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Nazi heavy tank battalions.

Tiger Tank 1 at Bovington museum.

Nazi heavy tank battalions (German: schwere-Panzer-Abteilung), were battalion-sized World War II tank units, equipped with Tiger I and later, Tiger II heavy tanks. Originally intended to fight on the offensive during breakthrough operations, the German late-war realities required them to be used in a defensive posture by providing heavy fire support and counterattacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad-hoc Kampfgruppe. These panzer detachments were considered elite units.

Formation

Early formation units experimented to find the correct combination of heavy Tiger tanks supported by either medium Panzer III tanks or scout elements. In 1942 this consisted of 20 Tigers and 16 Panzer IIIs, composed of two companies, each with four platoons of two Tigers and two Panzer IIIs. Each company commander would have an additional Tiger, and battalion command would have another two.

Later formations had a standard organization of 45 Tiger Tanks, composed of 3 companies of 14 Tigers each, plus 3 command vehicles. Maintenance troubles and the mechanical unreliability of the Tigers posed a continuous problem, so often the units would field a smaller number of combat-ready tanks.

The limited number of these heavy tanks, plus their specialized role in either offensive or defensive missions, meant they were rarely permanently assigned to a single division or corps; but shuffled around according to war circumstances.

By the end of the war, the following heavy panzer detachments had been created. Early units were re-built several times by the end of the war.

In addition to tanks, each battalion planned to include the following:
Description	1 July 1943	1 January 1945
Flakpanzer IV	0	8
8 ton 4x 2 cm Flak	6	3
Schutzenpanzerwagen	10	11
Bergepanzer V	0	5
18 ton Zugkraftwagen	8	7
1 ton Zugkraftwagen	8	13
Kettenkrad	0	14
Beiwagenkrad	25	0
Solokrad	17	6
Personenkraftwagen	64	38
Personenkraftwagen, zivil	2	1
Lastkraftwagen	111	84
Lastkraftwagen, zivil	24	34
Maultier	0	6
Kran-Kraftfahrzeug	3	3
Total	278	233

Army units

Units attached to the German Army (Heer) were:

501st German heavy tank battalion
502nd German heavy tank battalion
503rd German heavy tank battalion
504th German heavy tank battalion
505th German heavy tank battalion
506th German heavy tank battalion
507th German heavy tank battalion
508th German heavy tank battalion
509th German heavy tank battalion
510th German heavy tank battalion
3rd Battalion, Grossdeutschland Division (exception as they were permanently assigned)

SS units

Units attached to the Waffen-SS were:

SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 101 renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 501, part of I SS Panzer Corps
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 102 renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 502, part of II SS Panzer Corps
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103 renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 503, part of III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 104 was planned 22 October 1943, for IV SS Panzer Corps, but was never formed

Kill and Loss Ratio of the Tiger Battalions (1942 - 1945):
Unit	Losses	Destroyed	Ratio
501st German heavy tank battalion	120	450	3.75
502nd German heavy tank battalion	107	1,400	13.08
503rd German heavy tank battalion	252	1,700	6.75
504th German heavy tank battalion	109	250	2.29
505th German heavy tank battalion	126	900	7.14
506th German heavy tank battalion	179	400	2.23
507th German heavy tank battalion	104	600	5.77
508th German heavy tank battalion	78	100	1.28
509th German heavy tank battalion	120	500	4.17
510th German heavy tank battalion	65	200	3.08
13./Panzer-Regiment Großdeutschland	6	100	16.67
III./Panzer-Regiment Großdeutschland	98	500	5.10
13./SS-Panzer-Regiment 1	42	400	9.52
8./SS-Panzer-Regiment 2	31	250	8.06
9./SS-Panzer-Regiment 3	56	500	8.93
101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion	107	500	4.67
102 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion	76	600	7.89
103 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion	39	500	12.82
TOTAL:	1,715	9,850	5.74

Tank losses include not only losses inflicted by other tanks. Also, many tanks were abandoned by their crews due a lack of fuel or ammunition, especially at the end of war. Thus, the real tank-to-tank ratios are higher.

References

Schneider, Wolfgang (2000). Tigers in Combat I. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books. ISBN 9780811731713.
Wilbeck, Christopher (2004). Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II. Bedford: Aberjona Press. OCLC 200489614

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