The Maus tank, officially known to be the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus, was an indeed determined and earnest attempt by the Third Reich in their attempt to produce a super-heavy tank. Logistical issues, coupled with relentless press from the war, would see only two prototypes completed, and neither of them would see action.
This “breakthrough tank” concept was born in the head of Hitler in late 1942, influenced by some huge war-winning weapons. Ferdinand Porsche, of course, spearheaded the development by proposing a tank with the heaviest armor possible and armed with a 128mm or 150mm gun. The project was named Porsche 205 and brought to the table some of the largest firms: the engine came from Daimler-Benz, the transmission from Siemens, and the hull, along with a turret, was supplied from Krupp. The actual assembly process was carried out in the Alkett factory.
On May 14, 1943, a full-sized wooden model of the Maus was demonstrated to Hitler in Rastenburg, who immediately ordered 150 units. By October 27, 1943, however, with the high technical complexity of the tank and colossal aerial bombardment by the Allies on the ground facilities, the order was drastically reduced to only one prototype. Tests of the prototype were launched in December of the same year.
The prototype, designated V1, was equipped with a gasoline MB509 V12 engine of 1080 hp thrust. The second prototype, the V2, had a more powerful 12-cylinder Daimler-Benz MB517 diesel engine with an output of 1,250 hp. In both cases, a petrol/diesel-electric drive was used just like the one Porsche had used in the ‘Porsche’ Tiger prototype. Although the V1 prototype was tested without a turret, it proved surprisingly agile, reaching a top speed of 14 mph and exhibiting reasonable mobility over soft terrain.
The Maus was designed to house a crew of six and had massive armor: the frontal hull had 200 mm, the sides 185 mm, and the gun mantlet reached up to 240 mm. The turret face, designed to be 220 mm, originally came out somewhat thinner because of the bending process during manufacture.
With its 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 anti-tank gun, the Maus could penetrate 250 mm of armor at 1000 meters, 200 mm at 2000 meters, and more than 170 mm at 3000 meters. It also featured a coaxial 75 mm gun and an MG 34 machine gun.
The Maus, weighing 207 tonnes, had enormous mobility problems, especially in river crossing. In response, a system was devised to permit the tank to ford rivers through sealing and employing electric motors, powered in a manner by a second Maus on the surface.
When the Soviet forces began to close the distance, commands of the Germans decided to sabotage the prototypes. Explosions of charges in both tanks caused much more damage to the V2 prototype. The Soviets later reassembled the V1 hull with the V2 turret and transported the completed vehicle to the USSR’s Kubinka test site. The vehicle has remained on display in the Kubinka Military-Historical Museum of Armored Vehicles and Equipment.
More of a symbol than a successful vehicle, the Maus represents the ambitious engineering undertakings of the Third Reich.