the north african heat waves that rose
from the arid desert did not help the
british artillerymen distinguish the
figure they were aiming at
it was a german tank the men were sure
of that but it looked different
the tank's square-shaped frame looked
more prominent more robust
it was probably just another panzer iii
nothing that a few rounds from a 75
millimeter gun could not get rid of
as the tank approached the british
soldiers opened fire but when the smoke
cleared the men were aghast the german
vehicle kept advancing without a single
scratch
the brits then fired another dozen
rounds but every single one bounced off
little did they know that they were
facing the vermont's most potent and
devastating tank ever produced
the invincible king tiger tank
[Music]
heavier tanks
tanks were first used on the
battlefields of the psalm on september
15
1916 british mark tanks marked a new era
of mechanized warfare
these colossal armored vehicles would
rise to new heights during the inner war
period
during this time germany was forbidden
from having an army and producing tanks
aircraft and warships
however with the cooperation of the
soviet union and far from the watchful
eyes of france and great britain both
nations began to develop new weapons and
tactics in the early 1920s
this led german engineers to produce
powerful tanks that would improve as the
years passed by
when great britain and france finally
declared war on germany in september of
1939 the vermont already had highly
effective panzer divisions comprising
the ponzer 3 and pinezer iv medium tanks
still despite the exceptional speed
maneuverability and firepower these
ponzers packed the vermont began
developing a more robust heavy tank in
nineteen thirty seven
hental and zone was awarded the contract
for this new panzer and dubbed it the
dork broke fagan or breakthrough vehicle
the new offensive weapon was expected to
weigh some 30 tons
however the prototype was cancelled in
1938 in favor of a heavier tank with the
second prototype weighing 36 tons and
featuring a 7.5 centimeter turret
still this one was also ditched
the continuous development of the heavy
tank evolved until 1940 as combat
experience came from fighting the
british matilda 2 tanks and the french
s-35 cavalry tanks showed the here that
it required better armored and more
potent tanks
the tiger won
in may of 1941 one month before the
invasion of the soviet union both
henschel and porsche submitted designs
for a 45-ton heavy tank that had to be
ready by 1942.
during the first days of operation
barbarossa the pines are divisions
encountered hundreds of soviet t-34
medium and kv-1 heavy tanks that proved
extremely resilient against conventional
german anti-tank guns and tank-to-tank
combat
the heater's new heavy tank was then
brought to a halt to make it more potent
than its soviet counterparts
its weight was increased to 45 tons and
the guns caliber to 8.8 centimeters
the fuhrer inspected the designs during
his 53rd birthday and although both
prototypes used a turret designed by
krupp the army chose henschel's design
because porsches had an electric system
that required a lot of copper which
germany lacked
despite this decision porsche's nickname
stuck and the tank entered production as
the tiger tank
although there was still much testing to
be done production began in july of 1942
and the first heavy tanks rolled into
soviet territory by september and into
tunisia by december
the final tiger design was something to
behold
with its square castle-like shape and
powerful cannon it was an imposing
weapon and caused plenty of fear on the
battlefield
weighing 57 tons the tiger was an
immense tank full of armor firepower and
ruthless efficiency
it had a length of 8.45 meters with its
gun forward and a total width of 3.56
meters with a height of 3 meters
the tank was manned by a crew of five
consisting of a commander gunner loader
radio operator and driver
it was also the first tank equipped with
overlapping road wheel suspension to
give the armored vehicle outstanding
weight distribution and it used 8
torsion bars on each side
despite its weight which is comparable
to today's m1 abrams the tiger was
pretty agile stable and maneuverable
under the right circumstances
also with a maximum speed of over 45
kilometers per hour it was almost as
fast as the american sherman and soviet
t-34 tanks which was no easy feat to
achieve for a tank almost twice as heavy
and
powerful the first tigers were powered
by a 21.35 liter 12-cylinder maybach
hl-210 p-45 engine that proved to be
underpowered and had to be replaced
after the first 250 tigers were
delivered
when it came to armament its 56 caliber
8.8 centimeter kwk gun was a game
changer
it had an excellent muzzle velocity and
was highly accurate and was able to
penetrate hundred millimeter thick armor
at ranges of up to a thousand meters
while its maximum range was about 1 900
meters
the tiger could fire four different
types of ammunition including
armor-piercing rounds with a ballistic
cap and composite rigid high-explosive
anti-tank rounds and shells carrying
incendiary shrapnel
in addition secondary armament comprised
two 7.92 millimeter mg-34 light machine
guns with over 4500 rounds of ammunition
besides its powerful cannon that quickly
tore apart any allied armored vehicle
the tiger rose to fame because of its
impregnable armor which surrounded it
with an aura of invincibility
its frontal hull and turret armor were
100 millimeters thick while the side
plates were 60 millimeters thick
the armor slightly varied depending on
the tank's protective side while the
armor plates were flat but would later
change with future upgrades
the king tiger
work on the tiger's successor the tiger
ii or king tiger began in mid-1942 right
before the former was deployed to the
battlefields of europe and africa
koenigstiga was bigger heavier and more
powerful
the vertical armor of the tiger 1 was
replaced by sloped armor increasing its
overall thickness and resistance
meanwhile the front armor was 102
millimeters thick making the new tiger
able to withstand the shell impacts of
the churchill sherman and t-34 tanks or
even the rounds of 75 millimeter
artillery guns which simply bounced off
the king tiger's turret could traverse
360 degrees in 19 seconds compared to
its predecessor's one minute long
rotation making it prone to be flanked
by t-34s or shermans
[Music]
despite the tremendous powerhouses that
both tiger 1 and tiger 2 were they also
had their issues and given their push
production and lack of testing many of
the tigers were prone to mechanical
failures
engine fires track failures or broken
gearboxes were some of the reasons that
caused the fearsome tiger to fail during
several campaigns
additionally the tank's complex design
made it significantly challenging to
repair individual components
and what's more the crews had to
familiarize themselves with the tank to
operate it properly
which led puncher general heinz guderian
to create the tiger feeble a manual with
provocative pictures of scantily clad
women to keep the tankers interested
no match
when properly deployed both the tiger 1
and the king tiger reigned supreme over
the battlefields of europe mostly when
used over terrain that favored mobility
as they were slower than the lighter
tanks used by their counterparts
during the eastern front and north
africa campaigns the tiger 1
demonstrated its elevated kd ratio with
devastating proficiency
most often than not it came up with a
high number of eliminations with very
few losses
no enemy tank was able to engage the
tiger one in one to one combat until
late in the war and even then tanks such
as the pershing or the m36 tank
destroyer had a rough time beating it
with their 90 millimeter cannons
in addition the american m4 sherman
tanks were no match against the tigers
cannon at a distance of up to 1 800
meters as their 88 millimeter gun easily
penetrated the allied tank from most
angles while the sermon 75 millimeter
gun could not damage the tiger's front
armor at any range
the allied tank had to be at a distance
of less than 100 meters to take its
chances and attempt to penetrate the
tigers upper hull which was a huge risk
that few americans were willing to take
the british churchill 4 was also
vulnerable against the tiger 1 at
distances of up to 1 700 meters and
ultimately the allied forces had to
either encircle a tiger with multiple
tanks or retreat after calling in
airstrikes
service life
the first tiger ones were deployed to
leningrad in september of 1942 where
they had an unfortunate beginning after
operating in a swampy region and one
tiger one was even captured intact by
the soviets
however general ervin rammel took
remarkable advantage of the power of his
tigers during the tunisian campaign and
operation citadel in 1943 but some were
lost after they hit mines and german
engineers could not repair them on time
the tiger 1 had much tougher opposition
at the eastern front where the soviet
t-34 proved a worthy adversary
the enemy's 85 millimeter gun could
penetrate the front armor of a tiger
between 200 and 500 meters at a side
angle while the tiger could destroy a
t-34's front armor at a distance of up
to 1 400 meters
however tiger 1 crews had to be cautious
when engaging large numbers of t-34s as
their combined fire could render their
tank useless in a matter of seconds
first employed by the 503rd heavy panzer
battalion the king tiger or tiger 2 made
its debut during the battle of normandy
in july of 1944 and surprised the
americans with its sheer firepower and
size
a month later the king tiger made its
way to the eastern front where it went
head-to-head against packs of improved
t-34s
under command of the elite 501st heavy
panzer battalion the tiger twos wrecked
hundreds of soviet armored vehicles as
they swarmed through the vestula river
during the lava sandimirs offensive
although it continually proved its worth
the king tiger could not turn things
around against the overwhelming number
of tanks produced by the soviets
during most encounters the german tanks
were outnumbered at least two to one and
a king tiger was simply no match against
a dozen t-34 tanks
nevertheless the tiger became crucial in
keeping the soviet armor divisions at
bay during their aggressive offensives
of late 1944 and 1945
when otto scorseni began operation
panzerfaust in october of 1944 to
capture budapest the 503rd heavy panzer
battalion destroyed over 120 enemy tanks
and 250 anti-tank guns in 160 days
when the arden offensive took place over
150 tigers attempted to route the
american forces
still most were lost during the battle
of the bulge
several king tigers were also deployed
as part of the reich's last offensive
the lake balaton operation in hungary
during march of 1945
and the surviving king tigers
participated in the battle of the zillow
heights as a last effort to decimate the
more than one million soviet soldiers
advancing towards berlin
the last tigers were eventually lost in
berlin days before the reich surrendered
to the soviets
still according to german records the
103rd ss heavy panzer battalion claimed
over 500 confirmed eliminations at the
loss of just 45 king tigers
ultimately
germany built over 1 350 tiger ones and
492 tiger twos but despite the high
combat capabilities of both versions
they would not change the tide of the
war
compared to the combined allied war
machine the german tanks were just a
minor hindrance against their
counterparts more than 200 000 tanks
however during its brief military career
the king tiger would significantly
influence future tanks built by both the
western and soviet forces
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