Maus |
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- "It's a Maus!"
- ―Yukari
- "The Maus is here! The largest, heaviest tank in history!"
- ―Katyusha & Darjeeling seeing the Maus.
The Maus (official designation: Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus, ordnance inventory designation: Sd.Kfz. 205) was a German super-heavy tank known to be the heaviest armored fighting vehicle ever built.
History[]
Development[]
On March 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered Ferdinand Porsche to design an indestructible 100 tons super heavy tank with a high performance gun (in concurrence with the Panzer VII Löwe). Thus the VK.10001/Porsche Typ 205 project was born and given the official name Mammut (Mammoth) in April 1942. Originally the first tank design was to be armed with a 150mm L/40 gun (or a 128mm L/50) and a coaxial 20mm MG151/20 and the project was to be delivered on early 1943, but in June 1942 Porsche modified his drawings to fit instead a 150mm L/37 or 105mm L/70, delaying the prototype to May 1943. The armament was again revised in December 1942 with the possibilities of a 150mm gun, a 127mm naval gun, or a 128mm FlaK gun; the official name was changed to Mäuschen (Little Mouse) and the prototype delivery pushed back to summer 1943. In January 1943 Hitler decided that the armament would be a 128mm gun with a coaxial 75mm and the tank received its final official designation as Maus (Mouse). The final design would weigh about 188 tons; production of the various parts was attributed to Krupp while the final assembly would be by Alkett.
In May 1943 a wooden model was presented to Hitler who ordered 150 units. However, in October 1943 the order was cancelled. Maus development was stopped in November, but in December 1943 Alkett assembled the first turretless prototype, called the V1, with a mockup turret for testing. As the weight was the principal handicap of the tank, they decided to use a 1000 hp Daimler-Benz MB 509 gasoline engine coupled with two electric generators such as Porsche used on the VK.4501(P), his unsuccessful attempt for the future Tiger I. Even with these developments the tank couldn't go faster than 20 km/h (more often 13 km/h) and the behemoth's weight wouldn't allow it to cross any bridges. An alternative was developed: if the tank couldn't cross over bridges, it must be able to cross under the water. To accomplish this, the tank with its hatches closed was intended to be sealed, with the crew and engine receiving air either through snorkels or oxygen reserves. These measures would allow the tank to submerge to a depth of 9 meters. On March 1944 a second prototype, without propulsion, called V2 was developed, with a massive new turret housing the 128mm KwK 44 (the V1 should have been equipped with turret but it never happened) weighing 50 tonnes alone (approximately the weight of a Panther tank). In mid-1944 the engine was again changed: while the V1 used a 1000 hp Daimler-Benz MB 509 gasoline engine, the V2 was equipped with a 1200 hp Daimler-Benz MB 517 diesel engine. Four additional hulls were in construction by Krupp in July, but the order was given to scrap them, and in August Krupp announced to Porsche that they had ceased all work on the Maus. The remaining V2 was ready to be tested on September 1944; its turret armor was 240mm on the front and 200mm on the rear and sides, while the for the hull it was 220mm on the front and 190mm on the rear and sides.
All work on the project was stopped in November 1944 and both tanks were sent to Kummersdorf to be held in stock. In April 1945, with the Red Army approaching, the Germans set off demolition charges in the fighting compartments of both prototypes and retreated. The V1 only got its innards damaged; the V2 was more heavily damaged due to the detonation of ammunitions stored under the turret, disemboweling the hull. Subsequently, the Russians gathered what was left of the two prototypes, combined the relatively intact turret from the V2 with the V1 hull, and sent the V1/V2 tank to Kubinka proving ground for further testing. The tank is now on display as a trophy in Kubinka Tank Museum.
Operational History[]
The tank never saw any combat. There were rumors that the tank fought during the Battle of Berlin but it was proven to be wrong as the tank could only be moved by train with special rail coaches and nearly all railways were destroyed by allied bombing runs.
In Girls und Panzer[]
Anime[]
Kuromorimine Girl's Academy fielded their Maus, commanded by the Maus Commander, during the tournament final match against Ooarai Girls Academy. It stayed in the abandoned city almost the entire match, appearing only when Ooarai had retreated to the city and after the Panzer III acted as bait to lead the Ooarai tanks to it. The initial encounter with the super heavy tank was a shock for everyone. All Ooarai tanks retreated, except the B1 Bis: Mallard Team vainly attacked the Maus only to receive a shot so powerful it flipped the tank upside down. The Ooarai Team unleashed all its fire on the behemoth, but it was impervious to any attack and easily disposed of the StuG during its advance. Shrugging off all the fire from the Ooarai tanks, the armored monster relentlessly stalked them deeper into the city. Miho eventually came up with a plan involving the combined efforts of all their remaining tanks. The first phase involved using the Hetzer to ram the Maus, as its sloped hull would lift and immobilize the tank. In the second phase the M3 Lee and the Tiger(P) would command its attention by firing at it from the side, baiting the super-heavy tank to rotate its turret to fire at them. In the third phase the Type 89B was to use the Hetzer as a ramp to drive up onto the Maus' hull and jam its turret in a sideways position, preventing it from turning. For the final phase the Panzer IV moved to the hill beside Maus, using the elevated position and the slope of the hill to fire downward at the engine air intake, the Maus' weak spot exposed by the rotated turret, thus ending the mighty Maus. However, the Maus's weight badly damaged the Hetzer's suspension, drivetrain, and engine, causing it to break down soon afterward.
Das Finale[]
Kuromorimine Girls' Academy fielded their Maus during the Winter Continuous Track Cup quarter-finals match against Pravda High School. It was the head of the Panzerkeil formation acting as a shield for its teammates, however when charging to Pravda's entrenched position on a hill the Maus was destroyed by the KV-2 will a trap shot that bounced on the lower part of the gun's mantle puncturing directly on the weaker top hull.
Trivia[]
- The Maus is the heaviest tank in the anime series (weighing over 188 metric tons), the turret alone weighing more than a Panther. This tank also carried the largest caliber anti-tank gun (along with Jagdtiger) in the series.
- The Maus is probably the strongest Federation-legal tank in the Sensha-Dō Tournament, since the rules only allow tanks designed during World War II to participate.
- Desperate teamwork was required by Ooarai to take it out (the tactic may differ for each school, depending on the school's battle style, tank's weaponry, and number of tanks used).
- In the anime, the Maus was possibly introduced and used for the first time in the National Sensha-Do Tournament by Kuromorimine Girls' Academy during the Finals against Ooarai Girls Academy.
- Miho Nishizumi wasn't aware that Kuromorimine had an operational Maus, as demonstrated when she was analyzing Kuromorimine's tank formation.
- Both Katyusha and Darjeeling were shocked when the Maus appeared, making it possible that it was being used for the first time.
- Alternately, everyone's —including Miho's— shock at seeing it may indicate the Maus was very rarely used by Kuromorimine and, thus, its appearance came as an unpleasant surprise despite its existence being known of; this could be a reference to the historical difficulties in transporting the Maus, or its limited practical utility on the battlefield. It would also speak well for Maho's ability to anticipate what her younger sister might not expect. Miho's initial uncertainty at how to defeat it could have been because this was the first time she had needed to fight it, rather than always previously having had it on her team.
- Due to its mass, firepower and armor, the Maus was the tank that took down the most Ooarai School tanks in the tournament finals. It knocked out 3 tanks on its own (Hippo Team, Mallard Team and the Turtle Team).
- The only real Maus now rests in Kubinka Tank Museum, beside the Karl-Gerät 040.
- On the mantlet of the tank turret there are two guns —the main KwK 44 L/55 and the second KwK 40— but only the main gun is used in the match.
- Alongside the T28, the Maus is the only tank that didn't take part in any action in real life but sees action in the anime.
- The Maus and the T-28 in Phase: Erika were the only two tanks to have knocked out a tank after being destroyed. The Hetzer for the Maus and Erika's Tiger II for the T-28.
- On April 11, 2014, Wargaming post a video announcing that a Restoration Project of the Maus in cooperation with the Kubinka Tank Museum was in the tubes. But the information was quickly debunked by the Museum Administration who claimed that the Maus restoration wasn't a priority as many other Russian tanks needs restoration instead. They also denied any "exclusive" partnership with Wargaming as the Museum is a public institution.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Maus/Gallery
Tanks ☰ | ||
---|---|---|
Light Tanks and Tankettes | 7TP • AMR-35 • BT-42 • Crusader • CV.33 • FT-17 • Harry Hopkins • M22 Locust • M24 Chaffee • Mark VI • Panzer II • Panzer 38(t) • R35 • T-60 • T-70 • Tetrarch • TK Tankette • Type 2 Ka-Mi • Type 94 Tankette • Type 95 Ha-Go • Type 97 Te-Ke | |
Medium Tanks | Centurion • M3 Lee • M4 Sherman • M13/40 • Matilda II • P26/40 • Panzer III • Panzer IV • Panzer V "Panther" • Sentinel • SOMUA S35 • T-34 • T-44 • Type 89B • Type 3 Chi-Nu • Type 97 Chi-Ha | |
Heavy Tanks | ARL 44 • B1 Bis • Black Prince • Churchill • IS-2 • KV-1 • KV-2 • M26 Pershing • Mark IV • Neubaufahrzeug • Panzer VI "Tiger" • Panzer VI Ausf. B "Tiger II" • Panzer VIII "Maus" • VK45.01 Porsche Tiger | |
Tank Destroyers | Elefant • Hetzer • ISU-152 • Jagdpanzer IV • Jagdpanther • Jagdtiger • Mareșal • Semovente da 75/18 • StuG III • T28 Super-Heavy Tank | |
Self-Propelled Artillery | Karl-Gerät 040 | |
Main Battle Tank | Type 10 |