The Elefant tank hunter was probably the biggest armoured vehicle built during World War II. Officially designed as Jagdpanzer Tiger (P) Elefant, a conseriderable number of them were built. After the famous tank battle at Kursk, on the Russian front, they were moved to Italy where they operated until 1944.
The Elefant was a self-propelled anti-tank gun formerly called a Feirdin after its designer's first name, and later known under the official designation JagdPanzer Tiger (P) cc Elefant iD (Sd.Kfz 184s), came into being as a conversion of the project for a 45-ton tank designed by lng. Fendinaind Porsche which failed to materialise. - This mighty 65-ton tank hunter, entirely protected by steel plates, had a frontal armour of 200 mm. thickness, by virtue of additional bolted plates. The hull was divided into three parts: the drivers compartment in the front, providing seats for both driver and radio operator; the fighting compartment in the rear, housing the formidable, flat-trajectory, long-bairrelled 88 mm. anti-tank gun, and the engine compartment inserted in between., occupied by two Maybach HL 120 TR engines of 320 h.p. ea.ch, powering, through a generator, two electric motors, one for each independently driven track. A notable departure from the common practice wais the rear drive which allowed more room in the driver section. The suspension consisted of six bogie wheels, a rear diriven, sprocket and a front idler on each side. No track support oiler was incorporated.
A total of 90 units were ready for action by June 1943, and were employed in mass during the summer offensive of 1943 in the Operation a Zitadelleib, north of the Kursk Salient on the Pomyri Front. -They equipped two Abteiungen, the 653nd under ;Mayor Steinwach,s and the 654th under Major Noaik, forming the 656th Independent Artillery Regiment under the command of Lieutenant-Colo.nel Von Jungenfeidt and assigned to General Field Marschall Modeisgth Armoured Army Group. This powerfully-gunned vehicle could never demonstrate its effectiveness: it was not very maneuverable due to its bulky construction and it suffered a lack of armament for close-range protection, so it fell easy prey to enemy infantry. - Removed from Russia, the remaining units operated in Italy until 1944, and many were fitted with a bow machine gun. A recovery version was produced in 5 examples. - Crew: 6 men. - Armament: One 88 mm. Pack @/2 @/71 with 50 round@s. - One 7,92 mm. machine gun MG 34. - Combat welig.ht: 68 ton. - Dimensions: lenght 8,05 m. - Width 3940 m. - Height 2,97 m. Engine: Two Maybach H:L 120 TR of 320 h.p. each. - Maximum speed: 20 kmhr on roads.