German heavy tank battalions , were elite battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

-sized World War II tank units, equipped with Tiger I

Tiger I

Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...

, and later Tiger II

Tiger II

Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B,Panzerkampfwagen – abbr: Pz. or Pz.Kfw. Ausführung – abbr: Ausf. .The full titles Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf...

, 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 counter-attacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad-hoc Kampfgruppe

Kampfgruppe

In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...

. 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

Panzer III

Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...

 tanks or scout

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 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.

style="font-size:normal; text-align:left;" | In addition to tanks, each battalion planned to include the following:

Description	vehicle type	1 July 1943	1 January 1945
Flakpanzer IV Flakpanzer IV Flakpanzer IV is the general designation for a series of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns based on the Panzerkampfwagen IV chassis. They are in order of development:*Möbelwagen*Wirbelwind*Ostwind*Kugelblitz...	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun	0	8
Sd.Kfz. 7/1 8 ton 4 x 2 cm Flak	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun	6	3
Sd.Kfz. 251 Schützenpanzerwagen	Armoured half-track	10	11
Bergepanther	Armoured recovery vehicle Armoured recovery vehicle An armoured recovery vehicle is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to repair battle- or mine-damaged as well as broken-down armoured vehicles during combat, or to tow them out of the danger zone for more extensive repairs...	0	5
Sd.Kfz. 9 Sd.Kfz. 9 The Sd.Kfz. 9 was a German half-track that saw widespread use in World War II. Its main roles were as a prime mover for very heavy towed guns such as the 24 cm Kanone 3 and as a tank recovery vehicle. Approximately 2,500 were produced between 1938 and 1945.-Description:The Sd.Kfz. 9 had a ladder...  18 ton Zugkraftwagen	Half-track prime mover	8	7
Sd.Kfz. 10 1 ton Zugkraftwagen	Light half-track	8	13
Sd.Kfz. 2 Kettenkrad	Gun tractor	0	14
Beiwagenkrad	Motorcycle with sidecar, e.g. BMW R75 BMW R75 The BMW R75 is a World War II-era motorcycle and sidecar combination produced by the German company BMW.In the 1930s BMW were producing a number of popular and highly effective motorcycles...	25	0
Solokrad	Motorcycle	17	6
Kübelwagen Personenkraftwagen	Staff car	64	38
Personenkraftwagen, zivil	Civilian car	2	1
Lastkraftwagen	Truck, e.g. Opel Blitz Opel Blitz Opel Blitz was the name given to various German light and middle-weight trucks built by Opel between 1930 and 1975.During the years preceding the Second World War Opel was Germany's largest truck producer...	111	84
Lastkraftwagen, zivil	Civilian truck	24	34
Maultier Maultier Maultier is the name given to series of half-tracked trucks used by Germans during World War II. They were based on Opel, Mercedes-Benz or Ford trucks.-History:...	Half-track	0	6
Kran-Kraftfahrzeug	Mobile crane	3	3
Total		278	233

Army units

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.

Independent units attached to the German Army (Heer) were:

• 501st Heavy Tank Battalion
  501st heavy tank battalion (Germany)
  The 501st Heavy Tank Battalion was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the second unit to receive and use the Tiger I The 501st Heavy Tank Battalion (Schwere: heavy, Panzer: tank, Abteilung: battalion) was a German World War II...
  
  
• 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion
  502nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Germany)
  The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I or Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E. It fought on the Eastern front...
  
  
• 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion
• 504th Heavy Tank Battalion
• 505th Heavy Tank Battalion
• 506th Heavy Tank Battalion
• 507th Heavy Tank Battalion
• 508th Heavy Tank Battalion
  508th heavy tank battalion (Germany)
  The 508th Heavy Tank Battalion , was a heavy tank battalion of the German Army during World War II, equipped with Tiger I heavy tanks. It fought at Anzio and later defended German-held Northern Italy opposing the Allies during the Italian Campaign...
  
  
• 509th Heavy Tank Battalion
• 510th Heavy Tank Battalion
  510th heavy tank battalion (Germany)
  The schwere-Panzer-Abteilung 510 was a German heavy panzer abteilung equipped with Tiger I and later Tiger II Königstiger tanks...
  
  
• 511th Heavy Tank Battalion
• 301st Heavy Tank Battalion (radio control)

The only battalion permanently attached to a division:

• 3rd Battalion, Grossdeutschland Division

SS units

Units attached to the Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

 were:

• SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 101 renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 501, part of I SS Panzer Corps
  I SS Panzer Corps
  The I SS Panzer Corps Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or I SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS panzer corps which saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.-Formation and training:...
  
  
• SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 102 renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 502, part of II SS Panzer Corps
  II SS Panzer Corps
  The II SS Panzer Corps was a Nazi German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II.- Formation - Kharkov :...
  
  
• SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103 renamed in 1944, as SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 503, part of III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
  III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
  The III SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (III. (germanische) SS-Panzerkorps) was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The...
  
  
• SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 104 was planned 22 October 1943, for IV SS Panzer Corps
  IV SS Panzer Corps
  The IV.SS-Panzerkorps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II.The Panzerkorps was formed in August, 1943 in Poitiers, France...
  
  , but was never formed

Combat performance

style="font-size:normal; text-align:left;" | Kill and Loss Ratio of the Tiger Battalions (1942–1945):

Unit	Losses	Destroyed	Ratio
501st German heavy tank battalion 501st heavy tank battalion (Germany) The 501st Heavy Tank Battalion was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the second unit to receive and use the Tiger I The 501st Heavy Tank Battalion (Schwere: heavy, Panzer: tank, Abteilung: battalion) was a German World War II...	120	450	3.75
502nd German heavy tank battalion 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Germany) The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was a German World War II independent armoured battalion equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I or Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E. It fought on the Eastern front...	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 508th heavy tank battalion (Germany) The 508th Heavy Tank Battalion , was a heavy tank battalion of the German Army during World War II, equipped with Tiger I heavy tanks. It fought at Anzio and later defended German-held Northern Italy opposing the Allies during the Italian Campaign...	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 Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland The Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland was an élite German Heer ceremonial and combat unit which saw action during World War II. The regiment served in the campaigns in France and the Low Countries in 1940. It then served exclusively on the Eastern Front until the end of the war...	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 102 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion The SS Heavy-Panzer Battalion 102 was a heavy-tank battalion of the Waffen SS during World War II, which fought as part of the II SS Panzer Corps during the Battle of Normandy...	76	600	7.89
103 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103 or s.SS-Panzer Abteilung 103 was originally formed on 1 July 1943 as the II.Battalion, 11 SS Panzer Regiment and sent to Yugoslavia to fight as infantry, however, at the end of November, the battalion was converted back to the Tanks.The Battalion was then issued six...	39	500	12.82
TOTAL:	1,715	9,850	5.74

Tank losses include losses inflicted other than by enemy tanks. Also, many tanks were abandoned by their crews due a lack of fuel, ammunition or breakdown, especially at the end of war. Thus, the real tank-to-tank ratios are higher.

External links

• Tiger I Information Center
• Tiger Battalions in WWII