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Maus (tank)

Maus is the name of the largest tank design ever built. Designed in 1942 by Ferdinand Porsche under direct order from Adolf Hitler. The Maus would have had a crew of either 5 or 6. The tank's hull was 10.1 meters long, 3.67 meters wide and 3.66 meters tall. Weighing 188 tons, the Maus was armed with a 128mm cannon and a coaxial 75mm gun, and covered with 180-240mm of armor. Only two were produced. One was destroyed by the Germans at Kummersdorf to prevent its capture by the Soviets, and the sole surviving Maus tank is currently in the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia. Nine others were in various stages of completion when the war ended. None ever saw combat.

A larger tank, the 1000-tonne Krupp P 1000 "Ratte", started construction but was cancelled before completion. It would have carried two 280mm guns (mounted in the same type of gun turret used in Scharnhorst and Gneisenau warships), a single 128mm gun, eight 20mm Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns and two 15mm Mauser MG 151/15 guns.

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