ACS "Ferdinand" is one of the most famous and at the same time mythologized self-propelled guns of the Second World War. Today everyone who visits Kubinka near Moscow can look at this miracle of technology and the fruit of the German engineering genius. There "Ferdinand" is truly one of the stars of the exposition. How did it happen that the advanced development of the engineers of the Third Reich fell right into the hands of the Red Army? Let's figure out the details.
The history of the birth of the heavy self-propelled artillery unit "Ferdinand" is inextricably linked with the history of the heavy tank "Tiger". The car appeared as a result of design rivalry between the Porsche and Henschel design agencies. Each company presented its own "Tiger", but in the end the preference was given to the "Henschel" car. Tank "Porsche" was not destiny, but after a while the military offered to remake it for self-propelled guns, installing an 88-mm anti-tank gun PaK 43 on the chassis.
Alquette engineers, who had extensive experience in the development of ACS, were involved in the project. This is how the famous "Ferdinand" was born. Conversion of the Tiger (P) that did not enter the series into SPGs began in January 1943. By April, 30 cars were ready. Another 60 self-propelled guns were prepared for May. A total of 91 SPGs were made, the last "Ferdinand" was at the manufacturer's disposal and stored at the factory.
The self-propelled gun was driven by a pair of V-shaped 12-cylinder engines on carburetors. The power of each installation reached 265 horsepower. The speed of the "Ferdinand" could reach 10-15 km on rough terrain and up to 35 km / h on the highway. The cruising range was only 150 km. The self-propelled gun had a representative front armor: the Ferdinand's forehead was covered with 200-mm rolled and forged surface-hardened armor. The sides were covered with 80 mm armor, the roof of the hull was covered with 30 mm steel. The 88-mm Pak 43 rifled cannon relied on 55 rounds of ammunition. The MG-34 machine gun was used as an auxiliary weapon.
The debut and main shame of "Ferdinands" was the Kursk Bulge. The Ferdinands operated mainly in the northern section of the contact line in this battle in the area of the Ponyri station near two small villages. The German command decided to use new self-propelled guns for ramming the Soviet echeloned defense. This approach seemed to the Germans a great idea, since the "Ferdinand" perfectly held the shots of Soviet artillery and tanks. However, in the end, the use of self-propelled guns ended in complete failure.
The main problem for the German tank hunter was the Soviet infantry, field artillery and sapper barriers. A lot of "Ferdinands" were left to stand on the field of the Kursk Bulge, just running into mines. Including Soviet improvised mine laying with the use of aerial bombs. Although the self-propelled guns' armor kept the hits of shells well, its undercarriage proved to be extremely vulnerable, including for conventional anti-tank grenades.
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As a result, only during the fighting on July 14, 1943, the Wehrmacht lost 21 Ferdinands. In varying degrees of integrity, they all went to the Red Army. A few days earlier, on July 12, near the village of Teploe, the Red Army took another 8 shot down Ferdinands. Several more cars were captured by Soviet soldiers on the outskirts of Orel. All of them were out of order and were preparing to be evacuated for repairs. Thus, in the Kursk Bulge alone, the Germans irrevocably lost 39 of the 91 SPGs produced.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why on the tower of the German "Panther" need a weird hole.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/050421/58462/
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