12. The Idiot Designers of History’s Heaviest Tank
The Panzer VIII Maus, history’s heaviest tank, measured about 33 feet long, 12 feet wide, 12 feet high, and weighed nearly 200 tons. Its secondary armament was a 75 mm coaxial gun instead of a machine gun, while its main gun was a 128 mm monster that could destroy enemy tanks at ranges of up to 2.2 miles. That was not enough for Hitler, who thought that the 128 mm looked like a toy gun on the Maus, and insisted that it be increased to 150 mm. The huge size and heavy weight came at a correspondingly heavy price that made the tank nearly useless.
As it turned out, the Maus was one of those idiot ideas that look good on paper, but turn out to be impractical in real life. It was too heavy for most bridges, so to cross rivers it had to wade through fords where available or drive over the river’s bottom with a snorkel for ventilation. To merely get the Maus to move was a problem. It was difficult to come up with an engine and drive train powerful enough to propel 200 tons of metal on the ground at any appreciable speed, yet small enough to fit inside the tank. In the end, the maximum speed was a mere 8 miles per hour on hard surfaces.
Also Read: 12 WWII Tanks.
