Tiger 3 going on 2

Henschel’s attempt to design a chassis suitable for mounting the long 8.8 cm L/71 gun, did not get off to a flying start. In their tentative design, VK 4502, angled front armour was fitted to what was essentially a Tiger I (VK 4501) hull. Neither the gentlemen of the Panzerkommission nor those of the Army Weapons Office (Waffenamt) could be convinced by this design. Thus, the actual Tiger 2 was canned as early as October 1942, before it could ever get off the drawing board. The more radical redesign of the Tiger that followed, with all-round sloping armour, was VK 4503 or Tiger 3. This eventually became the “Königstiger” that we know today. Yet we know this tank as Tiger 2 and not Tiger 3, how did this come about?

Despite the fact that the design chosen for production, was actually Henschel’s third Tiger design in line, apparently the Waffenamt must have thought that outright skipping a number, was too much of a leap¹. Although internally the name Tiger H3 remained in use, it was communicated that the Tiger 3 would be renamed to Tiger 2. Thus, for the uninitiated, who knew nothing of a failed second design, the designations remained somewhat comprehensible.

In their work, Jentz and Doyle write that this name change was a reality at least as of March 1943³. The memo below of a telephone conversation between the gentlemen Woelfert of Krupp, and Aders of Henschel, shows that in early February 1943, the name change was imminent. Aders reveals that although “Tiger 3” was still commonplace for VK 4503, the Waffenamt was likely to change the designation soon⁴.

                                F e r n s p r u c h 
                                    am 6.2.43

Caller: A.K. - Woelfert
Callee: Henschel, Kassel, - Obering. Aders.
Subject: Henschel-Tiger

(...) A. confirmed that the designation Tiger 3 is identical to VK 4503, but that the vehicle will probably be designated Tiger 2 instead of Tiger 3 at the request of the [Army Weapons] Office. The Tiger 2 version was only submitted in draft form.

(...)

Footnotes

1. Although they do not seem the have had similar objections to letter suffixes for tank variants; Tiger Ausf. E before Ausf. B, not to mention the ordering of Panther variants[↩]
2. BArch RH 10/345, Hauptausschuß Panzerwagen und Zugmaschinen, Adolf Hitler Panzerprogramm[↩]
3. Jentz, T L, and H L Doyle. Germany’s Tiger Tanks VK45.02 to Tiger II. Atglen, Pa : Schiffer, 1997.[↩]
4. BArch RH 8/2979, Memo of a telegram between Woelfert and Aders titled “Henschel-Tiger”, 6/2/1943[↩]