GERMAN KING TIGER (KÖNIGSTIGER) (HENSCHEL TURRET) with 105mm kWh L/65

Description

The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182. It is also known under the informal name "Königstiger" (the German name for the Bengal tiger), often translated literally as Royal Tiger, or somewhat incorrectly as King Tiger by Allied soldiers, especially by American forces. The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latter’s thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank. The tank weighed almost 70 tonnes, and was protected by 100 to 185 mm (3.9 to 7.3 in) of armour to the front. The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army and the Waffen-SS. It was first used in combat with 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion during the Allied Invasion of Normandy on 11 July 1944; on the Eastern Front, the first unit to be outfitted with Tiger IIs was the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion, which by 1 September 1944 listed 25 Tiger IIs operational. Krupp proposed mounting a new main weapon, the 10.5 cm Kwh L/65. It was not supportive of this as the Heer had not accepted the cannon itself. Other suggested improvements included stabilised sights, a stabilised main gun, an automatic ammunition feed, a Zeiss stereoscopic range finder, heated crew compartment, stowage for an additional 12 rounds, and an overpressure & air filtration system to protect against poison gas. However, these also never got beyond the proposal stage or did not enter production before the war ended. (Scale : 1/72e)