German heavy tank development began as early as 1937 with the German Armaments Ministry issuing a specification for a new heavy tank to Daimler-Benz, Henschel, MAN and Porsche. The project however was ignored as the Panzer III and IV had so far proved effective tanks and served well in combat. It was not until spring 1941 that the project was revived after Hitler was impressed with heavy allied tanks, such as the French Char B1 and Matilda II during the campaign in the west.

At a meeting with Hitler on 26th May, 1941, the planning for the development of a new heavy tank begun. During that meeting, Hitler ordered for the creation of heavy Panzers which were to have an increased effectiveness to penetrate enemy tanks; possess heavier armor than was previously achieved; and attain a maximum speed of at least 40km/h. These key decisions led to the development of a new heavy tank, the Tiger 1 tank and ultimately the King Tiger. However, no clearly defined objectives or action plans were laid out for the succession of the Tiger 1 tank until January 1943 when the order was given for a new design which was to replace the existing Tiger 1.

Although the designation implies that the Tiger II is a succession of the Tiger 1, it is in effect a completely different tank. The first design consideration for the new tank was the selection of a more effective main gun. As with the Tiger tank, it was to mount an 88mm anti tank gun but the main gun on the Tiger II was far more powerful than that on the Tiger 1. For the development of the chassis, two firms were contracted to come up with the designs namely Henschel and Sohn of Kassel and Porsche of Stuttgart. Both firms Henschel and Porsche were responsible for only the chassis and automotive designs. Turret design was awarded to another firm Krupp of Essen.

Henschel designed the VK4503 (H) chassis which was very similar in appearance to the Panther. The front armor was 150mm thick and sloped at an angle of 50 degrees. The side was 80mm thick sloped at 25 degrees. As with all German tanks at that time, it had a ball mounted MG34 fitted on the right front side of the hull. The suspension consisted of torsion bars with nine sets of overlapping steel rimmed wheels on each side. The tracks were 2 feet 8 1/2 inches wide, weighing 2.5 tons. Henschel’s design was accepted and destined to enter mass production.

Porsche Turret - The Tank Museum, Bovington, England

Although the two turrets were different in appearance, it had the same layout. The large overhang at the rear acted as counter balance for the heavy gun. This additional space was used to store ammunition making the loader’s job easier. It had three hatches, the commander’s hatch on the left, the loader’s hatch on the right and as escape hatch in the rear. The turret housed three of the five crews. The commander’s position was on the center left, the gunner below and in front of him and the loader on the right.

For the engine, it used a Maybach HL 230 P30 engine which was the same as was fitted to the Panther. It produced 700hp of output which was inadequate for a tank this size, which was 11 tons heavier than the Panther. This made the King Tiger miserably underpowered and susceptible to surprise flank attacks. Although a maximum road speed of 41.5km/h has been achieved during trials, it could sustain only 35 to 38 km/h on the road and 17 km/h cross country. The transmission was an 8 speed Maybach OLVAR EG 40 12 16 B gearbox (8 forward and 4 reverse). Besides the electric starter motor, the engine is also equipped with a crank starter to conserve battery power on cold days. Fuel consumption was enormous with the Mayback V12 engine needing 500 liters per 100km. This was a problem at that time as Germany was in constant shortage of fuel. It carried 860 liters of fuel giving it a maximum range of about 110km on the road and 80km cross country. As with the Tiger 1, the massive size of the tank could not fit into the standard rail compartment. To overcome this, two sets of tracks were needed, one narrower 66cm transportation tracks and a wider 80cm combat tracks.

Read more about the King Tiger at The Tank Museum >

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