Requesting information on the Soviet Dread Tiger tank of World War II

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The Tiger tank was the most outstanding heavy tank in World War II, and it was also the carrier that created countless best tank teams. Its birth and equipment in active German troops caused great threats and fear to the armored forces of the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the Soviet Union. For a time, the phrase "Beware of tigers ahead" became the mantra of the Allied armored forces! Let’s listen to what Lao Sa has to say.

Tanks during World War II can be roughly divided into three categories: light tanks, medium tanks and heavy tanks. Light tanks mainly play the role of reconnaissance, guarding and attacking secondary targets on the battlefield, and play a supporting role in the entire armored combat. Light tanks have poor defense and attack power, but excellent mobility. Medium tanks are the backbone of the armored forces of various countries. They mainly attack enemy tanks, fortifications, artillery positions, and kill enemy troops. Medium tanks generally have much stronger defense and attack power than light tanks. Although their mobility is inferior to that of light tanks, they are not weaker.

In short, the strength of a country's installed force depends largely on the performance and quantity of medium tanks. In addition to these two tanks, there is also a heavy tank. This kind of tank is mainly used on the battlefield to attack enemy tanks, solid fortifications, etc. Its main function is search and annihilation, and it is a very important strike force of the armored forces. Heavy tanks generally have strong attack and defense power, but poor mobility. They are the mainstay of firepower in armored forces.

In the early days of World War II, heavy tanks were not taken seriously.

As for the most powerful German armored force in Europe, due to the characteristics of blitzkrieg, the German military leaders paid more attention to light and medium tanks. They developed Type 1, 2, 3, and 4 tanks. Among them, Types 1 and 2 are light tanks, both of which have excellent maneuverability. Types 3 and 4 are medium tanks. They are also very maneuverable, and their attack power and defense are not weaker than those of the British, American and French medium tanks at that time.

The German army does not pay much attention to heavy tanks. This is mainly because when the German armored forces implement blitzkrieg, they often need to independently penetrate hundreds of kilometers behind the enemy, so they have high requirements for mobility. Judging from the technology at the time, the mobility of heavy tanks was definitely very poor, and they were unable to fight alongside the light and medium tanks in blitzes. So what was the practical significance of developing such heavy tanks?

The German army began to study the feasibility of equipping heavy tanks as early as 1930, but it was not until 1937 that the research plan for heavy tanks was officially launched, but the progress was extremely slow. This was mainly the result of the lack of attention from senior officials.

In the Battle of Poland, the German armored forces defeated the million-strong Polish army in two weeks. The victory was so easy that the top German military officials believed that the existing combination of light and medium tanks seemed to be fully capable of handling the battlefield. Needed. Then why develop heavy tanks?

Unfortunately, war has its own avoidance, and it will never change because of what some people take for granted.

In the subsequent Battle of France, the British and French forces taught the Germans a good lesson. Although the Battle of France ended in a disastrous defeat for Britain and France, in actual combat, the German armored forces encountered hundreds of British and French heavy tanks (in fact, looking at it later, they were just heavier medium tanks). The heavy armor of the British Matilda 2 tank and the French Char B1 tank caused great trouble to the German tanks. In actual combat, the German light and medium tanks were unable to destroy these two tanks. In several encounters, the German tanks They all suffered heavy losses, and were eventually destroyed and wounded by Stuka dive bombers and 88mm anti-aircraft guns.

The Battle of France made the Germans realize that heavy tanks also have existential significance, especially for defensive operations.

As a result, the Germans began to accelerate the research plan of heavy tanks. In 1939, the military asked famous tank manufacturers such as Porsche, Daimler-Benz, and MAN to provide their own solutions.

The requirement at that time was that it must be equipped with a 75mm long-barreled artillery (the best Type IV tank of the German army at that time was still a 75mm short-barreled artillery), weighing about 35 tons.

After more than a year of research work, Porsche, Daimler-Benz, and MAN proposed their own heavy tank plans in early 1941.

At this time, Germany once again encountered a storm of Soviet heavy tanks. On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and the largest Soviet-German war in World War II broke out. At the beginning of the war, the German army swept across the Soviet border guards, causing heavy losses to about 4 million Soviet troops within a few months. Although the battle seemed to be going smoothly, the German tank troops encountered two terrifying Soviet tanks, the T-34 medium tank and the KV heavy tank. The T-34 medium tank's fire defense and mobility far exceed those of the German tanks currently in service, causing great damage to the German Type 2, 3, and 4 tanks. But in comparison, the KV1 and KV2 heavy tanks are the most troublesome for the German army.

Everyone knows that the 37mm and 50mm short-barreled guns of the German Type 3 medium tank cannot penetrate the armor of the T-34 at any angle. The 75mm short-barreled main gun of the Type 4 medium tank before the upgrade Previously, it could only penetrate the rear armor of the T-34, or the side armor of the T-34 at very close range.

The German army is still unable to deal with the T-34 heavy tank, so it is even more powerless to face the KV heavy tank whose armor defense capability is almost twice that of the T-34.

Although the Soviet tank soldiers did not like the KV tank, which had many faults, poor maneuverability and difficult maintenance, it still played a major role in actual combat, delaying the German offensive to the greatest extent.

The most famous example is that a KV2 tank of the 2nd Armored Division of the Soviet Third Mechanized Army blocked the German 6th Armored Division for a full 48 hours. At that time, on the Lithuanian front line, this KV2 heavy tank voluntarily stayed behind to block the German advance. Full of ammunition, it lay in ambush on a bridge over the Dobisa River, waiting for the arrival of the Germans.

In the early morning of June 24, the German vanguard encountered this KV2 tank and destroyed 12 trucks. After the encounter between the two sides, the Germans launched five attacks in two days. The first time they used 6 37mm anti-tank guns. As a result, they fired 7 times and all hit the KV2 tank, but only shot down some paint on the turret. Instead, the KV2 Destroyed 4 of them. For the second time, an 88mm anti-aircraft gun was used for a sneak attack, but it was overturned by one shot before the anti-aircraft gun could be set up (it takes a while for the German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun to be set up, which makes it extremely easy to be hit within that time). Also destroyed.

For the third time, a 12-man elite engineering unit blasted KV2 at night and used twice the number of explosives. However, the KV2 used machine guns to violently fire at the engineering troops, so they had to blast at a longer distance. Even the tank tracks were not damaged after the blasting.

The fourth time the German army used 6 Czech 35(t) light tanks to attract the attention of KV2 in a feint attack (during the period, multiple 37mm shells hit KV2 without causing any damage), and then secretly set up an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun. When KV2 and 6 German tanks were shooting at each other, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun fired 5 rounds in a row, 2 of which penetrated it. Although the KV2 tank was smoking, when the German soldiers approached him, they found that the turret was still rotating.

For the fifth time, the German infantry knocked on the top cover of KV2 and threw several grenades inside, killing all the members. At this time, most of the division's troops had been blocked by this KV2 for 48 hours.

The strong defense of the KV tank did pose a great threat to the German army. On the same day that the KV2 was destroyed, the German army also fought fiercely with the main force of the Soviet 2nd Armored Division near another bridge. , to repel it. The Soviet army left 29 KV tanks in this battle, but after the analysis, most of them were abandoned due to mechanical failures. The armor around one of the KV tanks was hit by as many as 70 rounds from various anti-tank guns. Although the tank's aiming device was damaged, , the tracks were extensively damaged and forced to give up, but not a single shot penetrated its armor, which amazed the Germans!

In the subsequent series of battles, the German army had almost no way to deal with extremely thickly armored land cruisers like KV tanks. It was completely impossible to rely on tanks to deal with them.

After understanding this situation, the Soviet army used this tank even more unscrupulously. At that time, the Soviet frontline logistics was in great chaos, and many tanks were seriously short of ammunition. After some KV tanks ran out of ammunition and carried a small amount of ammunition, they continued to attack the German anti-tank gun positions, crushing each anti-tank gun. Such arrogant tactics were naturally unbearable to the proud Germans.

The success of the KV heavy tank awakened the German military leaders from their dreams and made Hitler very angry. The dictator angrily accused the German generals of neglecting the research work on heavy tanks, which resulted in the current passivity of the German armored forces.

Hitler ordered in 1941 that a heavy tank must be developed immediately. The tank must have performance beyond that of the KV tank and can effectively destroy all Soviet tanks in active service. Hitler also proposed that the existing 75mm artillery could not meet the requirements of the battlefield, and it was necessary to use the 88mm anti-tank gun, which was the most powerful anti-tank gun in the Soviet-German War, as the main gun of the tank. So the early heavy tank plan was overturned and research work was restarted.

It should be noted that the work efficiency of German tank designers is still relatively high. They quickly completed the design of the entire vehicle before April 20, 1942 (Hitler's birthday). Those participating in the display of prototypes that day were Porsche and Henschel. MAN was eliminated (however, the Panther tank designed by MAN also won the bid). The gun giant Krupp designed the turret based on the bodies of the two companies. .

But there is a problem. Since the initial car body was designed for a 75mm artillery gun, and now it has been increased to 88mm, the weight has increased a lot. The existing car body cannot bear such weight, resulting in many mechanical failures.

After the prototype vehicles of the two companies were delivered to Rastenburg Station on April 17, they were forced to travel 11 kilometers by themselves to reach Hitler's headquarters, Wolf's Lair. But in this short 11-kilometer journey, the two prototype cars broke down several times, which made the engineers on board the cars anxious.

Fortunately, the performance on April 20 was quite good. After careful study, Hitler believed that the design of Porsche's prototype did not meet the requirements for heavy tanks in actual combat. Its maneuverability was too poor and its response was too high. slow. Although Henschel's design had flaws, it was more in line with the needs of the German army. After studying with senior German military officials, they adopted a compromise plan in July, using a prototype hull from Henschel and a Porsche turret. In fact, the turret was designed by Krupp, which means Kicked Porsche out of business.

It should be noted that Hitler at this time was still relatively practical. Although the boss of Porsche Company Ferdinand Porsche (the man who invented the famous Beetle car) was his personal friend, he still No Porsche design was used.

At this time, Porsche was extremely dissatisfied with the results. They had previously believed that their products were very good and would definitely win the bid, so they produced 90 car bodies in advance to prepare for future mass production. As a result, the bid was not won, and these car bodies were wasted. Fortunately, the Porsche company was quite smart. They used 90 bodies to make the Ferdinand heavy tank destroyer, which later became extremely famous, but this is the content of another article.

------------------------Ferdinand heavy tank destroyer (also called Elephant), this is also one of the German A very terrifying weapon. It can penetrate the main armor of the Soviet T-34 tank at a shooting distance of 2,800 meters, or the main armor of the US M4 Sherman tank at a shooting distance of 3,000 meters. Due to its great power, it has become synonymous with the German tank destroyer. Soviet soldiers uniformly called the German tank destroyer Ferdinand, which was a powerful tank destroyer!

In July 1941, Henschel's prototype VK4501(H) was officially adopted by the German army and named Panzerkampfwagen 6 Ausf. E, also known as Tiger 1 tank.

Although it was finalized in 1941, the production of the Tiger tank requires a very complex manufacturing process with numerous processes, many precision machining tools and highly skilled workers.

In addition, the prototype itself had many problems, and it was not until August 1942 that it began to be produced in larger quantities.

The Tiger tank was the best heavy tank in the world at that time, the Mercedes-Benz and BMW of the heavy tank industry!

In terms of firepower, it is equipped with an 88mm 36 L/56, which is derived from the powerful German 88mm anti-aircraft gun. When the gun uses tungsten carbide core armor-piercing projectiles, it can penetrate 140 mm of armor at a distance of 1,000 meters, 125 mm and 110 mm of armor at a distance of 1,500 meters and 2,000 meters respectively.

The effective range of tanks back then was generally around 1,000 meters, mostly within a few hundred meters. But the Tiger tank can accurately hit the enemy at a distance of 1,500 meters to 2,000 meters. At that time, no Allied tank could withstand its attack, not even the Soviet Union's most heavily armored KV2 heavy tank.

The artillery uses the most advanced German Carl Zeiss TFZ 9b sight at the time, and its accuracy is amazing. During a test firing, the tank opened fire at a distance of 1,000 meters, and five consecutive rounds landed on a target 0.4 meters long and wide (about the size of the side of a computer case). This was very amazing at the time (the tank at the time Generally at least 2.5 meters high and 3 meters wide).

In July 1944, the Tiger tanks of the third company of the 506th Heavy Tank Battalion destroyed a T-34 tank at a distance of 3,900 meters. This was an astonishing achievement that far exceeded the shooting limit of artillery. It is enough to reflect the excellent performance of the artillery and aiming system.

The German armored soldiers who used Tiger tanks in World War II all praised the Tiger's artillery system, thinking that it was a very stable and accurate shooting platform like the Panther and an excellent tank killer!

During the battle, the T-34 tank, which had suppressed German tanks for 2 years, finally met its opponent. The huge power of the Tiger tank cannon easily penetrated the front armor of the T-34 tank, detonated its internal ammunition, and the entire turret was blown off by the huge explosive force and flew more than ten meters away. German soldiers jokingly said that this is the T-34 taking off its hat to pay tribute to the Tiger tank

Power and high accuracy have become the Tiger tank's biggest killer, and it is also its most significant feature.

Defensively, the Tiger tank does not use the sloped armor similar to the Panther tank and the King Tiger tank, but uses the traditional German vertical armor. It can be said that the armor of the Tiger tank is the pinnacle of traditional German vertical armor manufacturing. This finely rolled metal plate made of nickel alloy steel is produced using a cold-rolled forging process rather than casting. Compared with cast steel, the strength properties of cold-rolled forged steel are much higher!

Although the manufacturer of the Tiger tank suggested to the military in 1944 that in order to save man-hours and speed up tank production, it must change to a cast steel process. After careful study, the Army rejected this suggestion on the grounds that the quality of the armor must be ensured.

The result is that the armor hardness exceeds the hardness level of similar armor on all other tanks during World War II, making it the most excellent armor among German tanks.

Its front armor is 102 mm thick, the turret front is 135 mm thick, and the sides and back are also 82 mm thick. The four sides of the turret are nearly vertical, and the thickness of the mantlet and turret are almost equal, making it almost impossible to penetrate the Tiger tank's turret from the front. At that time, there was no Allied tank that could effectively penetrate its front armor, and it was even possible to penetrate the Tiger tank's front armor in a relatively short time. It is also extremely difficult to penetrate side armor at long distances.

At that time, the defensive capabilities of the Tiger tank surpassed the KV tank and became the best in the world.

The Tiger tank's defense is actually not much stronger than that of the Panther tank, but because the Tiger tank's side and rear armor are also thicker, it still has extremely strong defensive capabilities in actual combat (the side of the Panther tank The armor is relatively thin).

An officer of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion sent back a battle report. In a six-hour Soviet-German tank battle, his tank withstood a total of 227 rounds of anti-tank rifle rounds (Soviet Army) Equipped with a large number of anti-tank guns), 14 rounds of 45mm armor-piercing bullets, and 11 rounds of 76mm armor-piercing bullets, the tracks, axles, and suspension systems were seriously damaged and could not continue to fight. However, the crew was unscathed and drove back 60 kilometers after the battle. Rear repairs.

----------------------The main gun of the Tiger tank is very powerful. For heavy tanks, the power of the gun is extremely important. . Because artillery is invincible, almost all of the most powerful tank aces of the German Army in World War II drove Tiger tanks.

In terms of mobility, given the technology at the time, firepower and defense were emphasized, making it impossible to take both mobility into account. Due to its heavy armor and heavy large-caliber gun turret, the Tiger tank weighs up to 56 tons, twice as much as the Type 4 tank. This weight overwhelmed any engine and load-bearing system at the time, let alone the 650 horsepower of the 21-liter 12-cylinder Maybach HL210 P45 gasoline engine used in the early days of the Tiger tank.

The maximum road speed of early Tiger tanks was 45 kilometers per hour, but the actual off-road maximum speed was only 30 kilometers per hour. Since the fuel consumption is as high as 800 liters per 100 kilometers, the maximum range of the Tiger tank is only 120 kilometers.

In the famous movie "Tank Showdown", the German army abandoned a large number of Tiger tanks due to lack of fuel at the end of the Battle of the Ardennes. This is not fiction. Because Tiger tanks require a huge amount of gasoline, the oil fields controlled by Germany were basically seized by the Soviet army, and they were forced to rely on capturing enemy fuel to fight.

But it is simply impossible to maintain a fuel-eating machine like the Tiger tank by simply capturing it, and it is inevitable to eventually abandon the tank.

Because the Tiger tank is too heavy, it causes many mechanical failures, and battlefield maintenance is very difficult. Special heavy-duty maintenance vehicles must be used, because ordinary maintenance vehicles cannot be towed at all. Under normal circumstances, a Tiger tank requires three 18-ton Sdkfz9 half-track tractors. And if a Tiger is used for towing, the Tiger itself will often be overwhelmed and paralyzed, and two Tigers must be used to tow it. This is easier said than done on the battlefield!

From May 23 to 25, 1944, the 3rd Company of the 508th Heavy Tank Battalion lost 15 of its 16 tanks, mostly due to mechanical failures. Since the German army lacked more tow vehicles, it could only throw some malfunctioning Tiger tanks on the battlefield.

In addition, the weight of the Tiger tank is too great for general bridges to bear, so it is very difficult for the Tiger tank to travel in areas with many rivers.

Although its mobility is poor, compared with other heavy tanks in the world at that time, the Tiger tank's mobility is pretty good, and it is stronger than the Panther tank, King Tiger tank and the Soviet KV and Stalin series heavy tanks. tank.

The use of Tiger tanks requires careful consideration.

If it is used as the backbone of the blitzkrieg and needs to travel long distances like the Type 3 and Type 4 tanks, then the Tiger tank's low maneuverability and frequent mechanical failures make it simply unqualified. I'm afraid some of the Tiger tanks will break down on the road before they even reach the battlefield. At the same time, the huge fuel consumption and weight of the vehicle body place considerable demands on the logistics department and battlefield roads.

But Hitler was generally successful in its positioning. He customized the Tiger tank as a destroyer of tanks and solid fortifications. It was generally used on front lines that most needed anti-tank firepower and support firepower to attack the enemy's solid defensive positions. superior. Therefore, Tiger tanks are generally organized into independent heavy tank battalions for independent use by group armies or corps, with priority given to SS troops.

Tiger tanks have been organized into 11 heavy tank battalions and 3 independent SS armored brigades. The heavy tank battalion was initially equipped with 27 Tiger tanks, and later increased to 50 tanks. It was also equipped with some Type 3 and 4 tanks and half-track armored vehicles as auxiliary vehicles.

This method of use seems to be very practical now, and it also allows the Tiger tank to play its greatest role.

--------------The Tiger tank's mobility was good for the time, especially in defensive battles, its mobility could fully meet the requirements. Compared with the King Tiger tank, which has extremely poor maneuverability, the overall performance of the Tiger tank is significantly higher.

The first time the Tiger tank participated in the battle was the Battle of Leningrad on September 23, 1942. Because the Tiger tanks at that time were early models. Under Hitler's order to complete a number of Tiger tanks within a time limit, German manufacturers and designers were afraid of going to jail, so they worked hard to meet the construction deadline. Some design problems did not have time to modify the plan and then implement it. All of them were modified directly on the production line.

This was naturally forced by the Germans who required strictness, precision and emphasis on doing things according to plan. The consequence was that the early Tiger tanks had many problems, large and small.

Four Tiger tanks from the first heavy tank company of the 502nd Heavy Armor Battalion fought near Leningrad, mainly for experimental purposes. As a result, before reaching the front line, two tanks were paralyzed on the road due to mechanical failures while driving, and only two of them arrived on the battlefield.

While passing through a small swamp near Leningrad, these two tanks were all stuck in the mud and unable to move. The Soviet army immediately mobilized heavy artillery to bombard them, injuring all two tanks. German maintenance personnel braved the risk of shelling to repair one of them, but one of them sank too deeply and could not be dragged. They had to blast it and destroy it, and finally it was captured by the Soviet army.

This seizure greatly shocked the Soviets, causing them to immediately upgrade all T-34 tanks and accelerate the development of the Stalin IS series of heavy tanks and the Su-152 self-propelled anti-tank gun.

The second time the Tiger tank participated in the war was in North Africa in 1943, and its performance this time was quite good. The open terrain of the North African desert undoubtedly allowed the Tiger tank's artillery power and defensive capabilities to be unleashed.

In actual combat, 6 Tiger tanks easily destroyed 15 US tanks in the battle on the Fylde Pass in the Kesselring Pass. One of the M4 Sherman tanks was hit by a Tiger tank 2.7 kilometers away. Artillery destroyed, this is an extremely shocking number.

Three months later, Tiger tanks attacked again, and 11 Tigers cooperated to destroy 35 US tanks again, most of which were M4 Shermans. From then until the German army in North Africa surrendered to the Allies, the 33 Tiger tanks participating in the North African war destroyed 150 Allied tanks in one go, and only one was destroyed by the British large-caliber anti-tank gun. This was because of the tank's Chang rashly opened the hood of the vehicle and stuck his head out to observe. A shell fired from a British Churchill tank hit the turret and injured his head. Other tank members also suffered casualties and was forced to abandon the tank.

Hitler was still very satisfied with the performance of the Tiger tank, and ordered mass production in the rear. But at this time, the biggest problem of the Tiger tank emerged. Its structure was too complex, the production man-hours were as high as 250,000 to 300,000, and the cost was as high as 150,000 US dollars. This man-hour is dozens of times that of the Soviet T-34 tank (of course, Germany calculates man-hours differently from the Soviet Union, but Western experts estimate that producing one Tiger is equivalent to at least 10 T-34s)!

This achievement can only be achieved by Henschel Company, because Henschel Company is originally a company that produces railway locomotives and large hoisting machinery. It is not known how many man-hours it would take to switch to other companies.

The processing requirements of the Tiger tank are very high. The welding of the huge body, the cutting, manufacturing and polishing of the turret and suspension system must be within the allowable minimum error range, and then the final complexity Assembly work, such processes and requirements naturally take a long time.

-----------------------The biggest disadvantage of the Tiger tank is its complex structure. This kind of tank will definitely have no opponent if it fights a local war. , but it will not work in a world war like World War II, where hundreds of thousands of troops are fighting at every turn. The quantitative shortcomings make these tigers unable to deal with more than ten times the number of enemy tanks.

Beginning in August 1942, the German tank manufacturers worked hard and could only achieve a monthly production of 25 vehicles. It was not even possible until April 1944 to produce 104 vehicles per month. From July 1942 to August 1944, only 1,355 Tiger tanks were produced.

The Soviet Union produced nearly 4,000 IS Stalin 2 heavy tanks in just one year, and more than 2,300 more advanced IS Stalin 3 heavy tanks were produced in one year. In other words, at the same time, the Soviet heavy tank production capacity was 5 or 6 times that of the Germans. If you add in the more than 53,000 T-34 tanks produced in a few years, it means that the Tiger tank has to fight 60 times the Soviet medium and heavy tanks.

If you add in the 50,000 M4 Sherman tanks of the US military, the number of medium-heavy tanks of the US and the Soviet Union alone is no less than 100 times that of Tiger tanks. This is really a statistic that makes the Germans extremely helpless. , it is simply impossible to win in this kind of war.

The advantages of the Tiger tank are obvious, including strong defensive capabilities and super attack power, but its shortcomings are also obvious. Its mobility is poor and its reaction is slow. His turret is controlled by a hydraulic drive system powered by the engine. Because the turret is so heavy, it takes 1 minute to rotate once, and it is almost impossible to use tank members to rotate the turret at a large angle by hand cranking. The manual operation of the tank crew can only be used when the turret needs to adjust the firing angle slightly! Once the tank's engine stalls, the turret cannot rotate, which means it cannot fight. The turret of the American M4 Sherman medium tank can rotate once in just 10 seconds.

If the Tiger tank is used in offensive operations, its role will be limited. Why such an advanced Panther tank still lost a lot in the Battle of Kursk? This is mainly because the Panther tank is completely used for offensive operations. Although its frontal armor is very thick, the sides, rear and even top armor and tracks are defensive. It is impossible to cover all areas with force. In offensive operations, we will inevitably suffer all-round attacks, and it is normal to suffer relatively large losses.

However, in actual combat, the performance of the Tiger tank seems to be significantly better than that of the Panther tank. Even the four most famous super tank aces in the German army with more than 100 tanks used Tiger tanks.

This is mainly the use of Tiger tanks, which just meets the performance requirements and can maximize its strengths and avoid weaknesses.