Ferdinand's Elefant: 2 views by Buffalo1
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Description
I always try to stop by the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland when I visit the east coast. I am pleased to report that a number of the armored fighting vehicles have been worked on and look much more presentable than on my last visit in the late 90s. (Others are still shamefully rusting away. I'll post an example of one of these later.)
However, in the good looking department is this German WWII issue Panzerjager (Tank Hunter) Tiger P SdKfz 184 self-propelled gun designed by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. His original concept was for a turreted tank, but Porsche's design lost out to Henschel's entry in the contest to create the Tiger I tank. The 90 odd Porsche hulls were turned into the "Ferdinand" tank destroyer mounting a limited traverse 88 mm gun and heavy armor. The German crews decided that "Elefant" was a better nickname due it's size, weight and appearance. Like the later German JagdTiger (http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1234649&member), the Elefant was not effective in the offensive role because it was slow, overweight, mechanically unreliable and vulnerable to attack from the sides and rear by enemy infantry. The Elefant was more dependable in a defensive role with its powerful "88" and thick armor. (Look for the silver "ding" marks on and near the gun mantle and you'll see the problem that Allied guns had with German heavy weights.)Ferdinand/Elefants served on both the Russian and Italian fronts.
The neighbors to the Elefant in the top photo are a refurbished WWII British Sherman "Firefly" tank mounting their very effective 17 pounder gun and a Nike antiaircraft missle from the early 1960s.
Comments (17)
Grear picture my friends erland
fantastic images my friend, those Elefant guns were devastating to our Shermans in WW2, its great to see one restored. that looks like a must see place in Maryland, thanks for sharing.
When I was at Aberdeen in 1983 I looked in all the gun muzzles at the rifling. There really is only one rifling though a second with half the rifles machined down to near lands was also there on one example. There were no smoothbores like the russian 260mm tracked mortar or the M-60 A-1 for Dragon missiles and saboted rounds. The 280mm Atomic cannon I had picked out at in Rochester NY wholesale toy dealer and built in our basement was there. I looked at the pancake engines of the tractors at both ends.
Excellent captures, my friend. Wonderfully presented. Hugs. Di. xx
they have it looking pretty tough don't they?
Impresive photos my friend....!!!!
Great Pictures AND for once you know your stuff. Well done on BOTH counts
An Impressive piece of hardware.. Beautiful Shots!!!!
One of my favorite Sonderkraftfahrzeuge; glad to see that civilians can still get access to the Armor Museum; good stuff!!
Was just there 2 years ago, they didn't have these out, unless they were somewhere off the normal area. Where were these in relation to the museum?
Just lovely! Hope to see more
this is wonderful looking tanks
The last time I saw this guy it was still (more than a year later) on the rail spur (on up the road a mile or two) sittin all by its lonely. I guess they weren't too worried someone would make off with it. Got a nice shot of the Bronco sittin next two it . . .
Been there. There is a project underway to cover these rusting relics under a cover. The problem with this tank was it too heavy and it chewed up roads. Bigger is not better. My favorite German tank was the MK4 and its variants.
Amazing work as always my friend!!!!!
Amazing capture - quite literally, on both counts.
Capturing these moments from the perfect angle, well done. A version of the Elefant was also used in the South African armed forces but I must admit I have never even had a ride in one, so my facts may be a little confused.