Landkreuzer P1000 Ratte and P1500 Monster are called unrealized projects of giant tanks of Hitler's Germany.
It has always been so that the opposing sides in the process of hostilities pay attention to the enemy's equipment, subsequently using the most interesting ideas for themselves when creating equipment. Hitlerite Germany was not an exception to this list, while the Second World War was underway. The Panther tank became an almost exact copy of the T-34 tank of the Soviet army. However, this does not mean that Germany did not have its own interesting solutions, which had no analogues at that time. They were based on ideas that were not previously used at all. Such innovations, without a doubt, can be called the projects of the largest tanks Landkreuzer P1000 Ratte and P1500 Monster, which were never applied in practice.
On June 23, 1942, the German Ministry of Armaments, which was also responsible for the development of submarines, proposed projects for Adolf Hitler's trial, including giant tanks, each weighing 1,000 and 1,500 tons. Hitler was a man who approved of all sorts of non-standard decisions regarding the field of weapons. For the engineering giant Germany, he set a serious task, obliging to ensure the implementation of these projects. The first monster tank was supposed to be named Landkreuzer P1000 Ratte.
The approximate parameters of this tank were to be as follows: length 35 meters, width - 14 meters and height - 11 meters. The movement of the monster was to be carried out using tracks, the width of which was 3.6 meters, they consisted of three sections, 1.2 meters wide. Having such a track width, an area of interaction with the surface was provided, which did not allow it to fall under the weight of its own weight.
A crew of 20 people was entrusted with driving the P1000 tank and its guns, and it was supposed to move with the help of two 24-cylinder MAN V12Z32 / 44 engines with a capacity of 8500 horsepower. In general, these engines were used in the production of submarines, and they provided the tank with power, which totaled 17,000 horsepower. Then, after conducting various engineering calculations, it was proposed to replace the two above-mentioned engines with eight 20-cylinder engines, called the Daimler-Benz MB501. They had a capacity of 2,000 horsepower each and were used in the production of torpedo boats.
Both variants provided the P1000 tank with a speed of 40-45 km / h, which is simply incredible for a vehicle of such impressive dimensions.
The armament of the P1000 tank was based on two SK-C / 34 280 mm guns used on ships, which were installed on the main turret. The rear of the tank was equipped with an additional turret with one 128 mm gun. To be able to defend against attacks from the air, eight 20-mm Flak38 anti-aircraft guns were installed, and the fire protection of this giant was provided by two heavy mortar guns Mauser 151/15.
The existence of the P1000 project was only on paper, but this did not prevent the developer from starting to create the next project of the P1500 tank, weighing 1500 tons. Unlike the P100, whose armor thickness ranged from 150 mm to 220 mm, the armor of this exhibit was assumed to be from 250 mm to 360 mm. The P1500 tank assumed the presence of one 800-mm gun, similar to the one mounted on the Tolstoy Gustav and Dora railway platforms. In addition, it was planned to equip the tank with two additional 150-mm guns and a fairly large number of machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. The movement would be carried out using four engines borrowed from the MAN V12Z32 / 44 submarines, which in total have a capacity of 34,000 horsepower.
But these models of tanks were never put into production, the reason for this was their impressive dimensions, the creation of which would significantly complicate the work of the entire engineering industry in Germany, which was already working at an increased pace. To produce such tanks, competent specialists from various fields were needed, and in large numbers. In addition, for the maintenance of these machines, people would also be required, the number of which was close to the average army unit.
These reasons proved to be convincing enough for the German Ministry of Armaments, and in early 1943, Albert Speer issued an order requiring that all work related to each of the projects be stopped. At that time, work on the main gun turret for the P1000 tank had already been completed. It was later installed on the Trondheim line in Norway.
