Hitler's favorite brainchild, the largest tank ever built in metal (188 tons combat weight), the Maus (also known as the Porsche 205 or Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus) was designed and built by Ferdinand Porsche.
The history of the tank can begin with a meeting that Hitler held on July 8, 1942. The meeting was attended by Professor F. Porsche and A. Speer, and they were then instructed by the Fuehrer to begin work on a "breakthrough tank" with the maximum possible armor protection and which would be armed with a 150 mm gun. or 128mm.
Several companies took part in the creation of the tank at once: the turret and hull were produced by the Krupp company, the Daimler-Benz was responsible for the propulsion system, and Siemens was manufacturing the transmission elements. The very assembly of the tank was carried out at the plant of the company "Alquette".
The tank was executed at a high technological level for its time. So, it used a multi-roll undercarriage and tracks with a width of 1, 1 meter. This suspension design provided the vehicle with specific ground pressure, which did not greatly exceed the performance of serial heavy tanks. One of the main features of the tank was its two-gun armament, powerful circular armor and an electromechanical independent transmission for the right and left tracks.
The tank's crew consisted of 5 people: three in the turret, and two in the front, in the control compartment.
On May 14, 1943, a full-size wooden model of the "Mouse" was presented to Hitler.
In December 1943, the first prototype of the tank, which was equipped with an MB 509 aircraft engine from Daimler-Benz and a wooden turret, entered sea trials. After quite satisfactory results of sea trials, a set of internal equipment and a real turret for conducting artillery fire were installed on the car. Another prototype was powered by the Daimler-Benz MB 517 diesel engine. However, it turned out that he was capricious and unreliable in operation.
The Maus project, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, was only partially completed in August 1944. Two prototypes of the Maus tank were built (205/2 and 205/1).
All work on the manufacture of 10 serial machines was discontinued at the end of 1944 on the personal instructions of Hitler. Germany faced an acute shortage of production capacities and raw materials for the production of basic types of weapons.
Tanks "Mouse" did not find combat use. The prototypes were blown up by the Germans as the Red Army approached. On April 21, 1945, in the area of the railway station in Kumersdorf, our troops captured a half-destroyed tank 205/2.
In 1945, parts of the tanks were transported to the city of Stetin, then they were taken by ferry to the city of Leningrad and further to Kubinka, to a tank training ground. In Kubinka, one tank was assembled from the parts that have survived. In 1951-52, this tank was tested by shelling at an artillery range.
Currently, the "Mouse" tank is an exhibit in Kubinka, in the Museum of Armored Forces, and consists of a 205/2 turret and a 205/1 hull.
TTX:
Tank Maus
Super heavy tank classification
Combat weight t 188
The layout diagram of the front control compartment, the engine compartment in the middle, the combat compartment in the rear
Crew 5 people.
History
Years of production 1942-1945
Number of issued, pcs. 2 (fully built) + 9 (at the factory in various stages of completion)
Basic Operators
Dimensions (edit)
Length with gun forward, mm 10200
Case width, mm 3630
Height, mm 3710
Clearance, mm 500
Reservation
Armor type cast steel and rolled surface hardened
Body forehead (top), mm / deg. 200/52 °
Body forehead (bottom), mm / deg. 200/35 °
Hull board (top), mm / deg. 185/0 °
Hull board (bottom), mm / deg. 105 + 80/0 °
Body feed (top), mm / deg.160/38 °
Body feed (bottom), mm / deg. 160/30 °
Bottom, mm 55-105
Hull roof, mm 50-105
Tower forehead, mm / deg. 240
Weapon mask, mm / deg. 100-220
Tower board, mm / deg. 210/30 °
Tower feed, mm / deg. 210/15 °
Tower roof, mm 65
Armament
Caliber and brand of gun 128 mm KwK.44 L / 55, 75 mm KwK40 L / 36
Rifled gun type
Barrel length, calibers 55 for 128 mm, 36.6 for 75mm
Gun ammunition 61 × 128 mm, 200 × 75 mm
HV angles, deg. -7 … + 23
Periscopic sights TWZF
Machine guns 1 × 7, 92 mm
MG-42
Mobility
Engine type V-shaped
12-cylinder turbocharged liquid-cooled carburetor
Engine power, hp with. 1080 (first copy) or 1250 (second copy)
Highway speed, km / h 20
Cruising on the highway, km 186
Specific power, hp s. / t 5, 7 (first copy) or 6, 6 (second copy)
Suspension type interlocked in pairs, on vertical springs
Specific ground pressure, kg / cm² 1, 6
