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The Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster was a Prototype of an ultraheavy tank, designed by Krupp that would serve as a platform for

P1500 Monster

Supposed design of the P1500 monster, at his side there's a Tiger II(one of the biggest tanks of the WWII) and a truck

artillery vehicle Schwerer Gustav. The project began in 1942 but was canceled by Albert Speer. If completed the tank would be bigger than the Panzer VIII Maus (The largest tank ever built and even larger than Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte which was also was never completed).

History[]

German developers had been designing since 1942, the process-heavy tanks. Among other things, this was a planning of the P-1000 "Ratte" out, one 1,000-ton tank, which surpassed anything seen before. Hitler, who was fond of oversized projects, approved the development of this superheavy tank. The company Krupp thereafter began a plan to create an even bigger, heavier, more massive tanks. The P-1500, which was later known under the code name "Monster". These plans were designed with special intentions for Hitler and he encouraged the ambitions of the defense industry, such "monsters".

Just as the predecessor of the P-1500, the project was the beginning of 1943 Minister of Defence Albert Speer adjusted, he saw for such oversized Land Cruiser no use in a war of aggression. There are no Blueprints or detailed drawings of the famous P-1500, which survived the war. All images and designs are purely speculative and therefore give only possible construction.

Description[]

Arming[]

The P-1500 was primarily designed as a mobile variant of the Dora and Gustav-guns. These huge artillery gun were the largest cannons ever built in history, and required 56 hours for pure assembly. Total lasted a full deployment of the gun five or six weeks because hauled ammunition, shelter dug flak had to be built, etc. But these characteristics were against the use of the gun in a tank.

In addition, should the P-1500 with two guns of caliber 300 mm at the rear will be equipped to be protected against attacks.

Weight and power[]

The projected weight of the P-1500 exceeded all standards. But his main armament would have weighed almost 500 tons. There was also a strong armor and a consequence of the armament size. Yet this enormous weight would have caused big problems because the tank would have been unable to transport.

Since eight Daimler-Benz engines were too weak, the developers saw four MAN Submarine-Engines (6500 HP) as a drive before. Nevertheless, the tank would have only a speed of about 20 km per hour can reach. In addition, a crew of 100 men would have been necessary.

Use in war[]

If the P-1500 had been completed, the Nazis would had found its use in a tactical war of aggression is not a viable use. In the attack it would have been a huge obstacle for the enemy, with its immense firepower and thick armor, but it would have been easy to bypass the tank because of its very limited maneuverability, and so attacking from behind. would have only as artillery in the rear of the P-1500 can be used, as its Dora-gun with 50 mile range was perfect for the destruction of strong defense installations.

Moreover, the size, weight and width of the war leadership presented an almost impossible problem to solve, since the P-1500 had neither the train, flat bed, yet other logistics facilities can be transported. Moreover, it was impossible for it to cross bridges, villages and tunnels. How much fuel would have such a "monster" used is not known. However, it is assumed that Germany - particularly against the war - these amounts of diesel it could not afford.

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster and the edit history here.
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