Restored Tiger, Built on a T34 chassis. Belting 2001

  The designs for the PzKfw VI dates back to before the war in 1937 and was intended to be a heavy tank that would be able to penetrate the heavily defended French Maginot line but the design was scraped when the existing tanks proved to be ideally suited for Europe. But as the war went on demand for a effective heave tank with a huge amount of fire power grew. It was decided in late 1941 to design a heavy tank that could be armed with a 88mm flak cannon. The 88mm Cannon was originally designed for a Anti aircraft role but in Russia it was discovered to be very effective against enemy tanks.

Henschel were awarded the contract to build the PzKfw VI. The PzKfw VI saw only three years of combat. It was first deployed during the siege of Leningrad in Russia in August 1942 and did not fair well against the Russian Artillery incurring large losses. They next saw combat in Africa and soon became the Wonder weapon the were intended to be, but with the tide turning against the Germans in Africa they could not prevent the loss of Africa. The PzKfw VI next saw heavy combat in Italy in June 1944 and were used extensively in the battle of Monte Cassino and in repelling the Anzio Landings. But the bulk of the PzKfw were deployed on the Eastern Front.

The PzKfw VI was crewed by five men and weighed 55000kg. It was powered by a Maybach 12 Cylinder engine that provided a top speed of 24-28 mph and a range of 121 Miles. Armament consisted of One 88mm cannon with 92 rounds that could penetrate 110mm of armour at 2000 meters and 2 7.92mm MG34 Machine guns. The tiger was  armoured with 100mm thick hull and turret armour, 60-80mm on the hull and sides and 25mm of armour on the belly.