Elefant

This article is about the Wehrmacht tank destroyer. For the animal, see elephant. For other uses, see Elefant (disambiguation).

Panzerjäger Tiger (P)
The United States Army Ordnance Museum's restored Elefant.
Type	Heavy tank destroyer
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Production history
Designer	Dr. Ferdinand Porsche
Designed	1942–43
Manufacturer	Porsche AG
Produced	March–May 1943 (modification into Elefant October–November 1943)
No. built	91
Specifications
Mass	65 tonnes (143,000 lb)
Length	8.14 m (26 ft 8 in) with gun
Width	3.38 m (11 ft 1 in)
Height	2.97 m (9 ft 9 in)
Crew	6 (driver, radio-operator, commander, gunner, two loaders)
Armor	200 mm (7.87 in)
Main armament	8.8 cm Pak 43/2 L/71, also known as StuK 43/1
Secondary armament	7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun (only Elefant)
Engine	2 × Maybach HL 120 petrol 600 PS (592 hp, 442 kW)
Power/weight	9.23 PS/tonne
Suspension	longitudinal torsion-bar
Operational range	150 km (93 mi) road 90 km (56 mi) cross-country
Maximum speed	30 kilometres per hour (19 mph)

Elefant (German for "elephant") was a Schwere Panzerjäger ("heavy tank destroyer") of the German Wehrmacht used in small numbers in World War II. It was built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche. In 1944, after modification of the existing vehicles, they were renamed Elefant. The official German designation was Panzerjäger Tiger (P) and the ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz. 184.

Development history

Porsche's pre-Elefant, turreted Tiger I prototype

Porsche AG had manufactured about one hundred chassis for their proposal of the Tiger tank, the unsuccessful "Porsche Tiger", in the Nibelungenwerk factory in Sankt Valentin, Austria. Both Henschel and Porsche chassis used the same Krupp-designed turret—the Henschel design having its turret more-or-less centrally located on its hull, with the Porsche design placing 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, 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.

Therefore the somewhat ad hoc design, Ferdinand supplanted the previous light tank destroyers, like Marder II and Marder III, in the offensive role. The similar gun was used in the lightly armored Hornisse / Nashorn 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 (296 hp; 221 kW) 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 so called "petro-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 consisted of six twin bogies (three per side) with longitudinal torsion bars. 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 (Pak) 43/2 L/71 gun. The L/71 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. The L/71 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 (chassis number 150010 to 150100). 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 (to improve anti-infantry ability), a commander's cupola (modified from the standard StuG III 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. 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 Raumpanzer Tiger or Rammtiger, an experimental breakthrough vehicle.

Combat history

An Elefant disabled somewhere in Italy, 1944.

Ferdinands first saw combat in the Battle of Kursk, where eighty-nine were committed. Reputed to be able to knock out a T-34 at a range of over 3 miles with its 88mm Pak43/2 L/71, it was a strong opponent for the Allies. Although effective at destroying Soviet tanks, they performed quite poorly in other respects. In its original configuration, the Ferdinand lacked a machine gun as secondary armament, making it vulnerable to attack by infantry. While this was a disadvantage, most combat losses were from mine damage and mechanical failure. Within four days nearly half of the vehicles were out of service, mostly due to technical problems and mine damage to tracks and suspension. Combat losses to enemy action were very low as the very thick armor protected the Ferdinand from almost all Soviet antitank weaponry; in fact, most of the vehicles destroyed or captured had been abandoned by their crews after mechanical failure.

Many of these immobilized Ferdinands had to be permanently abandoned, as they proved too heavy to tow for most German recovery vehicles. Others were lost to mechanical breakdown during the retreat following the Soviet counter-offensive in the latter stages of the battle. The surviving vehicles saw further limited action on the Dniepr front during late 1943.

In Italy, March 1944

The units were deployed at a company level, sometimes sub-divided into platoons, with infantry or tanks to protect the vulnerable flanks 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. Due to a permanent lack of spare parts most of the units were not destroyed in battle, but abandoned and blown up by their own crews. 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 (German: schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung, sPzJägAbt) 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.

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.

• 
  The United States Army Ordnance Museum's restored Elefant.
• 
  The United States Army Ordnance Museum's restored Elefant.
• 
  The Kubinka Tank Museum's Ferdinand.

See also

• SU-152, a Soviet self-propelled heavy howitzer which earned the nickname Zveroboy ("beast killer") for its ability to knock out Elefants, as well as Tigers and Panther tanks.

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 (grayknight.narod.ru)
• 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'