De 1SCpedia

El Panzerkampfwagen VI Aus. E Tiger I fue un tanque pesado de la Segunda Guerra Mundial desarrollado por Alemania.
Originalmente desarrollado bajo el nombre de Pzkw VI Ausf. H, el tanque se redenominó como la versión Ausf. E (Ausführung significa "versión") en Marzo de 1943. El tanque también se conoció como Mark VI-E, Panzer VI-E, PzKpfw VI-E o Sd.Kfz. 181 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 181), aunque generalmente era llamado Tiger I o simplemente Tiger.

Historia

El Tigre se diferenciaba de anteriores tanques Alemanes principalmente por su filosofía de diseño. Los tanques Alemanes anteriores al Tiger tenían una capacidad compensada de fuego, movilidad y protección. Aunque algunas veces eran superados por el enemigo en potencia de fuego, las tácticas superiores Alemanas anularon ese inconveniente.

El Tiger I representa un nuevo concepto en que se prioriza la potencia de fuego y el blindaje sacrificando movilidad. Los estudios para diseñar un tanque pesado nuevo habían empezado a finales de los 30 sin ninguna planificación concreta. El verdadero ímpetu para el desarrollo del Tiger fue el T-34 soviético. Aunque de diseño parecido al PzIV, el Tiger pesaba más del doble que este. Esto era por su blindaje mucho más grueso, el mayor cañón, la mayor capacidad de combustible, munición, el motor mucho más grande y una transmisión y suspensión mucho más sólida. El Tiger I tenía un blindaje frontal de hasta 102 mm, que superaba los 80mm frontales del PzIV. Tenía 80mm en los lados y la parte posterior. El blindaje, especialmente el frontal, era muy efectivo a la hora de parar todo tipo de munición anti-tanque de la mayoría de los cañones de la época a distancias normales de enfrentamiento. A corta distancia era más vulnerable en los laterales. El blindaje del techo era de 25 y 40mm, similar a los tanques actuales.

ARTÍCULO EN TRADUCCIÓN

Este artículo es una traducción del original indicar un artículo escrito en inglés.
Razón por la cual puede haber lagunas de contenidos, errores sintácticos o escritos sin traducir.

Puedes colaborar con la 1SCpedia continuando con la traducción.

Armor plates were mostly flat, with interlocking construction. The weld joints were also of high quality, being stepped and welded rather than riveted. A petrol engine in the rear drove front sprockets, which were mounted quite low on the vehicle. The suspension used torsion bars, similar to the Panzer III. The turret had a full circular floor basket with 157 cm headroom. The gun breech and firing mechanism were derived from the famous German "88" dual purpose flak gun. The 88 mm Kwk 36 L/56 gun was the variant chosen for the Tiger and was, along with the Tiger II's 88 mm Kwk 43 L/71, one of the most effective and feared tank guns of WW2. The Tiger's gun had a very flat trajectory and extremely accurate Zeiss TZF 9b sights. In British war-time firing trials, five successive hits were scored on a 16"x18" target at a range of 1,200 yards. Tigers were reported to have knocked out enemy tanks at ranges greater than a mile (1,600 m), although most WW2 engagements were fought at much closer range.

But the size of the Tiger forced the introduction of new and complex technologies, providing the engineers with a series of technical challenges which were never entirely surmounted. The eleven-ton turret had a hydraulic motor powered by mechanical drive from the engine; even so, a full rotation took about a minute. The tank had triple interleaving road wheels, giving a better cross country ride, but also making maintenance more difficult. The steel and rubber wheels were mounted on sixteen independent interleaved torsion bar axles, leading on one side and trailing on the other. The interleaving wheels gave a relatively soft and stable ride for such a large vehicle. This complex system had a number of drawbacks; one was that the wheels could become packed with mud or snow that could then freeze. The Soviets discovered this and on occasion timed their attacks in the early morning, when the Tigers were more likely to be immobilized.

The tracks were an unprecedented 725 mm wide. To meet rail-freight size restrictions, the outer row of wheels had to be removed, and narrower 520 mm tracks installed.

The tank was regarded as too heavy for most bridges, so it was designed to ford four-metre deep water. This required unusual mechanisms for ventilation and cooling. Even so, submersion was not a matter of just driving into the water; perhaps 30 minutes of preparation was required. The turret and gun had to be locked in the forward position so they could be sealed.

Another new feature was the hydraulically-controlled pre-selector gearbox and semiautomatic transmission. The extreme weight of the tank also meant a new steering system. Instead of the clutch-and-brake designs of lighter vehicles, a variation on the British Merritt-Brown single radius system was used. The Tiger's steering system was of twin radius type, meaning that two different, fixed radii of turn could be achieved at each gear, the smallest radius on the first gear was four meters. Since the vehicle had an eight-speed gearbox, it thus had sixteen different radii of turn. If a smaller radius was needed, the tank could be turned by using brakes. The steering system was easy to use and ahead of its time. However, the tank's automotive features left much to be desired. When used to tow an immobilized Tiger, the engine often became over heated and sometimes resulted in an engine breakdown or fire. The low-mounted sprocket limited the obstacle-clearing height. The tracks also had a bad tendency to override the sprocket, resulting in immobilization. If a track overrode and jammed two Tigers were normally needed to tow the tank. The jammed track was also a big problem itself, since due to high tension, it was often impossible to disintegrate the track by removing the track pins. It was sometimes simply blown apart with an explosive charge. The standard German Famo recovery tractor could not tow the tank; up to three tractors were usually needed to tow one Tiger.

The engine was initially a 590 hp (440 kW) twenty-one litre Maybach petrol design, which was found to be underpowered; this was soon upgraded to a 23.88 litre HL 230 P45.

The internal layout was typical of German tanks. Forward was an open crew compartment, with the driver and radio-operator seated at the front, either side of the gearbox. Behind them the turret floor was surrounded by panels forming a continuous level surface. This helped the loader to retrieve the ammunition, which was stowed in both sponsons. Two men were seated in the turret; the gunner to the left of the gun, and the commander behind him. The loader had the luxury of a folding seat in the turret. The rear of the tank held an engine room flanked by two floodable rear compartments each containing a fuel tank, radiator, and fans.

Although the Tiger I was one of the most heavily armed and armoured tanks of WWII, a formidable opponent of Allied tankers, the design was conservative and had some serious drawbacks. The flat, non-sloped armor plates were unsophisticated in comparison to the sloped armor of the Soviet T-34, requiring a massive increase in weight to provide for sufficient protection. The tank's weight put severe stress on the suspension, while the complex wheel design put a severe strain on field maintenance. The sophisticated transmission system was also prone to breakdowns.

A major problem with the Tiger was its very high production cost. During the Second World War over 40,000 American Sherman and 58,000 Soviet T-34s were produced, compared to 1,350 Tiger I and 500 Tiger II tanks. The German designs were expensive in terms of time, raw materials and reichsmarks, the Tiger I costing over twice as much as a contemporary Panzer IV and four times that of a Stug. III assault gun.

Manual de Uso del PzKpfw VI E

Uso en Ataque

Uso en Defensa

Puntos Vulnerables del PzKpfw VI E

En general, los mismo puntos identificados en la II Guerra Mundial funcionan en el World War II Online.

Puntos de colocación de cargas

Estos son los puntos donde se deben colocar las cargas explosivas. Notese que también son puntos vulnerbales a armas anticarro.

Lateral AMBOS lados