Lone Sentry: Pantiger, A Redesigned Tiger, Newest Enemy Heavy Tank (WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, October 1944, WW2 Panzer)

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"Pantiger, A Redesigned Tiger" from Tactical and Technical Trends

One of the first intelligence reports on the Tiger II, the new German heavy tank encountered in the fighting in Normandy, Tactical and Technical Trends, October, 1944. The odd name 'PanTiger' did not last long, and the Allies soon referred to the new tank as the Tiger II, King Tiger, or Royal Tiger.

[Editor's Note: The following article is wartime information on enemy equipment published for Allied soldiers. More accurate data on German weapons and equipment is available in postwar publications.]

PANTIGER, A REDESIGNED TIGER,
NEWEST ENEMY HEAVY TANK

A new 67-ton German heavy tank — referred to variously as Pantiger and Tiger II — has been employed against the Allies this summer in France. Actually a redesigned Tiger (Pz. Kpfw. VI), it mounts the 8.8-cm Kw. K. 43 gun. On the basis of a preliminary report, the general appearance of the new tank is that of a scaled-up Pz. Kpfw. V (Panther) on the wide Tiger tracks. It conforms to normal German tank practice insofar as the design, lay-out, welding, and interlocking of the main plates are concerned. All sides are sloping. The gun is larger than the Panther gun, and longer than the ordinary Tiger gun. Armor is also thicker than that on either the Panther or the Tiger. The turret is of new design, with bent side plates. In all respects the new tank is larger than the standard Tiger.

[画像:[The Pantiger, latest German heavy tank (Tiger II)]]

The Pantiger, latest German heavy tank.

Principal over-all dimensions of the redesigned Tiger are as follows:

Length _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 23 ft. 10 in.

Width _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 11 ft. 11 1/2 in.

Height _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 10 ft. 2 in.

Main armament is the 8.8-cm Kw. K. 43. It is equipped also with two machine guns (MG 34), one mounted coaxially in the turret and one mounted in the hull.

Armor thicknesses of the new tank are as follows:

Glacis plate _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 150-mm at 40° to 45°.

Hull side _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 80-mm vertical.

Superstructure side _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 80-mm at 25°.

Hull rear plates _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 80-mm at 25° (undercut).

Superstructure top plates _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 42-mm horizontal.

Turret front _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Approx. 80-mm (rounded).

Turret side _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 80-mm at 25°.

Turret rear _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 80-mm at 25°.

Turret roof _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 42-mm horizontal; front and rear sloped at about 5° from horizontal.

The suspension consists of front driving sprockets, rear idler, and independent torsion bar springing, with twin steel-rimmed rubber-cushioned disk bogie wheels on each of the nine axles on each side. The bogie wheels are interleaved, and there are no return rollers. Contact length of the track on the ground is about 160 inches.

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