Speaking of “Kraut tanks”, anybody know how many of those fearsome Tiger II tanks were deployed in this offensive? I read these tanks were brutal but such gas guzzlers that they couldn’t supply them with enough gas.
I’m not sure how many Royal Tigers were deployed in the Ardennes Offensive. I know Germany only built a total of about 700. One source says that only 100 were available for the Ardennes. But that may not mean 100 actually deployed on Dec. 16.
I'm only seeing two battalions, the 501st (First SS Panzer) and 506th (Sixth Panzer Army).
At full strength a battalion had 45 Tiger IIs, so we're looking at maybe 90 total, out of 1,800 total German tanks in the battle.
The balance were Panzer IVs, Panthers & Tiger Is.
