Germany's Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant, SdKfz 184

Photos
Design
Prototype
Production
Variants
Usage
Specifications

Photos

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyers destroyed at Kursk:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyers:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyers destroyed at Kursk:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyers being manufactured:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer¹⁰:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyers destroyed at Kursk:

Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer:

Bergepanzer Tiger (P) recovery vehicle:

Dragon Armor
60023:

60023SP:

60024:

60024SP:

60053:

60053SP:

60054:

60054SP:

60093:

60094:

60123:

60124:

60124SP:

60180:

Easy Models
36223:

36228:

Design

During the development of the Tiger, Henschel and Porsche each made a different chassis.³ Porsche had begun production on his chassis but the Henschel version was chosen for the Tiger.³ Porsche had 90 Tiger prototype chassis (Porsche VK4501 (P)) already finished.^{3,5,6,9,10,11} On September 22, 1942 it was decided to build a StuG with 200 mm armor and an 8.8 cm gun built on the Tiger(P) chassis.

It was originally named after it's designer, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche.^4,6,8

The fighting compartment was accessed by a large circular round hatch in the rear.⁴

The driver's compartment (with radioman) was cut off from the fighting compartment because the engine room was located between them. Power went to the rear sprocket.

The hull was that of the Tiger(P) with 100 mm plates bolted on the front and an addition to the rear to support the superstructure and vent the air from the engines.

Armament

Initially the Elefant had no machine guns, but after experience at the Battle of Kursk a hull machine gun was installed.

The 8.8 cm Pak 43/2 anti-tank gun was used for the main armament.³

Ammunition Type	Weight	Velocity	Range	°	Penetration
Ammunition Type	Weight	Velocity	Range	°	100 yards	1000 m
PzGr 39/43 22.8 kp		1,000 m/s				186 mm
PzGr 39/43 19.9 kp		1,130 m/s				233 mm
SprGr 43 18.6 kp		750 m/s	10 km
AP	22.4 lb⁷	3,281'/s⁷		0⁷	9.4"⁷
HE			13,834 yd⁷

It could knock out a T-34 at 3 miles.

The gun overhung the front hull by 1.2 meters.⁴

Production

On February 6, 1943, Hitler ordered 90 Ferdinands to be made available as soon as possible to be ready for the summer campaign.^3,11 This resulted in the Ferdinand to be completed at Nibelungenwerke. The conversions were done at the Steyr-Daimler factory at Nibelungenwerke and completed by May 8, 1943.

Alkett was to design and produce the Ferdinand with Nibelungenwerke supplying the completed chassis.

Elefant, Ferdinand: 90^2,10
- Production: April 1943 - May 1943²
- Manufacturer: Nibelungenwerke^2,3
  - Chassis: Porsche KG⁷
  - Superstructure: Alkett⁷
Bergepanzer Tiger (P): 3 converted

Variants

Elefant; Ferdinand; Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Ferdinand für 8.8cm Pak 43/2 oder StuK 43/1; 8.8cm Pak 43/2 L/71 auf PzJäg Tiger (P) Elefant früher Ferdinand; Jagdpanzer Tiger(P) Elefant mit 8.8cm Pak 43/2 L/71; SdKfz 184:
Bergepanzer Tiger (P): In September 1943, 3 chassis were converted by moving the engines to the center of the chassis and the superstructure was added to the rear. A 7.92 MG34 in a ball mount was it's only defense and was mounted in the superstructure. A derrick crane, rams, and timber beams were fitted for vehicle recovery.
"Ram Tigers": Hitler ordered that three vehicles on the Tiger (P) chassis be built for ramming enemy tanks or buildings.⁹

Usage

Kursk

First saw action at Kursk.^4,5 They were part of the Jagdpanzer Regiment 656 (Panzerjägerabteilungen 653 and 654)⁴. It saw service with the XXXXXI Panzer Corps on the north side of the battle. 502 Russian tanks, 20 antitank guns, 100 other guns were destroyed by July 27, 1943. Within the first four days several dozen broke down.^3,5 However, a big weakness was the lack of a machine gun which allowed around 20 Elefants to fall victim to Russian anti-tank teams.^3,5,11

Eastern Front

They continued to fight until the end of 1943 at the Nikopol bridgehead and the Dniepr where they destroyed more than 200 Russian tanks.

Upgrades

During the winter of 1943-44 the remaining 50 (48 from another source) were recalled to Nibelungenwerke. At that time a MG34 bow machine gun was installed in the hull as well as a commander's cupola. Were issued to the 653rd Panzerjäger and the 614th Panzerjägerkompanie. Used mostly in Italy after the upgrades.³ Suffered from shortage of spare parts and were put out of action more by mechanical failures than battle damage.^3,11

Specifications

	Ferdinand / Elefant
Crew	Commander, driver, radio operator, gunner, loaders(2) 6^{1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11}
Radio	FuG5²
Physical Characteristics
Weight	143,300 lb^3,11 65,000 kg^1,3,8,11 64 tons^1,4,8, 65 tons^2,4, 66.93 tons⁹, 68 tons⁵, 71.7 tons^7,10
Length w/gun	26' 8"^3,5,8,11, 26' 8.4"¹, 26' 9"⁹ 8.128 m^3,11, 8.14 m^1,2,5,8
Length w/o gun	22' 4"^5,9, 23.3'⁷, 23' 4" 6.8 m⁵
Height	9.8'⁷, 9' 8.9"¹ , 9' 9"^5,8,9, 9' 10"^3,11 2.97 m^1,2,5,8, 2.997 m^3,11
Width	11'⁷, 11' 1"^1,3,8,11, 11' 3"^5,9 3.38 m^1,2,8, 3.378 m^3,11, 3.43 m⁵
Width over tracks
Ground clearance	1' 6", 19"⁷ 0.48 m
Ground contact length	165"⁷ 4.19 m
Ground pressure	17 psi⁷, 17.5 psi 1.24 kg²cm
Armament
Main	1: 8.8cm StuK 43 L/71 1: 88 mm PaK 43/2 L/71^2,4,5,7,8,9 1: 88 mm¹ 1: 88 mm PaK 43/2^3,11 1: 88 mm L/71⁶
Secondary
MG	1: 7.92 mm MG^1,8 2: 7.92 mm MG34² (original production had only 1)
MG - hull	1: 7.92 mm MG34 1: 7.9 mm MG34⁷
Side arms
Quantity
Main	50^4,5,7, 55 50 Pzgr + Spgr²
Secondary
MG	600 Patr SmK² 600⁷
Side arms
Armor Thickness (mm)	50 - 200¹¹, 200^1,4,8,9 Front: 8"⁷ Side: 3.2"⁷
Hull Front, Upper	100+100@12°², 200@90°⁵
Hull Front, Lower	100+100@35°², 100+100@75°⁵
Hull Sides, Upper	80@0°², 80@90°⁵
Hull Sides, Lower	60@0°²
Hull Rear	80@40°² & 80@0°², 80@90°⁵
Hull Top	30@90°²
Hull Bottom	20-50@90°²
Superstructure Front	200@25°², 200@60°⁵ Mantlet: 25@0° + 100@round²
Superstructure Sides	80@30°², 80@60°⁵
Superstructure Rear	80@20°², 80@60°⁵
Superstructure Top	30@86°², 40@5°⁵
Engine (Make / Model)	2: Maybach⁹ 2: Maybach HL 120 TRM^1,2,3,7,8,11 2: Maybach HL 120 TR⁵
Bore / stroke
Cooling	Water⁷
Cylinders	V-12^3,5,11, 2xV-12^7,8
Net HP	2x300@3,000 rpm⁷, 530 each^3,11, 2 x 300⁸, 2 x 320^5,9
Power to weight ratio
Compression ratio	6.5:1⁷
Transmission (Type)	Porsche-Siemens Electric drive Porsche/Siemens-Schuckert Gasoline-electric drive.³ 3 forward, 3 reverse. Electric drive.² Gasoline-electric drive⁷
Steering	Porsche KG-Siemens electric switch gear⁷
Steering ratio
Starter
Electrical system
Ignition
Fuel (Type)	Gasoline^3,7,8,11
Octane
Quantity	142 gallons, 210 gallons⁵ 950 liters⁵(used 833 liters per 100 km of road)
Road consumption
Cross country consumption
Performance
Traverse	14° each way^4,5,7, hand⁴
Speed - Road	12 mph⁷, 12.5 mph^3,5,9,11, 18.6 mph^1,8 20 kph^4,5, 20.1 kph^3,11, 30 kph^1,2,8
Speed - Cross Country	9.5 mph⁵ 15 kph⁵
Range - Road	93 miles^5,7,9, 93.2 miles^1,8, 95 miles^3,11 150 km^1,2,4,5,8, 153 km^3,11
Range - Cross Country	56 miles^5,7 90 km⁵
Turning radius	2.15 m
Elevation limits	-6° to +14°⁷, -8° to +14°⁴
Fording depth	3' 3"⁷, 3' 4"¹¹, 3' 3.4"³ 1 m^3,11, 1.22 m⁴
Trench crossing	8.7'⁷, 8' 8.3"^3,11 2.65 m^3,11, 3.2 m⁴
Vertical obstacle	2' 7"^3,7, 2' 7.5"¹¹ 0.78 m⁴, 0.8 m^3,11
Climbing ability	22° (40%) slope⁷
Suspension (Type)	Torsion bar, 1 spring for 2 rollers Each 2-wheel bogie units sprung on torsion bars⁷
Wheels each side	6 in pairs⁷
Return rollers each side	0
Tracks (Type)	Dry pin⁷
Length	8' 9"
Width	2' 1"⁷ 65 m
Diameter
Number of links	109⁷
Pitch	5.5"⁷
Tire tread
Track centers/tread	8.8'⁷

Sources:

The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles - The Comprehensive Guide to Over 900 Armored Fighting Vehicles From 1915 to the Present Day, General Editor: Christopher F. Foss, 2002
Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two, Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle, 1999
The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Chris Bishop, 1998
New Vanguard 88 mm PaK 43/36/37/41 and PaK 43 1936-45, John Norris, 2002
German Tanks of World War II, Dr. S. Hart & Dr. R. Hart, 1998
Tanks of World War II, Duncan Crow, 1979
Tank Data, Aberdeen Proving Grounds Series, 1968?
The Illustrated Guide to Tanks of the World, George Forty, 2006
German Tanks and Armoured Vehicles 1914 - 1945, B. T. White, 1966
Profile, AFV Weapons #55, German Self-Propelled Weapons, Peter Chamberlain, H.L. Doyle, 1973
Armored Fighting Vehicles, 300 of the World's Greatest Military Vehicles, Philip Trewhitt, 1999

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