The Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 505 was formed in January 1943. It was assigned to 9. Armee and fought at Kursk and after Kursk it was attached to Heeresgruppe Mitte and fought at Smolensk.
It was refitted with Tiger II (Königstiger) tanks in September 1944 and fought with 24. Panzer-Division and 5. Panzer-Division in East Prussia until the end of the war.

Commanders

Major Bernhard Sauvant (? Feb or ? June 1943 - 13 Aug 1943) (WIA on 13 Aug)
Hauptmann von Karlowitz (Fhr.] (? Aug 1943 - 15 Sep 1943)
Hauptmann Werner Freiherr von Beschwitz (15 ? Sep 1943 - ? Nov 1944)
Major Senfft von Pilsach (? Nov 1944 - ? Apr 1945)

Area of operations

Eastern front (Jan 1943 - May 1945)

Holders of high awards

Holders of the German Cross in Gold (7)
- Knauth, Wilhelm, 20.01.1945, Hauptmann d.R., 3./s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Mausberg, Heinrich, 09.03.1945, Feldwebel, 3./s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Mikolajczyck, Emil, 24.03.1945, Feldwebel d.R., 1./s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Reibnitz Freiherr von, Manfred, 29.10.1944, Oberleutnant, s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Reichert, Heinz, 02.08.1944, Feldwebel, 1./s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Schlange, Werner, 24.03.1945, Leutnant, 3./s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Werner, Hermann, 11.04.1944, Unteroffizier, 2./Pz.Abt. 505
Holders of the German Cross in Silver (2)
- Eidenmüller, Johann, 31.01.1945, Heereswerkmeister, Versorgungskompanie s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Stigler, Franz, 24.11.1944, Oberleutnant d.R. , Abt.-Ingenieur s.Pz.Abt. 505
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (3)
- Berger, Johannes, 15.03.1945, Unteroffizier, 3./s.Pz.Abt. 505
- Knauth, Wilhelm, 07.09.1943, Leutnant, 3./Pz.Abt. 505
- Majuntke, Horst-Ulrich, 07.11.1943, Oberleutnant, Pz.Abt. 505
Holders of the Knight's Cross (3) (2 RK + 1 EL)
- Sauvant, Bernhard [260. EL] 28.07.1943 Major Kdr s.Pz.Abt 505
- Beschwitz Freiherr von, Werner 27.07.1944 Major Kdr s.Pz.Abt 505
- Knauth, Karl-Wilhelm 14.11.1943 Leutnant d.R. Führer 3./s.Pz.Abt 505

Notable members

Wilhelm Knauth (usually credited with 68 destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)

Tiger tank of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 505 with horses on the Eastern Front in the spring of 1944

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Tigers of sPzAbt.505 on the Eastern Front in the spring of 1943

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Sources used

Ron Klages - Trail of the Tigers
Wolfgang Schneider - Tigers in combat (2 vol)
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945
Gordon Williamson - German Army Elite Units, 1939-45

Reference material on this unit

Horst Krönke - Schwere Panzer (tiger) Abteilung 505