Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 Pak 43 was the most powerful anti-tank gun of the Wehrmacht to see service in significant numbers, also serving in modified form as the 8.8 cm KwK 43 main gun on the Tiger II tank, the open-top Nashorn and fully enclosed, casemate-hulled Elefant and Jagdpanther tank destroyers.
After heavy losses in Ukraine, the battalion was withdrawn to Vienna to refit. Starting on 2 January 1944 until April, the tank destroyers received upgrades—the most externally visible ones being 1) the addition of Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste, 2) an upgraded commander's cupola, 3) re-designed armored engine grates and 4) an MG34 station to the right front of the hull.
The next day, the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion, equipped with Elefant tank destroyers, was attached to the 508th. [ 5 ] Between 21 and 24 February, the battalion claimed twenty US tanks; [ 5 ] seventeen while using small elements to support several unsuccessful attempts to reduce the beachhead from Aprilia, and three M4 Shermans which had ...
The Tank Destroyer Command eventually numbered over 100,000 men and 80 battalions each equipped with 36 self-propelled tank destroyers or towed guns. The first US tank destroyer was a 75 mm gun on a half-track chassis M10 tank destroyer. Only a few shots were expected to be fired from any firing position. Strong reconnaissance elements were ...
It was also provided with a much stronger and more angled armour shield to provide better protection to the crew. In addition to the towed version, there were also self-propelled versions of the PaK 43 gun, including the lightly armored Nashorn, and the strongly armored, fully casemate-enclosed Elefant and Jagdpanther tank destroyers.
Tank destroyer armed with a 128 mm PaK 44 gun (L/55) Ferdinand/Elefant. Elefant. The Ferdinand/Elefant (Sd.Kfz. 184, and known as Panzerjäger Tiger (P)) ...
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.