Sturmtiger is the German word for "storm tiger". Sturmtiger was also the name of a German tank in WWII with a large cannon designed for providing heavy fire in urban areas, such as demolishing heavily fortified buildings. It had a very short turret but a very wide barrel which could fire very large shells. An extremely small number of them were built, only 18, and all from damaged Tiger tanks. Though built for their offense, they were used for their defense because the situation changed for Germany between when the designs were approved (1943) and when they were deployed (late 1944). They first saw action on August 13, 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising.