Elefant tank destroyer

The Elefant tank destroyer, originally called the Ferdinand, was a German heavy tank destroyer of the Second World War, built on the chassis of the rejected Porsche Tiger tank and armed with the powerful 88-millimetre Pak 43 anti-tank gun. Ninety-one were built in 1943, and they fought in the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, where their long-range firepower destroyed many Soviet tanks, but where their lack of a machine gun, their poor mobility, and their unreliable engines caused heavy losses. Renamed the Elefant in 1944, the survivors fought in Italy and on the Eastern Front until the end of the war, and the type remains one of the most famous and most controversial German armoured vehicles of the war.

1. Key Facts

Field	Value
Type	Heavy tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer)
Country	Germany
Designer	Ferdinand Porsche; built by Nibelungenwerk, St. Valentin
Production	1943
Number built	91 (90 Ferdinands + 1 Bergepanzer)
Crew	6 (commander, gunner, 2 loaders, driver, radio operator)
Weight	About 65 tonnes
Length	8.14 metres (26 ft 8 in) with gun; hull 6.21 m
Width	3.38 metres (11 ft 1 in)
Height	2.97 metres (9 ft 9 in)
Engine	2 × Maybach HL 120 TRM petrol, 600 hp total (petrol-electric drive)
Speed	About 30 km/h (19 mph) on road; about 10 km/h cross-country
Range	About 150 km (93 miles) on road
Main armament	88 mm Pak 43/2 L/71 gun (50 rounds)
Secondary armament	1 × 7.92 mm MG 34 (after 1944 refit; none as built)
Armour	Hull front 200 mm; superstructure front 200 mm; side 80 mm
Main theatres	Kursk 1943; Italy 1944; Eastern Front 1944–1945
Original name	Ferdinand (renamed Elefant, May 1944)
Named for	Ferdinand Porsche

2. Origins and Development

The Porsche Tiger

The Elefant was born from failure, because its chassis was that of the Porsche Tiger, the VK 45.01 (P), a heavy tank designed by Ferdinand Porsche for the competition that produced the Tiger I. Porsche’s design used a petrol-electric drive, with two petrol engines driving generators that powered electric motors, a complex and unreliable system, and it lost the competition to the Henschel Tiger. Porsche had already built about 100 chassis, in the expectation that his design would win, and the German Army, which did not want to waste them, decided to convert them into tank destroyers. The chassis were sent to the Nibelungenwerk at St. Valentin in Austria, where they were fitted with a large, fixed superstructure and an 88-millimetre gun, and the result was the Ferdinand, named for Porsche himself.

The 88 mm Pak 43 Gun

The main armament of the Elefant was the 88-millimetre Pak 43/2 L/71 gun, one of the most powerful anti-tank guns of the Second World War, with a muzzle velocity of about 1,000 metres per second for the armour-piercing round. The gun could penetrate about 200 millimetres of armour at 1,000 metres, which was enough to destroy any Soviet or Allied tank from the front at long range, and it could fire accurately at 2,000 metres and beyond. The gun was mounted in a fixed superstructure, with a limited traverse of 28 degrees, which meant that the whole vehicle had to be turned to aim at a target outside that arc. The gun was the heart of the Elefant, and it was the reason why the vehicle was built, because the German Army wanted a tank destroyer that could kill Soviet tanks at long range.

Conversion and Production

Ninety-one Ferdinands were built in the spring of 1943, at the Nibelungenwerk, using the Porsche Tiger chassis and a new superstructure made of thick, sloped armour. The conversion was carried out quickly, because the German Army needed the vehicles for the summer offensive at Kursk, and the first Ferdinands were completed in May 1943 and issued to two heavy tank destroyer battalions, the 653rd and the 654th. The vehicles were rushed into service without proper testing, and they suffered from teething problems, including unreliable engines, poor brakes, and a lack of spare parts. The Ferdinand was a vehicle that had been built in a hurry, from a chassis that had already failed, and its problems would become apparent at Kursk.

The Name Change

In May 1944, after the survivors of Kursk had been refitted, the Ferdinand was officially renamed the Elefant, at the order of Adolf Hitler, who thought that the new name was more appropriate for a heavy, powerful vehicle. The refit included the addition of a bow machine gun, a commander’s cupola, and improved armour, and the vehicles were issued to the 653rd Battalion for service in Italy. The name Elefant is the one by which the vehicle is best known today, though it was built and first fought as the Ferdinand. The two names refer to the same vehicle, and they are often used interchangeably, though strictly the Ferdinand was the 1943 version and the Elefant was the 1944 refit.

3. Technical Design

Hull, Armour, and Layout

The Elefant was a huge vehicle, 8.14 metres long with its gun, 3.38 metres wide, and 2.97 metres high, weighing about 65 tonnes, which made it one of the heaviest armoured vehicles of the war. Its hull was made of thick steel, with a frontal armour of 200 millimetres, made by bolting an extra 100-millimetre plate to the original 100-millimetre plate of the Porsche Tiger, and a side armour of 80 millimetres. Its superstructure, mounted at the rear of the hull, also had a frontal armour of 200 millimetres, which gave it protection against any Soviet or Allied anti-tank gun at normal battle ranges. The Elefant was the best-protected German armoured vehicle of the war, and its armour was its greatest strength, because it could not be penetrated from the front by any weapon the Soviets had in 1943.

The Petrol-Electric Drive

The Elefant used the petrol-electric drive of the Porsche Tiger, with two Maybach HL 120 petrol engines, each producing 300 horsepower, driving generators that powered two electric motors, which drove the tracks. The system was complex, heavy, and unreliable, and it consumed a great deal of fuel, giving the Elefant a range of only about 150 kilometres on the road. Its top speed was about 30 kilometres per hour on the road and about 10 kilometres per hour cross-country, which made it one of the slowest German armoured vehicles. Its petrol-electric drive was its greatest weakness, because it broke down frequently, it was difficult to repair, and it made the vehicle vulnerable to fire, because its petrol engines and its electrical system were exposed. The Elefant was a powerful vehicle with a bad engine, and its engine was the reason why so many were lost to breakdowns rather than to enemy fire.

Crew and Fighting Compartment

The Elefant had a crew of six: a commander, a gunner, two loaders, a driver, and a radio operator, which was a large crew for a tank destroyer, but which was necessary because the 88-millimetre gun used large, heavy ammunition that required two loaders. The fighting compartment, in the rear superstructure, was roomy, with good visibility for the commander and the gunner, and with storage for 50 rounds of 88-millimetre ammunition. The driver and the radio operator sat in the front of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment, which made communication difficult. The Elefant was comfortable to fight in, though it was cramped in the front, and its crew liked its powerful gun and its thick armour, though they complained about its slow speed and its unreliable engine.

4. Combat Service at Kursk

The Battle of Kursk

The Elefant first saw combat in the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, where the 653rd and 654th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalions, with 89 Ferdinands, took part in Operation Citadel, the German offensive against the Kursk salient. The Ferdinands were used as breakthrough vehicles, leading the attack against the Soviet defences, and they destroyed many Soviet tanks at long range, with their 88-millimetre guns. The Soviet reports claimed that the Ferdinands destroyed hundreds of tanks, and the German reports claimed a kill ratio of ten to one, though these figures are exaggerated. The Ferdinand was effective as a long-range tank killer, but it was vulnerable in close combat, because it had no machine gun, and Soviet infantry could approach it and destroy it with grenades and Molotov cocktails.

Losses and Breakdowns

The Ferdinands suffered heavy losses at Kursk, not so much to enemy fire as to breakdowns and to mines, because their petrol-electric drive was unreliable, their tracks were vulnerable to mines, and their weight made them difficult to recover. Of the 89 Ferdinands that fought at Kursk, about half were lost, most of them to mechanical failure or to mines, and many were abandoned and destroyed by their crews because they could not be recovered. The Ferdinand was a vehicle that could kill tanks at 2,000 metres, but that could not move 200 metres without breaking down, and its performance at Kursk was a disappointment. The battle showed that the Ferdinand was a flawed design, with a powerful gun and thick armour but a bad engine and no close defence.

The Missing Machine Gun

The most famous flaw of the Ferdinand was its lack of a machine gun, because the original design had no bow machine gun and no anti-infantry weapon, which meant that it was defenceless against Soviet infantry at close range. Soviet soldiers learned to approach the Ferdinand from the blind side, where its gun could not traverse, and to attack it with grenades, satchel charges, and Molotov cocktails, and many Ferdinands were destroyed in this way. The lack of a machine gun was a serious oversight, and it was corrected in the 1944 refit, when a bow MG 34 was added, but at Kursk it was a fatal flaw. The Ferdinand’s lack of a machine gun is one of the most famous design errors in the history of the tank, and it is a lesson in the importance of close defence for an armoured vehicle.

5. Combat Service in Italy and the East

Italy 1944

After Kursk, the surviving Ferdinands were withdrawn to Germany, refitted as Elefants, and sent to Italy in early 1944, where they fought in the battles of Anzio and Cassino, and in the defence of the Gothic Line. In Italy, the Elefant was used as a mobile anti-tank gun, supporting the German infantry against Allied tanks, and it performed well, because its 88-millimetre gun could destroy any Allied tank at long range, and its thick armour protected it against Allied anti-tank guns. The Elefant was less vulnerable in Italy than at Kursk, because the terrain was mountainous and the fighting was slower, and because the Allies had fewer tanks. The Elefant served in Italy until the end of the war, and the last vehicles were lost in the final battles of 1945.

The Eastern Front 1944–1945

On the Eastern Front, the Elefant served with the 653rd Battalion, which fought in Ukraine, Poland, and Germany, and which was gradually reduced by losses until it had only a handful of vehicles left. The Elefant fought in the defence of Berlin in April 1945, where the last vehicles were destroyed or captured by the Soviets. The Elefant’s service on the Eastern Front was a long, slow decline, as the vehicles broke down, ran out of fuel, and were abandoned, and as the battalion was reduced to a shadow of its former strength. The Elefant was a vehicle that had been built for a single battle, Kursk, and that survived for two more years, fighting in Italy and on the Eastern Front, but that was never built in large numbers and never had a major effect on the war.

The Last Elefants

The last Elefants were lost in the final weeks of the war, in Berlin and in Czechoslovakia, where they were destroyed by Soviet tanks and artillery, or abandoned for lack of fuel. A few Elefants were captured by the Americans and the Soviets, and they were taken to the United States and to the Soviet Union for testing, where they impressed the engineers with their powerful gun and their thick armour. Two Elefants survive today, one at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia and one at the United States Army Ordnance Museum at Fort Lee, Virginia, where they are displayed as examples of German tank destroyer design. The Elefant is remembered as one of the most powerful and most flawed German armoured vehicles of the war.

6. Strengths

Firepower and Armour

The greatest strengths of the Elefant were its firepower and its armour, because its 88-millimetre Pak 43 gun could penetrate any Soviet or Allied tank at long range, and its frontal armour of 200 millimetres could not be penetrated by any Soviet or Allied anti-tank gun at normal battle ranges. The Elefant was a tank destroyer that could kill at 2,000 metres and that could not be killed from the front, and it was feared by Soviet and Allied tank crews, who learned to avoid it and to attack it from the side or the rear. Its gun and its armour made it the most powerful tank destroyer in the German Army, and it was a vehicle that could dominate a battlefield if it was used properly.

Long-Range Accuracy

The Elefant’s 88-millimetre gun was accurate at long range, with a good telescopic sight and a stable firing platform, which allowed its crews to hit targets at 2,000 metres and beyond. The gun’s high muzzle velocity gave it a flat trajectory, which made it easy to aim, and its powerful shell could destroy a tank with a single hit. The Elefant was a sniper among tank destroyers, a vehicle that could kill from a distance, and that could do so with great accuracy. Its long-range accuracy was the reason why it was used as a breakthrough vehicle at Kursk, and why it was feared by Soviet tank crews.

7. Weaknesses

Mobility, Reliability, and the Missing Machine Gun

The main weaknesses of the Elefant were its mobility, its reliability, and its lack of a machine gun, because it was slow, with a top speed of 30 kilometres per hour, it broke down frequently, because its petrol-electric drive was complex and unreliable, and it had no close defence, because it was built without a machine gun. The Elefant was a vehicle that could kill tanks at long range but that could not move, could not be repaired, and could not defend itself against infantry, and these weaknesses outweighed its strengths at Kursk. The Elefant was also too heavy, at 65 tonnes, which made it difficult to transport, to cross bridges, and to recover if it broke down. Its weight and its unreliability were the reasons why so many were lost to breakdowns and to mines, rather than to enemy fire.

Limited Traverse and High Cost

The Elefant’s gun had a limited traverse of only 28 degrees, which meant that the whole vehicle had to be turned to aim at a target outside that arc, which was slow and difficult in combat. The Elefant was also expensive to build, because it used the Porsche Tiger chassis and a complex petrol-electric drive, and it was built in small numbers, only 91, which meant that it could never have a major effect on the war. The Elefant was a powerful but flawed vehicle, a tank destroyer that was built from a failed tank, and that inherited its failures. Its limited traverse and its high cost were among the reasons why it was not built in larger numbers, and why it was replaced by the Jagdpanther and the Jagdtiger.

8. Comparison with Rivals

Against the Soviet Tanks

The Elefant was superior to any Soviet tank in 1943 in firepower and in armour, because its 88-millimetre gun could penetrate the T-34 and the KV-1 at long range, and its 200-millimetre frontal armour could not be penetrated by the Soviet 76-millimetre gun. The Soviet tanks were faster and more manoeuvrable, and they were built in larger numbers, but they could not fight the Elefant from the front. The Soviet response to the Elefant was to attack it from the side and the rear, and to use infantry to destroy it at close range, tactics that were successful at Kursk. The Elefant was a vehicle that dominated the battlefield at long range, but that was vulnerable at close range, and the Soviets learned to exploit that vulnerability.

Against the Jagdpanther

The Elefant was compared with the Jagdpanther, the German tank destroyer that followed it, and the Jagdpanther was a better vehicle, because it was faster, more reliable, and better protected, with a sloped armour and a more powerful engine, and it was built in larger numbers. The Jagdpanther used the Panther chassis, which was a successful design, while the Elefant used the Porsche Tiger chassis, which was a failure. The Jagdpanther was the tank destroyer that the Elefant should have been, and it showed how the German Army had learned from the mistakes of the Elefant. The Elefant was a powerful but flawed vehicle, and the Jagdpanther was its successor, a vehicle that corrected its flaws and became one of the best tank destroyers of the war.

9. Legacy

A Famous Failure

The legacy of the Elefant is that of a famous failure, a vehicle that was powerful and well protected, but that was unreliable, slow, and defenceless against infantry, and that lost more vehicles to breakdowns than to enemy fire. The Elefant is remembered as a cautionary tale in tank design, a lesson in the importance of reliability, mobility, and close defence, and in the dangers of building a vehicle from a failed chassis. The Elefant is also remembered as one of the most famous German armoured vehicles of the war, a vehicle that is depicted in books, films, and model kits, and that is displayed in museums as an example of German engineering. Its fame is due to its power and to its flaws, and it remains one of the most discussed tank destroyers in history.

Preservation and Memory

Two Elefants survive today, one at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia, captured at Kursk, and one at the United States Army Ordnance Museum at Fort Lee, Virginia, captured in Italy, and they are among the most visited vehicles in their museums. The Elefant is a symbol of the German war effort, a vehicle that was built in a hurry, from a failed design, and that fought in the most important battle of the Eastern Front. Its legacy is the Jagdpanther and the Jagdtiger, the tank destroyers that followed it and that corrected its flaws, and its story is a reminder that a powerful gun and thick armour are not enough, and that a tank destroyer must also be reliable, mobile, and able to defend itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Elefant tank destroyer?
The Elefant is a German heavy tank destroyer of the Second World War, built on the Porsche Tiger chassis and armed with an 88-millimetre Pak 43 gun. Ninety-one were built in 1943.

Why was it first called the Ferdinand?
It was named for Ferdinand Porsche, the designer of the Tiger chassis on which it was based. It was renamed Elefant in May 1944 after a refit.

How many Elefants were built?
Ninety-one were built in 1943, of which 89 fought at Kursk. The rest were used for training or as recovery vehicles.

What was its main weakness at Kursk?
It had no machine gun, so it was defenceless against Soviet infantry at close range, and its petrol-electric drive was unreliable, causing many breakdowns.

Could the Elefant be penetrated from the front?
No. Its frontal armour of 200 millimetres could not be penetrated by any Soviet or Allied anti-tank gun at normal battle ranges in 1943.

Where can I see an Elefant today?
Two survive: one at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia and one at the United States Army Ordnance Museum at Fort Lee, Virginia.

Sources

• The Kubinka Tank Museum, Elefant collection
• Thomas L. Jentz and Hilary Doyle, Panzer Tracts No. 9: Jagdpanzer
• The Tank Museum, Bovington, Elefant exhibits
• The United States Army Ordnance Museum, Fort Lee, Elefant collection
• Steven J. Zaloga, German Tank Destroyers in World War II
• The Imperial War Museum, Kursk collection