0:01 Ever wondered what happens when you
0:03 combine obsessive German engineering,
0:05 unreliable technology, and Hitler's
0:07 birthday? You get the Ferdinand tank
0:09 destroyer, a 65tonon rolling catastrophe
0:11 for its crew. It easily ranks among the
0:13 worst vehicles Germany ever built. But
0:15 could it really have been that bad?
0:18 Let's explain. The story begins in 1940
0:20 with the German military looking for a
0:22 breakthrough weapon. Porsche and Henchel
0:24 companies were designing vehicles in the
0:26 30-tonon class. But soon with the
0:27 emergence of heavier Soviet tanks,
0:29 Hitler dramatically altered the entire
0:31 German tank program, demanding heavier
0:33 armor and the mounting of the famous
0:36 88mm flat gun for anti-tank purposes.
0:37 These two companies were then competing
0:40 for the future Tiger 1. Ferdinand
0:42 Porsche adapted his existing design to
0:43 meet these new requirements, keeping his
0:45 petrol electric drive system. This
0:47 system used two gasoline engines to
0:49 power generators, which then produced
0:51 electricity to run electric motors that
0:53 actually moved the vehicle. In theory,
0:55 this would remove the need for a complex
0:56 mechanical transmission. But in
0:58 practice, it would actually become the
1:00 tank's biggest flaw. When the competing
1:01 designs were demonstrated on Hitler's
1:04 birthday in April 1942, the simpler and
1:06 more reliable Henel design proved much
1:08 superior and was chosen for what would
1:10 become the Tiger 1. Porsche's creation
1:12 suffered tremendously from overheating
1:14 and engineering complexity and had to be
1:16 cancelled. However, 100 Porsche chassis
1:18 were already built anticipating victory
1:20 and that is a lot of German steel and
1:22 man-hour to be wasted during the war.
1:24 Under intense wartime urgency, they got
1:26 the idea to turn it into something else
1:28 that also doesn't work properly, a heavy
1:30 tank destroyer. And when we say heavy,
1:31 we mean it couldn't cross almost any
1:33 bridges with its 70 ton combat ready
1:36 weight. On 90 of the surplus chassis,
1:38 they would weld a superructure housing
1:41 the new L71 anti-tank gun. It had the
1:43 same caliber, infamous 88 mm like the
1:45 one mounted on the Tiger 1, but now with
1:47 almost double the propellant charge and
1:49 a longer barrel, giving it extreme
1:51 muzzle velocity. It was actually the
1:53 most powerful anti-tank gun the Germans
1:54 had. It could easily destroy the
1:56 heaviest Allied tanks at ranges
1:58 exceeding 2,000 yd, where they could
1:59 only dream of returning fire
2:01 effectively. The new vehicle was
2:03 officially named Ferdinand in honor of
2:05 Ferdinand Porsche. However, it would
2:07 later be renamed Elephant. Turns out it
2:08 would embarrass his name, and the
2:10 upgraded version was renamed to clear
2:12 connections with the early design. We'll
2:14 come to that. The new vehicle was
2:16 essentially a large mobile anti-tank gun
2:18 with very thick armor. The entire front
2:20 hull and casemate were 200 mm thick,
2:23 making it impervious to any Allied gun.
2:25 For comparison, this was almost twice
2:26 the thickness of the already
2:28 wellprotected Tiger 1. The sides were 80
2:31 mm, also giving it solid protection,
2:33 although not invincible. The Ferdinand
2:34 was designed specifically for the
2:36 Eastern Front and the impending battle
2:38 at Kursk, where on wide openen terrain,
2:40 it would use its extreme frontal armor
2:41 and gun range to its advantage in
2:44 tank-on-tank combat. But not everything
2:46 would go according to plan. Battle. In
2:49 April 1943, two heavy tank destroyer
2:51 battalions were formed, each with 45
2:53 Ferdinand. They had their hurried
2:54 training and were sent by train to the
2:57 east. Ferdinand saw its first combat
2:59 during Operation Citadel. As the Germans
3:01 began their offensive at Kusk here, all
3:04 except one Ferdinand ever produced would
3:05 be deployed. They were immediately
3:07 pushed into battle and initial results
3:09 showed terrifying potential. A group of
3:11 Ferdinands on their very first day of
3:14 combat destroyed 22 Soviet tanks at
3:17 ranges over 2 km. Returning fire from
3:19 Soviet T-34s, anti-tank guns, and later
3:22 even from is heavy tanks harmlessly
3:24 bounced off their frontal armor. They
3:26 blasted through the first Soviet
3:28 defenses and caused serious destruction
3:30 in just a couple of days of combat.
3:31 However, their war luck would be
3:33 short-lived as ominous problems with the
3:35 Ferdinand quickly emerged. Because the
3:37 offensive was delayed multiple times,
3:39 the Soviets had time to prepare
3:41 extensive defenses with deep minefields,
3:43 anti-tank obstacles, and artillery
3:46 positions. Without proper mine clearing
3:47 support, Ferdinands were lumbering
3:49 through minefields and blowing their
3:50 tracks off one by one. But that's not
3:52 really the Ferdinand's fault. The
3:54 biggest issue was Porsche's innovative
3:56 but terribly unreliable gasoline
3:57 electric drive combined with a
4:00 notoriously fragile suspension system.
4:01 Operating under the massive weight of
4:03 the vehicle, the two engines,
4:05 generators, and electric motors crammed
4:07 into the whole midsection were prone to
4:09 constant overheating. It was just a
4:10 question of time before something broke
4:13 and immobilized the destroyer. Top speed
4:15 was about 18 mph on the road, while
4:17 cross country it could only crawl. In
4:19 ideal conditions, it had an operational
4:22 range of just 90 km. But in reality, it
4:24 would usually break down before even
4:25 going through one fuel tank. And now,
4:27 under combat conditions, this was just
4:30 multiplied. The electrical system was
4:31 particularly vulnerable to water and
4:33 battlefield debris. The kinds of things
4:35 that are rather common in, well, a war.
4:37 By the way, if you get stuck in mud or
4:38 slide off the road, well, that's
4:40 probably it. Due to Ferdinand's weight,
4:42 recovering it was almost impossible. It
4:44 needed between three and five recovery
4:46 vehicles or other tanks to pull it out,
4:48 and even that was sometimes impossible.
4:50 So in that case it had to be blown up by
4:53 its own crew. In fact most of them were
4:54 not destroyed by the enemy but by their
4:56 own crews to prevent capture when they
4:58 became bogged down. Just a couple of
4:59 days after the beginning of the
5:02 operation out of 89 deployed Ferdinands
5:04 only 12 were still operational. A few of
5:05 them were penetrated through the sides
5:07 or rear and a couple more destroyed by
5:10 direct heavy artillery hits or infantry
5:11 attacks. But the majority of them were
5:13 stranded in no man's land with damaged
5:15 running gear. Because it was so rushed
5:17 to the front lines. Many of the key
5:18 features an armored fighting vehicle
5:21 should have were completely overlooked.
5:22 First, it didn't have any machine guns.
5:24 Infantry was supposed to protect it from
5:26 being swarmed by enemy troops. However,
5:28 such a large target as Ferdinand
5:30 attracted all nearby artillery fire, and
5:32 infantry was reluctant to be beside it.
5:34 They preferred to stay far behind. So,
5:35 the crews didn't have any means to
5:37 protect their vehicle at close range.
5:39 And there were multiple instances of
5:41 Soviet infantry destroying Ferdinand
5:43 with grenades or Molotov cocktails. But
5:45 this was the least of its problems.
5:47 Visibility from inside was catastrophic,
5:49 and the engines in the middle section
5:50 were extremely loud. The fighting
5:52 compartment was spacious, yes, but
5:54 during combat, it quickly became
5:56 extremely hot and filled with fumes.
5:57 Maintenance was extremely difficult and
5:59 complicated. Crews would sometimes spend
6:01 the whole day fighting, then the entire
6:03 night helping mechanics with repairs,
6:05 and then go back into combat, only to
6:07 break down or hit a mine almost
6:08 immediately. However, the still
6:11 operational Ferdinands continued to push
6:13 during the battle around Kusk, usually
6:15 used as spearhead units. They were met
6:16 for the first time with the new Soviet
6:19 heavy tank destroyer, the SU152. In one
6:21 recorded engagement, one Ferdinand was
6:25 directly hit by an SU's 152 mm howitzer
6:28 shell coming from about 3 km away. But
6:30 with superior optics and a precise gun,
6:32 several Soviet SUs were destroyed in
6:34 return. With each passing day, the
6:36 Ferdinand's reliability issues
6:38 multiplied, and only a couple of them
6:40 were combat ready at any given time,
6:42 while the others awaited repairs.
6:44 Despite the setbacks, the surviving
6:45 Ferdinands would become more effective
6:47 when the tide of war turned and the
6:49 German army was now on the retreating
6:51 end. Now they served as rear guard
6:53 defense, protecting retreats and could
6:54 decimate Soviet tank charges from
6:57 defensive positions. Destroying them in
6:58 head-on attacks was impossible, even at
7:00 point blank range. But being
7:02 outmaneuvered was still the Ferdinand's
7:04 biggest worry. The two Panza battalions
7:06 repeatedly begged headquarters for
7:08 maintenance time to perform serious work
7:10 on their vehicles. Their pleas were
7:12 ignored as the retreating German army
7:14 desperately needed every operational
7:15 vehicle to plug holes in their
7:17 collapsing front lines. Now, as the
7:19 eastern front was slowly but surely
7:21 collapsing, most of the Ferdinands were
7:23 sent back by train and a program was
7:26 launched to improve them. 39 out of the
7:27 90 built were completely lost at this
7:29 point. The retrofit program began
7:32 addressing the most glaring weaknesses.
7:34 A hull machine gun was added for close
7:35 quarter protection. The commander got
7:37 his cupuler for better visibility and
7:38 what could be done around the engines
7:41 was slightly improved as well. The tank
7:43 destroyer was now named the elephant to
7:45 clear the bad reputation it had gained
7:48 as the Ferdinand. Meanwhile, lighter and
7:50 supposedly more reliable and faster tank
7:51 destroyers were developed to carry the
7:53 new 88 like the Yaged Panther and the
7:56 Yag Tiger. Although they had undoubtedly
7:58 great guns and solid protection, they
7:59 were all suffering under the rapidly
8:01 deteriorating condition of the German
8:04 army. Even before all the refits were
8:05 complete, the Allies opened a new front
8:07 in Italy with the landing at Anzio.
8:09 Elephants were rushed to Italy to stop
8:11 the Allied advance, and immediately new
8:13 problems emerged. Italy's mountainous
8:15 ground, soft soils, and ancient
8:17 infrastructure didn't go quite well with
8:19 the 70 ton elephant. One was lost after
8:21 attempting to cross an old stone bridge,
8:23 which collapsed, and the elephant
8:25 crashed down. Another one slid off a
8:27 narrow hillside road, was impossible to
8:29 recover, and had to be destroyed with
8:31 explosives. A couple more broke down,
8:32 and this was even before reaching the
8:34 enemy. The ones that finally reached the
8:36 Allies began fighting a retreat toward
8:39 Rome. A number of advancing Shermans
8:40 were destroyed by well-defensively
8:42 positioned elephants. However, Allied
8:44 air supremacy wre havoc on the huge
8:46 slow-moving targets with fighter bombers
8:49 such as the feared P-47 Thunderbolt. At
8:51 least two elephants were destroyed by
8:53 500lb bombs, and constantly harassed
8:55 German crews couldn't repair or recover
8:57 the ones that broke down. Elephants were
8:59 yet again abandoned and destroyed. One
9:01 was captured intact and shipped to the
9:03 United States for evaluation. The last
9:05 of the surviving elephants were shipped
9:07 back and formed into new units for the
9:08 Eastern Front again. They saw heavy
9:10 action in Ukraine where problems didn't
9:12 avoid them either. Springtime brought
9:14 deep mud where elephants would bog down
9:16 and overheat trying to pull themselves
9:18 out. However, they broke quite a few
9:19 Soviet tank offensives when positioned
9:22 correctly. By 1945, Germany was already
9:25 fighting a lost war. Only four elephants
9:26 were still semi-operational, but they
9:28 weren't going to quit just like that.
9:30 The last four elephants were positioned
9:32 south of Berlin to guard approaches to
9:34 the capital, essentially just delaying
9:37 the inevitable Soviet advance. On April
9:40 22nd, 1945, two of the elephants engaged
9:42 Soviet forces and fought until both of
9:44 them broke down and were abandoned. The
9:45 remaining two elephants retreated to
9:47 Berlin to support the last ditch
9:49 defense. They took their positions in
9:50 the city and knocked out several
9:52 advancing Soviet assault guns. Now
9:54 completely overrun, the final two
9:56 elephant crews destroyed their vehicles
9:58 and surrendered, ending its short but
10:00 turbulent service. Only two
10:02 Ferdinand/elephants survived the war.
10:04 One is displayed in Russia, one in the
10:06 United States. If you found this video
10:07 interesting, check out our channel for more.
