The tank's weight significantly limited its use of bridges. For this reason, the Tiger was built with water tight hatches and a snorkel device that allowed it to ford water obstacles four metres deep. The tank's weight also made driving through buildings risky, as the presence of a cellar could result in a sudden drop. Due to reliability problems with the Maybach HL 210 TRM P45, which was delivered within the first production batch of 250 Tigers, performance for its maximum power output at high gear ratio could not be fulfilled. [80] Though the Maybach engines had a maximum of 3,000 rpm, crews were told in the Tigerfibel not to exceed 2,600 rpm. The engine limitation was alleviated only by the adoption of the Maybach HL 230. [80] The turret could also be traversed manually, but this option was rarely used, except when the engine was turned off or sometimes for very small adjustments. [81] Tamiya has put incredible power and versatility of the German Tiger I in your fingertips with this 1/16 scale, fully functional RC tank. A report prepared by the Waffenamt-Prüfwesen 1 gave the calculated probability of perforation at range, on which various adversaries would be defeated reliably at a side angle of 30 degrees to the incoming round. During production, the Tiger 1 underwent constant improvements with modifications happening almost on a monthly basis. Tiger 1’s in the field were either modified by their crews or sent in, resulting in some hybrid versions. Speer, Albert (1995). Inside the Third Reich. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-1-84212-735-3.

Glantz, David (2005). Colossus Reborn: the Red Army at War: 1941–1943. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press. ISBN 0-7006-1353-6. The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion was deployed to the Don Front in the autumn of 1942, but arrived too late to participate in Operation Winter Storm, the attempt to relieve Stalingrad. It was subsequently engaged in heavy defensive fighting in the Rostov-on-Don and adjacent sectors in January and February 1943. Wikipedia Commons| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sambek_Heights#/media/File:%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%B2%D1%8B%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%8B,_Pz.Kpfw_VI.jpg Initially, the Soviets responded to the Tiger I by restarting production of the 57mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun (production was stopped in 1941 in favour of cheaper and more versatile alternatives – e.g. the ZiS-3 – as the gun's performance was excessive for early German armour). The ZiS-2 had better armour penetration than the 76mm F-34 tank gun used by most Red Army tanks, or the ZiS-3 76mm divisional cannon, but was still inadequate against Tigers. A small number of T-34s were again fitted with a tank version of the ZiS-2, the ZiS-4, but it could not fire an adequate high-explosive round, making it an unsuitable tank gun.

Tank facts

The 17 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun". WWIIEquipment.com. David Boyd. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Perhaps the most famous surviving Early Tiger 1 is Tiger 131 at the Bovington Tank Museum in the UK which still regularly runs at events throughout the year. The Tiger I was a German heavy tank of the Second World War, used from 1942 onwards. Normally organised into independent heavy tank battalions. It provided the German Army with its first tank to use the 8.8cm KwK-36 gun (derived from the 8.8cm Flak 36). 1347 examples were built between August 1942 and August 1944. After August 1944, production of the Tiger I was discontinued in favour of the Tiger II. The Befehlspanzer Tiger was a command tank with additional radio equipment.

The British had observed the gradual increase in German AFV armour and firepower since 1940 and had anticipated the need for more powerful anti-tank guns. Work on the 76.2mm calibre Ordnance QF 17 pounder had begun in late 1940 and in 1942 100 early-production guns were rushed to North Africa to help counter the new Tiger threat. The gun carriage had not yet been developed, and the guns were mounted on the carriages of 25-pounder gun-howitzers and were known by the code name "Pheasant".

The ammunition for the Tiger had electrically fired primers. Four types of ammunition were available but not all were fully available; the PzGr 40 shell used tungsten, which was in short supply as the war progressed. On 26 May 1941, Henschel and Ferdinand Porsche were asked to submit designs for a 45-tonne heavy tank, to be ready by June 1942. [18] Porsche worked on an updated version of their VK 30.01 (P) Leopard tank prototype while Henschel worked on an improved VK 36.01 (H) tank. Henschel built two prototypes: a VK 45.01 (H) H1 with an 8.8cm L/56 cannon, and a VK 45.01 (H) H2 with a 7.5cm L/70 cannon. Australian Armour and Artillery Museum. This Tiger, restored in 2021, is an externally complete Tiger using battlefield relics and a proportionally small amount of replica plate/components, similar to the Hoebig Tigers and Wheatcroft Tigers [ citation needed]