The Elefant was a Schwerer Panzerjäger - a tank destroyer - of the German Wehrmacht during
World War II. It was built in small numbers in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its
designer Ferdinand Porsche using tank hulls that had been produced for a cancelled German
heavy tank design. In 1944, after modification of the existing
vehicles, they were renamed Elefant. The official German designation was Panzerjäger Tiger
and the ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz. 184.
Development history
Porsche GmbH had manufactured about one hundred chassis for their unsuccessful proposal for
the Tiger tank, the "Porsche Tiger", in the Nibelungenwerk factory in Sankt Valentin,
Austria. Both the successful Henschel proposal and the Porsche design used the same Krupp-designed
turret—the Henschel design had its turret more-or-less centrally located on its hull,
while the Porsche design placed the turret much nearer the front of the superstructure.
Since the competing Henschel Tiger design was chosen for production, the Porsche chassis
were no longer required for the Tiger tank project. It was therefore decided that the
Porsche chassis were to be used as the basis of a new heavy tank destroyer, Ferdinand,
mounting Krupp's newly developed 88 mm Pak 43/2 anti-tank gun. This precise long-range
weapon was intended to take out enemy tanks before they reached their own range of effective
fire. Ferdinand was intended to supplant previous
light tank destroyers, like Marder II and Marder III, in the offensive role. A similar
gun was used in the lightly armored Hornisse tank destroyer, built in parallel.
Design Chassis
The engines had already been placed in the middle of the hull to accommodate the Krupp-designed
turret that both the Porsche and Henschel contenders used for the initial Tiger tank
contract, and that placement for the Porsche-designed contender gave room on the Ferdinand for the
anti-tank main gun armament at the rear. The gun was mounted in a simple, casemate-style
box structure, with slightly sloped sides, on top of this chassis. The driver and radio
operator were in a separate compartment at the front. As the engines were placed in the
middle, the radio operator and the driver were separated from the rest of the crew and
could be addressed only by intercom. Add-on armor of 100 mm was bolted to the
front plates, increasing the plate's thickness to 200 mm and adding another 5 tons of weight.
Drive The two Porsche air cooled engines in each
vehicle were replaced by two 300 PS Maybach HL 120 TRM engines. The engines drove electric
generators, which in turn powered electric motors connected to the rear sprockets. The
electric motors also acted as the vehicle's steering unit. This "petrol-electrical" drive
delivered 0.11 km/l off road and 0.15 km/l on road at a maximum speed of 10 km/h off
road and 30 km/h on road. Besides the high fuel consumption and the poor performance
the drive system was also maintenance-intensive; the sprockets needed to be changed every 500 km.
Porsche had experience of this form of petrol-electric transmission extending back to 1901, when
he designed a car that used it. Suspension for the "slack track" equipped
Elefant consisted of six twin bogies with longitudinal torsion bars, without any overlapping
wheels or return rollers. What appears to be two sets of drive sprockets, at either
end of the vehicle per side, actually comprises a front sprocket that engaged the track with
a drum brake unit built into its hub to act as the track brake, with the electric drive
motor at the rear on each side, powering the track's rear drive sprocket.
Armament The vehicle was fitted with an 88 mm Panzerabwehrkanone
43/2 gun. This 71 caliber-long gun had originally been developed as a replacement for the famous
88 mm anti-aircraft gun that had been used against Allied tanks in the Western Desert
Campaign. It had a much longer barrel than the L/56 guns, which gave it a higher muzzle
velocity. It also fired a different, longer cartridge. These improvements gave the 88 mm
L/71 significantly improved armor penetration ability over the earlier 88 mm. Although
it lost the competition to the 8.8 cm Flak 41 and never became an anti-aircraft weapon,
it was turned into the very successful Pak 43 anti-tank gun.
As fitted, the gun was capable of 25° traverse and a similarly limited elevation.
Production Ninety-one existing "Porsche Tiger" chassis
were converted. The work was completed in just a few months from March to May 1943.
Modification—Elefant In September 1943 all surviving Ferdinands
were recalled to be modified based on battle experience gained in the Battle of Kursk.
During October and November 1943, 48 of the 50 surviving vehicles were modified by addition
of a ball-mounted MG 34 in the hull front, a commander's cupola for improved vision and
the application of Zimmerit paste. The frontal armor was thickened and the tracks widened;
these changes increased the weight from 65 to 70 t. The improved vehicles were called
Elefant and this became the official name by Hitler's orders of May 1, 1944. Possibly
as a stopgap before the Elefant modifications were available for the original Ferdinand
vehicles, the rarely seen Krummlauf curved barrel upgrade for the Sturmgewehr 44 assault
rifle was allegedly meant to allow crews of Ferdinands to defend their vehicle without
exposing themselves. Three Bergepanzer Tiger or Bergetiger armoured recovery vehicles were
built in Autumn 1943 from Tiger prototypes and one battle-damaged Ferdinand not suitable
for the Elefant modification was converted into a Rammpanzer Tiger or Rammtiger, an experimental
breakthrough vehicle. Combat history
Kursk Ferdinands first saw combat in the Battle
of Kursk, where eighty-nine were committed, representing the most concentrated usage of
the vehicle in World War 2. The Ferdinand was optimized for destroying
Soviet T-34 tanks and 76.2mm anti-tank guns from behind the front lines, at a range of
over 3 miles, with its 88mm Pak43/2 L/71, a role at which it performed well. However,
after advancing through the initial line of Soviet resistance, it was hampered by a variety
of flaws, such as the lack of peripheral vision blocks, a rotating turret or even a single
machine gun as secondary armament; Soviet infantry, quickly recognizing this flaw, could
easily hide in their trenches until the Ferdinand advanced through their lines, then swarm the
vehicle with grenades and Molotov cocktails from the sides.
While this proved a significant disadvantage, a more significant problem at Kursk was mine
damage and mechanical failure. Any damage to the tracks or suspension negated the protection
of the armor as crews were forced to dismount and attempt repairs, and the extremely heavy
weight of the Ferdinand meant towing was a dicey proposition: the standard armored recovery
vehicle in German service at the time was the Bergepanzer IV, a variant of the Panzer
IV which could tow a single Panzer IV without assistance. It was insufficient for larger
vehicles, with a Tiger I heavy tank requiring three Bergepanzer IVs to be towed, and the
Ferdinand requiring five Bergepanzer IVs linked in tandem to pull the vehicle off the field.
In the initial stages of the Kursk battle, heavy vehicles were able to be recovered and
repaired with relative peace at night; this at first allowed the majority of knocked-out
Ferdinands to be rescued, repaired and returned to duty. However, once the tides had turned
against the Germans and they fell back on the defensive, functional Ferdinands with
minor damage to their tracks or suspensions had little hope of recovery and crews were
usually forced to destroy the vehicle to avoid an expensive, mostly-intact tank destroyer
falling into the hands of the Soviets.
The units were deployed at a company level, sometimes sub-divided into platoons, with
infantry or tanks in accompaniment to protect the flanks and rear of the vehicles. On the
attack, this Jagdpanzer was a first-strike vehicle, while in defence, they often comprised
a mobile reserve used to blunt enemy tank assaults.
Although the Elefant modifications improved the vehicles, some problems could never be
fully fixed. In 1944 the Elefants served on the Italian front but were rendered rather
ineffective, as their weight of nearly 70 tonnes did not allow them to use most Italian
roads and bridges. As at Kursk, most Elefant losses were not as a direct result from combat,
but resulted when mechanical breakdowns and lack of spare parts compelled their crews
to destroy and abandon them. One company of Elefants saw action during the Soviets' January
1945 Vistula-Oder offensive in Poland, and the very last surviving vehicles were in combat
at Zossen during the Battle of Berlin. The Ferdinand/Elefant may have been the most
successful tank destroyer employed during the war in kills per loss, reaching an average
ratio of approximately 10:1. During the Battle of Kursk, the 653rd Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion
claimed to have knocked out 320 enemy tanks, for the loss of 13 Ferdinands. This impressive
average ratio was due to its extreme firepower and protection, which gave it an enormous
advantage when used in head-on combat or a static defensive role. However, poor mobility
and mechanical unreliability greatly diminished its operational capability.
The Elefant and Nashorn were both superseded by the Jagdpanther which mounted a similar
gun. Survivors
Only two of these vehicles survived the war. One Ferdinand was captured by Soviet forces
at Kursk, and is now at the huge Kubinka Tank Museum outside Moscow. An Elefant was captured
at Anzio by the Americans, and is now part of the United States Army Ordnance Museum's
collection at Fort Lee, VA. The example at Fort Lee was restored to display condition
in 2007–2008, as documented on the show Tank Overhaul unfortunately not in its original
paint scheme
See also SU-152, a Soviet self-propelled heavy howitzer
which earned the nickname Zveroboy for its ability to knock out Elefants, as well as
Tigers and Panther tanks. Notes
References
External links Information about the Panzerjäger Tiger(P)
"Ferdinand/Elefant" at Panzerworld World War II Vehicles
Achtung Panzer web site. Photogallery
Very large Russian photo gallery Elefant at Aberdeen Proving Ground photos
@ 5 Star General site Photos of disabled and destroyed 'Ferdinands'
of 5./schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654 at Ponyri railway station during operation 'Zitadelle'