Panzerjager Tiger (P) - Ferdinand/Elefant

In May 1941, both Porsche and Henschel were asked to submit design for new class of heavy tanks. Ferdinand Porsche was favorite, but after testing period Henschel won.
Porsche already produced 100 hulls for Tiger tanks, but there was no way to get Krupp's turrets as they were reserved for Henschel.
As these hulls were no longer required for Tiger tanks, it was decided they will be used as base for new tank destroyer. The official German designation was Panzerjäger Tiger (P), but it's known as „Ferdinand“ named after CEO of the Porsche company, Ferdinand Porsche.

Ferdinand was fitted with 88 mm (3.46 in) PaK 43/2 L/71 gun. At first there was no secondary armament, but later they added a ball-mounted MG 34 in the hull front to counter infantry.
Eighty-nine tank destroyers were sent in the Battle of Kursk. They performed great from large distance, but as they advanced lack of secondary armament made them easy target. Soviet infantry spotted Ferdinands were „blind“ and it was easy for them to use trenches, wait for Ferdinand to pass and then mount explosives or throw grenades and Molotov cocktails.

At that time, German service used Bergepanzer IV to tow broken tanks, but five of them were needed to tow just one Ferdinand. So when Germans were on defensive, in some cases even after minor damage crew was forced to destroy Ferdinand.

After the Battle of Kursk, only 50 damaged Ferdinands were rescued. Germans improved them with commanders cupola and secondary armament MG34 machine gun in front. Upgraded tank destroyers were called „Elefant“.
Today, only two Ferdinands survived the war. One is at the United States Army Ordnance Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia and the other at the Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow.