Tiger tank. The hidden truth about the Nazi monster that killed allies: “Tiger tank is a waste of time The full name of the tiger 1

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I is without exaggeration the legendary tank of World War II. Designed by Erwin Aders and built by the Henschel firm, the Tiger was always in the thick of battles and took an active part in the most important strategic operations of the Wehrmacht.

Exploitation

The Tiger tank was produced from 1942 to 1944 and was put into operation in mid-1942, when the 502nd tank battalion was delivered to the outskirts of the Leningrad region. Starting the attack, the superbly reinforced, but heavy and clumsy Tigers got stuck in the swampy soil. Tanks unadapted to such conditions, which were immediately evacuated for repairs, had gearboxes failing in the swamps and engines stalled.

In mid-September, the tanks that returned from repairs again attempted to attack, but were fired upon by Soviet troops and again bogged down in the swamps, after which they were again evacuated.

Despite not the most successful start, the Tiger, nevertheless, during the battles proved to be a devastating military weapon: from February 12 to February 17, 1943, the Tigers disabled and destroyed 31 Soviet tanks, and the total number of trophies in the Leningrad region amounted to 160 units .

Powerful and heavy, the Tigers were still not invulnerable - the tanks regularly failed due to engine breakdowns and still got stuck in the swamps.

By June 1943, the headquarters managed to bring the number of Tigers to the 14 units originally planned by the leadership - before that, the tanks broke down, were towed for repairs and returned back, some were lost during the battles. The required number was reached when 7 more tanks were sent from Germany.

In March 1943, in the Battle of Kharkov, the Tigers destroyed 12 T-34 tanks in a matter of minutes, and knocked out 8 more during the pursuit. The 88-mm Tiger projectile was so powerful that the T-34 simply tore off the tower, leaving no chance not only for victory, but even for some resistance.

A separate topic deserves the participation of the Tigers in the largest tank battle in history - the Battle of Kursk. In the brutal and bloody Operation Citadel, the losses of the 503rd and 505th German tank battalions amounted to only 4 units!

In total, 1354 Tigers were produced during the Second World War, the production costs of which were twice the production costs of any other tank of that time. This, in part, explains the reason for the insignificant export of the Tiger abroad - its production simply did not cover the needs of the Wehrmacht itself.

Production

The Tiger became the first heavy tank of the Wehrmacht. Perhaps its creation would have been postponed indefinitely, but the medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf. The E-F was inferior to the Soviet T-34 in all respects, and for the success of the enterprise, the army of the Third Reich desperately needed a strong and powerful machine.

The Third Reich announced a competition for the best model of a heavy tank with a mass of at least 30 tons and a gun located in a turret above the hull.

Simultaneously with the Henschel firm, Ferdinand Porsche was involved in the design of the declared model of a new heavy tank. An innovator in the automotive industry, he was in good standing with Hitler and was just starting out in tank building.

According to the characteristics of reliability and patency, the Henschel tank won. The Porsche tank, in addition to its complex design, assumed such rare materials as copper for its work, which excluded mass production.

The turret of the tank, however, was borrowed from the Porsche model, since the turrets ordered by Henschel were not completed on time.

Control

The control of the tank was arranged in the manner of driving a car and did not require special skills and abilities: steering wheel, pedals, gearbox and communication devices.

Characteristics

The Tiger became the first tank in Germany with a variable width: it was wider at the top, which made it possible to install a turret with a shoulder strap diameter of 1850 mm for 88 mm guns - the same ones that tanks would later "scatter" .

The hulls of the tank were made of rolled steel and were located parallel or perpendicular to each other, which significantly improved the safety characteristics. The welded surfaces were the favored German dovetail method. The weak point of the Tiger, for which its designers were regularly criticized, was the practically unprotected junction of the hull and turret and a 30 mm roof (against 80 mm of the hull and 100 mm of the frontal part), which was completely irrational for a tank of this size. An armored ring was subsequently developed at the junction of the tower and the hull, but the roof was left unchanged. Part of the loss of tanks happened precisely because the tank turret was wedged due to fragments of shells falling into the roof. The Tiger's hull was impressive: without the undercarriage and turret, it weighed 29 tons.

The turret of the tank was powered by a gearbox, with the engine turned off, the rotation was done manually by the machinists.

The 725 mm wide caterpillar belt provided excellent driving characteristics, however, when transporting the tank, it was recommended to change it to a special 520 mm transport belt - the wide caterpillars simply did not fit into the car.

Location

The Tiger was a classic tank with a front power train. In front of the tank there was a crew and all the controls: steering wheel, jobs, gearbox, pedals, machine gun, etc.

In order to raise morale, as well as a visual demonstration of the colossal strength of the Tiger, a tank was brought to the training center after a two-day battle in Rostov. After 250 direct hits, the tank was able to independently get to the base for repairs and was a truly ingenious creation of engineering.

In 1943-44, the Tigers were covered with a special coating - zimmerite, which prevents magnetization of undermining magnetic mines. Subsequently, these measures were abandoned.

The Tiger is definitely a legendary tank. At the time of its appearance, it had no equal in the whole world: an 88-mm projectile left no chance for the enemy, and it was almost impossible to penetrate thick frontal armor, which was the best suited for counterattacks and head-on collisions.

The heavy tank Tiger served the German army during the final years of World War II. In practice, he proved his advantages and showed that he is an excellent combat vehicle, but not without flaws. For example, the tank suffered from overweight and size, as well as a lack of resources. The Tiger became the first German tank to receive an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun as its main gun, while combining good armor and good mobility for its size. The lack of resources led to production problems and a decline in the quality of components, which further exacerbated the shortcomings of a high-tech machine, whose concept was fundamentally different from the Soviet one, aimed at mass production of simple machines.

In general, the use of the Tiger cannot be called particularly successful, since too many factors prevented this, however, the tank itself proved to be formidable and in many ways innovative, leaving an unforgettable mark on the history of World War II and deserving the love of tank aces, for example, Kurt Knispel.

Until the advent of the new T-34, such Wehrmacht vehicles as the Pz-3 and Pz-4 did their job quite well. The Germans, constantly trying to create more and more advanced weapons, began work on a project in 1937 that could replace the Pz-4 in the future, but canceled it due to too slow development and low priority. In addition, after meeting with the British Matildas and the French Char B1, the Germans believed that their equipment was head and shoulders above the enemy.

So it was until the moment of meeting with the new Soviet development. The T-34 literally shocked the Wehrmacht, as it surpassed the Pz-4 in literally everything, having ricochet and durable armor, a good gun and excellent mobility, and, most importantly, their number was constantly growing. After capturing several samples of the T-34, it was carefully examined by specialists and high ranks, after which it was decided that a new tank was needed.

The Germans immediately began to develop an "anti-tank" for the T-34. The projects were presented by several firms - Daimler-Benz, MAN and Henschel, later, in 1939, Porsche joined them. Project Mun would eventually become a superb medium tank called the Panther, incorporating all the strengths of the T-34 in the form of wide tracks, sloping thick armor and a powerful 75mm gun. Porsche designs will become the VK3001 and VK4501.

Initially, Henschel and Porsche were selected to present their designs, limited to 35 tons. Each firm showed its prototype, under the names VK3001 (H) and VK3001 (P) respectively ("H" for Henschel and "P" for Porsche). They did not pass the selection, but continued their development, after which the VK4501 was introduced. He was already in the weight category of heavy tanks, had about 45 tons and a powerful 88 mm anti-aircraft gun. This gun was created to deal with air targets, however, it showed its exceptional success, after which it was also converted into anti-tank. Krupp was tasked with supplying the main gun and mounting the turret.

Porsche vs Henschel

The display of the novelty was scheduled for April 20, 1942, as a birthday present for the Fuhrer. The Henschel prototype became the VK4501(H), while the Porsche prototype became the VK4501(P). Dr. Ferdinand Porsche always maintained a close relationship with Hitler, and his firm often benefited from this, so he believed that the winner had already been determined and only formalities remained, because of which he began to produce his VK4501 (P) even before receiving the order, creating a co display time 100 samples.

Indeed, when considering prototypes, Porsche turned out to be a favorite, however, later, a significant drawback of his tank surfaced in the form of an innovative electric transmission, which not only was not particularly reliable, but also required scarce copper for its production. In October 1942, a special commission, known as the "Tiger Commission", was to make a final verdict. And a Henschel sample was chosen for production. The tank was named PzKpfw VI Tiger.

Project finalization

The development of the project continued after its approval for production. Gradually, its weight increased to 55 tons, let me remind you that initially the limit was 45 tons. Such an increase forced the engineers to change the design of the chassis, adding additional wheels to it in a checkerboard pattern, thus increasing the width of the tracks, which led to the impossibility of transportation on railway platforms. Therefore, 2 types of tracks were created - standard wide for combat conditions and narrow for transportation. The installation of the latter took about half an hour from the trained crew on each side and consisted not only in replacing the tracks, but also in removing the outer row of wheels. The selection committee eventually approved the Tiger project, since it had an excellent gun and good armor, which made it possible to turn a blind eye to shortcomings. Serial production was scheduled for August 1942, it produced the first 4 Tigers, and in total it was supposed to produce 12 vehicles per month.

Start of production

Production began from August 1942 and continued until August 1944, eventually producing 1,350 examples. The complex design of the Tiger did not allow it to be produced in large quantities, which would be enough to turn the then already begun defeat in the war. Tiger samples differed in small details, depending on the place of production, as the lack of resources, components and just front-line experience affected.

Maybach engines

The first 250 Tigers were equipped with a 650 hp Maybach HL 210 P30 engine. The following samples received Maybach HL 230 P45 with power increased to 700 hp. They were designed on the basis of aircraft engines and proved to be suitable for adaptation to medium and heavy German tanks in need of powerful engines. The Maybach HL 230 P45 was also used on the Panther. The range was about 140 kilometers on the highway and only 45-50 off-road. German reports stated that the Tiger had traveled for only two and a half hours, after which it required refueling. Because of this, many vehicles were lost due to a sudden run out of fuel in battle. They had to be left and blown up in order to prevent the enemy from capturing them.

Due to the huge fuel consumption of the powerful Maybach, the movement of the tank to the forward units under its own power was very difficult, and often completely impossible, so it was necessary to restore the damaged railway tracks and transport the Tigers in this way. The routes were specially planned in advance, avoiding bridges impassable due to weight, narrow roads and rough terrain. Also, the Tigers were very mobile and dynamic on the battlefield, but they just drove slowly in a straight line, lagging behind the mobile forward units, which often forced them to wait or engage in battle without support.

Improvements

Starting with 391 produced, a new turret was introduced, featuring a modified commander's turret that was very similar to that of the Panther. A barrel lock was added and an escape hatch was cut in from the rear of the turret. In June of 1943, the mountings for the MG34 anti-aircraft machine gun were slightly improved and adapted to the modified turret, and in August only one headlight remained on the hull. After the 800 Tiger was created, production switched to a wheel with a steel border instead of the original wheel with wear rubber. The last approximately 54 Tigers were created thanks to damaged hulls, tanks rescued from the battlefield many times, which were sent to the factory and used with new towers

Varieties

The early production series of the Tiger was named PzKpfW VI Ausf. H. It featured a tropical engine system that facilitated operation in hot desert climates such as those encountered in North Africa. He could also overcome water obstacles of rather great depth ford. PzKpfW VI Ausf. E became a new modification and replaced its predecessor, starting in February 1944. According to German traditions, the Tiger corps was used to create other vehicles that meet the needs of the army. For example, an armored recovery vehicle (BREM) was created, which made it possible to tow damaged tanks that conventional tractors could not cope with due to their heavy weight. The lead tank existed as a "Befehlspanzer Tiger" with additional communication equipment, a commander's version of the "Befehlspanzer" and an assault gun "Sturmtiger" which had a 380 mm naval gun and was designed to destroy long-term fortifications.

Armor

The design of the tiger was very typical for its time. Interestingly, its armor plates were located mainly at right angles, unlike the Panther, which had a good armor slope. The frontal part was 100 millimeters thick and was installed almost vertically, at an inclination of 80 degrees, a course machine gun and a vision device for the driver were installed in it. Above was a horizontal sheet of armor 63 mm thick, at an angle of 10 degrees. The lower frontal do had a thickness of 100 millimeters and a reverse slope of 66 degrees. They were interconnected by the Dovetail method popular in Germany. The junction of the tower and the hull was open and was one of the most vulnerable places of the Tiger. On the battlefield, many vehicles left the battle, having received a wedge of the tower with one hit or even shrapnel. Later, a special armored ring was added for protection. The roof of the hull had 30 millimeters. Side armor was 80 millimeters without tilt.

Chassis

The wide tracks have been specially designed for better traction and flotation. They allowed the heavy Tiger to move quite easily over rough terrain. It cannot be said that he had outstanding cross-country ability, but it was enough for most situations. The raised star-shaped drive wheel was in front, guiding behind, between them there were 8 road wheels arranged in a checkerboard pattern. For a heavy tank, mobility was very good. The German-style torsion bar suspension also had its merit in this.

Frame

The lid of the engine compartment had a grill on its surface for ventilation, the exhaust pipes were installed at the back on an almost vertical armor plate located at a slight inclination. The engine itself was covered with a 82 mm plate at an 8 degree angle. The crew consisted of 5 people, namely the commander, driver, gunner, loader and radio operator. The driver was in the front left side of the hull, the radio operator in the left. The transmission, passing through the middle, divided the fighting compartment into two parts. Each crew member had his own personal hatch on the roof of the hull in front of the turret. The driver had a vision lock right in front of him, and the radio operator had a 7.92 MG34 course machine gun with an integrated vision system.

Tower

The turret had a heavily armored, rectangular gun mantlet and heavily rounded sides. The rear was also rounded and not slanted (unlike the Panther, which had most of its armor plates slanted). The main gun, KwK36 caliber 88 mm, was located in the center of the turret and protruded from the hull. The barrel had 3 clearly divided sections and a dual-chamber type muzzle brake at the end to compensate for recoil. The commander, gunner and were in the tower, equipped with hydraulic horizontal guidance. The gunner sat in front on the left, the loader on the right, behind them, in the center, the commander. A large breech of the gun divided the turret in half, so the commander had his own round commander's cupola with a hatch that the gunner could also use, and the loader had his own rectangular hatch. Early Tigers had commander's turrets with observation slots, while later ones received cast steel turrets similar to those mounted on Panthers and had a periscope. The gunner also operated a 7.92 caliber MG34 coaxial machine gun. Along each side of the tower, 3 smoke grenade launchers were installed to set up smoke screens during retreat or covert movement. The thickness of the frontal armor of the tower was 100 millimeters, reaching 200 millimeters near the base of the barrel and fastened in that place by welding. In other parts, it had a thickness of 82 millimeters, with the exception of the roof, which was 26 millimeters thick. The hydraulic drive was located at the bottom of the hull and took power from the engine. Just like in the Panther, the gunner used the turret's manual drive for precise aiming just before firing at the target. Firing required a complete stop due to the lack of stabilizing gun systems on the tank. The manual guidance function could also be used as an emergency in case of failure of the main hydraulic drive. Two slots for the use of personal weapons were placed in the rear of the tower, although, from February 1943, only one remained. An escape hatch was also added on the rear right wall of the turret, which could perform communication functions between the tank commander and the infantry.

Tiger ammo

The shells of the gun were similar to those of their predecessor, the anti-aircraft gun. They were significantly distinguished only by the electric trigger and the semi-automatic shutter of the Tiger. The tank usually carried about 92 shells on board, although sometimes their number reached 100. Typically, half of the shells were of the high-explosive type, and the rest consisted of armor-piercing, sub-caliber and cumulative types. The gun had excellent ballistics and could hit targets at great distances. It was recommended to shoot at a maximum of 2500 meters at fixed targets, however, in July 1944, a gunner from the crew of the commander of the 3rd company of the 506th heavy tank battalion of Hauptmann Wacker hit the T-34 tank, which was at a distance of 3600 meters. And this was far from an isolated case. Thus, the Tiger tank had the ability to destroy its enemies from such distances from which they were not able to do anything to it.

Tiger in action

Just as in the case of the Panther, Hitler's personal interest in the tank forced him to speed up production and put the vehicles into operation before passing all the tests and correcting the flaws. The Fuhrer has always been persistent in matters relating to the possibility of obtaining super-powerful weapons that have no analogues in the world. Therefore, such projects were often sent to the front without having time to get rid of children's sores. The tiger is no exception. In addition, the German infrastructure suffered from bomber raids and the tanks did not receive proper maintenance and spare parts.

In practice, this greatly affected the effectiveness of the use of the Tigers and limited their influence on the course of the war. When fuel became scarce, the German infantry was forced to stop relying on support, since the Tigers were often withdrawn due to lack of gasoline. And due to the unreliability of the transmission and the impossibility of its regular maintenance, the crews were instructed in advance to take advantageous positions, where targets within the radius of destruction would be visible. German crews moved only when necessary, so as not to once again exhaust the resources of engines and gears. Such orders demonstrated the understanding of the German command that even the finest tank has its limitations.

As in the case of the Panther, the Tiger crews were instructed that they could safely expose their frontal armor to the blow. Indeed, at first the tank was practically invulnerable to enemy tanks, guns, grenades and rifles. One German Tiger Commander recorded more than 200 hits with 14.5 mm caliber ammunition, 14 direct 52 mm caliber and about 11 from a powerful 76.2 mm cannon. After a 6 hour battle, the tank returned and took part in the battle the next day.

On August 29, 1942, Hitler gave the first order to put heavy Tiger tanks into battle. On September 16, 1942, 4 of them took part in the battles near Leningrad, passed such a test and went into battle the next day. However, this debut also showed the weaknesses of the tank, as a result of which, on September 21, they were lost due to anti-tank guns and too soft soil, from which they could not leave. The Tiger, like the Panther, had one unpleasant feature due to its checkerboard suspension. In the harsh Soviet winter, dirt accumulated between the wheels, which froze during the stop and tightly fettered the chassis, depriving the tank of mobility until the crew cleaned everything manually or with a blowtorch. The Soviet Army became very interested in the new heavy tanks and constantly made attempts to capture them in working order, as did the Germans in their time when they met the T-34, whose design gave life to the Panther project. Also, Soviet engineers, having received the Tiger on January 16, 1943, noted many interesting features, for example, thick armor that is very difficult to penetrate for all guns in service. This led to the design of self-propelled artillery mounts of the SU series and, later, the IS-1, IS-2 tanks, which became a worthy enemy of the Tiger until the end of the war.

The production of the Tiger almost did not grow, and by the end of the war there were fewer and fewer tanks, since the enemy significantly outnumbered the Wehrmacht troops. However, the Tiger, thanks to its cannon and optics, allowed trained crews not to engage in battle, but to shoot the approaching enemy from afar, which the Germans began to use more and more often. During the retreat, the German forces constantly used ambushes with camouflaged tanks, and this brought excellent results. Unsuspecting Soviet tanks were suddenly hit out of nowhere, after which the Tigers simply withdrew from their positions, leaving nothing but crippled enemies.

The Americans, faced with the Tiger for the first time, learned many lessons. Their Sherman medium tanks were unable to penetrate the enemy from more than 700 meters, while they themselves were struck from any reasonable distance. American tank crews reported 30 direct hits that only bounced off the thick frontal armor of a formidable enemy. In the end, it became clear that the only way to fight was by numerical superiority, with several Shermans pretending to be a decoy, and others riding on the flanks. Since the number of American tanks was in the tens of thousands, the exchange of 1 Tiger for several Shermans was considered quite acceptable. It could also be destroyed by a 57 mm anti-tank gun, albeit from short distances.

The Soviets also quickly learned how to deal with the Tigers. These were group attacks, anti-tank guns and minefields. Although the often immobilized tank continued to fire from its gun and machine gun, becoming a stationary firing point. The infantry used anti-tank grenades and incendiary cocktails thrown at the thin engine grill and causing a fire.

Epilogue

Later, the heir to the formidable machine was born, PzKpfw VIB Tiger 2, also known as the Royal Tiger. He received thicker armor with sloping sheets and a long-barreled gun. But the Tiger 2 appeared towards the end of the war, was released in small quantities and could not really affect anything.

But the PzKpfw VI Tiger itself seriously influenced the minds of enemies, forcing them to look for ways to deal with a vehicle that has excellent armor, a cannon and optics. And, even having found them, they had to suffer heavy losses, giving up several of their own for one German tank. Therefore, the Tiger went down in history as a legend, albeit not as bright as the T-34, known as the tank of victory, but bright enough to make you wonder how many enemies were destroyed by its name alone, and how many more could be destroyed, not hinder her in this some circumstances.

“We will be winners thanks to our “Tiger”

Adolf Hitler before the Battle of Kursk.

Big and slow, crews cursed tank "Tiger" for unreliability. But when he went into battle, the armor and cannon of the Tiger made him almost invulnerable.

The tank's high complexity, unreliability and low strength meant that it lost its edge over vast areas. Although in situations where strength is important in combat, he was almost invulnerable and could fire at very long distances; in July 1944, a tank from the 506th heavy tank battalion hit a Soviet T-34 tank at a range of about 4 km.

Individual tank commanders had huge personal accounts of destroyed tanks: Michael Wittmann (SS) was the most successful tank ace of the war, he and his crew destroyed over 100 enemy tanks on the Eastern Front. He followed on the heels of such masters as Lieutenant Otto Carius.

Tiger Armor

The huge advantages of the "Tiger" consisted of good protection for the crew and the excellent striking power of its gun. The thick, flat-slab armor lacked the good ballistic shape found in other designs of the time, such as the Panther or the Soviet T-34 tank. But with armor thickness increased from 63 to 102 mm on the hull and from 82 to 100 mm on the Ausf H turret (brought to 110 mm on the Ausf E), the Tiger hardly needed it.

Cannon Tiger eight-eight

The main armament of the tank was the 88 mm KwK-36 L156 cannon, converted from an anti-tank version of the excellent "eighty-eighth" anti-aircraft gun. It was the most powerful anti-tank gun ever used in any army, capable of hitting 112 mm armor from a distance of 1400 m. The Tiger carried 92 rounds to the main gun, stowed in the hull bunker, turret racks and wherever else could be reach out with your hand.

Muzzle brake: The Tifa KwK L/56 cannon was equipped with a muzzle brake, which reduced the recoil force when firing an anti-tank projectile flying at a speed of 1000 m/s.
For self-defense against infantry, two 7.92-mm M-634 machine guns were installed on the tank: one coaxial with the main gun, and the other mounted in the front hull plate.

Tank tracks

For the Tiger, tracks 72.5 cm wide were needed to distribute the load on the soil. Its width exceeded the standard railway gauge, so the outer road wheels were replaced and narrower 52 cm tracks were installed to transport the tank.

Ride comfort was good - the intermediate road wheels helped distribute considerable weight evenly,
torsion bar suspension made the ride soft even on uneven surfaces. However, if the inner track roller was damaged by a mine explosion, repairing the tank in the field became a serious problem. In the East, mud freezing between the rollers could completely immobilize the tank overnight.

The "Tiger" weighed about 60 tons, but its wide tracks gave it the ability to move in the dirtiest and most snowy places that could be found in Russia.

Disadvantages of the Tiger tank

Despite its excellent power, the Tiger had several drawbacks. The turret traverse mechanism was too slow, which meant that the fast-moving (and bold) enemy tank crew could maneuver at close range in front of or behind the tank. The slowness and limited mobility of the "Tiger" meant that in a maneuverable battle, he obviously did not have an advantage.

The Tigers were complex machines. in need of experienced crews and maintenance personnel capable of working in the field. As a result, often bogged down in a swamp or out of order "Tigers" were destroyed: the large weight of the tank made it impossible to load it onto standard evacuation vehicles.

Production and modification of the Tiger tank

The production of "Tigers" has never been high. Initially, 12 cars were assembled every month, but from November 1942, their production was increased to 25 units per month.

The tank underwent various modifications during its two years of production, early models had smoke grenade launchers and pistol embrasures on the sides of the turret, which were removed on later models.

Tanks destined for Africa and Russia were equipped with air dust filters. Ultimately, 1355 Tiger tanks were assembled. The last operational Tigers were used to defend the center of Berlin in April 1945.

In total, there were several variants of the Tiger tank: about 80 tanks were assembled as command vehicles ("Befehlswagen"), with an additional radio transmitter that allowed commanders to improve control of their vehicles. Some refurbished variants were improved unnecessarily - the standard Wehrmacht recovery vehicle SdKfz 9, an 18-ton half-track towing vehicle.

Specifications of the Tiger tank

Crew: five persons

Weight: 55,000 kg

Dimensions: Length (including weapons) 8.24 m; hull length 6.2 m; width 3.73 m; height 2.86 m; the width of combat tracks is 71.5 cm; transport tracks width 51.5 cm

Armor protection: frontal armor 100 mm thick on the turret and hull; on the sides of the tower - 80-mm armor; on the side walls of the hull - 60-80 mm armor: upper and lower armor - 25 mm.

Power point: One 12-cylinder Maybach HL 230 45 petrol engine, 522 kW (700 hp)

Specifications: maximum road speed 45 km/h; normal maximum speed 38 km/h; maximum cross-country speed 18 km/h; the maximum range on the road was 195 km, but in combat conditions it rarely exceeded 100 km; fording depth - 1.2 m; maximum steepness of rise - 60%; the height of the overcome vertical obstacles is 0.79 m, the trench is 1.8 m.

Main armament: One 88 mm KwK-36/56 cannon with 92 rounds. Type of shells: armor-piercing shells, armor-piercing shells with tungsten cores, HEAT shells. Muzzle velocity: 600 m / s (high-explosive projectile); 773 m / s (armor-piercing projectile); 930 m / s (armor-piercing projectile with a tungsten core).
Effective firing range: 3,000 m for an armor-piercing projectile and 5,000 m for a high-explosive projectile. Penetration: 171 mm armor at close range and 110 mm armor at 2000 m using a tungsten core armor-piercing projectile.

Additional armament: One 7.92 mm MG-34 machine gun. coaxial with the gun, and one MG-34 machine gun mounted movably in the frontal hull plate.

Type "S" (principle of operation - the mine was fired at a height of 5-7 meters and exploded, hitting enemy infantry with fragments, trying to destroy the tank in close combat)

Mobility engine's type the first 250 Maybach HL210P30 cars; on the rest of the "Maybach" HL230P45 V-shaped 12‑cylinder liquid-cooled carburetor Highway speed, km/h 38 Cross-country speed, km/h 20-25 Cruising range on the highway, km 100 Power reserve over rough terrain, km 60 Specific power, l. s./t 11,4 suspension type individual torsion bar Specific ground pressure, kg/cm² 1,05 Climbability, deg. 35° Passable wall, m 0,8 Crossable ditch, m 2,3 Crossable ford, m 1,2

Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger I" Ausf E, "Tiger"- a German heavy tank of the Second World War, the prototype of which was the VK4501 (H) tank, developed in 1942 by Henschel 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 added the Roman numeral "I" to the name to distinguish it from the later machine, which in turn was referred to as the "Tiger II". Although minor changes were made to the design of the tank, there was only one modification of 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 leadership was also presented with the Porsche project, VK4501 (P), but the choice of the military commission fell on the Henschel version, although Hitler favored the Porsche product more.

For the first time, Tiger I tanks went into battle on August 29, 1942 near the Mga station near Leningrad, massively began to be used from the battle on the Kursk Bulge, were used by the Wehrmacht and SS troops until the end of World War II. The total number of cars produced is 1354 units. The cost of producing one tank "Tiger I" - 1 million Reichsmarks (twice as expensive as any tank of those times).

History of creation

The first work on the creation of the Tiger tank began in 1937. By this time, the Wehrmacht had no heavy breakthrough tanks in service at all, similar in purpose to the Soviet T-35 or the 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, inactive vehicles, so the requirements of the military for this kind of tank were rather vague. However, Erwin Aders, one of the leading designers of Henschel ( Henschel) began development of a 30-ton "breakthrough tank" ( Durchbruchwagen). During 1939-1941. Henschel built two prototypes, known as DW1 and DW2. The first of the prototypes was without a turret, the second one was equipped with a turret from a serial PzKpfw IV. The thickness of the armor protection of the prototypes did not exceed 50 mm.

The Henschel prototype received the designation VK4501 (H). Ferdinand Porsche, better known at that time for his pioneering work in the automotive industry (including sports cars), tried to transfer his approach to a new area. Solutions such as highly efficient longitudinal torsion bars in the suspension system and electric transmission were implemented on its prototype. However, compared with the Henschel prototype, F. Porsche's car was structurally more complicated and required more scarce materials, in particular copper (it was used in generators needed for electric transmission).
The prototype of Dr. F. Porsche was tested under the designation VK4501 (P). Knowing about the Fuhrer's attitude towards him and not doubting the victory of his offspring, F. Porsche, without waiting for the decision of the commission, ordered the launch of the chassis for his new tank without testing, with the delivery date from Nibelungenwerk in July 1942. However, when shown at the Kummersdorf training ground, a Henschel tank was chosen due to the greater reliability of the undercarriage and better cross-country ability, partly due to lower financial costs. The tower was borrowed from the Porsche tank, as the towers ordered for the Henschel tank were in the process of being finalized or were in the prototype stage. In addition, towers with a KWK L / 70 7.5 cm gun were designed 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 the Henschel and Son chassis and the Porsche turret became famous all over the world under the designation Pz VI "Tiger" Ausf E, and Porsche's "Tigers" were produced in the amount of 5 vehicles, however, 89 heavy ones were created from the 90 chassis manufactured. 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). At the same time, the management itself was quite simple and did not require special skills.

Armored corps and turret

The turret was rotated by means of a hydraulic transmission (the capacity of the turret mechanism system was 5 liters of oil). Turning the tower 360 degrees by pressing a special pedal took from 60 seconds at maximum speed to 60 minutes at minimum; it was also possible to rotate the tower with a manual drive.

Engine and transmission

Engine cooling - water radiator with a capacity of 120 liters and four fans. Lubrication of fan motors - 7 liters of oil.

Modifications

Pz.VI Ausf E (tropical variant). In addition, it was equipped with Feifel air filters of a larger volume.
Pz.VI Ausf E (with anti-aircraft machine gun MG 42). Used on the Western Front.

Machines based on the "Tiger I"

38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmörser Tiger, Sturmpanzer VI, "Sturmtigr" - heavy self-propelled guns, armed with a converted 380-mm jet anti-submarine bomber placed in a fixed armored cabin, not adopted by the Kriegsmarine. "Sturmtigers" were converted from line "Tigers" damaged in battles, a total of 18 vehicles were converted.

Bergetigr is an armored recovery vehicle, unarmed, but equipped with an evacuation crane.

Photo gallery

Combat use

tactical role

According to a number of Western historians, the main task of the Tiger tank was to fight enemy tanks, and its design corresponded to the solution of this particular task:

If in the initial period of the Second World War the German military doctrine was mainly offensive, then later, when the strategic situation changed to the opposite, tanks began to play the role of a means of eliminating German defense breakthroughs.

Thus, the Tiger tank was conceived primarily as a means of fighting enemy tanks, whether in defense or offensive. Accounting for this fact is necessary to understand the design features and tactics of using the "Tigers".

... Taking into account the strength of the armor and the strength of the weapon, the "Tiger" should be used mainly against enemy tanks and anti-tank weapons, and only secondarily - as an exception - against infantry units.

As battle experience has shown, the Tiger's weapons allow it to fight enemy tanks at distances of 2000 meters or more, which especially affects enemy morale. Strong armor allows the "Tiger" to move closer to the enemy without the risk of serious damage from hits. However, you should try to start a battle with enemy tanks at distances of more than 1000 meters.

Staff organization

The main tactical unit of the tank forces of the Wehrmacht was a tank battalion, which consisted first of two, and then of three companies. The 3-company battalion had 45 tanks in the state. As a rule, 2 or 3 battalions formed a tank regiment, usually attached to the corps command for reinforcement (however, cases of the formation of entire regiments from the Tigers alone are unknown).

1st SS Division-Leibstandarte "Adolf Hitler" ("Adolf Hitler")
2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" ("Reich")
3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" ("Totenkopf")

The training of all the crews of the "Tigers" was carried out by the 500th training tank battalion.

First fight

The next battle of the Tigers was more successful for them: on January 12, 1943, four Tigers, which came to the aid of the 96th Wehrmacht Infantry Division, knocked out 12 Soviet T-34s. However, during the battles to break the blockade of Leningrad on January 17, 1943, Soviet troops captured one practically intact Tiger. The crew left it without destroying even a brand new technical passport, instruments, weapons.

The full-fledged debut of the "Tigers" took place during the battles near Kharkov in February - March 1943. In particular, the Great Germany motorized division had 9 Tiger tanks by the beginning of the battles, which made up the 13th company of the tank regiment, td SS "Adolf Hitler" had 10 "Tigers" (1st Panzer Regiment), td SS "Reich" - 7, td SS "Dead Head" - 9.

Battle of Kursk

Soviet propaganda poster against the "German tiger"

The German troops participating in Operation Citadel had 148 Tiger tanks. Tigers were used to break through Soviet defenses, often leading groups of other tanks. The powerful armament and armor of the PzKpfw VI allowed them to effectively destroy any type of enemy armored vehicles, which led to very large accounts of the German crews who fought on the Tigers on the Kursk Bulge.

African theater of operations

At the end of the war, most of the "Tigers" were destroyed by their crews, due to the actions of the Allied aviation, which destroyed bridges along the Wehrmacht's retreat routes.

Captured tanks in the Red Army and Allied forces

Aces tankers who fought on the "Tigers"

Project evaluation

Heavy tank PzKpfw VI Ausf. H "Tiger I", without a doubt, was one of the most successful designs adopted by the Wehrmacht. Until the end of 1943, it was the strongest tank in the world in terms of its combat properties, thus having a decisive influence on the further evolution of both the class of heavy tanks and anti-tank weapons. The advantages of the vehicle include powerful armament and armor, well-thought-out ergonomics, high-quality surveillance and communication devices. After the elimination of "childhood diseases" by the summer of 1943, the reliability of the "Tiger I" in general did not cause any complaints, the tank was popular in the Wehrmacht and had a good reputation among its crews. This was largely a consequence of the significant developments of the Henschel designers on experimental machines that did not go into series. From a technical point of view, the tank was a typical representative of the German school of tank building with a number of original solutions applied in its design (for example, a non-standard ratio of the length and width of the armored hull, which led to the overweight of the structure). On the other hand (and as the reverse side of its advantages), the "Tiger I" also had disadvantages, which included high complexity and cost of production, low maintainability of the undercarriage of the machine.

Firepower

The main weapon of the "Tiger I", the 88-mm gun KwK 36 L / 56, until the appearance on the battlefield of the Soviet IS-1, did not have any significant problems in defeating any armored vehicle of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition at any combat distances and angles, and only the appearance The IS-2 and later modified Churchills made these problems really serious. The 75-mm armor of Soviet KV-1 tanks under certain conditions could withstand an 88-mm projectile, but given the weakness of the KV-1 weapons against the armor of the Tiger I, this, in a situation of open combat at a long distance, generally did not give the first any noticeable chance of survival - "Tiger I" could quite easily hit the HF with the second, and if necessary, then with subsequent hits. Tanks KV-85, able to better withstand the "Tiger I", produced in the fall of 1943, were not produced too many. And only tanks of the IS series (IS-1 and IS-2) had armor that could withstand shelling from KwK 36 from frontal angles and medium distances. The upper frontal part of the IS-2 tank with improved body armor arr. 1944 did not break through from the 88-mm cannon of the "Tiger I" even when firing at close range (data for armor-piercing caliber shells).

It should also be noted that the 88-mm KwK 36 cannon provided a better defeat for the IS-2 than the 75-mm long-barreled Panther KwK 42 gun, despite the greater declared armor penetration of the latter. Of the British tanks, only the heavy Churchill tank of later modifications could withstand the fire of the KwK 36 at the frontal corners (although its armament was completely insufficient to effectively defeat the Tiger I); in the US Army, they were the small M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo and M26 Pershing. Thus, the armament of the Tiger I allowed it to dominate the battlefield in 1943 and the early period of 1944, and after the appearance of the IS-2, in practice it was far from bad in terms of effectiveness against it.

However, one should take into account the fact that anti-tank artillery, infantry and various fortifications more often acted as an enemy of a heavy tank, as well as numerical superiority in all types of military equipment than enemy heavy tanks, so a direct comparison of these vehicles often says little about their effectiveness in combat. plan for solving the main problem.

Security

Two German non-commissioned officers inspect a pothole from a shell hitting the Tiger's armor

In accordance with its designation as a heavy breakthrough tank, the Tiger I had powerful armor from all sides. It was this that gave him an aura of invincibility in 1943. Soviet 45-mm, British 40-mm and American 37-mm armor-piercing shells did not penetrate it even at an extremely close combat distance, thereby causing shock among the soldiers and commanders of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. The situation with the 76-mm tank and divisional artillery of the USSR was a little better - 76-mm armor-piercing shells could only penetrate the side armor of the Tiger I from distances not exceeding 300 m, and even then with very great difficulty (the probability of penetration was no more than 30 %), which, however, was in full agreement with the declared armor penetration of 75 mm at 500 m along the normal. Therefore, it was the booking of the Tiger I that provided the latter with total dominance on the battlefield in 1943. On the other hand, the "Tiger I" was not completely impenetrable - against them, the American command used 90-mm M2 anti-aircraft guns and calculations of Bazooka hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, and the Soviet command used 85-mm 52-K anti-aircraft guns and RVGK artillery represented by 122 -mm guns A-19 and 152-mm howitzer guns ML-20. However, it should be noted that all these means (except for the American armor-piercing Bazookas) were low-mobile, expensive, difficult to replenish and highly vulnerable to the Tiger I. As a rule, they were subordinate to the high levels of the army hierarchy, and therefore could not be quickly allocated to the threatened sector of the front. However, all this did not cancel the vulnerability of the undercarriage in relation to almost all anti-tank weapons, not to mention the vulnerability in relation to mines, etc. It did not cancel some shortcomings (for example, heavy weight, pressure on the ground), to some extent limiting tactics. In 1944, the T-34-85 also began to appear, whose chances against the Tiger I cannot be called equal on average, but which in certain situations could be dangerous for him, in addition to having an advantage in mobility. The KV-1, as well as the self-propelled guns, should not be completely discounted, if we talk about mobile opponents, although the advantage that the Tiger I had over all of them during this period was very large. The KV-85 and IS-1, which had an 85-mm cannon, which posed a significant danger for the Tiger I armor, at least under certain conditions, appeared only in the fall of 1943.

It is often argued that the disadvantage of the Tiger I was the lack of a rational angle of inclination of the armor plates, but the design and layout solutions of the vehicle simply did not allow this to be realized. In addition, as of 1942-1943. this was not necessary, the armor protection worked quite well against the vast majority of enemy anti-tank weapons, and the ergonomics of the Tiger I only benefited from the absence of armor slope.

This state of affairs caused the strengthening of tank and anti-tank artillery of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. In 1943 and 1944, active development of new guns and shells was carried out. As a result, closer to the second half of 1944, British 17-pounder guns appeared on the battlefield in a towed version and on Sherman Firefly tanks, long-barreled 76-mm guns on American Sherman tanks, the T-34-85 tank and self-propelled artillery mount SU-85 with 85-mm guns, and in addition, the SU-100 with a 100-mm gun and the IS-2 with a 122-mm gun began to appear. The English 17-pounder had high armor penetration, which did not have any particular problems in hitting the frontal armor of the Tiger I, the Soviet 85-mm and American long-barreled 75-mm guns were weaker, but they made it possible to penetrate the forehead of the Tiger I at a distance of up to 1 km. The infantry and specialized anti-tank weapons of the armies of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain have also been updated. The 57-mm anti-tank gun ZiS-2 was again adopted by the Red Army, which confidently hit the frontal armor of the Tiger I at a distance of up to 1.3 km, 45-mm guns received sub-caliber shells, which made it possible to hit the Tiger I on board at distances up to 300 m. In the regimental 76-mm (later in the divisional) Soviet artillery, cumulative shells began to be supplied, capable of penetrating the side armor of the Tiger I. As a personal weapon against heavy enemy tanks, the fighters of the rifle units received new cumulative grenades RPG-43 and later RPG-6. American and British 57-mm anti-tank guns increased their armor penetration by introducing sub-caliber shells (including those with a detachable pallet), British infantrymen also received their own version of a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher - PIAT. As a result, the fight against the "Tiger I" without the use of heavy weapons (90 mm, 122 mm, 152 mm guns) became less difficult. By the end of the war, the saturation of the armies of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition with self-propelled guns with heavy guns (M36 Jackson, Archer, SU-100, ISU-122 and ISU-152) and IS-2 tanks made it possible to effectively deal with all German heavy tanks, including with the Tiger I, its frontal armor (the side armor remained quite adequate) became insufficient for a heavy breakthrough tank.

Mobility

The mobility of the "Tiger" may well be regarded as extremely ambiguous. The “classic German layout” (with a front transmission and a rear engine), a short wide body and a staggered undercarriage of rollers led to a number of consequences, both positive and negative. The positive aspects (together with the transmission design) included easy control of a very heavy vehicle, the ability to quickly turn the tank on the spot. The torsion bar suspension with a "chessboard" arrangement of road wheels provided sufficient smoothness of movement and high accuracy by the standards of that time when shooting from the move. However, these undoubted advantages had to be paid for in another area: the non-standard ratio of the hull dimensions and the German "classic" layout option led both to a high height of the entire tank as a whole, and to a greater mass due to an increase in the specific proportion of heavy frontal armor compared to other vehicles layout diagrams. A large mass significantly limited the scope of the "Tiger", since off-road the transmission of the car turned out to be overloaded and quickly failed. Although the reliability of the uprated Maybach HL 230 engine was considered satisfactory, in difficult operating conditions it (like the power of 700 hp) was no longer sufficient. Despite the wide tracks, the specific pressure on the ground at the "Tiger" was high, which made it even more difficult to operate the machine on soils with poor bearing capacity.

The tiger turned out to be so wide that it went beyond the limits of railway dimensions and its designers were forced to provide for the transition to the so-called transport tracks. The restriction for cargo carried on platforms is necessary because of the need to ensure traffic safety so that the cargo protruding beyond the dimensions of the platform does not catch on various pillars, station buildings, oncoming trains, walls of narrow tunnels, etc. To ensure traffic safety under normal conditions The Tigers "changed shoes" into transport tracks, the combat tracks were transported on the same platform, under the bottom of the tank. But, when the situation required it and the available section of the road allowed, the Tigers were transported without changing shoes, as photographs from the war times show.

Additional difficulties for repairmen and crews were delivered by the “chessboard” design of the undercarriage in winter and off-road conditions: the dirt that accumulated between the rollers sometimes froze overnight so that it immobilized the entire car. This nuance in the operation of the "Tiger" was quickly noticed and used by Soviet tankers, who in winter tried to start their attacks in the early morning.

Replacing the rollers from the inner ranks damaged by mine explosions or artillery fire was a tedious and long procedure. Also, to dismantle or replace a damaged transmission, the turret had to be removed. In this regard, the "Tiger" noticeably lost to the Soviet IS-2, which, after the elimination of "childhood diseases" during the operations of late 1944 - early 1945, made marches over 1000 km long, working out the warranty period without fail. It is known that a significant number of "Tigers" were abandoned during the fighting in all European theaters of operations, when the situation forced the Germans to abandon the "Tigers" in the course of long and exhausting marches.

Crew protection

The high degree of armor protection of the Tiger-I tank provided high chances for the crew to survive in battle, even if the tank failed. The crews of wrecked tanks, as a rule, returned to service, which helped to retain the cadre of experienced tankers. The staggered arrangement of the rollers provided additional protection for the lower part of the tank hull.

Production

In monetary terms, the cost of 1 Tiger-I tank was over 800,000 Reichsmarks (the monthly salary of about 7,000 workers). The labor intensity of the production of one tank is about 300,000 man-hours, which is equivalent to the weekly work of 6,000 workers. To increase the responsibility of the crews, these data were given in the technical manual for the tank.

PzKpfw production. VI Tiger
	Jan.	Feb.	March	Apr.	May	June	July	Aug.	Sen.	Oct.	But I.	Dec.	Total
1942				1				8	3	11	25	30	78
1943	35	32	41	46	50	60	65	60	85	50	60	65	649
1944	93	95	86	104	100	75	64	6					623

In total, for the period from August 1942 to August 1944, 1350 (according to other sources 1354 vehicles) Tiger-I tanks were produced.

Comparison with analogues

The Tiger tank itself is quite difficult to compare with analogues, since the Tiger is a tank of high-quality reinforcement of linear parts. In the same weight category, the IS-2 is a breakthrough tank, and the M26 Pershing is more of an attempt to create a "single tank". Among foreign heavy breakthrough tanks, only Soviet tanks of the KV and IS families correspond to the Tiger I, despite a slightly lower mass (45-47 tons versus 55 tons for the Tiger I). The American medium (during the war years classified as heavy) tank M26 "Pershing" was even lighter and in tactical use is more comparable with the "Panther" than with the "Tiger I". "Tiger I" in all respects (armament, armor with better or equivalent mobility) surpassed the Soviet tanks KV-1 and KV-1S, making them obsolete in an instant. Transitional Soviet heavy tanks of the KV-85 and IS-1 types also significantly lost to the Tiger I, although their 85-mm gun already made it possible to hit the Tiger I in frontal projection at distances up to 1 km. The armor protection of the IS-1 has already surpassed those of the Tiger I in its thickness, but the cast stepped upper frontal part was penetrated by 88-mm KwK 36 cannon shells from a distance of about 1.2-1.5 km, which again put the Soviet tank in a disadvantageous position . At the end of 1943, the IS-2 heavy tank was adopted by the Red Army, which became an equivalent analogue of the Tiger I in the Soviet armed forces. The high firepower of the 122-mm D-25T gun made it possible to fight the Tiger at any real combat distances, but initially the armor protection remained the same as that of the IS-1. In the second half of 1944, after the introduction of the straightened frontal armor of the IS-2, its upper frontal part had a more than serious chance to withstand an 88-mm projectile. In general, somewhat inferior to the IS-2 in terms of security and power of fire (especially against unarmored targets), the Tiger I outperformed it very much in rate of fire (5-7 rounds per minute versus 3 in the best conditions) and had significantly better aiming devices (the IS-2 was equipped with a “breaking” TSh-17 sight, copied according to the principle of operation from the German counterpart, but the quality of the optics did not reach the German one). With such a ratio of the characteristics of equipment, the skill of the crews of the opposing sides and the specific conditions of the battle became the determining factor in the outcome of the battle.

An interesting issue is the position of the "Tiger I" among the German heavy tanks (according to the Soviet classification). Compared to the Panther and Tiger II, the Tiger I was the most balanced vehicle - the former tended to play the role of anti-tank tanks, seriously inferior to the Tiger I either in terms of mobility (Tiger II) or in terms of security in combat. whole ("Panther"). Both the Panther and the Tiger II suffered from mechanical problems until the very end of the war, while the Tiger I, when properly operated, had good reliability. There were cases when individual German crews preferred the old Tiger to the new one, despite the more powerful armament and armor of the latter.

Tiger in video games

PzKpfw VI "Tiger" is present in the vast majority of games that take place during the Second World War. It is also available in the following games:

"Sudden Strike: The Last Stand";
In the tank simulator "T-34 against the Tiger";
In FPS "Battlefield 1942";
In the flight simulator "IL-2: attack aircraft" as a ground target;

It should be noted that the reflection of the tactical and technical characteristics of armored vehicles and the features of their use in combat in many computer games is often far from reality.

Surviving copies

As of 2009, at least six copies of the tank have been preserved:

Tank Museum at Bovington Camp Bovington Tank Museum ), Dorset, UK (board number 131, captured by the Allies in the spring of 1943 in Tunisia). The only copy that has the ability to move independently.
Museum of tank troops (fr. Musee des Blindes listen)) in Saumur, France. Good condition, kept indoors.
Vimoutier (fr. Vimoutiers), France. In poor condition, stored outdoors.
Armored Museum in Kubinka. Good condition, kept indoors.
Lenino-Snegirevsk Military History Museum, Snegiri village near Moscow
The condition is bad. It has severe damage, as it was used as a target at the training ground. It has numerous dents and holes, part of the bottom, several rollers, track elements are missing. The gun barrel was replaced with a pipe cut. The tank is in an open area.
US Army Weapons Museum, Aberdeen Proving Ground. Good condition. On the left side, the hull and turret have a cut for access to the inside of the tank. Currently under restoration.
In 1994, the body of the Tiger was found at a training ground in Russia (Nakhabino): chassis, caterpillars and a bathtub. It was transported to St. Petersburg from where it was sold to Germany (in Frankfurt am Main) to a private person in the mid-1990s; currently not restored a source?] .

Literature

Otto Carius, “Tigers in the mud. Memoirs of a German tanker. , M.: Tsentropoligraf, 2004. - 367 p.
Baryatinsky M."Tigers" in battle. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2007. - 320 p.
Tim Ripley. History of the SS troops 1925 - 1945. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2009. - 351 p.

Notes

Allied literature of the war period used thicknesses of 82 mm (hull side (top)) and 102 mm (hull front) instead of 80 and 100 mm, see, for example, United States War Department. Handbook on German military forces. Republished by LSU Press, Aug 1, 1995, p. 390.
in the Panzerwaffe there was even a saying about this: “Well, you are a shoemaker! You only control the Tiger"
Carius Otto."Tigers" in the mud. Memoirs of a German tanker - M .: Tsentropoligraf, 2004.
Wilbeck, Christopher W. Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Heavy Tank Battalions in World War II. - 262p. - ISBN 0971765022
Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E (Tiger I) (English) . The Armor Site!. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012.
G. Guderian. Tanks - forward! - Smolensk: Rusich. - ISBN 5-88590-994-6
Isaev A.V. Fire magic // . - 2006.
Tanks WW2
"Version" - Hunting for the "Tiger". Adolf Hitler's favorite tank worth tens of millions of dollars is rusting and being pulled apart piece by piece
Panzer Division - Armored Vehicles
Isaev A.V."Leap" to nowhere // When there was no surprise. The history of the Second World War, which we did not know. - 2006.
Ripley, page 117
Ripley, page 341
Military Historical Museum of armored weapons and equipment
Along the Volokolamsk highway: the village of Snegiri and New Jerusalem
Alexander Minkin: Tank Battle - Museum.ru

Armored vehicles of the Third Reich
Light tanks	Leichtraktor ·

German heavy tank of 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 added the Roman numeral "I" to the name to distinguish it from the later machine, which in turn was referred to as the "Tiger II". Although minor changes were made to the design of the tank, there was only one modification of the tank. In Soviet documents, the Tiger tank was designated as T-6 or T-VI.

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

For the first time, Tiger tanks took part in the battle on August 29, 1942 near the Mga station near Leningrad, began to be massively operated starting from the battle and the capture of Kharkov in February - March 1943, 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 tank "Tiger" - 800,000 Reichsmarks (twice as expensive as any tank of those times). Officially, the tank had the designation Pz.VIH, or in full German Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger", Ausf. H (Pz. Kpfw.VIH). The Arms Department assigned all Wehrmacht vehicles, in addition to everything else, their 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, the name "Tiger" is found.

History of creation

The first work on the design of the Tiger tank started in 1937. By this time, the Wehrmacht had no heavy breakthrough tanks in service at all, similar in purpose to the Soviet T-35 or the 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, inactive vehicles, so the requirements of the military for such a tank were rather vague and not clear. However, Erwin Aders, one of the chief designers of Henschel, began the development of a 30-ton "breakthrough tank" (Durchbruchwagen). During 1939-1941. firm "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 a serial PzKpfw IV. The thickness of the armor protection of the prototypes did not exceed 50 mm.

After the invasion of the Third Reich in the USSR, the need for a qualitative strengthening of the Wehrmacht tank fleet became obvious to the German military. German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf. The E-F was much inferior in terms of 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 tank forces of the Wehrmacht. At the same time, in a significant number of combat episodes, in the hands of competent Soviet tankmen, the T-34 and KV clearly showed that good visibility, excellent ergonomics still do not fully compensate for the poor armor and armament of the PzKpfw IV Ausf. E-F - with overcoming the chaos and confusion of the first stage of the war, these machines began to pose an increasing threat to the Wehrmacht. In addition, as the war progressed, German troops increasingly had to deal with enemy defenses prepared in advance, where the need for a heavy breakthrough tank was no longer in doubt. The solution of the problems that arose was divided into two directions - the modernization of those types of armored vehicles that already existed (PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV) and the accelerated design of its analogue of the Soviet KV-1.

Shortly after the invasion of the Soviet Union, the design bureau 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 a fairly significant amount of developments in DW1 and DW2, while Ferdinand Porsche, who headed the "competitors", was only taking his first steps in tank building. The demonstration of prototypes was timed to coincide with April 20, 1942 - the Fuhrer's birthday, there was little time to study and build prototypes. Erwin Aders and his design bureau employees followed the traditional path of the German tank-building school, choosing the same layout scheme for the new heavy tank as the PzKpfw IV, and using the invention of the designer G. Knipkamp on the tank - a “staggered” arrangement of road wheels in two rows. Prior to that, it was used only on tractors and armored personnel carriers of the Hanomag company, its use for a tank was an innovation in world tank building. Thus, the task of increasing the smoothness of the course, and, accordingly, increasing the accuracy of shooting on the move, was successfully solved.

The Henschel prototype received the designation VK4501 (H). Ferdinand Porsche, better known at that time for his pioneering work in the automotive industry (including sports cars), tried to transfer his approach to a new area. On its prototype, solutions such as highly efficient longitudinal torsion bars in the suspension system and electric transmission were used. However, compared with 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 needed for electric transmission).
The prototype of Dr. F. Porsche was tested under the designation VK4501 (P). Knowing about the Fuhrer's attitude towards him and not at all doubting the victory of his offspring, F. Porsche, without waiting for the decision of the commission, gave the order to start production of the chassis for his new tank without testing, with the deadline for the start of deliveries by Nibelungenwerk in July 1942 . However, during the demonstration at the Kummersdorf training ground, a Henschel tank was chosen, because of the greater reliability of the chassis and better cross-country ability, and also because of lower financial costs. The tower was taken from the Porsche tank, since the towers ordered for the Henschel tank were in the process of being finalized 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 the Henschel and Son chassis and the Porsche turret became famous throughout the world under the designation Pz VI "Tiger" Ausf E, and the Porsche Tigers were produced in the amount of 5 vehicles, however, 89 heavy ones were created from the 90 chassis manufactured. 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 gearshift lever and a parking brake lever (on the left, there was an auxiliary parking brake lever). Behind the seat on both sides were emergency control levers. At the same time, the control itself was quite simple and did not require special driving skills.

Armored corps and turret

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

The hull of the tank for the first time in German tank building has a variable width. The width of the lower part is essentially the width of the body. The upper part had to be expanded with fender sponsons. This was done to accommodate a turret with a shoulder strap diameter of 1850 mm - the minimum shoulder strap diameter that allows you to install an 88 mm caliber gun in the tower. 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 stern 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 here the road wheels play the role of additional protection. Most of the body armor plates are connected at right angles. Thus, almost all surfaces of the Tiger's hull 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 the course machine gun and the driver's observation device are equipped, is almost vertical - its inclination is 80 degrees to the horizon line. The upper frontal armor plate with a thickness of 63 mm is installed almost horizontally - with an inclination angle of 10 degrees. The lower frontal armor plate with a thickness of 100 mm has a reverse slope of 66 degrees. The armor plates are connected by the dovetail method (trademark of German tanks), by welding. The junction of the tower and the hull is not covered by anything - one of the most vulnerable places of the Tiger, which was constantly criticized. The thickness of the hull roof - 30 mm - contrasts with the thick frontal armor. The hull of the tank, without the turret and undercarriage, weighed 29 tons and had a very impressive size. According to many tankers, the thickness of the roof was clearly insufficient. Many "Tigers" were lost only because the tower was wedged by fragments of shells. On the "Tigers" of later releases, an armored ring was installed to protect the junction of the turret and the hull. In general, the reservation of the "Tiger" provided the highest level of security for its time. In order to increase the morale of the crews of heavy tanks, the car 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, Tsabel's tank received 227 direct hits from 14.5 mm anti-tank rifles, 14 hits from 45 and 57 mm caliber shells and 11 hits from 76.2 mm caliber shells. Having withstood such a number of 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.

From August 1943, the outer vertical surfaces of the hull and turret of the tank began to be coated with a Zimmerit composition, which made it difficult to magnetize magnetic mines to the hull. The anti-magnetic coating was abandoned in the fall of 1944.

Engine and transmission

Maybach HL 230P45 - V-shaped 12-cylinder water-cooled carbureted 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 had four Solex 52 FF J and D carburetors each, and the HL230P30 had one Bosch PZ 12 carburetor. Maximum power 700 hp. from. (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. 530 liters of fuel were calculated in the fuel tanks.

Motorenol der Wermacht brand oil was used in the oil system. To replace, you need 32 liters of oil, but the engine held 42 liters of oil. The oil pump is 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 two-piece shaft. Approximately 5 liters. from. is selected for the turret turn drive. The engine compartment is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system: if the air temperature in the engine compartment exceeds 120 degrees. With thermal sensors automatically turn on fire extinguishers located near the fuel pumps and carburetors. When the fire extinguishing system is activated, an emergency light comes on on the driver's dashboard. The tower stores a hand-held fire extinguisher that can be used as an emergency means of fighting a fire in the engine room.

Engine cooling - water radiator with a capacity of 120 liters and four fans. Lubrication of fan motors - 7 liters of oil.

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

Chassis

Suspension - individual torsion bar, "staggered" placement of rollers in four rows, eight on board designed by G. Knipkamp. Rollers - large diameter, without supporting rollers. The driving wheel is placed in front.

A sloth with a diameter of 600 mm is connected to a track tension control mechanism. The driving wheel with a diameter of 840 mm is located in the front of the body. The track rollers have an independent torsion bar suspension, the torsion bars are placed across the tank hull. Track rollers of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth suspension units - inner row. Torsion bar length 1960 mm, diameter 58 mm. The torsion bar is fixed with an octagonal tip in the wall of the hull side opposite the track roller. The left side track rollers are shifted forward relative to the starboard side track rollers. Early type drive wheel, road wheels with rubber tyres. Trucks - Kgs-63/725/130. Two types of caterpillars are used on the Tiger tank. Transport caterpillars are assembled from tracks K.gs-63/520/l30, 520 - track width in mm, 130 - distance between fingers of adjacent tracks. Combat caterpillars - from tracks Kgs-63/725/130, 725 - track width in mm. The caterpillar is made up of 96 tracks. The tracks are interconnected by fingers 716 mm long and 28 mm in diameter. On later modifications, rollers with internal shock absorption were mounted, in smaller quantities.

Surveillance

A stationary optical sight was mounted to the left of the gun. Initially, the "Tigers" were equipped with Zeiss TZF-9b binocular sights, from April 1944 - with TZF-9c monocular sights. The TZF-9b sight had a constant 2.5x magnification, a field of view of 23 degrees. The magnification of the TZF-9c sight varied 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 the gun and from zero to 1200 m for the machine gun. The aiming mark was moved by rotating a small steering wheel.

Means of communication

FuG-5 radio blocks are equipped next to the gunner's seat - radio operator. The radio equipment includes the S.c. 10 with 10W and Ukw.E.e. The 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 197x176 mm. The battery box is equipped on the same frame as the receiver and transmitter. The radio station is completed 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 the tank intercom (TPU). In combat, the internal communication system turned out to be very vulnerable, so some units experimented with installing a light signal system on tanks, which allowed the commander to give simple commands to the driver when 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, the design of the recuperator has changed compared to the anti-aircraft gun. The gun was equipped with a semi-automatic vertical wedge lock. The lock lever was located on the right side of the breech. Gun 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 complete with mantlet. To the right and left of the breech, the knurler and hauler cylinders are installed. Charge ignition - electric (electric ignition). The electric fuse button is located on the turret of the vertical guidance mechanism of the gun. The safety devices of the gun are similar to those used on the gun of the T-IV tank (Pz.Kpfw. IV). 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 were used with an 88x570R sleeve from 8.8 cm Flak anti-aircraft guns (sleeve index 6347St.), In which the percussion cap was replaced with an electric ignition. In this regard, anti-aircraft gun ammunition could not be directly used in a tank gun, and vice versa.

The length of the gun from the cut of the muzzle brake to the cut of the breech is 5316 mm. The barrel of the gun protruded beyond the dimensions of the hull in the case of installing the tower for 12 hours at 2128 mm. The length of the barrel is 4930 mm (56 calibers), the length of the rifled part of the barrel is 4093 mm. Twist rifling - right. In total, there are 32 grooves in the barrel with a width of 3.6 mm and a depth of 5.04 mm. A brass chute, covered with a tarpaulin, was mounted to the breech; after opening the lock, a spent cartridge case fell into the gutter. From the gutter, the sleeve slid into a box, also made of brass. No more than six spent cartridges could be placed in the box at the same time, so in battle the loader often had to be distracted by cleaning the box from the shells. At first, the loader simply threw the shells out through the hatch in the wall of the tower, but starting from the 46th tower, the right hatch was replaced with an emergency hatch. The shells had to be ejected through the upper rectangular hatch. An indicator of the barrel travel was fixed on the chute during normal recoil, the normal barrel recoil length after the shot was 580 mm. Initially, the gun was balanced using a compression spring fixed to the gun and to the right side of the inner wall of the front of the turret (below the loader's viewing hole). On tanks of later releases, the balancer was moved to the left side of the turret behind the commander's seat. Now the balancer connected the breech of the gun and the floor of the tower. The knurlers and otkatnik were attached to the trunnions of the gun. On the Flak-18/36 anti-aircraft gun, the recoiler and knurler were placed in a vertical plane, on the tank version of the anti-aircraft gun - in a horizontal plane, the knurler on the left, the recoiler on the right.

The coaxial machine gun MG-34 was mounted to the right of the gun. The machine gun, as the name implies "paired", was aimed along with the cannon, 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 well-deserved popularity for its simplicity, but at the same time, for a tank machine gun, it had an insufficient rate of fire, in addition, there were often delays in 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 increased efficiency.

Modifications

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

In addition, it was equipped with Feifel air filters of a larger volume.

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

Used on the Western Front.

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

In 1942, a commander's version of the Tiger heavy tank was created. 48 line 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.

Machines based on the "Tiger I"

-38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmorser Tiger, Sturmpanzer VI, Sturmtigr

A heavy self-propelled gun equipped with a converted 380-mm anti-submarine rocket launcher located in a fixed armored cabin, which was not adopted by the Kriegsmarine. "Sturmtigers" were converted from line "Tigers" damaged in battles, a total of 18 vehicles were converted.

Armored recovery vehicle, unarmed, but equipped with an evacuation crane.

One Tiger tank, built in 1943, after being heavily damaged in the battles near Anzio in Italy, was converted into a heavy sapper vehicle by technicians from the 508th heavy tank battalion. Turned to 180 degrees, the tower was fixed with bolts, the gun was removed. The opening in the frontal part of the turret was sealed with steel sheet, which was attached to the turret with six large bolts. A loophole for the 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 machine was used to make passages in minefields. She received the name Ladungsliger Tiger. In late April or early May 1944, the Ladungsliger Tiger was lost. The British at one time mistakenly called this unique specimen "Bergetiger with a crane", and then this mistake spread to numerous publications dedicated to the Tiger tank. Bergepanzer Tiger Three Tiger tanks from the 509th heavy tank battalion were converted in the field in 1944 into evacuation vehicles. 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 Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer armed with the 88 mm KwK-43 L/71 gun, which was never built. Another heavy tank destroyer based on the Tiger was also created - Sd.Kfz. 186. This project also did not find completion in the form of serial production.

performance characteristics

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

Dimensions

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

Booking

Type of armor: rolled chrome-molybdenum surface-hardened-forehead of the hull (top), mm / deg .: 100 / 8 deg
- Forehead of the hull (middle), mm / city: 63 / 10 degrees
- Forehead of the hull (bottom), mm / city: 100 / 21 degrees - 80 / 65 degrees
-Hull board (top), mm/deg.: 80 / 0deg
-Hull board (bottom), mm / city: 63 / 0 city
- Hull feed (top), mm / city: 80 / 8 degrees
- Hull feed (bottom), mm / city: 80 / 48 degrees
- Bottom, mm: 28
- Hull roof, mm: 26 (40 mm from February 1944)
- Forehead of the tower, mm / city: 100 / 0 city
- Gun mantlet, mm/deg.: Varies from 90 mm to 200 mm in the area of the gun.
-Board of the tower, mm/deg.: 80 / 0deg
- Tower feed, mm / city: 80 / 0 city
- Turret roof, mm: 28 (40mm from February 1944)

Armament

Gun caliber and make: 88 mm KwK 36 L/56
- Gun type: rifled
- Barrel length, calibers: 56
- Gun ammunition: 92-94 (approximately 120 since 1945)
- VN angles, deg.: ?8…+15 deg
-Angles GN, 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" (the principle of operation - the mine was fired at a height of 5-7 meters and exploded, hitting the enemy infantry trying to destroy the tank in close combat with fragments)

Mobility

Engine type: first 250 Maybach HL210P30; on the rest of the "Maybach" HL230P45 V-shaped 12-cylinder liquid-cooled carburetor
-Speed on the highway, km / h: 44 (38 with a speed 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 reserve over rough terrain, km: 110
- Specific power, l. s. / t: 12.9 (for the first 250 - 11.9 l. s. / t)
- Suspension type: individual torsion bar
- Specific ground pressure, kg/cm2: 1.03
-Climbability, degrees: 35 degrees
- overcome wall, m: 0.8
- Crossable ditch, m: 2.3
- Crossable ford, m: 1.2

Tiger tank. The hidden truth about the Nazi monster that killed allies: “Tiger tank is a waste of time The full name of the tiger 1

Exploitation

Production

Control

Characteristics

Location

Porsche vs Henschel

Project finalization

Start of production

Maybach engines

Improvements

Varieties

Armor

Chassis

Frame

Tower

Tiger ammo

Tiger in action

Epilogue

Tiger Armor

Cannon Tiger eight-eight

Tank tracks

Disadvantages of the Tiger tank

Production and modification of the Tiger tank

Specifications of the Tiger tank

History of creation

Design

Armored corps and turret

Engine and transmission

Modifications

Machines based on the "Tiger I"

Photo gallery

Combat use

tactical role

Staff organization

First fight

Battle of Kursk

African theater of operations

Captured tanks in the Red Army and Allied forces

Aces tankers who fought on the "Tigers"

Project evaluation

Firepower

Security

Mobility

Crew protection

Production

Comparison with analogues

Tiger in video games

Surviving copies

see also

Literature

Links

Notes

History of creation

Design

Armored corps and turret

Engine and transmission

Chassis

Surveillance

Means of communication

Armament

Modifications

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

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

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

Machines based on the "Tiger I"

-38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmorser Tiger, Sturmpanzer VI, Sturmtigr

performance characteristics

Dimensions

Booking

Armament

Mobility