Ancient history

PzKpfw VI Tiger I

PzKpfw VI Tiger I or SdKfz 181

country germany

Type :heavy battle tank

Crew :5 men

Armament :an 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 gun:a coaxial MG34 of 792 mm; a 7.92 mm MG34 in shell

Shielding :minimum 26mm; max 110mm.

Dimensions:

length :8.25m;

width :3.73m;

height :2.85m

Weight :55 t.

Ground Pressure :1.04 kg/cm2.

Mass power :12.93 ch/t.

Engine :Maybach HL 230 P 45 V-12 water-cooled gasoline in-line. developing 700 hp at 3,000 rpm.

Performance:

road speed 38 km/h;

off-road speed • 20 km/h:

autonomy , 100km:

vertical obstacle :0.8m;

clean cut . 1.8m:

ford . 1.2m;

slope . 35%.

Service Time :in the German army from 1942 to 1945. (Note:the data relate to the Tiger I Ausf E.)

As early as 1937, despite the decision to mass-produce the PzKpfw III and IV and the virtual certainty that these two models would suffice for the battles planned for the near future, the German high command requested an even heavier tank.

Its weight was to be 30 t or more and the machine was to play the role of a "breakthrough tank", or to lead the assault of the Panzerdivisionen. The search dragged on until 1941, when officials realized that the PzKpfw III and IV had performed less well than expected against the heavy armor of French and British tanks in 1940. Later that year.

the unpleasant surprise given to the Wehrmacht by the T-34 and KV-1 only reinforced this opinion and a call for tenders was launched for a heavy tank capable of mounting this total success that was the 8.8 cm high gun. initial velocity; the piece was to be housed in a turret covering 3600 of azimuth and equipped with armor thick enough to resist all present or future anti-tank weapons.

Two firms submitted prototypes which were based in part on the results of work undertaken in 1937. These two firms were Porsche and Henschel. Both prototypes carried the same turret, designed by Krupp. Porsche's design deviated too far from the beaten track to be accepted, but it was to give rise to a self-propelled Henschel's model, which was more conventional and obviously easier to manufacture. won the palm. He received the official designation of PzKpfw VI and the name of Tiger.

Production started. gently in August 1942 At the time of its appearance and for some time thereafter, the Tiger was the most powerful tank in the world. The 8.8cm. loaded with 92 rounds, was a formidable piece; the armor was impenetrable by any frontal blow.

In fact its effectiveness forced the Allies to develop special tactics against the Tiger; however, on certain occasions. the Germans deployed it with such clumsiness that it remained well below its capabilities.

Its appearance nevertheless gave the Allies a shock, who took very little time to consider it the greatest danger threatening them on the battlefield

The Tiger was supposed to equip special battalions of 30 vehicles. under the orders of an army or corps staff.

In general. the plan was implemented but some armored divisions received their own Tiger battalions, especially those of the Waffen SS. Hitler had taken an interest in this tank and made it a personal matter to put it online at the first opportunity.

The Tigers therefore found themselves at the end of 1942 launched in a distraught tank around Leningrad on unfavorable ground and in small units. The engagement ended in fiasco. like the Battle of Kursk the following year.

But in ambush. where its gun could do more damage and where its armor allowed it to retreat in stages. Tiger was sovereign. This is how in 1944, in France. A single Tiger crushed an entire division, destroying 25 Allied tanks before being chased and destroyed.
The hull was a wrought steel assembly of relatively simple design, bearing welded to its top a one-piece superstructure. The armor compensated for the lack of oblique planes with thickness


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