502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion

Last updated

502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion
Schwere Panzerabteilung 502
Active1942–1945
CountryFlag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Branch Heer
TypeArmoured
Size Battalion
Part of Balkenkreuz.svg Wehrmacht
Equipment Tiger I, Tiger II, Hetzer
Engagements Eastern front, 1942–1945
Insignia
Mammoth 502nd heavy tank battalion insignia.svg

The 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion (German : Schwere Panzerabteilung 502) was a German heavy tank battalion during World War II. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I. It fought on the Eastern front. It was one of the most successful German heavy tank battalions, claiming the destruction of 1,400 tanks and 2,000 guns. Otto Carius, one of the best German tank aces, was a member.

Contents

Formation

The 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion was formed on 25 May 1942 at Bamberg from the 35th Panzer Training Battalion (German : Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilung 35). On 23 July Hitler ordered that the first Tiger I tanks be sent to the Leningrad Front. The 502nd became the first unit to receive Tiger Is [1] when on 19 and 20 August 1942 four Tiger Is were sent to the unit, which only partially equipped one company (later German regulations called for a heavy tank battalion of three companies, with 45 tanks in total). [2] On 29 August 1942 the 502nd arrived at the Leningrad Front.

Operations

A Tiger I heavy tank of the battalion near Lake Ladoga, August 1943 Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-461-0213-34, Russland, Panzer VI (Tiger I) wird aufmunitioniert.jpg
A Tiger I heavy tank of the battalion near Lake Ladoga, August 1943

The battalion took the Tiger I into combat for the first time on 16 September 1942 [3] south of Lake Ladoga near Leningrad. On 22 September, after crossing a causeway, a Tiger became bogged down in the mud, due to enemy fire the tank could not be recovered despite a number of attempts; the tank was destroyed on 25 November to prevent its capture by the enemy. This marked the first total loss of a Tiger I. [1] Several more Tigers and Panzer IIIs arrived on 25 September and were used to completely equip the 1st company. Several more Tiger Is were issued to the unit in February 1943 as replacements for losses.

On 14 January 1943, Soviet troops disabled and captured one of the battalion's Tiger tanks during the Operation Spark near Leningrad. Another vehicle was captured several days later. Both Tigers were quickly brought to Kubinka experimental armor facility where they were thoroughly analyzed to develop and organize strategies to counter the tank only 4 months after its first appearance on the battlefield.

On 1 April 1943, a second and third company were formed. 31 Tigers were shipped to the unit in mid to late May 1943, they brought the battalion up to full strength. In June 1943, due to a change in the organization of heavy tank battalions, the 1st company was completely outfitted with Tiger Is, rather than a mix of Tigers and Panzer IIIs.

The battalion participated in engagements on the Eastern Front during 1943 and 1944. The unit operated around Lake Ladoga from July to September 1943 [4] and Newel, near Belarus during November and December 1943 covering the retreat of German forces from the Leningrad area. The 502nd held Narva, Estonia from February to April 1944. [5] The 502nd fought in Pleskau in April and May 1944, [6] then around Dunaburg, Latvia in July. [7]

The battalion only received a few Tiger IIs. The last 13 Tiger IIs built were picked up directly at the factory by crews of the 3rd Company of the 510th and the 3rd company of the 502nd on 31 March 1945. [8] The unit received eight Tiger IIs and took the tanks into combat on 1 April 1945.

The 502nd heavy tank battalion also served on the Western Front. By War's end, the battalion destroyed about 1400 tanks and lost 107 of their tanks from combat and non-combat circumstances such as abandoning by its crew or technical problems that was frequent to German heavy tanks. This gives them an overall kill-loss ratio of 13.08, making them the best heavy tank battalion of the Western Front. [9]

Re-designated to 511

The 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion was re-designated the 511th on 5 January 1945. Due to the lack of Tiger IIs the battalion was issued with a mix of Tiger Is, Tiger IIs, and Hetzer tank destroyers. It fought on the Eastern Front until 27 April when the battalion was disbanded. It surrendered to the Red Army on 9 May. By then the battalion had been issued 105 Tiger Is and eight Tiger IIs. [10] It claimed the destruction of 1,400 enemy tanks, [11] and 2,000 guns. [12]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Doyle and Jentz. Tiger I Heavy Tank, p. 21
  2. Schneider pp. 3–4
  3. Klages, p. 4
  4. Schneider pp. 76–77
  5. Schneider pp. 79–81
  6. Schneider pp. 81–82
  7. Schneider pp. 82–83
  8. Doyle and Jentz. Kingtiger Heavy Tank, p. 39
  9. Wilbeck. Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II, pp. 186 & 188 (Table 5 & 6)
  10. Schneider, p. 112
  11. Klages, p. 9
  12. Schneider, p. 92

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger II</span> German WWII heavy tank

The Tiger II was a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182.. It was also known informally as the Königstiger. Contemporaneous Allied soldiers usually called it the King Tiger or Royal Tiger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panzer IV</span> German WWII medium tank

The Panzerkampfwagen IV, commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panther tank</span> German medium tank of WWII

The Panther tank, officially Panzerkampfwagen V Panther with ordnance inventory designation: Sd.Kfz. 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to the end of the war in May 1945.

<i>Jagdtiger</i> Heavy tank destroyer

The Jagdtiger is a German casemate-type heavy tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer) of World War II. It was built upon the slightly lengthened chassis of a Tiger II. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 186.

<i>Sturmtiger</i> Heavy assault gun

Sturmtiger was a World War II German assault gun built on the Tiger I chassis and armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled mortar. The official German designation was Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61. Its primary task was to provide heavy fire support for infantry units fighting in urban areas. The few vehicles produced fought in the Warsaw Uprising, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Reichswald. The fighting vehicle was known by various informal names, among which the Sturmtiger became the most popular.

The Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland", also commonly referred to simply as Großdeutschland or Großdeutschland Division, was an elite combat unit of the German Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German tanks in World War II</span> Front line armored fighting vehicles used by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks.

101st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion was a German heavy tank battalion in the Waffen-SS during World War II. With the introduction of new Tiger II tanks in late 1944, the unit was renumbered as the 501st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion.

The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion was a German heavy Panzer Abteilung equipped with Tiger I and Panzer III tanks. In 1944, it was re-equipped with the new Tiger II. The battalion saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. As with other German heavy tank battalions, it was normally not assigned to a single corps, but shuffled around according to war circumstances. Later the battalion became part of the newly formed Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle as the Feldherrnhalle Heavy Tank Battalion.

The 509th Heavy Panzer Battalion was a German heavy Panzer Abteilung, equipped with heavy tanks, during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Carius</span> German tank commander

Otto Carius was a German tank commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He fought on the Eastern Front in 1943 and 1944 and on the Western Front in 1945. Carius is considered a "panzer ace", some sources credited him with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks, although Carius, in an interview claims he had around 100 kills or less. This was also due to the fact that he did not count kills as a commander, and rather only as a gunner. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German heavy tank battalion</span> Battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army

A German heavy tank battalion was a battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army (1935–1945), 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 it to be used in a defensive posture by providing heavy fire support and counter-attacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad hoc Kampfgruppen.

The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion was a German heavy Panzer Abteilung equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the second unit to receive and use the Tiger I heavy tank, changing to Tiger IIs in mid-1944.

The 508th Heavy Panzer Battalion was a German heavy Panzer Abteilung, during World War II, equipped with heavy tanks. It fought at Anzio and later defended German-held Northern Italy opposing the Allies during the Italian Campaign. It fought in Italy until it surrendered at the end of the war in May 1945.

The 102nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion was a German heavy tank battalion of the Waffen-SS during World War II. It fought as part of the II SS Panzer Corps during the Battle of Normandy and was nearly destroyed. Renumbered as 502nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion in late 1944, the unit was destroyed in the Halbe Pocket in Spring 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narva offensive (18–24 March 1944)</span> 1944 battle in Estonia during WW II

This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks in the German Army</span>

This article deals with the tanks serving in the German Army throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, the Cold War tanks of the West German and East German Armies, all the way to the present day tanks of the Bundeswehr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger I</span> German WWII heavy tank

The Tiger I was a German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm KwK 36 gun. 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944. After August 1944, production of the Tiger I was phased out in favour of the Tiger II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">506th Heavy Panzer Battalion</span> Military unit

The 506th Heavy Panzer Battalion was a german heavy Panzer Abteilung equipped with Tiger I tanks until 28 July 1944. During the period from 20 August to 12 September 1944, it was re-equipped with a full complement of 45 Tiger Ausf. B tanks. Some of the first Tiger IIs delivered to the 506th were examples fitted with the early production turret. The battalion saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. As with other German heavy tank battalions, it was attached as needed to larger formations. The 506th was unique in being the only Tiger battalion to include a fourth company. German: schwere Panzerkompanie Hummel, equipped with Tiger I tanks, was consolidated with the 506th in 1944. It was also unique in that it regularly received new vehicles and replacements from other units to maintain a full complement. The unit served until the collapse of the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945, being officially disbanded by the battalion commander on 14 April. The unit performed well despite often poor conditions of deployment, officially credited with over 400 tank kills during its service with fewer than 75 combat losses.

References