The Porsche Type 205 Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus (Mouse) was a German World War II 188 metric tons (200 st) super-heavy tank completed in late 1944, which never saw action, unlike this hereunder artist's view (Dragon).

"It is the heaviest fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle ever built. Only one complete prototype was built before the testing grounds were captured by the advancing Soviet forces." (- at Böblingen -)

"That single complete prototype unit underwent trials in late 1944. It was 10.2 metres (33 ft 6 in) long, 3.71 metres (12 ft 2 in) wide and 3.63 metres (11.9 ft) tall. Weighing 188 metric tons, the Maus's main armament was a 128 mm KwK 44 L55 gun..." (- 55 calibers long barrel, the same mounted on the JagdTiger Hull -), "...based on the 12.8 cm Pak 44 anti-tank artillery piece, with a coaxial 75 mm gun. The 128 mm gun was powerful enough to destroy all enemy armored fighting vehicles at close or middle ranges, and even some at ranges exceeding 3500 meters..." ( - A crew of 6 troops was projected. - ) 

"The principal problem in development of the Maus was finding a powerful enough engine for its weight that could be carried in the tank. Though the design called for a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph), no engine was found that could power the prototype to more than 13 kilometres per hour (8.1 mph) under ideal conditions. The weight also made it impossible to cross most bridges; it was intended to ford or submerge and use a snorkel to cross rivers."

V1:

"The first, turretless prototype (V1) was assembled by Alkett in December 1943. Tests started the same month, with a mock turret fitted of the same weight as the real turret.The principal problem with the Maus that emerged from this test was its power-to-weight ratio. There was no engine powerful enough to give it anything like the 20 km/h demanded by the design specifications. The modified gasoline-fuelled Daimler-Benz MB 509 engine used in the prototype was only able to move at 13 km/h and only under ideal conditions. The suspension system used by the Maus also had to be adjusted to enable it to take the tank's weight."

"In March 1944 the second prototype, the V2, was delivered. It differed in many details from the V1 prototype. In mid-1944, the V2 prototype was fitted with a powerplant and the first produced Maus turret. This turret (v1 turret) was fitted with a 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 gun, with coaxial 75 mm KwK 44 L/36.5 gun and a 7.92 mm MG34 for anti-aircraft armament. The V1 prototype was supposed to be fitted with the second produced turret, but this never happened."

 Maus "virtually" equipped with Snorkel.

V2 hull with the 1st produced turret (turret v1) after being sabotaged by the Germans.

1/72 Easy Model Ground Armor (Trumpeter) 32604 - Maus V2 with the first produced turret (v1 turret).

"By July 1944, Krupp was in the process of producing four more Maus hulls, but they were ordered to halt production and scrap these. Krupp stopped all work on it in August 1944."

Maus hulls and turrets vs Tiger Is turrets elements.

"Meanwhile, the V2 prototype started tests in September 1944, fitted with a Daimler-Benz MB 517 diesel engine, new electric steering system and a Skoda Works designed running gear and tracks.There was also a special railroad car made for transporting the Maus prototypes."

Capture:

"The working Maus prototypes remained at Kummersdorf and at the proving grounds in Böblingen. In the last weeks of the war the V1 with the dummy turret was captured by the advancing Soviet forces in the vicinity of the western batteries of the Kummersdorf artillery firing grounds.

It had been thought to be mechanically sabotaged by the Germans before abandoning it. Some sources state that the Panzerkampfwagen VIII saw combat while defending the facility at Kummersdorf, although the popular version is that it did not.

The Soviet Commander of Armored and Mechanized troops ordered the hull of V1 to be mated with the turret of V2. The Soviets used six 18t German half-tracks..." (- SdKfz9 FAMO -) "...to pull the 55 ton turret off the burnt-out hull. The combined V1 hull/V2 turret vehicle was completed in Germany and sent back to the USSR for further testing. It arrived there on May 4, 1946."

The Maus V1 hull fitted by the Soviets with the destroyed Maus V2 turret (turret v1) prior to departure to USSR. 

"When further testing was completed the vehicle was taken over by the Kubinka Tank Museum for storage where it is now on display...." (extract of the Wikipedia article).

- Up: The Kubinka Maus with V2 turret on V1 hull - down: Artist view and photo of the Kubinka model -

Maus vs Sherman and Tiger I sizes

Thanks again to Wikipedia, certainly the best friend of the collectors !!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus

... and to my Facebook pen friend and expert Herbert Ackermans, who gives hereunder a short of Maus prototypes only configs !!!

"With the Maus the following configurations existed:
- Maus Versuchs Fahrgestell Nr 1 with Turm Ersatzgewicht
- Maus Versuchs Fahrgestell Nr 2 with Versuchs Turm Nr 1
- Maus Versuchs Fahrgestell Nr 1 with Versuchs Turm Nr 1 (Soviet configuration after capture and demolition of Versuchs Fahrgestell Nr 2)"

I found the other pics on the web and in my collection.

Hope this theme will be of some interest for WW2 AFVs amateurs.

Bye, everyone!

Jeff