Battle Stations
PzKpfw
VI Tiger Heavy Battle Tank
Tiger
I
Crew 5
Weight 56 tons
Maximum road speed 24mph
Cross country speed 12mph
Range 62 miles
Armour 26–110mm
Armament 1 x 88mm L/56 gun, 2 x 7.92mm machine-guns
Tiger II
Crew 5
Weight 68 tons
Maximum road speed 24mph
Cross country speed 11mph
Range 68 miles
Armour 40–185mm
Armament 1 x 88mm L/71 gun, 2 x 7.92mm machine-guns
At the time of its introduction in the late summer of 1942 and for some time afterwards, the German army's Tiger was the most powerful tank in the world. Its 88mm gun, for which the tank carried 92 rounds of ammunition, outranged and outpunched all Allied types, and although its armour was not well sloped, as the Panther's was, it was 110mm thick at the front and 80mm around the sides.
Despite its weight, overloaded engine and transmission, and slow speed, the Tiger was highly effective when used in battalion-sized formations of about 30 vehicles. Its formidable firepower could overcome all but the most skilfully handled opposition and forced the Allies to develop new tactics to deal with it. The rule of thumb was that it took at least five American M4 Sherman medium tanks to knock out a cornered Tiger.
The Tiger I was phased out in the summer of 1944 after some 1,300 had been built. It was followed into service by the Tiger II or Konigstiger, known to the Allies as the Royal Tiger. Introduced in the autumn of 1944, this was the heaviest, best protected and most powerfully armoured tank to see service in World War II – indeed, its armour and gun would do justice to a main battle tank today.
Some 485 Tiger IIs were produced before the end of the war. Although ponderous and liable to be stranded in a fast-moving battle, the Tigers were capable of fighting against heavy odds and of knocking out numerous enemy armoured vehicles while suffering little damage themselves.
