13. The Myth of this Tank’s Invincibility
In the Second World War, few weapons struck as much terror into the hearts of British, American, Soviet, and other Allied soldiers, as the prospect of an encounter with a German Panzer VI Tiger tank. Those big-armed behemoths intimidated their opponents to such an extent that it gave birth to the term “Tiger Fever”. It was coined to describe the panic that sometimes gripped Allied soldiers when they thought that a Tiger tank was nearby. However, in the grand scheme of things, Tigers were a bit of a flop.
A myth developed that Tigers were WWII’s best tanks. They were certainly the most scary, but far from the best. In reality, Tiger tanks were over-engineered – or more accurately poorly engineered. They were plagued with bugs, and often spent more time in the repair shop than on the front line. They were also expensive and hard to produce, and consumed resources that could have been better spent on more effective weapons. The Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E, or the Tiger I, entered service in 1942. It was a heavy tank whose main assets were thick armor that its common adversaries could not penetrate except from close range, and a powerful gun that could destroy enemy tanks from long distances.