The Tigers first appearance on the Eastern Front was unsuccessful. Tigers were first issued to the 1st platoon of the 502 Battalion of Heavy Tanks (Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502). On August 29, 1942, four Tigers arrived at the Mga railway station near Leningrad. As soon as they arrived they were unloaded and made ready for battle. At 1100 hours, the tanks made their way to their battle stations. Major Richard Merker was in command of the platoon, which included four Tigers, six PzKpfw III Ausf. L and J, two infantry companies and several trucks of the technical support unit. A representative of the Henshel firm – Hans Franke accompanied the unit in a VW Kubelwagen right behind the first Tiger. After the attack, it was realised that trying to use the heavy Tiger tank on soft ground was an error as its ability to manoeuvre was severely reduced. The Tiger already had a slower moving turret, top speed and slower turn than the likes of the T-34. This was the trade-off for having a much more powerful gun and thicker armour.
During the battle, Russian infantry retreated, and their artillery opened heavy fire to cover the troops. Major Merker’s unit, divided into two groups, started to attack on two parallel side road. The first Tiger was soon abandoned because of transmission failure. The second one was abandoned a few minutes later after engine failure. In spite of Russian fire, the Henschel representative started to inspect the tanks, before Merker came by with his Tiger and said that the third tank was disabled because the steering control failed. During the night, all three damaged Tigers were evacuated using Sd Kfz 9 prime movers. It took three of these per Tiger to recover. The Germans had been lucky that the Red Army had not tried to capture the disabled tanks. Spare parts were flown in and all four Tigers repaired by the 15 September ready for battle.
Sadly, the second action the Tigers participated in was no better than the first. September 22, saw four Tigers, supported by PzKpfw III tanks; accompany the 170th Infantry Division in attacking the 2nd Soviet Army. The terrain was highly unsuitable, the ground again was too soft after heavy rain, and Merker opposed the use of Tigers in this operation. After a direct order from Hitler, the Tigers went into battle. Not long after the attack began, the first Tiger received a direct hit in the front armour plate. The shell did not penetrate, but the impact caused the engine to stall and there was no time to restart it. The crew abandoned the Tiger before they threw hand grenades into the fighting compartment.
The other three Tigers reached the Russian trenches, but very soon were damaged by Red Army artillery crossfire as they lost their ability to manoeuvre on the soft ground. Again, the three Tigers had to be abandoned and the fourth was destroyed to prevent it from being captured.
The Wehrmacht was adamant that crews read the Tiger’s manual before charging into battle with one of the Third Reich’s most vital (and expensive) pieces of hardware. However, experience showed that young tankers had little interest in poring over pages of dry instructions and boring schematics. To try to entice crews into reading the Tiger manual it was renamed the Tigerfibel and used poetry, humour and illustrations including scantily clad illustrations of women to make crews want to read it. A similar manual was also written for the Panther tank. The manual was written by Lt. Josef von Glatter-Goetz. In contrast to the usual tedium of instruction manuals.
The manual mostly covered the maintenance of the tank however it also contained supplements, like a vehicle recognition chart, which displayed good black and white photographs and diagrams of the Allied tanks a Tiger tank crew could encounter.
The Tigerfibell also included diagrams illustrating the vulnerability of enemy tanks and the ranges at which the armour could be penetrated. There were detailed diagrams of these tanks, which revealed the vulnerable spots in the front, side and back armour. The manual stood out not just for its humorous and playful tone, but also for its striking graphic design, which ironically was inspired by the ‘degenerate’ and ‘communist’ Bauhaus school of the 1930s so detested by Nazi ideologues. Each page of the manual was printed using just black and red ink with the text broken up by illustrations, cartoons, and easy-to-read technical diagrams. It provided an influential model for future army manuals
Finally, Tigers had a successful third battle. January 12, 1943, saw the 502nd support the 96th Infantry Division opposing an attack of Russian tanks. Four Tigers destroyed twelve T-34 tanks. This forced the rest of the Soviet tanks into retreat.
January 16, 1943 the Russians finally captured their first Tiger during a German attack near the Shlisselburg on the Leningrad front. This tank was immediately delivered to the Kubinka Proving Grounds and inspected by Soviet Engineers. This meant the Soviets knew all of its secrets and could use this knowledge to build their own tanks and know the best method to attack and destroy a Tiger.
In early 1943, the Red Army had no comparable answer in terms of firepower to the Tiger and its 8.8cm KwK 36 L/56 gun or its heavy armour. For close combat, the Red Army Infantry had the PTRD-41 and PTRS-41 anti-tank rifles, which had a 4-foot barrel firing 0.57 inch or 14.5 mm shells with tungsten cores. This weapon was not able to knock out the Tiger, but, in the right hands, could destroy the tank’s optic devices or damage the suspension, slowing down its progress or immobilizing a Tiger. However, it was pretty much useless against the heavy German tanks, and later Soviet troops used captured Panzerfausts.
Artillery was the main weapon of the Red Army. Although, not all Russian artillery could penetrate Tiger’s armour. If fire was concentrated from several guns onto a single Tiger, the Tiger could be heavily damaged.
The 76.2mm ZIS-3 cannon, using anti-tank shells, could penetrate Tiger side armour at distances between 300-400 meters. The ZIS-3 could also destroy the running gear, but could not penetrate the Tiger’s frontal armour. The Tigers poor manoeuvrability aided in the use of anti-tank guns. Although it took the 85mm or 122mm A-19 cannon to destroy a Tiger at longer ranges. The Soviets made many anti-tank guns, up to 100mm in bore diameter.
When the Tiger I first appeared on the Eastern Front, the Red Army had the T-34/76 and different models of the KV-1. Until the autumn 1943, Red Army had only two types of SP guns: the SU-122 Medium Assault Gun and the SU-76 Light Self-Propelled Gun. None of these were effective against the Tiger at ranges over 500 meters. The Tiger had a great advantage over long distances. During the famous tank battle near Prokhorovka, the Soviet commanders tried to take advantage of the greater mobility of the T-34 and the assault guns by closing in to short ranges and shooting at the Tiger’s thinner side armour. The result of the battle was that the new German tanks were equal to older Soviet tanks because of the correct choice on the battlefield. This was a great manoeuvre on the part of Gen. Col. Rotmistrov and Gen Leut. Zhadov. The battle ended with almost equal losses, but the Soviets kept more tanks in reserve for a counterattack, while Germans were unable to continue with their offensive.
In February of 1944, the T-34 was rearmed with the new long-barrelled 85mm S-53 gun This was an 85mm AA gun was an anti-aircraft gun without any special modifications. In mid-1944 with 85mm ZIS-S-53. The ZiS-S-53 was a modified S-53 designed by Grabin’s Design Bureau to simplify the gun and reduce its price, while ballistic of both guns were same. This new gun could penetrate the side armour of a Tiger from 800 meters and penetrate the side of the turret from 600 meters. However, the Tiger could destroy the T-34 from 1,500 to 2,000 meters.
From early 1943 to mid-1944, the main opponents of the Tiger on the Eastern Front were the assault guns based on T-34 and KV-1 chassis. When it was discovered that the existing SU-76 and SU-122 types could not penetrate the Tiger’s armour at any distance under 1,000 meters, the Soviets decided to create a new assault gun, the SU-85, armed with an adaptation of the 85mm anti-aircraft gun. Production of the SU-122 was stopped and the SU-85 was adopted in its place. It was later followed by the SU-100 medium assault gun. By mid-1943, SU-152 heavy assault gun entered service. The SU-152 was based on the KV-1 heavy tank and was armed 152mm howitzer. It was nicknamed Zveroboi (Animal Killer). At the end of 1943, a new assault gun, the ISU-152, based on IS-2 heavy tank was produced. It was armed with a very powerful 152mm howitzer. The shell of this gun could penetrate any part of the Tiger’s armour and even cut the turret from the hull. The ISU-152 was nicknamed “Animal Hunter”. The weight of the AP (Armour Piercing) shell was 48kg, while the high explosive shell was 41kg.