Armortek

Hi All
Sorting out the rear plate of F01 has raised a question. Does anyone know how the stowage of the starter crank handle changed on the Tiger 1? From my references, I have the following timeline and would appreciate if the blanks could be filled.

From Modeller Guide to the Tiger Tank and D.W. to Tiger 1:
Handle
September 1942 (s.PzAbt 502) on rear plate near left exhaust
December 1942 (s.PzAbt 501) absent from rear plate
September 1942 to October 1943 ..........?
Fgst.Nr 250570 October 1943 onwards, on roof plate near Fu7 antenna boss.

Shaft
Before February 1943 ........?
Fgst.Nr. 250122 February 1943 on rear plate at bottom to right of towing pintle.

Interestingly, from contemporary photographs, when it was captured Tiger 131 had the handle attached to the stowed shaft. This does strike me as an ‘approved’ method of stowage?

Thanks,
Alastair

Alastair

According to Jentz and Doyle, I can find the following chronology with references to the Schwungkraftanlasser:

1. Welding two tubes to store the engine hand-cranked starter guide plate on the hull rear between the mufflers (by Aug 42) repositioned for vertical stowage of the starter guide plate in Dec 42.

2. Welding fasteners on the lower left hull rear for securing a shaft for the engine hand-cranked starter (by Fgstl.Nr.250122 in Feb 43)

3. Welding fasteners on the deck by the antenna for stowing a starter hand crank handle (by Fgstl.Nr.250570 starting in Oct 43).

4. Adding mounting bolts to the engine hand-cranked starter guide plate starting in Feb 44.

Not sure what distinction you're drawing between shaft and handle. I thought there were two components stored externally, the crank guide and the starting handle.

Stephen

Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your information. The issue here is that the starter crank was a two piece device and it appears that there is definitive evidence only with Fgst.Nr. 250570 that both parts mounted externally. The shaft was located at the rear by Fgst.Nr. 250122 but where was the handle?

Alastair