King Tiger tank

King Tiger tank

King Tiger (Königstiger) was one of the Hitler’s wunderwaffe that could save the Third Reich and just like other such projects (V-2 rockets, jet fighters, submarine Type XXI) King Tiger was a project ahead of its times that could change completely the battlefields. But just like other mentioned projects in 1944, when they entered the service, it was already too late for them. The concept of King Tiger was simple - starting with Tiger tank the designers created many improvements based on the experiences gathered through the years of war. The sloped and thickened armor made it practically impregnable to Allied tanks fire and the 88mm gun that was installed on King Tigers was previously used on tank destroyers - it was a very powerful combination that in theory would be able to stop any enemy armored forces.

But with hug advantages of the tank also came the huge flaws - very high cost (for the same amount of money 3 Tiger tanks or 5 Panthers could be built), construction that made any repair a challenge, very high weight (70 tons) and low speed (40 kph on road, 20 kph off road). The tank was prepared to face any tank Allies could send, but due to low speed and poor manouverability King Tiger could be easy prey for airplanes and also would be easy to immobilize.

All of those flaws became obvious when King Tigers were included in Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein (Operation Watch on the Rhine) - the offensive that lead to Battle of the Bulge - Königstigers were too slow to use them as spearhead of the assault, they were too wide to drive on some of the roads in Ardennes, some of the bridges were not strong enough so the tanks could cross them. Another problem was the amount of fuel required for the tank and high number of breakdowns, which made them more or less useless during that operation.

Only less than 500 King Tigers were built, which was far too little that they could made a real difference during World War 2.


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King Tiger tank war movies



Battles with King Tiger tank

Battle of BerlinBattle of the Bulge

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