IS-2 vs King Tiger: The 122 That Cracked the Heaviest Tank
Mil Undecided
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IS-2 vs King Tiger: The 122 That Cracked the Heaviest Tank
On a foggy morning near the Polish village of Ogledow, in August of nineteen forty-four, a Soviet tank crew sat hidden in a corn field and watched the heaviest tank of the war roll past at two hundred yards.
The matchup, laid bare:
The King Tiger, or Tiger two, was the heaviest tank of the war at close to seventy seven tons, with a front plate nearly six inches thick.
The Soviet eye ess two carried a one hundred twenty two millimeter gun firing a shell of about fifty five pounds, heavy enough to crack welds and shatter armor without a clean hit.
Soviet testing at Kubinka showed that shell splitting the King Tiger's plate and bursting its seams even when it did not punch all the way through.
The Soviets built about three thousand eight hundred fifty four eye ess twos against roughly four hundred eighty nine Tiger twos, close to eight to one.
The Tiger two shared its engine with the far lighter Panther, broke its final drives on long marches, and was too heavy for many bridges, so most were lost to breakdowns, not gunfire.
The call sheet on IS-2 against the King Tiger is pinned up top.
Subscribe for more armor history, and call the next matchup in the comments.
#WW2 #IS2 #KingTiger #TigerII #EasternFront #TankBattle #SovietTanks #Ogledow
15 Comments
and when will you tell us that <500 king tigers were produced 9and they fought on 2 fronts), whereas almost 4,000 is-2s were built (which does not include is-3s or the casemate tanks)
--> 20:25
Tiger II: About 77 tons (about 69 tonnes), the heaviest and most heavily armored tank of the war; glacis 150 mm, turret front 180 mm. (Wikipedia, Tiger II)
IS-2 gun: 122 mm D-25T, about 55 lb shell, two-piece ammunition, about 2 to 3 rounds per minute, about 28 rounds carried. (Tanks Encyclopedia)
Kubinka test: 122 mm hits cracked the King Tiger's plate and burst its welds even without full penetration. (Tank Archives)
Production: About 3,854 IS-2 built vs about 489 Tiger II, roughly 8 to 1. (Wikipedia, IS-2)
Ogledow, Aug 1944: sPzAbt 501 started with 45 King Tigers; most broke down on a ~28-mile march (final drives). (Tank Archives)
Oskin's ambush: A T-34-85, gunner Merkhaidarov, knocked out 3 King Tigers from a corn field; Hero of the Soviet Union. (warhistory.org)
Lisow, Jan 1945: sPzAbt 424 lost about 12 to 14 Tigers to the 61st Gds Tank Bde and IS-2s of the 72nd Gds Heavy Tank Regt. (Tank Archives)
Tiger II mobility: HL230 engine shared with the 25-ton-lighter Panther; road range ~120 mi; too heavy for many bridges. (Panzerworld)
IS-2 vs King Tiger: The 122 That Cracked the Heaviest Tank
Mil Undecided
6,873 views
IS-2 vs King Tiger: The 122 That Cracked the Heaviest Tank
On a foggy morning near the Polish village of Ogledow, in August of nineteen forty-four, a Soviet tank crew sat hidden in a corn field and watched the heaviest tank of the war roll past at two hundred yards.
The matchup, laid bare:
The King Tiger, or Tiger two, was the heaviest tank of the war at close to seventy seven tons, with a front plate nearly six inches thick.
The Soviet eye ess two carried a one hundred twenty two millimeter gun firing a shell of about fifty five pounds, heavy enough to crack welds and shatter armor without a clean hit.
Soviet testing at Kubinka showed that shell splitting the King Tiger's plate and bursting its seams even when it did not punch all the way through.
The Soviets built about three thousand eight hundred fifty four eye ess twos against roughly four hundred eighty nine Tiger twos, close to eight to one.
The Tiger two shared its engine with the far lighter Panther, broke its final drives on long marches, and was too heavy for many bridges, so most were lost to breakdowns, not gunfire.
The call sheet on IS-2 against the King Tiger is pinned up top.
Subscribe for more armor history, and call the next matchup in the comments.
#WW2 #IS2 #KingTiger #TigerII #EasternFront #TankBattle #SovietTanks #Ogledow