Crew 6 (driver, radio-operator, commander, gunner, two loaders) Length 8.14 m over gun Width 3.38 m Height 2.97 m Weight 65 tonnesArmour and armament Armour 200 mm Main armament 8.8 cm PaKk 43/2 L/71, also known as StuK 43/1 Secondary armament 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun (after modification) Mobility Power plant 2×Maybach HL 120 petrol 2×300 hp (2×220 kW) Suspension longitudinal torsion-bar Road speed 30 km/h Power/weight 9 hp/tonne Range 150 km (road), 90 km (cross-country) The units were deployed at a company level, sometimes sub-divided into platoons, with infantry or tanks to protect the vulnerable flanks of the vehicles. On the attack, this Jagdpanzer was a first-strike vehicle, while in defence, they often comprised a mobile reserve used to blunt enemy tank assaults. Toward the end of the war, the Allies proved the vehicles to be particularly vulnerable to air attack. All but two of the 91 available Ferdinands were put to use in the Battle of Kursk, the first combat the Ferdinand saw. Although they destroyed 320 Russian tanks, they performed quite poorly in other respects. Many units broke down and they proved dangerously vulnerable to infantry, lacking good local defense. At this point they were recalled and modified and received the name Elefant. While the modifications improved the vehicles, some problems could never be fully fixed. Elefants served in Italy in 1944 and the last surviving vehicles were in combat at Zossen during the Battle of Berlin. (Low poly, game ready) |