The largest and most useless tank in service with Hitler

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

In the first half of the 20th century, designers and generals from different countries and armies were literally obsessed with the idea of creating large tanks. However, for all the time that has passed, no one has managed to create a huge and at the same time well protected so. That the awkward Tsar-tank of Nicholas II, that the French giant FCM 1A - all these and many other similar projects turned out to be a waste of resources. Today we will talk about the German combat vehicle "Maus", which never found a place on the battlefield.

"Mammoth" in the field

An attempt to create a huge tank.

At the end of 1941, at one of the meetings of the designers and commanders of the troops, Adolf Hitler personally insisted on the need to create an advanced super-heavy tank. The head of the Nazis gave the order to immediately begin the development of such a machine in July 1942. Hitler wanted to see a machine of death and destruction invulnerable to artillery fire in the ranks of tank kulaks. The frontal armor was supposed to have a thickness of at least 200 mm, and the side armor was not less than 180 mm.

The project was named "Mammut" (Mammoth). According to the idea, he was supposed to have two guns on the tower. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche has taken on this project with enthusiasm. The initiative to create a super-heavy tank was completed in 1944. Moreover, Ferdinand Porsche deceived the SS employees, who oversaw the creation of the machine, and put another engine on the Mammoth with a price tag of 125 thousand marks, not provided for by the original design.

A tank in a museum, today.

Tests of the tank began with this back in 1943. The Mammoth made a strong impression on Hitler. It was forbidden to photograph the novelty during the trials, however, apparently, no one really followed the protocol. At the same time, the combat vehicle received the Typ 205 / I or Pz. Kpfw. Maus V1. According to one version, the workers jokingly wrote the word "Mouse" (Maus) on the prototype and drew a rodent next to it. As a result, it was decided to change the name.

And Guderian, against

Heinz Gudearian criticized the tank.

Heinz Wilhelm Guderian is a really significant person not only for Germany during the Second World War, but also for the entire military history of mankind. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was largely thanks to him that the tank troops were finally formed as a separate genus. It was he who made an enormous contribution to the development of the ideas of motorized war, for which at one time he received the nickname "Fast Heinz". Is it worth it at all to say that the founding father of the German tank forces in tanks understood and understood?

Let Guderian remain an ambiguous personality, but something else is important here. New Pz. Kpfw. He didn't like the Maus V1 at all. Even before entering the battlefield, the Mouse made many enemies among the German commanders. The harshest criticism of the machine came from Guderian himself, who at that time was an inspector of tank forces.

The car came out fabulously expensive.

The Colonel-General did not like the shape of the turret, which facilitated the ricochet of shells directly into the engine compartment, the "Mouse" did not, in principle, have anti-personnel machine guns, the slowness of the turret rotation with the gun. He also did not like the proposals to put anti-aircraft weapons on the tank.

But most of all, Guderian was confused by the amount of resources that the Pz. Kpfw "devoured". Maus V1. Fuel consumption alone was 350 liters per 10 km! To create a machine, a huge number of metals were required, including very expensive ones. It was 1943 outside. The German command was well aware that the situation was not in their favor and the prospect of defeat was becoming more and more obvious. The country's resources were dwindling, and the bureaucrats and the supreme commander-in-chief "played" with expensive trinkets. Despite everything, the general managed to convince the commission and abandon the idea of producing 141 Pz. Kpfw. Maus V1 at once. It was decided to do 5 per month.

The battle that has not begun

As a result, the tank was blown up by the Germans themselves.

The last months of the war passed. Germany's defeat was obvious. At this point, the Germans managed to build only two Pz. Kpfw. Maus V1, while only one was ready for real combat. The only combat-ready tank was sent to guard the headquarters in the Zossen area. He did not manage to fight. During a successful night attack from April 21 to 22, 1945, the Red Army took the gigantic vehicle as a trophy. However, it was not possible to capture the German commanders.

The car was captured by the Red Army.

A significant part of them were still able to evacuate, the less fortunate, according to the recollections of the front-line soldier Vasily Arkhipov, were shot by the SS fighters themselves so that they would not be captured by the Soviet Union. A similar fate awaited the Pz. Kpfw. Maus V1. The crew fleeing from the Soviet soldiers decided to blow up the tank. When the battle died down, the Red Army men considered and joked for a long time at the burned-out 188-ton giant, frozen at the crossroads.