Unaware of the Maus' existence, a formation of over 300 British bombers rained down bombs across Essen on March 5th of 1943, damaging Krupp's factory as well as paperwork on the Maus' design, and one of the completed turrets. Recovering enough to resume production, another delay came as a further hundreds-strong wave of bombers struck again in April. While designing such a massive tank and the production lines required was a challenge, the Maus' biggest set back would be the Royal Air Force, as the Battle of the Ruhr had already begun in March, and Krupp's Essen factory was one of the RAF's designated targets. RELATED: Here Are The Weirdest Tank Designs Of All Timeīased in Essen Germany, Krupp was given the job of producing the truly massive hulls and turrets for the Maus contracted to make 120 of them at a rate of 10 per month, a task that seemed to be feasible by the time 2 had been completed. Naturally, such a design was neither possible, nor a good use of resources and the project was canceled after less than a year of work. With 250 mm thick armor and 2 massive submarine diesel engines, the intent was for the Land-Kreuzer to act as a mobile command HQ, with everything from an infirmary, to toilets, and even a storage bay for a motorcycle fleet inside. Proposed to Hitler in 1942 by Krupp's chief of Submarine engineering, the Land-Kreuzer design fit in perfectly with the wonder weapon obsession, and was immediately approved for further design and engineering work.ĭevised to be a 1,000-ton monster, the Land-Kreuzer would have been armed with a turret carrying twin 280 mm naval cannons, a 128 mm cannon from the Maus itself, eight 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons, and a set of anti-infantry machine guns. Designated the Projekt P.1000 Ratte, and known as the Land-Kreuzer, this behemoth design was essentially a land based battleship.
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