| German schwere Panzabteilung 1943 ( s PzAbt ) | |
|---|---|
 -_Armour_(NATO_APP-6).svg) (US Army map symbol: Panzer battalion) | |
| Active | 1943 |
| Country |  Germany |
| Branch | German Heer |
| Type | Panzer |
| Role | Armoured warfare |
| Size | Battalion, up to 45 tanks |
| Part of |  Wehrmacht |
| Engagements | World War II |
A German heavy tank battalion (German: "schwere Panzerabteilung", short: "s PzAbt") was a battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army during World War II, equipped with Tiger I, and later Tiger II, heavy tanks. Originally intended to fight on the offensive during breakthrough operations, the German late-war realities required it to be used in a defensive posture by providing heavy fire support and counter-attacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad hoc Kampfgruppen (battlegroups).
The German heavy tank battalions destroyed a total of 8,100 enemy tanks for the loss of 1,482 of their own, an overall kill/loss ratio of 5.47 though individual unit ratios ranged from 1.28 to 13. The German losses also include non-combat tank write-offs.[1]
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- ^ "Tiger Tank Battalions during WWII - p. 2". The Armor Site!. – citing http://www.alanhamby.com/tiger.html which itself cites Tigers in Combat I by Wolfgang Schneider, Tigers in Combat II by Wolfgang Schneider, Red Army Handbook by Steven Zaloga