Development of what eventually became known as the Tiger Ausf.
E was initiated in a discussion with Adolf Hitler on the 26th
of May 1941. Medium and heavy tanks have been under development
in Germany since 1937, no immediate plans were in hand to
supersede or augment
Panzer III
and
Panzer IV owing to the early
campaign successes. But all this changed after the invasion
of Russia and the Wehrmacht came up against the Russian T-34
and KV I tanks. Both of the Russian tanks, outclassed anything
the Germans had either in the field or on the development
and it was this which gave the impetus to implement Hitler's
recommendations as quickly as possible.
Panzerkampfwagen Tiger II Ausf. B (Königstiger) design
followed the same path as the Tiger I Ausf. E, but was intended
to be even more formidable. The Königstiger combined
the thick armour of the Tiger Ausf. E with the sloped armour
of the Panther. The tank weighed almost 70 tons, and was
protected by 100 mm to 180 mm of frontal armour, and was
armed with the 8.8
cm KwK 43 L/71 gun and 2 × 7.92
mm MG 34 machine guns. The Pz.Kpfw. Tiger II Ausf. B
served as a basis for one production variant, the Jagdtiger.
German Military Vehicles.
ISBN-10: 087349783X
Armoured Fighting Vehicles of Germany World War II.
ISBN-10: 0214203077
Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World Two.
ISBN-10: 1854095188
For a complete list of
sources
