Surely the creation of military equipment, in its scale similar to the Rat super-tank, will never be carried out all over the world. At least, such analogues are not currently available. Interestingly, the Germans, in turn, do not speak of him as a tank, they nicknamed him "land cruiser." This name is correct. After all, the tank "Rat" was incredibly huge, as a result of which its dimensions are better compared with a warship. The armament that was installed on it, as a rule, is installed on fairly serious cruisers, such as Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, and anti-aircraft guns were enough to repel the fire of bombers.
Model description
The Rat tank was so heavy that, moving along the road, it would easily tear off the asphalt surface like a tractor ground. When moving it, most likely, everything would collapse, except for some bridges in Germany. Tank "Rat" was really very big. For its manufacture would require a considerable amount of time, as well as a huge mass of skilled workers. Only for the production and installation of its components and assemblies it is necessary to have special transport, and the loading and unloading elements would have to be re-made at the tank factory. Unfortunately, not a single analogue of this terrible car was created, and the main thing is that it would borrow resources, perhaps 50 or 100 tanks, for example, such as the Panzer IV or Panther. If the Rat tank had been built, this would mean one thing - a much earlier end to hostilities in Europe, and it would surely have become a wonderful trophy of some museum in the Soviet Union or in the USA.
Development
The story with the Rat began in 1941 during the strategic study of Soviet tanks carried out by Krupp. This study prompted not only the idea of creating this model, but also became the impetus for the construction of smaller and much more practical machines.
For example, Royal Mouse or Tiger. They were significant models. At the very beginning, it was the Mouse that was designed as a large heavy tank. However, the inventive process in this area did not stand still. Therefore, the “P 1000 ratte” was to become more than just a tank, its mission was to open the beginning of a new class of ground combat vehicles. This study was conducted in 1941 by the engineer Grote, who previously worked on the creation of submarines in the field of armaments.
Description of technical characteristics
Overall dimensions of the machine: width 14 meters, height 11 meters and 35 meters length. The P 1000 was supposed to have track widths of 3,500 centimeters, reminiscent of those used on excavators. As the power plant for this model, it was supposed to use two MAN diesel engines (with a total capacity of 17,000 hp - 2 of 8500 hp each) or eight Daimler-Benz engines (16,000 hp, that is 2000 hp each). This will be mentioned a little more later.
Superheavy tank "Rat": the originality of the model
The main feature of the project was the use of a triple track on each side. This is important for this model. Each truck at the same time had a width of 1200 centimeters. There are also some inconsistencies in this project. The number of tracks in contact with the ground is too large for a machine weighing 1,000 tons. Either the developers intended to exert very little pressure on the ground, or the weight of the machine should have been more. If we imagine the case of this car between the tracks, without focusing on the roof of the case and the tower, we can understand that the reservation was supposed to be at least 200 mm. Then this part of the machine would have approximately 740 tons of weight. And this does not include the weight of the suspension, engines, trucks, turrets and weapons of the roof of the hull. Only a few main guns would add about 100 tons more weight. There are reasons to assume that the tower should have a minimum armor of 250 mm. Approximately its weight would be at least 380 tons. This is not counting the weight of weapons, tower equipment and gun cuffs. One can only guess about the ammunition, but you need to be aware that every 3 shells would add a ton to the weight of the specified machine. In the end, it turns out that if the German tank “Rat” were created, the photo of which is provided in this article, then its weight would be 2000 tons.
Armament
In this regard, the development of the model was carried out in accordance with its dimensions at the highest level. As the main weapon of the “Rat” tank, it was calculated to use two 28-cm SKC / 34 naval guns of 283 mm caliber. Their use was important. The weight of each gun was 48.2 tons, and the barrel length was about 15 meters. In this case, the charge length was 1.2 m. Here the weight of the armor-piercing projectile (Panzersprenggranate) was 330 kg, and high-explosive - 315 kg. The maximum firing range of such a weapon is 42.5 km. It was also planned to install a third gun with a caliber of 128 millimeters. However, the developers refused this because of a significant increase in the mass of the tank and the number of its crew. It was assumed that these 2 28-cm SKC / 34 guns should be located in the main turret of the tank. And the ammunition for them was planned to be placed in the lower part of the hull sides and delivered to the guns using the elevator.
As an additional weapon, the Rat tank was supposed to endow with 2-cm Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns of 20 mm caliber. The number of these guns was not decided until the end of the war. According to reports, their number in the project was supposed to be from 2 to 8. It was also planned to install 2 15 mm Mauser MG 151/15 machine guns.
Engine
The power plant of the superheavy tank "Rat" the developers planned to create a particularly powerful. It was supposed to consist of two diesel 24-cylinder marine engines MAN V12Z32 / 448 or 8 carburetor 22-cylinder Daimler-Benz MB501. They were planned to be installed in the rear of the hull, together with fuel tanks and radiators. According to the designers of the tank of the specified model, its specified power plant should have a capacity of 20,000 horsepower, which would help develop the speed of the tank on a flat surface to 14 kilometers per hour. At that time, this was considered a considerable indicator in accordance with the dimensions of the “P 1000 ratte”.
Transmission and chassis
A rather weak spot in the future Rat tank and in the whole project were these elements of the machine. Until the end of the war, engineers were not able to develop clear schemes for the chassis and transmission of the “p 1000 ratte.” Experts suggest that this factor is the main reason for the failure of this project.
Analysis. Pros and cons
The movement of this tank seemed rather problematic. He would only be able to move around the countryside. He was also unlikely to be able to cross the bridge. Fortunately, its dimensions allowed the crossing of water barriers to ford. Even the “Rat” would be very inconvenient because of the high altitude to destroy targets at the minimum or average distance, even with 128-mm guns.
Protection of the “Rat” from air attacks would involve the creation of a special hangar or some special camouflage, with which it would become like a building. This camouflage device was by and large possible. In other words, the main enemy of the “Rat” would be attack aircraft and bombers. They posed a real threat to this model. Even if, using twenty
-millimeter anti -
aircraft guns, maybe it was possible to somehow fight off attack aircraft and dive bombers, the German superheavy tank Rat, with its enormous size, was an easily vulnerable target for bombers.
But the “P 1000 ratte” also had its positive aspects. After all, the infantry would be well protected due to the huge presence of combat points, and also it would have a large amount of space for movement on the hull. Artillery, it can be said, did not pose any threat to this tank. She could only damage attachments and small guns. The biggest advantage of the “Rat” would be considered its ability to stop the great enemy forces. The indicated tank is too slow in the offensive, but still its appearance can 100% terrify the enemies.
However, one does not need to build illusions. The astronomical price of creating the “Rat” will not in any way compensate for its powerful sides. When using this tank in combat conditions, its disposal would be just a matter of time for enemy aircraft, because limited maneuverability and terrible speed would make it easy prey.
Legend in World of tanks
Currently, many forums that are dedicated to the game "World of Tanks" are discussing the possibility of the appearance of the model "P 1000 ratte" in this gameplay. This was even said in one of the issues of WG TV. This video demonstrated the impossibility of launching “P 1000 ratte” on a shared server due to its size, but its model was shown. Therefore, in the World of tanks tank "Rat" has become a legend and an object of discussion for lovers of myths.