This is the German tiger that was supposed to go to the Japanese but it never did. This is a German propaganda picture to supposedly scare the U.S. but the tiger never got to go to japan in fact it never left France. The story is that in 1944 the Germans were loosing a lot of tigers and that they had not sent this one tiger to japan yet so they decided to use it against the allies. If the Japanese would get this tiger there have been rumors that they would have developed super heavy tanks but they never got the tiger and that never happend.
These big, heavy tanks would not have faired too well in the sandy islands...close dense bushy areas...and once the wet season set in ( something Europeans don't know much about) this sucker would have sunk into the ground it sat on...not to mention the quick fluid battles, unless very well supported, she would have been a sitting duck for artillery and airstrikes...IMO
It would have come in handy in Manchuria, when the Rooskies invaded in August of 1945. A few more would have helped though.
Who are you kidding, the design still would have been on the drawing board, let alone actually in production. Besides, even if produced the tank would have been kept in Japan to defend against the expected American invasion. Not to mention that the questionable Japanese logistical supply would quickly have turned these Japanese "Tigers" into immobile pillboxes. Their "Sherman Killer", the Type 4 Chi-To took 2 years to get into production, and even then, only 2 were produced(along with 4 chassis), and once production got into full swing, the output was only expected to be 25 tanks per month - and that was only a tank of 30 tons.
Japan developed some fairly heavy tanks that were never used in combat but nothing in the weight class of the Tiger that was unsuitable to most areas they operated in. What would really have helped them was the panzerfaust, that would have made life very unpleasant for the allied tankers at the short engagement ranges that were typical in the pacific but a far as I know none were sent to Japan.
I'm not kidding anyone. I just mentioned that a Tiger tank (or tanks) would have been been a nice thing for the Japanese to have in Manchuria when the Rooskies came to town, that's all. Calm down.
They'd probably have to disassemble it and ship it over in parts in several u-boats I guess. Guess it would be sort of hard to fit it down a hatch or lash it to the deck, but you never know. Those Germans are crafty devils. Of course that would never happen but we can "what if" all we want about it. Wouldn't the man driving the tank have to sit on a Tokyo City phonebook to see out of the apertures? Think about it.
This is what the AHF referred to, doesn't look like it was a very successful operation. The only hope for getting a 70 ton tank out of Germany and to Japan would have been by submarine or Airplane. I also think that Germany would not have wasted the effort, to supply Japan with Tigers, to enable the Japanese to fight anyone but the Russians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_runner
The Germans sold the Japanese a Tiger at a very inflated price (655,000 RM paid November 1943) in September 1943. There was never any hope of delivering the beast and by Feb 1944 it was 'given' to SS 101 (Wittmann's unit) and ended up rusting away on a French battlefield.
"Shirley you what if" would be more appropriate (although I prefer "historically speculate" actually). And of course, the proper response would be prefaced with, "and stop calling me shirley". Now, since that matter is settled, a brigade of Tiger tanks in Manchuria would give the Rooskies a bloody nose and slow things down a bit, but it would not keep August Storm from achieving its aims, I historically speculate thank you very much....
