Radio |
Radio Equipment in Command Tiger E |
In 1943 Tiger "A" was standard Tiger E except for internal modifications and the 88gun ,a Kw K L 56. About 84 command Tigers rolled off production line. Both Command Tigers I A Sdkfz 267and Sdkfz 268, had following parts removed : 01) 1 Mantlet Mg.34 with all relevant fittings and mountings. Cleared space was replaced with following radio equipment : 01) Command Observation tank Intercom System . Command Tiger E 267 had Fu.5 & Fu 8 (10 Watt transmitter ‘C’& UKW receiver ‘E’) fitted in turret. (Fug.8 a 30 Watt transmitter and MW receiver ‘C’) located in hull. Command Tiger E 268 had Fu.5 & Fu.7 (10 Watt transmitter ‘C’ & Fu.7 20 Watt transmitter ‘D’ and UKW receiver ‘D1’ Fug or Fu is German abbreviation of Funk Gerät which means Radio Equipment. “UKW”, MW” and “LW” mean Ultra Kurtz Welle, Mittel Welle und Lange Welle. Translated into English they mean: Ultra short wave, Medium wave & Long wave. Letters “E” stand for Empfänger (Receiver) &“S” for Sender (Transmitter). Fug 5 10 Watt. S ‘c’ operated on 27.2-33.3 MHz Matching receivers to all three transmitters were UKW.E early model, and UKW.E ‘a’ later model Aerials for the above transmitters; Star” aerial ‘D’ for the 30 Watt (Fu8). Location: Right rear end of tank. Seating Positions Radio Operator 2, whose normal position was in hull, had two radio systems fitted on rubber mountings. Added to his standard Fu5 transmitter and UKW receiver 'E', a second set was fitted - either Fu7 or Fu8 and located to the left of standard equipment. This change made Tiger E either Sd Kfz 267 or Sd Kfz 268. The 267 had Fu 5 and Fu 8 and the 268 had Fu5 and Fu 7 radios. The second Fu5 and UKW E receiver, was attached to the turret's roof right side, where loader sat. MG34's space was replaced by another Fu.5 which was suspended on straps and rubber insulating mountings. Loader now had a secondary role as a radio operator 1. Removal of afore mentioned equipment, slightly downgraded the Tiger , but it was insignificant when compared to what command Tiger did. Such Tigers were either in Battalion or Company category. These tanks were in contact with either headquarters or Air support units. Such units would pass information to Command Tank ,who in turn, issued respective orders to lower formations, on UKW ( Ultra High Frequency) whose transmitters had an approximate range of 4 miles. In this way, commander was in constant in communication with other tank commanders. Command Tiger had radio equipment Fug 8 with a 40 miles range, allowing communication with HQ. Main objective of the command Tiger was to keep steady flow of communication between command post, Luftwaffe and platoons. In most cases Luftwaffe coordinated air attacks and then advised Command Tank of the scenario. At that time tanks would advance towards enemy position. As an example, I will briefly describe typical role of Command Tiger in air/ ground coordinated attack. ( see illustration below). The Luftwaffe's ground control armoured vehicle communicates with Stukas and coordinates their attack, on enemy target. Once enemy position had been weakened (usually heavy anti tank gun positions), tanks moved in for mopping up, or engaging secondary targets. |
Fu 5 10 Watt transmitter | UKW e Receiver | Fu7 20W Transmitter | UKWd1 Receiver |
Fu8 30 Watt transmitter |
MW c Receiver | Fu5 Transmitter & Receiver were standard equipment |
Photographs are by courtesy of www.laud.no/la6nca/radio/german/ |
Simplified portrayal of Command Tiger's role A : Stukas send information to Command Tigers. |
C |
A |
B |