501st Heavy Panzer Battalion The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion ( ) ( " Schwere " : heavy , " Panzer " : tank , " Abteilung " : battalion ) was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks . The battalion was the second unit to receive and use the Tiger I ( " Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf . E " ) heavy tank , changing to Tiger II s in mid - 1944 . It fought and surrendered in Tunisia , reformed in September 1943 , then fought on the Eastern front ; destroyed , it reformed with Tiger IIs in July 1944 , then mostly deactivated on 11 February 1945 . Over its history , the battalion lost 120 tanks and destroyed 450 enemy vehicles one of the lower ratios for a German heavy tank unit during World War II . Formation . The first heavy armor units in the German Army were the 501st and 502nd heavy tank companies , founded 16 February 1942 . They were combined into the 501st heavy tank battalion on 10 May 1942 in Erfurt , commanded by Major Hans - Georg Lueder . In late August , the first Tiger Is began to arrive , delivery priority having been given to the formation of the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion . The 501st was promised to Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel for use in North Africa , and was prepared for tropical operations . Initially , the battalion consisted of 20 Tiger I and 25 Panzer III Ausf N . German heavy tank battalion s were initially planned to be composed of two companies , each with four platoons of two Tigers and two Panzer IIIs . Each company commander would have an additional Tiger , and battalion command would have another two , for a total of 20 Tigers and 16 Panzer III . Operations . North Africa . Following the Allied landing in French North Africa the battalion began to be moved to Tunisia . All of the Tigers and 16 Panzer IIIs arrived in Tunisia between 23 November 1942 and 24 January 1943 . Initially only three Tiger Is of the 501st landed at Tunis on 23 November 1942 . These first elements of the battalion , along with four Panzer IIIs , were organised with other units into Kampfgruppe Lueder . They were involved in fighting just over a week later during the Axis counterattack on 1 December , destroying nine US and two British tanks on the first day while relieving German forces . On 2 December , KG Lueder , with one Tiger and five Panzer IIIs , attacked Tebourba , stopping an Allied advance and knocking out six tanks and four anti - tank guns for the loss of three Panzer IIIs . On 3 December , the single operational Tiger I was reinforced by three newly arrived Tigers , which , with infantry support , surrounded Tebourba . The next day , with Stuka support , Kampfgruppe Lueder took Tebourba but was then disbanded , all of its Tigers being out of action . Of 182 tanks present , the Allies lost 134 . Reinforcements of one Tiger and one Panzer III arrived on 9 December , which along with repairs of battle damage , gave an inventory of seven Tiger Is and five Panzer IIIs . The next day , they moved together with elements of 10th Panzer Division on the road to Massicault , attacking towards Majaz al Bab , gaining and destroying 14 M3 Stuart tanks . The next day , they covered the southern flank of the main attack and acted as a reserve element , east of Djedeida . By the end of December 1942 , strength was up to 11 out of 12 Tigers operational , plus 16 Panzer IIIs . On 15 January 1943 , eight Tigers and eight Panzer IIIs were assigned to work with 756th Mountain Infantry Regiment , KG Lueder was re - established with five Tigers and 10 Panzer IIIs plus the 1st battalion of the 69th Mechanised Infantry Regiment . On 18 January , as part of Operation Eilbote I , the mountain infantry broke through enemy positions which were protected by anti - tank mines , and captured a crossing south west of Lake Kebir ; one Tiger was scrapped due to a shortage of spare road wheels after hitting a mine . On 19 January , KG Lueder attacked along the road towards Robaa , then turned and took the crossing at Hir Moussa , capturing US personnel carriers which were turned over to their infantry . Skirmishes on 20 January resulted in the loss of a Tiger to a British 6 pdr anti - tank gun , and another blown up by British engineers . Over the next two days , British counterattacks were repelled ; three enemy tanks destroyed for the loss of two Panzer III and one Tiger . On 24 January , more British attacks were repelled with heavy German losses . 14 Panzer IIIs plus 11 out of 16 available Tigers were operational on 31 January 1943 . They were split between the 756th and 69th again ; under KG Weber they began Operation Eilbote II , but it was stopped by strong anti - tank defenses and minefields , then withdrew . Tiger armor was penetrated for the first time , two were knocked out ; one burnt and was unrecoverable . The six Tigers and nine Panzer IIs of the 1st Company of the 501st were attached to 10 Panzer Division on 8 February for Operation Frühlingswind . After night marches , they joined KG Reimann near Bou Thadi on 13 February . The next day , they broke through the Faïd Pass and joined the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid . Tigers knocked out 20 M4 Sherman tanks of the US 1st Armored Division . On 26 February , the 501st was redesignated III . / Panzer - Regiment 7 of 10 Panzer - Division at the end of the Battle of the Kasserine Pass . Each company received 15 Panzer IV s as reinforcement . An attack on 27 February was stalled by numerous air attacks and mud . One Tiger also hit a mine . Continuing the attack overnight , seven more Tigers were immobilized by mines and Major Lueder was wounded . The next day , 1 March , all of the immobilized tanks were blown up , leaving one operational Tiger . Over the next few days , more tanks were made operational , reaching six Tigers , 12 Panzer IIIs and seven Panzer IVs by 10 March . On 17 March , the remnants ( 11 Tigers ) of the 501st were attached to the 504th , which had just arrived . On 12 May 1943 , the 501st were among over 230 , 000 Axis soldiers who surrendered at the end of the Tunisia Campaign following the Allied capture of Tunis . Eastern Front . On 9 September 1943 , the 501st was reformed from a few remnants of the old battalion , including several wounded tank crewmen who had been evacuated to Europe for recuperation before the end in Tunisia , commanded by Major Erich Löwe . By 12 November , it comprised 45 Tiger I tanks ( three companies of 14 tanks , plus three tanks for battalion command ) . Between 5 – 12 December , the battalion was transferred to the Vitebsk region in north - west Russia ( modern Belarus ) . On 20 December , the 501st attacked an enemy tank formation near Losovka , which inflicted 21 enemy tank , and 28 gun casualties , for the loss of two of its own tanks and all three company commanders wounded . Because infantry support was unable to follow , the 501st withdrew . Three days later , Major Löwe , the battalion commander , went missing after he was forced to change tanks when his own was knocked out . In the next five days , the battalion destroyed 81 enemy tanks . By the end of December , 16 Tigers were operational out of 39 available , two having fallen into Soviet hands . Throughout 1944 , the 501st engaged in several battles , including Vitebsk and Gorodok . Major von Legat took command in January 1944 and the battalion carried out missions in the Orsha region . On 13 January , a Tiger was destroyed by an artillery shell plunging through its turret roof . On 13 February , failed attacks led to the loss of nine Tigers . By 1 March , only 17 Tigers are available out of 29 due to a lack of spare parts . On 12 March , the battalion joined the 256th infantry division in a counterattack north of Nipinzy ; by the next day , the enemy forces were surrounded and destroyed . By 1 April , spare parts had been delivered and 27 tanks were operational . In June , nine tanks were transferred to the 509th , leaving 20 operational . On 23 June , fighting at Orsha , opposing the Soviet Operation Bagration , dispersed the battalion , leading to several days of independent tank battles , some against IS - 2 s . Under the weight of a withdrawing Tiger , the Orsha bridge collapsed , and several others ran out of fuel . The remnants fell back , fording several rivers and conducted defenses until the Berezina River , where only six could be ferried across , the rest being blown up on 1 – 2 July . By 2 – 4 July , ad - hoc defenses of dispersed Tigers fell back and defended the Minsk area : despite five replacements which boosted operational forces to seven , two were lost , and another broke down . The next day two Tigers ran out of fuel while withdrawing near Maladzyechna , another bogged down , and all three immobilized Tigers were blown up . Operational tanks dropped to zero . Tiger II . The battalion was reconstituted at Ohrdruf on 14 July . By 7 August 1944 , the battalion attained full strength , with 45 new Tiger II s equipped with later , production turrets . On 5 August , two companies entrained to south eastern Poland to join Army Group North Ukraine , to continue to resist Operation Bagration . After detraining , most suffered final drive breakdowns while on a road march . On 11 August , the battalion was attached to 16th Panzer Division . The eight operational tanks attacked the Soviet bridgehead over the Vistula River near Baranów Sandomierski . On the road to Oględów , three Tiger IIs were destroyed in an ambush by a few T - 34 - 85 s . Because these tanks suffered ammunition explosions which caused many crew fatalities , main gun rounds were no longer allowed to be stowed within the turret , reducing capacity to 68 . Over the next two days , the battalion took heavy casualties . On 12 August , the remaining company entrained at Ohdruf , to join the rest of the battalion . After poor tactics in and around Radom on 22 August , the battalion commander was relieved , and also implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler . He was replaced by Major Saemisch . On 1 September , 26 Tigers IIs were operational , and the battalion was assigned to XXXVIII Panzer Corps . Later in the month , the remaining company eventually joined the rest of the battalion . Following several battles including those at Radom , Sandomierz and Kielce the battalion was down to 36 out of 53 Tiger IIs operational by 1 October 1944 . By 1 November this rose to 49 , boosted by the absorption of several Tiger Is from the remnants of the 509th . On 21 December , the battalion was redesignated the 424th heavy tank battalion and assigned to the XXIV Panzer Corps , part of 4th Panzer Army . The Soviet Vistula – Oder Offensive started on 12 January 1945 . The battalion had been deployed far forward , possibly by the direct intervention of Hitler , contrary to the wishes of all command levels from the battalion commander all to the General of Army Group A . The battalion initially received no orders . On 13 January , it was ordered towards Lisow . En route , one Tiger II fell through a bridge . All three companies attempted to attack , but many bogged down in poor ground and were not recoverable . Leutnant Oberbracht lost both tracks but destroyed 20 enemy tanks ; 50 to 60 enemy tanks were destroyed in total . Several other tanks broke down while moving to contact . IS - 2s and anti - tank guns in Lisow ambushed the battalion , which was almost destroyed ; even the battalion commander ' s tank was knocked out . One Tiger II broke down while successfully recovering a bogged down comrade , and had to be destroyed . Poor reconnaissance was blamed for the debacle . The next day , some remnants of the battalion fought on in the pocket forming around them , but were blown up after running out of fuel . Another Tiger II fell though a bridge and was abandoned . The remaining tanks regrouped at Grunberg , gathering together whatever tanks they could ( two Panther s , three Panzer IV s , two Hornisse and some Hetzer tank destroyers ) . After delaying actions with makeshift forces , the remaining elements withdrew by train to Paderborn on 5 February . On 11 February 1945 , the remaining personnel of the first and second companies of the battalion were reorganized into the 512th heavy tank destroyer battalion ( " schwere Panzer - Jager - Abteilung 512 " ) . The third company remained in Paderborn , and together with two Tiger Is , one Panther and one Panzer IV from the 500th tank training battalion ( " Panzer - Ersatz - und Ausbildungs Abt . 500 " ) fought a short unsuccessful battle against British forces on Easter 1945 . The remaining elements surrendered at Höxter .