#6 — Tiger I: The Fearsome Legend That Terrorized Allied Tankers
SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann's Tiger I destroyed 138 tanks and 132 guns during his career — and in a single engagement at Villers-Bocage on June 13, 1944, his Tiger destroyed 14 tanks, 15 personnel carriers, and 2 anti-tank guns in 15 minutes, single-handedly halting the British 7th Armoured Division's advance.
The Tiger I's legendary 88mm KwK 36 L/56 gun could penetrate 120mm of armor at 1,000 meters — it could kill a Sherman at 2,000 meters before the Sherman's 75mm could even scratch its 100mm frontal plate. Only 1,347 were built between 1942 and 1944, but the Tiger's psychological impact far exceeded its numbers. Allied intelligence reported "Tiger fright" among tank crews who assumed every German tank was a Tiger. Each Tiger cost 250,000 Reichsmarks — twice the price of a Panther and four times a Panzer IV. It consumed 540 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, its interleaved road wheels were a maintenance nightmare in mud and ice, and it broke down constantly. But when a Tiger appeared on the battlefield, everything stopped. In military history, no tank has ever generated more terror per unit than the Tiger I.
