Shock at meeting Soviet T-34s helped rush Germany's Tiger tank into battle
When German forces invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, they met Soviet tanks that outclassed anything they had. One designer recalled the dismay. The answer was the Tiger I, a heavy tank carrying the feared 88 mm gun, hurried into combat in 1942 while still essentially a prototype. Only nine survive today.
Even before the invasion, battles in France in 1940 against heavily armoured French and British tanks had shown the need for something stronger. In May 1941 Henschel and Ferdinand Porsche were asked for rival 45-tonne designs, both using a turret designed by Krupp. After demonstrations for Hitler at Rastenburg, Henschel won, largely because Porsche's petrol-electric drive needed large amounts of copper, a scarce wartime metal. Porsche had already built 100 chassis in anticipation; most became a turretless tank destroyer.
The Tiger broke with earlier German tanks, which had balanced speed, armour and firepower. It weighed over twice as much as the Panzer IV, with frontal armour 100 mm thick on hull and turret, and its flat plates were often angled when firing to thicken them effectively. British tests praised the steel's quality, and at its peak only a few Allied guns could pierce its front. Its long 88 mm gun, derived from an anti-aircraft weapon and paired with precise Leitz optics, was famously accurate. A petrol engine was used because Germany lacked a suitable diesel.
Brilliance came at a cost. Critics call the Tiger over-engineered, built with costly materials and labour-hungry methods, and expensive to maintain, though generally reliable once crews were trained. Early models suffered track failures, and in winter, mud and ice froze between its overlapping road wheels and locked them solid. Transport was awkward, and features such as deep river fording were dropped to save money.
Production ran from August 1942 to August 1944, totalling 1,347 tanks, before the Tiger II replaced it. Units usually fought in independent heavy battalions in North Africa and on the Eastern Front. Tiger 131, captured in North Africa and kept at Britain's Tank Museum, was the only one still running as of 2021.
Source: Tiger I
