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WWII History: Following is an article on the development and production in Germany of several armored giants. These enormous tank designs were part of a trend towards 'wonder weapons' that caught the attention of the Germany's leaders and gave hope to the German people as the war slowly slipped away towards defeat. |
German Super-Heavy Tanks
It is generally admitted that German tanks of WWII were, until the last days of the war, far superior to the Allied tanks. They were built larger, had higher caliber and velocity guns, and thicker sloped armour. All of these factors led to an unmatched survivability on the battlefield. The enormous Tiger and the equally deadly Panther easily outmatched their opponents up until 1945, when the Soviet Union and the United States belatedly developed their own heavy tanks to match these threats.
During the war the German Jagdtiger was the heaviest AFV to see service, weighing in at 70 tons. Most Allied and Axis medium tanks of the war weighed-in near the 40-ton mark, almost half the size of the Jagdtiger (see table below). The Jagdtiger, an up-gunned, fixed turret tank destroyer version of the Tiger, had a standard armament of a 128 mm PaK 44 L/55, and boasted sloped frontal armour 250mm thick.
Maus Prototype
However, if Germany's tank designers would have had their way a new class of 'super-heavy' tank would have appeared on the battlefield. These enormous machines would have dwarfed every other tank in production by a wide margin. Although none of these behemoths ever saw service two different models did reach the stage of prototype production and testing. The two models were Krupp's "E100" and Porsche's "Maus" (Mouse), each weighing three to four times the tonnage of a standard medium tank in WWII.
| Model | Country | Weight |
| T 34/85 | Soviet Union | 32 tons |
| M4 Sherman | USA | 40 tons |
| Churchill Mk IX | Britain | 40 tons |
| Panther | Germany | 45 tons |
| Tiger Mk II | Germany | 68 tons |
| E100 | Germany | 140 tons |
| Maus | Germany | 188 tons |
During WWII Germany developed a number of very advanced weapons, including submarines, jet fighters, small arms and rockets. Much of this was due to Hilter's willingness to listen to and support projects that could create 'wonder weapons' which held the promise of victory for the overstretched German military. While such weapons held value as propaganda, they seriously drained resources that may have been more effectively used in producing proven weapons that, while less impressive than the 'wonder weapons', were nonetheless generally superior in quality to Allied equivalents. Up until 1944 this was the case for the super-heavy tank projects developed by German designers.
The push to create a super-heavy began in late 1941, when Dr. Ferdinand Porsche submitted plans for his own design, the "Maus". This enormous tank would weigh 188 tons; the turret alone weighed 50 tons, more than most existing medium tanks. Its main armament was a 128mm gun, and for secondary armament had a Panther's 75mm gun mounted co-axially. The armour was as thick as 240mm, and included armour-covers for the tracks. The length of Maus was 30 feet, and required a 1200 hp engine to reach a maximum road speed of 12 1/2 mph. The extreme weight necessitated the fitting of snorkel equipment for river crossing, as few bridges would be able to support the Maus.
Maus Dwarfs Engineer
Hitler gave approval to proceed with the designs for Maus in 1942, and then in August 1943 gave the approval to build two prototypes. At the time Porsche had been removed as the head of the Panzer Commission, and was in disfavor with the Heereswaffenamt (German Ordnance Department). When Porsche received approval to begin design on the Maus the Heereswaffenamt quickly moved to submit their own rival designs for a super-heavy tank.
At first they proposed a Krupp design for an upgraded Tiger II weighing over 100 tons. Known as the VK7001(K) project, it was never intended to be completed, but rather served as an interim proposal to offset Porsche's favor with Hitler. It was soon replaced with a proposal for an entire new line of tanks known as the E Series.
The E Series was a line of progressively larger tanks that would all share a number of standardized parts to facilitate production. The following chart shows this new series of tanks that would have replaced the existing German panzers.
| Model | Role | Comments |
| E5 | Lgt Tank | |
| E10 | Lgt Tank Destroyer | |
| E25 | Med Tank Destroyer | |
| E50 | Lgt Battle Tank | Panther replacement |
| E75 | Med Battle Tank | Tiger replacement |
| E100 | Hvy Battle Tank | 140 Tons |
The series was likely proposed solely to create a rival 'super-heavy' for Porsche's design, with little or no work taking place on developing any model but the E100. The tank itself was to weigh 140 tons and use the same main weapon as the Maus. It was to have removable track covers and outer wheels so that it could more easily travel by rail. The standard tracks were over a metre wide, but could be replaced by a more narrow set in order to improve road travel.
Porsche's first prototype of the Maus was completed by November 1943. It was given a weighted turret to simulate the two guns that were to be added. Trials on this prototype lasted until May 1944 at Krupp's testing grounds at Meppen. In June 1944 a second prototype was completed and made available for teting. An order for 150 production models was made based on the progression of the trials.
Completed Maus on Testing Grounds
Although the declining fortunes of the war for Germany made the introduction of either super-heavy type unlikely, the end for both the Maus and E100 came from another source. The construction of super-heavy tanks was abruptly stopped in mid-1944 when Hitler ordered all such projects for AFV's cancelled, thus ensuring that significant resources were wasted on projects that would now never see fruition.
The desire for ever larger tanks did not stop with either the Maus or the E100. Several other colossal tanks had been proposed, including a version of the Maus mounting a 305mm mortar. Perhaps the strangest design was for a 1500 ton tank with three main guns, two facing rearward in their own turrets. This leviathan would have been powered by four diesel engines normally used in submarines.
E100 Suspension in British Hands
As the war ended the Allied armies overran the test sites for both the Maus and E100, where they found the prototypes for each. The single model of the E100 was left half-finished at the Henschel test plant at Haustenbeck. British troops occupied the site in May 1945 as the war ended, finding the partially-built hull and suspension.
Those engineers working on the Maus attempted to destroy their prototypes as the Soviet armies advanced towards them, but one example was salvaged and is now on display at the Russian Tank Museum at Kubinka outside Moscow. Considerable speculation surrounds the last moments of this vehicle. Some sources indicate that it was driven off the testing grounds with the intention of being used against the Russians, but that a mechanical breakdown kept it from reaching the front lines, and led to it being abandoned.
