Unfinished Colossal: Germany's Mobile Fortress

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

During the First World War, armored vehicles were already actively plowing the vastness of the battlefield. And it was during this period that among the military engineers of a number of European countries the idea was to create a "mobile fortress" - a super-heavy tank of huge dimensions. Among these dreamers was Germany, which as a result practically finished its project - "Kolossal-Wagen". But the war ended, and with it the story of the "colossal tank" ended.

Back in the spring of 1917, Germany did not abandon its attempts to lure Fortune over to its side and seize the initiative in the First World War. Therefore, no one was surprised when, in March of the same year, the Headquarters of the High Command issued an order to develop a super-heavy tank with a boundary mass of 150 tons. This is how the project "K-Wagen" (Kolossal-Wagen or "Colossal") appeared, approved on June 28, 1917.

The first technical characteristics laid down in the future tank were as follows: the vehicle should be equipped with 30 mm armor, two engines of 200-300 hp each. and overcome the four-meter ditch. In addition, it was assumed that the K-Wagen would conduct an all-round defense, for which two to four 50-77 mm cannons, two flamethrowers and four machine guns were to be installed on it. The number of the crew of one vehicle is 18 people.

They quickly believed in the project, and even before the start of its development: if at first the first series was supposed to consist of ten tanks, then this figure was soon increased to one hundred. In addition, the command has reduced the time for creating the first prototype - from one year to eight months. Each car would cost Germany at least 500,000 Reichsmarks.

The engineers had a lot of work: some of the components had to be developed anew. However, the general design of the tank was nevertheless "spied" from the British heavy armored vehicles. The tank had three compartments: combat, control and motor-transmission. A wheelhouse for the commander and officer of the artillery was located on the roof. During development, the number of the crew increased to a record 22 people.

Adhering to the plans for the possibility of a circular attack by a tank, the guns were installed along the entire perimeter of the vehicle. Thus, the K-Wagen could conduct defenses in any direction and with the same density of fire.

It was also planned to provide the tank with communications. Allocated and a place for the radio operator - in front of the engine compartment.

When developing a prototype, the first difficulties arose. So, for example, it became clear that the originally intended engine power was insufficient. Then it was decided to install two Daimler engines, 650 hp each. The gasoline stock was 3 thousand liters. Then the question of transportation arose - such a huge tank would not fit on any railroad. The developers decide to assemble the car in such a way that for transportation it can be disassembled into one and a half to two dozen parts.

The first "Colossal" was already under construction, and the range of its combat use remained vague both for engineers and for command. According to one of the proposals, the tank could be used to break through the enemy front. However, quite soon this idea was recognized as untenable. Then the Experienced Branch of the Inspectorate of Automobile Troops decided that the K-Wagen should be used only for trench warfare. The armament of the tank made it possible to nominally consider it an artillery and machine-gun battery based on one "mobile fortress".

To assemble the first ten units of the Colossal, the German command signed contracts with two enterprises: five machines were to be built at the Ribe ball bearing plant in Berlin-Weissensee, and five more at the Wagonfabrik Wegman in Kassel. Production began in April 1918. As a result, by the end of the war, only one tank was practically completed on the Ribe, the second was still being assembled. The defeat of Germany in the First World War and the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles put an end to the history of the K-Wagen tank - both examples under construction were scrapped.

Interestingly, the history of German heavy armored vehicles turned out to be cyclical: almost the same fate befell another supertank project - "Mouse". The projects of both tanks were approved when Germany was rapidly losing its position in the war, but did not recognize this. Both the first and the second tank had an original design, which was partly invented from scratch. But as a result, the Colossal and, twenty-five years later, the Mouse never entered the battlefield.