The Vehicles

01/23/10

The Tiger II was the heaviest production tank of World War II.  Its design was a direct result of lessons learned by the Germans in fighting heavily armored Russian tanks.  With its designation of Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Type B the tank was a development of the Tiger series.  However, it owed more of its characteristics to ideas introduced in the PzKw V "Panther" than to the earlier Tiger Type E, or Tiger I.  In common with the Panther, the Tiger II had sloping armor on all sides, a small turret front and gun mantlet to create a more difficult head-on target, and a long-barreled high velocity gun.  The tank was so much larger and more powerful than its predecessor that its nickname was perhaps inevitable: an Army panzer captain, upon seeing the new vehicle at the Henschel factory where it was produced, reportedly exclaimed that it was not a Tiger any more, but a King Tiger (Königstiger). (1)  The tank had a crew of five: tank commander, gunner, loader, driver, and radio operator. 

The King Tiger's strengths lay in its thick armor plating and powerful gun.  The tank's rolled homogeneous steel armor totaled 180mm on the turret front, 150mm on the glacis plate on the front of the hull, and 80mm on the turret and hull sides and rear.  In contrast, the American Sherman tank carried a maximum of only 89mm of armor in front.  The thick armor of the Tiger II made it virtually impervious to frontal penetration by American tanks or antitank guns.  American tankers generally planned on numerical superiority of five or more Shermans to one Tiger, and always tried for flank shots to ensure success.

The superior gun of the King Tiger enabled it to destroy nearly all Allied tanks at ranges beyond which they could effectively engage.  The 88mm Kampfwagenkanone (tank gun) 43 L/71 developed a muzzle velocity of around 1,100 meters per second.  The L/71 designation refers to the caliber length of the gun; the KwK 43 was 71 lengths of its bore diameter, compared to the shorter L/56 KwK 36 88mm gun mounted in the Tiger I.  The KwK 43 was the longest gun mounted in any German tank.  The gun could fire high explosive shells (Sprenggranaten) against bunkers or lightly armored targets, and two types of armor piercing rounds against tank targets.  The Panzergranate 39 was an explosive shell tipped with a hardened steel cap to penetrate armor and explode inside the target.  The Panzergranate 40 was a high velocity solid shot with a sub-caliber tungsten core.  Upon impact the tungsten core penetrated the target vehicle.  The Panzergranate 40 could defeat any enemy armor, but was in short supply due to tungsten shortages.  The Tiger II’s gun could also fire a HEAT (high explosive antitank) shaped charge round, but it was less effective than the Panzergranate 39.  New ammunition with increased propellant power was developed for the KwK 43, which was not interchangeable with the Tiger I's ammunition.  The tank carried a total of 84 main gun rounds; the recommended mix was half Sprenggranaten and half Panzergranaten 39.  The new gun and ammunition gave Tiger II crews the ability to penetrate 140mm of armor at 2,500 meters range; more than enough to deal with any Allied armor.  Turret traverse was by a hydraulic motor with final sighting adjustments made manually with traverse and elevation hand wheels.  The gun was not stabilized to remain on target as modern tank guns are; the Tiger tank had to be stationary to fire accurately.  The gunner used a telescopic sight with range indices to engage targets.  Range was estimated by the tank commander and announced to the gunner. (2)

In practice Tiger crews used a system of engaging targets at set ranges and adjusting fire until the target was hit.  The Tiger gunnery manual instructed the tank commander to direct his gunner onto a target, announce the ammunition and type of target (tank, antitank gun, etc.), and give his initial range estimation.  After the gunner fired he was to observe the round's tracer and impact and tell his observation sensing to the tank commander.  If the round fell short or over, the tank commander gave the gunner adjustments based on his estimated target range until the target was hit.  (3)  Tiger crews could also engage moving enemy targets by using offset indices in the sight to lead the target based on its estimated speed.  None of these adjustments prevented a good crew from making first round hits at long ranges.

The Tiger II's powerful gun was not without disadvantages.  Its great length meant that it was difficult to balance in the turret, making it less accurate than the shorter gun in the Tiger I.  It could be knocked out of adjustment by repeated firing, driving in very rough terrain, or impacts from enemy fire.  The barrel was subject to more wear from the high velocity rounds.  However, it was still one of the most powerful tank guns used in World War II, and was rightly feared by the opponents who faced it.

The main armament was supplemented by three 7.92mm belt fed MG34 machineguns.  One of these was mounted coaxially with the main gun and fired by the gunner against troops or unarmored targets at ranges up to 1,200 meters.  Another was mounted at the radio operator's position in the hull in a limited traverse ball mount.  The third machinegun could be mounted on a ring at the tank commander's cupola and used for antiaircraft defense.  The crew could fire smoke grenades for defensive concealment from a small hatch in the top of the turret, and carried a 9mm submachine gun for defense while dismounted.

The heavy armor of the Tiger II provided excellent protection, but was also the cause of the vehicle's greatest difficulty.  The Tiger II in combat configuration weighed 69.7 tons, compared to 56.9 tons for the Tiger I, while maintaining essentially the same engine.  The power-to-weight ratio of the tank was thus poor.  It could only attain a maximum speed of around 38 kilometers per hour (23 miles per hour) and a cruising speed on terrain of around 15 kilometers per hour (nine miles per hour).  The increased weight also caused greater wear on roadwheels, suspension arms, and track connecting pins.  The greater potential for mechanical failure played an important part in the combat availability (or lack thereof) of s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501 and other Tiger units during the Ardennes Offensive.  The increased weight of the tank prevented it from using many bridges and made it difficult to steer on rough terrain and poor roads, such as those found in the Ardennes.

The Germans produced only 492 King Tigers from October 1943 until the end of March 1945 when the Henschel and Son factory was forced to shut down. The Porsche firm had been in competition with Henschel for the tank's design and manufacture, and the turrets for the first 50 tanks were designed by Krupp to fit on the Porsche version of the tank.  The remaining tanks were all fitted with the “series” turret with increased armor protection, also made by Krupp.  All of the King Tigers issued to s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501 had the series turret.  Many Tigers made in the summer of 1944 were coated with Zimmerit paste, a cement compound designed to thwart magnetic mines thrown at the tanks by infantry.  The initial Tiger IIs issued to the 1. Kompanie of s. SS-Pz.Abt. 101 in Normandy had zimmerit, but the later issues prior to the Ardennes Offensive did not.  Most of the tanks of s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501 during the Ardennes Offensive were painted in what the Germans called the “light and shadow” pattern; a camouflage scheme of irregular patterns of dark yellow, olive green and red brown with small contrasting dots of the same colors applied over the background patches.  "List of Tiger Tanks"  contains further details on the appearance of the battalion's tanks in December 1944.

Tiger 008 passes through the German town of Tondorf during the initial advance on 16 December 1944, from a captured German war reporter film. (US National Archives at College Park, RG 242 National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 242-MID-3136)

In addition to the tanks, the battalion operated a number of other tracked vehicles.  The 4. Kompanie’s armored reconnaissance platoon rode in Sonderkraftfahrzeug (special purpose vehicle, abbreviated SdKfz) 251 halftracked armored personnel carriers.  Also in the 4. Kompanie was a pioneer platoon with SdKfz 251/7 halftracked engineer vehicles, which differed from the personnel carriers in that supports were welded to the sides to permit carrying small assault bridges.  Both versions mounted 7.92mm machineguns.

The 4. Kompanie also operated two of the German Army’s most effective tank chassis adaptations.  Its two Flak (antiaircraft) platoons were armed with two versions of the Flakpanzer IV.  The Ostwind (“Eastwind”) used a 37mm automatic antiaircraft cannon mounted in an open top, six-sided turret on the PzKw IV chassis.  The Wirbelwind (“Whirlwind”) used the same turret with a rapid-fire quadruple 20mm cannon.  Both versions with their revolving turrets were much more effective than earlier antiaircraft guns on half-track or tank chassis, but suffered from the drawback that their turrets were open topped.  At least one Wirbelwind from s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501 reportedly shot down an Allied fighter-bomber during the Ardennes Offensive, and other Wirbelwinds attached to Kampfgruppe Peiper were used with devastating effect in a ground fire role against attacking U.S. infantry.  While one of the flak platoons was supposed to be armed with Ostwind, there is no photographic or written evidence that any Ostwind were actually used in the Ardennes Offensive by Kampfgruppe Peiper.

A Wirbelwind flak tank attached to Kampfgruppe Peiper in Stoumont, from a film taken by an SS war reporter. (US National Archives at College Park, RG 242 National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 242-MID-3136)

The battalion’s workshop company included another effective tank modification, the Bergepanther armored recovery vehicle.  The Bergepanther was based on the PzKw V chassis without the turret.  It used a heavy spade to anchor the vehicle during recovery operations with its 40-ton winch and 1 1/2 ton lifting derrick.  The Bergepanther was the Germans’ largest armored recovery vehicle; there were no production models based on the Tiger chassis.  Consequently, recovering or towing a Königstiger usually required two or more Bergepanthers, but there was only one in the battalion.  The Panzer Inspector General’s office issued strict others against using a Tiger to tow another, but the scarcity of adequate recovery vehicles meant that this order was often ignored.

Notes:

(1) Patrick Agte, Michael Wittmann: erfolgreichster Panzerkommandant im Zweiten Weltkrieg und die Tiger der Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (Rosenheim, Germany: Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1994), 283 (English translation page 458).

(2) Most of the technical data on the Tiger II’s gun is from Karl R. Pawlas, “Die 8,8-cm-Kampfwagenkanone 43 L/71 für den ‘Königstiger,’”  Waffen Revue 110 (3rd quarter 1998): 3-36.  Other technical details of the tank are found in Thomas L. Jentz and Hilary L. Doyle, Germany’s Tiger Tanks. VK45.02 to Tiger II: Design Production and Modifications (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1997).

(3) Merkblatt: Schießanleitung und Schulschießübungen für den Panzerkampfwagen Tiger (n.p.: German Army High Command Headquarters, 1944): 5-10.

All text copyright 2005-2010 Gregory A. Walden. All rights reserved; material from this website may only be republished with the author’s permission.