Tigers on the Loose: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Panzer VI “Tiger”, 1935-1945
Date
2021-09-13
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Abstract
From 1942 to 1945 the cry of Tiger! filled the hearts of Allied tank crews with dread. The Tiger, or Panzerkampfwagen (Armored Fighting Vehicle or Panzer) VI, was neigh unstoppable. The 8.8 cm gun allowed the Tiger to destroy virtually all opponents at over a kilometer. At such ranges the thick armored plates that protected the tank, 10 centimeters at their thickest rendered the tank almost impervious to enemy fire. At the same time this 56-ton vehicle was notorious for its mechanical unreliability. The transmission was a particular weakness, with a tendency to break with any kind of hard use, immobilizing the vehicle. Its legacy is a study in contrasts. It has been heralded as both a symbol of German technical prowess and of technical myopia.
These contradictions are well known parts of the Tigers history. What is missing from many of these works on this vehicle is an examination of its true value to the German Army, as well as the value of its variants. Its numerous flaws and the great cost of its production meant that in spite of its often remarkable combat performance the Tiger proved to be a vehicle that the German Army would have been better off without. I will examine the development, production and combat use of the Tiger and its variants to fully demonstrate its value. Its development shows the mechanical and operational demands being made on the vehicle before it ever entered service were ignored in favor of appealing to Hitler’s flawed design sensibilities. Production indicates the difficulties in producing a mechanically complex vehicle in an economy beset by Allied bombing and an inefficient economic system, which struggled to allocate adequate men and material to its production. Finally the combat record of the vehicles, demonstrates that their often impressive combat record was insufficient to alter the outcome of many battles, to say nothing of the war itself.
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Keywords
Tiger Tank, World War Two, WW2, Tanks, German Tanks World War Two
Citation
Kaine, L. B. (2021). Tigers on the Loose: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Panzer VI “Tiger”, 1935-1945 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.