Achtung Tiger! How The Allies Defeated Germany's Heavy Tank - in Italy and Beyond

Achtung Tiger! How The Allies Defeated Germany's Heavy Tank - in Italy and Beyond
With Peter Samsonov
Part of our Italy 1944 - Monte Cassino and Beyond series
• Monte Cassino and Beyond
Using Italy as a case study, in today's show we look at the mysteries surrounding the Tiger tank’s famed survivability. From analysing the Tiger’s formidable armor protection and distinctive characteristics, over to describing its first combat operations against Allied forces and ultimately the test trials assessing the tank's capabilities. This will be an unparalleled exploration of the Tiger, drawing on a wealth of primary sources.
Peter Samsonov is a Russian-Canadian military history author specializing in World War II-era armoured vehicles of the Soviet Union, United States and British Commonwealth. In addition to writing books and articles, he brings Russian primary documents to English-speaking audiences through the Tank Archives blog. www.tankarchives.ca/p/christo...
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[@Chiller11]

I’m usually not as interested in tech details except maybe in small arms but the most telling statistic of the Tiger in my opinion is that 1300 and change Tiger l’s and 500 Tiger II’s were produced over the entirety of the war. In that time period nearly 50,000 Shermans and 57,000 T34’s were produced. Even if the Tigers were somewhat more capable vehicles the differences in production numbers is staggering.

[@joeblow9657]

I wonder if the use of the Tiger tank as a fire brigade tank increased it's mythology because it was a tough nut to crack (when working) but often Tigers weren't necessarily in the same sector long enough for the opposing units to really develop the skill level to feel comfortable on how to deal with a Tiger effectively and efficiently. That and the Tiger being on the defensive probably gave it the advantage of being able to see its target first which a lot of the time is a deciding factor in tank combat.

[@markienatnots9479]

A good one tonight, very interesting, Peter knows his stuff. I loved all the stuff on his shelves too. Cheers woody and team and Peter.

[@darthcalanil5333]

Peter is becoming a favourite of mine in the tanky community

[@KrisV385]

God show Paul and Peter! Like the nitty gritty detail on this issue.

[@Dontwlookatthis]

One of the most interesting books I have concerning the Tiger E is Repairing the Tigers. I got interested because here was this massive vehicle in the Soviet Union that is bogged down on primitive dirt roads, so how did they do it? It not only includes actual extractions and repairs in Hide repair shops, what they could repair and what had to be shipped back to Germany, but also the training of how to get Tigers unstuck by its own crew.

[@MaxHoffman-uz2df]

For me, the most interesting themes in World War II are the Western Desert, Tunisia, Italy and a little bit of Normandy. And in 70% of books on the topics of these campaigns, I constantly see 2 clichés: “The 2-pdr gun was terrible garbage” and “At that moment (!!!) a Tiger appeared on the battlefield, which was superior to any Allied tank” (at this moment everyone will be scared ). I don't want to accuse anyone of plagiarism, but...)

[@davidlavigne207]

Germany always seemed to tend to over-engineer their equipment. One only need to look at modern German cars such as the BMW, Volkswagen, etc. I work in the car parts industry and can verify that this is a fact. The Tiger was such an example, as were the Panther and the various tank killer variants as well. Too complex for what they were worth. Should have concentrated on the Mark IV and improved on it instead. Interesting talk.

[@jim99west46]

Tigers main advantage was not its armor but the range of its main gun and it had the best optical sighting system and rangefinder of then war that gave it a superior stand off capability.

[@1089maul]

Woody/Peter, I never thought that presentation with photographs or maps could be so interesting. Thanks, Bob

[@adambrooker5649]

Very interesting video.. but the biggest issue the allies had was having the right weapon in the right place to kill the Tiger, in the earlier years of the war.. this was very tricky... late war not so much

[@mdog111]

What a fascinating talk! Thank you Peter and thank you very much Paul for hosting this deep dive.

[@StephenBaird-cp1fc]

Hi from New Zealand, my dad said they used to fire smoke at the tigers it made then retreat as the smoke overwhelmed their extractor fans in the turret

[@jim99west46]

The post war German tank mythos that impacted nato nations might be largely attributed to the son of Hans Guderians son, Heinz who was the Inspector General of Panzer troops in the German Bundeswehr in Nato. His conferences had to be quite interesting to say the least.

[@linnharamis1496]

Another excellent presentation- thank you!👍

[@KevinJones-yh2jb]

I really enjoyed Peters presentation extremely informative, thank you Peter and Woody. I always think the Germans over engineered their equipment. Great to be back after a vacation, loads of shows to catch up. Bring Peter back if you can

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Was it a Tiger or Just over excited Tank rookies spotting a Panzer IV ?

[@Mulvers]

Great stuff! I do enjoy tank tech talk, and Peter is one of the best. Added his latest book to the others on my shelf

[@williamashbless7904]

I have a theory that Belton Cooper had little to do with the final product that was ‘Deathtraps’. His Editor was a maker of Board Game rule books named Michael Bennighof.