It was the end of 1942 when a German heavy tank with extra thick armor and a powerfull main gun first appeared on the North african front. The new tank, long awaited by the german soldiers who hard fought battles against the Allied forces, became known as the Tiger 1 Ausf. E. Developement of the Tiger 1 began at the end of May 1941. The German Army Weapons Branch ordered the Henschel firm to do battle with Porche in building a prototype. The first prototype underwent trails in April 1942. The result of these and subsequent trails showed the superiority of the Henschel vehicle to the Porche's version, and thus production orders were placed with Henschel. The Henschel's prototype had a thick armor of 100mm at the front and 80mm on both sides, and the main gun was then the most potent, the 8.8cm KwK 36 L/56. The powerplant was Maybach's 210 P45, producing 650 horsepower. Mass production started in August 1942 with little alteration from the prototype. Starting from November 1942, air pre-cleaners were added on the rear hull plates. The mantlet was partly strengthened and 'S' mine discharges were fitted on the five mounting points around the hull roof beginning from December. Moreover, a loaders periscope was fitted from January 1943. THe Tiger 1 produced from November 1942 to July 1943 featured these modifcations, are referred to as the early production. About 200 tanks of these early productions were produced.
/Tiger 1 Tank
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