Picture 1:
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche's VK 4501 tank proposal lost the competition for
Germany's new heavy tank contract to Henschel's Tiger I in the early
1940's. But, due to the designer's close personal relationship to
Adolph Hitler and his position on the armor vehicle design board, he
had been allowed pre-production manufacture of a number of hulls for
the doomed tank. The story of what happened to the ninety hulls is a
very interesting chapter in the history of German World War II AFV
design. This famous Bundesarchiv photo shows early "Ferdinands" before
their major rebuild to become "Elefants". These first vehicles had no
bow machine gun or protective shield for the gun mantlet.
In October of 2000, Ronald Woodward loaned to us a series of
color photographs he took inside the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Elefant
and I have included them as Part 2, 3, and 4 of our examination of the
Elefant interior. This first Part will get you acquainted with the
general layout of the vehicle and its automotive equipment and the
photos in the other sections will provide some detail of the equipment.
Picture 2:
The original VK 4501 tank design was certainly ambitious, even for the
creative but forceful Dr. Porsche. Initially designed to showcase new
engine and electric propulsion drive systems, the new air-cooled engine
technology was fraught with problems. In the end the engines were not
capable of powering a 45+ ton vehicle and the tank design lost the AFV
competition to the Tiger I prototype from Henschel. The existing order
for 90 hulls constructed at Krupp in Essen was then amended by the OKH
so they could be converted to a turretless self-propelled gun, mounting
the 8.8cm PaK 43/2 (L/71) gun. This necessitated moving the engines,
generators and fans to the central hull and opening the rear for the
new fighting compartment. The exotic twin, air-cooled, Type 101/1
engines that drove electric generators which in turn provided power for
electric drive motors at the rear of the VK 4501 were replaced in the
new plan by two proven water-cooled Maybach HL120 engines, used in most
Pz.III/IV vehicles. Each engine then drove a Siemens Schuckert Type
K58-8 electric generator to supply power to a huge rear-mounted Siemens
electric motor, attached directly to each rear drive sprocket.
A heavily armored fixed superstructure mounted on the rear half of the
hull housed the gun and crew, and armor thickness was increased at the
front of the AFV by bolting on additional plates. Twin radiators and
fan assemblies were mounted directly behind the front driver's and
radio operator's compartment (above the electric generators seen in
this sketch), with the two Maybachs directly behind the generators.
This is the original plan proposed by Alkett for the new superstructure
and internal layout. Except for perhaps the general ammo storage and a
new slanting front armor plate, the sketch is correct for most internal
components. Note the large round electric motors at the lower rear of
the hull. The new design, salvaging the poorly conceived original
VK4501 plan, must have seemed like a stroke of genius at the time.
Unfortunately, it was still a collection of mechanical problems just
waiting for a crisis. The vehicle's first combat action provided that
crisis.
Picture 3:
This photo was taken in the final assembly plant in Nibelungenwerk in
St. Valentin, Austria, and shows the modified interior of the hull
(looking toward the hull front) once the initial torch cutting and
welding was completed on the old hulls. The engines would then be
mounted side by side, just forward of the partial firewall seen here-
small access holes in the floor allowed for minor engine maintenance.
The area on this side of the partition became the fighting compartment,
with the 8.8cm weapon centrally mounted directly behind the engines,
just this side of the firewall. The transmission was the
Siemens-Schuckert electric power unit mentioned earlier (with three
gear ranges in both directions) and steering was hydropneumatic with
electric assisted brakes (Porsche/Siemens), again showing the
electrically oriented designs of Dr. Porsche. The very rear of the VK
4501 vehicle was altered the greatest. Where the original design had a
slanting/pinched appearance when viewed from above, the Elephant's side
plates were continued straight back to the rear armor plate. The
existing diagonal plates of the older rear were left in place, although
large holes were cut out to lighten them. The additional side plate
extensions that were added to continue the hull to the new rear plate
are seen at the bottom of this photo.
Picture 4:
The emergency requirement for the fire power of the PaK 43/2 on the
Eastern Front was the driving force behind the energy and money spent
in converting Porsche's hopeless tank design into a SPG. The conversion
work was begun with the cooperation of Altmarkirchen KettenWerk GmbH
(Alkett) after Hitler's approval orders of February 1943, a time when
the Wehrmacht was realizing the real danger of the Russian giant they
had awoken with their Eastern invasion. This cleaned up Nibelungenwerke
factory photo shows a bit of the conversion work proceeding for the
early Elefants, and the huge size of the unpainted 8.8cm weapon is
clearly seen. The hydraulic recoil buffer and recuperator cylinders are
mounted side by side on top of the barrel and the falling wedge breech
block is seen to the far right.
The gunner sat on this side (left) of the gun mount and his elevation
hand wheel is seen just below the gun. Fifty or so rounds of ammo were
to be carried inside the AFV and could include PzGr39/43, PzGr40/43,
SprGr43, or H1Gr39. Rounds were one-piece, shorter than the Flak
version to ease handling inside armor vehicles, and weighed around
20kg. Penetration is said to exceed 132mm armor at 90 degrees obliquity
at 2,000 meters, which would bore through anything on the battle field
at that time. Also seen in this photo are white box protectors for the
radiators at either side of the hull, showing just how small the
driver's compartment was at the front of the hull.
As the hulls are modified and guns mounted on this side of the factory
floor, the superstructures are readied across the isle (note the open
round rear hatches). The roof plate directly in front of us shows the
early commander's split hatch on a superstructure already mounted to a
modified hull. You can also see the curved track for the gunner's
periscopic gun sight, the opening covered with its protective sliding
door in this photo. The cover on the often-photographed preserved
Aberdeen Vehicle is not original to the vehicle and is incorrect.
Picture 5:
This is the general view looking down the right
side of the 8.8cm PaK inside what was left of the vehicle at the
Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland a few years ago (Bovington also
has a preserved Elefant, but we have not yet examined the inside of
that vehicle). At the top center of the photo is the commander's
cupola. This was one of the few modifications made to the 50 remaining
Elefants (of the original 90) in 1943/44 after the tank's early dismal
actions in operation Zitadelle/Kursk. Seven SF14Z (Sfl) periscopes for
the commander now surround the cupola, adding greatly to the previous
vehicle periscopes-- three for the driver and two for the loaders at
the back of the vehicle (one each on the rear corner of the roof). Even
so, vision outside the AFV for the crew remained very poor. Along with
the new commander's cupola for improved vision, a MG34 was mounted at
the front right of the hull for close in protection and an armored
plate clamped around the barrel of the PaK, just forward of the
mantlet, to protect the ball mounting of the main gun. Above the gun in
this photo, and hanging down to connect to the top of it, is the
internal gun support to supplement the external one mounted at the
front of the hull roof plates. Way up on the front wall are brackets
for two gas mask canisters and their accompanying breathing tube
containers (Gasmaske and Atemschlauch).
About centered in the photo are a pair of oddly shaped black air filter
containers for the right Maybach HL 120 engine hidden below and
slightly to the left. These filters were also used in the Pz.III and
are the centrifugal oil bath type manufactured by Mahle. Also visible
here is, I believe, the commander's seat bottom, with the supporting
floor folded up so the seat is seen tilted forward. To the far right
you can see racks for some of the 8.8cm ammunition along the hull wall.
The ammo was held tip down resting in wooden blocks with the shell
casings strapped to the upper bracket by leather straps. Ammo storage
racks include 15 rounds on the left of the vehicle (including 6 on the
hull wall and 9 at the left rear corner) and 17 on the right side
(including 8 along the wall and 9 in the rear corner rack. The
remainder of the ammo storage is not known- perhaps there was a large
rack under the gun, as was originally designed by Alkett and seen in
the early sketch above. The leather straps on the ammo racks are gone
in these photos, but they where there in '82 when I first examined the
vehicle interior. Apparently, someone did not care for the stiff and
rotting remnants and broke them all off. The walls of the fighting
compartment are painted typical German Panzer ivory (Elfenbein) which
is still visible along the badly rusting walls and ceiling while the
floor is a dark gray with a slight green cast.
Picture 6:
The Elefant had a five or six man crew depending
on the reference you read (probably six men) and three or four of them
worked in the fighting compartment. The gunner was seated to the left
of the gun, commander to the right, and the loader/s were in the rear.
This picture shows the general view down the left side of the fighting
compartment. Two sets of ammo brackets are visible attached to the wall
on the far left, similar to those we saw earlier on the right hull
side. Again, the leather straps with buckles which were attached to the
top bracket to hold shells are now sadly missing as their length
indicates the number of shells in each row. Behind both rear racks on
the side hull walls are pistol ports. Their location perhaps indicates
an ammo storage change revision as the ports are clearly blocked from
use when a full rack of ammo rounds are stowed on board. Note again the
twin black air filter containers on the engine housings toward the
front of the compartment.
On the far front wall is another set of brackets for gas mask
containers and breathing tubes, and the gunner's horizontally mounted
traverse wheel can just be seen to the right of the Mahle air cleaners
(the gunner's seat is hidden from view by the protective shield on the
88). Up in the right corner of the photo you can see the gunner's sight
bracket attached to the roof with two straps hanging down (no sight).
Notice the large bolts with castle nuts on the lower side of the
superstructure, in the area of the forward ammunition bracket. These
are just a few of the bolts that attach the Krupp-built superstructure
to the lower hull of the Porsche Elefant.
Picture 7:
This is a close up crop of the gunner's side of
the 8.8cm gun again, this time focusing on the overhead hatch and empty
sight bracket for the SflZF1a/Rblf36 direct/indirect sight. This was
the same excellent sight design used in the later versions of the StuG
III, StuG IV, Jagdpz IV, as well as the Hetzer. It is a monocular 5X
sight with an eight degree field of view and allows both indirect and
direct firing solutions. The curved access door in the hatch above
allowed the sight to follow along with the gun below as it traversed
from side to side as we saw in an earlier photo of the top of the
superstructure roof while still in the factory. The sight bracket here
is connected directly by links to the gun mount and elevates/depresses
with the gun (+14 to -8 degrees) as well as traverses the available 14
degrees either side of center.
Also visible in this photo are the Atemschlauch breathing tube holders
mounted on the front wall. The Germans were very cautious of the
possibility of gas attack, especially by the Russians. The breathing
tubes were simply flexible metal hoses that connected the general issue
gas masks and their canister filters. The idea was to allow the tanker
to sling the filter canister over his shoulder with the tube connecting
to his gas mask, allowing him to place his face closer to his
periscopes and other optics without the canister interfering. Most
German WWII AFVs have these characteristic tube storage containers
mounted in the vehicles somewhere close to each crew station. At the
far left is a radio communications connection box for the gunner. A
small tube-type interior light, typical of German vehicles, is seen to
its left.
Picture 8:
Here are the two photos seen earlier connected
at the gun breech to provide a reasonable panoramic view of the
fighting compartment. One of our readers, Sauro Torrini from Milan,
Italy, has used some of his computer magic on the pictures and made the
connecting border between the two photos disappear! Thanks Sauro. As
you can see, the interior was roomy for an AFV of this time period, but
man-handling the 88mm rounds was still a difficult proposition for the
loader. The breech block was of the semi-automatic type, which would
fall open and eject the spent shell case during recoil, leaving the
breech ready for the next round to be shoved in. The breech opening
lever on the right of the breech ring was used the first time it was
opened. A red gun safety button is mounted on a small white box just
below and to the right of the right recoil cylinder.
As mentioned earlier, there was a large circular hatch centered in the
rear superstructure plate to assist with gun removals, and includes a
small ejection port in its center. The circular hatch is flanked on
both sides by pistol ports. Although not seen in these photos, there
was a L bracket for stowing MP 40s mounted next to each of these ports
on the back wall. The AFV was initially called "Ferdinand", in honor of
the primary designer, but the title was officially changed by order of
the OKH in February of 1944 to "Elefant", more or less as the vehicles
were being improved with the commander's cupola, etc. The last Elefants
were thought to have been put out of action in Italy in the summer of
'44, but rumors suggest a few may have escaped to Austria in early
August. There are two known existing Elefants in captivity, one in the
Kubinka Museum in Moscow and one at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in
Maryland. The pathetic APG vehicle has recently been removed from its
outdoor "rusting place" behind the museum and was placed in storage,
awaiting some proposed restoration work. In April of 2000 the vehicle
was sitting outdoors in a remote railroad yard apparently awaiting
shipment out of the Proving Grounds to some unknown destination.
Picture 9:
The driver and radio operator (later "hull
machine gunner") are completely separated from the fighting compartment
by the radiators/fans and engine compartment. Access to the fans and
radiators from the driver's area is possible through a removable hatch
directly behind the two seats, and the electric generators under the
fans can also be reached from this position. The driver steers the
vehicle by means of typical steering levers, which actuate electrically
driven compressed air brakes. The two hand controls for the air
compressor set-up are mounted at the driver's right on a box that
partially separates the two seats and houses the compressed air tanks
inside. A gearshift lever is also at the driver's right. Down forward
of the driver are two foot pedals and a floor covered by wooden slats,
similar to the Kubelwagen. Vehicle track tension adjustment is
accomplished with large nuts mounted on a bracket that in turn controls
the setting of the front toothed idler wheels- the large nuts are
located inside the AFV at the front operator's feet, both sides.
Both front seats are of the typical tubular type with springs and
attached black foam padded seat and back cushions covered with black
leather, and at least the driver's seat is height adjustable by a
spring loaded lever design to raise the him up for head-out driving.
Vision for the driver when buttoned up consists of three periscopes
mounted directly in his over-head hatch (seen in this photo), the left
and right units angling out to either side. The heavy hatches are
spring assisted, the long spring running the width of the opening and
located just inside the rear edge. There is also a vision slit with
internal sliding cover at each front corner of the hull, although
access to this is very difficult. A box mounted on the wall behind the
driver holds his radio equipment or spare periscopes and an emergency
fire suppression system for the engine compartment is activated by a
valve at his left side. A portable fire extinguisher was mounted on the
wall behind his left shoulder.
The right seater was initially the radio operator and back-up
driver/mechanic, and his position was provided with the typical Fu5
radio set directly in front of him on brackets. The 2 meter radio
antenna is mounted at the front right corner of the hull roof, next to
the radios inside. After the rebuild program in 1943 the new bow
machine gun was added directly in front of the operator with the
typical ball mounting attached to a gapping hole cut in the original
front armor plate and then surrounded by an additional bolted plate.
The radios were then said to have been moved to the wall to the right
of the operator.
The two black and white interior photos of the APG Elefant examined
above were provided to AFV INTERIORS by Scott Negron, and were taken
inside the Aberdeen Panzerjager Tiger in the early 1980s. For
additional information on the Panzerjager interior you may wish to
consult "Museum Ordnance Special Number 4, Elefant Panzerjager Tiger
(P)", by Jentz and McKaughan, through Darlington Publications,
mentioned in the References/Links section of AFV INTERIORS. Although
there are a few caption errors in this booklet, the excellent black and
white photographs of the interior help make the publication well worth
the investment. In the next sections of this article we will examine a
few color photographs taken of the interior of the Aberdeen Elefant,
provided to us by Ronald Woodward. I have kept the pictures fairly
large so you can see some of the detail and therefore the pages may
take a bit longer to load than you are accustomed.
TO FERDINAND/ELEFANT PART 2
TO FERDINAND/ELEFANT PART 3
TO FERDINAND/ELEFANT PART 4
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