Tiger 1 damage photos

[West-Front]

Saw these Tiger 1 damage photos over on Axis Histoiry, thought they might be of interest

[LAH- Obergrenadier]

Incredible....just shows what a formidable opponent the Tiger 1 was on the battlefield. Just mere 'scratches' for such a heavily armoured panzer......

BIG H

[Chorlitz|12.SS|]

History channel "The T34 was the best tank of the war" Sorry but that's BS, The only way a T34 could take out a tiger is to overwhelm it with numbers(What they did) no way did the T34 come into the same league as the Tiger. Yes the T34 could beat the t34 on reliability but armour and gun power the Tiger wins hands down.

[Mikkel]

The tiger was a disaster, the construction of them wasted prescious rescources that could have been utilized better elsewhere.
Besides, the T34 was used as late as the 80s, the tiger never saw any action after '45.

[Chorlitz|12.SS|]

Look how many T34s were made compared to Tigers. Yes the Tigers Failed due to mechanical problems (A lot) but if they was such a disaster why was everyone scared or them. Michael wittmann showed the true effectiveness of the tiger. You can't say it was a disaster as is beat most things we had. If the Allies did not have superior air support in France the tigers would have reeked havoc.

[Stigroadie]

Mere scratches?
I'd venture the bottom two were fatal for the turret crew, ever seen the rear face of armour plate that has such damage to the front? The energy released in such impacts is huge.

[SS-Schutze Schuller]

I would say the panther was better designed, more versatile and more of an asset to germany than the tiger.

[Chorlitz|12.SS|]

Yea, I like the Panther more....

[Tychsen]

Great gun and heavy armour was really all the Tiger had going for her.
On the down side a hugely expensive , complex and time consuming build , heavy fuel consuption , transport and bridging difficulties , the much talked over road wheel / ice / mud issue , underpowered , difficult to recover, prone to breakdown and high maintance.
Beyond the gun and the armour the Tiger was a costly beast.

I agree with Mikkel the Panther was a better tank when its initial problems were sorted out.

As far as the T-34 goes the Rusians could turn them out by the trainload , quality in terms of gun and armour was never going to beat quantity , Germany could never produce enough Tigers and had she doen so the fuel consumption / fuel shortages alone would have been an even become a more critical issue.

[Mikkel]

I belive the army high command initially wished for a 30-somthing tonnes tank, with a medium gun and reasonable armour. But it eventually got more and more added, and ended up being the panther.
Imagine if they had got their way as they originally envisioned it. i think it would have made an actual difference.
it was also a luck for the germans that the way didnt progress any longer, as they really hadnt come up with anything radically new since 43, andthe allies was constantly developing their designs.
The next step in german armour was more of a standardization of existing designs.

[Chorlitz|12.SS|]

Very True.

[LAH- Obergrenadier]

Agreed.....but still one of the Icons of all ww2 armour

Michael Wittman certainly proved how effective a Tiger 1 could be.....

Mere scratches?
I'd venture the bottom two were fatal for the turret crew, ever seen the rear face of armour plate that has such damage to the front? The energy released in such impacts is huge.

Not disputing the fact that these direct hits were fatal to turret crew but scratches......in inverted comma's....was mean't in reference to the general inneffectiveness of allied firepower to the Tiger 1's frontal armour.....in the second photo...it looks like a grouping of 4-5 shots in and around sight aperture to get the 'desired result'.....this resilience to sustained attack certainly gave crews more of a chance of survival than many of there contemporaries.

Even with all the mechanical issues and lack of reliability the Tiger was a formidable foe feared by all who faced them Certainly my Panzer of choice..... H

[LAH650]

1 on 1, 2 miles apart in an open field... Tiger every time....

12 to 1, at 800 yards in a town and the Russian horeds with win....

The later was the norm...

The Tiger (1,500 approx), Panther (not sure) or even the KingTiger(800) approx could stand with the best of them.... but not with the 40,000+ M4s and XX,XXX+ T34's....

T34/85 of 1945 could stand with a Tiger 1

But all in all give me a Tiger 1 every time.... who cares if there a 111 T34's I'd die with a smile on my face.... and so would a few Russians

[Tychsen]

Iconic to be sure and a legend , in good running order in the right conditions she was a force to be reckoned with.
Tigerphobia - certainly Allied tanks were up against it when facing the Tiger , but in Normandy all tanks were vunerable at close quarters.

When Montgomery said that "we have by far the better tanks and equipment" he knew he was telling a porkie.

[stefan]

Mere scratches?
I'd venture the bottom two were fatal for the turret crew, ever seen the rear face of armour plate that has such damage to the front? The energy released in such impacts is huge.

Stig I doubt it? the gun mantlet was 120mm thick and the turret frontal armour was 100mm so thats 220mm those rounds would have to
penetrate to enter the crew compartment ,as you can see the rounds are still stuck in the mantlet having failed to penetrate the remaining 100mm of turret armour

this Tank was designed as a mobile pill box and hull down was virtually impenetrable and with the 88mm main armament could pick off targets at its leisure

the secret of the Tiger was good protection excellent firepower average maneuverability ,but given that the crews were hand picked
men the best of the best you had an awesome combination

unlike the T34 although a good tank the crews were not experienced as such. and the Sherman well what can I say only the Firefly was a
sort of match

90% of a tanks effectiveness is how the commander and crew work with it, the best tank in the world is useless with an inexperienced crew
who place the vehicle in open ground vunerable to enemy fire ,a good commander will use dead ground and camouflaged fire positions