German superheavy tank "Rat". Characteristics of the P-1000 "Ratte"

Probably there will never be a worldwide production of military equipment, similar in scale to the "Rat" super-tank. At least, at present there are no such analogues. Interestingly, the Germans, in turn, do not speak of him as a tank, they nicknamed him a "land cruiser". This name is correct. After all, the "Rat" tank 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 rather serious cruisers, such as Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, and the anti-aircraft guns were enough to repel bomber fire.

Model Description

The "Rat" tank was so heavy that, moving along the road, it would easily rip an asphalt covering like a tractor to the ground. When he moved, most likely, everything would collapse, except for some bridges in Germany. The "Rat" tank was really very big. It would take a considerable amount of time to produce it, as well as a huge mass of skilled workers. Only for the production and installation of its units and units, it is necessary to have special transport, and loading and unloading elements would have to be re-done at the tank plant. Unfortunately, no analogue of this terrible machine was created, and the main thing is that he would have borrowed resources, perhaps 50 or 100 tanks, for example, such as Panzer IV or Panther. If the "Rat" tank had been built, it would mean one thing - a much earlier end to the hostilities in Europe, and he would surely have become a fine trophy of a museum in the Soviet Union or in the United States.

Development

The story with the "Rat" began in 1941 during the strategic study of Soviet tanks, carried out by the firm "Krupp." This research pushed not only to the idea of creating this model, but also gave impetus to building smaller machines and much more practical machines. For example, the Royal "Mouse" or "Tiger". They were significant models. At the very beginning, it was the "Maus" 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 combat ground vehicles. This study was conducted in 1941 by the engineer Grote, who previously worked on the development of submarines in the field of weapons.

Description of technical characteristics

Overall dimensions of the machine: width 14 meters, height 11 meters and 35 meters length. P 1000 had to have caterpillars of a width of 3,500 centimeters, reminiscent of those used on excavators. As a powerplant for this model, it was intended to use two "MAN" diesels (with a total capacity of 17,000 hp - 2 to 8,500 hp) or eight Daimler-Benz engines (16,000 hp, i.e., Each of 2000 hp). About this a little more will be mentioned later.

Super-heavy tank "Rat": the uniqueness of the model

The main feature of the project was the use of a triple track from each side. This is important for this model. Each tractor was 1200 cm wide. Also in this project there are certain inconsistencies. The number of trails in contact with the ground is too large for a machine weighing 1,000 tons. Or the developers expected to exert very little pressure on the ground, or the weight of the machine should have been greater. If we imagine the body of this machine between the tracks, without concentrating on the roof of the shell and the tower, you can understand that the reservation was to be at least 200 mm. Then this part of the machine would have about 740 tons of weight. And this is without taking into account the weight of the suspension, engines, trucks, towers and armament of the roof of the hull. Only a few main guns would add about 100 tons of weight. There are reasons to assume that the tower should have a reservation of at least 250 mm. Approximately its weight would be at least 380 tons. This is not counting the weight of weapons, tower equipment and gun cuffs. About ammunition can only guess, but you need to realize that every 3 shells would add a ton to the weight of the specified car. In the end, it turns out that if the German tank Rat was created, the photo of which was given 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 with a caliber of 283 millimeters. Their use was important. The weight of each gun was 48.2 tons, and the length of the barrel was about 15 meters. The length of the charge was 1.2 m. Here the weight of the armor-piercing projectile (Panzersprenggranate) was 330 kg, and the explosive shell - 315 kg. The maximum firing range of such a weapon is 42.5 km. Another installation was planned for the third cannon with a caliber of 128 millimeters. However, the developers refused this because of the massive increase in the mass of the tank and the number of its crew. It was assumed that the 2 guns 28-cm SKC / 34 should be located in the main tower of the tank. And the ammunition to them was planned to be placed in the lower part of the sides of the hull and delivered to the guns using an elevator.

As an additional weapon, the "Rat" tank was supposed to be equipped with anti-aircraft guns 2-cm Flak 38 caliber 20 millimeters. With the number of these guns have not been determined until the end of the war. According to available data, their number in the project was expected from 2 to 8. In addition, it was planned to install two 15-millimeter machine guns Mauser MG 151/15.

Engine

The power plant of the super-heavy tank "Rat" the developers planned to create a very powerful tank. It should 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 aft part of the hull together with fuel tanks and radiators. According to the designers of the tank of the said model, its specified power plant should have a capacity of 20,000 horsepower, which would help to develop the speed of the tank on a level surface to 14 kilometers per hour. This at that time was considered a considerable indicator in accordance with the dimensions of "P 1000 ratte".

Transmission and chassis

Quite a weak spot in the future tank "Rat" and in general in the whole project were these elements of the machine. Until the end of the war, engineers did not succeed in developing clear schemes for the chassis and transmission "p 1000 ratte". Experts suggest that this factor is the main reason for the fiasco of this project.

Analysis. Advantages and disadvantages

The movement of this tank seemed quite problematic. He would only be able to move around the countryside. He could hardly have crossed the bridge, either. Fortunately, its dimensions allowed the crossing of water barriers to wade. Another "rat" would have been very uncomfortable because of the high altitude to destroy targets at a minimum or averaged distance, even with 128-millimeter guns. Protecting the "Rat" from air attacks would presuppose the creation of a special hangar or some special camouflage, with which it would look like a building. This camouflage device by and large was possible. In other words, the main enemy of the "Rat" would be storm troopers and bombers. They represented a real threat to this model. Even if, using twenty-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, maybe they managed to somehow fight off attack planes and dive-bombers, the German super-heavy tank "Rat" with its huge size was an easily vulnerable target for bombers. But "P 1000 ratte" had positive aspects as well. After all, infantry would be well protected because of the huge presence of combat points, and it would have plenty of space for movement on the hull. Artillery, we can say, did not pose any threat to this tank. It could damage only attachments and small cannons. The biggest advantage of "Rat" would be its ability to stop large enemy forces. This tank is too slow in the offensive, but still its appearance can bring 100% of terror to the enemy.

However, you do not need to build illusions. The astronomical price of creating the "Rat" will not in any way compensate its powerful sides. When using this tank in combat conditions, its neutralization would be just a matter of time for enemy aircraft, because limited maneuverability and terrible speed would make it easy prey.

Legend of World of tanks

Currently, in many forums devoted to the "World of Tanks", discussions are under way about the possibility of the appearance in the gameplay of the model "P 1000 ratte". This was even said in one of WG TV's releases. In this video, it was demonstrated the impossibility of launching the "P 1000 ratte" on a shared server due to its size, but its model was shown. Therefore, in the World of tanks the "Rat" tank became a legend and an object for discussions of myths fans.