German Landkreuzer P-1000 ''Ratte'' Heavy Tank

By Crusader1307

As we have seen, Hitler envisioned many future “Super Weapon” Projects during World War II. One which was envisioned may have turned the tide of The Wehrmacht’s Land Defense Plans. An armored Tank, it was known as The “Ratte” or The Landkreuzer P-1000. This massive Tank would have been the largest of it’s type ever (and still) built. In essence a mobile “Fort”, The P-1000 was first designed in 1942 by Edward Grotte – for proposed construction. Said to have been over 1000-tons, The P-1000 was to be 115-feet long with her Main Guns bringing her overall length over 128-feet. The P-1000s width was rated to be near 60-feet and was 40-feet tall at it’s highest (Command Cupola) point. Speculated at being able to crew between 20 and 40 Tankers, The P-1000 would have had nearly 15-inches of armor plating as protection. This meant that no conventional armor piercing Allied Rounds could have damaged The “Ratte”. Her massive armament was to have been (2) 280mm Guns, with an effective range of 2-miles. It could have additionally supported (8) 20mm Flak Guns and a host of anti-personnel Machine Gun platforms. No less than (10) Diesel Engines would have powered the massive P-1000 hulk, which could have generated over 17,000-HP. The “Ratte” would have been able to travel up to 120-miles on it’s diesel reserves. Despite it’s massive size, The P-1000 could have achieved 25-mph. Several “Ratte” Tanks could have easily decimated a City the size of Paris, had they wished. It was assumed that The P-1000 could have pacified Russia easily, had they been put into mass production. Although Hitler was enthusiastic about The “Ratte” Project (even having early prototype chassis built and early Gun Platforms built), the overall cost diverted too much from other current Armament needs. As a result of increased Allied Bombing of Germany, The “Ratte” as a fully operational Tank never saw the light of day.