Valentin concentration camp were used to build the tank. Details and production locations were known to the Allies through the resistance group around the later executed priest Heinrich Maier. Important parts such as the tub, superstructure and drive wheels were supplied by the Eisenwerke Oberdonau. Eleven of them, serial numbers 305003 to 305012, were produced with the Porsche suspension (with eight road wheels per side) all the rest used the Henschel suspension with nine road wheels per side. One hundred and fifty Jagdtigers were initially ordered but only between 70 and 85 were produced at the Nibelungenwerk at St. Model of the nine-wheel, Henschel suspension variant The vehicle had frequent breakdowns ultimately more Jagdtigers were lost to mechanical problems or lack of fuel than to enemy action. The Jagdtiger suffered from a variety of mechanical and technical problems due to its immense weight and under-powered engine. The main gun mount had a limited traverse of only 10 degrees the entire vehicle had to be turned to aim outside that narrow field of fire. It had 250 mm (9.8 in) armor on the front of the casemate and 150 mm (5.9 in) on the glacis plate. The resulting vehicle featured very heavy armor. Unlike the Jagdpanther, the Jagdtiger's casemate design did not extend its glacis plate upwards in one piece to the full height of the casemate's "roof" – it used a separate forward plate to form its casemate structure atop the hull roof, and mount its anti-tank gun. The Jagdtiger used a boxy superstructure, with its sides integral with the hull sides, on top of a lengthened Tiger II chassis. The Jagdtiger was a logical extension of the creation of Jagdpanzer designs from tank designs, such as the Jagdpanzer IV or the Jagdpanther from the Panzer IV and Panther tanks respectively, with a fully armored and enclosed casemate-style fighting compartment. The two circular grilled apertures at left and right are for the radiator cooling fans. 186 designation as its inventory ordnance number.ĭesign Rear deck and engine bay of Jagdtiger 305004 in The Tank Museum, Bovington. It was originally designated as Jagdpanzer VI but was later renamed as the Jagdtiger and received the Sd.Kfz. Two prototypes were produced: One was a version fitted with the eight-roadwheel Porsche suspension system (serial number 305001) and another version was equipped with the Henschel nine- overlapping roadwheel suspension system (serial number 305002), as used on the main-production Tiger IIs constructed by Henschel. On 20 October 1943, another wooden mockup was constructed on a Tiger II heavy tank chassis, and presented to Hitler in East Prussia. The Panther chassis was considered unsuitable after a wooden mockup of the design was constructed. īy early 1943, a decision was made to install a 128 mm gun on either a Panther or Tiger I chassis as a heavy assault gun. Firing tests of the 128 mm gun showed it to have a high percentage of hits smaller caliber guns, such as the ubiquitous 88 mm and the slightly larger 105 mm, were also tested. In early 1942, a request was made by the Army General Staff to mount a 128 mm gun on a self-propelled armored chassis. German tank destroyers of World War II used fixed casemates instead of fully rotatable turrets to significantly reduce the cost, weight, and materials necessary for mounting large-caliber guns.Ī wooden mockup of the Jagdtiger presented to Adolf Hitler on 20 October 1943, seen here behind the Italian medium tank Carro Armato P 26/40 With the success of the StuG III, Marder I, Marder II, and Marder III Panzerjäger, the military leadership of Nazi Germany decided to use the chassis of existing armored fighting vehicles as the basis for self-propelled guns (serving as assault guns and tank destroyers). Due to an excessive weight and an underpowered drivetrain system, the Jagdtiger was plagued with mobility and mechanical problems. Although 150 were ordered, only around 80 were produced. It saw brief service in small numbers from late 1944 until the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front. it was armed with a 12.8 cm Pak 44 L/55 main gun which could out-range and defeat any AFV fielded by the Allied forces. The 72-tonne Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle (AFV) used operationally by any nation in WWII and the heaviest combat vehicle of any type to be produced during the conflict. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. It was built upon the slightly lengthened chassis of a Tiger II. B ) is a German casemate-type heavy tank destroyer ( Jagdpanzer) of World War II. The Jagdtiger ("Hunting Tiger" officially designated Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf.
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