Tiger ausf. E : Command tank tactical numbers

Technical information on the Tiger and related tanks

 

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Command tank tactical numbers

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Knowing the meaning of the tactical numbers on standard Tigers, we can examine the numbering of company command and battalion command Tigers. We cannot make an exhaustive list, because we have not seen every command Tiger at every stage of the history of every unit. For the smaller units, we may have no information at all.


Company commanders

Some Tiger companies were parts of Tiger battalions, while some were standalone companies in other kinds of unit.

Tiger 100

Tiger 100

Tiger 100

Within the battalions, company command Tigers were usually put in the "zeroth platoon" with numbers such as "100", "101" or less often "201", "202".

Tiger A02

Grossdeutschland's battalion, with its alphabetically named companies, followed this rule with e.g. "A01" and "A02".

Tiger 11

But s.Pz.Abt.501, the first African battalion, had "11", "21", "71" and "81" commanding its companies at various times.

Tiger 205

It's unwise to draw the enemy's attention to your most important Tigers by giving them obvious numbers. Only one group of Tiger crews tried to disguise their command tanks: LSSAH's Tiger company, whose personnel later went to s.SS.Pz.Abt.101. There they repeated the practice, giving their company command Tigers misleading numbers, e.g. "204" and "205".

Tiger 800

Tiger 401

Tiger S01

The standalone Tiger companies had typical company numbering, e.g. Tiger "800" of Das Reich or "401" of Totenkopf. With such companies being renamed "Schwer", there were three different Tigers called "S01" at various times.

Tiger S05

As mentioned already, the Tiger company of LSSAH preferred misleading numbers. Its first Command Tiger was "405" which became "1305", then was replaced by "S04" and "S05".

Tiger 02

There were other exceptions. Companies with sequentially numbered Tigers simply used number 1 as the commander. And when s.Pz.Abt. 502 had a single company, "01" and "02" led it.


Battalion commanders

The command staff of the Tiger battalions had their own tanks. At first the official structure of a Tiger battalion called for two Command Tigers crewed by radio officers. In the spring of 1943 the battalions were redesigned, now requiring three Command Tigers. The tactical numbers of these Tigers were distinct.

Tiger III

Tiger II

The 502, 503 and 505 battalions used Roman numerals; these are examples.

Tiger B

The 507 battalion used "A", "B" and "C", while the 508 apparently had "A1", "A2" and "A3", though we can't find photos of them all.

Tiger 02

Tiger 501

Battalion 501 in Tunisia was commanded by "01" and "02", but when it was reconstituted later in Russia it had "501", "502" and "503".

Tiger 1

The 506th simply assigned a colour to the digits "1", "2" and "3".

Tiger 009

The 504 and 511 battalions used "001", "002" and "003", while the SS battalion 101, cautious as ever, numbered their staff tanks "007", "008" and "009".

Tiger 91

SS battalion 102 used "91", "92" and "93", a numbering style also found in some non-Tiger units.

 
 

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