![]() Yet, despite the impressive achievement of making this rolling behemoth, the vehicle stands as a testimony to the total waste taking place in the German industry and the inefficiencies inherent in the way in which tank development was carried out. At 188 tonnes, it is the heaviest operational tank ever made by any nation at any time in any war and was made despite the shortages of raw materials, industrial capacity, and manpower at the time in Nazi Germany. ![]() No matter how thick the armor is, a larger bomb will always rip right through.It is impossible to consider the Maus and not be impressed by the machine as a feat of engineering. ![]() Slow-moving large targets were sitting ducks for dive bombers. Still, they had to be protected from the air. Heavy tanks were effective in plowing through enemy defenses. This looks menacing on paper, but issues with overweight tanks were beginning to surface, starting from the Tiger I. The new 33 feet long Panzer VIII project was named “Maus”. The newly demanded upgrades increased the tank’s weight from 100 tons to 188 tons. Porsche received a contract for the Panzer VIII in 1942, based on the 100-ton VK 100.01 design from a year earlier. This was a breakthrough in tank history – the vehicle was a pure terror to most British and French tanks with its excellent armor and powerful 8.8 cm KwK 36 gun. A few years later, Henschel constructed the first Tiger I tank. This produced the Panzer tank and all its successors. Hitler’s love for big guns dates all the way back to his days on the battlefield as a WWI corporal.
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