The Bergepanzer Tiger I has always been a bit of a mystery machine, considering there are no official reports on whether this was a factory produced a vehicle, and what its actual purpose was. Only one was ever recovered, being found abandoned on the side of the road in Italy.
There have been different theories on its purpose such as it was a recovery vehicle, although now being disputed as the boom isn’t designed to tow, nor is it strong enough to lift extremely heavy weights, nor were there any other bits of equipment common on recovery vehicles. A later theory is it was a field modification, most probably to a damaged tank, removing the gun and replacing it with the boom, and using it as a mine clearing vehicle, or to drop explosives to clear battlefield obstacles
There have been different theories on its purpose such as it was a recovery vehicle, although now being disputed as the boom isn’t designed to tow, nor is it strong enough to lift extremely heavy weights, nor were there any other bits of equipment common on recovery vehicles. A later theory is it was a field modification, most probably to a damaged tank, removing the gun and replacing it with the boom, and using it as a mine clearing vehicle, or to drop explosives to clear battlefield obstacles
