German heavy tank development began as early as 1937 with the
German Armaments Ministry issuing a specification for a new heavy
tank to Daimler-Benz, Henschel, MAN and Porsche. The project
however was ignored as the Panzer III and IV had so far proved
effective tanks and served well in combat. It was not until spring
1941 that the project was revived after Hitler was impressed with
heavy allied tanks, such as the French Char B1 and British Matilda
1 during the campaign in the west.
At a meeting with Hitler on 26th May, 1941, the planning for the
development of a new heavy tank begun. During that meeting, Hitler
ordered for the creation of heavy Panzers which were to have an
increased effectiveness to penetrate enemy tanks; possess heavier
armor than was previously achieved; and attain a maximum speed of
at least 40km/h. These key decisions led to the development of a
new heavy tank, the Tiger 1 tank and ultimately the King Tiger.
However, no clearly defined objectives or action plans were laid
out for the succession of the Tiger 1 tank until January 1943 when
the order was given for a new design which was to replace the
existing Tiger 1.
Although the designation implies that the Tiger II is a succession
of the Tiger 1, it is in effect a completely different tank. The
first design consideration for the new tank was the selection of a
more effective main gun. As with the Tiger tank, it was to mount an
88mm anti tank gun but the main gun on the Tiger II was far more
powerful than that on the Tiger 1. For the development of the
chassis, two firms were contracted to come up with the designs
namely Henschel and Sohn of Kassel and Porsche of Stuttgart. Both
firms Henschel and Porsche were responsible for only the chassis
and automotive designs. Turret design was awarded to another firm
Krupp of Essen.
The main gun specification of the King Tiger was to be a variation
of the 88mm anti-aircraft gun. Although the 88mm was initially
designed for an anti aircraft role, it proved to be an excellent
tank killer. Originally, the intention was to mount an 88mm Flak 41
into a turret for the Porsche VK4501 (P) chassis. The turret had
been originally designed by Krupp to hold the 56 caliber 88mm KwK
36 gun of the Tiger 1. After much experimentation and debate, it
was decided in early 1943 that it was not possible to mount the
88mm Flak 41. Krupp had then been contracted to design a new turret
that could mount their own version of a 71 caliber 88mm Kwk 43 gun
that could fit in both the chassis for Henschel and Porsche.
The 88mm gun with the designation KwK 36 and KwK 43 indicated the
model number year 36 and 43. The Tiger II with the model 43 has a
length of 71 calibers (71 times 88mm) as compared with 56 calibers
of the Tiger 1 with model 36. The length of the barrel itself is
over 20 feet long while the rounds weighed almost 20kgs. It is in
effect a much more powerful gun than the Tiger 1.
The King Tigers 88mm main gun has a muzzle velocity of 1000m per
second when firing armor piercing rounds. It was highly accurate
and able to penetrate 150mm of armor at distances exceeding 2200m.
Since the flight time of an armor piercing round at a range of
2200m is about 2.2 seconds or less, accuracy and correction of fire
against moving targets is more important than with older anti tank
guns. This made this heavy predator ideally suited to open terrain
where it could engage enemy tanks at long range before the
opponents weapons were even in range.
For the chassis, much has been learnt from the sloped armor design
of the Russian T-34. As with the Panther, the King Tiger was to
have sloped and interlocked front and side armor. The front armor
was 150mm thick and the side was 80mm thick. Both firms Henschel
and Porsche submitted their own designs.
Porsche designed the VK4502 (P) chassis which was built on the
previous VK4501 (P) design of the Tiger 1. The codename VK was for
Volkettenfahrzeuge or "fully tracked experimental vehicle", 45
means a 45 ton class and 01 represents the first model. The VK4502
(P) chassis had a similar outlook with the Tiger 1, sharing many
similarities such as the suspension and automotive parts. Two
designs were submitted, the first one having its turret mounted
centrally and the second had the turret mounted towards the rear
with the engine in front. However, it used copper for the electric
transmission which Germany was in shortage of. This design was
rejected and did not enter production.
Henschel designed the VK4503 (H) chassis which was very similar in
appearance to the Panther. The front armor was 150mm thick and
sloped at an angle of 50 degrees. The side was 80mm thick sloped at
25 degrees. As with all German tanks at that time, it had a ball
mounted MG34 fitted on the right front side of the hull. The
suspension consisted of torsion bars with nine sets of overlapping
steel rimmed wheels on each side. The tracks were 2 feet 8 1/2
inches wide, weighing 2.5 tons. Henschels design was accepted and
destined to enter mass production.
Krupp had designed the turrets to fit both the Porsche and Henschel
chassis. The initial design called P-2 Turm (or commonly known as
Porsche turret) mounted a single piece (monobloc) barrel of the
88mm and had a curved mantlet in the front. The front armor was 100
mm thick, the sides were 88mm thick sloped at 60 degrees and the
top armor was 40mm thick. It had space to carry 16 rounds of
ammunition in the turret. However, the curved mantlet in the front
acted as a shot trap by deflecting incoming shots downwards towards
the roof of the hull. A new design was ordered to fix this but as
an interim measure, it was decided to go ahead with the production
of 50 units with this turret. This was commonly referred to as
Porsche turret. The new design called Serien Turm, or commonly
known as Henschel or Production turret was to retain the many
features of the Porsche turret and was to be adopted for mass
production. Henschel turret had the front curved mantlet replaced
with one 180mm thick armor plate sloped at 81 degrees. The sides
were altered to slope at 69 degrees and it could carry an
additional 6 six rounds or 22 rounds of ammunition in the turret.
The full combat weight was 68,500kg when fitted with the Porsche
turret and 69,800kg with the Henschel turret.
lthough the two turrets were different in appearance, it had the
same layout. The large overhang at the rear acted as counter
balance for the heavy gun. This additional space was used to store
ammunition making the loaders job easier. It had three hatches,
the commanders hatch on the left, the loaders hatch on the right
and as escape hatch in the rear. The turret housed three of the
five crews. The commanders position was on the center left, the
gunner below and in front of him and the loader on the right.
