Tank Hunter Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Has anyone read any accounts on how Tiger tanks performed in the desert? My general knowledge of the Tigers is that they were hard to destroy but extremely unreliable and would brake down often. I wonder how these tanks coped with desert conditions, especially the sand which can cause havoc in engines and other mechanical parts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culex Pipiens Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 in tunisia fought the schwervpanzer abt. 501. it fought till 17th march 1943 when surrendered. it dostroyed almost 150 enemy tanks loosing only 10 tigers of which 7 scuttled before leaving. 20 odd tigers where used in all by the battalion in tunisia. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I think you mistake the Tiger for the Panther, which were very unreliable at first. The weakness of the Tiger was an overtaxed drivetrain which is less of a problem in dry flat conditions so I think they performed better in North Africa than in most parts of Russia. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by redwolf: I think you mistake the Tiger for the Panther, which were very unreliable at first. The weakness of the Tiger was an overtaxed drivetrain which is less of a problem in dry flat conditions so I think they performed better in North Africa than in most parts of Russia. Tunisia is not exactly flat. That is the only part of the campaign where they served. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I believe the first Tiger knocked out by another tank in the West was by a 6 pdr-armed Churchill (not sure what that hs to do with the topic, but I thought it was cool). A lot of Tiger's problems in Africa were less mechanical than doctrinal. Due to ammo shortages they were forbidden to do long range fire using multiple tanks on a single target (a practice commonly adopted by the Allies to fend-off Tigers). Tiger commanders were expected to close with the enemy and use precision shooting to save on ammo. They looked with envy on the Allies willingness to rain down impressive amounts of HE on them from max range. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by Culex Pipiens: in tunisia fought the schwervpanzer abt. 501. it fought till 17th march 1943 when surrendered. it dostroyed almost 150 enemy tanks loosing only 10 tigers of which 7 scuttled before leaving. 20 odd tigers where used in all by the battalion in tunisia. 501. fought from November (Tigers arrived in December) to January. Thereafter 504. arrived. I guess they just took over the tanks. At the beginning, only single-digit numbers were there, and just a few operational at any given day. Where did you get the kill numbers from, out of interest? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Tittles Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Heres 40 some pages of pics. http://www.tiger-tank.com/secure/journal.htm It is very interesting how the turret damage is speculated as coming about in this tank. Maybe gun damage is not overmodeled. [ October 31, 2003, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: Mr. Tittles ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by Andreas: Tunisia is not exactly flat. However, much of Tunisia is flat as a board 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by Berlichtingen: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Andreas: Tunisia is not exactly flat. However, much of Tunisia is flat as a board </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by Andreas: Thanks for the correction. I always lived in the belief that it was more like Italy. Hmmm, good excuse to go on a holiday there. Even Italy has a fair share of flat ground... look at the photos from Anzio. As for Tunisia, much of the ground fought over during Kasserine was painfully flat... and the Tigers racked up a lot of kills there 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 Originally posted by Berlichtingen: Even Italy has a fair share of flat ground... look at the photos from Anzio. Well, Anzio is a bit special, since everything in the Hinterland was drained marshland. The towns of Anzio/Nettuno themselves are not flat at all. The coastal plain is always quite flat, but other than that, Italy is mostly extremely broken and mountainous, and quite often these mountains reach to the sea too. Lovely country, unless you come to conquer it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMplayer Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 Originally posted by Mr. Tittles: Heres 40 some pages of pics. http://www.tiger-tank.com/secure/journal.htm The mechanic guy in those pics looks like somone who really loves his job. Lucky bastiche. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potential Italian Player Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 Hi Camel ! :cool: http://www.geocities.com/firefly1002000/501tigers.html I like this photo. [ November 01, 2003, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: Potential Italian Player ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 Originally posted by Berlichtingen: As for Tunisia, much of the ground fought over during Kasserine was painfully flat... and the Tigers racked up a lot of kills there Not sure what you mean by "much". Except for some battles around Sbeitla, the fighting was done in either hilly country or on solitary hills rising out of the plain. In general, the flat country was either being advanced or retreated over, not fought over. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Måkjager Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 According to Tigers in Combat Vol I , between the 23rd November 1942 and the 12th May 19 the Tiger Kompanies of the 501 and 504 deployed about 31 Tiger Is between them..with both Abts claiming over 150 enemy tanks destroyed each. The Tiger "131" belonging to sPzAbt 504 is captured by the British around the 19th April when the crew abandon the Tiger after two "harmless" hits from a Churchill. Regards Måkjager 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K_Tiger Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 I read in one of my first WWII books, that a frighter with around 50 Tigers were sunk in the med. Nice treasure...if you can get, lets say..1-2 million $/€ for one single peace... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 One of the problems with the Tiger was that its weight demanded very close attention to the state of roads and bridges in its operational area. A poorly scouted route could easily leave the Tigers stranded in the wrong place. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthias Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 They looked with envy on the Allies willingness to rain down impressive amounts of HE on them from max range yeah and i bet they were laughing their arses off too when it all just bounces off and then one of their shots blow the allied tank apart! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson 1812 Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/5096/upgtiger.htm Some interesting info at the above address. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culex Pipiens Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 Originally posted by Andreas: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Culex Pipiens: in tunisia fought the schwervpanzer abt. 501. it fought till 17th march 1943 when surrendered. it dostroyed almost 150 enemy tanks loosing only 10 tigers of which 7 scuttled before leaving. 20 odd tigers where used in all by the battalion in tunisia. 501. fought from November (Tigers arrived in December) to January. Thereafter 504. arrived. I guess they just took over the tanks. At the beginning, only single-digit numbers were there, and just a few operational at any given day. Where did you get the kill numbers from, out of interest? </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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