Abandoned Königstiger of s.SS.Pz.Abt.101

Image size: 2680 x 1429 pixel. 988 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Beauvais, Oise, France
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf B Tiger II Fahrgestellnummer (Hull Number) 280093, turmnummer (turret number) 104, of Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung (Heavy SS Tank Battalion) 101, after the crew abandoned the vehicle. Note that the hull mounted MG34 machine gun has been removed. After the destruction of the German military units in the Falaise Pocket, the surviving soldiers and their vehicles and horses made a dash for the Seine River in late August 1944. Several bridges were intact after repeated bombings, and the Allied divisions were severely depleted after two months of combat operations and unable to bring sufficient forces to prevent their escape. SS Abteilung 101 received fourteen Tiger IIs in late July and early August. As the Germans retreated into Germany, they engaged Allied forces in a defensive role, in which they excelled. On August 23, SS Abteilung 101 supported the 18th Luftwaffe (Air Force) Field Division in an attack on Guitracourt. Tiger II 104's commander, SS-Oberscharfuhrer Sepp Franzl (Squad Leader, or Warrant Officer) was the 1.Kompanie Headquarters Squad Leader. On August 29, Franzl's tank was hit by shellfire in the suspension near Magny-en-Vexin. Unaware of the damage, the crew engaged a British anti-tank gun in a barn at Aux Marais. When the Tiger II sharply turned to move away, the suspension failed, immobilizing the tank. Franzl and his crew bailed out. French Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (Forces of the Interior), irregular bands of resistance fighters, observed the crew and fired when they bailed out. Sources vary on whether two crewmen were killed or made it back to German lines. A Sherman tank commanded by a Sergeant Roberts of A Squadron, 23rd Hussars, 11th Armoured Division, came across the tank and fired on it. German tanks would sometimes "play dead" to ambush Allied armor, so any German tank was fired upon. Roberts reported the engagement and was given credit for the kill. The abandoned tank was left in the field until December 1944. Frozen in place, gasoline fires were required to move it. The damaged suspension also proved problematic for the recovery crew. The tank was taken to the Bovington Proving Grounds in January 1945. Until 2006 the tank was on private display at the Royal Defense Academy in Shrivingham, Oxfordshire. Then it was returned to the Bovington Tank Museum for renovation and possible return to running condition.

Source :
https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/07/tmn-on-tour-bovington-tank-museum-tiger.html
https://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0150

Abandoned Königstiger of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506

Image size: 2126 x 1663 pixel. 1.2 MB
Date: Thursday, 18 January 1945
Place: Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, Luxembourg
Photographer: Unknown

An Abandoned Panzerkampfwagen VI ausf B (SdKfz 182) Tiger II or Königstiger (Bengal Tiger) of Schwere Panzer Abteilung (Heavy Tank Battalion) 506, Sixth Panzer Army, is inspected by American soldiers of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division. Note the Tiger II's 88mm (3.46 inch) locked in the recoil position, destroyed by the retreating crew. The 35th Infantry Division was rushed into the area to stop the German offensive around December 20, 1944. On December 28, the Division had fought their way to Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, near Bastogne, attempting to relieve the 101st Airborne Division and elements of the 10th Armored Division. By December 31 the 137th Infantry had lost two companies captured by the 1st SS Panzer Division, attempting to retake the village after Bastogne's relief. The 137th had lost 200 men killed or captured. On January 10, the 137th retook Villers. The 506th was the only Heer (Regular Army) unit equipped with the Tiger II, as opposed to the Waffen SS Abteilungs in operation in Belgium. The unit had only operated Tiger tanks, and for the Ardennes Offensive, a fourth company, Schwere Panzer Abteilung Hummel, was attached operating Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf E Tiger Is. On January 17, 1944, as the Sixth Panzer Army retreated from American breakthroughs around Bastogne, the 506th was forced to abandon two Tiger IIs and one Tiger I. While individually superior to any Allied tank, the Tiger II consumed considerable resources and was yet another tank type that a strained German quartermaster corps had to supply with fuel, ammunition, and spare parts. The Tiger II had a range of only 90 miles (145 kilometers). In its rush to combat it suffered from mechanical reliability defects; most Americans saw abandoned, not destroyed, Tiger IIs. This was a blessing for the Americans, whose M4 Sherman medium tanks and M10 Wolverine tank destroyers, both armed with 3-inch guns, could not penetrate the 180mm (7 inch) thick frontal armor. Only the M36 Jackson, with a high velocity 90mm gun, could stop a Tiger II, and only at a range within that of the German tank. All of the American tanks and tank destroyers had armor that was easily defeated by the Tiger II's 88mm KwK 43 L/71 main gun. The Americans counted on their superiority in artillery and air power to destroy Tigers.


Source :
https://ardennes-breakthrough-association.com/tiger-ii-03-abteilung-506/
https://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0149

Abandoned "Porscheturm" Königstiger of s.Pz.Abt.503 in Normandy

Image size: 1600 x 964 pixel. 462 KB
Date: Wednesday, 30 August 1944
Place: Amiens, Normandy, France
Photographer: unknown

Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf B (Sdkfz 182) with turret designed by Krupp for the Tiger II designed by Professor Doctor Ferdinand Porsche (September 3, 1875 – January 30, 1951). This Tiger II of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503 was abandoned by Leutnant Rambow's crew during the Normandy Campaign. Rambow was leading two Tigers through Beauvais when one threw a track on the Rue Antoine Caron. The crew of the other Tiger started repairs when the British 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards of the 8th Armoured Brigade entered the town and fired on the disabled Tiger. The crew fled and made it back to German lines. Leutnant Rambow fought the British to Amiens, where he ran out of fuel and ammunition. His crew set fire to the vehicle, causing the suspension to settle. Note missing outer road wheels.

In 1941, Doctor Porsche was contracted, along with Henschel und Sohn, to design the Tiger II tank. Porsche's design used more copper wiring, which led to the adoption of the Henschel design as the production Tiger II on November 11, 1942. Porsche was so sure that his design would be accepted he had ordered Krupp to begin production of their turret for his design; fifty were completed when the contract was canceled. Henschel began designing the new Tiger II, but to move the project along, the Porsche turrets were fitted to the new Henschel design. These tanks were issued first to Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503. Twelve Porscheturm (Porsche Turret) Tiger IIs and two Henshelturm (Henschel Turret) Tiger IIs were issued between May 1944 and June 1944, when Panzer Abteilung 503 left for Normandy. The Porscheturm Tiger IIs had a stronger turret because of the curved surface deflecting anti-tank rounds, but a shot trap caused rounds that hit under the curved gun mantlet were deflected into the driver's compartment, killing the driver and the radio operator. However, most Tiger IIs were not lost to Allied tanks; artillery and fighter-bombers were the chief combat losses of Tiger IIs. More than that, the Tiger II suffered from poor road performance and its heavy weight caused French and Belgian bridges to collapse. More Tiger IIs were lost to mechanical breakdown than in combat. Of the twenty-six Tiger IIs Panzer Abteilung 503 was issued during the Normandy Campaign, only two survived.

Source :
https://maquettes-missiles.blogspot.com/2018/04/le-char-super-lourd-maus.html
https://www.modellismopiu.it/modules/newbb_plus/print.php?forum=8&topic_id=24606
https://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0152

Königstiger Occupying a Street Intersection in Budapest

Image size: 1600 x 1008 pixel. 396 KB
Date: Sunday, 15 October 1944
Place: Szent György tér, Budapest, Hungary
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Faupel (PK Eins.Kp. Lw.z.b.V.)

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II Königstiger (King Tiger) Sd.Kfz.182 Ausf.B #234 with Henschel turret of SS-Unterscharführer Herbert Stief from 2.Kompanie/schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 occupying a street intersection in Budapest. The photo is taken from the Szent György tér (Saint George Square). This square which stretches out in front of the main entrance to the castle is overlooked by two buildings on the right-hand side: the Neo-Gothic Sándor palace and former residence of the Prime Minister and the Castle theatre (Várszínház) with a Rococo façade, which was a former convent of the Carmelite order, which was dissolved in 1782 under the orders of Joseph II and altered by Farkas Kempelen in 1787. In the center of the picture is Hungarian anti-aircraft tank 40M Nimród, while at right we can see Steyr 1500 infantry carrier car. The SS guards came from 22. SS-Freiwilligen-Kavallerie-Division Maria Theresa with their distinctive riding boots. 2.Kompanie/Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 were the only Tiger II unit to go to Budapest, six Königstiger with turmnummer (turret number) 200, 211, 213, 231, 233, and 234.

Source:

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-680-8282A-20A 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200115246545313&set=o.303273499761263&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf , courtesy of Alvaro Casanova Mora