Gallery of images and combat stories of this Mighty AFV, in my opinion the best tank in WW2.
“Somewhere in the Eastern front.”
Had to go with the Tiger 2. Even thou a complete waste of resources … was a mean tank. Not alot made but the fear factor on the battle field was immense. It was not a tide turner only 485 and 9 prototypes were made. Still awesome tank IMO.
Yea, the Tiger II was a scary vehicle, the gun could penetrate every armored vehicle in service from 2000 meters, unfortunately for the germans the transmition gear and engine were not very reliable.
Tiger 1 in action, blasting some T-34.
Anyway the Tiger remaind a legend…
Great tanks…but unfortunately the crews constantly cursed them of constant repairs…
How would the Commanders Coppula work in the Tiger 1?
Also, was there any additional armor made for the Tiger? Such as side plating, turret plating, etc.
The Tiger 1 and 2 did not use the “schurzen” of any other aditional armor, sometimes spare track were placed in those areas.
Tiger II (ausf b) from Kampfgruppe Peiper, Belgium december 1944.
My vote is going to the King Tiger II because I thank it is more improved then both of the King Tiger I. I thank this tank helped the third reich alot. Maybe one of Hitlers most impressive tank, but that is just my opinion.
This tank is my favorite of the German Armys Tanks.
The concept is basiacally the same as the King Tiger I, but is more formidable. The Armour is made of the armour of the King Tiger I and the Panther giving well thick armour for battle. This tank was the ultimate tank destroyer feared by the armys that heard its engine roaring. The Tiger II weighed 68.5 [the turret] to 69.8 [production turret] tons, it was protected by 150-180mm of frontal armor, and was armed with a 88mm KwK 43 L/47 gun.
The very heavy armor and powerful long-range gun gave the Tiger II the advantage against virtually all opposing tanks. This was especially true on the Western Front. Where the United States and British forces have almost no heavy tanks which would oppose it. In a defensive position it was difficult to kill. Offensively it performed with less succes, and its performance was a great disapointment to Hitler when it first saw action.
The Tiger II performed very well against allied and soviet tanks being able to kill the M4 Sherman, M26 Pershing and IS-2 at respectively 2500m, 1800m, and 1200m. The Tiger II was widely phototgraphed for its size and propaganda value.
Mostly Modern Color Video Clips:
Pzkw VI TIGER I
German Tiger tank No 131 at the
Bovington Tank Museum. It is the
only Tiger I left that is capable
of running under its own power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mihak7XPcQ
Bovington UK 1943 Tiger Tank working restored original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzLRbDzk3mk
Bovington Tiger 2006 scene 1 by Vince Abbott
Tiger I running at Tankfest 2006 in Bovington, England.
The rebuilt engine is running smoothly and shows how the
Tiger would have sounded during the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3I1dj7SJ0A
Bovington Tiger 2006 scene 2 by Vince Abbott
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPdEtq_INh0
Bovington Tiger 2006 scene 3 by Vince Abbott
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KmvVQn5m-k
Tiger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1JKd6hiCu4
Tiger Tank 131
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDTtBEdKVqI
Tiger 131 again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DArKBhOlwAY
Tiger 131 Backing Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17zhWLY5kPA
Tankfest 2006 - Tiger 131
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2ecuTygoow
Panzer VI (Tiger 1) and Panzer III at Tankfest 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Xc7M-N9nw
Inside a German Tiger I tank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFzlZbfpQUo
Pzkw VI B King Tiger / Tiger II
Tiger II. in Aberdeen Proving Grounds
8mm movie film taken when 332 arrived at APG in the summer of 1945
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34GezMHX77w
Königstiger 104 is dragged out of one of the halls at Bovington Tank Museum,
17th June 2003.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEpADL9MI9Y
A restored King Tiger driving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSmgMzFdv4M
Tiger II tank - restored & running
From the Musee de Blindes in Saumur, France this footage is of the last running Tiger II panzer.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7696001690439086249&pr=goog-sl
Musee de Blindes in Saumur, France
www.musee-des-blindes.asso.fr
http://www.musee-des-blindes.asso.fr/2blindes/2jpresent.htm
Hi Panzerknacker,
thanks for the welcome, is it the Belgrano you are displaying ?
I would go for the TigerI since it was already proofen and far more reliable then the Tiger II.
My personal favorit though is the Jagdpanther.
Dora 12
000.bmp (275 KB)
Nice videos, Despite the years wich had passed from the WW2 the Tiger, specially the Tiger II, is a impressive vehicle.
thanks for the welcome, is it the Belgrano you are displaying ?
Actually is the heavy cruiser ARA Almirante Brown.
Some details about the first Tiger.
Tiger 1 Porsche and his variants.
On May 26th of 1941, during the meeting concerning the development of new weaponry, Adolf Hitler ordered both Dr.Porsche and Henschel to supply their designs for a heavy tank, which was to be ready in the summer of 1942.
The new 45-ton panzer was to be armed with a 88mm KwK L/56 mounted in a turret designed by Krupp. Development of Porsche’s Tiger was progressing much faster than that of Henschel since Porsche worked on an independent project for heavy tank since autumn of 1940. Henschel was not that advanced and utilized as many already available components from its previous projects to complete its VK 4501 design.
In order to speed up the development of VK4501(P), components of VK 3001(P) were modified and used. The suspension was modified version of the suspension used in the VK 3001(P) prototype. It was made up of six road-wheels and lacked return rollers. Tracks had 109 links per side and were 640mm wide with track surface contact of 4175mm (4.175m). Tiger(P) was powered by two (air-cooled) Porsche Typ 101/1 engines mounted in the rear part of the hull.
Gasoline engines drove electrical generators, which drove two electric motors, which provided power to the tracks.Gasoline engines were produced with defects and were repaired but remained unreliable, while electric system used copper, which was a critical war material.
Drive sprocket was in the rear instead of the standard location at the front. Electric transmission system was used similar to that of VK 3001(P).Overall gasoline-electric power/drive system with which many problems were encountered (such as engine fire) was utilized. Its power/weight distribution limited its cross-country performance and during trials, VK4501(P) prototype was often bogged down (especially in the soft ground) and had to be towed away by recovery vehicles…
Tiger porsche continue…
The contest agaist the Henschel Tiger.
Both, Henschel and Porsche’s prototypes arrived to a station near Rastenburg on April 19th of 1942 and then traveled 11km to Rastenburg, while constantly breaking down.On April 20th of 1942 at 11:00am, both Porsche and Henschel prototypes were presented to Adolf Hitler (on his birthday) in Wolfschanze (Rastenburg), East Prussia.
Tests were scheduled for July and preliminary tests proved that the Tiger(P)'s design was far from being perfect and modifications were made, but none of the technical problems were fully solved from the lack time. Both VK4501(P) and VK4501(H) were armed with powerful 88mm KwK 36 L/56 gun, developed from 88mm Flak 36 L/56 gun.
Tiger P in Rastenburg.
Originally, Krupp designed and produced the turret for Porsche’s VK4501, but then it was modified and used by Henschel’s VK4501. The first eight turrets produced had lower sides and a flat roof with raised centre section to allow the gun to be depressed through larger arc.
Tiger(P) had its turret mounted forward, what also made the operating in enclosed areas dangerous. In July of 1942, both prototypes were put to the extensive tests at the tank school in Berka, Germany. During the tests, Porsche’s VK 4501(P) was a failure, while Henschel’s VK 4501(H) was a great success. Main failure of Porsche’s design laid in its advanced power and drive system, which was prone to breakdowns and required continuous maintenance. Also Tiger(P) was longer than its competitor, what made it less maneuverable.
Several Pics of the test in the Posche Tiger. The turret is pointing rearwards.
The tracks in the Tiger P were narrower than the Henschel Tiger “combat tracks”.
In July of 1942, Henschel Tiger - VK 4501(H) was approved and went into production. Only five Tiger(P) were fully completed in July of 1942 by Nibelungenwerke with armored parts supplied by Krupp, before the production was stopped in August of 1942 (chassis number 150001-150010).
But beside the Porsches s defeat, production of 90 pre-production VK4501(P) chassis started. Production of pre-production chassis continued, and in early September of 1942, it was decided to equip two sPzAbts (including sPzAbt 501) destined for North Africa with Tiger(P)s. This decision was made simply because of the stage of development and the fact that Tiger(P)'s engines were air-cooled. Once again unresolved problem of technical unreliability led to the cancellation of the production. Those chassis were used for the Ferdinand- Elefant jagdpanzer.
Esqueme of the gasoline electrical transmition.
Only one completed Tiger(P) with chassis number 150013 saw combat service as a command tank - Panzerbefehlswagen VI(P) with schwere Heeres Panzerjager Abteilung 653.
It was used by its commander, Hauptmann Grillenberg (turret number 003), on the Eastern Front in early/mid of 1944.
Caracteristics.
Weight: 58 500kg
Crew: 5 men
Engine: 2 x Porsche Typ 101/1 / V10 / 320hp
Fuel Capacity: 520 litres
Speed: Road: 20-35km/h
Cross-Country: 8-10km/h
Range: Road: 80-110km
Cross-Country: 48-50km
Lenght: 9.34m (with the gun)
6.70m (w/o the gun)
Width: 3.38m (with the aprons)
3.14m (w/o the aprons)
Height: 2.80m
Armament: 88mm KwK 36 L/56 & 2 x 7.92mm MG34
Ammo: 88mm - 64-80 rounds
7.92mm - 4350 rounds
Armor (mm/angle):
Front Turret: 100/8
Front Superstructure: 100/12
Front Hull: 100/35
Side Turret: 80/0
Side Superstructure: 80/0
Side Hull: 60/0
Rear Turret: 80/0
Rear Hull: 80/0
Top / Bottom Turret: 25/81 / 25/90
Top / Bottom Superstructure: 20/90
Top / Bottom Hull: 20/90
Gun Mantlet: 100-110/0
The armor protection of the German tanks seemed to be less than what I might have expected for vehicles of such size.
The Tiger II apparently weighed over 69 metric tons yet had an 88 mm gun which is smaller than the guns on some other tanks that are far lighter such as the Pershing and IS 2. This seems rather odd.
Probably true in the comparative with the IS-2, the big reason was that the Tiger II had 5 crewmen and the russian tank just 4 so some space ( and then armor weight) was saved.
Other is that…the Tiger had too many steel on it specially in the front. 180 mm and 150mm in the hull.
The tiger 1 Porsche was heavier than the Henschel because his complicated engines wich had a ridiculously big amount of copper on it because the electric drive.
Very nice article on the Tiger l Porsche Panzerknacker.Did not realize that the Tiger 1(P) actually seen service.You have an idea how successful Hauptmann Grillenberg was in it?
Thanks Acetankkiller, is a interesting vehicle, there is no much info about it saw some combat in Poland and probably destroyed some russian armor, I going to search for more.
Porsche over his Tiger.
King Tiger? Ppfffftttt…
What use is a tank that you can’t drive across a bridge with?
The height of folly and wasted resources resulting from Hitler’s Freudian nightmares…