German tanks "Tiger": technical characteristics, device, model, photo, tests by shelling. How did the German T-6 Tiger T-6 penetrate Soviet weapons?

The technique that participated in the Second World War on both sides of the front is sometimes more recognizable and "canonical" than even its participants. A vivid confirmation of this is our submachine gun PPSh and German tanks "Tiger". Their "popularity" on the Eastern Front was such that almost in every second enemy tank our soldiers saw the T-6.

How it all began?

By 1942, the German staffs finally realized that the "lightning war" did not work, but the tendency of positional tightening is clearly visible. In addition, the Russian tanks T-34 allowed to effectively combat German parts equipped with T-3 and T-4. Knowing perfectly well what a tank attack was and what its role in the war was, the Germans decided to develop a completely new heavy tank.

For the sake of fairness, we note that the work on the project went back to 1937, but only in the 1940s did the demands of the military take a more concrete outline. The project of a heavy tank was staffed by two companies: Henschel and Porsche. Ferdinand Porsche was a favorite of Hitler, and therefore made one unfortunate mistake, hurrying up a lot ... However, we'll talk about this later.

First prototypes

Already in 1941 the Wehrmacht enterprises offered two prototypes: "VK 3001 (H) and VK 3001 (R)" to the public. " But in May of the same year, the military proposed updated requirements for heavy tanks, as a result of which the projects had to be seriously revised.

It was then that the first documents appeared on the VK 4501 product, from which the German heavy tank "Tiger" derives its pedigree. From competitors it was required to provide the first samples already by May-June 1942. The number of works was catastrophically large, since both platforms had to be constructed by the Germans virtually from scratch. In the spring of 1942, both prototypes, equipped with the towers of Friedrich Krupp AG, were brought to the Wolf's Lair in order to show the Führer a new technique on the day of his birth.

Match Winner

It turned out that both cars have significant drawbacks. So, Porsche was so "carried away" by the idea of creating an "electric" tank, that his prototype, being very heavy, could hardly turn 90 °. Henschel, too, was not all right: his tank with great difficulty could accelerate to the required 45 km / h, but at the same time its engine was heated so that a real threat of a fire arose. But still this tank won.

The reasons are simple: a classic design and a lighter chassis. The Porsche tank was so complex and required so much scarce copper for production that even Hitler was inclined to refuse his beloved engineer. The admission committee also agreed with him. It was German tanks "Tiger" from the company "Henschel" and became a recognized "canon".

About haste and its consequences

It should be noted here that Porsche himself was so confident in his success even before the tests began that he ordered the production to begin without waiting for the acceptance results. By the spring of 1942, exactly 90 ready-made chassis were already in the shops of the plant. After the failure in the tests it was necessary to decide what to do with them. The output was found - a powerful chassis was used to create the SAU Ferdinand.

This self-propelled gun has become no less famous than if you compare it with the T-6. The "forehead" of this monster did not penetrate almost anything, even direct fire and from a distance of only 400-500 meters. It's no wonder that the crews of the Soviet tanks Fedyu were frankly afraid and respected. However, the infantry did not agree with them: "Ferdinand" did not have course guns, and therefore many of the 90 vehicles were destroyed by magnetic mines and anti-tank charges, "carefully" placed directly under the caterpillars.

Serial production and refinement

In late August of the same year the tank went into production. Strangely enough, but during the same period, the tests of new equipment were intensively continued. At that time, the sample demonstrated to Hitler had already passed 960 km along the roads. It turned out that on a rough terrain the car could accelerate to 18 km / h, while fuel was burned to 430 liters per 100 km. So, the German Tiger tank, which is described in the article, because of its gluttony, delivered many problems to the supply services.

The production and improvement of the design went in a single bundle. Many external elements have been changed, including ZIP boxes. Then at the perimeter of the tower began to put small mortars, specially designed for smoke bombs and mines of type "S". The latter was intended for the destruction of enemy infantry and was very insidious: being released from the trunk, it exploded at a low altitude, densely filling the space around the tank with small metal balls. In addition, specifically to camouflage the machine on the battlefield were provided separate smoke grenade launchers NbK 39 (caliber 90 mm).

Problems with transportation

It is important to note that the German tanks "Tiger" were the first in the history of tank building machines, which were serially equipped with equipment for underwater driving. This was due to the large mass of T-6, which did not allow it to be transported by most bridges. That's only in practice, the equipment is almost not used.

Its quality was at an altitude, because even on testing the tank had no problems in the deep pool for more than two hours (with the engine running), but the complexity of the installation and the need for engineering training of the terrain made the use of the system unprofitable. The tankers themselves believed that the German heavy T-VI tank "Tiger" would simply get stuck in a more or less muddy day, so they tried not to risk using more "standard" ways of crossing rivers.

It is also interesting because for this machine two types of caterpillars were developed at once: narrow 520 mm and wide 725 mm. The former were used for the transport of tanks on standard railway platforms and, if possible, for their own motion on the paved roads. The second type of caterpillar was combat, it was used in all other cases. What was the arrangement of the German Tiger Tank?

Design Features

The very design of the new machine was classic, with the rear location of the MTO. The whole front part was occupied by the department of management. It was there that the working places of the driver-mechanic and radio operator were located, which simultaneously performed the duties of an arrow, controlling the course machine gun.

The middle part of the tank was given under the fighting compartment. Above was a tower with a gun and a machine gun, and there were jobs for the commander, the gunner and the loader. Also in the combat compartment was the entire ammunition tank.

Armament

The main gun was a KwK 36 gun of 88 caliber. It was developed on the basis of the infamous antiaircraft gun of the same caliber, which in 1941 confidently drove all the Allied tanks from virtually all ranges. The length of the barrel of the gun is 4928 mm, taking into account the muzzle brake - 5316 mm. The latter was a valuable find of German engineers, since it allowed to reduce the energy of recoil to an acceptable level. The auxiliary weapon was the 7.92 mm MG-34 machine gun.

The course machine gun, which, as we have already said, was controlled by a radio operator, was placed in the front sheet. Note that on the commander's turret, subject to the use of a special mount, it was possible to place another MG-34/42, which in this case was used as an antiaircraft weapon. It should be noted here that this measure was forced and often used by the Germans in Europe.

In general, the aircraft could not resist any German heavy tank. T-IV, "Tiger" - all of them were easy prey for Allied aviation. At us the situation was absolutely other as up to 1944 at the USSR simply there was no enough number of storm troopers for attacks of the heavy German technics.

The tower was turned by a hydraulic pivoting device, the power of which was 4 kW. Power was taken from the gearbox, for which a separate gear was used. The mechanism was extremely effective: at maximum revolutions the tower turned 360 degrees in just a minute.

If for some reason the engine was muffled, but it was required to turn the tower, the tankmen could use a manual pivoting device. His disadvantage, in addition to the high load on the crew, was the fact that at the slightest inclination of the barrel, a turn was impossible.

Power point

MTO contained both a power plant and a full fuel supply. This German tanks "Tiger" favorably differed from our machines, in which the fuel stock was located directly in the fighting compartment. In addition, the MTO was separated from the other compartments by a strong partition, which minimized the risk to the crew with a direct hit in the impellent compartment.

It should be noted that German tanks of the Second World War ("Tiger" is no exception), despite its "petrol", the glory of "lighters" have not received. This was due precisely to the reasonable location of the gas tanks.

In motion, the car was powered by two Maybach HL 210P30 motors in 650 hp. Or the Maybach HL 230P45 in 700 hp (which have been put up since the 251st "Tiger"). Motors V-shaped, four-stroke, 12-cylinder. Note that the tank "Panther" had exactly the same engine, but one. The motor was cooled by two liquid radiators. In addition, separate fans were installed on both sides of the engine to improve the cooling process. In addition, a separate blowing of the generator and exhaust manifolds was provided.

Unlike domestic tanks, only high-grade gasoline with an octane rating of not less than 74 could be used for refueling. Four gas tanks placed in the MTO contained 534 liters of fuel. When driving on solid dirt roads for a hundred kilometers, 270 liters of gasoline was expended, and at the intersection of off-roads the expenditure increased immediately to 480 liters.

Thus, the technical characteristics of the Tiger (German) tank did not assume its long "independent" marches. If only there was a minimal opportunity, the Germans tried to bring him closer to the battlefield on the train tracks. So it went out much cheaper.

Chassis characteristics

On each side accounted for 24 supporting skating rinks, which were not only staggered, but also stood in four rows at once! Rubber bandages were used on the supporting rollers, for the others they were steel, but an additional system of internal depreciation was used. Note that the German T-6 Tiger Tank had a very significant drawback, which could not be eliminated: because of the extremely high load tires of the track rollers were wearing out very quickly.

Starting from approximately 800th of the car, steel bands and internal cushioning were put on all the rollers. To simplify and reduce the cost of construction, external single-roller was also excluded from the project. By the way, how much did the German Tiger tank cost the Wehrmacht at all? The model of the model of the beginning of 1943 was estimated, according to various sources, in the range from 600 thousand to 950 thousand Reichsmarks.

For steering, a steering wheel similar to a motorcycle steering wheel was used: by using a hydraulic drive, a 56-ton tank was easily controlled by the effort of one hand. Switch the transmission could be literally two fingers. By the way, the checkpoint of this tank was the legitimate pride of designers: robotic (!), Four forward gears, two - back.

Unlike our tanks, where only a very experienced man could be Mehvod, whose professionalism often depended on the life of the entire crew, almost any infantryman, who at least managed a motorcycle, could sit at the helm of the Tiger. Because of this, incidentally, the position of the mechanic of the "Tiger" was not something special, whereas the T-34 driver was almost more important than the tank commander.

Armor Protection

The case is box-shaped, its elements were assembled "in a spike" and welded. Armor plates are rolled, with additives of chromium and molybdenum, cemented. Many historians criticize the "box" of the "Tiger", but, in the first place, an already expensive car could be simplified at least somehow. Secondly, more importantly, until 1944 on the battlefield there was not a single Allied tank that could hit the T-6 in a frontal projection. Well, if not at close range.

So the German heavy tank T-VI "Tiger" at the time of creation was a very protected car. Actually, for this he was loved by the Wehrmacht tankmen. By the way, how did the Soviet weapon penetrate the German tank "Tiger"? More precisely, what kind of weapon?

What kind of Soviet weapon did the "Tiger"

The frontal armor had a thickness of 100 mm, the side and the forage - 82 mm. Some military historians believe that because of the "chopped" forms of the hull with the "Tiger", our ZIS-3 caliber of 76 mm could successfully fight, but here there are several subtleties:

• First, the defeat was more or less guaranteed only from 500 meters, but poor-quality armor-piercing shells often did not penetrate the quality armor of the first "Tigers" even at point-blank range.
• Secondly, more importantly, on the battlefield was widely distributed "regimentka" caliber 45 mm, which in the forehead T-6 did not take in principle. Even when it hit the board, a breakout could only be guaranteed with meters from 50, and even then not fact.
• The F-34 cannon of the T-34-76 tank also did not shine, and even the use of sub-caliber "coils" was poorly corrected. The fact is that even the sub-caliber projectile of this gun reliably took the side of the Tiger only from 400-500 meters. And then - provided that the "coil" was of high quality, which was not always the case.

Since the Soviet weapon penetrated the German tank "Tiger" is not always, the tank crew was given a simple order: to shoot armor piercing only when there is a 100% chance of hitting. So it was possible to reduce the consumption of scarce and very expensive tungsten carbide. So the Soviet weapon could hit the T-6 only if several conditions were the same:

• Small distance.
• A successful angle.
• A quality projectile.

So, right up to the more or less massive appearance of T-34-85 in 1944 and the saturation of the troops with SU-85/100/122 self-propelled guns and the SU / ISU "Zveroboev" 152 "Tigers" were very dangerous opponents of our soldiers.

Characteristics of combat employment

The fact that the German tank T-6 "Tiger" was highly valued by the command of the Wehrmacht is evidenced by the fact that a new tactical unit of troops - a heavy tank battalion - was specially created for these machines. And this was a separate, autonomous part, which had the right to independent action. Characteristically, of the 14 battalions created, initially one operated in Italy, one in Africa, and the remaining 12 in the USSR. This gives an idea of the fierce fighting on the Eastern Front.

In August 1942, the Tigers were tested at Mga, where our artillerymen shot two to three of the participating vehicles (six in all), and in 1943 our soldiers managed to capture the first T-6 almost in perfect condition. Immediately, tests were carried out on the German Tiger tank, which gave disappointing conclusions: the T-34 tank could not fight on an equal footing with the new technique of the fascists, and the standard 45 mm regimental anti-tank gun did not have enough power to break through the armor.

It is believed that the most massive use of "Tigers" in the USSR took place during the Battle of Kursk. It was planned that 285 cars of this type will be involved, but in reality the Wehrmacht exposed 246 T-6.

As for Europe, by the time the Allies landed there were three heavy tank battalions equipped with 102 "Tigers". It is noteworthy that by March 1945 there were about 185 tanks of this type on the move in the world. A total of about 1200 were produced. Today there is one German tank "Tiger" all over the world. Photo of this tank, which is located on the Aberdinsky test site, regularly appear in the media.

Why was the "tiger fights" formed?

The high efficiency of the use of these tanks is largely due to the excellent handling and comfortable working conditions of the crew. Up until 1944, there was not a single Allied tank on the battlefield that could fight the Tiger on equal terms. Many of our tankmen were killed when their machines were struck by Germans from a distance of 1.5-1.7 km. The cases when the T-6 were hit with a small number are very rare.

The death of the German helmet Asman is an example. His tank, breaking through the "Sherman", was eventually finished off pistol shot from distance. One Tiger fell down with 6-7 burned T-34s, while the Americans with their tanks were even sadder. Of course, the "thirty-four" is a completely different type of car, but it was in most cases that it confronted the T-6. This again confirms the heroism and dedication of our tankmen.

Main disadvantages of the machine

The main drawback was the high mass and width, making it impossible to transport the tank on conventional railway platforms without preliminary preparation. As for comparing the angular armor "Tiger" and "Panther" with rational viewing angles, in practice the T-6 was still a more formidable opponent for Soviet and allied tanks due to more rational reservation. The T-5 was very well defended frontal projection, but the sides and forage were almost bare.

What is much worse, the power of even two engines was not enough for the movement of such a heavy car over rough terrain. In marshy soils, he is just elm. Americans even developed a special tactic of fighting against the Tigers: they forced heavy Germans to drop heavy battalions from one sector of the front to the other, as a result, after a couple of weeks, half of the T-6 (at least) was under repair.

Despite all the shortcomings, the German Tiger tank, the photo of which is in the article, was a very formidable fighting vehicle. Perhaps, from an economic point of view, it was not cheap, but the tankmen themselves, including ours, who were running around captured equipment, rated this "cat" very highly.