Elefant -with a killing trunk

The Elefant was a german tank-destroyer based on the Tiger-chassis, its official german name was Panzerjäger Tiger (P) called Ferdinand at first, but after modifications it was renamed" Elefant" (german for elephant)

The origin for the Elefant was 100 chassises made for the Porsche-version of Tiger. When this version was discarded, it was decided to use these 100 chassises to build an anti-tank with the new 88mm Pak anti-tank gun. 91 were built during a few months in early 1943.

In action, several flaws were discovered, and in september 1943 the 50 surviving  units were called back for modifications. After the modifications ( which in short was adding a MG, adding Zimmerit and wider tracks) the germans ended up with the version we call "Elefant".

Action:
When the first version was thrown into battle, it was almost without testing, and the battle of kursk sonn showed big problems-they were to vulnerable to infantry! Later, the Elefant saw action mainly in Italy, but even if it had an enormeous firepwer compared to most allied armoured vehicles, its weight and mechanical issues reduced its effect on the battlefield.

Even so-during the Battle of Kursk, the 653rd Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion (German: schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung, sPzJägAbt) claimed to have taken 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. In fact, most Ferdinands/Elefants were lost due to small problems with tracks, fuelshortage etc which forced the crew to destroy&abondon them.


Surviving units:
Only two Elefants survived the war- one is in the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia, the other one is at the United Staes Army Ordnance Museum at Fort Lee Virginia USA.

Numbers:
Weight: 65 tons
Length:8.14 metres
 Width: 3.38 metres
Height: 2.97 metres
Armour: up to 200 mm of steel....
Armament: 88 mm PaK or 43/2 L71
Speed: 46 km/h (road)