Panzerkampfwagen VI 'Tiger I'

Among the many armored vehicles that saw service during World War II, few have attained the mythic status of the Panzerkampfwagen VI, also known as the Tiger I. This 57-ton beast marks the beginning of the German heavy tank line and is a textbook example of a tank of its class, capable of inflicting and taking heavy damage due to its powerful armament and thick armor protection.

Design history

The Panzerkampfwagen VI, also known as the Tiger I, was a German heavy tank designed and built by Henschel during the Second World War. Originally designed under the specification for a breakthrough vehicle weighing approximately 30 tons; the prototype VK 30.01(H) was Henschel’s first attempt to meet these design specifications, featuring approximately 50mm thick frontal armor and the same KwK 37 short barrel 75mm cannon found on early models of the Panzer IV. Also entering the competition was Porsche’s VK 30.01(P), which featured 80mm armor protection and an innovative gasoline-electric drive system.

However, neither vehicle would be accepted for production as German High Command deemed both vehicles insufficient after seeing the capabilities of British and French armored vehicles. Thus, new specifications were laid out, requesting that the frontal armor be increased to 100mm in thickness, and the armament was to be either the 7.5 cm Gerät 725 or the 8.8 cm KwK 36 mounted in a turret designed by Krupp.

Both Henschel and Porsche would select the KwK 36 as the primary armament for their vehicles, designated VK 45.01(H) and VK 45.01(P), respectively. The Henschel design featured a centrally mounted turret with a Maybach 210 gasoline engine driving a front-mounted transmission. The vehicle also featured a torsion bar suspension with interleaved and interlocking road wheels and a 725mm wide track to spread the weight of the vehicle over a wider area, a weight that had increased significantly to over 50 tons.

Thus, on Hitler’s birthday, April 20, 1942, the Henschel and Porsche prototypes underwent a series of tests to determine which vehicle would be selected for mass production. In the end, the VK 45.01(H) was chosen due to its greater mechanical reliability and ease of production compared to the Porsche prototype, whose gasoline-electric drive used an unacceptable amount of copper and was prone to a variety of mechanical problems. Thus, the VK 45.01(H) was renamed Panzerkampfwagen VI and was scheduled to go into mass production in the summer of the same year.

Service history

In June of 1942, the first of what would become approximately 1,340 Tiger I tanks would be completed, but the vehicles would not see front-line combat until September 16th of that year, when Tiger Is engaged the Soviet 2nd Shock Army on the Volkhov Front, where three Tigers were lost to antitank fire. More Tigers would be sent as reinforcements in response to Operation Iskra: an attempt by the Soviets to reopen a land corridor to the city of Leningrad on January 11, 1943. The next day, the Tigers would be credited with knocking out twelve T-34/76 tanks at the cost of two vehicles, both of which were captured by the Soviets.

Meanwhile, the schwere Panzer-Abteilung 501 was given its first batch of Tiger tanks and was sent to reinforce the Afrika Corps during late 1942, scoring a multitude of tank kills but also losing many to breakdowns. The schwere Panzer-Abteilung 501 would be amongst the many losses during the Allied rout of Axis forces near Tunis in May 1943.

In the East, the Tiger saw extensive use, most prominently during Operation Citadel, an attempt by the Axis to encircle a salient that had formed in their lines around the city of Kursk. The Battle of Kursk would come to be known as one of the largest tank battles in history. It is estimated that 147 Tiger tanks were distributed for the campaign, with the majority ending up with schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 in the south and schwere Panzer-Abteilung 505 in the north. Besides enemy armor and anti-tank fire, a large portion of Tigers were disabled by anti-tank mines, with an entire group of Tigers falling victim within a single day. After the failure of Operation Citadel, the Germans were firmly on the defensive, engaging in a fighting retreat against the onslaught of Soviet forces until the eventual capture of Berlin.

In the West, the Allies had also been making progress, managing to secure a foothold in Italy with their landings in Sicily. Tigers were deployed to intervene during this campaign as well, with a notable division being schwere Panzer-Abteilung 508, which was deployed to repel Allied forces attempting to land in Anzio. Around the same time, the Allies launched D-Day and made landings in northern France to which multiple Tigers were deployed under Panzergruppe West and attempted to repel Allied forces to no avail. A last-ditch attempt was made during the Battle of the Bulge, where the last of the Axis armored divisions on the Western front were used to try and spearhead through Bastogne to cut off Allied supply lines; this too ended in failure and would be the last of Germany’s major armored offensives.

Legacy

The legacy of the Tiger I is one muddled in myth and hearsay, often either being viewed as the absolute pinnacle of armored design or an absolute waste of metal. As with many things the truth sits somewhere in between these two extremes.

First and foremost are some of the more ludicrous kill ratios attributed to the Tiger, many of these claims are based off of either false information or propaganda. Allied forces had a habit of misidentifying the smaller and more numerous Panzer IV as the Tiger and by extension attributing kills made by the Panzer IV to the Tiger. Another factor is the method of counting kills; often a Tiger would score a hit on a vehicle that would “destroy” it, but in actuality the vehicle could be taken back to a repair depot and be ready for combat within a few days.

In terms of how it actually performed in service, the Tiger’s history can be summarized as such. Due to the Tiger’s expensive production costs, only about 1340 vehicles were ever built. This, combined with the tank’s heavy maintenance requirements, meant that only a handful of Tigers were available at any given time, limiting their impact on the war.

Despite this, the Tiger did have many positives to its design aside from the obvious factors like its armor and gun. The interleaved roadwheels, often criticized for getting jammed with mud, gave the Tiger a smooth ride and ground pressure equivalent to medium tanks like the T-34. The Tiger also had quite good crew ergonomics, featuring a roomy interior and even a hydraulically powered steering wheel which eased the workload placed upon the driver. This allowed the crew to work with their vehicle rather than against it and helped the Tiger earn its lethal reputation.

(source: Armored Champion The Top Tanks of World War II by Steven Zaloga)

Armament

The 8.8 cm Kampfwagenkanone 36 or KwK 36 is the Tiger’s main armament, which features excellent ballistics and armor penetration even at ranges over a kilometer away. The Tiger is also a relatively stable firing platform, meaning that, while tricky, it is possible to land shots while on the move as long as you are on flat terrain.

In terms of gun handling, the cannon has decent elevation characteristics with -8 degrees of gun depression and 16 degrees of gun elevation. The turret traverse is rather sluggish, with stock traverse speeds being 7.1 dg/s (H1) and 8.3 dg/s (E).

The following ammo is worth using:

• PzGr. 39 — The stock PzGr. 39 is an APCBC (Armor Piercing Capped Ballistic Capped) shell that, with good armor penetration performance and a decent amount of HE filler, is capable of defeating most enemy vehicles at the BR. It should be used as your primary ammunition when first playing the Tiger I.
• PzGr. — It is an unlockable APCBC shell that has very similar ballistic performance to the PzGr. 39 with slightly inferior armor penetration. Whilst it is easy to gloss over this round because of that, the PzGr.'s main draw is the sheer amount of explosive filler packed into it, rivaling even the Soviet 122mm. This means that a penetrating hit will almost certainly one-shot an enemy tank and even overpressure open-topped vehicles. Bring this shell as your primary ammunition once it is unlocked.
• Sprgr. L/4.5 — The Sprgr. L/4.5 is the stock high explosive shell for the Tiger. This shell should be used exclusively for targeting and destroying soft targets like open-topped vehicles or trucks and should only be brought in small quantities.

Armor and survivability

In terms of armor protection, the Tiger is decently armored with frontal armor thickness of 100mm on the upper and lower hull, 60mm sloped at 80 degrees on the frontal 'step', and the variably thick gun mantlet being at minimum 140mm. The upper sides, rear, and the rest of the turret are 80mm thick, and the lower sides are 60mm thick. On the Tiger H1, your commander’s cupola is a weak spot from any angle, and a hit to it can knock out your turret.

While the armor is thick for its battle rating, its flat design makes it unlikely to ricochet any incoming shells. To remedy this issue, it is good practice to position your vehicle at a 40-degree angle to your enemy; this will significantly decrease the chances of a shell penetrating your vehicle.

Another method to increase one’s survivability is to refrain from bringing excessive amounts of ammo, as a penetrating hit to the hull sponsons with a full ammo loadout will almost certainly result in an ammo rack explosion. An ammo loadout of 20-25 rounds should be more than sufficient for an average match.

Mobility

With a power-to-weight ratio of approximately 12.3 hp/ton and a maximum top speed of 27.9 mph and 5 mph in reverse, the Tiger has decent mobility for a tank of its class, rivaling some medium tanks in this regard. This allows the Tiger to move around the map with relative ease. Keep in mind that this vehicle will bleed speed quite quickly in a turn.

Usage in battle

Sniper: The Tiger can function well as a sniper due to its powerful cannon being effective even at long distances and its armor being able to absorb the impact of enemy fire quite easily at a distance. The Tiger’s -8 degrees of gun depression means that you can utilize terrain to go 'hull down', meaning only exposing your thickly armored turret while firing upon an enemy.

Brawler: The Tiger is a dangerous opponent at close ranges as well. By utilizing angling, you can make yourself a tough nut to crack even at point-blank range. Though your sluggish turret traverse renders you vulnerable to being outflanked by lighter and more agile vehicles such as the M18 Hellcat, so it is essential to maintain situational awareness. Turning your hull with your turret also makes it easier to get your gun on target in these close-range situations.

Notable Enemies:

Light Tanks/Mobile TDs:

• Of all varieties, these vehicles can pose a threat to you if allowed to get on your side. Thus it is important to keep your head on a swivel and watch your flanks. Do not forget to load HE for open-topped vehicles!

Medium Tanks:

• Panther: The Panther’s upper front plate is impenetrable to the Tiger’s cannon, yet its turret can be penetrated. Take care to aim towards the center of the gun mantlet or the portions of the turret not protected by the gun mantlet. Another critical weakness of the Panther is its abysmal reverse speed of -2 mph; if the Panther is mispositioned, they cannot retreat.
• M26: In all of its variations, the Pershing is a dangerous opponent for the Tiger I with all their cannons being able to frontally penetrate a Tiger even at an angle. For the normal Pershing, its weak spots are the neck of the turret, its machine gun port, and the driver’s and radio operator’s hatches.

Heavy Tanks:

• M4A3E2 (76) W:  The Jumbo in both of its variants boasts very thick frontal armor that is highly resistant to the KwK 36. Its main weak spot is the machine gun port, but some other locations are the neck of the turret if you are close enough or the lower sides of the hull if the Jumbo is angling too much.
• T26E1-1: The T26E1-1 'Super Pershing' shares many of the same weak spots as its original counterpart, but boasts extra protection along its frontal hull and turret front. Though its cannon has a long reload that is almost double that of the Tiger’s, so if the Super Pershing misses its shot, you can exploit its downtime.
• T26E5: For the T26E5 'Jumbo Pershing', the neck of the turret is the only reliable frontal weak spot; thus, it might be better to shoot out the cannon barrel and then get on the Jumbo’s side.
• T29/T30/T34: This line of American heavy tanks features the same hull and turret and differs only in armament; however, all of those armaments will obliterate your Tiger from any angle. Their weak spots are the corners of their lower front plate and the area around the machine gun port. The tried-and-true method of shooting out their barrel is also viable.
• IS-2/44: The IS-2's infamous 122mm cannon can make quick work of the Tiger I, but its long 20+ second reload means that if you catch it after it fires, it is defenseless. From the front, you can penetrate the lower glacis, the turret cheeks, and the commander cupola.

Tank Destroyers:

• T95: The Doom Turtle is essentially impenetrable from the front, and its 105mm cannon is a dangerous threat. Its primary weak spot is the cupola on top of the vehicle. If you manage to outflank the T95, shoot the area directly beneath the cupolas.
• Tortoise: Shooting the commander’s cupola will cripple the vehicle’s crew, although be warned that it is not guaranteed that the shell will kill the gunner. If at close enough range, you can target the machine gun port as well.
• Ho-Ri Prototype: The Ho-Ri prototype is an absolute monster to fight head-on, with the only weak spot being the cheeks of the superstructure where the armor is 120mm thick. However, it should be noted that due to the vehicle’s crew layout, it is nearly impossible to one-shot it unless an ammo rack hit.