Porsche had built ninety-odd heavy tank chassis in expectation of
getting the contract for the Panzer VI (Tiger), which went to Henschel
instead. It was decided in late 1942 to convert these to tank
destroyers by adding a superstructure with a long-barreled 88mm gun and
bolting on an extra 100mm of armor to the hull front. Named Ferdinand
(in honor of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche), they began entering service in
spring 1943 and two battalions of 45 vehicles each were ready for Kursk.
They fared poorly, more being lost to technical problems than enemy
fire. The primary cause of this unreliability was the electric motors;
the engines were mounted mid-body, powering electric motors which in
turn drove the track's drive sprockets. In late 1943, the fifty or so
still operational were removed from the front lines and underwent
modifications, including the addition of a hull MG as well as the
application of Zimmerit anti-magnetic paint. These vehicles were
renamed Elefant and were ready for service by spring 1944. Lack of
replacement parts and continued unreliability led to a continual
decline in numbers. Before the war ended, none were left running. The
Elefant could provide hard-hitting, long-range firepower in a defensive
role, but was highly vulnerable to close infantry attacks and was
virtually useless in offensive operations.
The driver and radio operator/MG gunner were located in the front of
the hull, each with an overhead hatch. Behind them were the engines. At
the rear of the hull was the fighting compartment. There were two
hatches atop the superstructure and one hatch at the rear of it.
The Elefant has a crew of six. The commander and cannon gunner sit in the turret. The two loaders are split between the chassis and superstructure. The driver and radio operator/MG gunner sit in the body. The Elefant uses 14.8 gallons of gasoline per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Very Large Tank chassis +4, Medium TD
superstructure with heavy slope [Body:T] +3,
tracks
+3.
Powertrain: 2x220-kW gasoline engines and 440-kW electric
motor w/440-kW tracked drive
train and 224 gallons in standard fuel tank [Body]; 16,000-kWs
batteries.
Occupancy: 2 CS Body, 2 CS Sup, 2 CS Both Cargo:
1 Superstructure.
Armor
Body: F 4/775, RL 4/310, B
4/310, TU 4/100
Superstructure: F 4/775,
RL 5/310, B 5/310, T 4/100
Tracks: 4/50
Weaponry
88mm Long TG/Krupp PaK 43/2 [Sup:F] (50).
Ground LMG/MG 34 [Body:F] (600).
Equipment
Body: Small radio receiver and
transmitter, fire extinguisher.
Statistics
| Size: 27’¥11’¥10’ | Payload: 2.53 tons | Lwt: 75.2 tons |
| Volume: 202 |
Maint.: 23 hours | Price: $76,500 |
HT: 7
HP: 2300 [Body], 360 [Superstructure], 800 [Each Track]
| gSpeed: 18 |
gAccel: 2 | gDecel: 20 | gMR: 0.25 | gSR: 6 | GP:
High (1/3) |
Design Notes
Speed was reduced from the design speed of 25 mph. The design weight
was increased 2% to match historical weight. Superstructure armor is
Expensive. HT was reduced by 1 to represent the unreliability of the
vehicle.
To represent the superstructure sloping, a new sloping option
(called 'heavy') was used. It provides 30 degree sloping on three sides
and reduced VSP to 36.
Many sources list an MG 34 being carried loose inside the vehicle,
used by a crewman from an open hatch (exposing him to return fire) or
when dismounted.
Variants
Three of the five vehicles completed with Krupp turrets for the
mid-1942 trials versus the Henshel design were later converted to heavy
recovery vehicles.