Was The Tiger Tank A Success?

Hello internet! (and a massive welcome to the blog)

Today I would like to discuss the topic of, 'Was the Tiger tank a success' ?

The Tiger - the famous heavy tank that struck fear into the hearts of the allies during World War 2. But was it a successful design? What were the intentions of it's creation? Did it meet them?

Obviously this is a somewhat controversial topic to discuss. The Tiger is often a main attraction at Tank museum events, the centre piece in a wargamers army, the first tank a PC gamer will grind to. Her charm is irresistible that can never be doubted. But to answer the question of overall success we are going to need to reach beyond our bias and love for this 50 tonne monster!

Barbarossa

I think the best place to start this discussion is to go back to the earlier stages of World War Two. More specifically Operation Barbarossa - The German invasion of the Soviet Union. To summarise, the invasion of Russia was the largest military operation in history, the aim was the complete annihilation of it's population. Over 3 million Axis troops and 3500 tanks pushed deep into Soviet territory with some units advancing up to 50 miles on the first day. The Red Army put up a fierce resistance, but at a huge cost. Massive encirclement's took place due to the speed of the German attack and Soviet reluctance to give up any ground to the invaders - the loss of life was horrific.

The Soviets fought on and they survived the onslaught. Failing to achieve a knock out blow in the summer, the German army began getting bogged down in the heavy Autumn rains. Roads turned to rivers and whole armies halted their advance, supplies were delayed. To make matters worse a massive Soviet counter attack took place in December, supported by the new T34 tank. This new tank (along with the heavy KV series) was a surprise to the German command - it outclassed their own vehicles and standard German anti tank weaponry was ineffective against it's armour.

Obsession

It was clear that the Germans needed to find a way to counter the T34 tank (and quickly too). But it was more than that... To Hitler it was absolutely unacceptable that a 'sub human' race was capable of building a superior weapon such as this. This, for me was the start of an unhealthy obsession - the end of 'Blitzkrieg' (lighting warfare) turned to a competition of who had the biggest gun and the thickest armour that would continue throughout the remainder of the war. An arms race is expected in any conflict true, but this was something more - this was clearly personal too.

The Tiger tank first entered service in 1942. It was over engineered, cost a lot of resources and manpower to build, expensive to maintain with it's high fuel consumption and prone to track failures. But it was impressive - there can be no doubt about it. The Tiger mounted the fearsome 8.8 KwK 36 gun and had thick armour that could not be penetrated by the vast majority of enemy weapons until the end of the war.

But What About The Panther?

In addition to the Tiger, the Panther tank was also made in response to the T34. But instead of simply having thicker armour and a bigger gun than the famous Soviet tank, the Panther clearly shows the influence and learnings of the German encounters in Russia. With it's sloped armour at the front (just like the T34) and impressive long barrelled 7.5cm gun the Panther enjoyed a blend of mobility, armour and firepower.

Yes the Panther had it's faults, especially in it's early days where it was rushed into combat. Mechanical failures were very common - not ideal when the German forces were almost always outnumbered by their opponents. But overall the Panther had more efficient frontal armour, better gun penetration, was faster and above all - far cheaper to build than the Tiger, consuming less hours to construct. With exception to the thicker side armour on the Tiger I find it difficult to understand why both these vehicles were needed on the late war battlefield.

The Panther was every bit as good as the Tiger in the anti tank role

The Arms Race

The Tiger tank demanded a reaction from the enemy - it's gun was capable of engaging targets up to a mile away. The Soviets however, were more than up to the task of countering this threat, with the emergence of new tank destroyers and assault guns such as; the SU-100, ISU-122, ISU-152 for example (the guns on which look scary even on a 15mm scale model). But it was the new IS (Joseph Stalin) series of tanks that best represents the Soviet reaction to the Tiger, with the IS-2 being the crown jewel.

The IS-2 heavy tank mounted a massive 122mm gun capable of not only taking on the Tiger and Panther tanks, but could also level buildings, bunkers and dig out infantry positions with ease, making it a more rounded tank in the 'heavy tank role'. The Tiger was truly at it's best when engaging enemy tanks at long ranges and was less able to defend itself at close range, or breakthrough enemy positions.

Western Front
Having now read through most of the 503 Tiger Tank Battalion book and taking in the accounts of the crews that served in the unit I have a new appreciation for the sheer hell they went through. Being inside a weapon like the Tiger tank made you the biggest priority target on most battlefields. It must have been incredibly unnerving at times.

The Western front was a vastly different battlefield to the East. Instead of flat plains for miles around there were trees, hills, hedgerows. Engagements were made at much closer quarters generally, especially in Normandy, which did make life difficult for the tank crews, though it was so for both sides. The Western allies did not possess many tanks capable of penetrating the frontal armour of a Tiger (exception being the British Firefly) and so the Tiger enjoyed a dominance over it's rivals, despite the less than ideal terrain.

Reading through the book it was made pretty clear that the main fear of the Tiger tank crews in Normandy was not on the ground, but from the air... Going through the majority of the photographs of the Tigers in action you can also see that the commanders were rarely looking ahead of the tank, but instead looking above, scanning the skies for enemy aircraft (and rightly so). The allies had complete air superiority at this stage in the war and were more than capable of striking with deadly precision whenever and wherever the enemy was spotted.










The Tiger certainly held its own against the Western allies. The 8.8 was still formidable even at the later stages of the war. The exceptionally skilled crewmen knew how to get the most out of the tanks capabilities and as such were able to inflict heavy losses on the enemy. But even so the Germans were vastly outnumbered and could not contain the eventual breakthrough.


Conclusion
Personally I have to say that I do not feel that the Tiger design was a success in the grand scheme of things. It's fully understandable why it was built of course, but with so many tanks in the German army what did the Tiger offer that a Panther/ Tank destroyer could not do as well, (if not better) and for a fraction of the cost? The Germans became entangled in an arms race that they simply could not win. They had neither the numbers nor the resources to compete with their enemies and made life even harder for themselves with their over-complicated designs. The Tiger would take 3-4 times longer to build than the Stug III for example.

With only 1347 Tigers made throughout the entire war there simply were not enough of them to make a difference on any sector. The Tiger tank crews were exceptional and they got the very best out of the vehicle, performing feats of almost impossible skill and bravery - even with the odds stacked against them. This is certainly a major factor in how the Tiger managed to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy and should not be forgotten.

So overall I would say that legend is probably greater than reality in this case. When you put all of the factors together it's hard to consider it an outright success.

... It does look cool though!!

Thanks for reading