German heavy tank battalions
- German heavy tank battalions
German heavy tank battalions ( _de. schwere-Panzer-Abteilung), were battalion-sized World War II tank units, equipped with Tiger I and Tiger II heavy tanks. Originally intended to fight on the offensive during breakthrough operations, the German late-war realities showed them better used and much more capable of fighting in a defensive posture by providing heavy fire support and counterattacking enemy armored breakthroughs. These panzer detachments were considered elite units.
Formation
Early formation units experimented to find the correct combination of heavy Tiger tanks supported by either medium Panzer III tanks or scout elements. Later formations had a standard organization of 45 Tiger Tanks, composed of 3 companies of 14 Tigers each, plus 3 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.
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.
= Heer units =
* 501st German heavy tank battalion
* 502nd German heavy tank battalion
* 503rd German heavy tank battalion
* 504th German heavy tank battalion
* 505th German heavy tank battalion
* 506th German heavy tank battalion
* 507th German heavy tank battalion
* 508th German heavy tank battalion
* 509th German heavy tank battalion
* 510th German heavy tank battalion
* 3rd Battalion, Grossdeutschland Regiment
** exception to the permanent assignment
Waffen-SS units
* 101st SS heavy tank battalion
* 102nd SS heavy tank battalion
* 103rd SS heavy tank battalion
* The 104th SS heavy tank battalion was planned 22 October 1943 for IV. SS-Panzerkorps, but was never formed
ources
*
External links
* [http://www.alanhamby.com/unithist.html#SS504 Tiger I Information Center]
* [http://fprado.com/armorsite/tigers.htm Tiger Battalions in WWII]
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
502nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Germany) — Infobox Military Unit unit name=502nd heavy tank battalion caption= dates=1942 to 1945 country=Germany allegiance= branch=German Army (German: Heer ) type=Armored role= size=Battalion command structure= garrison= garrison label= nickname= patron … Wikipedia
501st heavy tank battalion (Germany) — Infobox Military Unit unit name=501st heavy tank battalion caption= dates=1942 to 1945 country=Germany allegiance= branch=German Army (German: Heer ) type=Armored role= size=Battalion command structure= garrison= garrison label= nickname= patron … Wikipedia
Tank Mark VIII — Mark VIII Liberty Place of origin … Wikipedia
Tank destroyer battalion (United States) — units. Over a hundred battalions were formed, of which more than half saw combat service, but the force was disbanded shortly after the end of the war.Development of the tank destroyer doctrineIn the opening offensives of the Second World War,… … Wikipedia
German Army — Heer redirects here. For other uses, see Heer (disambiguation). German Army Deutsches Heer Logo of the German Army Active … Wikipedia
Tank destroyer — A self propelled anti tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle designed specifically to engage enemy armor forces, and not produced for an infantry support role. Most have been traditionally defined and produced as a… … Wikipedia
Tank corps (Soviet) — A tank corps was a Soviet armoured formation used since after the beginning of World War II. Pre War Development of Soviet Mechanized ForcesIn Soviet Russia, the so called armored forces (броневые силы) preceded the Tank Corps. They consisted of… … Wikipedia
Mark VI (tank) — Wooden mockup of the proposed Mark VI, 1917 The Mark VI was a British heavy tank project from the First World War. After having made plans for the continued development of the Mark I into the Mark IV, the Tank Supply Committee (the institute… … Wikipedia
German-trained divisions in the National Revolutionary Army — The German trained divisions were divisions in the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) trained under Sino German cooperation. These divisions were active in the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino Japanese War.In 1927, after the dissolution of the… … Wikipedia
History of the tank — This article is about the history of the tank.The prehistory of the tank [ thumb|right|Recreation of an armoured vehicle designed by Leonardo da Vinci at the Château d Amboise] The problem of advancing to attack while under fire is as old as… … Wikipedia
