Did the 'Ratte' tank have ANY useful function?
- Thread starter Veles
- Start date
The first was what ended up happening to it.
The second has the slight problem that the battlecruiser it originally belonged to was somewhat the worse for wear, courtesy of RAF Bomber Command. Hence why the Germans were looking round for something to do with the main armament, and came up with the Ratte.
Coulsdon Eagle
Monthly Donor
It was a good place to safely store the 11" turrets taken off Scharnhorst & Gneisenau when they upgrade to 15". You know how easy it is to lose small things around the Reich.
Looks useful against fortifications, the Germans in ww1 would have loved having one or two of those in Belgium when they tried to use the country as a highway and got bogged down by their forts until the big guns came and were assembled.
I don't think it would sink into the ground, it probably produces less pressure on the ground than most contemporary tanks, just look at its tracks, they're huge.
I don't think it would sink into the ground, it probably produces less pressure on the ground than most contemporary tanks, just look at its tracks, they're huge.
Thinking about this a bit more.. It might have had some marginal usefulness as a mobile heavy gun emplacement that was helping to defend a vital coastal area. Being able to move under its own power might have small degree of usefulness in that type of setting. I doubt however it would have made sense to build them for that application, but if an ASB provided one or more for "free" coastal defence might be a good role ?
Reasonsably well armoured, mobile heavy guns that were moved by the defenders on a random basis might complicate a large scale amphibious attack, although I suspect the allies could have countered them. Still having allied battleships engaging a force of such weapon systems might mean they were not being used to disrupt attacks by conventional Panzer forces.
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I was under the impression that the drive train or clutch for the Ratte would probably have exploded/shredded itself/frickin' melted if you tried to move the Ratte. They just didn't have the metallurgy back then. Hell, the Koenigtigers had appalling reliability when it came to their engines and clutches.
If it couldn't actually move reliably then it's usefulness would be limited even if they were "free."
I just dug this little thing out from an old thread about the P.1000 Ratte...
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He sat on the rock and stared at the horizon. Somewhere artillery was thundering away. Tommies, by the sound of it, with those damned belt-fed 25-lbers again. Then he looked up again. No Jabos. Not yet, anyway.
Hearing the sound of swearing diminish a little he walked over to the side of the Landkreuzer and then peered into the hatch. “Well?”
“Sorry sir, the engine should be repaired in a moment or two.” The sergeant wiped his hands on a bit of rag and then looked at him worriedly. “They haven’t changed their minds about taking the flak guns off the top of this thing have they?”
“No.”
“Damn it.” He sighed. “Right. We’re ready sir.”
He nodded wearily and then walked around to the front of the wretched thing. “Start him up Kranz.”
“Yes sir.” A giant red button was pushed and after a moment the huge engine roared into life. “It’s working sir!”
“Get him into gear!”
“Um… yes sir.” There was a groaning noise and then the Landkreuzer crept forward three inches, before there was an almighty bang underneath.
“Damn it, what now?” He walked back to the hatch and then peered in. The sergeant could be seen opening an inspection hatch on the floor. He looked in, swore violently and then closed it again. “It’s buggered sir. Clutch exploded again.”
“What again?”
“Yes sir.”
“How long to repair it?”
“Two days at the factory.”
“Right.” He sighed and then walked to the other end of the Landkreuzer, where a bored looking man was standing with a clipboard. “We’re returning this thing to the factory.”
The man sighed. “You signed for it earlier, you can’t send it back again.”
“I signed for a functioning vehicle. We’ve travelled six feet in six days, during which time we’ve blown two clutches, a drive shaft and three sets of tracks. All to go six feet. And it’s not left the bloody factory.”
“The front of the vehicle is outside the doors, so you’re out of the factory!”
“No it’s not, it’s still in!”
“Strictly speaking it's out, as-”
“Oh shut up and repair it again.” He paused and sniffed. Smoke was pouring out of one of the hatches and he saw the sergeant hurriedly get out of the Landcreuzer. “What’s wrong now?”
“It’s on fire again sir.”
“Bugger – well, put it out again. That’s the third time today.”
“Yes sir.”
He looked back at the man with the clipboard. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“It keeps breaking down and catching fire!”
“Yes, but it’s a war-winning weapon. Have the Amis got anything like it? Have the Reds?”
“No, but it’s useless if it doesn’t bloody work!”
“We’ll patch it up, you’ll be in Paris in a week!”
“It took us a week to get the nose of the damn thing out the door!”
He rubbed at the bridge of his nose for a long moment. At which point there was a ‘schonk’ noise and something groaned inside the giant vehicle. “What now?”
“Secondary backup main gun just fell off again sir.”
“Well, stick it back on again.”
“Can’t, we’ve run out of string sir.”
He looked up at the heavens. And then he sighed and finally gave up. He turned and trudged over to the knot of fascinated men in khaki who had been there all morning. “Alright. I give up. We surrender.”
“Are you sure? We could give you a little more time,” said the British Major.
“No, you’ve been more than fair. It was a bloody silly idea from the start anyway. Takes hours to load the main gun for a start. And as it’s currently pointing towards Hamburg there’s no point in firing it even if it was loaded. You have to turn the entire bloody thing to aim it.” He paused. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I think that someone said that there’s a plan to drop it on Tokyo and end the war.”
He thought about it. “Yes, that should probably do the job.”
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He sat on the rock and stared at the horizon. Somewhere artillery was thundering away. Tommies, by the sound of it, with those damned belt-fed 25-lbers again. Then he looked up again. No Jabos. Not yet, anyway.
Hearing the sound of swearing diminish a little he walked over to the side of the Landkreuzer and then peered into the hatch. “Well?”
“Sorry sir, the engine should be repaired in a moment or two.” The sergeant wiped his hands on a bit of rag and then looked at him worriedly. “They haven’t changed their minds about taking the flak guns off the top of this thing have they?”
“No.”
“Damn it.” He sighed. “Right. We’re ready sir.”
He nodded wearily and then walked around to the front of the wretched thing. “Start him up Kranz.”
“Yes sir.” A giant red button was pushed and after a moment the huge engine roared into life. “It’s working sir!”
“Get him into gear!”
“Um… yes sir.” There was a groaning noise and then the Landkreuzer crept forward three inches, before there was an almighty bang underneath.
“Damn it, what now?” He walked back to the hatch and then peered in. The sergeant could be seen opening an inspection hatch on the floor. He looked in, swore violently and then closed it again. “It’s buggered sir. Clutch exploded again.”
“What again?”
“Yes sir.”
“How long to repair it?”
“Two days at the factory.”
“Right.” He sighed and then walked to the other end of the Landkreuzer, where a bored looking man was standing with a clipboard. “We’re returning this thing to the factory.”
The man sighed. “You signed for it earlier, you can’t send it back again.”
“I signed for a functioning vehicle. We’ve travelled six feet in six days, during which time we’ve blown two clutches, a drive shaft and three sets of tracks. All to go six feet. And it’s not left the bloody factory.”
“The front of the vehicle is outside the doors, so you’re out of the factory!”
“No it’s not, it’s still in!”
“Strictly speaking it's out, as-”
“Oh shut up and repair it again.” He paused and sniffed. Smoke was pouring out of one of the hatches and he saw the sergeant hurriedly get out of the Landcreuzer. “What’s wrong now?”
“It’s on fire again sir.”
“Bugger – well, put it out again. That’s the third time today.”
“Yes sir.”
He looked back at the man with the clipboard. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“It keeps breaking down and catching fire!”
“Yes, but it’s a war-winning weapon. Have the Amis got anything like it? Have the Reds?”
“No, but it’s useless if it doesn’t bloody work!”
“We’ll patch it up, you’ll be in Paris in a week!”
“It took us a week to get the nose of the damn thing out the door!”
He rubbed at the bridge of his nose for a long moment. At which point there was a ‘schonk’ noise and something groaned inside the giant vehicle. “What now?”
“Secondary backup main gun just fell off again sir.”
“Well, stick it back on again.”
“Can’t, we’ve run out of string sir.”
He looked up at the heavens. And then he sighed and finally gave up. He turned and trudged over to the knot of fascinated men in khaki who had been there all morning. “Alright. I give up. We surrender.”
“Are you sure? We could give you a little more time,” said the British Major.
“No, you’ve been more than fair. It was a bloody silly idea from the start anyway. Takes hours to load the main gun for a start. And as it’s currently pointing towards Hamburg there’s no point in firing it even if it was loaded. You have to turn the entire bloody thing to aim it.” He paused. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I think that someone said that there’s a plan to drop it on Tokyo and end the war.”
He thought about it. “Yes, that should probably do the job.”
And if by some miracle it was finished and transported to be was used to reinforce the coastal defences of say Normandy I'm sure the Allied Battleships and monitors would love to shoot at such a target
Presumably to be able to move it around, it would need its own specially-built roadways to drive a thousand ton land-cruiser around on, right?
Wouldn't it just end up effectively immobilized if you bombed those?
It certainly was. At least the Feldgendarmerie must've been a great place for the one-eyed men of the Reich -- the only ones who could summarily execute a soldier for ending a sentence with "retreat" on one day and protect the Gauleiter's collection of art, jewelry and cognac on the next.
Hm, I'll add a real Third Reich joke. Have you heard Göring has just retired because his duties are too dangerous? Yes, every time he goes into the wine cellar, he slips on the butter, hits his head on the salamis, and crashes right into a crate of eggs.
Finally, if they didn't understand enough basic physics to know the difference between a ship firing 11" guns and a box of mild steel sitting on a sea of mud doing the same thing, it's no wonder they didn't figure out how to make a nuclear bomb. Oh, and if you know much about Allied industry, you'll understand that every action had a reaction that was opposite, but not necessarily equal.
I don't know sorry. It would seem reasonable for a tank to have a certain amount of off road ability ?
No, it's fine, it was a weird Hitlerian fantasy, it's okay not to know everything about it.
I'm just thinking that, from the notional dimensions and weight, there's no way it could be moved under anything but its own power, and if you were going to make it a part of a coastal fortification system, you'd create fighting positions for it that it could move to and from as a kind of semi-mobile bunker, and its so absurdly huge that it would surely ruin any normal road it was driven over, so you'd want there to be paths for it to follow from one fighting position to the next.
Oh they had plans for absurdly oversized 'cruise-ship-on-land' trains as well, don't you worry.