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| Jagdtiger. |
The Jagdtiger ("Hunting Tiger"; officially designated Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B) is a German casemate-type heavy tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer) of World War II. It was built upon the slightly lengthened chassis of a Tiger II. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 186.
The 72-tonne Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle (AFV) used operationally by any nation in World War II and the heaviest combat vehicle of any type to be produced during the conflict. It was armed with a 12.8 cm Pak 44 L/55 main gun which could out-range and defeat any AFV fielded by the Allied forces.
It saw brief service in small numbers from late 1944 until the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front. Although 150 were ordered, only around 80 were produced. Due to an excessive weight and an underpowered drivetrain system, the Jagdtiger was plagued with mobility and mechanical problems. While on some occasions the Jagdtiger managed to destroy a number of Allied tanks over long distances from good ambush positions, the effort to produce and maintain them and their mechanical breakdowns made them a costly overall failure. Three Jagdtigers survive in museums.
Development
With the success of the StuG III, Marder I, Marder II, and Marder III Panzerjäger, the military leadership of Nazi Germany decided to use the chassis of existing armored fighting vehicles as the basis for self-propelled guns (serving as assault guns and tank destroyers). German tank destroyers of World War II used fixed casemates instead of fully rotatable turrets to significantly reduce the cost, weight, and materials necessary for mounting large-caliber guns.
In early 1942, a request was made by the Army General Staff to mount a 128 mm gun on a self-propelled armored chassis. Firing tests of the 128 mm gun showed it to have a high percentage of hits; smaller caliber guns, such as the ubiquitous 88 mm and the slightly larger 105 mm, were also tested.
By early 1943, a decision was made to install a 128 mm gun on either a Panther or Tiger I chassis as a heavy assault gun. The Panther chassis was considered unsuitable after a wooden mockup of the design was constructed. On 20 October 1943, another wooden mockup was constructed on a Tiger II heavy tank chassis, and presented to Hitler in East Prussia. Two prototypes were produced: One was a version fitted with the eight-roadwheel Porsche suspension system (serial number 305001) and another version was equipped with the Henschel nine-overlapping roadwheel suspension system (serial number 305002), as used on the main-production Tiger IIs constructed by Henschel. They were completed in February 1944. It was originally designated as Jagdpanzer VI but was later renamed as the Jagdtiger and received the Sd.Kfz. 186 designation as its inventory ordnance number.
Type: Heavy tank destroyer
Place of origin: Nazi Germany
Manufacturer:
Nibelungenwerk
(Steyr-Daimler-Puch)
Produced: 1944–1945
Number built: 70–88
Mass: 71.7 tonnes (158,000 lb) (Henschel-suspension variant)
Length: 10.65 m (34 ft 11 in) including gun
Width: 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
Height: 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Crew: 6 (commander, gunner, loader, assistant loader, driver, assistant driver)
Armor:
Casemate: 250 mm (9.84 in)
Hull: 150 mm (5.91 in)
Side: 80 mm (3.15 in)
Rear: 80 mm (3.15 in)
Main armament: 1 × 12.8 cm Pak 44 L/55
Secondary armament: 1 × 7.92 mm MG 34 (some later-built versions equipped with a single MG 42 anti-aircraft machine gun-mount at the vehicle's rear)
Engine: V-12 Maybach HL230 P30 600 hp(M) (591 hp(I), 441 kW)
Power/weight: 8 hp(M) (5.7 kW) / tonne
Suspension: Torsion bar
Fuel capacity: 860 L
Operational range:
Road: 120 km (75 mi)
Off road: 80 km (50 mi)
Maximum speed: 34 km/h (21 mph)
Design
The Jagdtiger was a logical extension of the creation of Jagdpanzer designs from tank designs, such as the Jagdpanzer IV or the Jagdpanther from the Panzer IV and Panther tanks respectively, with a fully armored and enclosed casemate-style fighting compartment. The Jagdtiger used a boxy superstructure, with its sides integral with the hull sides, on top of a lengthened Tiger II chassis. Unlike the Jagdpanther, the Jagdtiger's casemate design did not extend its glacis plate upwards in one piece to the full height of the casemate's "roof" – it used a separate forward plate to form its casemate structure atop the hull roof, and mount its anti-tank gun. The resulting vehicle featured very heavy armor. It had 250 mm (9.8 in) armor on the front of the casemate and 150 mm (5.9 in) on the glacis plate. The main gun mount had a limited traverse of only 10 degrees; the entire vehicle had to be turned to aim outside that narrow field of fire.
The gun used two-part ammunition, which meant that the main projectile and the cased propellant-charge were loaded into the breech separately. Two loaders were tasked with this work, one for each type.
The Jagdtiger suffered from a variety of mechanical and technical problems due to its immense weight and under-powered engine. The vehicle had frequent breakdowns; ultimately more Jagdtigers were lost to mechanical problems or lack of fuel than to enemy action.
Production
One hundred and fifty Jagdtigers were initially ordered but only between 70 and 85 were produced at the Nibelungenwerk at St. Valentin, from July 1944 to May 1945. Eleven of them, serial numbers 305001 and 305003 to 305012, were produced with the Porsche suspension (with eight road wheels per side); all the rest used the Henschel suspension with nine road wheels per side.
Important parts such as the tub, superstructure and drive wheels were supplied by the Eisenwerke Oberdonau. Details and production locations were known to the Allies through the resistance group around the later executed priest Heinrich Maier. Prisoners from the St. Valentin concentration camp were used to build the tank.
Production figures vary depending on source and other factors such as if prototypes are included and if those made after VE Day are included: approximately 48 from July 1944 to the end of December 1944; 36 from January to April 1945, serial numbers from 305001 to 305088.
Production History by Serial Number
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Date |
Number |
Serial # |
|
February 1944 |
2 |
305001–305002 |
|
July 1944 |
3 |
305003–305005 |
|
August 1944 |
3 |
305006–305008 |
|
September 1944 |
8 |
305009–305016 |
|
October 1944 |
9 |
305017–305025 |
|
November 1944 |
6 |
305026–305031 |
|
December 1944 |
20 |
305032–305051 |
|
January 1945 |
10 |
305052–305061 |
|
February 1945 |
13 |
305062–305074 |
|
March 1945 |
3 |
305075–305077 |
|
April 1945 |
7 |
305078–305084 |
|
May 1945 |
4 |
305085–305088 |
After serial number 305011 (September 1944), no Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste was factory applied.
Combat History
Only two heavy anti-tank battalions (schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung), numbered the 512th and 653rd, were equipped with Jagdtigers, with the first vehicles reaching the units in September 1944. About 20% were lost in combat, with most destroyed by their crews when abandoned because of breakdowns or lack of fuel.
The first Jagdtiger lost in combat was during the failed Operation Nordwind offensive in France in 1945. Despite its heavy armor, this Jagdtiger was lost to American infantry using a bazooka, which at the time was considered ineffective against such a massive vehicle.
Tiger I tank ace Otto Carius commanded the second of three companies of Jagdtigers in s.Pz.Jg.Abt. 512. His postwar memoir Tigers in the Mud provides a history of the 10 Jagdtigers under his command. He said the Jagdtigers were not utilized to their potential due to factors including Allied air supremacy making it difficult to maneuver and the heavy gun needing to be re-calibrated after travelling off-road even short distances.[1] The vehicle was slow, having the same engine as the already-underpowered Tiger I and Tiger II. The vehicles' transmissions and differentials broke down easily because the whole 72-tonne vehicle needed to rotate for the gun's traverse. The enormous 128 mm main-gun had to be locked down during the vehicle's maneuvers, otherwise its mounting-brackets would wear out too much for accurate firing afterwards. This meant a crew-member had to exit the vehicle in combat and unlock the gun from its frontally mounted gun travel-lock before firing. Carius recorded that, in combat, a 128 mm projectile went through the walls of a house and destroyed an American tank behind it.
Insufficient training of vehicle crews and their poor morale during the last stage of the war were the biggest problems for Jagdtiger crewmen under Carius's command. At the Ruhr Pocket, two Jagdtiger commanders failed to attack an American armored column about 1.5 km (1 mile) away in broad daylight for fear of attracting an Allied air attack, even though the Jagdtigers were well-camouflaged. Both vehicles broke down while hurriedly withdrawing through fear of the supposed air attack that did not materialize and one was then subsequently destroyed by its crew. To prevent such a disaster, at Siegen, Carius himself dug in his command vehicle on high ground. An approaching American armored column avoided his ambush because nearby German civilians warned them of it. Later, one of his vehicles fell into a bomb crater at night and was disabled while another was lost to a Panzerfaust attack by friendly Volkssturm militia troops who had never seen a Jagdtiger before and mistook it for an Allied vehicle.
Near Unna, one Jagdtiger climbed a hill to attack five American tanks 600 meters away, leading to two withdrawing and the other three opening fire. The Jagdtiger took several hits but none of the American projectiles could penetrate the 250 mm (9.8 in) thick frontal armor of the vehicle's casemate. However, the inexperienced German commander lost his nerve and turned around instead of backing down, thus exposing the thinner side armor, which was penetrated and all six crew members killed. Carius wrote that the crews were not trained or experienced enough to keep their thick frontal armor facing the enemy in combat.
When unable to escape the Ruhr Pocket, Carius ordered the guns of the remaining Jagdtigers destroyed to prevent intact vehicles falling into Allied hands and then surrendered to American forces. The 10 Jagdtigers of the 2nd Company of s.Pz.Jg.Abt. 512 destroyed one American tank for one Jagdtiger lost to combat, one lost to friendly fire, and eight others lost to mechanical breakdown or destruction by their own crews to prevent capture by enemy forces.
On 17 January 1945, two Jagdtigers used by the Heer's XIV Corps engaged a bunker-line in support of assaulting infantry near Auenheim. On 18 January, they attacked four secure bunkers at a range of 1,000 meters. The armored cupola of one bunker burned out after two shots. A Sherman attacking in a counter-thrust was set afire by explosive shells. The two Jagdtigers survived the fight, having fired 46 explosive shells and 10 anti-tank shells.
In April 1945, s.Pz.Jäg.Abt. 512 saw a great deal of action, especially on 9 April, where the 1st Company engaged an Allied column of Sherman tanks and trucks from hull-down positions and destroyed 11 tanks and over 30 unarmored or lightly armored targets, with some of the enemy tanks knocked out from a distance of more than 4,000 m. The unit lost one Jagdtiger in this incident, after Allied Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers appeared. During the next couple of days, the 1st Company destroyed a further five Sherman tanks before surrendering to US troops at Iserlohn. Meanwhile, the 2nd Company fought on with little gain. On 15 April 1945, the unit surrendered at Schillerplatz in Iserlohn.
512th Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion
The 512th Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion (German: Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512) was an independent tank destroyer battalion of the German Wehrmacht during World War II.
Formed and organized during the winter of 1944 to 1945, it was active in February. It was one of only two battalions equipped with Jagdtiger tank destroyers, and served exclusively on the Western Front.
The battalion was formed at Döllersheim and deployment preparations were ordered on 15 February 1945. The 512th was formed from elements of the veteran 424th Heavy Panzer Battalion. The 424th, previously numbered the 501st, had been one of the first German heavy tank battalions to be formed, and had fought in Africa and on the Eastern Front.
It received its first Jagdtigers on 16 February; by 13 March, it had been brought up to a strength of 20 vehicles in two companies, with the 3rd Company made up of personnel transferred from the 511th Heavy Panzer Battalion.
The Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle produced during the war, mounting a 128 mm main gun inside a 79-tonne chassis. It was only produced in very small numbers - around 80 were built - and would only be issued to two units; the 512th and the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion.
The commander of the unit's second company was Oberleutnant (Lieutenant) Otto Carius, one of the most successful German tank commanders of the war.
On 10 March 1945, the battalion was assigned to LIII Corps and committed to the Battle of Remagen with the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion. Illustrating the difficulties German forces faced in getting their heavy armor to the front, it took ten days to bring the first five Jagdtigers of the 512th Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion's 2nd Company to the front due to communications breakdowns and the constantly-worrying threat from Allied fighter-bombers. The 1st Company lost four Jagdtigers in rearguard combat actions, three of which were due to mechanical breakdowns rather than from enemy action.
They finally engaged the attacking American armor around Herborn to prevent American armor from fully exploiting the capture of the Remagen bridgehead. Among the German casualties was Leutnant Sepp Tarlach's machine belonging to the second platoon of the 1st Company, which was abandoned in Obernetphen and subsequently captured. On 9 April, the US 750th Tank Battalion claimed another near Offensen which was later photographed after being pushed off a road to clear the path ahead. A catastrophic internal explosion ripped the vehicle's roof off. The battalion then fought its last battle near Paderborn against the 3rd Armored Division in mid-April 1945 before finally capitulating to US forces. At least one vehicle of the battalion was lost to combat action by the US 3rd Armored Division on 1 April.
In May 1945, the short-lived fighting unit surrendered to the US 99th Infantry Division in Iserlohn. The German surrender was filmed and photographed, in which the Jagdtigers and other military vehicles as well as their crews were shown forming up in the town square for Allied inspection prior to being disarmed and passing into captivity.
653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion
The 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion (German: Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653) was a tank destroyer unit of the German Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with Ferdinand and later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945.
The battalion was formed on 1 April 1943, by the re-designation of the 197th Sturmgeschütz Battalion. The latter was an assault gun battalion which had been formed in 1940, later seeing service during the Invasion of Yugoslavia and on the Eastern Front.
The 653rd was initially equipped with Ferdinand panzerjäger, which mounted a powerful 88 mm gun. The first vehicles arrived in May. The battalion was 1,000 men strong. The crews trained for several weeks on the vehicles at the Nibelungenwerk factory in Austria. Crews even assisted with the final assembly. According to documents at the German Federal Archives, a fully equipped battalion was assigned 45 Ferdinands but only 40 were delivered before its first operation. General Heinz Guderian visited the battalion and observed field exercises. By 4 July 1943 the unit had 89 Ferdinands and small contingent of other vehicles. Major Heinrich Steinwachs was given command of the battalion, which included nine staff officers and a maintenance unit plus three companies of combat personnel.
It was assigned to the XXXXI Panzer Corps, and fought at the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 and the subsequent Soviet counterattack. From the 5 to 27 July German archives recorded the 653rd claimed 320 tanks and self-propelled guns and a large number of anti-tank guns and motor vehicles for 24 killed in action, 126 wounded and 13 vehicles destroyed.
A situation report sent by the commanding officer to the headquarters of the 2nd Panzer Army on 24 July reported the status of the unit. It had 54 Ferdinand with 25 operational and 41 Sturmpanzer with 18 of those combat ready. Steinwachs reported that the operational vehicles were "on their last legs" and recommended their withdrawal and the unit to be disbanded and dispersed to maintenance units. He suggested forming some small groups 5 to 8 kilometers behind the front to act as a local mobile reserve, to be reinforced via the maintenance company when necessary.
In August, it fought and around Nikopol during the Battle of the Dnieper as the 1st battalion of the 656th Regiment. On 25 November 1943 the 653rd battalion claimed its 600th tank destroyed; 44 that day. A Leutnant Kreschmer was credited with 21.
After heavy losses in Ukraine, the battalion was withdrawn to Vienna to refit. Starting on 2 January 1944 until April, the tank destroyers received upgrades—the most externally visible ones being 1) the addition of Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste, 2) an upgraded commander's cupola, 3) re-designed armored engine grates and 4) an MG34 station to the right front of the hull. The 1st Company was issued the first 11 completed vehicles and was sent south to Italy where it fought at the Battle of Anzio in February 1944. The 2nd and 3rd companies were equipped with 30 new vehicles in April and sent to the Eastern Front, where they were attached to the XXIV Panzer Corps.
By August, the 2nd and 3rd were reduced to twelve vehicles between them; these were withdrawn to refit in Kraków, where they were combined into the 2nd Company. It remained on the Eastern Front, as part of 17th Army, and was redesignated the 614th Heavy Panzerjäger Company. It would see out the rest of the war fighting the Soviet Army, with two Elefants surviving until the Battle of Berlin in May 1945.
The 3rd Company, meanwhile, returned west to rejoin the 1st Company, which had withdrawn to Vienna with only four operational Elefants. In September, both companies were issued with newly-fielded Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyers. The Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle produced during the war, mounting a 12.8 cm Pak 44 main gun on a 72-tonne chassis. However, it was severely underpowered, having been equipped with an engine (Maybach HL230) originally designed for the 57-tonne Tiger I and which had already been found significantly inadequate even for that vehicle. It was only produced in very small numbers - around 80 were ever built - and the few manufactured would only be issued to two units, the 653rd and the 512th Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion.
Once re-equipped, the battalion was again split up, with the 1st Company assigned to the 15th Army on the northern flank of the German Ardennes Offensive and the 3rd assigned to the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen to the south, where it would fight in Operation Nordwind in January. By February, the two companies had reunited at Landau in the Palatinate, and by the end of the month, they were reinforced to a strength of 41 Jagdtigers. In April, it fell back to Austria, from where it was to receive new vehicles from the Nibelungenwerk Factory, and finally reached its conclusion in the war under the command of Army Group Ostmark near Linz.
Survivors
Three Jagdtigers survive, in US, UK and Russian museums:
Jagdtiger (serial number 305004): The Tank Museum in England. One of the 11 Porsche–designed suspension-equipped variants, it was captured by British troops in April 1945 near the armor proving ground at Sennelager, Germany, where it was undergoing testing and trials. The third wheel-station (paired-wheel bogie) on the left side is missing. Zimmerit was applied to approximately 2 meters high on the superstructure and the German Balkenkreuz was painted in the mid-section of the vehicle's casemate's side. The earlier 18-tooth drive-sprocket version is found on this vehicle (later vehicles had 9-tooth drive sprockets).
Jagdtiger (serial number 305020): U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection, Fort Benning, Georgia. It was produced in October 1944 and was attached to the 3rd Company of the s.Pz.Jg.Abt. 653, bearing the vehicle-number of 331. It was captured by American troops near Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany in March 1945. Shell damage is still visible on the gun mantlet, glacis plate and lower-nose armor. This vehicle used the later-version nine-tooth drive sprockets for use with the 'contact shoe' and 'connector link'-style continuous track it shared with the Tiger II on which it was based.
Jagdtiger (serial number 305083): Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow. This vehicle, equipped with the standard Henschel-built running gear, was acquired by Soviet forces when a Kampfgruppe (battle-group) of the s.Pz.Jg.Abt. 653 equipped with four Jagdtigers surrendered to the Red Army in Amstetten, Austria on 5 May 1945. This Jagdtiger, not coated with Zimmerit, was acquired in mint condition with complete sideskirts and the later nine-tooth drive sprockets. Twelve hooks on both sides of the superstructure were designed to carry six pairs of track-links (the spare track-links are now missing on this vehicle). All of the Jagdtiger's repair-tools are also missing, but it still retains the MG 42 anti-aircraft gun mount on the rear engine-deck (recent photographs show that this specific machine gun-mount has since been removed, leaving only its mounting-base).
Variants
Aside from the 11 early vehicles with a Porsche suspension, the only variant developed was the Sd.Kfz.185.
8.8 cm PaK 43 Jagdtiger: This variant used the 8.8 cm Pak 43 cannon instead of the 12.8 cm Pak 44 due to shortages of the latter weapon. The variant did not enter production.
Bibliography
Bishop, Chris (2002), The encyclopedia of weapons of World War II, New York: MetroBooks.
Carius, Otto (2003). Tigers in the Mud. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books.
Chamberlain, Peter; Doyle, Hilary L (1999). Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. London: Arms & Armour.
Devey, Andrew (1999). Jagdtiger : the most powerful armored fighting vehicle of World War II. Vol. 2. Operational history. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub.
Duske, Heiner F; Greenland, Tony; Schulz, Frank (1996), 1. Jagdtiger (SD. KFZ. 186), Nuts & Bolts.
Forty, George (2008). Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II. Zenith Press.
Ledwoch, Janusz (1999). Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger (in Polish). Warszawa: Militaria.
Münch, Karlheinz (2005). The Combat History of German Heavy Anti-Tank Unit 653 in World War II. Stackpole Books.
Pirker, Peter (2012). Suberversion deutscher Herrschaft. Der britische Geheimdienst SOE und Österreich. Zeitgeschichte im Kontext. Vol. 6. Göttingen: V & R Unipress.
Schneider, Wolfgang (1990). Elefant Jagdtiger Sturmtiger : rarities of the tiger family. West Chester, Pa: Schiffer.
Spielberger, Walter (2007). Heavy Jagdpanzer. Atgeln, Pennsylvania: Schiffer.
Wilbeck, Christopher (2004). Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II. The Aberjona Press, U.S.A.
Zaloga, Steven (2015). Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
[1] This was attributed to the eight-wheel Porsche suspension proving unfit for off-road terrain, causing excessive vibrations. The nine-wheel Henschel suspension system from the King Tiger was thought to suffer less from this problem. It is unknown which type was fitted to the Jagdtigers Carius commanded.
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| Captured Jagdtiger tank destroyer, near Neustadt, Germany, March 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger, minus its armament and gun mantlet. |
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| Jagdtiger on the assembly line. |
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| Jagdtiger on the assembly line. |
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| The roof of the Jagdtiger’s fighting compartment, looking towards the rear of the vehicle. |
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| Jagdtiger, minus some of its road wheels. |
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| Overall view of the driver’s station in the same Jagdtiger. |
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| The gearbox/steering box removed from the same Jagdtiger. |
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| The MG 34 ball mount in the radio operator’s position. |
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| Close up view of the right front corner of the Jagdtiger’s roof showing the periscope hatch. |
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| Another view of the Jagdtiger’s roof looking towards the front of the vehicle. |
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| Jagdtiger’s left-hand idler. |
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| Close in view of the driver’s controls of the Jagdtiger in the previous photo. |
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| Another view of the Jagdtiger’s interior through the rear fighting compartment doors, showing the main gun and some of the ammo stowage racks. |
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| A view of the Jagdtiger’s interior after the roof was unbolted and slid back. |
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| Another view of the inside of the Jagdtiger providing details of the main gun. |
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| Interior view of the commander’s scissor periscope on a Jagdtiger. |
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| View of the breech block of the main gun of a Jagdtiger. |
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| View of part of the firewall at the rear of a Jagdtiger. |
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| Ammo stowage at the left rear of a Jagdtiger. |
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| The Jagdtiger’s 12.8-cm Panzerjägerkanone 44 (L/55), originally known as the Pak 44 but later changed to the Pak 80. |
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| A view of the left rear of a Jagdtiger’s gun mount. |
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| Interior of a Jagdtiger showing the machine gunner’s position, minus the weapon. |
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| Jagdtiger’s cartridge case stowage. |
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| The Maybach engine that powered the Jagdtiger. |
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| Another view of the Jagdtiger’s Maybach engine. |
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| Jagdtiger SdKfz 186 tank destroyer, chassis 305058, produced with the Henschel type suspension. Abandoned intact in Abernetphen, near Siegen, Germany. It was from the 2nd Company, Panzerjäger Unit 512. |
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| Air defense MG 42 on the rear deck of the captured Jagdtiger, Obernephen, Germany, 1945. |
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| Captured Jagdtiger, Obernephen, Germany, 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger X7 of the Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 512. |
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| The rear of the same Jagdtiger. |
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| The same captured Jagdtiger, Obernephen, Germany, 1945. |
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| Knocked out Jagdtiger being examined by American soldiers. |
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| The Jagdtiger’s engine deck. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 332, of the 3rd company 653rd Schewere Panzerjäger Abteilung (Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion). Not even massive armor and firepower could hold out forever. This Jagdtiger has been used as a dug-in pillbox before being overwhelmed by American firepower. The spectacular Jagdtiger, the most powerful service AFV of the war, did not see a great deal of action, only being available in very limited quantities by the end of the war. |
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| Knocked out Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger with Porsche suspension. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Two knocked out Jagdtigers. The vehicle in front is the same vehicle as seen in the bottom photo on the first page of this article. |
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| Jagdtiger of Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512, Osterode, 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 233 of the Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 653. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 102. |
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| Destroyed Jagdtiger with Porsche suspension. |
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| Destroyed Jagdtiger of the Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 653. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 131 of the PzJgAbt 653, Schwetzingen, 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 331 of the Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 in Neustadt, 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger of 3./Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512 (sPz.Jg.Abt. 512), St. Andreasberg, 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 332 of the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 301 with zimmerit of the Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 653. |
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| Jagdtiger of 1st Company, 653rd Schewere Panzerjäger Abteilung (Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion), Schwetzingen, 30 March 1945. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 332. |
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| Knocked out Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger Number 332 of the Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger with its main gun barrel blown completely off the vehicle. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
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| Jagdtiger. |
,_28_February_1945_(111-SC-201967).jpg) |
| This Jagdtiger of Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 is examined by Capt. Jack H. Rothschild and was reported to have been destroyed near Rimling, Lorraine, France, by a single 90mm round from an M36 GMC of the 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 44th Infantry Division, 28 February 1945. It is uncertain whether the destruction was caused by the explosion of the vehicle’s ammo after being penetrated by the M36’s rounds, or was deliberately destroyed by the crew as they abandoned the vehicle. (U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-201967) |
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| A wooden mockup of the Jagdtiger presented to Adolf Hitler on 20 October 1943, seen here behind the Italian medium tank Carro Armato P 26/40. |
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| British-captured Jagdtiger in The Tank Museum, the UK. (Morio, 14 March 2017) |
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| Rear deck and engine bay of Jagdtiger 305004 in The Tank Museum, Bovington. The two circular grilled apertures at left and right are for the radiator cooling fans. (Hohum, 18 October 2009) |
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| Jagdtiger (serial number 305020) on display at the former US Army Ordnance Museum in 2007. (Mark Pellegrini, 12 June 2007) |
_%E2%80%93_Patriot_Museum,_Kubinka_(38294634781).jpg) |
| Kubinka Tank Museum's Jagdtiger on display in Russia. (Alan Wilson, 25 August 2017) |
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| A disabled Elefant - probably of the 653rd - in Italy, April 1944. (Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-313-1004-25) |
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