The King Tiger vs. the M26 Pershing
Its the King going against the Usurper
If there is anything the Germans do well, and there is a lot, they definantly know how to build a great tank. And we are comparing the king of them all, the Tiger II heavy main battle tank. The challenger, though, is coming from the United States of America, the M26 Pershing main battle tank. It looks like we’re going into Rocky IV for this one, though Rocky faced a Russian, not a German.
Here we have the king of the beasts, the Tiger II, or as the Germans called it, the Konigstiger. This tank was one of the heaviest, most thickly armored, and powerfully armed tanks of the enitre World War, and that’s saying something with the tanks that were present during the conflict. The King Tiger was so strong that only one Allied tank (one!) in the entire Allied arsenal could even remotely stand a chance to face the King head on; the Sherman Firefly.That is, until the Pershing came along. Plus, the Firefly could only have a chance if it fired a specific type of ammunition. But we’re not talking about the Firefly, we’re talking about the King Tiger, so let’s get down to stats.
The King Tiger comes in weighing at 76.9 tons, so like its predecessor the Tiger I, it could only travel and fight on certain terrains. And just like the Tiger, the King Tiger used the 88mm KwK 43 L/71 anti-aircraft gun. Unlike the Tiger, the King Tiger had a lot thicker armor. The front facing armor of the tank was 185mm. This made it virtually inprenetrable. The King’s only downside was that it suffered from repeated mechanical failures due to its extreme weight. Let’s see how the U.S. fares in this contest.
And here is the Pershing getting blown up…no I’m kidding! The M26 Pershing is the tank that is firing its main gun. Getting serious here, the M26 Pershing was designed during World War II to specifically deal with the heavy German tanks, like the King Tiger. Unlike the King Tiger, the Pershing was only deployed late in the game, and those that did see combat, were limited in numbers. So even though it was used in World War II, the Pershing saw more action in the Korean War. On to the numbers!
The Pershing has a weigh in of 46.1 tons, making it light for a heavy battle tank, which gives it some menuverability on all terrains. The big gun that is being used in the picture is the M3 90mm anti-tank gun on a M67 gun mount. According to Cowper and Pannell’s Tank Spotter Guide, this was done to allow the crew to reload the gun without lowering it or losing sight of the target. Plus, the gun was bigger than the King Tiger’s, which allowed the Pershing to penetrate the King’s armor. But, like the KV-1 in the previous article, the King was using an anti-aircraft gun, so the King still had a pretty big gun too. The Pershing also had 115mm thick armor on its front, not thick by the King’s standards, but thick enough to handle any other tank’s gun. All in all, the M26 Pershing was a good tank, and it was the basis for future tanks until the 1980s.
So, we have two of the biggest tanks to enter World War II go toe to toe with each other. I’d like to chalk this one up to the Pershing, only because it was to be used as a basis for future tanks, giving it some sort of longevity. The King Tiger, though, is still King of the Tanks during World War II, but I’ll let you decide and hit me up with a comment on which one you think wins!
