While its the impressive Tiger I tank that usually attracts the most attention, it was the Panther that in the long run was a more important tank to Germany during WWII. This 45-tonne medium tank was also converted into a useful armored recovery vehicle known as the Berge-Panther, with nearly 350 examples produced. One particularly unusual vehicle to be created by the unit s.Pz.Abt.653 was a Berge-Panther fitted with a Panzer IV turret. The result was a command tank with a fixed turret, plus a name that was absolutely mind numbing: the Berge-Panther mit aufgesetztem Pz.Kpfw.IV turm als Befehlpanzer. The work was done as a field conversion, and only one vehicle is known to have been converted. It served with the named heavy tank destroyer battalion (equipped with Ferdinand and, later, Jagdtiger vehicles) on the Eastern Front in 1944.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Berge-Panther mit Pz.Kpfw.IV Turm. turret medium tank that was attached to schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, then deployed to Russia during 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 4-3/4 inches
Width: 2 inches

Release Date: July 2014

Historical Account: The 653rd Heavy Panzerjager Battalion (Schwere Panzerjager-Abteilung 653.) was a tank destroyer unit of the Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with Ferdinand and later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945.

The battalion was formed on March 31st, 1943, by the redesignation of the 197th Sturmgeschutz Battalion. The 197th was an assault gun battalion which had been formed in 1940, later seeing service during the Invasion of Yugoslavia and on the Eastern Front. The 653rd was initially equipped with Ferdinand tank destroyers; the Ferdinand was a heavy tank destroyer built on chassis originally intended for the VK4501 variant of the Tiger I, mounting a powerful 88 mm gun.

It was assigned to the XXXXI Panzer Corps, and fought at the Battle of Kursk in August, and around Nikopol during the Battle of the Dnieper. After heavy losses in Ukraine, the battalion was withdrawn to Vienna to refit. The 1st Company received 11 new Elefants - the new name for the added defensive hull-machine gun mount armed version of the Ferdinand - and was sent south to Italy where it fought at the Battle of Anzio in February 1944. The 2nd and 3rd companies were equipped with 30 new vehicles in April and sent to the Eastern Front, where they were attached to the XXIV Panzer Corps.

By August, the 2nd and 3rd were reduced to twelve vehicles between them; these were withdrawn to refit in Krakow, where they were combined into the 2nd Company. It remained on the Eastern Front, as part of 17th Army, and was redesignated the 614th Heavy Panzerjager Company. It would see out the rest of the war fighting the Soviet Army, with two Elefants surviving until the Battle of Berlin in May 1945.