Tiger I nickname "Tiger" by Ferdinand Porsche, and the Roman numeral was added after the later Tiger II entered production. The initial designation was "Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H" (‘‘"Panzer VI version H"’’, abbreviated "PzKpfw VI Ausf. H") where 'H' denoted Henschel as the designer/manufacturer. It was classified with ordnance inventory designation "SdKfz 182". The tank was later re-designated as "PzKpfw VI Ausf. E" in March 1943, with ordnance inventory designation "SdKfz 181". Today, only seven Tiger I tanks survive in museums and private collections worldwide. The Tiger 131 at the UK's Tank Museum, which was captured during the North Africa Campaign, is
Waffen-SS and during the Soviet counter-offensive were withdrawn to France to recover and be reformed as Panzergrenadier divisions. Due to the efforts of Himmler and "Obergruppenführer" Paul Hausser, the new commander of the SS Panzer Corps, the three SS Panzergrenadier divisions "Leibstandarte", "Das Reich", and "Totenkopf" were to be formed with a full regiment of tanks rather than only a battalion. This meant that the SS Panzergrenadier divisions were full-strength Panzer divisions in all but name. They each received nine Tiger tanks, which were formed into the heavy panzer companies. The Soviet offensive of January 1942 trapped a number of German