The tank crew was literally boxed in as hull openings were kept to a minimum. A ball-type mounted MG34 machine gun, a rotation type periscope for the driver, and a fixed type periscope for the radio operator were adopted on the front of the hull. The internal compartment consisted of (from front to back), the driver's seat, the radio operators seat, the gunner's compartment and the engine room. angle on the front surface and 80mm armor sloped at a 25deg. Whereas the Tiger I featured l00mm thick armor plating in the front part of the chassis and 80mm armor plating on the sides, the better armored King Tiger featured 150mm thick armor sloped at a 50deg. Much time was spent in the collaboration between Henschel and MAN (company in charge of developing the Panther 1I), but in the end, development of the Panther Il was cancelled. Production of this tank, nicknamed "King Tiger" later was started in January 1944 and 492 King Tigers including prototype and Porsche turret version were produced.ĭuring development, it was decided to use common parts, such as engine and transmission with a Panther II, which was to be an improved type of Panther tank. June 1943, this new heavy tank was officially designated as Tiger B (Sd.Kfz.182). King Tiger required 5crew driver, machine gun and radio operator, gunner, loader and tank commander. Porsche turrets were employed onto the 3 prototypes and 47 early production King Tigers. Design and development were made at the same time by both Porsche and Henschel, but the Porsche plan was rejected. Hull construction greatly differed from that of the Tiger I which was composed of upright armor surfaces inspired from encounters with the Soviet T34 tank and evolved from those of the Panther. This Heavy Tank employed a 71caliber 88mm gun that exceeded Tiger I's 56caliber 88mm gun in penetration performance. Shortly after that in January 1943, development of the new heavy tank as a successor of the Tiger I was officially decided. Thus, Germany was forced to hurry the development of the Tiger I Heavy Tank, which adopted a 56caliber 88mm gun KwK36 and had the potential to counter Soviet tanks. With its 71 caliber 88mm gun and thick armor, the King Tiger was called the strongest tank in WWII, and posed a great threat for the Allied forces until the very last moment before surrender of Germany.įrom the start of its invasion of Russia, the German army came across unexpected Soviet rivals, namely T34 medium tanks and KV-I Heavy Tanks. These King Tigers defeated masses of Soviet tanks and self-propel- led guns such as T34 medium tanks and JS-122 Stalin tanks.
These King Tigers secured important points in the city, such as railroad stations, bridges and main roads where they made persevered in a desperate struggle until every last one of them was lost by May 2nd. 10 King Tigers that remained in SPzAbt 503 made up part of the defensive forces.īattle of Berlin April 1945. German forces driven into the corner continued desperate battle against Soviet forces that had closed in on Berlin with overwhelming force. Zimmerit coating was not applied on this tank. It has been returned to Germany and now displayed at Panzer Museum in Munster. It was on display at the Aberdeen tank museum until 1972. This Tank entered the Ardennes front in December 1944.
332, 3rd company, sPzAbt501, Borgoment Belgium. I actually did not called it the "M4" cause that's what it was called in WWII, but actually cause there is already an M1,M2 and and M3 vehicle in US Military service.My 1/16 Radio Controlled Model represents King Tiger Tank No. Most of that time was trying to find the right reference pictures, then spending a few minutes studying that picture. Something I came up with while laying in bed sleepless. The only down side of the tank was that the crew had to exit the tank in order to reload the TOWs with Engineers trying to find a way to ix that for the later models. They decided to modernize the tank into a Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV), and the Army got word of this, and was impressed and order 150 in 2016 to be used as Infantry support.
Speed: 26.4 mph (off road) 42.5 mph (on road)ĭef: A garage project of some bored engineers who had a spare M4A3 Sherman around. Armament: 1 x 25 mm gun, 1 x 7.62 mm gun 2 x TOW missilesĬrew: 4 (Commander, Radio Op, Gunner, Driver)Įngine: Cummins VTA-903T 8-cylinder diesel, 600 hp
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