Rare Tiger I leaves RAF Alconbury for U.S.

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Brian Stives
  • 501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs
RAF ALCONBURY, United Kingdom --  One of only six Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. Es, commonly referred to as Tiger I tanks, remaining in the world left RAF Alconbury, United Kingdom, Sept. 10 to be put on display Fort Benning, Ga.

Tiger I is a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. Production of the Tiger I began in August 1942 with around 1,350 built by August 1944 when production ceased. It was an answer to the Soviet armor encountered in the initial months of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, particularly the T-34 and the KV-1. The Tiger I design gave the German army its first tank with an 88 mm gun. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts.

"The tank came here about a year ago, while it was in litigation to go to the National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning," said David Tate, 423rd Civil Engineer Squadron heavy equipment shop. "The turret was transported two months ago to Georgia, where the U.S. Army is going to put the tank on display, and we are glad to see the rest of it follow.

"What makes this tank unique is its body armor," said Tate. "Since the armor is so thick, most of the tanks have been used for scrap metal because of all the metal used to build them."

The Tiger I represented a new approach emphasizing firepower and armor. While heavy, this tank was as fast as the best of its opponents. However, weighing more than 50 metric tons, suspensions, gearboxes and other such items reached their design limits and breakdowns were frequent.

The Tiger I had frontal hull armor 100 mm (3.9 in) thick and a frontal turret armor of 120 mm (4.7 in), as opposed to the 80 mm (3.1 in) frontal hull and 50 mm (2 in) frontal turret armor of contemporary models of the Panzer IV. It also had 60 mm (2.4 in) thick hull side plates and 80 mm armor on the side superstructure and rear, turret sides and rear were 80 mm thick. The top and bottom armor was 25 mm (1 in) thick. In March 1944, the turret roof was thickened to 40 mm (1.6 in). Armor plates were mostly flat, with interlocking construction and the nominal armor thickness of the Tiger I reached up to 200 mm at the gun mantlet.

"This tank was found abandoned by a lieutenant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers attached to the 2nd Corps British Forces," said Tate. "It was then reverse engineered to determine how to defeat them."

"Prior to coming here, the tank was on display at the United States Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and a museum in Germany," said Tate. "We kept it here so it was safe and secure, along with two other tanks. It was a long process, but we are glad we were able to store this historical piece of machinery."

The five other Tiger Is are located at the Bovington Tank Museum, Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England; Musée des Blindés, Saumur, France; Vimoutiers, France; Kubinka Tank Museum, Moscow, Russia; and Military-Historical Museum of Lenino-Snegiri, Russia.