Why It failed?:The Tiger Tank

Nazi Germany's "Tiger Tank" was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. It was seemingly invincible as most rounds field by the Allies, and the Soviets would bounce off of its armor; it also had a massive gun (which was once an anti-aircraft gun) that can blow any tank that was unfortunate to face it.

If this was such an impressive machine, why did it fail? Well, that is what this wiki page will cover.

The Tiger Tank was designed in 1938, like the Schwerer Gustav, it was supposed to be the front runner for Nazi Germany's famous "Blitzkrieg" to sweep Germany's enemies quickly.

The Tiger Tank weighed around 60 tons, it had thick front armor of 120 MM and had a monster 88 MM gun that can destroy anything fielded by both the Allies and the Soviets and can destroy targets from as far as more than a mile. It also had a good speed of 28 MPH.

It wasn't put into production or on the battlefield until 1942, and it would serve pretty well against the Allies in North Africa, and the Soviets on the Eastern front, the Allied Sherman and the Soviet T-34 couldn't stand a chance. But, ultimately, it failed to win the war.

## Why it failed?

### 1. Its design was complicated

The Tiger Tank was indeed an impressive machine; its design made it a force to be feared on the battlefield as it was a seemingly invincible to enemy fire and can destroy anything with just one shot. But its design was also a weakness.

The Tiger Tank's design was very complicated as it took a lot of money (over 250,000 Reichsmarks in 1942, it would cost over $2 Million in today's money). It also took a lot of time to build; it was a mechanical nightmare, apart from being hard to make, it was also as hard to repair. The Tiger spent more time in the production factory and the maintenance department than on the battlefield.

### 2. There were outnumbered

Though the Tiger Tank would outclass (and outgun) both the Sherman and the T-34, it was outnumbered by the two smaller tanks. Because it was so hard to build (and repair), only around 1,300 Tigers were built altogether, compared to 54,000 Shermans and 84,000 T-34s, so there were never a whole lot of Tigers at any given time.

### 3. It was impossible to replace

There was another reason why the Tiger failed. Again, because it was a hard, complex tank, and once they were gone, they were gone, meaning they couldn't be easily replaced. This point was made clear in the summer of 1943 with the "Battle of Kursk," and after a failed attempt at pinching the Soviet forces, the Nazis were forced to retreat. Both factions lost many tanks in this particular battle, but the Soviets could replace their lost tanks; the Nazis couldn't.

### 4. It couldn't win the war

Because of all the reasons above, the Tiger Tank wasn't a war winner; it couldn't take the war to Germany's enemies. Something that the Sherman and the T-34 could. What both the USA and the USSR proved that the critical part of a tank is not its size, not its armor, not its gun, but the tank's numbers; perhaps they also proved that World War 2 was a "Battle of Production," which both the USA and the USSR won on their terms. The point was also made clear during the Pacific theater of WW2 as the USA could replace the lost ships, and Japan couldn't. Despite the fact the Tiger Tank failed, it still fascinates war historians and Tank enthusiasts even today.

That'll do it for this wiki page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.