Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte

Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte
Illustration of the Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte in comparison to other German tanks
Type	Project super-heavy tank
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Production history
Designer	Krupp
Specifications
Weight	1,000 tonnes (1,100 short tons; 980 long tons), estimated
Length	35 m (115 ft) hull 39 m (128 ft) guns forwards
Width	14 m (46 ft)
Height	11 m (36 ft)
Crew	20+, possibly as many as 41
Armor	150–360 mm (5.9–14.2 in)
Main armament	2 × 280 mm 54.5 SK C/34
Secondary armament	1 × 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 8 × 20 mm Flak38 2 × 15 mm MG 151/15
Engine	8 × Daimler-Benz MB501 20-cylinder marine diesel engines, or 2 × MAN V12Z32/44 24-cylinder marine diesel engines 12,000 to 13,000 kW (16,000 to 17,000 hp)
Ground clearance	2 m (79 in)
Operational range	~190 kilometres (120 mi)
Speed	40 km/h (25 mph)

35 m (115 ft) hull

The Landkreuzer P. 1000 "Ratte" (English: Land Cruiser P. 1000 "Rat") was a design for a super-heavy tank for use by Nazi Germany during World War II, proposed by Krupp director Edward Grotte in June 1942, who had already named it "Landkreuzer". Submitted designs and drawings of the tank went under the names OKH Auftrag Nr. 30404 and E-30404/1, which were presented in December 1942. The tank was planned to be 1000 metric tonnes, being far heavier than the Panzer VIII "Maus", the heaviest tank ever built (weighing 188 tonnes). The project gained the approval of Adolf Hitler, who had expressed interest in the development of the tank. The project was canceled by Albert Speer in early 1943, with no prototype tank ever built.

The development history of the Ratte originated with a 1941 strategic study of Soviet heavy tanks conducted by Krupp, the study also giving birth to the Panzer VIII Maus super-heavy tank. The study led to a suggestion from Krupp's director (Grotte), a special officer for submarine construction, who, on 23 June 1942, proposed to Hitler a 1,000-tonne tank which he named "Landkreuzer". It was to be armed with naval artillery and armored with 25 centimetres (10 in) of hardened steel, so heavy that only similar weapons could hope to affect it.

Hitler became enamored with Grotte's concept and ordered Krupp to begin development of it in 1942. As of December 29, 1942 a few preliminary drawings had been completed, by which time the concept had been named "Ratte" (Rat) by Hitler himself. These submitted designs went under the titles OKH Auftrag Nr. 30404 and E-30404/1.Albert Speer saw no reasonable use of the tank and canceled the project in 1943 before any prototype could be manufactured, although this did lead to the concept of the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster self-propelled siege gun, which would have been heavier than the Ratte. The general idea for such a big tank was best summed up by Heinz Guderian, saying that: "Hitler's fantasies sometimes shift into the gigantic".