Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung E "Tiger"

Even since Barbarossa began in June of 1941, Soviet tanks, particularly the T-34 and KV-1 medium and heavy tanks had woefully outclassed Germany's panzers. Germany, with development and deployment of the Panzer VI, finally, in 1943, possessed the trump card to the previously dominant Russian tanks; as the Tiger held advantages over its Soviet made peers in both firepower and armored protection. The Tiger represented the German army's first heavy tank and went on to craft a ferocious reputation during the war.

The Tiger's deadly reputation primarily came from its main gun: the dreaded 88mm high-velocity cannon. The 88mm gun, infamous as Germany's pre-eminent anti-tank weapon, gave the Tiger the firepower to penetrate any enemy tank at stand off ranges, meaning before an opposing tank could effectively engage the Tiger's massive 100mm thick frontal armor. Weighing in at 56 tons, the Tiger was the largest tank on the battlefield any time it was present.

The Tiger, for all the attention given to its hitting power, also possessed notable technological innovations, including a hydraulically activated power traverse system operated by the gunner. The gunner merely needed to press on a rocker plate, similar to a brake or accelerator in a car, to traverse the turret. The gunner could rotate the turret a full 360 degrees in only one minute with the pressure applied dictating the direction the turret traversed.

Picture Courtesy of Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild 101I-299-1805-12