Slain Tiger – Confirming the Total Loss of a Fabled Tiger Tank at Prokhorovka

The Tiger tank is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Germany’s armoured force in the Second World War; therefore, it was perhaps inevitable that the tank would become closely associated with the famous Soviet victory at Prokhorovka in July 1943 (the culmination point of Germany’s southern pincer during the Kursk offensive – codenamed Operation Citadel). As a result, any potential Tiger tank loss in the Prokhorovka area holds tremendous symbolism.

In recent years there have been some determined attempts in the West to claim that no Tiger tank losses occurred in the Prokhorovka area.[1] However, research for the author’s book The Panzers of Prokhorovka strongly indicated that a Tiger tank was lost either during the battle of Prokhorovka on 12 July 1943 or in its immediate aftermath.[2] Further evidence has since come to light that confirms the total loss of a Tiger tank in the Prokhorovka area between 12 and 13 July 1943.

During Operation Citadel (5–16 July 1943), the German armoured units at the front were ordered to report the number of total losses they were sustaining and the number of tanks that were under repair (short-term and long-term – the latter being defined as requiring six days or more to repair) to the panzer officer attached to the German Army High Command (OKH).[3]

Büschel LSSAH July 1943 (NARA)

When the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army launched its armoured counter-attack at Prokhorovka on 12 July, it was the German division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) that bore the brunt of the fighting. Testimony from the LSSAH’s former soldiers spoke of a Tiger tank being immobilized in combat with the 18th Tank Corps and then subsequently being written off as a total loss. The LSSAH began Operation Citadel with 13 Tiger tanks in its inventory. One of these Tiger tanks was severely damaged during the first phase of the German offensive (between the 5th and 10th of July 1943). This Tiger tank was declared by the LSSAH, in its armoured situation report covering the period, to be so badly damaged that it needed to be sent to Germany for Homeland Maintenance (HM – the highest level of repair). The Tiger tank was declared a total loss by the panzer officer at OKH in his total loss report that covered the same period (5–10 July 1943). However, the LSSAH itself did not regard this Tiger tank as a total loss. The division’s own list of total losses for the same period did not include any Tiger tanks. Similarly, in its armoured situation report the LSSAH also declared four Pz IVs to be total losses and one Pz IV to require Homeland Maintenance. The OKH panzer officer simply reported five Pz IVs as total losses; once again, though, the LSSAH’s own total loss report only reported the four Pz IVs as total losses. Clearly, the OKH panzer officer was incorrectly declaring tanks requiring Homeland Maintenance to be total losses.[4]

The panzer officer at OKH would have no doubt believed that the LSSAH inventory had been reduced to 12 Tiger tanks by end of 10 July 1943, whereas the LSSAH would have believed it still possessed 13 Tiger tanks. As we shall see, this is an important distinction to make. Later in the month when the LSSAH was ordered to transfer all its Tiger tanks to its sister SS divisions Das Reich and  Totenkopf (prior to being sent to Italy), it handed over 17 Tiger tanks (five new Tiger tanks had arrived on 25 July 1943 – see Table 1). Clearly, for a Tiger tank to have been lost at Prokhorovka 13 Tiger tanks would still have to be in the LSSAH inventory prior to the battle. It is now possible to prove this was the case.

Historians of the battle of Kursk have often pointed to the OKH Panzer Officer loss reports, but few have also looked at the accompanying damage reports for the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th of July which also cover the battle of Prokhorovka. If one correctly adds the number of Tiger tanks under repair in these reports (the damage reports gave the situation at 24:00hrs on any given day, i.e., at the end of the day) with the number of tanks that were declared to be operational in the evening of the same date then we are presented with the LSSAH inventory both before (11 July 1943) and after the battle of Prokhorovka (12, 13 and 14 July 1943).[6] The results are as revelatory as they are conclusive (see Table 2).

On the eve of the battle of Prokhorovka, at 24:00hrs on 11 July 1943, the LSSAH reported two Tiger tanks under long-term repair and seven under short-term repair; on the same evening the division also reported that four Tiger tanks were operational. Clearly, then, the LSSAH was still reporting a full pre-Citadel inventory of 13 Tiger tanks on the eve of the battle of Prokhorovka. The daily damage and operational reports confirm why the LSSAH did not include the 5–10 July 1943 Tiger tank requiring Homeland Maintenance in its list of total losses for the same period. The LSSAH was including the Homeland Maintenance Tiger tank within its two Tiger tanks that were requiring long-term repair. The SS damage report for 11 July 1943 (24:00) was used to populate the SS elements of the untimed 11 July 1943 damage report for all of Army Group South’s attacking armoured formations (See Table 3).[8]

A couple of days later at 24:00 on 13 July the LSSAH once again reported two Tiger tanks under long-term repair, and seven under short-term repair; however, now the division was only reporting three Tiger tanks as being operational. This gives a collective inventory of 12 Tiger tanks. Clearly an LSSAH Tiger tank had been declared by the LSSAH as a total loss in the Prokhorovka area sometime between 12 July (00:01) and 13 July (24:00). Analysis of the reports also confirm that three LSSAH Pz IVs were lost in the Prokhorovka area between the 12th and 13th of July 1943, while 1 Pz IV was recovered for Homeland Maintenance (see Table 4).[10] A detailed description of how these Pz IVs met their fate is contained in Chapter 4 of The Panzers of Prokhorovka.[11]

The following day at 24:00 on 14 July 1943, two Tiger tanks were reported to be under short-term repair while another two Tiger tanks were under long-term repair, and eight Tiger tanks were operational that same night; therefore, the LSSAH inventory remained at 12 Tiger tanks. The 14 July damage report did not list the number of Pz IVs that were requiring short-term repair, but the report did state that two Pz IVs were now listed as total losses; this was likely the moment when the two Homeland Maintenance Pz IVs were removed from the LSSAH inventory (see Table 5).[13] No panzers of any type requiring Homeland Maintenance were removed from the LSSAH inventory prior to 14 July 1943; therefore, any decline in LSSAH inventory numbers prior to this date would be due to battlefield losses.

There is no time listed on 12 July 1943 damage report; however, as we have established that the other damage reports were reporting the situation at 24:00, there is no reason to believe the 12 July damage report was not also reporting the situation at the end of the day. The LSSAH did not report its operational numbers for the evening of 12 July (no doubt due to the frantic nature of the day’s fighting) so this prohibits establishing the LSSAH Tiger tank inventory at the end of 12 July 1943. The 12 July damage report declared five Tiger tanks under long-term repair with three under short-term repair.[15]

The LSSAH Tiger tank requiring Homeland Maintenance remained in the LSSAH inventory throughout Operation Citadel (see Table 6). This should not be regarded as unusual. For example, there is another instance prior to Operation Citadel of an SS Tiger tank remaining in a divisional inventory after being listed as requiring Homeland Maintenance. Indeed, from October 1943 onwards tanks of all types requiring Homeland Maintenance officially remained part of the dispatching unit’s inventory. It is also interesting to note that after the battle of Prokhorovka the operational number of LSSAH Tiger tanks never surpassed ten. This strongly suggests that the two long-term damaged LSSAH Tiger tanks (which included the LSSAH Tiger tank requiring Homeland Maintenance) that were recorded in the damage reports between the 11th and14th of July 1943 remained in this state of disrepair until their transfer to Das Reich or Totenkopf on 28 July 1943.[17]

To conclude, the documents confirm beyond any reasonable doubt that a German Tiger tank was lost on the battlefield in the Prokhorovka area between the 12th and 13th of July 1943. The LSSAH went into 12 July 1943 with an inventory of 13 Tiger tanks and exited 13 July 1943 with 12 Tiger tanks.[18]

Find out more about The Panzers of Prokhorovka here.

[1] See Töppel, Roman, ‘The Battle of Prokhorovka: Facts Against Fables’, Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 34:2 (2021); Töppel, Roman, ‘Die Panzerschlacht bei Prochorowka, Fakten gegen Fabeln’, Arbeitskreis Militärgeschichte e.V. (2020); Töppel, Roman, Die größte Schlacht des Zweiten Weltkriegs (Paderborn: Verlag Ferdinand Schöning, 2017); Töppel, Roman, ‘Kursk – Mythen und Wirklichkeit einer Schlacht’, in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 57 (2009); Töppel, Roman, Kursk 1943: The Greatest Battle of the Second World War (Solihull: Helion, 2018). See also Wheatley, Ben, The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat (Oxford: Osprey, 2023), 111–13.

[2] Wheatley, Ben, The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat (Oxford: Osprey, 2023), 108–13.

[3] OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – Totalverluste reports for the attacking units of Army Group South are available for the periods that cover 5–10.7.1943, 5–13.7.1943, 5–14.7.1943, 5–15.7.1943, 5–16.7.1943 and 5–17.7.1943. Damage reports exist for 10.7.1943, 11.7.1943, 12.7.1943, 13.7.1943 and 14.7.1943. Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64.

[4] Wheatley, Ben, The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat (Oxford: Osprey, 2023), 103–04; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1–10.7.1943. NARA T313, R390; OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, 5–10.7.1943 Totalverluste. Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64, 22.; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V. V, LSSAH, Betr.: Totalausfӓlle an Pz. Kpfwg. und gep. Kfz. 1–10.7.1943, (written 12.7.1943). NARA T313, R390.

[5] PzAOK 4, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, DR & SS-T, Fahrgestell-Nr. Pz.kpf.Wg. 1–2.7.1943, T313, R390; PzAOK 4, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, DR & SS-T, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1–2.7.1943 & 10.7.1943, T313, R390; PzAOK 4, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, DR and SS-T, Betr.: Totalausfӓlle an Pz.Kpfwg. und gep. Kfz. 1–10.7.1943, (LSSAH written 12.7.1943, DR & SS-T Lageskizzen written 23.7.1943) T313, R390; II SS Panzer Korps, Ingenieur, Betr.: Kinsatz Raum Belgorod. 5–18.7.1943, updated to 22.7.1943 (written 28.7.1943), T354, R607, F000629-31; AOK 6, 1a, KTB 9, Zustandsberichte, Wochenmeldung über Panzer und Sturmgeschützlage Stand 1.8.1943 (written 6.8.1943), T312, R1483, F000441; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH Ia, Tagesmeldung für den 24.7.1943, T354, R605, F000867; II SS Panzer Korps, DR & SS-T Ia 667/43 & 668/43, 28.7.1943, T354, R605, F000879-80; Gen Insp. d Pz Truppen, Waffen SS monthly divisional Meldung and OB charts, LSSAH, 1.9.1943, T78, R719; PzAOK 4, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1.11.1943, T313, R391.

[6] Roman Töppel utilizes data from two different dates to reach the LSSAH 11.7.1943 (24:00) pre-battle armoured inventory (Töppel correctly uses the 11.7.1943 evening figures for operational numbers, but incorrectly uses the 12.7.1943 post-battle evening figures for damaged tanks). Quite obviously the correct data should all be taken from the evening of 11.7.1943. Töppel’s figures give an incorrect pre-battle inventory of 12 Tiger tanks (eight damaged and four operational), whereas the correct analysis gives a pre-battle inventory of 13 Tiger tanks (nine damaged and four operational). See Töppel, Roman, ‘The Battle of Prokhorovka: Facts Against Fables’, Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 34:2 (2021); Töppel, Roman, ‘Die Panzerschlacht bei Prochorowka, Fakten gegen Fabeln’, Arbeitskreis Militärgeschichte e.V. (2020). See also 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report, 12.7.1943 (almost certainly 24:00) damage report, 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 14.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 48., 57., 66.

[7] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report, 12.7.1943 (almost certainly 24:00) damage report, 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 14.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 48., 57., 66; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV reports for 11.7.1943, 13.7.1943 and 14.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54, F000703-04, F000725-26.

[8] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV report for 11.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54.

[9] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV report for 11.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V. V, LSSAH, Betr.: Totalausfӓlle an Pz. Kpfwg. und gep. Kfz. 1–10.7.1943, (written 12.7.1943). NARA T313, R390; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1–10.7.1943. NARA T313, R390.

[10] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report, 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 14.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 57., 66; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV reports for 11.7.1943, 13.7.1943 and 14.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54, F000703-04, F000725-26; II SS Panzer Korps, Ingenieur, Betr.: Kinsatz Raum Belgorod, 5–18.7.1943, updated to 22.7.1943 (written 28.7.1943), NARA T354, R607, F000629-31.

[11] Wheatley, Ben, The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat (Oxford: Osprey, 2023), 90–108.

[12] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 57.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV reports for 11.7.1943 and 13.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54, F000703-04; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V. V, LSSAH, Betr.: Totalausfӓlle an Pz. Kpfwg. und gep. Kfz. 1–10.7.1943, (written 12.7.1943). NARA T313, R390; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1–10.7.1943. NARA T313, R390; II SS Panzer Korps, Ingenieur, Betr.: Kinsatz Raum Belgorod, 5–18.7.1943, updated to 22.7.1943 (written 28.7.1943), NARA T354, R607, F000629-31.

[13] 14.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 66.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV report for 14.7.1943, T354, R605, F000725-26; II SS Panzer Korps, Ingenieur, Betr.: Kinsatz Raum Belgorod, 5–18.7.1943, updated to 22.7.1943 (written 28.7.1943), NARA T354, R607, F000629-31.

[14] 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 14.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 57., 66.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV reports for 13.7.1943 and 14.7.1943, T354, R605, F000703-04 & F000725-26; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V. V, LSSAH, Betr.: Totalausfӓlle an Pz. Kpfwg. und gep. Kfz. 1–10.7.1943, (written 12.7.1943). NARA T313, R390; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1–10.7.1943. NARA T313, R390; II SS Panzer Korps, Ingenieur, Betr.: Kinsatz Raum Belgorod, 5–18.7.1943, updated to 22.7.1943 (written 28.7.1943), NARA T354, R607, F000629-31.

[15] 12.7.1943 (almost certainly 24:00) damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 48.

[16] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 57.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV reports for 11.7.1943 & 13.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54, F000703-04; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V. V, LSSAH, Betr.: Totalausfӓlle an Pz. Kpfwg. und gep. Kfz. 1–10.7.1943, (written 12.7.1943). NARA T313, R390; 4th Panzer Army, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1–10.7.1943. NARA T313, R390; II SS Panzer Korps, Ingenieur, Betr.: Kinsatz Raum Belgorod, 5–18.7.1943, updated to 22.7.1943 (written 28.7.1943), NARA T354, R607, F000629-31; AOK 6, 1a, KTB 9, Zustandsberichte, Wochenmeldung über Panzer und Sturmgeschützlage Stand 1.8.1943 (written 6.8.1943), T312, R1483, F000441; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH Ia, Tagesmeldung für den 24.7.1943, T354, R605, F000867; Gen Insp. d Pz Truppen, Waffen SS monthly divisional Meldung and OB charts, LSSAH, 1.9.1943, T78, R719; PzAOK 4, O.Qu.V, LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1.11.1943, T313, R391. *The LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1-10.7.1943 & LSSAH, Gep. Kfz. Bestandsmeldung. 1.11.1943 indicate the loss of a Pz III kz occurred between the 5th and 10th of July 1943.

[17] Wheatley, Ben, The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat (Oxford: Osprey, 2023), 29-30, 74 & 120-21; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH Ia, Tagesmeldung für den 24.7.1943, T354, R605, F000867; 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report, 12.7.1943 (almost certainly 24:00) damage report, 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report and 14.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH – General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 48., 57., 66.

[18] 11.7.1943 24:00 damage report & 13.7.1943 24:00 damage report, OKH - General Inspector of Panzer Troops – AGS, Bundesarchiv/Militӓrarchiv, RH 10/64. 47., 43., 57.; II SS Panzer Korps, LSSAH daily AFV reports for 11.7.1943 & 13.7.1943, T354, R605, F000653-54, F000703-04.

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