Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf.B: Construction and Development

This book discusses the design and manufacturing technologies of the Tiger II or Tiger B. The level of detail is simply astonishing. If you ever wanted to know how the Tiger II was manufactured then this is the book for you. There are numerous photos of design and manufacturing details, including reproductions of the German design drawings. The book is also highly technical. For example, you need to know what a rebated armor joint is and what a road wheel with internal amortization is (I had to research that one).Chapter 1 describes the design antecedents of the Tiger II: the VK 45.01 and VK 45.02 concept designs by Porsche and Henschel, the Porsche Types 180 and 205, the Henschel VK 45.03, and finally the backdated Henschel VK 45.02 (H).Chapter 2 then describe the manufacturing processes for the Henschel Tiger II. The level of detail is incredible: the labor hours for cutting the hull plates, the flame heat treatment temperatures of the armor plates, the flatness tolerances, the welding procedures, the hull plates’ assembly order, the manipulating machines for moving the hulls and turrets, the manufacturer of the spindle borers for boring the torsion bar openings in the hull sides. Pages 42 – 45 list the component manufacturers and sub-contractors.Per page 45, the Henschel assembly building in Kassel employed 8 000 workers in two 12-hour shifts. Another 1 200 workers were employed in the Wegmann turret assembly building. These hours do not include the effort required by Krupp, DHHV, and Skoda to manufacture the rough turret plates and other components or the effort required by DHHV to manufacture the 88 mm L/71 guns. Per the production table in page 45, the maximum number of Tiger IIs produced was 90 in August 1944. Assuming a 27 day working month (typical for the German war economy in 1944, I believe) and 12 hours per worker per day, this calculates to approximately 33 000 labor hours per tank at just those two plants. If we double those hours to account for sub-contractors, then that means around 66 000 labor hours per tank, minimum. If we triple those basic hours, then that means approximately 100 000 labor hours per tank! No wonder Germany lost the war – they were trying to build 68-ton tanks as if they were Swiss watches.Finally, Chapter 5 “Field Trials” (pages 175 – 232) includes English translations of the Soviet tests of a captured Tiger II. It also includes the results of comparative trial tests on Soviet IS-2 and IS-3 tanks. The Soviets were not impressed with the Tiger II. The Soviets rated the Tiger II as “unreliable.” The running gear, final drives, drive sprockets, and track pins were the weakest parts. Duh! Those are key components of a tank so that it can move! They also criticized the quality of the weld seams between the armor plate joints. Per page 219: “It is clear therefore that the fragility of the German armor , together with the low quality welding of the armor plate joints … didn’t allow the tank to fully benefit from the thickness of its armor and its sloping plate design against anti-tank shells.”This book may be a bit much for some potential readers. There are numerous other books on various aspects of the Tiger tank and other German heavy tank or self-propelled gun projects that may be more appealing. Several that I think are especially good are:• “German Heavy Fighting Vehicles” by Estes (2018). This is an excellent good book on the Tiger tank (both Tiger I and Tiger II) and its derivatives. It primarily discusses design development, production, and technical details with some general discussion on combat deployment. I thought that a particularly interesting part were the three Appendices: “History of German Tank Development” by Robert Schilling written in June of 1945; “Interrogation of Dr. Stiele von Heydekampf, President of the Panzer Commission” also June of 1945; the British “Interrogation of Dr. Ernst Kniepkamp [Tank Engines]”; and the British report “Chobham Preliminary Report: Tiger B Turret Armor [for Porsche Tiger]” of September, 1944.• "Kingtiger Heavy Tank 1942 - 1945" by Jentz and Doyle (1993). Pages 3 - 8 describe in detail the development and selection of the 88 mm L/71 gun for the King Tiger. Pages 34 - 36 discuss the armor penetrations by the various guns of the Tiger's opponents such as the T-34, Sherman, Cromwell, and Churchill tanks versus the corresponding penetrations by the Tiger II 88 mm L/71.• “Images of War Tiger I and Tiger II” by Anthony Tucker-Jones (2012). Its 176 pages discuss design development and production, technical details, and deployment. It discusses the prototypes and design predecessors to the eventual Henschel Tiger I. It also discusses the Jagdtiger, Sturmtiger, and Ferdinand / Elefant. There are extensive accounts of combat deployments in North Africa/Tunisia, Russia, Sicily, and of course, in Normandy. Naturally, there is a detailed story of the renowned Villers Bocage battle (pages 103 - 120).• “Sledgehammers – Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II” by Wilbeck (2004);• “Tiger” by Anderson (2013);• “Tiger Tanks at War” by Michael Green and James Brown (2008);• “Tiger! – The Tiger Tank: A British View” by Fletcher (1986). This book describes British intelligence reports and a technical evaluation of a Tiger I captured in North Africa in early 1943. It’s interesting to read the British criticisms of the Tiger tank. The British never produced anything even equivalent to the Panzer IV, let alone a heavy Tiger, yet they find things to fault in the Tiger.• “Kampfpanzer Maus -- The Porsche Type 205 Super-heavy Tank” by Frohlich (2017). The book covers all the aspects of the design: armor, armament, engine and transmission system, suspension system, optics, electrical. It discusses the immense engineering and manufacturing efforts required to design and construct these immense vehicles, for which their tactical value was almost zero. The discussion on design includes the various armor and armament alternatives that were considered. There is also much discussion on the field testing and driving performance testing undertaken at Kummersdorf and Boblingen. The vehicles were very easy to drive and were not quite the unmanoeverable giants most stories on these tanks lead readers to believe. There greatest problems were their incredible expense and the high ground pressure exerted, hence their low tactical value. One of the more fascinating parts of the book is the English translation of the Soviet report on the Maus 2 prepared after its inspection at Kubinka (outside Moscow) in 1946. There are also several color photos taken of the Maus 2 at the former Soviet (now Russian) tank museum at Kubinka.

... the Jentz books, there is apparently much useful material in Russian archives. More information than most will care about, but at a reasonable price it wont break the bank either. Glad to have it.

Excelente libro. Muchas gracias

Excellent book with many new pictures. A wealth of information on Tiger II.

Expecting at least a few new photos, but every picture has appeared in earlier publications. I can only recommend this to someone just beginning to assemble their photo reference library.