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Maus Tank

Discussion in 'The Tanks of World War 2' started by germanm36tunic, Jan 1, 2006.

  1. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    They look like fire extinguishers to me.

    One thing that struck me as odd on this Maus is that it lacks the external fuel tank that is so characteristic about it. I guess it didn't need extra fuel for this short bog trip? :D
     
  2. jeaguer

    jeaguer New Member

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    the air vulnerability is only one of the factor , the stupid thing was too big for any railways ( remember the tiger had to remove its outside wheels set to be transported ) this ugly thing was too heavy for most bridges and any soft ground conditions the fuel consumption alone would need an armada of trucks to feed it . the king tiger was supreme on the battle field
    everybody was just going around it and let it stave of support .
     
  3. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    The railroad transport of the Tigers wasn't as bad as people think. In a report from 506. schwere Panzer-Abteilung, it is mentioned that Tiger Is had been transported from Russia to Kassel (located in the heart of Germany, see Mapquest for details).
     
  4. me262 phpbb3

    me262 phpbb3 New Member

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    the thing is that despite the big size, the maus WAS transported by rail!!!!!
     
  5. Gunter_Viezenz

    Gunter_Viezenz New Member

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    I do not understand your point..... I do not understand what you are saying. (a house can be transported on a big rig)



    -----------------------------------
    O okey

    just edited my psot didnt feel like making a 2 word post
     
  6. me262 phpbb3

    me262 phpbb3 New Member

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  7. Ricky

    Ricky Well-Known Member

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    But not through tunnels or under bridges...

    One of the main reasons that British tanks were designed with a restricted width was because they had to be made to fit through the various tunnels on the British Rail Network.

    They had to design a new low-loader trailer for the Sherman, as it was too tall for many tunnels/bridges.

    http://www.fun-online.sk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1759
     
  8. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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  9. Ricky

    Ricky Well-Known Member

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    Is that link to show that the Maus could be rail transported because the Tiger I could?

    I know that the Maus looks oddly narrow for its size, and assumed that ease of transportation was the reason.
    If onwar.com is correct, the Maus was actually narrower than the Tiger I (3.67m compared to 3.7m).

    However, width is not the only consideration. The Maus was 3.66m high (compared to the Tiger I at 2.93m), which would probably cause a few problems with pesky details like bridges & tunnels.
     
  10. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    True - but it's at least an indication, that it might not be as difficult as imagined. I don't know the dimensions of WWII railroad bridges, so I couldn't tell.
     
  11. Ricky

    Ricky Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely - I was quite surprised at the Maus being narrower than the Tiger I.

    And AFAIK large numbers of bridges/tunnels are mainly a feature of Western Europe, so the Maus would presumably be able to undertake a similar rail journey to the Tiger I's in the link you posted.
     
  12. Man

    Man New Member

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    The Dora worked on railways... :D

    [​IMG]
     
  13. jeaguer

    jeaguer New Member

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    with full reservation as to my ignorance , I got the impression than tiger1
    was rail transportable after the standard removal of the external set of
    wheel , there is no concievable way it could have got into russia or italy
    on it's own in time and fit to fight
     
  14. Man

    Man New Member

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    No tanks would drive "on their own" for such transport distances, AFAIK.
     
  15. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    The Tiger, like all tanks, was transported by rail, but as references it wasn't always necessary to remove the wheels or tracks.
     
  16. Gunter_Viezenz

    Gunter_Viezenz New Member

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    the Germans were expert magicians they just said abracadabra and swoosh the tank was 1/4 of the world away. Iam obviously joking...
     
  17. jeaguer

    jeaguer New Member

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    Yeeh ,something about mr hitler occult games? :)

    on train and transport , most of the strategy of the eastern front after 42
    at least was about posession of rail links , the russians were particularily
    good at this ,and their railways got reconised by having their own troops
    up to the 90"
    the guy in charge from 43 was kaganovitch a strick disciplinarian indeed .
    but the whole show was a class act of doing the impossible everyday
     
  18. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    I'm sorry, I don't think I understand. They did what?
    The guy in charge of what? What show?
     
  19. aglooka

    aglooka Member

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    Transporting the Maus by rail was (almost) impossible as it could not pass over most bridges and not trough alot of tunnels. I' going to try and find the reference, but i remember an account of the delivery of one of the two prototypes which had to cover a multitude of the shortest route due to said restrictions. It took also alot of time to figure out the route in those pre-computer days.

    Could be done on an interior route far from the front and planned well beforehand. Operationally it would be a whole other matter.

    (tbh, i have a vision now of a train of Mauses being directed to hot spots on the front, but being redirected to another criutical spot before the engineers could even trace a railway route :) )

    Aglooka
     
  20. Gunter_Viezenz

    Gunter_Viezenz New Member

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    The Tiger I was a very maneuverable tank, especially for its weight and size, but had its shortcomings. The necessity to change tracks for rail travel was one of those.
    http://fprado.com/armorsite/tiger1.htm
     

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