Type 6 Heavy Tank / Japanese Tiger
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 1:07 am
History
During World War 2, General Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese ambassador in Berlin, visited the Eastern front where he saw the infamous "Tiger" tank in person. In May 1943 Japan made an offer to buy blueprints and/or an example of the vehicle itself. After discussing terms and possible variants it was decided to purchase Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf E chassis No. 250455. This tank was also equipped with a mantlet that had a reinforced binocular sight. The machine is armed with the powerful 88mm KwK 36 gun, able to penetrate most of the Tiger's targets with ease. [2]
The negotiation for the purchase of a Tiger tank from Germany went on in July 1943. The importation cost of the Tiger ran towards 640,000 marks, about twice the delivery cost to the German army. The offer to buy blueprints, ammunition, and parts were arranged to facilitate domestic production of the tank in the Japanese homeland.[3]
Payment by the Japanese for the Tiger tank came into Henschel on 28 February 1944. To get the Tiger to Japan, the plan was to disassemble the tank to parts and transport it via submarine to Japan, where it would be assembled to a complete model. However, the war situation for the Axis by the time this was ready made it virtually impossible to import across via submarine due to the improving tactics of anti-submarine warfare by the Allies and the landlock of the Allies on German territory. With the importation now deemed unlikely to ever happen, the Japanese simply loaned the Tiger tank to the German army, which they used as part of the 101st SS heavy tank battalion in Belgium. [
During World War 2, General Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese ambassador in Berlin, visited the Eastern front where he saw the infamous "Tiger" tank in person. In May 1943 Japan made an offer to buy blueprints and/or an example of the vehicle itself. After discussing terms and possible variants it was decided to purchase Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf E chassis No. 250455. This tank was also equipped with a mantlet that had a reinforced binocular sight. The machine is armed with the powerful 88mm KwK 36 gun, able to penetrate most of the Tiger's targets with ease. [2]
The negotiation for the purchase of a Tiger tank from Germany went on in July 1943. The importation cost of the Tiger ran towards 640,000 marks, about twice the delivery cost to the German army. The offer to buy blueprints, ammunition, and parts were arranged to facilitate domestic production of the tank in the Japanese homeland.[3]
Payment by the Japanese for the Tiger tank came into Henschel on 28 February 1944. To get the Tiger to Japan, the plan was to disassemble the tank to parts and transport it via submarine to Japan, where it would be assembled to a complete model. However, the war situation for the Axis by the time this was ready made it virtually impossible to import across via submarine due to the improving tactics of anti-submarine warfare by the Allies and the landlock of the Allies on German territory. With the importation now deemed unlikely to ever happen, the Japanese simply loaned the Tiger tank to the German army, which they used as part of the 101st SS heavy tank battalion in Belgium. [