Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
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Play World of Tanks here: tanks.ly/3Mv20ON
Thank you World of Tanks for sponsoring this video.
During registration use the code COMBAT to get for free: 7 days of premium access, 250k credits, the premium tank Cromwell B (tier 6), and 3 rental tanks for 10 battles each: Tiger 131, T78, and Type 64.
Applicable to new users only.
One of the most famous Tiger battles took place on July 8th 1943 during the Battle of Kursk when supposedly a lone Tiger under the command of Franz Staudegger destroyed 22 T-34s. The Soviet's fielded a total force of 50 to 60 Russian tanks. How could 1 tiger hold against that many tanks? This episode is still hotly debated. What really happened there? We use both German and Soviet sources to shine some light on the incident and show you both sides of the story in this film.
For the German side we used internet articles “Panzer Aces Wittmann and Staudegger at Kursk” and “Revised footnote on Staudegger” by Christopher A. Lawrence, and also “Franz Staudegger – German Tiger Ace in the Battle of Kursk” by Evan Pinter.
For the Soviet side we looked through archive documents in Russian, scans of which can be found on the site of TsAMO, “Memory of People” page. First one is ”Excerpt from the War Diary of 26th Tank Brigade from June 23rd to July 6th of 1943”, second - "Combat Directive for units of 2nd Tank Corps for July 7th - July 8th 1943”, and third - "After-action report of 2nd Tank Corps for July 1943”.
Photo Credits:
”Unternehmen Zitadelle" Zwei Soldaten beim Betrachten eines Treffers an einem Panzer VI "Tiger I" - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-219-0553A-36)
"Unternehmen Zitadelle" - Soldat beim Betrachten eines abgeschossenen, noch leicht qualmenden sowjetischen Panzer T-34 - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-022-2935-24)
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00:00 Battle of Kursk - the largest tank battle of WW2
00:28 German perspective - German soldiers vs Soviet T-34 tanks
02:10 Staudegger and his Tiger I start their hunt
05:12 Tiger I on the move
08:36 Staudegger chases remaining T-34s and T-70s
10:48 Soviet perspective - Raigorodskii prepares his attack on Teterovino village
12:37 Attack of the Stuka
13:49 Raigorodskii faces the fire from Tiger I
15:43 Soviets retreat
17:19 Aftermath of the battle
Yarnhub uses the Unreal® Engine. Unreal® is a trademark or registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. Unreal® Engine, Copyright 1998 – 2024, Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved.
Follow and Wishlist our game on Steam store.steampowered.com/app/3606970?utm_source=0170
Play World of Tanks here: tanks.ly/3Mv20ON
Thank you World of Tanks for sponsoring this video.
During registration use the code COMBAT to get for free: 7 days of premium access, 250k credits, the premium tank Cromwell B (tier 6), and 3 rental tanks for 10 battles each: Tiger 131, T78, and Type 64.
Applicable to new users only.
One of the most famous Tiger battles took place on July 8th 1943 during the Battle of Kursk when supposedly a lone Tiger under the command of Franz Staudegger destroyed 22 T-34s. The Soviet's fielded a total force of 50 to 60 Russian tanks. How could 1 tiger hold against that many tanks? This episode is still hotly debated. What really happened there? We use both German and Soviet sources to shine some light on the incident and show you both sides of the story in this film.
For the German side we used internet articles “Panzer Aces Wittmann and Staudegger at Kursk” and “Revised footnote on Staudegger” by Christopher A. Lawrence, and also “Franz Staudegger – German Tiger Ace in the Battle of Kursk” by Evan Pinter.
For the Soviet side we looked through archive documents in Russian, scans of which can be found on the site of TsAMO, “Memory of People” page. First one is ”Excerpt from the War Diary of 26th Tank Brigade from June 23rd to July 6th of 1943”, second - "Combat Directive for units of 2nd Tank Corps for July 7th - July 8th 1943”, and third - "After-action report of 2nd Tank Corps for July 1943”.
Photo Credits:
”Unternehmen Zitadelle" Zwei Soldaten beim Betrachten eines Treffers an einem Panzer VI "Tiger I" - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-219-0553A-36)
"Unternehmen Zitadelle" - Soldat beim Betrachten eines abgeschossenen, noch leicht qualmenden sowjetischen Panzer T-34 - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-022-2935-24)
Hit join to become a member and get exclusive perks youtube.com/channel/UC-f2WBfSCZiu0bOBydjot3w/join
Check out our exclusive merch yarnhub-shop.fourthwall.com
Join us on Discord discord.gg/yarnhub
00:00 Battle of Kursk - the largest tank battle of WW2
00:28 German perspective - German soldiers vs Soviet T-34 tanks
02:10 Staudegger and his Tiger I start their hunt
05:12 Tiger I on the move
08:36 Staudegger chases remaining T-34s and T-70s
10:48 Soviet perspective - Raigorodskii prepares his attack on Teterovino village
12:37 Attack of the Stuka
13:49 Raigorodskii faces the fire from Tiger I
15:43 Soviets retreat
17:19 Aftermath of the battle
Yarnhub uses the Unreal® Engine. Unreal® is a trademark or registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. Unreal® Engine, Copyright 1998 – 2024, Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved.
![Laconia Incident
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/3606970?utm_source=0220
September 12th, 1942. Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein, commander of U-156, sinks the British armed merchant cruiser RMS Laconia. Unbeknownst to him, the ship is loaded with civilians and Italian prisoners of war. As survivors struggle amidst the wreckage, the German captain declares a temporary truce and moves in to rescue them. But everything goes wrong when an American B-24 Liberator emerges from the clouds. What began as a mission of mercy collapses into a deadly fight to survive.
Sources:
Primary:
McLoughlin, Jim, David Gibb, and Chris Bullock. “A Laconia Survivor’s Memoir.” ABC Listen, May 11, 2006. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive/a-laconia-survivors-memoir/3334540
McLoughlin, Jim, and David Gibb. One Common Enemy: The Laconia Incident: A Survivor’s Memoir (Large Print 16pt). ReadHowYouWant, 2012.
U-156. Kriegstagebuch: 4. Unternehmung [War Diary: 4th Patrol]. August 20, 1942–November 16, 1942. Record Group 242, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.
Secondary:
Hood, Jean. Wreck: Extraordinary True Stories of Disaster and Heroism at Sea. Conway, 2008.
Peillard, Léonce. The Laconia Affair. Bantam Books, 1983.
Peillard, Léonce. U-Boats to the Rescue: The Laconia Incident. Coronet Books, 1976.
Tougias, Michael J., and Alison O’Leary. Abandon Ship!: A True World War II Story of Disaster and Survival. Christy Ottaviano Books-Little Brown and Hachette, 2023.
IWM. “Bawden, Edward (Oral History).” Imperial War Museums. Accessed January 28, 2026. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80004582
IWM. “Interview with Tadeusz Walczak.” Imperial War Museums. Accessed January 28, 2026. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80016864
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Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/yarnhub
Check out our exclusive merch https://yarnhub-shop.fourthwall.com
Join us on Discord https://discord.gg/yarnhub-1087778019822813334
00:00: U-156 Stalks British Cruiser
00:54: Torpedoes Sink RMS Laconia
02:44: Survivors Swim for Life
03:54: Italian Prisoners Discovered
05:12: Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein Launches Rescue
08:30: Lt. James D. Harden spots Red Cross Flag
10:13: B-24 Liberator Attacks U-boat
12:02: Lifeboats Cut Loose
14:04: Survivors Drift To Land
Yarnhub uses the Unreal® Engine. Unreal® is a trademark or registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. Unreal® Engine, Copyright 1998 – 2026, Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Laconia Incident](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C3KdI8RhpSU/mqdefault.jpg)









