Tests of the Royal Tiger in Kubinka
The heavy tank Pz Kpfw Tiger Ausf B (according to the unified designation system adopted by the Germans, it was also called Sd Kfz 182 - "special combat vehicle type 182") was developed at the Henschel company under the leadership of its chief designer Erwin Anders and was mass-produced from January 1944 to May 1945 The mass of the tank was 69.4 tons, the specific power was 10.08 hp / t. The hull and turret were made of rolled homogeneous armor of medium and low hardness. A total of 487 cars were produced.
The first Tiger-B tanks, captured by our troops, were delivered to Kubinka to the GBTU scientific testing ground for a comprehensive study. These were cars with numbers 102 and 502. Even when the tanks moved on their own to the loading station, numerous defects were discovered: at 86 km, the left sloth was out of order due to the destruction of bearings and the left drive wheel due to the shear off of all the fastening bolts. The heat of up to 30 degrees Celsius these days turned out to be excessive for the cooling system, which led to overheating of the right engine block and to constant overheating of the gearbox.
They did not have time to repair the tank, as the right-hand side gear completely collapsed, which was replaced with one removed from another tank, but it also failed due to the destruction of the roller bearing of the drive shaft. In addition, every now and then it was necessary to change tracks, prone to destruction, especially when cornering. The design of the track tension mechanism was not fully worked out, which is why every 10-15 km of the march it was necessary to adjust their tension.
In the end, both trophies were delivered to NIIBT-proving grounds, where vehicle # 102 was subjected to further sea trials. The tests were carried out with great difficulties associated with the extremely low reliability of the elements of the chassis, power plant and transmission. It was found that 860 liters of gasoline is enough for only 90 km of driving on a country road, although the instructions for the car indicated that this gas should be enough for 120 km. Fuel consumption per 100 km was 970 liters, instead of 700 liters according to the same (captured) instructions. The average speed on the highway was 25-30 km / h, and on a country road - 13.4-15 km / h. The maximum speed indicated in the technical documentation of the tank of 41.5 km / h was never achieved during sea trials.
For an objective assessment of the armor resistance of the tank, it was decided to subject the hull and turret of the captured vehicle with tower number 102 to shell fire, most of the components and assemblies from which were dismantled for further research. The armament of the tank was sent to ANIOP for research.
The shelling tests were carried out in the fall of 1944 in Kubinka, and during them the following results were obtained:
1. The quality of the armor of the Tigr-B tank compared to the quality of the armor of the Tigr-N, Panther and Ferdinand SU of the first releases has sharply deteriorated. In the armor of the Tigr-B tank from the first single hits cracks and spalls are formed in the armor from a group of projectile hits (3-4 shells) spalls and breaks of large size.
2. All units of the hull and turret of the tank are characterized by the weakness of the welds. Despite careful execution, the seams during shelling behave much worse than they did in similar designs of the Tigr-N, Panther and Ferdinand SU tanks.
3. In the armor of the frontal plates of a tank with a thickness of 100 to 190 mm, when 3-4 armor-piercing or high-explosive fragmentation shells of 152, 122 and 100 mm caliber artillery systems hit them, from a distance of 500-1000 m, cracks, spalling and destruction of welds are formed, entailing disruption of the transmission and the failure of the tank as irrecoverable losses.
4. Armor-piercing shells of BS-3 (100 mm) and A-19 (122 mm) cannons produce through penetration when hitting the edges or joints of the front plates of the Tiger-B tank hull at distances of 500-600 m.
5. Armor-piercing shells of the BS-3 (100 mm) and A-19 (122 mm) cannons produce through penetration in the front plate of the turret of the Tiger-B tank at distances of 1000-1500m.
6. Armor-piercing 85-mm shells of the D-5 and S-53 cannons, the frontal plates of the tank's hull do not penetrate and do not cause any structural damage from a distance of 300 m.
7. The side armor plates of the tank are distinguished by a sharp unequal strength in comparison with the frontal plates and are the most vulnerable part of the armored hull and turret of the tank.
8. The side plates of the hull and turret of the tank are pierced by armor-piercing shells of an 85-mm domestic and 76-mm American cannon from a distance of 800-2000 m.
9. The side plates of the hull and turret of the tank are not penetrated by the armor-piercing shells of the 76-mm Russian cannon (ZIS-3 and F-34).
10. American 76-mm armor-piercing shells penetrate the side plates of the Tiger-B tank from a distance 1.5-2 times greater than domestic 85-mm armor-piercing shells."
Here, for fans of the "Royal Tiger" I would like to say that the 122-mm D-25 tank gun installed on the IS-2 tanks was a direct descendant of the A-19 howitzer cannon. These guns differed mainly in shutters and some technological features that did not affect ballistics. Consequently, the armor penetration of both guns was the same. In addition, the BS-3 100-mm field gun and the D-10 tank gun installed in the SU-100 SPG also had the same armor penetration.
In a laboratory study of the armor of the Tiger-B tank, carried out at TsNII-48, it was noted that "a gradual decrease in the amount of molybdenum (M) on German T-VI and TV tanks and a complete absence in T-U1B is noticeable. The reason for replacing one element (M) other (V - vanadium) must, obviously, be sought in the depletion of the available reserves and losses of the bases that supplied Germany with molybdenum. A characteristic of the Tiger-B armor is its low viscosity. armor is less alloyed, but much less viscous."
I would also like to make a comment here. More viscous armor gives fewer secondary fragments on penetration, in addition, such armor has a lower chance of cracking.
During the testing of weapons, the German KwK 43 tank gun showed good results in armor penetration and accuracy: almost the same as that of the Soviet 122-mm D-25 cannon of the IS-2 tank.
So, at a distance of 1000 m, the following deviations of shell hits from the aiming point were obtained: 260 mm vertically and 210 mm horizontally. For comparison, for the D-25 gun of the IS-2 tank, the average deviation of shells from the aiming point when firing from a standstill at a distance of 1000 m did not exceed 170 mm vertically, and 270 mm horizontally.
The armor penetration of the 88-mm KwK 43 cannon with a barrel length of 71 caliber, at an initial speed of an armor-piercing projectile of 1000 m / s at a distance of 1000 m, was 165 mm at an encounter angle of 30 degrees. In particular, the turret of its "brother" "Tiger-B" pierced right through from a range of 400 m. But in terms of the power of the high-explosive action, the 88-mm projectile was 1.39 times inferior to the 122-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile.
The final report of February 16, 1945 on the Tiger-B tests said:
The frontal armor of the hull and turret is of poor quality. In the presence of blind lesions (dents) in the armor, through cracks and large spalls are formed on the rear side. The side plates are characterized by sharp unevenness in comparison with the frontal ones and are the most vulnerable part of the armored hull and turret of a tank.
Disadvantages:
The chassis is complex and short-lived.
The turning mechanism is complicated and expensive.
The final drive is extremely unreliable.
The power reserve is 25% inferior to the IS.
Inconvenient placement of ammunition (except for the turret niche).
Excessive dimensions and heavy weight of the tank do not match the armor protection and firepower of the tank."
