The battalion took the Tiger I into combat for the first time on 16 September 1942[3] south of Lake Ladoga near Leningrad.

[1] Several more Tigers and Panzer IIIs arrived on 25 September and were used to completely equip the 1st company.

On 14 January 1943, Soviet troops disabled and captured one of the battalion's Tiger tanks during the Operation Spark near Leningrad.

Both Tigers were quickly brought to Kubinka experimental armor facility where they were thoroughly analyzed to develop and organize strategies to counter the tank only 4 months after its first appearance on the battlefield.

31 Tigers were shipped to the unit in mid to late May 1943, they brought the battalion up to full strength.

The unit operated around Lake Ladoga from July to September 1943[4] and Newel, near Belarus during November and December 1943 covering the retreat of German forces from the Leningrad area.

This gives them an overall kill-loss ratio of 13.08, making them the best heavy tank battalion of the Western Front.