There were many tank designs during World War II. Germany was at the fore front in tank design during the war and the Tiger tank was one of their most innovative designs that ultimately proved itself in battle.

Germany produced two models of the Tiger panzer tanks, the Tiger I and the Tiger II or King Tiger. The materials and the labor intensive production process made them the mostly costly tanks to produce during the war. They were designed with the purpose of being an offensive breakthrough weapon which due to the tactical situation when the Tiger was first deployed changed to defensive posture or mobile gun battery.

You maybe wondering what "Panzer" means since you'll see it throughout this article. The German translation means armor. You'll see notations during World War II of German "Panzer" divisions, regiments or battalions which mean armored formations usually containing tanks.

There were some flaws in the Tiger the designers did not anticipate. The Tiger tank was very heavy because of its thick armor and the power plant, transmission system, road wheels and tracks had mechanical problems because of this extreme weight. Designers did make changes to some of these problems with either updates to the Tiger or the introduction of a new model such as the Tiger II which took care of some issues. Of course with the introduction of a new model the Tiger II tank had more problems that would need to be addressed since it was even heavier than the Tiger I. The heavier design created issues when traveling over terrain. Crews had to plan their routes very carefully taking into account soft terrain, hills and bridges. The tanks in many cases were too heavy for bridges in rural Europe and Tiger tank units had to be deviated from the road march to bridges that would support them or fordable areas of a river. The Tiger tank was equipped with a snorkel to ford rivers.

Tiger tanks were feared by most Allied troops and tankers during the war. The Tiger had superior armor, weapons and optics and could kill tanks from a greater range than their enemy. It required extreme tactics that would include several tanks and troops to take out one Tiger.

The combat records of the Tiger tanks were simply amazing once some of the bugs were worked out of them. In most cases, they were out numbered and would still inflict heavy losses sometimes even turning the tide of the current battle. There were many commanders who claimed over 100 vehicle kills during the war.

The Tiger tank was a legendary tank during World War II spawning  books, models, paintings, movies and enthusiasts from around the world.

You can find out more information on the Tiger Tank at www.tigerpanzer.net.