. Our 75- and 76-mm tank guns could not penetrate the armor of German tanks. The 90-mm guns of tank destroyers from the 201st battalion were also powerless. Thank God, artillery rescued us.” What about the 503rd battalion? On August 12, the “Royal Tigers” received its 3rd company, and in this form the battalion fought near the Orne River. When breaking out of the Falaise pocket, the Germans had to abandon almost all of their tanks. Some of them failed due to numerous breakdowns, mainly in the chassis, others, especially the Royal Tigers, were unable to cross the river. The bridges were blown up, and there were no ferries with sufficient carrying capacity. Soon the personnel were recalled from the front to Paderborn, where on September 22, 1944, sPzAbt 503 received 45 brand new Tigers II, and on October 12, the battalion left for Budapest. But, as they say, a holy place is never empty. On the 20th of September, another battalion left for Holland near Arnhem. , rearmed by that time with Tiger tanks Ausf.B - sPzAbt 506.

"Royal Tiger" captured by Soviet troops

The combat debut of the new tanks on the Eastern Front took place in August 1944, and this should be discussed in more detail. The fact is that during the post-war years this episode was described repeatedly in the domestic press and gradually acquired numerous and not always reliable details. Perhaps only the fact of the battle itself is indisputable, but otherwise there are discrepancies even in the main dates, not to mention the number of “royal tigers” that participated and were shot down.
The most common version looked like this: on the Sandomierz bridgehead, the Germans threw a tank battalion of “Royal Tigers” into battle, up to 40 vehicles in total, and were defeated, losing half of the tanks; several vehicles were captured by our troops in good condition. At the same time, it was alleged that its designer, Ferdinand Porsche (in some publications, the son of the designer), who arrogantly believed in the indestructibility of his car, died in the lead tank. The easiest way to deal with the “death of Porsche”. The German designer died in 1951, his son in 1998. In addition, tanks with a “Henschel-type” turret operated on the Sandomierz bridgehead, to which Porsche had nothing to do.
As for the rest, we will try to present the chronicle and course of events, based on the facts presented in various sources. So, it all started on July 14, 1944, when Ordurf arrived to reorganize the 501st heavy tank battalion. Having received new tanks, the battalion was sent to the front and on August 9, 1944 unloaded at a railway station near the Polish city of Kielce. During the march to the front line, many tanks broke down due to technical reasons, so that on the morning of August 11, only 18 combat-ready “Royal Tigers” remained in the battalion. Repair work was carried out all day and some of the faulty machines were put into operation.

The situation in this section of the Soviet-German front at that time was as follows: by August 4, 1944, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front had captured a bridgehead up to 45 km along the front and 25 km in depth on the left bank of the Vistula. The enemy made desperate attempts to push back our troops that had reached the Sandomierz area. First of all, the Germans launched a series of counterattacks on the flanks of the Soviet troops located on the right bank of the Vistula. With counter strikes from the north and south in the general direction of Baranów, German troops sought to reach the crossing area, cut off our formations located behind the Vistula from the rest of the forces and restore defenses along the left bank. After the failure of the counterattack, the enemy made attempts to directly liquidate our bridgehead on the left bank. The enemy launched the first counterattack with two tank and motorized divisions on August 11 in the direction of Staszow and advanced 8 km in two days.
By this time, the bridgehead was an uneven semicircle, its ends resting on the Vistula. Approximately in the middle of this semicircle, covering the direction to Staszow, the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade from the 6th Guards Tank Brigade defended. By the end of the day on August 12, the 53rd Guards TBR abandoned first the Szydłów railway station, and then the village of Oglendów. Here it makes sense to turn to the memoirs of the commander of the 53rd Guards GBR, Colonel V. SARkhipov, who, not without inaccuracies and contradictions (the memoirs were written 30 years after the events described), reproduces the events of those days:

“On the night of August 13, no one slept in the brigade. In the dark, especially in summer, you can hear it far away and clearly. And the sounds that reached us said that there would be a heavy battle in the morning. Behind the enemy’s front line, in the direction of Oglendów, tank engines hummed continuously and steadily, getting closer and growing stronger. The terrain here was not just sandy, but with weak and quicksand sand. Suffice it to say that the attempts of the tank crews to open shelter for the vehicles were in vain - the walls of the trench collapsed right there. In previous attacks, we more than once observed how German “Panthers” skidded in these sands, how their driver-mechanics were forced to expose the sides of the cars to us. In the battles for Szydlua and Oglendów, these truly snail-like maneuvers of the Panthers, which were significantly inferior to the T-34 in mobility, helped us inflict very significant losses on the enemy (on August 11 alone, the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade destroyed 8 enemy tanks - Author's note). One must assume that he will prefer a roundabout movement to a head-on attack across sandy, open fields. In front of our left flank (Korobov's battalion) the entire terrain is in sight. But on the right flank (Mazurin’s battalion) there is a deep and wide ravine along which from Oglendow to Staszow, crossing leading edge, a field road stretches. Behind the ravine where the rifle unit occupied the defense, tanks would not get through - there was a swamp there. This means that we need to tightly cover the exit from the ravine with fire.
We decided to place several tanks in an ambush. There is an unofficial term: “flirting tank.” His task is to force enemy tanks to turn around so that they expose their sides to the fire strike of the main defense forces. We assigned this role to a group of tanks from the Mazurin battalion. The group was headed by deputy battalion commander, senior lieutenant P.T. Ivushkin.”

Further, from the memoirs of V.S. Arkhipov, it follows that three tanks were ambushed (two medium and one light), covering them with heaps of compressed rye and thus disguising them as haystacks. Closer to the ravine stood the T-34-85 tank of junior lieutenant A.P. Oskin. The remaining tanks of the brigade were located to the right and left of the road behind a ridge of low sand dunes. However, after several weeks of continuous tank battles, there were very few tanks left in the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade - apparently no more than 15 vehicles. But since the brigade was in the direction of the enemy’s main attack, on the night of August 13, the commander of the 6th Guards Tank Corps, Major General V.V. Novikov, placed a lot of artillery at its disposal. The corps 185th howitzer and 1645th light artillery regiments and the 1893rd self-propelled artillery regiment SU-85 arrived. Then the 385th Army Regiment ISU-152 arrived. Although all these units did not have a regular strength, they nevertheless represented a formidable force. In addition, 71 Guards Tank Brigades (11 IS-2 tanks and 1 IS-85) were deployed in the rear of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade. Thus, the exit from the ravine was under the gun of several dozen gun barrels of 76-152 mm caliber.
It also played into the hands of our tankers that German aerial reconnaissance mistook the second line of defense of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade (a battalion of machine gunners and part of the artillery) for the first. As a result, the attack by enemy artillery and aviation that preceded the attack did not hit the tank battalions. At 7.00 on August 13, the enemy, under the cover of fog, went on the offensive with the forces of the 16th Tank Division with the participation of 11 (according to other sources 14) Ausf.B Tiger tanks of the 501st heavy tank battalion.

“The fog gradually dissipated,” recalls V.S. Arkhipov, “it was already stretching in wisps. Ivushkin reported: “The tanks have arrived. But I see, I hear. They are walking through the ravine." Yes, I myself heard this low rumble, muffled by the slopes of the ravine. He approached very slowly, my nerves were tense, I felt drops of sweat rolling down my face. What is it like for them there, ahead?! But the haystacks were motionless.
Their eyes were focused on the exit from the ravine. A tank of monstrous size climbed out of it. He crawled up the hill in jerks, skidding in the sand.
Major Korobov also radioed from the left flank: “They are coming. The same ones, unidentified.” (On the night of August 13, the reconnaissance of the brigade reported the appearance of tanks of an unknown type in Szydłów. - Author’s note.) I answer: “Don’t rush. As we agreed: shoot from four hundred meters.” Meanwhile, a second similar giant crawled out of the hollow, then a third appeared. They appeared at significant intervals. Either it was their prescribed distance, or the weak ground delayed them, but by the time the third came out of the ravine, the first had already passed Ivushkin’s ambush. "Beat?" - he asked. "Hit!" I see the side of the haystack where junior lieutenant Oskin’s tank stands moving slightly. The sheaf rolled down and the cannon barrel became visible. He jerked, then again and again. Oskin fired. Black holes appeared on the right sides of enemy tanks, clearly visible through binoculars. So the smoke appeared and the flame flared up. The third tank turned around to face Oskin, but, having rolled on a shattered caterpillar, stood up and was finished off.”

“Flirting tanks” played their role. German combat vehicles, emerging from the ravine, turned towards the ambush, exposing their left sides to the guns of tankers and self-propelled guns. Direct fire hit three dozen guns, howitzer battalions covered the ravine with overhead fire, and it disappeared all the way to Oglendów in clouds of smoke and sandy dust. To top it off, the German battle formations were “ironed” by our attack aircraft. The enemy attack failed. In the afternoon, the German 16th Panzer Division resumed its attacks, but, apparently, the “Royal Tigers” no longer took part in them. In any case, among the 24 German tanks that were knocked out that day and remained in front of the brigade’s positions, there were only three of them. Moreover, all three burned, and, according to V.S. Arkhipov, they were burned by the crew of junior lieutenant A.P. Oskin, which, in addition to himself, included driver A. Stetsenko, gun commander A. Merkhaidarov (who fired , strictly speaking, it was he), radio operator A. Grushin and loader A. Khalychev.
However, V.S. Arkhipov himself comments on this episode as follows: “Who knocked out and how many is a difficult question, because the tankers of two battalions - Mazurin and Korobov, and two artillery and two self-propelled artillery regiments assigned to us fired. Attack aircraft also worked excellently, not only in our field of vision, but also beyond it.”
It is unlikely that Oskin’s “thirty-four”, even from an extremely short distance, when every shot was on target, managed to knock out three German heavy tanks in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. There were two more tanks in the ambush, which also fired. Finally, a barrage of fire from the main forces of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade and reinforcement units fell on the leading German vehicles. Judging by the photographs of the “tigers” literally riddled with shells, the fire was fired from different directions and by no means from one tank. Apparently, it can be said with absolute certainty that A.P. Oskin’s crew knocked out the lead “Royal Tiger”, which is also a lot.

For this battle, tank commander Alexander Petrovich Oskin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and gun commander Abubakir Merkhaidarov was awarded the Order of Lenin. Having encountered a powerful anti-tank defense (and by the afternoon of August 13, the order of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade, in addition to the already reinforced units, was transferred to several batteries of the 1666th IPTAP and a division of the 272nd Guards Mortar Regiment BM-13), the Germans retreated to their original positions . By the evening, the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade took up defense on the southern slope of height 247.9, 300 m from the village of Oglendów. Having replenished the 1st and 2nd battalions with tanks at the expense of the 3rd and 10 vehicles that arrived from repairs, around midnight our brigade attacked Oglendow without artillery preparation. By dawn the village was cleared of the enemy. Among the trophies taken were German tanks of an unknown type. It was then that it turned out that the battle the day before had to be fought with heavy Tiger-B tanks (by the way, in recent years, in a number of publications, allegations have appeared that Oskin himself subsequently denied this fact altogether, claiming that he only knocked out the Pz.IV) .
Under this name the German car appears in our documents of those years). This was learned from operating instructions found in abandoned tanks. In the morning, in the heat of battle, there was no time to figure it out. Therefore, in the first report, having counted the burning tanks, they reported “to the top” about the destruction of three “Panthers”. Given their external resemblance to the “royal tigers”, this was not surprising. The captured combat vehicles had turret numbers 102, 234 and 502. Tanks No. 102 and No. 502 turned out to be command tanks - they had additional radio stations. Tank No. 502, discovered in the courtyard of a house on the outskirts of the village, was technically sound and abandoned by the crew for a very prosaic reason: so as not to interfere with the escape. The tank had full ammunition and a sufficient supply of fuel. Apparently, this vehicle did not take part in the morning battle of August 13th. When I tried to start the engine, it started at half a turn.

At 9.00, the 2nd Tank Battalion of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade, in cooperation with the 2nd Company of the 71st Guards Heavy Tank and 289th Rifle Regiments, resumed the offensive. The “royal tigers” located west of Oglendow met them with fire. Then a platoon of IS-2 tanks belonging to Guard Senior Lieutenant Klimenkov moved forward and opened fire on the enemy. As a result of a short battle, one "Royal Tiger" was shot down and the other was burned.
As the brigades of the 6th Guards Tank moved forward, they no longer encountered organized enemy resistance. The battle broke up into isolated skirmishes and sporadic counterattacks. On the approaches to Shidlov, 7 Tiger-B tanks took part in one of these counterattacks. The IS-2 tank of Guard Senior Lieutenant V.A. Udalov, which was in ambush, allowed the “tigers” to reach 700 - 00 m and opened fire on the lead vehicle. After several shots, one tank was set on fire and the second was knocked out. Then Udalov took his car along a forest road to another position and opened fire again. Leaving another burning tank on the battlefield, the enemy turned back. Soon the attack of the “royal tigers” was repeated. This time they went to the IS-2 of the guard, Lieutenant Belyakov, who was lying in ambush. From a distance of 1000 m, he managed to set fire to the enemy vehicle with the third shell. In one day on August 14, tankers of the 71st Guards TTP knocked out and burned six “Royal Tigers”.

In total, between Staszow and Szydłów there remained 12 knocked out, burned and serviceable, but abandoned by the crews of the “Royal Tigers”. Such a disastrous result for the Germans, without a doubt, was the result of competent organization of the battle on our part. For this battle, the commander of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade, Colonel V.S. Arkhipov, was awarded the second Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

The captured tanks were taken to Kubinka to the NIBT Test Site. Based on the test results, it was concluded that “the Tiger-B tank is a further modernization of the main heavy German T-V Panther tank with more powerful armor and weapons.”
To evaluate the armor resistance, it was decided to fire at the hull and turret of tank No. 102. The components and assemblies from the captured vehicle were dismantled for further research, and the weapons were transferred to GANIOP. Shelling tests were carried out in Kubinka in the fall of 1944. Based on their results, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. The quality of the armor of the Tiger-II tank, compared to the quality of the armor of the Tiger-I, Panther and Ferdinand SU tanks, has deteriorated sharply. Cracks and spalls form in the armor of the Tiger-II tank from the first single hits. From a group of projectile hits (3 - 4 projectiles), large chips and breaks are formed in the armor.
2. All components of the tank hull and turret are characterized by weak welds. Despite careful execution, the seams behave much worse under fire than in similar designs of the Tiger-B, Panther and Ferdinand SU tanks.
3. In the armor of the frontal plates of a tank with a thickness of 100 to 190 mm, when they are hit by 3-4 armor-piercing or high-explosive fragmentation shells of caliber 152, 122 and 100 mm from a distance of 500 - 1000 m, cracks, spalls and destruction of welds are formed, leading to This will result in a malfunction of the transmission and failure of the tank.
4. Armor-piercing shells of the BS-3 (100 mm) and A-19 (122 mm) guns produce through penetration when they hit the edges or joints of the front plates of the Tiger-B tank hull from a distance of 500 - 600 m.
5. Armor-piercing shells from the BS-3 (100 mm) and A-19 (122 mm) cannons penetrate through the front plate of the Tiger-B tank turret from a distance of 1000-1500 mm.
6. Armor-piercing 85-mm shells from the D-5 and S-53 cannons do not penetrate the front plates of the tank hull and do not cause any structural damage from a distance of 300 m.
7. The side armor plates of the tank are characterized by sharp uneven strength compared to the front plates and are the most vulnerable part of the armored hull and turret of the tank.
8. The side plates of the tank’s hull and turret are penetrated by armor-piercing shells of 95-mm domestic and 76-mm American guns from a distance of 800 - 2000 m
9. The side plates of the tank’s hull and turret are not penetrated by armor-piercing shells of the 76-mm domestic gun (ZIS-3 and F-34).
10. American 76-mm armor-piercing shells penetrate the side plates of the Tiger-B tank from a distance 1.5-2 times greater than domestic 85-mm armor-piercing shells.”

When studying the tank’s armor in the laboratories of TsNII-48, it was noted that “a gradual decrease in the amount of molybdenum (M) on the German T-VI and T-V tanks and its complete absence in the T-VIB is noticeable. The reason for replacing one element (M) with another (V-vanadium) must obviously be sought in the depletion of existing reserves and the loss of bases that supplied Germany with molybdenum.”
During weapons testing, the 88-mm KwK 43 cannon showed good results in terms of armor penetration and accuracy, almost the same as our 122-mm D-25. An 88-mm shell pierced the turret of the Tiger-B tank right through from a distance of 400 m.
The deterioration in the quality of armor on German tanks and the decrease in the quality of welds were also noted by the Allies after they examined captured “Royal Tigers.”

However, this heavy German tank remained a tough nut to crack. Here is what, in particular, Sergeant Clyde Brunson, a tank commander from the 2nd American Tank Division, said in his report about its reservation: “The King Tiger” disabled my tank from a distance of 150 m. The remaining five tanks opened fire on the German vehicle from a distance of 180 - 550 m. Although our tankers managed to achieve five or six hits, all the shells ricocheted off the tank’s armor, and the “Royal Tiger” went back. If we had a tank like the Royal Tiger, we would have been home a long time ago.”

The American 75-mm armor-piercing shell did not penetrate the frontal armor and did not always penetrate the side armor of the Royal Tiger. Quite effective against side armor, the 76-mm shell penetrated frontal armor only from a distance of 50 m. However, as mentioned above, Soviet 85-mm armor-piercing shells did an even worse job. Perhaps the only worthy opponent of the “Royal Tiger” was the Soviet heavy tank IS-2. Soviet self-propelled guns with large-caliber guns: SU-100, ISU-122 and ISU-152 also achieved good results when shooting at German heavy tanks.

By the end of 1944, according to German data, the Wehrmacht had lost 74 “royal tigers”, while only 17 managed to be repaired and returned to service. The last major battles in which the “Royal Tigers” participated were the offensives of German troops in the Ardennes and in the area of ​​Lake Balaton. The German offensive plan in the Ardennes was designed to break through a weakly defended section of the enemy front with a lightning strike, rush to Namur, capture Liege - the main center of communications of the 12th Allied Army Group - and then continue the attack on Antwerp and occupy it. If the Germans had succeeded, the front of the Allied armies would have been cut into two parts. The Germans hoped to destroy four armies: the 1st Canadian, 2nd British, 1st and 9th American.

To implement this bold, original, but adventurous plan, Field Marshal von Rundstedt was given the 5th and 6th SS Panzer Armies and the 7th Field Army - a total of about 250 thousand people and 1 thousand tanks. Preparations for the operation were carried out in absolute secrecy, and it came as a complete surprise to the Allies.
On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a large attack between Monschau and Echternach. The very first attack collapsed the allied front, and German tanks rushed towards the Meuse. However, despite the thick fog that prevented the Allies from using aircraft, already on December 17 the battle entered a critical phase, since the extremely important road junction - the city of Bastogne - was firmly held by the American 101st Airborne Division. It was commanded by General McAuliffe.

Finding himself surrounded and receiving an offer to surrender, he responded with only one word: “Weirdos!” German motorized columns were forced to bypass Bastogne along narrow, icy mountain roads. The pace of the advance slowed down. However, by December 20, the 5th tank army The SS was already reaching the crossings across the Meuse. The commander of the British troops in Europe, Field Marshal Montgomery, was so frightened that he decided to withdraw his divisions to Dunkirk. But on December 24 the weather cleared up - and this decided the fate German offensive. About 5 thousand aircraft of the Anglo-American Air Force unleashed an avalanche of bombs and shells on the battle formations, transport columns and supply bases of the German troops. By January 1, the retreat of Rundstedt’s armies was already widespread. The Ardennes offensive failed.

Among many German tank units, the 506th Heavy Tank Battalion took part in these battles. The Royal Tigers fought duels with the Shermans in the vicinity of Bastogne. The Tigers of the 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion also fought there. It was difficult for the 68-ton tanks to maneuver on narrow mountain roads, where not a single bridge could support them. With the help of bazookas, American paratroopers defending Bastogne knocked out many German heavy tanks.

The area in the vicinity of Lake Balaton in Hungary, where the Germans made their last offensive attempt during the Second World War, was much better suited for the operations of large tank formations. His goal was to unblock the group surrounded in Budapest.

German troops struck the first blow on the night of January 2, 1945. The 1st SS Panzer Corps went on the offensive with the support of units of the 6th Field Army - 7 tank and 2 motorized divisions. This group quickly broke through the front of the 4th Guards Army and advanced 30 km deep into our defenses. There was a real threat of a breakthrough of German troops to Budapest. The Soviet command transferred 1,305 guns and mortars and 210 tanks to this area. All roads were blocked by batteries of heavy and anti-aircraft artillery, capable of penetrating the frontal armor of German tanks, and 57- and 76-mm cannons were buried on the flanks of positions facing the enemy, designed to conduct sudden fire on the sides of tanks from short distances.

Thanks to a well-organized defense, the German offensive was stopped by the evening of January 5. In the protocols drawn up after the battles by the captured team of the 4th Guards Army, 5 Tiger-B tanks (all from 503.sPzAbt), 2 Tiger tanks, 7 Panther tanks, 19 Pz.IV tanks are listed as burned out and destroyed. , 6 Pz.lll tanks, 5 self-propelled guns and 19 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles. In addition, some vehicles were so damaged that they looked like heaps of scrap metal and it was impossible to determine the type of tank or self-propelled gun from them.
On the morning of January 18, the German group resumed its offensive, now in the direction of Székesfehérvár. On January 22, the city was abandoned by our troops. In order to force the Soviet command to withdraw part of their forces from the direction of the main attack, on January 25 the Germans launched a tank attack from the Zamol area to Miklos. At 9.20, two groups of 12 Panther tanks and 10 Tiger-B tanks from the 507th Heavy Tank Battalion began attacking the positions of the 1172nd Anti-Tank Destroyer Regiment. The regiment commander decided to lure the German tanks into a fire bag, and he succeeded. Having lost 16 guns in 6 hours of continuous battle, the regiment destroyed 10 Panthers and Royal Tigers, as well as 3 medium tanks and 6 self-propelled guns.

The most effective weapons in the fight against German heavy tanks were large-caliber guns, including self-propelled ones. Thus, on March 10, during the reflection of the second stage of the German offensive, self-propelled guns 209 sabr distinguished themselves. For example, the SU-100 battery under the command of Captain Vasilyev destroyed three Tiger-B tanks during one battle.
In total, 19 tanks of this type were destroyed in the battles near Lake Balaton in January - March 1945. As of March 1, 226 Royal Tiger tanks remained in service with the Wehrmacht and SS troops.
A significant part of combat vehicles of this type was concentrated in East Prussia. The heavy tank battalion “Groftdcutschland” from the division of the same name, the 511th (formerly 502nd) and 505th heavy tank battalions took part in the defense of Königsberg. Tanks were used in small groups and mainly for standing fire. As a fixed firing point, the Royal Tiger proved to be most effective. For example, on April 21, 1945, when repelling an attack by fire from one Tiger II and two Hetzer self-propelled guns, 12 Soviet tanks were knocked out.
According to German data, during the week of fighting from April 13, 511 sPzAbt recorded 102 Soviet combat vehicles in its combat account! True, traditionally it is not reported how many of them burned down, that is, they were lost irretrievably.

The remnants of 505.sPzAbt, attached to the remnants of the 5th Panzer Division, ended their combat journey in Pillau (now Baltiysk Kaliningrad region RF). The 502nd (formerly 102nd) and 503rd (formerly 103rd) SS heavy tank battalions took part in the defense of Berlin. The last "Royal Tiger" was shot down in Berlin on May 2, 1945 in the area of ​​the Spandau Bridge.
Unfortunately, German statistics for the last month of the war provided combined data for both types of “tigers”, so it is not possible to indicate the exact number of “royal tigers” in a particular theater of war. As of April 28, 1945, there were 149 “tigers” of both types on the Eastern Front (of which 118 were combat-ready), in Italy - 33 (22), in the West - 18 (10).

Currently, “royal tigers” are on display at the Saumur Musee des Blindes in France, the RAC Tank Museum Bovington (the only surviving example with a Porsche turret) and the Royal Military College of Science Shrivenham in the UK, the Munster Lager Kampftruppen Schule in Germany (transferred by the Americans in 1961 year), Ordnance Museum Aberdeen Proving Ground in the USA, Switzerlands Panzer Museum Thun in Switzerland and the Military Historical Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka near Moscow.

As an epilogue

The "Royal Tiger" had outstanding characteristics for its time: good armor with rational angles of inclination, a powerful gun (and in the future the gun was supposed to become even more powerful), comfort for the crew (hull ventilation, barrel purging, filtration system, automatic fire extinguishing system, excellent optics, ease of control) and much more.

Who knows, if the Third Reich had enough resources for debugging and normal production (without saving due to the shortage of materials) of these machines, how much longer the war would have lasted?! It’s not for nothing that the Allies, even with these essentially crude machines, could only fight with the help of large-caliber artillery and aviation, because on the battlefield they simply had nothing to oppose to these monsters. The Soviet troops also had to take the Tigers with cunning, numbers and large caliber. And this already says a lot...

As a result, the “Royal Tiger” can be safely recognized as one of the best (not mass-produced, like the T-34 or Sherman, not powerfully armed, like the rather rare IS or KV-2) tanks of the Second World War.

When compiling this article, materials from the following resources were used:
http://ww2history.ru
http://wowar.ru
https://tanksdb.ru
http://toparmy.ru