Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger


Book Description

The German heavy tank Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger is a vehicle known even to laymen. It was heavily armored and armed with a deadly 88 mm gun. Despite their legend, the Tigers were plagued by several technical problems, especially with propulsion, which often did not allow them to fully use their combat potential. The main motivator for designing the Pz.Kpfw. VI was eager to install a Flak 36 antiaircraft gun 36 caliber 88 in the turret. It was a weapon that could destroy Soviet tanks on long distances. In addition, it was necessary to build a tank able to withstand fire from the T-34/76 guns, which effectively eliminated the German medium tanks Pz.Kpfw. III and IV. A competition for a tank that fulfills these requirements was set, and in April 1942 the prototypes of Porshe and Henschel went for the final duel. After a series of tests, the tank developed by Henshel proved to be better. It received the designation Sd.Kfz. 181 Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. H1 and went into production at the plants in Kassel-Mittelfeld and Wegmann AG. The tank was plagued by many teething problems, and as a result, many subsequent construction changes were introduced in the course of production. Considering the periods of their implementation, it is possible to extract Tigers of early production series, vehicles after modification and vehicles of late production series.




Tiger I & Tiger II


Book Description

A pictorial history and analysis of the infamous World War II German tanks. The German Tiger I and Tiger II (known to the Allies as the King Tiger or Royal Tiger) were the most famous and formidable heavy tanks of the Second World War. In their day, their awesome reputation inspired such apprehension among Allied soldiers that the weaknesses of these brilliant but flawed designs tended to be overlooked. Anthony Tucker-Jones, in this illustrated history, tells the story of their conception and development and reconsiders their operational history, and he dispels the myths that have grown up around them. The Tigers were over-engineered, required raw materials that were in short supply, and were time-consuming to manufacture and difficult to recover from the battlefield. Only around 1,300 of the Tiger I and fewer than 500 of the Tiger II were produced, so they were never going to make anything more than a local impact on the outcome of the fighting on the Western and Eastern fronts. Yet the myth of the Tigers, with their 88mm guns, thick armor, and brutal profiles, has grown over time to the extent that they are regarded as the deadliest tanks of the Second World War. Anthony Tucker-Jones’s expert account of these remarkable fighting vehicles is accompanied by a series of color plates showing the main variants of the designs and the common ancillary equipment and unit markings. His book is an essential work of reference for enthusiasts.




Tiger Tanks at War


Book Description

The full history, design and mechanics, and checkered record of one of WWII's most formidable weapons, with photographs, diagrams, and maps.




Tiger Tank Manual


Book Description

The German Tiger I—officially known as the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I Auks. E (Skiffs 181)—was probably the most feared battle tank of World War II. Its invincibility lay in its main gun and heavy defensive armor. The Tiger’s primary armament was the deadly 88mm Kiwi 36 L/56 gun that was the most powerful antitank gun then in use by any army, capable of penetrating 112mm of armor plate from a range of 1400 meters. The Tiger I also had the toughest armor of any German tank—its frontal armor plate measured 100mm thick. Using the successful approach and format adopted for the Spitfire and Lancaster manuals, Tiger Tank Manual gives an insight into acquiring, owning, and operating one of these awesome fighting vehicles. It also gives an idea through personal recollections of what it was like to command a Tiger in war and what it felt like to be on the receiving end of its 88mm gun.




Tiger Tank


Book Description

The German Tiger I was the most feared battle tank of the Second World War. Its invincibility lay in its main 8.8cm gun and heavy defensive armour. Tiger Tank gives a rare insight into acquiring, owning and operating one of these awesome fighting machines, using the UK’s Tank Museum’s Tiger 131 – the only Tiger I in the world that has been restored to full running order. In addition to offering unique insights into maintenance and driving the Tiger, the book includes vivid personal recollections from wartime German tank crewmen and reveals what it was like to operate this 57-ton giant in combat. It was written by a team of experts from the Tank Museum who were closely involved with the strip-down and rebuild of the Tiger I. David Fletcher is a historian, a prolific author and a world expert on tanks. David Willey is a curator, and Mike Hayton is workshop manager. Other members of the writing team include volunteers Darren Hayton and Steven Vase, Mike Gibb of the SdKfz Military Vehicle Foundation and David Schofield, a specialist in forensic science.







Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger


Book Description

Numbers 13 and 14 the Osprey Modelling Series see the start of a regular subseries on modelling specific AFVs. The first covers the best German tank of WW2, the Tiger, the mount of top tank commander Michael Wittmann. With detailed step-by-step model photography, specially commissioned walkround photography, scale drawings and wartime shots, these books provide all the details needed to model the main Tiger I version – the Ausf E – and its variants. There is a full roundup of the models available on the market, details of where you can see the real thing, a select bibliography, and survey of websites of interest.




Germany's Tiger Tanks


Book Description

This first volume, of a three-volume set, covers the history, development and production history of the Tiger tank variants from the idea's conception to the end of Tiger I production. This includes details on the development series known as the D.W., VK 30.01(H), VK 30.01(P), VK 36.01(H), VK 45.01(P) as well as the Tiger I. All of this illustrated with scale drawings by Hilary L. Doyle, combined with drawings, sketches, and photographs depicting external modifications as well as internal views. Over thirty years of intensive research went into finding the original documents needed to create this history of the development, characteristics, and tactical capabilities of the Tiger. An exhaustive search was made for surviving records of the design/assembly firms (including Krupp, Henschel, Porsche, and Wegmann), the Heereswaffenamt, the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, the D656 series of manuals on the Tiger, and the war diaries with their supporting reports from German army units. This is supplemented by the authors' collecting hundreds of photos and climbing over, under, around, and through nearly every surviving Tiger I. AUTHOR:




Tigers in the Mud


Book Description

WWII began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.




PzKw. VI Tiger Tank


Book Description

ALL TWELVE OFFICIAL WARTIME REPORTS ON TIGER 131 are brought together in a single volume for the first time, complete and fully restored, after careful selection from surviving copies, and overlaid with higher-resolution images than were available for the original printing. These reports are illustrated with 65 photographs and 60 technical plans and sections, including 4 three-dimensional colour paintings. The pages are reproduced at the same size and format as in wartime, except to be cleaned of any amendments and annotations added after printing. The illustrations have been replaced with new copies of the rediscovered originals, except where the unique style of the original presentation is preferred. Bruce Oliver Newsome, Ph.D., provides a new introduction, describing how the Tiger tank came about, how Tiger 131 was employed, how it was captured, what happened to it after capture, and how these reports were compiled. Within the reports, Dr. Newsome provides explanatory notes where, for instance, images were printed without caption or technologies appear without introduction. These reports reveal what the Allies knew, as they discovered it. The reports also reveal the facts to counter the propaganda and myths that have accumulated in subsequent history books. PUT YOURSELF IN THE SHOES of the first investigators of Tiger 131, the first of its type recovered to Britain, the tank that would become the most studied and photographed tank anywhere, and the only running Tiger in the world today.