Massive explosion to lift the turret off like that

Knocked out Mk VI Tiger tank at Belpasso, Sicily, It was surmised that this shot could have “incapacitated the driver and front gunner”.Įvidence of a second 6pdr strike can also be seen on the right-hand turret lifting stud, but a third 6pr hit the open loader’s hatch, smashing it and deflecting the round to hit the hatch rim, again potentially injuring crew members inside.Īmerican Soldiers Passing by Destroyed Tiger Tanks in Tunisia It also split the weld on the top plate and, according to a contemporary report, shattered the radio. This jammed the turret and effectively prevented the Tiger from fighting. The most important strike, which is clearly visible today, saw a 6-pounder round scrape the underside of the Tiger’s 88mm gun, before hitting the gun mantlet and lodging itself in the turret ring. The unit’s war diary simply states “Crew members of Tiger 131 panic and abandon the tank after two harmless hits from a Churchill.” The evidence shows that the tank was subject to several direct hits which were far from harmless. The fate of the crew remains a mystery but the fact that the tank was abandoned seems to have been considered dishonorable. This makes the capture of Tiger 131 as significant as it was enigmatic. As a result little was known about this formidable new opponent, so the capture of a complete Tiger was a prize of enormous importance which would yield valuable. German crews had been thorough in carrying out their orders to completely destroy abandoned Tigers in order to prevent them falling into enemy hands. Only a handful can be seen in museums and even fewer survive outside as monuments.Īt this time there is only one Tiger left in running order The Tank Museum, Bovington in the United Kingdom has Tiger 131 which is the star of many tank-shows and has been used in the 2015 movie “Fury.”īritish tank crews first encountered Tigers in January 1943. Some of the tracks used were prone to break, and its high fuel consumption made it a strain on the already bad fuel situation for Nazi Germany.Īfter the war had ended, the remaining Tigers Tanks were scrapped and now very few remain. When it broke down, it was difficult and expensive to fix. The tanks were over-engineered, used expensive materials and were very labour-intensive to build. The Tiger Tanks were well ahead of any tanks the Allied forces had in their inventory, but they were not without flaws. Subsequently, they saw action on all fronts until the very last days of the war.Īfter their first encounters on the battlefield, Allied tank crews reported virtually every tank they encountered as a Tiger Tank, which was unlikely because the Germans only managed to build 1,347 before production stopped in August 1944.

The Tiger Tanks were first deployed in 1942 when they were used in North Africa against the American and British forces.

War thunder tiger 1