Post by bazooka on Dec 9, 2019 21:59:19 GMT
About the Tiger tank
The first Tigers had commander’s hatches that were welded on and opened straight up. Otto Carius says that commanders had to have a lot of intestinal fortitude to sit up there in combat. The enemy could clearly see the tank wasn’t buttoned up and could direct machine gun fire at the commander. (See the pictures on one of the other posts here.) Later models had a commander’s hatch that popped up and rotated horizontally so that the enemy couldn’t tell whether it was buttoned up or not.
Early Tiger commanders were issued with explosive charges so that if they had to bail out, they could destroy the main gun. Unfortunately, if a shell penetrated the turret and exploded those charges, the result would be very detrimental to any personnel inside(!) Apparently commanders dispensed with the explosive charges and used the storage area for schnapps.
Early Tiger commanders were issued with explosive charges so that if they had to bail out, they could destroy the main gun. Unfortunately, if a shell penetrated the turret and exploded those charges, the result would be very detrimental to any personnel inside(!) Apparently commanders dispensed with the explosive charges and used the storage area for schnapps.
Tigers were very dependent on their batteries not only for starting, but also radios, lights and the electric trigger. If they were driving a lot and the alternators were charging the batteries, that was OK. But if the tank had been sitting and the motor wasn’t running (especially in winter), the tank might not start. Thus Tigers had to run their engines frequently to keep the batteries charged. The manual prescribed that if the batteries failed, to start the tank two crew members should go outside the tank and turn a crank, much like some airplane engines of the time. Of course, in combat that was not a very attractive means of getting the engine started. As such, Tigers developed a means of jump starting their tanks. One Tiger would turn its cannon to the rear and approach the back of the one with the battery problem and push it forward, jump starting the engine. I would usually start within a few meters. Not ideal, but safer than the crank method.
Everyone has seen pictures of Tigers with grenade and smoke dischargers. They are little tubes on the turret. While they look cool, Carius says they never used the smoke dischargers because they became instantly blinded by the smoke. They were probably removed from later models for that reason.
The standard tracks were too wide to fit on trains when being transported. If left on, they would stick over the sides of the flatbed rail cars and potentially hit cars on other tracks or the sides of narrow tunnels. The Tigers had special narrow tracks just for rail transport.
The standard tracks were too wide to fit on trains when being transported. If left on, they would stick over the sides of the flatbed rail cars and potentially hit cars on other tracks or the sides of narrow tunnels. The Tigers had special narrow tracks just for rail transport.
Speaking of rail transport, the rule was that four flatbed cars carrying lighter equipment had to be between each flatbed car carrying a Tiger. This was to ensure that bridges didn’t collapse under the weight of the Tigers.
