rwcanuck Posted April 27, 2000 Share Posted April 27, 2000 I read somewhere that two Tiger 1's were to be sent to Japan during the war and one was about to loaded on a freighter when something happened to abort the order and no Tigers were sent afterall. Does anyone have more info on this story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Ned Anderson Posted April 27, 2000 Share Posted April 27, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rwcanuck: I read somewhere that two Tiger 1's were to be sent to Japan during the war and one was about to loaded on a freighter when something happened to abort the order and no Tigers were sent afterall. Does anyone have more info on this story? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I don't know the specifics of this, but I remember reading somewhere that Italy and Japan were in the preocess of negotiating the transfer of blueprints, licensing rights and technical experts from Germany to develop locally produced Tigers and Panthers. IIRC, these plans never really moved beyond the initial phases of negotiation, due to the lateness of the war, Italy's fall and difficulty transporting needed information between Germany and Japan. Greg ------------------ I love the f***ing Army and the Army loves f***ing me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick614 Posted April 28, 2000 Share Posted April 28, 2000 G Ned You mentioned something that has always amazed me. "Licensing Rights" Even in the time of world war how big business had it's way of doing things. I can just see the deal so close to making some Tigers in Japan but then it all falls through because they can't come to terms on the rights. It seems to me that I read somewhere that Henry Ford was able to get something out of Germany (maybe machine tools) just before the war started that was very useful for the Allies. Certainly the Germans knew there was about to be a war but because the deal had all the i's dotted and t's crossed it was honored and allowed to go through. ------------------ Rick614 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted April 28, 2000 Share Posted April 28, 2000 Not sure what good Tigers, or any other heavy tank would've done for Japan. What she needed was raw materials, fuel, well trained pilots, reliable high performance aircraft engines, and LOTS more escorts for her fast disappearing merchant fleet. ------------------ Darryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GriffinCheng Posted April 28, 2000 Share Posted April 28, 2000 About shipping problem: IIRC, there was at least 1 Me-262 jet figher was shipped to Japan or the Japanese made a licenced copy of it based on the blue-print called "Sparrow". OTOH, I personally wonder what would be of useful a heavy tank like tiger to the Imperial Japanese. A mobile bunker on a rugged island in the Pacific? Place it on north-eastern China to defend against Soviet attack? Or place it in homeland where no bridges and roads could support it? I think a 88mm PaK would be more practical... Griffin after lunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwcanuck Posted April 28, 2000 Author Share Posted April 28, 2000 Having been to the Philippines many times I can see where the Tiger could of been to put to good use there...especially in the fight for Manila. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted April 28, 2000 Share Posted April 28, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Darryl: Not sure what good Tigers, or any other heavy tank would've done for Japan. What she needed was raw materials, fuel, well trained pilots, reliable high performance aircraft engines, and LOTS more escorts for her fast disappearing merchant fleet. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Quite so. Japan also lacked the production capabilities to supply both, a Navy and an Army. Inter-service rivalry was incredible in war-time Japan. IIRC They had one steel plant in northern Japan capable of producing armour plates needed for tanks and ships, and the army and navy fought about it throughout the war. Let's not even start on oil to produce tank fuel. Regarding the shipping problem, there were a few submarines that made the journey, but I am not sure whether any made it back. I seem to recall some of these were special versions with large stowage areas. There was also a reasonably regular air-service across the Soviet Union, to Manchuria, IIRC. They were using large Junkers 292 and 392 (?) transport planes. These flights continued until very late in the war. I think the planes belonged to KG200, a unit that also used repaired Allied planes for special missions, years and years ago I read a book about them. Could be wrong though. I am sure someone here will correct me on all this very soon ------------------ Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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