Here's some information about s.Pz-Abt 502, 501 and 504 during their initial deployments. Equipped solely with Pz.Kpfw VI Tiger tanks and Pz.Kpfw III (for support and flank protection).
From 12th January - 31st March 1943, 1st Company (theoretically seven Tigers and eight Pz.Kpfw III) s.Pz-Abt 502 operating near Leningrad with Army Group North destroyed one-hundred and sixty enemy tanks with a loss of six Tiger tanks. A kill:loss of 26.7:1. Only three of those lost were to enemy action. Two became stuck and were destroyed by their crew. One fell to mechanical failure and was unrecoverable.
As we all know the Tiger was a monster for fuel consumption and was a mechanical nightmare. On average it only could achieve a forty mile combat movement. A huge problem for the Tiger was a lack of recovery vehicles. The Tiger was thrown into combat quickly without any armoured recovery vehicles. They only had eighteen-ton vehicles but it took two to pull a Tiger. Unofficially Tigers were used to pull disabled Tigers but this was against the rules.
s.Pz-Abt 501 operated in Tunisia. While there it achieved sixty-two percent operational rate of it's Tigers. It arrived before it's support platoons and had to go into combat without any maintenance teams. Yet s.Pz-Abt.501 managed to destroy a number exceeding one-hundred and fifty enemy tanks, of which all were destroyed by the Tigers of the battalion. They lost eleven while in Tunisia which was a kill:loss of 13.6:1. Of those eleven lost, three were to direct enemy action. The rest either broke down or were immobilised in a minefield and could not be recovered.
s.Pz-Abt 504 also operated in Tunisia. While there it achieved a fifty percent operational rate of it's Tigers. From 12 March - 12 May 1943 the battalion destroyed over one-hundred and fifty enemy tanks for a loss of eight Tigers. That's a kill:loss of 18.8. Of all those lost only two were lost to enemy action. That means that the kill:loss due to direct enemy action was an astounding 75:1! The battalion destroyed its remaining Tigers before the Afrika Korps capitulated meaning that a total kill:loss for the Wehrmacht was actually 6.8:1.
These early actions proved that the Tiger needed a recovery vehicle capable of taking it from the battlefield to the rear areas for repair. The loss rate would have been much less had this kind of vehicle been present as most were stuck or immobilised but had to be destroyed due to lack of a recovery vehicle. s.Pz-Abt 504 actually records a Tiger being towed by a single Pz.Kpfw III out of desperation!
The schwere Panzer Abteilungs were created to concentrate the deadly Tiger tank. They were envisaged crushing the enemy lines and destroying their artillery, providing a breakthrough and free roam for the lighter panzers. The employment also included the complete destruction of the enemy tank forces, without destroying the enemy armour a breakthrough will never be achieved. The Western Allies and Red Army were well known not to face the Tiger head-on if at all during these early years of it's introduction. In the Western Desert the Allied armour would simply move away from the Tigers and lay minefields infront of the retreat to trap and immobilise the Tigers.
From 12th January - 31st March 1943, 1st Company (theoretically seven Tigers and eight Pz.Kpfw III) s.Pz-Abt 502 operating near Leningrad with Army Group North destroyed one-hundred and sixty enemy tanks with a loss of six Tiger tanks. A kill:loss of 26.7:1. Only three of those lost were to enemy action. Two became stuck and were destroyed by their crew. One fell to mechanical failure and was unrecoverable.
As we all know the Tiger was a monster for fuel consumption and was a mechanical nightmare. On average it only could achieve a forty mile combat movement. A huge problem for the Tiger was a lack of recovery vehicles. The Tiger was thrown into combat quickly without any armoured recovery vehicles. They only had eighteen-ton vehicles but it took two to pull a Tiger. Unofficially Tigers were used to pull disabled Tigers but this was against the rules.
s.Pz-Abt 501 operated in Tunisia. While there it achieved sixty-two percent operational rate of it's Tigers. It arrived before it's support platoons and had to go into combat without any maintenance teams. Yet s.Pz-Abt.501 managed to destroy a number exceeding one-hundred and fifty enemy tanks, of which all were destroyed by the Tigers of the battalion. They lost eleven while in Tunisia which was a kill:loss of 13.6:1. Of those eleven lost, three were to direct enemy action. The rest either broke down or were immobilised in a minefield and could not be recovered.
s.Pz-Abt 504 also operated in Tunisia. While there it achieved a fifty percent operational rate of it's Tigers. From 12 March - 12 May 1943 the battalion destroyed over one-hundred and fifty enemy tanks for a loss of eight Tigers. That's a kill:loss of 18.8. Of all those lost only two were lost to enemy action. That means that the kill:loss due to direct enemy action was an astounding 75:1! The battalion destroyed its remaining Tigers before the Afrika Korps capitulated meaning that a total kill:loss for the Wehrmacht was actually 6.8:1.
These early actions proved that the Tiger needed a recovery vehicle capable of taking it from the battlefield to the rear areas for repair. The loss rate would have been much less had this kind of vehicle been present as most were stuck or immobilised but had to be destroyed due to lack of a recovery vehicle. s.Pz-Abt 504 actually records a Tiger being towed by a single Pz.Kpfw III out of desperation!
The schwere Panzer Abteilungs were created to concentrate the deadly Tiger tank. They were envisaged crushing the enemy lines and destroying their artillery, providing a breakthrough and free roam for the lighter panzers. The employment also included the complete destruction of the enemy tank forces, without destroying the enemy armour a breakthrough will never be achieved. The Western Allies and Red Army were well known not to face the Tiger head-on if at all during these early years of it's introduction. In the Western Desert the Allied armour would simply move away from the Tigers and lay minefields infront of the retreat to trap and immobilise the Tigers.
