The Tiger was a formidable fighting machine, but it had one significant design flaw – it had four staggered rows of support wheels and wide tracks due to its excessive mass. This support wheel system with torsion bar suspension provides a smooth ride, but in winter, the wheels are covered with mud and snow, which freezes at night and hinders the tank's movement in the morning. In addition, when replacing the internal support wheels, several external wheels need to be removed first, even if they are in good condition.
Friends, please actively follow the channel and leave comments.
In addition, the Tiger tank has two types of tracks - "combat" and "transport" tracks. The "Tiger" tank, with a "combat" track with a width of 725 mm, had a pressure on the ground at 1.06 kg per square centimeter. This is a fairly reasonable value for a tank weighing 56 tons. For example, the pressure on the ground of the 30.3-ton "Sherman" tank is about 1 kg per square centimeter, the pressure on the ground of the 28-ton "Cromwell" Mk.VIII is about 1 kg per square centimeter, the pressure on the ground of the T-34-76 weighing 28.5 tons is 0.68 kg per square centimeter, and the pressure of the ground on the ground of the T-33-34-85 weighing 33 tons is 0.8 kg per square centimeter.
The Tiger tank, which uses "transport" tracks, is loaded on the platform, and the "combat" tracks are placed under the tank hull.
These excellent properties caused great inconvenience to the Germans. As already mentioned, the "Tiger" tank is also equipped with "transport" tracks with a width of 520 mm. When using the "transport" tracks, the pressure on the ground of the "Tiger" tank increased to 1.48 kg per square centimeter, that is, almost 1.4 times more (in fact, slightly less, since it was necessary to dismantle a row of support wheels). Why the external support wheels should be removed will be explained below.
"Tiger" tanks with "transport" and "combat" tracks.
It turned out that since the width of the "Tiger" tank exceeded the standards of European railways, it was very difficult to transport when using "combat" tracks, since it could hit oncoming trains (especially at marshalling yards), platforms, tunnels and other railway infrastructure. The width of the tank of the "Tiger" type (tracked part, that is, excluding the "wings" of the sides) was 3547 mm, while the maximum width allowed by the standards of European railways was 3150 mm. Theoretically, the transportation of out-of-gauge cargo is possible, but this greatly increases the difficulty of transportation - it is necessary to limit the speed of the oncoming train, reduce the speed of the train, remove obstacles (depending on the degree of overrun). When using "transport" tracks, the width of the tank is determined by the hull, which is able to adapt to the requirements of the European railway system (3547 - 410 = 3137 mm).
Therefore, for Germany tank crews, transporting a tank battalion of the "Tiger" type by rail was a troublesome affair - it was necessary to remove the wide tracks, then a row of external support wheels, 4 on each side, and then install the narrow tracks. The standard time to change a track is 25 minutes, but in practice this operation takes several hours to complete.
The "Tiger" tank was transported on a specialized 6-axle platform using "combat" tracks.
And these (wide tracks and 8 external support wheels on both sides) also needed to be transported by rail along with the tank. In addition, due to the unreliability of most bridges, it was not possible to continuously attach a six-axle railway platform designed specifically for the transportation of "Tiger" tanks. This circumstance actually lengthened the time for the transportation of tanks of the "Tiger" and made it more difficult for the transportation of heavy tank battalions.
In addition, the troops of the tank battalion had to carry with them "transport" tracks in order to be able to load the tanks onto the railway in a timely manner.
"Combat" tracks of the "Tiger" tank.
It is worth mentioning that the chassis of the Porsche-designed "Tiger" tank did not require the replacement of tracks when transported by rail.
Similar problems arose with the "King Tiger" tank, which had a "combat" track width of 800 mm, and a "transport" track of 660 mm. The "transport" tracks of the "King Tiger" tank are the same as the "combat" tracks of the "Leopard" tank (Germany rarely carries out such unification). It should be noted that the "Leopard" tank is a "narrow" tank, which does not require the use of "transport" tracks.
Of course, the "Tiger" tank can also fight with "transport" tracks, but only along the road or on good ground. In the same way, it can be transported over short distances using "combat-ready" tracks, as long as it is ensured that the railway infrastructure is not touched (there are such photos), transported as out-of-gauge cargo, but this can only be done with full knowledge of the state of the railway.
The "Tiger" tank with "transport" tracks was loaded on the platform. Next to the tank were placed external support wheels
There may be a question - what were the dimensions of the railways in the USSR? After all, they are wider, and there is no need to "change shoes" on the occupied territory of the USSR? It is known that the European standard gauge was 1435 mm, and in the USSR it was 1534 mm, was it wider in the loading area in the USSR? It turned out that the Soviet standard width was 3414 mm, which was wider than the European standard (3150 mm), but it was still not enough to transport the "Tiger" tank (3547 mm).
Therefore, the situation remains - either "change shoes", or use "combat-ready" tracks for out-of-gauge cargo transportation, which causes a lot of inconvenience - oncoming trains need to wait on feeder lines, slow down the overall freight speed, etc.
The railway standards of the Soviet Union maintained the same standards as those of the Tsarist period. In 1934, the USSR expanded the range of non-standard cargo close to buildings.
And what about Soviet tanks? The width of the heavy tank KV-1 is 3320 mm, the KV-1S is 3250 mm, the T-35 is 3200 mm, the IS-1 and IS-2 are 3070 mm, the medium tank T-34 is 3000 mm, and so on. Apparently, the tanks of the Soviet army fully met the standards of the Soviet railways, and the IS series tanks even met the standards of Europe. The United States "Sherman" tank is narrower at 2616 mm.
One might think that the problem of changing tracks for the Tiger tank was accidental, and otherwise Germany was excellent in engineering. In reality, this is not the case. Germany also has an experimental super-heavy tank "Rat", which weighs 188 tons (the "Tiger" tank weighs 57 tons, and the "King Tiger" weighs 68 tons). Tests of the "Mouse" tank began in May 1943, followed by an order for 150 units. However, due to delays in testing, this large order was cancelled in October 1943. However, the "Rat" tank is out-of-gauge cargo with a width of 3670 mm and is not intended to be replaced with narrow tracks. Even the transportation of several such tanks to the front could seriously hamper railway traffic, both in Europe and in the occupied territory of the USSR.