Tank Chats #77 Jagdtiger | The Tank Museum 

I'm stunned as to how big this tank is. He looks as if he's standing next to an exaggerated almost cartoonish representation of what a tank is. A great visual effect.

The Germans even making 80 of these is CRAZY

It's been a rough day today. But a Tank Chat always makes things better!

"Guys, I think we may have lost the thread somewhere along the line." -Some German engineer in 1943, probably

Hitler upon seeing the pz3: ".....double it." >enthusiastic engineers create the Stug Hitler upon seeing the Panther: "Double it." >moderately worried engineers create Jagdpanther Hitler upon seeing the Tiger 2: "DOUBLE IT" >methed-up engineers create Jagdtiger Hitler upon seeing Maus: ".....give it a coaxial 75mm." >engineers realize they live in clown world, just roll with it

tragic that mr porsches contributions to the allied war effort have never been formally recognized. he should have a vc, a medal of honor, and an order of lenin at least.

The little bits of footage of the tanks moving around the museum and the historical footage as well add a lot to the video! Thanks for making these episodes! Great job :D

They are just monstrous though aren't they. I imagine soldiers facing these would feel a great sense of dread even if they only saw a knocked out Jadgtiger on the battlefield.

In Otto Carius memoirs he recollects seeing a gun sticking out behind a building. In the end they fire at the building, penetrating the building and the tank behind it; an M36 Jackson, knocking it out instantly. That's how powerful this gun is.

my dad saw two of them in action at March 1945 when they did the spring awaking offensive in Hungary. He said his panther was a killing machine, like the Tiger I , The Tiger II was called the life insurance, but this JagtTiger was not from this World, he remembered. This two Monsters took out a dozens Russian heavy IS from 3-4Kilometer and paved the way for them to advance. They kept them always in the rear and were called in on demand. Just to remember , the 1.SS Leibstandarte Panzer had have in 1945 just 64 vehicles with tracks! Not all were main battle tanks! But they fought against three Russian elite divisions.....

I love the new length of these episodes.

High Command: "Mein Fuhrer, how big should we make the gun?" Hitler: "Yes."

Or as I call it, The Heavy One That Porsche Saw Neccessary to Give a More Fragile Suspension System to For No Discernible Reason.

1:47 stuff like this always makes me smile, knowing our ancestors could be just as immature

I’m so glad Germany had these vanity projects. Made the war easier to win for the allies and now we can marvel at these beasts👍

I never truly realized how huge the Jagdtiger is until I saw someone standing next to it.

In the summer of 1980 I was a Marine PFC going through the Small Arms Repair Course at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. I was assigned to Area Guard one night. The post I was given was the Ordnance Museum. So after it was dark I was able to walk around all of the vehicles, and I climbed up on 331. It was pretty awesome getting a close up look at these pieces of history.

Germans was masters to make moving houses with guns.

I keep looking at the presenter, then at the house he’s standing next too.

3 Hetzers could have been made for 1 Jagdtiger. Less height, less fuel, less likely to be stuck in soft ground, able to cross road bridges and more shells could be supplied to a Hetzer.

The blueprints at 3:48 read "Tiger-Jäger mit 12.8 cm L/66". Because the Pak 44 wasn't powerful enough with just the L/55 long barrel :D

Can we thank the Tank Museum for keeping this beast and the other tanks clean? I almost swallowed myself seeing the inside of the Jagdtiger...

Nice Porsche Suspension, would be a shame if it was unreliable...

My wife stopped watching her artsy video as soon as she saw you standing next to the world's biggest stick of butter. Her eyes were demonstrating extreme suprise. Then I told her , "that tank is much smaller than the Maus." She's familiar with war thunder as we all play in our house . Sometimes the size and thickness of these vehicles is simply not realized til someone stands next to them. Excellent video please take care of our "mustache" . We here in Texas would knight the old timer, but that's not done. He will have to settle for a nice pair of jeans , snake skin boots and a neck tie .

Porsche done more to defeat Germany than one allied general.

Thanks to David Willey and the team at the tank museum for putting these together. Really appreciate the time and effort you guys put into this. Top Class.

I was at the tank museum only yesterday. This tank is just massive . The king tiger is a pretty impressive beast too.

Willey never fails to substantiate the tank chats, mentioning several of his sources along the way ever so often.

Great format excellent production, interesting and informative. Don't change a thing I love these videos.

I would have never EVER thought I would heard the word LEGO in tank chats!

Jagdtiger , more like , Chadtiger .

Thank you David Willey and all of you at the Tank Museum.

It is absolutely incredible, how much Mr. Willey knows about all his exhibits - and he gives an ad hoc lecture packed with information - without any script. Thank you!

Could also be titled “20 minutes of Roasting the Jagdtiger”

That picture of the soldier sitting astride the tank's cannon like a giant phallus is the epitome of "Toxic Masculinity"& his "Animalistic Combative Barbarity".I give you a BIG THUMBS UP!

Ah Ferdinand Porsche. Great car designer, poor tank designer.

Wow, I am from St. Valentin, Austria, where this machine has been built. Unfortunately there is nothing left of the factory but a plaque.

Still my favorite WW2 German tank.

That thing is huge!

excellent! thank you Mr. Willey and to The Tank Museum. I have been waiting for this one for awhile!

Another quality vid, loved it. That thing is HUGE, holy crap!

Awesome episode!!! You've got so much knowledge - and history - to share and these longer videos are very well appreciated. Most of us here are really into the finer details so don't worry about how deep and wide to go because we love it all! Also the restoration videos is a real goldmine and there simply is nothing like it elsewhere. Many thanks!!!

In the Museum this vehicle has it's own gravity field. It's big.

I really enjoy watching these thank you for doing them! I hope they continue. Its also a great look at museum exhibits that most of us will never have a chance to see in person.

to the blokes that disliked the video: what didnt you like about it? i honestly want to know

Loved getting to see that very Jagdtiger and meet the curator himself back at the end of April earlier this year. Visit of a lifetime!

A clearly very knowledgeable speaker keeps these videos so excellent. Theirs a part of me that wishes none of these tanks survived. That we killed them all in battle! But the history behind them needs to be remembered forever.

How can you not like listening to an expert of a subject that has done his research, and has the REAL THING sitting there to talk about?

It’s all history of sad times & grate men & women to whom we owe our very existence.🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

Textbook case of "Awesome But Impractical". Fantastic gun, but put on a hull that's far too heavy for German resources/engineering/logistics to handle. And without a turret, removing the main armament to replace the transmission is an utter nightmare.

Another outstanding video, the brief wide shot of the lighting set up just shows that these aren’t just filmed but a lot of thought goes into their production. Well done guys.

Brilliant informative video with excellent exposure of this rare beast. Thank you David for yet another fantastic piece of history explained.

Another superb video. Educational, informed and clearly presented. Brilliant channel.

Another fine, long-form tank chat!

2:00 This painter is obviously paid by the hour.

Basically a 5" navy gun on tracks. We must give this German a wide berth.

Brilliant informative upload ,thank you

As always lovely long video packed full of detail! Keep it up! Need to get The Chieftain and David together to do the history and inside the hatch all at the same time.

Amazing tank, amazing video. Thank you for sharing this with everyone.

What a beast! As usual, great and authoritative material. Many thanks!

These are great educational videos. I use them when I need historical references in building any kind of armor. The German paint video was awesome, it was extremely helpful in finding the right color schemes for German armor.

The s.Pz.Jg.-Abt. 653 was extremely pleased with the Jagdtiger, they admired the strong armour and the extremely powerful gun. Being familiar with the Ferdinand/Elefant, they felt much more at home in the Jagdtiger than Otto Carius, who came from a Tiger Ausf. E and has zero experience in a tank destroyer. The s.Pz.Jg.-Abt. 653 also acheived much better results with the Jagdtiger because of this when compared to the s.Pz.Jg.-Abt. 512. It should be noted that the 1. Kompanie of s.Pz.Jg.-Abt 512 was mostly manned by people who had served on the Nashorn and Jagdpanther and was commanded by Albert Ernst, a Panzer Ace on the Nashorn, they too fared undeniably better with the Jagdtiger compared to Otto Carius' Kompanie

I just love these chats, they make my day.

One of my favourite Tank Chats , one the best series on the tube 🤗👍

Kinda crazy that they only made 88 of these and we had 4 of them in my small home town, until the commanding officer surrendered them to the Americans

Despite how impractical it was, the Jagdtiger is such a badass vehicle/tank destroyer.

Absolutely excellent content. Loved this

Very well done presentation on a remarkable vehicle. Thank you very much to Mr. Willey and the Tank Museum.

Again, you provide an incredibly detailed look inside the desperate and fascinating world of the German war machine toward the end of WWll.

omg . i never knew the tank was THAT huge !! you almost look green screened in next to it ...great video Please keep them coming!

...I'M SO GLAD YOU GUYS RE-PAINTED THIS VEHICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for these videos.

When I saw those destroyed Jagdtigers, I was wondering what could have knocked them out, but then I remembered that they probably were blown up by their own crews when they broke down.

Happy to hear him give a nod to gamers loving it :D

Thank you for posting such an excellent video.

Bravo!!! Bravo!!! Yes sir!! Tank chats are incredible Thank you!!!!!

"Huh, what are we going to do with all these gun barrels we were going to put on destroyers?" "Hans, I've got a cunning plan that might just win the war for the fatherland!"

As was so often the case, it was a lot of over-engineering for no tactical advantage due to operational limitations and strategic influences. Like the FG42, which never came close to the value of the STG44 despite all the expense, the JagdTiger program never lived up to even the basic STGIIIg

I am gratefull to these people for taking the time and investing the resources necessary to keep these amazing machines in good conditions and for giving us detailed information on their history. These machines are a very important part of our history and should never be forgotten.

Love this series. Keep up the great work.

I've seen 66% of all still existing Jagtigers still out there. This one and the one in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, haven't gotten to Kubinka yet.

If I ever win a lottery I'm gonna find a crew and build me one of KingTiger and Jagdtiger to play with !

Awesome video! Great presentation! 👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I love these videos wwii history is my favorite and these videos are the best thank you David willey

Imagine seeing/hearing these beasts rumbling down the road and firing. It had to be one incredibly scary sight as at that time we had nothing that could take a hit from that 128mm round.

Regarding the Jagdtiger: I quote directly from Otto Carius "Tigers In The Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius", Chapter The Ruhr Pocket pp.206 - 207 - "Our equipment situation was quite complicated. The "Hunting Tigers" came from the Hindenburg Facilities in St. Valentin near Linz; the cannons, on the other hand, came from Breslau. The Russians had already advanced beyond that, however, so we were only able to equip thiry "Hunting Tigers" with cannons. Each company received only ten vehicles. In the final analysis, that was sufficient, since we couldn't man any more. The ammunition was drawn from Magdeburg. The ammunition details that picked it up had radios with them to report every stop. Our employment was that important to high command! The tanks were transported by rail to Paderborn. The companies were assembled there in Sennelager. We had the impression that we were considered the secret weapon that could still save Germany. When the assault guns ("Hunting Tigers") were calibrated in Sennelager, we experienced our first failure. Despite its eighty-two tons, our "Hunting Tiger" didn't want to act like we wanted it to. Only its armor was satisfactory; its maneuverability left a lot to be desired. In addition, it was an assault gun. There was no traversing turret, just an enclosed, armored housing. Any large traversing of the cannon had to be effected by movement of the entire vehicle. Because of that, transmissions and steering differentials were soon out of order. That such a monstrosity had to be constructed in the final phase of the war - of all times! A better idea for the travel lock of the eight-meter-long cannon of our "Hunting Tiger" was also absolutely necessary. It had to be removed FROM THE OUTSIDE during contact with the enemy! Locking down the barrel during a road march was necessary, of course. Otherwise the mounting brackets would have been worn out too quickly and exact aiming would have been impossible. All these problems were compounded by the fact that a tanker cannot feel comfortable in an assault gun. We want to be able to turn our weapons 360 degrees. If not, we have no feeling of security or superiority, but rather that someone is breathing down our necks. ...during calibration of the assault guns "Hunting Tigers"... We missed everything in such a manner that we were soon fed up with it. Finally, the ordnance technician checked the matter out, and everything then worked better. We discovered that the cannon, because of its enormous length, was battered about so much as a result of even a short move off the road that its alignment no longer agreed with that of the optics. That promised to be a lot of fun - things didn't want to work, BEFORE we even met the enemy! ...An incident occurred that proved to me how deeply the fighting morale among the men and the officers had sunk. My executive officer was pulling security in my "Hunting Tiger" in the piece of woods already mentioned. He had also taken my crew. Suddenly, my driver Lustig approached me on foot halfway from the front lines. I already had a bad feeling. The good man was completely out of breath and had to catch it first before he could report to me what had happened. His first remark said everything. "I almost slugged my tank commander just now! If we were still in Russia, he'd be dead by now!" He then explained what had happened. His vehicle was located with another "Hunting Tiger," well camouflaged, at the wood line. A long column of enemy tanks had driven across their front at about one and a half kilometers distance. Lustig now considered it a given that the tank commander would give the order to fire. Why else were assault guns there? The man refused to fire a shot, however. A heated argument started among the members of the crew. This strange officer justified his refusal to fire with the reason that he would expose himself if he opened fire and he would then draw the attention of the fighter-bombers! To make a long story short, not a single shot was actually fired, although this distance was practically ideal for our cannons. The enemy would have had no opportunity to endanger our "Hunting Tigers." It wasn't enough, however, that this strange officer didn't fire. He also ordered his vehicle to back up out of the woods shortly thereafter. It was then that he really did reveal his position. He was lucky that no planes were in the air at the time. He cleared out to the rear without notifying the vehicle commander of the second "Hunting Tiger" at all. That commander promptly followed, and both of them raced off as if the devil were behind them. Of course, no enemy was to be seen far and wide! Because of the careless driving of the completely inexperienced crew, the second vehicle was immediately disabled. The "fearless" Oberleutnant didn't worry about the vehicle at all. On the contrary, he obstinately drove on until his vehicle also became disabled. At least the Oberfeldwebel in the second assault gun ("Hunting Tiger") blew up his own vehicle. Lustig had then departed on foot and insisted that I forward his report to the battalion. In that phase of the war, however, it didn't make any sense anymore. Everyone had to decide for themselves whether they wanted to experience the end decently or as a louse. Troops from all different branches were lying about in the woods by the hundreds and waiting for the end. Their morale was completely gone. ...I fetched my "Hunting Tigers" and led them south to the next village. We soon noticed that there was still a war on. An American tank became a nuisance. I quickly brought a "Hunting Tiger" into position on the eastern edge of the village and personally drove in the Kubel to a small patch of high ground to gain a vantage point. The enemy had already reached Federal Highway 233, and five tanks were right before our eyes under the trees. The distance was barely 600 meters. I quickly grabbed one of my assault guns to give the enemy something to think about. The commander of the "Hunting Tigers," a Stabsfeldwebel without experience at the front, wanted to handle the matter himself. To be on the safe side, I first led him on foot to the high ground. I showed him the enemy and told him the distance, so nothing could really go wrong. It was like at the training area. The Stabsfeldwebel then went to his vehicle, and I remained to observe. The unfortunate man then made a fatal mistake. He didn't crank the cannon down to its right position until he had almost arrived on the high ground. Of course, the Americans heard the sound of the motor and reacted accordingly. Two of the tanks scrammed, but the other three opened fire. The Stabsfeldwebel's vehicle was soon hit in the front and hadn't fire one shot itself. Instead of finally firing, the lunatic turned around on the high ground when he simply could have rolled backward. When the Yanks had the broad side of the "Hunting Tiger" in front of them, they left our vehicle have it. It immediately went up in flames. Other hits followed, and not one of the six-man crew could save himself, probably because everyone got in each other's way. This example serves to prove that the best weapon and the greatest enthusiasm are useless when thorough basic training has not been conducted."

Beautifully done video! Thank you for helping to make my Friday morning here in Colorado. I had not really considered building one of these in 1/16 RC ( as I already have a Porsche King Tiger looking for an upgrade and an Elefant RC Kit ) but looking at it again here, I will probably reconsider.

Excellent video. Clear, informative and pertinent.

Nuts. Meanwhile, Centurion is trotting around Bovington...

I wonder how a Jagdtiger would go against an M2a Abrams in the open, daylight and flat terrain..... I'm guessing it would be massacred because the Abrams is so mobile.

Saw it in person. Its BIG!

love the tank chats!

Museum: No variants of the tiger I were made... Meanwhile in Germany: STURMTIGER

At the time the project started, it made perfect sense. They needed something serious to kill the IS-2 at long range. Running out of trained tankers and officers was probably not part of the plan.

0:45 aww, just look at that smile 😄

Great story telling David i love your presentation and story telling skills very much giving me a good overview and contextual circumstances of each and every tank you talk about. Your the best David !!! your my David Attenborough of the tank world, i would love to meet you when i visit. Your the best thing about the Tank Museum,

Brilliant content as always, keep up the good work. Mr fletcher needs a section of the museum named after his moustache. Such a glorious fine piece of English engineering 👌

That beast would be terrifying to face. You need to fall back and call in the Typhoons and Thunderbolts or artillery.

Excellent as ever and a very clear analysis of the misdirection of the german late-war effort.

Another fantastic presentation from Mr David Willey, that is 21:12 of pleasure to our ears. Sheer brilliance in seeing inside this monster also!