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| This view from the starboard side clearly shows the Tigers wide battle tracks to full effect. The drivers view port and the bow mg34 mount are also visible. This shot shows very clearly the angular, boxy construction rather than the sleeker angular form found on later German tanks. This demonstrates a rather primitive approach to armor, the force of incoming fire being stopped by the brute force of very thick armor plate rather than the more scientific use of angled armor, which the Russians pioneered on the T34 and the Germans later put to good use on the Panther and King Tiger tanks. Never the less, Russian tankers found the Tiger very hard to kill as did the Americans and British in Tunisia and Normandy. The Tiger enjoyed the benefit of a first shot/kill at ranges beyond which the enemy could reply. Generally T34 drivers used superior speed to close the distance to the Tiger, swarming it with numbers and attempting to shoot the behemoth in the flanks and rear where its armor was not as formidable. However, this method was profligate of both tanks and life, as the 88mm gun could take a dreadful toll of armor in the skilled hands of Panzerwaffe crews. |