Tiger talk

[Guest]

You've hit the ns on hand head the tigers teeth was its gun and it's supposedly invincibility and we all kros what happens there.
I've only seen one tiger in the flesh and that was at bovingtin but someone told me then it did not have the original engine possibly a centurion? Does anyone know this


Robert.

The Bovington Tiger apparently has been restored to running order. They say it has the original tiger engine.


The original Tigers were underpowered. The first versions were fitted with a Maybach V12 engine with a 21 litres capacity. This was later increased to 24 litres capacity in December 1943. The gearing made the Tiger easy to drive – the 8 forward gears could be used with a pre-selector.

[Robert1968]

I remember when I saw it it did that pop pop pop ; you know revving the engine it sounded the real Macoy very throaty and even going at 5/10


Mph it showed its awesome majestic presance[ATTACH]110879.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Alan 45]

What ever we think is irrelevant this guy thinks their [ATTACH]110880.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Robert1968]

Tiger 131 is a GermanTiger IHeavy tank captured by the British 48th Royal Tank Regiment in Tunisia during World War II. Preserved at The Tank Museumin Bovington, England, it is the only operating Tiger tank in the world.

[Guest]

I never said it was a Tiger just it it was a good example of a tiger in a movie all I said was it looked authentic but if you really want to know its authenticity or not the give away is the suspension.
Which ever way you want to explain it the gun was a modified long barrel 88mm AA gun used very effectively as an anti tank gun in Africa hence it became the gun of choice for a heavy tank and yes it was used as a bocage tank very effectively, both are not in dispute, ask Michael Wittman. A tank in the end is only as good as its commander.


That gap whether there was a long eatablished plan or not was a lack of heavy armour which wasn't filled until the latter part of the war however you want to explain it.

I see that you've edited your original post Neil!


The Tiger was a tank for open terrain like the steppes of Russia & all the tank commanders ( there were others, not just Wittman! ) had to change the tactics previously used on the Eastern Front.


It's therefore a sign of the Tigers versatility that it still performed well even in a less-than-ideal environment.


The Tiger I first saw active service in 1942 - hardly the end of the war!


And as far as Kursk went, in terms of men & material destroyed, the Germans were easily the winners. But the Soviet plan was to gut the German army of its best personnel & armour, so in that sense it was a German defeat from which they never recovered.


Having read a number of books on the battle, time & time again firsthand accounts speak of a stalled attack until a Tiger appeared to break the deadlock.


Their crews weren't overconfident at all, they had a great respect for the abilities of their enemy, especially the Russian 57mm AT gun.

[Guest]

I see that you've edited your original post Neil!
The Tiger was a tank for open terrain like the steppes of Russia & all the tank commanders ( there were others, not just Wittman! ) had to change the tactics previously used on the Eastern Front.


It's therefore a sign of the Tigers versatility that it still performed well even in a less-than-ideal environment.


The Tiger I first saw active service in 1942 - hardly the end of the war!


And as far as Kursk went, in terms of men & material destroyed, the Germans were easily the winners. But the Soviet plan was to gut the German army of its best personnel & armour, so in that sense it was a German defeat from which they never recovered.


Having read a number of books on the battle, time & time again firsthand accounts speak of a stalled attack until a Tiger appeared to break the deadlock.


Their crews weren't overconfident at all, they had a great respect for the abilities of their enemy, especially the Russian 57mm AT gun.

Yep just the last few words or we would end up in a T34 v Tiger fight! ;-D

[eddiesolo]

This is interesting about the Tiger 131.


This is Part 1

there are 5 parts to this.


Si

[Guest]

The only thing I would say about the Tiger is that it was the most feared Axis tank by all the allies, and that it was under powered, and was prone to mechanical failures, never enough of them in the field...other than that I would sooner have one of them, than any other tank, unlesss it was the Tiger 11

[Guest]

I've always found allied vehicles mundane for modeling.the tiger however is something else,but saying that I have built,painted T34's,and kv's. Very interesting subjects

[Guest]

Ps I also find 19th century warfare interesting.

[aaron]

2 words why the tiger is one of my favs...Michael Wittman. While not the highest scoring ace, he certainly was the most popular at the time.

[Alan 45]

My take on the tiger and German armour in general , the Germans showed the world how to effectively use the tank and had the best tanks , better looking tanks , faster tanks , the whole caboose, but did they , at the start of the war believe it or not the best tank although admittedly one of the slowest was the Matilda it had thicker armour and could take out any German tank at close range with its 2pdr gun and it gave the Germans a bloody nose in Africa at first and it was Rommel who first used the 88mm AA gun against tanks as he got fed up of seeing his anti tank shells bounce of the Tilly ha this changed everything in tank warfare the Germans realised that a tank needed beefing up in power and in protection and we didn't realise or more acuratly we didn't have the economic clout to do it and we had a bunch of old duffers still thinking about trench warfare and using tanks in a support role instead of part of a main attack vehicle


The Germans added extra armour and refitted older tanks with bigger guns to keep ahead and either they realised the chassis of the panzer IV was so adaptable or it was built with this in mind they could easily refit their tanks , the tiger I came out around 43 but by now allied bombing was starting to take its toll on the Germans ability to produce large quantities and many tanks were rushed to be operational hence all the mechanical problems all their later tanks stuffed from this


The Germans may have had better tanks on paper but reliability and quantity wise they weren't


I personally look at tigers and look at the churchills and say the churchills were better looking

[aaron]

I personally look at tigers and look at the churchills and say the churchills were better looking

Giggle.

[Guest]

My take on the tiger and German armour in general , the Germans showed the world how to effectively use the tank and had the best tanks , better looking tanks , faster tanks , the whole caboose, but did they , at the start of the war believe it or not the best tank although admittedly one of the slowest was the Matilda it had thicker armour and could take out any German tank at close range with its 2pdr gun and it gave the Germans a bloody nose in Africa at first and it was Rommel who first used the 88mm AA gun against tanks as he got fed up of seeing his anti tank shells bounce of the Tilly ha this changed everything in tank warfare the Germans realised that a tank needed beefing up in power and in protection and we didn't realise or more acuratly we didn't have the economic clout to do it and we had a bunch of old duffers still thinking about trench warfare and using tanks in a support role instead of part of a main attack vehicle
The Germans added extra armour and refitted older tanks with bigger guns to keep ahead and either they realised the chassis of the panzer IV was so adaptable or it was built with this in mind they could easily refit their tanks , the tiger I came out around 43 but by now allied bombing was starting to take its toll on the Germans ability to produce large quantities and many tanks were rushed to be operational hence all the mechanical problems all their later tanks stuffed from this


The Germans may have had better tanks on paper but reliability and quantity wise they weren't


I personally look at tigers and look at the churchills and say the churchills were better looking

I think you need glasses Alan!


Mind you, most Churchill crews never saw the Tiger that killed them!

[Guest]

My take on the tiger and German armour in general , the Germans showed the world how to effectively use the tank and had the best tanks , better looking tanks , faster tanks , the whole caboose, but did they , at the start of the war believe it or not the best tank although admittedly one of the slowest was the Matilda it had thicker armour and could take out any German tank at close range with its 2pdr gun and it gave the Germans a bloody nose in Africa at first and it was Rommel who first used the 88mm AA gun against tanks as he got fed up of seeing his anti tank shells bounce of the Tilly ha this changed everything in tank warfare the Germans realised that a tank needed beefing up in power and in protection and we didn't realise or more acuratly we didn't have the economic clout to do it and we had a bunch of old duffers still thinking about trench warfare and using tanks in a support role instead of part of a main attack vehicle
The Germans added extra armour and refitted older tanks with bigger guns to keep ahead and either they realised the chassis of the panzer IV was so adaptable or it was built with this in mind they could easily refit their tanks , the tiger I came out around 43 but by now allied bombing was starting to take its toll on the Germans ability to produce large quantities and many tanks were rushed to be operational hence all the mechanical problems all their later tanks stuffed from this


The Germans may have had better tanks on paper but reliability and quantity wise they weren't


I personally look at tigers and look at the churchills and say the churchills were better looking

Hmm it's funny then that German tank production was higher in 1944 than at any time during the war!


It wasn't bombing of industrial manufacturing that crippled the German war effort, but the decision in early '44 to target oil production.


This lead to a severe lack of fuel for training & operations which hit the Luftwaffe & armoured divisions the hardest.