Without question, Germany produced some of the finest weapons of the Second World War. From jet fighters to V2 Rockets, German military technology led the world. In some cases, by leaps and bounds. This was never more true than with regard to tanks. German tanks of the letter half of the Second World War were so massive, so powerful, and so technologically advanced, they were not even equaled until the decade of the 1960’s. There were three models in particular that truly terrified the Allies. They were the: Tiger I, the Panther, and the Tiger II. Of the three, the Tiger II was, by far, the biggest and most powerful.

Nicknamed: the King Tiger, the German Tiger II was the single most powerful tank ever built by any national combatant of the Second World War. This monstrous war beast was first introduced onto the field of battle on July 18 1944 during the Battle for Normandy. It was so mammoth and contained so much armor, that the Germans were forced to halt overall production of the Tiger I because there simply wasn’t enough iron ore readily available throughout Germany and her rapidly shrinking empire to produce the necessary steel for both tanks by that late stage of the War.

The overall dimensions of the King Tiger Tank were incredibly astonishing. This huge killing machine was 34 feet long with its main gun forward, 12 feet wide, and 10 feet, nine inches tall. Right off of the production line, it weighed an unbelievable 68.9 tons. When fully outfitted and loaded with logistics and its five man crew, it weighed over 73 tons. In order to give you an idea of just how big this is, we will make a comparison with the main United States’ Battle Tank of 2011, the M1A2 upgraded version of the Abrams. 

The Abrams is a very fine fighting vehicle, and one of the best all around tanks in service today. Its overall dimensions are as follows: It is 32.04 feet long with its main gun forward, 12 feet wide, 8 feet tall, and weighs 67.6 tons. So, this means that the German King Tiger Tank, which was in service almost 70 years ago, was longer, heavier, and taller than the M1A2 Abrams, which is fighting on the filed of battle today! Take a moment to absorb that information!

The King Tiger Tank had some impressive internal characteristics as well. For example, it was powered by a 12 cylinder, Maybach HL 230 P30, 700-horsepower engine. This massive drive train could propel the tank forward at a top speed of 26 miles per hour over a good, solid, flat road, and a respectable 12-14 miles per hour cross country. That isn’t too bad considering the King Tiger’s gargantuan weight. In addition to this, it was also outfitted with extra wide tracks which gave the tank superior traction and maneuverability while traversing extremely rough terrain.

Allied tank crews were truly petrified by the King Tiger. There were two specific reasons for this; armor protection and firepower. To begin with, the armor protection of the King Tiger was beyond belief. The turret alone was protected by seven inches of solid steel, while the sides contained four full inches. As impressive as that is, it actually pales in comparison with the King Tiger’s frontal armor. It was almost nine full inches in overall thickness, and angled at 55 degrees, which gave it the equivalent protective capability of more than one solid foot of steel, when one takes into consideration the deflection principle. Such levels of armor protection made the King Tiger virtually indestructible in a shoot out with any Allied tank or tank destroyer. In fact, the United States’ M4 Sherman could not even penetrate it at point blank range.

If the armor protection of the King Tiger scared the Allies’, then its sheer firepower left them completely frozen in fear. That’s because the King Tiger’s firepower was so awesome, words cannot adequately describe it. For instance, its main gun was the L71 version of the famous 88 mm cannon. That was the longest and most powerful version of the venerable 88. This gun was 21 1/2 feet long, and weighed more than four tons by itself. It fired a four and a half foot long, 22 pound, armor piercing projectile, capable of blasting through seven inches of solid steel at the staggering range of almost 2 miles.

All told, the Germans would manufacture 489 King Tigers before the end of the war in Europe. This was its most major drawback. Despite its overwhelming firepower and armor protection, there simply were not nearly enough of these enormous war beasts to alter the eventual outcome for the Germans during the Second World War. Quantity of weaponry, not necessarily quality, told the tale in that conflict.