When the mighty German Tiger 1 entered service during the Autumn of 1942, it was the most advanced tank in the world and one designed specifically to dominate the battlefield. Capable of destroying anything the Allies had in service, the Tiger possessed a stand-off advantage where it could ‘kill without being killed’, picking off enemy tanks before they could even think about returning fire.
Unfortunately for the Wehrmacht, the awesome potential of the Tiger was never fully realised, as it was over engineered, extremely complex and expensive to produce, ensuring that there were never enough Tigers on the battlefield at any one time. Between 1942 and 1944, only 1,347 Tiger 1s were manufactured and whilst it was undoubtedly one of the finest tanks ever produced, it could not hold back the ever increasing numbers of Allied armour. Highlighting this numerical disparity, American factories were able to produce over 49,000 Sherman Tanks during WWII.
