Sd.Kfz. 205 · Field Log
Adolf Hitler presses for an enormous "breakthrough tank" able to withstand any existing armour and destroy any target. Krupp and Ferdinand Porsche's design bureau begin initial studies for a tank that would far exceed anything built before it.
The final design weighs around 188 tonnes and carries a 12.8 cm main gun with a 7.5 cm gun beside it in the same turret. Because no conventional gearbox can handle the torque of such a heavy vehicle, engineers choose a petrol-electric drive instead: an engine generates electricity, which then powers electric motors at the tracks.
The first hull (V1) is ready for driving trials, still without its real turret: instead, the vehicle carries a dummy weight matching the size and mass of the eventual turret, purely to test how it handles.
A second hull (V2) receives the actual turret and armament. Since no bridge can bear the Maus's weight, the tank is fitted to wade across rivers several metres deep underwater, using a snorkel that supplies air to the crew and engine.
The Maus turns out to be too heavy and too slow for practical use, and consumes scarce raw materials besides. Of the hundreds originally planned, only two hulls are ever completed.
As the Red Army approaches, the Germans attempt to disable both unfinished Maus vehicles so they cannot fall into enemy hands intact. Neither has ever fired a shot in combat.
Soviet troops find the wrecks of both Maus hulls near Kummersdorf. The components are shipped to the Soviet Union for further study.
Soviet engineers combine the hull of one prototype with the turret of the other into a single complete example. This composite Maus is now on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum: the only example in the world, and it never fired a shot in anger.
Technical specifications