A German heavy tank battalion ( was a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army during World War II, equipped with

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in North African Campaign, Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent German heavy tank battalion, heavy tank battalions. It g ...

, and later

Tiger II The Tiger II was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of the World War II, Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B, often shortened to Tiger B.Jentz and Doyle 1993, p. 16. The ordnance inve ...

heavy tanks A heavy tank is a tank classification produced from World War I to the end of the Cold War. These tanks generally sacrificed mobility and maneuverability for better armour protection and equal or greater firepower than tanks of lighter classes. ...

. Originally intended to fight on the offensive during breakthrough operations, the German late-war realities required it to be used in a defensive posture by providing heavy

fire support Fire support is a military tactics term used to describe weapons fire used to support friendly forces by engaging, suppressing, or destroying enemy forces, facilities, or materiel in combat. It is often provided through indirect fire, though th ...

and counter-attacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad hoc '' Kampfgruppen'' (battlegroups). The German heavy tank battalions destroyed a total of 8,100 enemy tanks for the loss of 1,482 of their own, an overall kill/loss ratio of 5.47 though individual unit ratios ranged from 1.28 to 13. The German losses also include non-combat tank write-offs. – citing http://www.alanhamby.com/tiger.html which itself cites ''Tigers in Combat I'' by Wolfgang Schneider, ''Tigers in Combat II'' by Wolfgang Schneider, ''Red Army Handbook'' by

Steven Zaloga Steven Joseph Zaloga (born February 1, 1952) is an American author and defense consultant. He received a bachelor's degree ''cum laude'' at Union College and a master's degree at Columbia University, both in history. He has published many book ...

Formation

Early formation units experimented to find the correct combination of heavy Tiger tanks supported by either medium

Panzer III The ''Panzerkampfwagen III (Pz.Kpfw. III)'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Nazi Germany, Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was List of Sd.K ...

tanks or

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

elements. In 1942 this consisted of 20 Tigers and 16 Panzer IIIs, 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.Schneider 2000, pp. 3–4. Later formations had a standard organization of 45 Tiger Tanks, composed of three companies of 14 Tigers each, plus three command vehicles. Maintenance troubles and the mechanical unreliability of the Tigers posed a continuous problem, so often the units would field a smaller number of combat-ready tanks. The limited number of these heavy tanks, plus their specialized role in either offensive or defensive missions, meant they were rarely permanently assigned to a single division or corps, but shuffled around according to war circumstances. In addition to tanks, each battalion planned to include the following

Organisation structure

The organisation structure of a German heavy Panzer battalion in 1943, in this case the ''schwere Panzerabteilung 508'', was as follows. *staff / *staff company of three tanks ( ''Stabskompanie )'' **

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

platoon / Nachrichtenzug **

armoured reconnaissance Armoured reconnaissance also Combat reconnaissance vehicle is the combination of terrestrial reconnaissance with armoured warfare by soldiers using tanks and wheeled or tracked armoured reconnaissance vehicles. While the mission of reconnaissan ...

platoon (on IFV) / gepanzerter Aufklärungszug **area reconnaissance platoon / Erkundungszug (ErkdZug) **

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

platoon ( Pionierzug (PiZug) **

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

platoon ( ''Fliegerabwehrzug'' (FlakZug) *1st – 3rd Panzer company (14 tanks each) / ''1. – 3. Panzerkompanie'' **company detachment (two tanks) ( Kompanietrupp ) **1st – 3rd panzer platoon, each of four tanks each ( 1. – 3. ''Panzerzug )'' **medical service( ''Sanitätsdienst'' ) **vehicle repair detachment ( ''Kfz. Instandsetzungstrupp )'' **combat train I ( Gefechtstross I ) **combat train II ( Gefechtstross II ) **baggage train / Gepäcktross *workshop company ( ''Werkstattkompanie )'' **1st and 2nd workshop platoon (1. and 2. ''Werkstattzug'' ) **recovery platoon / Bergezug **

armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. Historically armourers were often men, but women could also undertake the occupation: for example Alice la Haubergere worked as an armourer in Cheapside i ...

detachment ( Waffenmeisterei ) **communications detachment ( ''Funkmeisterei'' ) **spare part detachment ( Ersatzteiltrupp )

Army units

By the end of the war, the following heavy panzer detachments had been created. Early units were re-built several times by the end of the war. Independent units within the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

(''Heer'') were: * 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion - original unit surrendered in

Tunisia campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The ...

, reformed and destroyed on Eastern Front *

502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion The 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion () was a German heavy tank battalion during World War II. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I. It fought on the Eastern front. It was one of the most successful German heavy tank ...

- redesignated 511th on 5 January 1945 *

503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (; abbreviated: "s.Pz.Abt. 503") was a Nazi Germany, German heavy Panzer ''Abteilung'' (independent battalion-sized unit) equipped with Tiger I and Panzer III tanks. In 1944, it was re-equipped with the new Tiger ...

- largely destroyed in Normandy, refitted and deployed on Eastern Front * 504th Heavy Panzer Battalion *

505th Heavy Panzer Battalion 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

* 506th Heavy Panzer Battalion * 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion * 508th Heavy Panzer Battalion * 509th Heavy Panzer Battalion * 510th Heavy Panzer Battalion * 511th Heavy Panzer Battalion *

301st Heavy Panzer Battalion 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

(radio control)

SS units

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

units were * 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion largely destoyed by end of the battle of Normandy, withdrawn and refitted with Tiger II and renamed as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 501 (), part of

I SS Panzer Corps The I SS Panzer Corps () was a German armoured corps of the ''Waffen-SS''. It saw action on both the Western Front (World War II), Western and Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Fronts during World War II. Formation and training The Corps was ...

in September 1944. * 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion largely destroyed in battle of Normandy, refitted and renamed in September 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 502 (''schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 502''), part of

II SS Panzer Corps The II SS Panzer Corps was a German ''Waffen-SS'' armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Third Battle of Kharkov and the Battle of Kursk in 1943 and ...

103rd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103rd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion () was a German heavy tank battalion of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Operational history The unit was originally formed on 1 July 1943 as the II Battalion, 11th SS Panzer Regiment and sent to Yugoslavia t ...

renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 503 (''schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 503''), part of

III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a ''Waffen-SS'' armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(Germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted as ...

*104th SS Heavy Panzer Battalion (''schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 104'') was planned 22 October 1943, for IV SS Panzer Corps, but was never formed

Combat performance

Tank losses include losses inflicted other than by enemy tanks. Also, many tanks were abandoned by their crews due to a lack of fuel, ammunition or breakdown, especially at the end of war.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:German Heavy Tank Battalion *