Long Range Tiger Fire Against Guns

[rexford]

The following site has an interesting discussion of how Tigers were used against anti-tank guns, and Russian comments on Tiger tank optics quality and gun accuracy:

http://www.iremember.ru/artillerymen/monyushko/monyushko2.htm

"After short but powerful artillery raids the Germans would attack with their armor. Heavy AFVs, Tigers and Ferdinands, ascended hills deep inside the German positions and stopped 1-1.5 kilometers from our own positions. The lighter and more maneuverable Pz.IV's continued to advance together with small numbers of infantry. It made little sense for us to fire at the AFVs deployed in the rear. Even in case of a direct hit the shell couldn't cause serious damage at such range. But German tankers waited until our anti-tank battery was forced to open fire at the tanks advancing in the front. A gun that opened fire, exposed itself, immediately fell victim to a well aimed shot from the stationary heavy AFVs. It must be noted that Tigers had very precise sights and very accurate 88mm guns."

The article further states that the losses to anti-tank gun crews at Kursk lead one regiment to pursue a tactic where only one crew member would be near the gun at a time, with the rest in holes away from the gun.

While that tactic would reduce the rate of fire, it was noted for its' ability to conserve trained crew members.