WW2 Monsters - Maus v Tortoise

[Incoming9000]

Neither designs ever saw service but one cannot help imagine what would have happened if they had met in the battlefield. Who would have won?

Let's look at the contenders:

A39 Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank (UK)

Crew:7

Armament : One 32 Pounder gun, three 7.92mm MGs

Armour: 225mm Max, 35mm min

Dimentions Lenght (hull) 7.24m, (over gun) 10.1m, with 3.91m, height 3.05m

Weight 79.252Kg

Engine: Rolls-Royce Meteor 12 Cyl Liquid cooled petrol engine developing 600hp

Speed:20km/h max

Maus Heavy Tank (Germany)

Crew:6

Armament: One 12.8cm KwK L/55 gun, on 7.5cm L/36.5 gun, one 2 cm gun

Armour: 350mm max, 40mm min

Dimentions: Length (with gun) 10.1m, width 3.67m, height 3.63m

weight 188.000kg

Engine: Daimler-Benz MB 509 V12 water-cooled inline petrol engine developing 1080hp

Speed:20km/h max

[ March 05, 2003, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: Incoming9000 ]

[EricM]

I remember when DML's kit of the Maus came out there was some discussion about wether it was used in the defense of Berlin (or was it the E-100).

Eric

[John D Salt]

Originally posted by Incoming9000:

Neither designs ever saw service but one cannot help imagine what would have happened if they had met in the battlefield. Who would have won?

Let's look at the contenders:

[subsidiary details snipped]

A39 Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank (UK)

Weight 79.252Kg

Maus Heavy Tank (Germany)

weight 188.00kg

Given the number of 190 MLC bridges one might find on any likely field of battle, I wonder how many Mäuse would end up drowned attempting to wade rivers before they got within sniffing distance of the battle?

And I wonder how many hours of maintenance one of these beasts needs before it can potter a couple of klicks down the road? I really don't like the thought of having to change a track on the Maus, either...

I feel sure that victory would go to the light-weight (cough), manoeuvrable (splutter) Tortoise, which would dance around it opponent. In a very sedate manner, obviously.

All the best,

John.