Was the Tiger Tank Really So Feared?

The Tiger Tank was possibly the most feared tank of World War II but did soldiers fighting this machine really freeze in place at it's first sight?

Music:

Company of Heroes OST - Tiger Ace 02 (Battle)

[adanakebap]

Allied tank crew when they see a pz2
"ITS A FUCKING KING TIGER"

[Nedvesperec]

It wasn't as unreliable as they say, but it wasn't as reliable as other tanks. Tiger tanks were operated by experienced crew which made the tiger tanks especially dangerous

[johnclement]

Allies forces always misidentifies panzer 3 and 4 sometimes because they have a similar silhouette from far away. Many vets have overstated that tiger tanks are everywhere when in reality its only 1000+.

[daanbos]

The tiger wasn’t as unreliable as has been speculated
It was the panther and Porsche tiger that had many issues, the panther issues however where minimal by the time the jaghdpanther came around

[gratefulguy]

It really wasn't anywhere near as unreliable as people pretend these days. Especially compared to tanks of it's time.

[Nutistic]

love everyone glazing the tiger and not the ridiculous armour of the kv-1 at the time of its production

[-mtm]

Fun fact, a Tiger was knocked out by a M3 75mm GMC during combat in North Africa.

[Blackdeathgaming-yvkk]

Ehh, i don't agree with your last statement entirely. As an infantryman it really depends on the setting of where you encounter a tank. In an open field a tank is a nightmare to encounter as infantry but in an urban setting? The biggest nightmare of any tank is driving down a street surrounded by buildings. Sights in a tank are very limited and enemy infantry can come from every single angle with anti tank weoponry.

[xModerax]

Tiger was only feared because irl had no BRs. So the allies didnt have 1970s tanks to kill the tiger

[anhta]

When you realize the tiger’s armor only worked because the enemy couldn’t get in range before being hit by the 88. The front armor was 100mm, able to be penetrated by legit any late war allied tank

[REDOMTF]

As they said " 1 German tank is like 4 American tanks, but we always had 5" lol

[Croissant-]

Yeah it's very scary until a Firefly or a 76 Sherman shows up but it depends on whoever fires first

[GuPKay]

Watching everyone fight over Tigers and Shermans is funny. Warthunder really makes everyone tank experts. Just get your info from people who actually served in these said tanks. For example, My great-grandfather served in a Jagdpanther, according to him it was very reliable and effective.

[guardian]

Ill give my own analyzation.

From the many old documentaries I watched, 1 common thing many allies (Particularly tank crewmen) spoke about was the fear of running into a Tiger.

The allies already didn't like 88mm flak guns, so when the German's turned and built a tank to feature this gun, it became even more unfavored. Because now you have a flak 88 that has a degree of protection and is now more mobile.

The documentaries I am particularly referring to were the old "BattleStations" documentaries (Yea I know some of you are probably laughing) But that show interviewed quite a handful of veterans from these conflicts (And yes, they did talk about the fear of running into a Tiger tank on the battlefield) Mostly due to the Tigers ability to fire and score accurate hits on allied tanks at roughly 1000 yards..

Where as some allied Shermans had to get closer then 200 yards to do some damage to the tank (I mean damage past just simply disabling it)


So yes, the fear was VERY real.. (I mean Monty banned field reports that recorded the performance of the Tiger tank in combat. Which was of course propaganda, but even propaganda can shed some degree of truth. In this case mostly "exaugurated" truths)

[SF]

Unreliable: ✔️
Unreliable for the time: ✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️
Hard to repair: ✔️

[dhx]

"but regardless any tank would've been bad for an infantry man"
the l3 in question

[Matured_Potato]

If war thunder existed before ww2: SHOOT THE SIDE!

[Mr.Tingus]

Arguably, the gun is scarier than the tank itself

[kasjcheiimmortal]

So it wasnt as unreliable as people say. It was quite comfortable and easy to drive. But people really overstate its effectiveness and the shock it generated on the battlefield.

[f-deltadart]

Y’all say the tiger wasn’t unreliable
It might not have been
But that doesn’t matter when logistics still meant if it broke at all, it broke