A common belief about WW2 is that Germany was ill advised building the Tiger I and Tiger II heavy tanks and instead should have produced more Panthers or even just simple Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs, but how true is that? How useful or useless were the heavy German tanks really?

It’s not really that true as the Germans would face other problems that would cripple them as well. But there are some good things that might make the Tigers more valid than the other medium tanks.

They were usually grouped in their own independent battalions as heavy tank units. They weren’t not usually grouped with the regular Panzer divisions, but some instanced they might have. They were usually deployed by the higher ups: either the field marshal, Army commander, or Corps commander depending on the situation. Now if we gauge their effectiveness by kill count they had large kill to death ratios for all their units. However many of these numbers should be taken with a salt mine as some Tiger aces have said their numbers have been inflated and are not represented right. Also the battalions themselves had a lack of support units at times and supporting infantry which is what many Tiger battalion commanders complained about. As they weren’t usually attached to a unit like the US tank battalions attached to infantry divisions, and more like thrown into the fighting.

Logistically speaking the Tigers themselves were a nightmare for any quartermaster or engineer. For every 10 Tiger Is built, only 1 could be fully repaired and the Tiger IIs were just as bad. The Germans never standardized their assembly lines like the US did, the German tanks had many different variants of one tank. The US did as well for the Sherman, the thing was that the US would slowly phase out old versions and get new ones starting with each factory. This would make sure production kept going and no efficiency was lost in changing designs. The Germans never did so and usually told workers to change to the new design immediately. This meant production would be halted immediately and efficiency lost while training the workers on the new design. While the Tiger also had problems with its suspension and transmission as the engine was stressed from the weight of the tank.

While the Tigers have been glorified over the years, honestly if the Germans had more they would still have many problems that they would have to fix and would prevent them from being a strategic tank. While effective in fighting other tanks in small numbers, if we look at the bigger picture it’s constant breakdowns, low numbers, and lack of spare parts and resources, it would not be effective enough to decide the war.

But you might ask about the medium tanks? The Panthers, StuGs, and Panzer IVs, would these help if they were made in large numbers? The answer is no as well.

The Panther has a lot of problems that many people overlook for its armor and gun. The tank itself had a 150km range at any given time. This isn’t its fuel range or its transmission breaking down which were problems in itself, but its drive wheels. The drive wheels power the tracks and make the tank drive forward and back. These drive wheels were only slated for 150km and you have one on each side of the tank. So now if the drive wheels break you now have to wait for the engineers to come up with a truck or halftrack with a 9 ton winch to lift the Panther up and replace the drive wheels. Or just abandon the tank entirely which many were, much of the Panthers in France were found abandoned on the road side due to drive wheel breakdowns. This was the big killer, many of its other faults such as the hardened armor, the inability to go uphill without fuel leaking into the engine compartment and the transmission, the tank itself was a mess. But when it did get to the place it needed to go it was a effective. After the war the French wanted to see if this tank would be a good fit with their army, they tested it out against the US Sherman. The test done proved the Sherman was the best choice. The positives they gave were its long range, scope, and flat trajectory for its shot. But the problems once again were as I listed before, the French did try to fix the drive wheels by a redesign. But they realized they would have to redesign the entire tank from top to bottom and that would be a waste.

The StuG was initially a infantry gun or Self Propelled Gun. These were a low velocity gun fixed forward on a tank body, they were to act in support of the infantry and directly support them. Unlike tanks they were supposed to be spread out and not grouped up like tanks were. It should be noted they were not apart of the Panzerwaffe initially and were instead part of the artillery branch. As the campaign of France went on these StuGs were called upon more and more to deal with the heavier armored British and French tanks. When in Russia after facing the T-34 and KVs they soon turned into a mobile anti tank gun. They were taken away from supporting infantry and used in ambushing enemy tanks. However after their failed offensive at Kursk the Germans were no longer on the offensive, but on the defense. The StuGs role now switched to an anti tank gun as it wasn’t assaulting and fortified positions anymore, it’s low silhouette made it perfect for ambushes. But this tank also found its way into Panzer divisions as Panzer divisions were lacking regular tanks and had to make due with StuGs. The StuG was not supposed to be a mainstay of the Germany Panzer divisions or be an anti tank gun, rather it was meant to support infantry and take fortified positions. However as the war dragged on and the Germans were now on the defensive; it found itself more and more in taking out enemy tanks as an anti tank gun and put into Panzer divisions which it wasn’t supposed to be.

The Panzer IV while one of the better medium tanks the Germans fielded, it was at the limits of its upgradable capacity and was being outclassed. The Panzer IV was initially supposed to be an infantry support tank or an anti infantry tank. However with the encounter of numerous T-34s and Panzer IIIs being slowly outclassed by them, the Panzer IV was given a longer 75mm gun which could deal with the T-34s. The Panzer IVs were also given extra armor and side skirts to help against anti tank rifles and add some extra armor. These however would not be able to save it from the US’ new tank: the M4 Sherman. The M4 Sherman when debut in North Africa completely outclassed the Panzer IV in armor, crew safety, ease of maintenance, ease of manufacturing, and reliability. The only thing it beat it in was its longer gun, however the Sherman still could punch a hole in the 60mm frontal armor of the Panzer IV with its 75mm gun. The Sherman would get a larger 76mm gun after invading France, but many US tank commanders when asked if they wanted it did not want it. They never ran into anything that would require a 76mm, they were perfectly dealing with the other German tanks. The Panzer IV was at the height of its design with its longer gun and extra armor, any more would stress the engine and transmission. It was being outclassed by later T-34s and the Shermans and tens of thousands were made of each tanks. While the Panzer IV only numbered around 8000. It kept up with these newer tanks, but was outclassed by these newer tanks by numbers, better features, and overall better designs.

But none of this really matters, even if Germany wanted to make 50,000 Tiger Is and IIs, or Panthers, Panzer IVs and StuGs each. It still has one huge problem it cannot fix no matter how many redesigns or factories it has: oil. Germany is running out of oil by 1941 and even with imports from the Soviet Union and Romania its not enough to keep Germany going. And at any time Germany could be cut off from oil from the Soviets and would be at their mercy. That is why Germany invaded the Soviet Union: for oil and resources. If Germany can capture the Caucasus and take their oil, they can not only take care of their oil problems but make sure the Russians don’t get any as well. But after Case Blau failed, there was no hope in getting that oil for Germany. You can make as many tanks as you want, but with no oil to run the tanks those tanks are useless paperweights and a waste of resources.

Edit 1: I left a list of what the French found right and wrong with the Panther in their report 1947 in a comment below if your interested.

Sources:

Glantz, David M., and David M. Glantz. Before Stalingrad: Barbarossa - Hitlers Invasion of Russia 1941. Tempus, 2003.

Spielberger, Walter J., and Thomas L. Jentz. Panzerkampfwagen IV and Its Variants 1935-1945. Schiffer Military History, 2011

Spielberger, Walter J., and Uwe Feist. Panzerkampfwagen VI: Tiger I and II "Königstiger". Aero Publishers, 1977.

KOZITSYN. (2018). STURMGESCHUTZ III & STURMHAUBITZE 42. : PANZERWRECKS Limited.

Zaloga, Steve. Armored Thunderbolt: the U.S. Army Sherman in World War II. Stackpole Books, 2008.

Frieser, Karl-Heinz, and John T. Greenwood. The Blitzkrieg Legend: the 1940 Campaign in the West. Naval Institute Press, 2013.

Spielberger, W. (1993). Panther and its variants. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., pp.160-165.

Wilbeck, C. (2004). Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II. Bedford, Pa.: Aberjona.