While the Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks were already in circulation within the German Army in the mid-1930s, it became clear that the future of warfare would involved better armored and armed vehicles. The Panzer I fielded a machine gun armament in a traversing turret while the Panzer II improved to a 20mm turreted cannon. However, both were ill-equipped to counter the threat posed by British and French systems most likely to be encountered in a war in Europe. This prompted development of the Panzer III and Panzer IV medium-class tanks, the former intended to combat enemy armor directly and the latter designed as an infantry support vehicle. Both went on to see widespread service in the years after 1939, 5,774 and as many as 9,000 of both produced respectively.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941, and the introduction of the T-34 Medium and IS-2 Heavy tanks, it became painfully clear that the Germans required more formidable solutions and this, in turn, spurred development of the Panzer V "Panther" Medium and Tiger Heavy tanks. The Panther entered service in 1943 and saw service in the post-war years across foreign hands.
it was the development of the Tiger that proved interesting to the origins of the Ferdinand/Elephant tank killing vehicle. Henschel and Porsche were both charged with design of a new class of heavy tank with impressive armor protection and fielding the fabled 88mm field gun. For a period, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and his "Porsche Tiger" were thought in the lead due to the doctor's close relationship with German leader Adolf Hitler. Porsche designed a new drivetrain for its heavy tank submission, one that coupled two conventional engines driving a pair of generators which, in turn, powered electric motors which drove frontal drive sprockets of the track gear. While innovative as a gas-electric drive, the technology in a tank was unrefined and posed technological challenges.
Thus it was the simpler and more conventional Henschel design that won out and garnered the contract to develop and ultimately produce the SdKfz 181 "Tiger" Heavy Tank for the German Army. Production began in 1942 and rendered 1,347 units before the end of 1944, these fighting into the final weeks of the war.
Porsche had dedicated large amounts of manpower and resources into developing the Porsche Tiger - including near-complete hulls - it was decided in September of 1942 that development should proceed with the tank being converted to a dedicated tank destroyer. The selection of gun was the excellent 8.8cm (88mm) KwK L/71 (PaK 43/2, a development of the FlaK 18-37 anti-tank system) capable of knocking out all known Allied armor miles away. The turret concept of the Porsche Tiger was dropped and, in its place, a stout, fixed superstructure was designed to house the gun breech, recoil system, ammunition stores and gunnery crew. Unlike previous German self-propelled gun offerings, the Porsche vehicle would provide all-around protection for all of the crew within. The Alkett concern handled the initial design work beginning in November of 1942 with manufacture of two modified pilot vehicles managed by Nibelungenwerk (by way of Krupp). Initially it was thought that Alkett would produce the superstructures with final assembly at Nibelugenwerk. In the end, all work fell to Nibelungenwerk for the available 100 Porsche Tiger hulls from February 1943 onwards. After two months of frenetic work, from April 1943 to May 1943, 89 vehicles were converted.
The running gear consisted of six double-tired road wheels to a track side. Drive sprockets were positioned at front of the hull with no track return rollers being used. This gave the track link system a drooped appearance. The hull consisted of vertical side facings with a very shallow glacis plate leading up to a vertically-faced fighting compartment wall. The driver was positioned at the front-left of the hull with a hatch and vision blocks provided. Atop this compartment was fitted a boxy fixed superstructure mounting the armament. All sides of this emplacement were deliberately sloped where possible to provide some ballistics protection. The main gun protruded out of the frontal face of the superstructure and overhung the front of the hull. Since the superstructure was not a traversing turret, an A-shaped, hinged, two-strutted support was affixed to the lower compartment roof to support the frontal mass of the 88mm gun. The barrel was capped by a massive double-baffled muzzle brake and entered the superstructure through an armored mantlet. Armor protection registered up to 200mm in thickness, an impressive level of security to say the least.
Power was served through 2 x Maybach HL 120 TRM V12 gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled engines each developing 300 horsepower (600 horsepower combined). These drove twin Porsche/Siemens-Schuckert electric motors which powered the front drive sprockets. The engine was settled in a compartment at the middle of the hull. Maximum road speed was only 19 miles per hour and road range was limited to 95 miles due to the vehicle's sheer size and weight. The Porsche design measured a running length of 8 meters with a width of 3.4 meters and a height of 2.9 meters. Its operating weight was 65,000 kilograms, about 143,300lbs.
To operate the various onboard systems required a standard crew of six personnel. This included the driver and radio operator in the front of the hull. The vehicle commander, gunner and a pair of dedicated ammunition handlers were all located in the hull superstructure. With its 88mm main gun, 50 x 88mm projectiles were carried aboard. There was no provision for a self-defense, anti-infantry/anti-aircraft machine gun. spent shell casings were ejected through a port in the rear hull face.
In September of 1942, official work on the Porsche design was undertaken. After hasty trials and showings, Hitler ordered the type to be readied for the grand German offensives of 1943. The vehicle was formally adopted with the German inventory designation of SdKfz 184 and given the nickname of "Ferdinand" after Dr. Ferdinand Porsche himself. All together, the official vehicle designation became Jagdpanzer Tiger (P) Sd.Kfz. 184 (the "P" indicating it a Porsche development).
The Ferdinand's baptism of fire occurred in the summer of 1943 during the pivotal Battle of Kursk along the Eastern Front. Its hurried development and manufacture was driven by Hitler who looked for the vehicle's participation in his grand Operation Citadel thrust. The German offensive began on July 5th and ran until July 16th, meeting a Soviet offensive from July 12th to August 23rd. The battle took place near the city of Kursk and became the site of one of the biggest tank battles in military history, the German goal intended to shore up resupply lines to frontline units by neutralizing the Kursk salient which formed after the German failure at Stalingrad. For the battle ahead, Tiger Heavy Tanks and the new Panzer V Panther Medium Tank would come into play, the Ferdinand would join the new generation of German armor on the battlefield - arriving in June just a month after production wrapped. Delays caused by training of Panther and Ferdinand crews added to the postponement of Operation Citadel for Hitler required his newest and best available units to be on hand. Unknown to the Germans, the Soviet forces were very well prepared and numbered 1.9 million men, 25,000 guns and 5,100 tanks against the German force of 900,000 infantry, 3,000 tanks and 10,000 guns. While air support was given through the 2,100 committed Luftwaffe aircraft, the Soviets could field 2,800 aircraft in response.
Eighty-nine Ferdinand gun carriers were completed and shipped to the front, arranged across two battalions of Panzerregiment 654. In action, it reportedly claimed between 300 and 500 enemy tanks which only grew the legacy of the fabled "German 88". However, the vehicle was not without severe limitations in her design for the newness and hasty delivery of her drivetrain technology meant that many teething issues were never truly ironed out. This led to stoppages of Ferdinand vehicles almost as soon as they began to progress. Many were abandoned by crews before seeing destruction due to mechanical failures over direct enemy attacks. The weight and bulk of the system also worked against the crew as she proved slow and grounded in the mud fields of Eastern Europe. The fixed superstructure - while providing cover from all angles - forced the entire tank to be positioned into the direction of fire, placing strains on fuel and oil supplies as well as the drive gears. If a Ferdinand received track damage, it could no longer move and became a stationary armored bunker with no way to train its gun, leaving the crew with no option but to abandon the vehicle. With no self-defense weaponry as standard and no firing ports for the crew within, Ferdinands could be openly targeted by Soviet anti-tank crews with relative impunity if not supported by defending infantry or support vehicles. A soldier could simply run up to the Ferdinand and attach explosives to the superstructure or track systems, leaving the scene to watch the detonation occur without threat from the Ferdinand crew.
Between mechanical problems, anti-tank weapons, enemy armor threats and air attack, the Ferdinands delivered a promising, though something of a failed, initial impression. They proved tactically limited in the Kursk operations which eventually was decided in favor of the Soviets as a decisive victory. Form this point forward, German battlefield superiority could be challenged directly and the losses would begin to mount until the final fall of Berlin in 1945.
Of the 89 units fielded at Kursk, just 50 battle-damaged Ferdinands managed to survive the fighting into December of 1943. In response to its poor showing, the survivors were shipped back to Nibelungenwerk for rebuilding and several key changes were instituted to help improve the vehicle across 48 of the remaining examples. One important change was in the installation of a trainable hull-mounted (front-right) MG34 machine gun for anti-infantry defense to be manned by the radio operated. The trainable nature was accomplished by way of a ball mounting which provided some flexibility in engaging apart from those targets directly in front of the vehicle. A cupola was added for the commander to improve situational awareness of the crew as a whole. Tracks were widened to content with the muddy and snowy approaches of Eastern Europe and armor along the front panels was increased to provide for improved protection. Additional protection (particularly from magnetic mines and sticky bombs) was made through the application of "Zimmerit" paste - a coating to counter their adhesion. This modification came at a price, however, for the vehicle's operating weight increased from 65 tons to 70 tons and this earned the revised Ferdinand the name new name of "Elefant", the name made formal by Hitler himself on May 1st, 1944.
With the loss of Italy in September of 1943, additional German firepower had to be sent to the Italian Front. This included the revised Elefants which were completed in March of 1944 and delivered to the charge of Panzerjager Abteilungen 653. Elefants were Once again, limitations shown through as the heavy beasts were not able to traverse much of the Italian landscape due to weak bridges and tight throughways. Additionally, the uniqueness of their design - unlike any other vehicle in the German inventory - meant that in-the-field repairs were next to impossible. There was no doubt as to the effectiveness of the 88mm gun against Allied armor in any theater but the vehicle proved more valuable as a stationary armored bunker than a direct contact hunter. Again, mechanical failure doomed more Elifants in the fighting that followed across Italy and many crews left their vehicles for good, they falling into advancing enemy hands.
Of the 91 Ferdinands/Elefants completed, only two survive today as showpieces - one at the United States Army Ordnance Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia and the other at the Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow.
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Onboard systems provide solutions to accomplish a variety of battlefield engineering tasks.
Engage armored vehicles of similar form and function.
26.7 ft 8.14 m
11.1 ft 3.38 m
9.7 ft 2.97 m
143,300 lb 65,000 kg
71.7 tons HEAVY
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base SdKfz 184 Panzerjager Tiger (P) (Ferdinand / Elephant) production variant. Length typically includes main gun in forward position if applicable to the design)
2 x Maybach HL 120 gasoline engine developing 300 horsepower each (600 horsepower combined) while driving 2 x Porsche / Siemens-Schuckert electric motors.
18.6 mph (30.0 kph)
93.2 mi (150.0 km)
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base SdKfz 184 Panzerjager Tiger (P) (Ferdinand / Elephant) production variant. Compare this entry against any other in our database)
1 x 88mm (8.8cm) PaK 43/2 L/71 (StuK 43/1) main gun
1 x 7.92mm MG34 machine gun (Elephant models)
(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)
SdKfz 184 Panzerjager Tiger (P) "Ferdinand" - Official German Army Designation of 1943.
SdKfz 184 Panzerjager Tiger (P) "Elephant" - Modified Ferdinands of November 1943; ball-mounted MG34 machine gun added; commander's cupola added; wider tracks; increased frontal armor; 70 ton operating weight.
Bergepanzer Tiger / Bergetiger - Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV); three vehicles produced.
Rammpanzer Tiger / Rammtiger - Prototype breakthrough vehicle based on Ferdinand production vehicle; single example.
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective campaigns / operations.
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