SdKfz 184 Elephant

Historical information

The Elephant was a heavy tank-hunter — a tank destroyer — of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was built in small numbers in 1943 under the name "Ferdinand" after its designer Ferdinand Porsche, using tank hulls that had been produced for a cancelled German heavy tank design.

In 1944, after modification of the existing vehicles, they were renamed "Elephant".

Ferdinands first saw combat in the Battle of Kursk, where eighty-nine were committed, the most concentrated use of the vehicle.

Only two of these vehicles survived the war. One Ferdinand was captured by Soviet forces at Kursk, and is now at the huge Kubinka Tank Museum outside Moscow. An Elephant was captured at Anzio by the Americans, and is now part of the United States Army Ordnance Museum's collection at Fort Lee, VA.