The King Tiger, or Tiger II, was a World War II German heavy tank. The German designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B, which was produced between 1943 and 1945. The King Tiger had the thick armor of the Tiger I and the sloped armor of the Panther tank. Although it was slow, no other tank in the war could match its armor and fire power of its 88 mm gun. Since production began when Germany industrial power was being hindered by German war effort and Allied bombing, this tank had serious spare parts logistical problems.
The King Tiger tank was designed in 1943 by Henschel. Production began the same year and its ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 182. It weighed 69.8 tonnes, measured 7.61 m in length, 3.75 in width, and 3.09 in height. The King Tiger armor was 180 mm thick on the front, 100 mm on the sides, and 40 mm on top and bottom. It was fitted out with an 88mm KwK 43 gun, which could hit a target at a distance of 2,000 m, and two 7.92mm MG34 machine guns.
The Tiger II was powered by a V-12 Maybach HL230 P30 690 hp engine, which could reach a speed of 25 mph and had an operational range of 110 miles. It used torsion-bar suspension and had a Maybach OLVAR EG40 12 16 B transmission, wih 8 forward and 4 reverse. The King Tiger tank saw action for the first time in Normandy on July 18, 1944, with the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion. Later it was used on the Eastern Front on August 12, 1944, at the Soviet Baranov bridgehead over the Vistula River.
[...] armor on the front, 80mm on the sides and rear, and 150mm on the hull. Although it resembled the King Tiger, it did not have a rotating turret, but a rigid [...]