Why didn't the Tiger have Angled/Sloped Armour?

Music: Company of Heroes OST - Panzer Elite 5

Sources:

[traingod]

Sloped surfaces have been used to deflect things since at least the 1600s

[-zero-]

Likely the fact that sloped armor decreases internal size (see T-34 diagrams for an example), and if you want a somewhat spacious interior your tank has to be quite large (While a lot of the Sherman’s height came from the radial engine it also was needed for crews to operate comfortably so it is a pretty good example)

[Thedumbandonly]

Looks at panzer 1 (Sees sloped armor)
Looks at a7v (Sees sloped armor)

[Iamwtfboi]

I hate it when people are like "the germans had no idea about sloped armor until the T-34!!!!"

When their literal first ever tank had sloped armor. The A7V.

[pieeater]

0:20 100% they understood the principles of sloped armour. Everyone did at that point

[Fluffiges]

According to the deutsches Panzermuseum: Germany opted for a non or slightly angeled frontal plate because, there was a fear of sloped plates detaching after beeing hit because they couldn't be welded to the hull on as many points (btw a problem the T-34 had but it gets usually blamed on overall bad welding quality). And german manifacturers were more experienced in building it that way.

[erichvombunkers]

I hate it so much when people thinks about slope armor likes it’s a fucking mysterious wisdom that only invented in 1940

They all knew about since ancient times!! FFS

[matteofara]

1. A small clarification: initially, the gun they were supposed to mount was the 75mm KwK 42 gun (later mounted on the Panther). However, the ammunition redesign was not yet complete, so they opted for the 88mm.

2. Correct: sloped armor means less space inside the tank, so you need a bigger chassy.
The Germans were well aware of the advantages of sloped armor; proof of this is the battleship Birmarck (a project dating back to 1935) which features sloped armor in the armor design.
However, initially they preferred to be more comfortable inside the tanks, rather than having more protection. Then, with the improvement of anti-tank weapons, the Germans had to think again about its usefulness.

[pusheenthecat]

Dont forget the tiger tank was intended to be a long range sniper, so going the extra mile to increase armor effectiveness wasnt priority

[Cheezymuffin.]

It's tank design from the interwar period. The germans used direct vision slits instead of periscopes. This means that the tank needs a flat surface or nearly flat surface for the slit to be installed. Especially if the armor plate is of any relevant thickness. It's the same reason why tanks like the t-60 light tank have sloped armor, except where the driver sits. Or the IS-1 as well.
As soon as the germans switch to sloped armor, their drivers had to loook out of periscopes.
There is also the notion that they where afraid that sloped armor plates would not hold when hit, as the welds would he longer and any stress of a hit would create a shear stress in the weld.
Just take a look at any tank with a flat plate where the driver sits, and you realise that they all use direct vision slits. The look at any tank with sloped armor, and you'll see periscopes.
Except the T-34 with it's wack ass drivers hatch.

[spacemiaou]

The Germans, just like the rest of the world, knew about sloped armor, they just didn't see its pros outweighing its cons in the early stages of the invasion of the USSR. Plus the Tiger's armor was thick enough that it could survive most anti-tank rounds of its time without sloping. The encounter with the T-34 just convinced them sloped armor could be a design feature worth investing into, as among other things, with the T-34 cutting so many corners to be cheaply mass-produced, sloped armor elevated it from being a shitty tank to just good enough to push back german armor.

[cowpuncher]

From memory there was an idea of placing an additional angled plate to the front of the tiger but it added too much weight. The plate, in addition to giving extra protection, was to protect the front of the tracks.

[thomashogan]

The German A7V from WWI had sloped armor, the front was a V shape. Making a rectangular compartment allowed more stuff to fit in the tank, like a bigger gun and more ammunition. Sloped armor meant a cramped fighting compartment. The Germans were aware of sloped armor, there was a reason helmets aren't square.

[Finlandiaperkele]

It did, but the armor wasn't heavily sloped because there's a tradeoff of having less internal space and back when it was being conceptualized the armor was considered sufficient for the intended task.

[BXC]

I also think one of the main reasons is because the German's wanted their crews to be comfortable and efficient, and sloped armor makes the space inside the tank a lot smaller, which makes harder to move around and such (think of the T-34, it was cramped and uncomfortable)

[OCDCOMMENTS]

The tiger does have sloped armour, it’s only like 10 degrees but it’s still sloped. So does its front plate and its lower plate. The Tiger had a 88mm gun that could nock out allied armour at a range that no allied tank could at that point in the war. When you angle armour you reduce the space inside and as a result you can’t fit as much ammo and the crew are more cramped and that reduces crew capability. The tiger didn’t need a more aggressive slope in its armour.

[Anlushac]

The Germans were aware of sloped armor but did not want to sacrifice interior space. The standard tactic was to face the left or right front corner at the enemy so incoming fire didnt hit a flat surface.

German tank officers identified a need for a more heavily armored vehicle to punch through enemy defences. This was the Durchbruchswagen or literally breal through vehicle. There was the D.W.1, D.W.2, VK 30.0H, VK36.01H, then the VK45.01H which was developed into the Tiger I.

[funny_joke_goes_here]

‘Before the encounter of the T-34’

German, French, British, American, Polish and Russian tanks before the fucking T-34 which ALSO had sloped armour:

The T-34 wasn’t some huge step-up, it could rival the Pz III on a good day.

[corvuscornix]

At the time they were already producing tigers, they were experimenting with sloped Armor seen on VK 30.01 and VK 30.02

[MNMI]

The flat armor was used because they wanted to give the crew a better, bigger and more comfortable space, this increased crew efficiency and gave the crew a bigger feeling of safety, something that did not happen with the T34 crews