The Maus was a tank that stretched the imagination of tank engineers during that time. It had KwK 44 L/55 Kannone 128mm gun. To put into perspective this gun was used by the Jagdtiger tank destroyer, so any tank that came across the Maus would be blown to bits in one shot.
Interesting fact: The Jagdtigers were built from the chassis of the Tiger P which Porsche developed. These tank destroyers still had the problems the Tiger P had, engines failure. The original design of the Maus said the tank would be 100 tons but Hitler would change it be 200 tons. With a monster of a tank it needed a massive engine. At first it was designed to have a diesel engine with a huge electric power generator. The problem with this is the engine couldn't support the massive weight of the Maus and the engine took to much space. Porsche thought of using the Maus to test his electrical engine but it still had the same problem as every other heavy tank in the German army. Their engines couldn't support the tank. Interesting fact: If the Maus was equipped with the electrical engine it had a weird idea of moving. The Maus was to heavy to cross bridges so the tank was suppose to travel through the rivers. One Maus would go through the river while another Maus transferred energy from it's engine. The Maus was also going to be equipped with a snorkel. The armor of the Maus was ridiculously thick. 180mm on the sides. 250-220mm on the front and back. The turret was also 220mm thick. No american tank would be able to put a dent into this tank. The armor was designed to handle Russia tank destroyers and bombing from planes. |
By the end of the War Germany was getting desperate. With the invasion of D-Day and the Soviet Union pushing on the eastern front Hitler started to rely on wonderwaffles(Wonder weapons.) Although the Tiger was an effective machine it broke down a lot and to Hitler it seemed to small. The Tiger II and Panther II were developed but they still weren't enough. Hitler asked Porsche to design a tank that would be bigger than the Tiger and Tiger II. Porsche had designed one of the first Tiger tank designs and failed. He could not fail is fuhere again. Hitler asked for a tank that could be used to replace destroyed bunkers, and be used as a moving artillery piece. Porsche would then go on to build the Panzer VIII (Maus heavy tank).
By 1944 the first two Maus tanks were complete the V1 and V2. The tanks were suppose to see combat but by then the war was over. Hitler's armies were pushed back and with Allied forces constantly bombing german factories the other Maus prototypes were destroyed. The V1 and V2 were abandoned at Kummersdorf and wouldn't be recovered until the Soviet Union arrived. When the soviets encountered the tank, they were probably speech less. They tested the tank but claimed it was useless. The soviets moved the turret of the V2 to the V1 and took it to Kubinka for further testing. The V1 now sits in the Kubinka museum as a dark reminder of Hitler's ambition but this wasn't the biggest German tank.
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Enter the biggest tank ever thought of in history the Landkreuzer P. 1000. If this tank was ever seen on the battle field nothing would stop it but, nobody would ever see this massive tank because it could never get anywhere and it could never be built. In 1942 a man named Krupp a submarine designer introduced the idea to Hitler. The LandKreuzer would be 1000 tons and four stories tall. The armor would be 228mm thick and it's two primary guns would be the 2 X 280mm 54.5 SK C/34 gun. It was also gonna carry 128mm anti tank guns and two 15mm Mauser MG 151/15 auto cannons. To also defend against aircraft it was suppose to be equipped with eight 20mm Flak 38 anti aircraft guns.
Interesting facts: The 2 X 280mm 54. SK C/34 gun was the main cannon on German battleships. The LandKreuzer was a ship on wheels.
Interesting facts: The 2 X 280mm 54. SK C/34 gun was the main cannon on German battleships. The LandKreuzer was a ship on wheels.
With a tank this big Hitler also wanted it to be a mobile base. In the back it was suppose to carry two motorcycles and tons of supplies. Unlike most tanks that had two tracks on each side this tank was gonna have three tracks so it could support it's weight. It could never travel across cement or bridges since it would break them from it's weight. Instead it would act like the Maus having a snorkel and it would trample over trees. A tank this large need a large engine. Since the man who brought up the idea was a submarine designer he proposed the tank would have two MAN V12Z32/44 24-cylinder diesel engine. The top speed would be 45km an hour.
Interesting fact: These engines were used by submarines and battleships. The crew would be 20 people. |
A tank as big as a building and the fire power of a battleship so how come it was never seen on the battlefield? A huge problem for this tank is trying to get it to the battlefield. It was so big the engine would break after a short time and the fuel to support a machine this big would be non practical. Also this tank would destroy the land it traveled on. The resources need to build a tank this big was also not possible. In the end the LandKreuzer was an insane dream in Hitler's mind. The construction of this machine was shut down by Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments.
In the end Hitler's ideas were nothing more than crazy imaginations. Hitler had bought into the idea big is better. In the end big wasn't better it cost Germany dearly for trying to focus on wonder weapons. The Maus and LandKreuzer would have ended the war in Germany's favor but they were only dreams created by a man who had faith in imagination.