Tankopedia
WW2HeavyHeavy TankGermany

Tiger I

In service 1942 - 1945

Thick armour, superb optics and the 88 mm gun made the Tiger the most feared tank of its day - and a maintenance nightmare.

Built byHenschel & Sohn

Tiger I
Towing a Tiger I in Russia, Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-022-2926-11A — Altvater, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Development history

Rushed into service at Leningrad before its teething troubles were solved, the Tiger was designed as a breakthrough tank issued to independent heavy battalions. Its flat armour was thick rather than clever, but the 88 mm gun and excellent Zeiss sights let crews engage at ranges where Allied tanks could not reply. Interleaved road wheels, a fragile final drive and a huge fuel appetite meant many were lost to breakdown and scuttling rather than enemy fire.

Photo gallery

Period photographs with source and licence details.

1 images

Variants

One canonical record, 4 recorded variants.

  1. Initial production (H1)

    1942

    Rubber-rimmed road wheels, Feifel air pre-cleaners, drum cupola.

  2. Mid production

    1943

    New cupola with vision slits, single-baffle brake, Zimmerit applied.

  3. Late production

    1944

    Steel-rimmed resilient wheels, monocular sight, simplified fittings.

  4. Befehlspanzer Tiger

    1943

    Command version with extra radios and reduced ammunition.

Notable actions

  • Leningrad (1942)
  • Tunisia (1943)
  • Battle of Kursk (1943)
  • Villers-Bocage (1944)