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Elefant (German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer (self propelled anti-tank gun) used by German Panzerjäger (anti-tank units) during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand (after its designer Ferdinand Porsche) using VK 45.01 (P) tank hulls which had been produced for the Tiger I tank before the competing Henschel design had been selected.
The VK 45.01 (P), also informally known as Tiger (P) or Porsche Tiger, was a heavy tank prototype designed by Porsche in Germany.With a dual engine gasoline-electric drive that was complex and requiring significant amounts of copper, it lost out to its Henschel competitor on trials, it was not selected for mass production and the Henschel design was produced as the Tiger I.
The VK 45.02 (P) was the official designation for an unsuccessful heavy tank project designed by Ferdinand Porsche in Nazi Germany during World War II to compete with Henschel's design. [1] Development of this vehicle started in April 1942, with two design variants (Ausf. A and Ausf. B) incorporating different features.
A few Porsche Tigers were made, with a different chassis and hybrid gasoline-electric powerplant, but these were not as reliable as the Henschel model. Many of the Porsche chassis were converted into tank destroyers, known as Ferdinand then rebuilt as Elefant. Variant: Sturmtiger was armed with a 380 mm rocket.
A tank recovery version of the Porsche Tiger I , and one Porsche Tiger I, was issued to the 654th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion, which was equipped with the Ferdinand/Elefant. In Italy, a demolition carrier version of the Tiger I without a main gun was built by maintenance crews in an effort to find a way to clear minefields.
VK 4501 (P) - Porsche Tiger tank; 100 hulls built, 90 converted to Ferdinands, one Tiger (P) built, 3 Bergepanzer Tiger (p) and 3 Rammtigers built. Dicker Max, two prototypes built; VK 20, medium tank proposed to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; paper project; Panzer-Selbstfahrlafette II, half-track tank destroyer; two built
German tank destroyers of World War II used fixed casemates instead of fully rotatable turrets to significantly reduce the cost, weight, and materials necessary for mounting large-caliber guns. A wooden mockup of the Jagdtiger presented to Adolf Hitler on 20 October 1943, seen here behind the Italian medium tank Carro Armato P 26/40
The 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion (German: Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653) was a tank destroyer unit of the German Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with Ferdinand and later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945.