MAUS and MORSER

The following information was very kindly supplied by Mr. L. Zeidler. I hope anyone having additional information they would like to submit will do so and it will be acknowledged here. Return to Kubinka page here.

The Maus, also known as Porsche Type 205, existed only as prototype, 2 vehicles under tests 1944. It was to get a turret for a 15 cm KwK 44 L/38 and a coaxial semi-automatic 7.5 cm gun KwK 44 L/36.5, 2 MGs. The Krupp turret alone weighed 50 tons and was fitted 1944. The suspension consisted of 6 bogies assemblies with spiral springs. No data is avaialble on armor thickness.
The length is 903 cm., width 366 cm., and height 366 cm. The HP was 1200, Weight 188 tons, and Range (?) 200 kilometers.
It was designed for a crew of 6. The engine was a Daimler Benz V-12 developed and derived from the DB 603 aircraft engine, but built by Maybach under designation MB 509 (gasoline) and MB 507 watercooled diesel. The tank was planned to be submersible to 8 meters. While interesting as a design, it was totally useless for combat.
My source claims that both prototypes were at Kummersdorf in East Germany and blown up before the Russians arrived, so the mystery is where did the Russians get the seemingly undamaged prototype?

MORSER

The mortar was conceived under the name Geraet 040, nicknamed Dora or Thor, caliber was 61.5 cm, length of barrel 5.068m , firing velocity 220 m/sec. It was able to hurl concrete breaking (!) shells, (length 2.50 m, weight 264 kg) to a max. distance of 6,800 m in order to penetrate heavy fortifications. Cartouches (charges) were not metal-encased but rather linen bags. Total weight of O40 was 124,000 kg. It was self-propelled with a diesel engine of 500 hp, which allowed it to travel on roads at a max. speed of 10 km/h. It was also transported long distances by rail on special cars. Erection of the mortar was achieved with the aid of a 35t crane, and 2 -7t cranes, carried along on rail trips. Life cycle of the barrel: 100 rounds. It is stated that about 60 rounds were fired but no mention of where, most likely however Sevastopol during the siege of 1942, I believe. Return totop.