Portal:World War II/Equipment/6

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The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B was a German heavy tank of the Second World War. It was also known as Sonderkraftfahrzeug 182 (Sd. Kfz. 182), or informally Tiger II or Königstiger (German: Bengal Tiger, often literally translated as King Tiger) and by the British as Royal Tiger.

The Tiger II combined the heavy armor of the Tiger I with the sloped armor of the Panther. The design followed the same concept as the Tiger I, but was intended to be even more formidable. The Tiger II chassis supplied the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer. The Tiger II weighed 68.5 (early turret) to 69.8 (production turret) tons, was protected by 150 to 180 mm of frontal armor, and was armed with the 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 gun.

The very heavy armor and powerful long-range gun gave the Tiger II the advantage against virtually all opposing tanks. This was especially true on the Western Front, where the British and US forces had almost no heavy tanks with which to oppose it. In a defensive position it was difficult to destroy. Offensively it performed with less success, and its performance was a great disappointment to Hitler when it first saw action.

The Tiger II performed very well against Allied and Soviet tanks being able to kill the M4 Sherman, M26 Pershing and IS-2 at respectively 2500m, 1800m and 1200m. The Tiger II was widely photographed due to its large size and propaganda value.