Battle of Prokhorovka: The Clash That Defined Armored Warfare

By Fouad Sabry

What is Battle of Prokhorovka

The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on 12 July 1943 near Prokhorovka, 87 kilometres (54-mi) southeast of Kursk, in the Soviet Union, during the Second World War. Taking place on the Eastern Front, the engagement was part of the wider Battle of Kursk and occurred when the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army attacked the II SS-Panzer Corps of the German Waffen-SS in one of the largest tank battles in history.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Battle of Prokhorovka

Chapter 2: Battle of Kursk

Chapter 3: Waffen-SS

Chapter 4: Third Battle of Kharkov

Chapter 5: Operation Citadel

Chapter 6: Battle of Korsun-Cherkassy

Chapter 7: 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf

Chapter 8: 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich

Chapter 9: II SS Panzer Corps

Chapter 10: Operation Kutuzov

(II) Answering the public top questions about battle of prokhorovka.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Battle of Prokhorovka.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: May 31, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Battle of Prokhorovka

On July 12, 1943, the Battle of Prokhorovka took place.

The German leadership started preparations for Operation Citadel in April 1943 with the intention of engulfing and destroying the Soviet forces in the Kursk salient by simultaneously striking and breaching the salient's base from the north and south. Hitler continually postponed starting the attack so that additional Tiger tanks could be sent to the front, expecting that a technical edge would help him win the offensive, and the acquisition of more forces and new equipment were the main causes of the German onslaught's multiple delays. After learning about the German plans, the Soviet high command, Stavka, took advantage of the time to set up a number of defensive belts along the lines of the intended German offensive. Additionally, the Soviet leadership amassed a number of armies as the Stavka Reserve far behind their fortifications. Once the German force had diminished, the Steppe Front army group intended to begin counteroffensives. The Steppe Front's main armored formation was the 5th Guards Tank Army.

The Wehrmacht started its offensive on July 5, 1943. The German soldiers slowed down on the northern side of the salient after four days. The Voronezh Front's Soviet defenses were attacked on the southern side by the German 4th Panzer Army, which had Army Detachment Kempf on its eastern flank. Through the Soviet defense lines, they moved slowly but steadily.

The Soviet Union launched two counteroffensives after a week of fighting: Operation Kutuzov on the northern side and a concomitant one on the southern side. The 4th Panzer Army's II SS-Panzer Corps and the 5th Guards Tank Army clashed heavily in an armored combat vehicle encounter on the southern edge of the salient close to Prokhorovka. Despite suffering heavy losses in the assault, the 5th Guards Tank Army was able to stop the Wehrmacht from taking Prokhorovka and breaching the third defensive belt, the last one that was severely defended. Hitler abandoned Operation Citadel after failing to accomplish his goal, going against the advise of his commanders, and started redeploying his forces to cope with other urgent situations.

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev on the southern side and Operation Kutuzov on the northern side were part of a wider offensive by the Red Army. Thus, the Soviet Union gained the strategic upper hand on the Eastern Front, which it maintained throughout the remainder of the war.

Both the German and Soviet commands thought about their plans for upcoming operations as the spring rasputitsa (mud) season came to an end in 1943, following the completion of the struggle for the Donets. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, and several top Soviet officers wanted to take the initiative first and attack the German forces within the Soviet Union, but they were persuaded to take a defensive stance by several important commanders, including the Deputy Supreme Commander Georgy Zhukov. This would enable the Soviet forces to launch a counteroffensive after the German side had weakened itself by striking sites that had been prepared.

On the morning of July 5, 1943, the Heer commenced its assault but encountered fierce resistance.

The II SS-Panzer Corps was given the command to change its course of offensive movement from due north to the northeast toward the town of Prokhorovka on the evening of July 9.

On July 11, the II SS-Panzer Corps persisted in its assault on Prokhorovka. The 2nd Tank Corps, which had been strengthened by the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps's 301st Anti-tank Artillery Regiment and 9th Guards Airborne Division, was able to stop Leibstandarte's advance.

Hausser, the II SS-Panzer Corps commander, gave the order to march on Prokhorovka the following day late on July 11. On the southwest slopes of Prokhorovka, the Red Army was believed to have buried numerous anti-tank guns, making a direct attack by Leibstandarte very challenging.

On July 8 and July 11, respectively, the Steppe Front's 5th Guards Army and 5th Guards Tank Army were recalled from reserve and transferred to the Voronezh Front.

Leibstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf were the three Waffen-SS divisions of the II SS-Panzer Corps that provided the German forces at the Battle of Prokhorovka.

The 5th Guards Tank Army, which on 12 July controlled five corps, including two Guards units, was the primary Soviet armored group engaged in combat. These corps included the 2nd Guards, 2nd, 5th Guards Mechanized, 18th, and 29th Tank Corps.

Leibstandarte's HQ began receiving reports of the sound of numerous tank engines at 05:45 on July 12 as the Soviet tanks moved into their attack preparation sites.

On July 12, the 5th Guards Tank Army launched an offensive against the II SS-Panzer Corps' positions using around 500 tanks and self-propelled guns, In contrast to the German 8th Air Corps' 654 flights over the southern portion of the salient, the 2nd and 17th Air Armies flew 893 sorties. The XLVIII Panzer Corps to the west and the III Panzer Corps to the south were the targets of the majority of Soviet raids that day. Thunderstorms in the afternoon and low clouds in the morning made it difficult for both sides to conduct air operations above Prokhorovka.

Hill 252.2 was still held by Leibstandarte by day's conclusion, Vatutin gave the order for Soviet forces to block the III Panzer Corps from moving forward, stop any additional German advances on Prokhorovka, and eliminate German forces that had pushed along the northern bank of the Psel River during the night of July 12.

The 95th and 52nd Guards Rifle Corps joined forces with the 10th Guards Mechanized and 24th Guards Tank Brigades to attack Totenkopf on the morning of July 13.

Hitler summoned Manstein and the Army Group Center commander on July 13, Field Marshal Günther von Kluge, to his Eastern Front command post, East Prussia's Wolfsschanze.

Manstein quickly put together the preparations for Operation Roland after his meeting with Hitler on July 13 because he knew he would lose the II SS-Panzer Corps to redeployment in a matter of days.

It is challenging to determine losses for either side on July 12. Different tank losses were attributed to the German side, 842 men were reported killed, injured, or missing by the II SS-Panzer Corps on July 12 and 2,672 from July 12 to July 16 inclusively.

The combat losses suffered by the formation from July 12, inclusive, to July 16, inclusive, for all of its five corps, as well as smaller units immediately subordinate to the army headquarters, were summarized in a paper created on July 17, 1943, by the 5th Guards Tank Army headquarters.

The importance of the conflict and its result are up for debate. The German forces demolished a large number of Soviet tanks and briefly reduced the 5th Guards Tank Army's striking capacity,