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Tiger II

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Panzer VI Ausf. B Tiger II
Tiger II preserved at La Gleize, Belgium
TypeHeavy tank
Place of originNazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service history
In service1944 - 1945
WarsWorld War II
Production history
DesignerHenschel & Son / Krupp (turret)
Designed1943
ManufacturerHenschel & Son
Produced1943 - 1945
No. built487
Specifications
Mass68.5 tonnes (initial turret)
69.8 tonnes (production turret)
Length7.62 m
10.286 m with gun forward
Width3.755 m
Height3.09 m
Crew5 (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Armor25 – 180 mm
Main
armament
1× 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71
84 rounds
Secondary
armament
2× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34
4,800 rounds
EngineV-12 Maybach HL 230 P30
700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
Power/weight10 PS/tonne
TransmissionMaybach OLVAR EG 40 12 16 B (8 forward and 4 reverse)
Suspensiontorsion-bar
Operational
range
170 km
Maximum speed 41.5 km/h

The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B was a German heavy tank of the Second World War. It was also known as Sonderkraftfahrzeug 182 (Sd. Kfz. 182), or informally Tiger II or Königstiger (German: Bengal Tiger, often literally translated as King Tiger) and by the British as Royal Tiger.

The Tiger II combined the heavy armor of the Tiger I with the sloped armor of the Panther. The design followed the same concept as the Tiger I, but was intended to be even more formidable. The Tiger II chassis supplied the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer. The Tiger II weighed 68.5 (early turret) to 69.8 (production turret) tons, was protected by 150 to 180 mm of frontal armor, and was armed with the 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 gun.

The very heavy armor and powerful long-range gun gave the Tiger II the advantage against virtually all opposing tanks. This was especially true on the Western Front, where the British and US forces had almost no heavy tanks with which to oppose it. In a defensive position it was difficult to destroy. Offensively it performed with less success, and its performance was a great disappointment to Hitler[citation needed] when it first saw action.

The Tiger II was widely photographed due to its large size and propaganda value.

Development

Initially two designs were provided, one by Henschel and one by Porsche. Both used a turret design from Krupp; the main differences were in the hull design, transmission and suspension.

The Henschel version used a conventional hull design with sloped armor resembling the layout of the Panther tank. It had a rear mounted engine and standard interleaved road wheels mounted on transverse torsion bars in a similar manner to the original Tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather than interleaved as in the Tiger 1.

The Porsche hull design had a rear-mounted turret and a mid mounted engine. The suspension was the same as on the Jagdpanzer Elefant. This suspension had 6 road wheels per side mounted in paired bogies sprung with short longitudinal torsion bars that were integral to the wheel pair; this saved internal space and facilitated repairs. The Porsche version had a series-hybrid power system where the gasoline engines powered electrical generators which in turned powered electric motors which turned the sprockets. This method of propulsion had been attempted before on the Ferdinand prototypes and in some US designs, but had never been put into production. The Porsche suspension would later be used on a few of the later Jagdtiger tank hunters.

File:PanzerVI TigerII Porsche1.jpg
A Tiger II of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion in Normandy, 1944, carrying the early (so-called 'Porsche') turret

Henschel won the contract, and all Tiger IIs were produced by the firm. Two turret designs were used in production vehicles. The initial design is sometimes misleadingly called the "Porsche turret" due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for their prototype. In fact this turret was simply the initial Krupp design for both prototypes. This turret had a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge to accommodate the commander's cupola. Approximately 50 early turrets were mounted to Henschel's hull and used in action. The more common 'production' turret, sometimes called the 'Henschel' turret, was simplified with a flat face, no shot trap (created by the curved face of the initial-type turret), less-steeply sloped sides, and no bulge for the commander's cupola.

The Tiger II was developed late in the war and made in relatively small numbers. Like all German tanks, it had a gasoline engine. However, this same engine powered the much lighter Panther and Tiger I tanks. The Tiger II was under-powered, like many heavy tanks of WW2, and consumed a lot of fuel which was already in short supply.

Mechanical problems

Tiger II with the production turret, at the Deutsches Panzermuseum, Munster, Germany

With the Third Reich hard pressed, the Tiger IIs were sent directly from the factories into combat. As a result of the abandonment of post-production testing and preliminary trials, the tanks had numerous technical issues. Notably, the steering control would often break down under the stress of the vehicle's weight. In addition, not only were the engines prone to overheating and failure, but they also consumed large amounts of fuel. This can be attributed to the fact that it used the 700hp Maybach engine of the far smaller Panther tank. The engine had to constantly run at full power just to get the tank moving. Henschel & Son's chief designer Erwin Adlers explained that "The breakdowns can be attributed to the fact that the Tiger II had to go straight into series production without the benefit of test results." The engine and drivetrain was overburdened by the weight and would have required more testing to work out problems, a common problem among heavy tanks that pushed the limits of powerplants and transmissions. A version of the Maybach HL230 engine with direct fuel injection was being designed that would have improved power to about 1,000–hp, Henschel proposed to use it for future production and retrofitting to existing Tiger IIs, but the deteriorating war situation meant the upgrade never left the drawing board. Other suggested improvements included a new main weapon, possibly of 105mm calibre, but again this never got beyond the proposal stage.

Overall, the Tiger II was a formidable tank in spite of its problems. The Tiger II's 88 mm armament could destroy most Allied AFVs at a range far outside the effective range of the enemy AFV's armament. Also, notwithstanding its reliability problems, the Tiger II was remarkably agile for such a heavy vehicle. Contemporary German records indicate that it had a lower ground pressure and was as maneuverable as the much lighter Panzer IV. Also, like the Tiger I, its sophisticated suspension design provided excellent flotation, giving the tank a very smooth ride and making it an excellent gun platform. The tank's reputation as an unreliable, underpowered, and overly complex system is based on postwar testing of captured examples by the US Army's ordnance branch.

Production

1500 were ordered. Total production amounted to about 485-9, if prototypes are counted. Full production ran from about mid-1944 to the end of the war.

Each tank was given an individual turret number.

Other specification

  • Gearbox: Maybach OLVAR EG 40 12 16 B (8 forward and 4 reverse)
  • Radio: FuG 5, Befehlswagen (command tank) version: FuG 8 (Sd. Kfz. 267), FuG 7 (Sd. Kfz. 268)
  • Ammunition: 88 mm — 80 rounds (Porsche turret), 86 rounds (Henschel turret), 7.92mm — up to 5,850 rounds
  • Gun Sight: Turmzielfernrohr 9d (TZF 9d), early on the TZF 9b
  • Armor layout: (all angles from horizontal)
    • Hull front, lower: 100 mm @ 40°; upper: 150 mm @ 40°
    • Hull side, lower: 80 mm @ 90°; upper: 80 mm @ 65°
    • Hull rear: 80 mm @ 60°
    • Hull top: 40 mm @ 90°
    • Hull bottom: 40 mm @ 90° (front), 25 mm @ 90° (rear)
    • Turret front: 180 mm @ 80° (Porsche turret: 60–110 mm, rounded)
    • Turret side: 80 mm @ 69° (Porsche turret: 80 mm @ 60°)
    • Turret rear: 80 mm @ 70° (Porsche turret: 80 mm @ 60°)
    • Turret top: 44 mm @ 0–10° (Porsche turret: 40 mm @ 0–12°)

Combat history

Tiger II in Bovington tank museum, Dorset

The first use of the Tiger II in combat was in Normandy on 18 July 1944 with the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (schwere Panzerabteilung 503). It was first used on the Eastern Front on 12 August 1944 with schwere PzAbt 501 in the fighting at the Soviets' Baranov bridgehead over the Vistula River. In this action, a single Soviet T-34-85 under the command of Guards Lieutenant Os'kin from the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade knocked out three Tiger IIs by firing at their sides from an ambush position. Later the Tiger II was present at, among others, the Ardennes Offensive, the Soviet offensive into Poland and East Prussia in January 1945, the German offensives in Hungary in 1945, fighting to the east of Berlin at the Seelow Heights in April 1945 and finally within the city of Berlin itself at the very end of the war.

The Sherman-equipped 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards claim they were the first British regiment to knock out a King Tiger, on 8 August 1944, in France.

Soviet wartime testing and low opinion on the Tiger II

During August 1944 a number of Tiger IIs were captured by the Soviets near Sandomierz and were soon tested by the Soviets at their testing grounds at Kubinka [1]. The tests revealed the tanks to be severely defective, the transmission and suspension broke down very frequently and the engine was prone to overheating and consequential failure. Additionally, the Soviets discovered surprising deficiencies in its armour. Not only was the metal of shoddy quality — a problem not peculiar to the Tiger II, as the war progressed the Germans found it harder and harder to get hold of the alloys needed for high quality steel — but the welding was also, despite "careful workmanship", extremely poor. As a result, even when shells did not penetrate its armour the spalling was horrid and the armour plating unfailingly cracked at the welding seams when struck by heavier shells, rendering the tank inoperable. The testers concluded that the Tiger II posed a lesser challenge than the much lighter and cheaper Tiger I, and were puzzled at the German decision to produce it.

There has been a lot of debate about the validity of these Russian tests. They were carried out by firing a large number of shots at very close range (each penetration weakens the armor so further penetrations become more likely) on a sample of only one tank. Additionally, the Russians had no means of correctly maintaining the tank's transmission - bearing in mind that the Germans found keeping the Tiger II in full working order logistically demanding it is unsurprising that any captured examples quickly broke down without access to proper spare parts. In any event, when the King Tiger could be deployed in a defensive role it was usually successful against Soviet armor, for example, sSSPzAbt 503 scored approximately 500 kills in the period January–April 1945 on the Eastern Front, for the loss of 45 King Tigers (most of which were abandoned and destroyed by their own crews after mechanical breakdown or due to lack of fuel)(source: Sledgehammers, Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II, by C Wilbeck).

The fates of some of the tanks.

Surviving vehicles

King Tiger located at Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor
  • Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, England. Tiger II (Porsche turret) displayed in interior location accessible to public on payment of entrance fee to museum. This was the second prototype Tiger II made and did not see active service.
  • Kubinka Tank Museum, Russia. Tiger II (production turret), possibly a command version. The museum is open to the public with restrictions. Foreign visitors must request permission to visit 3 weeks in advance.
  • December 44 museum, La Gleize, Belgium. Restored Tiger II (production turret) in open air location accessible to public. Hull number 280273, built in October 1944. Turret number 213 from SS s.PzAbt. 501. This tank was abandoned in La Gleize on 24 December 1944.
  • Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham England. Tiger II (production turret) in military collection not normally accessible to the public. This vehicle was from SS s.PzAbt. 501 with turret number 104. It was knocked out near Beauvais. This vehicle is currently (June 2006) on display at Bovington Tank Museum.
  • Deutsches Panzermuseum, Munster, Germany. Tiger II (production turret) displayed in interior location accessible to public on payment of entrance fee to museum. Hull number 280101. Turret number 121 from SS s.PzAbt. 101.
  • Musée des Blindés, Saumur, France. Only surviving Tiger II in running order (production turret). Displayed in interior location accessible to public on payment of entrance fee to museum.
  • Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor, Fort Knox, United States. Tiger II (production turret). Hull number 280243, built in September 1944. Turret number 332 from SS s.PzAbt. 501. Abandoned in Dec. 1944 near Bourgoument.
  • Full Schweizerisches Militärmuseum, Switzerland. This Tiger II (production turret) was previously displayed in the Thun Tank Museum, and is now on loan to the Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full (September 2006). It will be completely restored to running condition in a long-term project. This tank was given to Switzerland by France after the war. Hull number 280215 from s.PzAbt. 506.

Variants

The Tiger II would serve as a basis for only one variant: the Jagdtiger.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Königstiger.
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