Ridiculously Overpowered Weapons in History

the rata mega tank in the Years leading up to World War II Nazi Germany conducted a vast number of projects with the aim of developing new types of weapons that would bring them military Supremacy over other nations the majority of these designs as true Innovations in the field of weapons design were ahead of their time the Germans called them wunderfaffen which translates to Wonder Weapons or Miracle weapons some of these were successfully deployed to battlefields while some progressed no further than the drawing board many projects resulted in magnificent Machines of War but many others turned out to be complete failures the idea of building the largest tank in the history of warfare belonged to the batch of Hitler's Wonder Weapons Hitler's Army mainly fought on land and they wanted a tank that would make these land battles easier to win the main feature of this new tank its enormous size surpassed everything made up to that point in comparison even the heaviest of Tanks would have seemed like toys like all dictators of his time Adolf Hitler was in love with weapons that could show off his military strength when Hitler was at the peak of his power in 1942 he was presented with an idea to build the largest tank ever devised designed by Edward grotta a director of the famous crook company Hitler was thrilled the way he saw it the Tank's hair-raising appearance perfectly matched the image of the German army that he wanted to build at the time Porsche had started constructing a 188 metric ton heavy tank called the mouse which was supposed to be the mighty Bellwether of the German panzas the mouse however was nothing compared to its bigger cousin named the rata or the rat was part of a land battleships concept that was in research from the 1930s the pioneering nation in this research was the Soviet Union with a project known as the tg-5 their idea was to build a multi-engine driven tank weighing 1 000 metric tons and armed with a 107 millimeter main gun and four sub turrets one of the engineers working on the project was Edward grata upon his return to Germany grotta brought his own ideas on building a giant tank he started working as a director of the Krupp company and in June 1942 he was given the opportunity to present his ideas to Hitler himself the fuhrer showed great enthusiasm for the project and ordered further design studies grata responded with a series of drawings as a base for the future project designated the Land Cruiser p1000 rata or Land Cruiser p1000 the rat Edward grata outlined the weight of the rata tank to be a staggering 1000 metric tons it was an enormous way compared to any other tank at that time latest German tank coming out of the factories the tiger one was only 54 tons the rata's Armament set alone weighed 300 tons the armor and frame weighed 200 tons its track and propulsion engines 100 tons and the rest was the weight of its ammunition and other miscellaneous Parts the thickness of the armor varied from 5.9 to 14.2 inches or 150 to 360 millimeters the mammoth weight of the tank was followed by its huge Dimensions the rata was projected to be 115 feet or 35 meters long and 46 feet or 14 meters wide with its gun facing forward it became 128 feet or 39 meters in length the height of the tank was 36 feet or 11 meters which was proportionate to a three-story building rental was so huge that it even had its own lavatory system and a vehicle Bay to hold two BMW R12 motorcycles while it was projected to have a crew of 41 men the dimensions and weight of the tank necessitated it to have very wide tracks to provide the proper distribution of pressure on the ground the ratto was designed to have six tracks each one 3.9 feet or 1.2 meters wide three on each side of the chassis setting a 1 000 ton monster into motion would have been a challenging task as it would have required about 12 000 kilowatts or 16 000 horsepower to move the tank the first choice of propulsion was two man V12 z3244 24 cylinder diesel engines of 6300 kilowatts or 8 400 horsepower which were similar to those already in use by German u-bolts the alternative was to use eight Daimler Benz mb501 20 cylinder diesel engines a 1500 kilowatts or 2 000 horsepower these engines were used on German e-boats both of these Solutions were projected to provide a top speed of 25 miles per hour or 40 kilometers an hour in reality it would have been unlikely for the tank to achieve that speed due to the likely suspension and transmission problems the intended Armament of the tank was equally as impressive as its appearance the rata was equipped with several types of guns two of which were the main 28 centimeter SKC 34 Naval guns guns were developed in the 1930s to be used on schoenhaus-class battleships needless to say they were extremely powerful at a distance of three miles the guns were capable of penetrating armor up to 17.7 inches thick and a maximum elevation of 40 degrees their range was an incredible 25.6 miles as an extra gun the wratha was armed with a kwk-44 l55 anti-tank gun there are no records indicating whether this gun was planned to be positioned at the front with the main nut or on a separate turret on the opposite side of the tank other armaments included an unknown number of 20 millimeter anti-aircraft guns and 15 millimeter Auto cannons normally used on German aircraft the frightening size of the rata was the feature on which the entire project was based paradoxically this was the Project's main drawback first of all there was no tank Factory in Germany large enough to be capable of assembling such a huge vehicle armed with Naval guns for that reason a shipbuilding yard would have been required just building a prototype tank would have taken several months using much of the yard's resources in space this was a luxury that Germans could not afford at the time even if the attack was built putting it into action would have been a logistical nightmare because of its massive weight of a thousand tons the rata could not have been transferred to battlefields by Railway using its own propulsion at a speed lower than 25 miles per hour the Reta would have taken an eternity to arrive at the front if it broke down along the way it would have been impossible to tow as it would have taken another tank of the same size to accomplish the task also because of its weight the rata could not have used roads or Bridges without destroying them the only favorable characteristic was the Tank's High ground clearance of six feet I would have allowed it to Simply cross through a river Nia lorata might have been considered a mighty tank but it also would have been a remarkably easy target the rata's thick armor might have been a challenge for the Allied tanks but not for the Allied bombers despite the heavy armor it could not have withstood bombardments from the air being a gigantic and slow vehicle would have made it a perfect Target for aerial attacks the rata was a huge powerful But ultimately impractical weapon when the idea of building the tank appeared in 1942 the German industry was already over exerted by the war effort spending valuable time and resources on building the largest tank in the world would have impeded that same effort for no significant results that's why the minister of armaments Albert Speer canceled the project in early 1943 before it even entered their production phase Loretta remained just another of Hitler's great fantasies as German general Heinz guderian wrote in his autobiography Hitler's fantasy led him into the realm of the gigantic foreign Gustav rail super Gun World War II the schwera Gustav was the largest artillery gun ever made before the second world war had started Hitler required a devastating weapon for the invasion of France that could destroy the Maginot Line penetrating its several layers of concrete and steel the sparrow Gustav was designed in 1934 by the German arms manufacturer Cup this giant Railway gun weighed 1350 tons and had an overall length of 47.3 meters or 155 feet 2 inches it was mounted on a railway chassis running on specially constructed tracks and had to be disassembled and assembled to set up even a set of outer tracks were required for the cranes to achieve this its barrel length was 32 and a half meters or 106 feet 8 inches and could only move up or down at an elevation of 48 degrees with horizontal targeting achieved by a curved tracks the weapon caliber was 80 centimeters or 31 inches and the heavy concrete piercing or high explosive shells weighed 7 tons making them the largest and heaviest shells of any artillery piece in the world the gun could fire over a range of 47 kilometers or 29 miles after a number of shells were fired the barrel would wear away and need replacing the artillery gun required a staggering number of crew 250 crewmen were required to assemble the gun which took three and a half days while 2500 crewmen were needed to lay the tracks Flack battalions were also a necessity to protect the gun from air attacks as it was highly visible due to its size Gustav would be constructed throughout the 30s but would not enter service until 1941 therefore missing the French invasion the gun would be transported to the Eastern front and used at the siege of sevastopol where four thousand men were required to set it up in position it fired 300 shells at several enemy positions including Soviet fortresses and ammunition magazines after this the shredder Gustav was transported to Leningrad but the attack was canceled it is unknown whether there was a second gun constructed or whether it was a nickname by the German artillery crew but in 1942 Dora as it became known was operational at Stalingrad but withdrawn by the Germans during 1942 the Germans proposed to construct a new version of the gun mounted on a self-propelled platform that could move without railway tracks called The Land Cruiser p1500 monster however the idea was eventually scrapped as the war was coming to an end the schwederer Gustav some sources say was destroyed by the Germans to prevent capture on the 14th of April 1945 and its ruined study by Soviet Specialists overall the schwera Gustav was quite an impractical weapon demanding a large number of crew and set up to become operational Yamato super Battleship largest battleship in history World War II design the Yamato class of battleships were the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the second world war this class were the heaviest battleships ever built the Yamato class battleships were not only the biggest of their kind but were also the most powerful with the largest amount of artillery mounted on a ship the intention behind the design was to counter the numerical supremacy of the American Pacific Fleet since they didn't have the economic or industrial capacities to build a large quantity of ships the Japanese decided to build larger battleships that could respond to numerous enemy ships at once the Imperial Japanese Navy required a super heavy Battleship that would be armed with 18.1 inch guns an armor that could withstand the impact of 18-inch shells furthermore the ship had to have a top speed of 27 knots and a cruising range of 8 000 miles at a speed of 18 knots after these requirements were received the designers commenced development in 1935. after the initial plans were made it was decided that the ship needed a displacement of 69 000 tons the dimensions of the battleship were more than impressive the overall length of the ship was 839 feet with a beam width of 127.7 feet the protection of the Yamato was equally impressive the total weight of the armor was 22 534 tons which was one-third of the entire displacement the thickness of the armor varied from 8 inches to 16 inches depending on the section the deck armor was between 7.9 and 9.1 inches while the gun turrets were protected with armor ranging from 9.5 to 26 inches this armor was supposed to protect the Yamato from all Allied Naval weapons the Yamato class of battleships were powered by four steam engines with 12 boilers and a total power of 150 000 shaft horsepower even at maximum speed the Yamato had great maneuverability ships in the Yamato class the Imperial Japanese Navy ordered two battleships of the Yamato class in 1936. the first one Yamato was built in The Courier shipyards and the second Musashi in the Mitsubishi Shipyard in Nagasaki both shipyards had to be modified to handle the building of these enormous ships the production of the ships were kept a secret so large fences and canvas were placed around the docks to secure it from spies as well as this if a worker mentioned the project they may have faced death the Navy ordered two more battleships in 1939 the building of the first one named shinano commenced production but after the Battle of Midway was decided that it would be converted into an aircraft carrier the last one unofficially named number 111 was never finished armament the Armament of the Yamato battleships was in accordance with the scale of the ship and its purpose the primary Armament consisted of three triple turrets with type 94 46 centimeter guns the 69.4 foot long guns could fire a 3219 pound projectile at a distance of 26.1 miles with a rate of fire of 1.5 projectiles per minute these were the largest and most powerful guns ever put on a ship the entire weight of one turret was 2774 tons which equaled the weight of a fleet Destroyer the secondary Armament consisted of four triple turrets with 155 millimeter guns the anti-aircraft Armament consisted of six twin-mounted type 89 127 millimeter guns mounted on the side of the ship above the 155 millimeter guns Additionally the Yamato had eight triple-mounted type 96 25 millimeter guns and four type 93 13 millimeter guns on the bridge Tower but Yamato even had a hangar below deck for storing three to four aircraft that were launched with two catapults or progressed the Yamato Armament was modified with some guns removed and some added the first modification came in July 1943 when Radars were fitted to upgrade the ship's anti-aircraft defense at the same time an additional four triple 25 millimeter guns were added to the weather deck the second modification came in February 1944 when two 155 millimeter side guns were removed as they were of no use for anti-aircraft defense these were replaced with an additional six twin-mounted type 89 127 millimeter guns the anti-aircraft defense was reinforced with 55 25 millimeter guns some of which were triple mounted and some single mounted the final modification in November 1944 after the battle of Lady Gulf saw almost all single-mounted 25 millimeter guns replaced with triple mounted guns and 27 New 25 millimeter guns after this the Yamato had 152 25 millimeter guns in its armament fate even though Japan invested much of their capacities in building the yamato-class battleships their use during the war was underwhelming the Japanese built the battleships to confront other ships on the sea failing to foresee the development of aircraft as the most powerful weapon in the war it could be said that Yamato was already obsolete by the time it was built Battle of Midway both battleships of the class saw little action during the war the Yamato was commissioned on December 15 1941 and it was assumed as the flagship of the Japanese combined Fleet during the Battle of Midway Admiral isoroko Yamamoto commanded its Fleet from the Yamato's Bridge as the battle ended up disastrously for the Imperial Japanese Navy the Yamato was withdrawn to Japan where it served as a headquarter ship missing the Battle of Guadalcanal due to the frequent and long periods of an activity it was nicknamed a hotel Yamato the Musashi took over the duty of Flagship of the combined Fleet on January 22 1943 but it also saw little action both ships were used at the time as transport ships as they could carry a large amount of troops during these operations both ships were being hit by U.S submarines forcing them to spend long periods of time in the truck shipyards for repairs the Battle of Leyte Gulf the first big action for both ships came during the Battle of Lady Gulf the largest naval battle of the war on October 24 1944 U.S forces launched a massive Air Attack on the Japanese Fleet they concentrated their fire on Musashi which couldn't withstand the amount of bombs and Torpedoes launched at it by the end of the day it was sunk on the following day the Yamato used its 46 centimeter guns for the first and only time during the war hitting an American Carrier at a distance of 20 miles during the battle the Yamato suffered several bomb hits but was not put in great danger however because of the danger of torpedo strikes it was forced to leave the battle suicide mission operation Tango final engagement of the Yamato was connected to the Allied invasion of Okinawa which prompted the Japanese Navy to commence operation tengo sending the entire fleet to confront the U.S Navy that was supporting The Invasion on April 6 1945 Yamato with full magazines sorted with one light Cruiser and eight destroyers on a suicide mission American code Breakers found out about the Japanese plans so the U.S Navy was prepared for the action that would follow on April 7th a convoy of 10 ships led by the Yamato was attacked by 400 American airplanes the Yamato withstood the bombs hitting its deck but 11 Torpedoes that hit the port side were more than it could take after it rolled over to Port its aft magazines exploded taking the Yamato to the Bottom of the Sea 3063 Sailors were killed and only 269 were saved the battleship Yamato marked the end of the Japanese Imperial Navy first world war tech zeppelins when a German Aristocrat Brigadier General Ferdinand Zeppelin retired from the Army in 1891. he devoted himself to the study of aeronautics his proposals to the government for a lighter than air flying machine were rejected in 1894 but nevertheless he would invest all his money into a company producing airships by 1898 Zeppelin had constructed his first Airship the foundation of the Airship were in its hydrogen-filled gas bags carried inside a steel skeleton it weighed 12 tons and contained 400 000 cubic feet of hydrogen and was driven by propellers connected to a pair of 15 horsepower Daimler engines when the Zeppelin LZ made its flight on July 2nd 1900 the German government decided to fund the project in March 1909 the German Army purchased the Zeppelin Z1 these Zeppelins could reach a maximum speed of 136 kilometers per hour and reach a height of 4250 meters they were armed with five machine guns and could carry 2 000 kilograms or 44 400 pounds of bombs at the start of the war Zeppelins were used in bombing raids a zeppelin was used to bomb liege in Belgium on 6th August 1914 but had to make an emergency landing after encountering Belgian artillery fire over the next few weeks three more Zeppelins were destroyed by Ground Forces while the zeppelins were an easy target to hit the Germans continued to use them for attacks on France in January 1915 two Zeppelin Naval airships Flew Over the English Coast bombing Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn Zeppelins would commence a bombing raid on London on May 31 1915 killing 28 people and injuring 60 more Zeppelins were used at the Battle of Verdun in 1916 with four being brought down by ground fire bringing an end to their use on the Western Front they continued to be used to attack the British home front but British fighter pilots and anti-aircraft Gunners became a Mission at taking them down 115 Zeppelins were used by the German military with 77 destroyed or damaged Beyond repair after the war Zeppelins were used for civilian transport mouse tank super heavy tank the Panza conf wagon 8 mouse was a super heavy tank designed by the German forces during the second world war this was the heaviest tank ever built in human history by the end of 1944 only two prototypes were completed so the mouse never actually saw action in battle the development of this super tank was primarily connected with Hitler's Obsession to surpass the Allies in developing heavy tanks especially the Soviets the task of Designing a tank bigger and more powerful than any other was given to the leading German tank Constructor Ferdinand Porsche in June 1942 Porsche presented Hitler with the idea of the VK 100.01 type 205 tank which the fuhrer approved this tank was to be 150 tons and was intended to use either a 150 millimeter or a 128 millimeter gun with an additional 75 millimeter gun and an mg34 machine gun the production of the tank hole turret and Armament was assigned to crop while the assembly was to be constructed in the alcat factory at the time the project was officially named the mammoth but it was eventually changed to Maus or Mouse on May 1 1943 Hitler was presented with a wooden mock-up of the future tank as he was pleased with what he saw he ordered a run of 150 Mouse tanks for production although he ordered the version with the 128 millimeter gun and coaxial 75 millimeter gun he wanted future models to be armed with the more powerful 150 millimeter gun the outcome of the final blueprints were 10.1 meters or 33.13 feet long 3.67 meters or 12 feet wide and 3.63 meters or 11.9 feet high and it weighed almost 190 tons the crew was to consist of six men a commander Gunner two loaders a driver and a radio operator the mouse's armor was very impressive the turret had a thickness of 220 millimeters or 8.7 inches at the front and 200 millimeters or 7.9 inches thick on its sides and rear the hull thickness was 200 millimeters or 7.9 inches at the front and 180 or 7.1 inches on the side the Armament of the tank was equally oppressive the main Armament was the 128 millimeter kwk-44 gun with such a gun the mouse would be capable of eliminating almost any Allied tank within the range of 3 500 meters a secondary coaxial Armament was the 75 millimeter kwk-44 gun in addition the turret was equipped with a 7.92 millimeter mg34 machine gun for close combat such a heavy tank demanded a powerful engine to move it Porsche's intention was to use the petrol electric Drive they had used before on their version of the Tiger tank the petrol engine would operate the electric generator that drove the 24 wheels that each track had the projected speed of the tank with such an engine was 20 kilometers per hour or 12 miles per hour the engine system was so huge that it took two-thirds of the entire Hull and caused the turret to be put at the rear end with this design the driver and radio operator seated in the hull were completely cut off from the turret crew the mouse's tracks were proportional to the overall size of the tank in order to give it good Mobility they were 1.1 meters wide or 3.6 feet and they were supported by a suspension system on each of the wheels as the size of the tank was its prime feature it was also its greatest drawback with a staggering total weight of 188 tons its Mobility was under great question and that was the main reason why German commanders were not fond of the concept with a low speed and a high silhouette the mouse tank was a big Target especially for the Air Force the drawbacks of the entire Mouse concept seem to have been obvious to the hwa the German weapons agency who protested against the mouse stating that it didn't need such a tag and they just couldn't formulate a tactical plan for it with such limited Mobility the mouse couldn't serve as a tank Hunter but it could work as a mobile Fortress ultimately the Army canceled the order for 150 miles tanks in October 1943. in the next month Hitler ordered the development of the mouse to be ceased and he believed resources could be better used for other projects authorities however allowed Porsche to continue building their prototypes the first prototype the V1 was produced in December 1943 although it had no turret it was equipped with a dummy turret to simulate the weight for tests the V1 had a 1080 horsepower Daimler Benz nb-509v-12 gasoline engine which produced a speed of only 13 kilometers per hour or 8 miles per hour tests showed that the weight of the tank proved to be a great obstacle Constructors also realized that the weight of 188 tons meant that there was no bridge in Europe that the mouse could cross without destroying it to overcome this problem the V1 was equipped with a huge snorkel that allowed it to be submerged to the depth of 8 meters in order to cross rivers the second prototype the V2 came in mid-1944 and was substantially different from the V1 this version had a real turret installed the engine was replaced with a 1200 horsepower Daimler Benz mb-517 diesel engine the V2 had an advanced electric steering system and a new skoda gear system all these elements however showed only slight improvements prototype tests were being performed at coomersdorf near the bubbling and Porsche Proving Grounds tests were marked by frequent engine failures and production delays caused by Allied bombings finally in August 1944 Krupp was ordered to cancel the production of the mouse hulls and to scrap the ones already produced this was the official end of the mouse tank project when the Red Army units approached the coomersdorf testing grounds in April 1945 the Germans managed to destroy the V2 prototype the Soviets then took the V-1 Hull and mounted the V2 turret on top of it in order to conduct tests of Their Own today this tank stands exhibited at the kubinka tank Museum World War II Tech the tiger one Panzer 6 heavy tank the legendary German Tiger one has a reputation as a machine feared by the Allies combining lethal Firepower and excellent armor the need to replace the Panzer IV goes back to 1938 when several prototypes were built in 1941 an order was placed with henschel for the VK 36.01 with a specification of good armor protection a powerful gun and a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour or 25 miles an hour the tank had to be larger and an order was placed in May 1941 for a 45-ton tank called the vk-4501 it was armed with an 8.8 centimeter gun the deadline for the Prototype would be on Hitler's next birthday April 20th 1942 forcing several elements of the design to be rushed once completed it would be named the vk4501h the H standing for henshell in competition Porsche had created its own design the vk-4501p to the same requirements with both designs meeting the deadline of Hitler's birthday the henshill design was selected for production designated as the Penza kumpf wagon tiger Aus e but eventually the final design would use a mixture of the parts from previous prototypes by henchel and Porsche the corrupt turret and gun would stay the same the crew of The Tiger tank numbered five including the commander Gunner loader who sat in the turret and the driver and radio operator in the hull the armor was very thick from 25 to 120 millimeters offering excellent protection for traveling on cross country or preparing for combat wider tracks were fitted improving traction from 1943 the 55-ton tank was powered by a V12 Maybach hl230 p45 gasoline engine providing 690 horsepower or 515 kilowatts this was quite underpowered and the tank had a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour or 24 miles per hour one over engineering problem with the tank was the overlapping wheel suspension which became clogged with mud and on the Eastern Front this was especially dangerous as the mud froze completely immobilizing the tank the Armament of the tiger one was its deadly 88 millimeter kwk36 gun capable of penetrating American M4 Sherman armor and two mg-34 or mg-42 machine guns one coaxial in the mantlet and the other in a ball turret within the hull smoke discharge canisters were also positioned on both sides of the turret the tiger one first appeared in Tunisia North Africa in late 1942. their appearance shocking the British forces they were used on all fronts including Italy Normandy and the Eastern front it was only until mid-1944 that the Allies could produce tanks that could effectively Engage The Tiger tank such as the British Sherman Firefly and the Russian t-34-85 only 1350 tiger ones were built with production between August 1942 and August 1944. other rare variants include the bethel's Panzer tiger which was a command tank and the stem tiger which featured a large self-propelled mortar the Char to see super heavy tank the Char 2C was designed during the latter half of the first world war in an effort to break the stalemate of trench warfare French General Moret subsecretary of artillery granted the fcm shipyard a contract to develop a heavy tank or chardiso de gremodel meaning great model assault tank although the fcm received payment for the development of the heavy tank they failed to start basic development actual development would not begin until September 1916 when public interest in French tank designs Rose after British Mark ones were revealed at the Battle of the Somme when General Moret discovered the fcm had neglected the project he took personal control over development General Moret would come into conflict with Brigadier estia who was developing the ft-17 light tank with Renault and thought that his heavy tank would use up resources that could be used on his project sdn would go to General joffer himself to get the heavy tank project canceled after the first action of a new light tank the Schneider CA was a disaster Albert Thomas minister of armament canceled all tank projects this caused stiana Moret to work together eventually getting Thomas to retract his decision on November 17th the first prototype of the fcm-1a was ready General patent would order 300 fcm-1as however in 1919 with the war over the order was canceled and later replaced with an order for 10 Shar fcm-2cs 30 40 and 62-ton weight class variants were intended for the Char 2C however the end of the Armistice prevented the production of these models in post-war France the 62-ton weight version was produced in 1921 with 10 examples in service the Char 2C was 10.3 meters long three meters wide and 4.1 meters tall or 33.7 feet long 9.8 feet wide and 13.4 feet tall the armor was 45 millimeters or 1.8 inches thick at the front 22 millimeters or 0.86 inches thick on the sides and 6 millimeters or 0.24 inches thick on the rear some of the thickest for a World War One air attack but thin by World War II standards it was powered with two Maybach diesel engines the same type that had been used on German Zeppelins during World War One which gave it a maximum speed of 15 kilometers or 9.3 miles per hour the tanks were also equipped with trench Crossing Tails due to the misconception that the war was going to once again break down into trench warfare the Armament for the char-2c was a quick fire High Velocity 75 millimeter gun located in a three-man turret at the front and four eight millimeter Hotchkiss machine guns one in the front one on each side and one at the back in the rear turret the super tag housed a crew of 12 the commander driver Gunner loader radio operator mechanic his assistant an electrician and the four machine Gunners although obsolete by 1935 due to their low speed and high profile all 10 Char 2cs were reactivated and put into Service as the 51st Battalion Sharda combat in 1939 to serve as a propaganda device in movies encouraging many people to look at them as Invincible super tanks and helping boost morale in the early stages of World War II each tank had been named after one of the ancient regions of France numbers 90 through 99 named huatu Provence picarde Alsace Britannia turain anju Normandy Berry and champagne instead of using them to defend against the German offensive in 1940 the French command ordered them to be shipped to the south of France by rail however some of the tanks had broken down and were put out of service the others that were shipped to Southern France by rail were destroyed instead of allowing the Germans to capture them when a burning fuel train blocked the railway number 99 nicknamed champagne failed to detonate and the Germans captured it taking it back to Berlin as a war trophy it disappeared in 1945 after the fall of Berlin to the Soviets and it is suspected that it was scrapped imaginal line French defensive fortifications World War II the Maginot Line was a defensive series of fortifications along the French borders with Italy Switzerland Germany and Luxembourg the main purpose of the Maginot Line named after French minister of War Andre Maginot was to deter German invasion it would serve other purposes based off the experience of the first world war it would save French Manpower becoming a substitute for a reduced Army as France had a shortage of young men for the Armed Forces it would also hinder the German Army if they attack giving time to mobilize the main bulk of the French army by the time the Maginot Line had been constructed it had cost 3 billion francs the fortifications were built throughout the inter-war years of the 1930s and were state of the art a Marvel of military engineering it was not a continuous line as the name implies but a series of fortifications along the border the main fortresses were manned by 500 to a thousand men they were built of thick concrete and they had several stories Heavy Artillery within retractable armored turrets and air filtration systems to prevent gas from entering inside there was everything needed to provide adequate living Recreation areas kitchens hospitals living quarters Supply storehouses and underground trains on Rail lines to move ammunition smaller fortresses are around 100 to 200 men also made up the line covering the small bunkers of 20 to 30 men armed with machine guns in front of these defenses On the Border were anti-tank ditches and obstacles barbed wire mines and block houses disguised as residential homes that French troops could raise the alarm from if there was an enemy attack unfortunately the French did not prepare for the Blitzkrieg tactics of the German forces or their Invasion through neutral Belgium which allowed them to Simply outflank the Maginot Line in 1940. where the Germans did attack imaginal line it did serve its purpose well and the 400 000 French troops who formed the Garrison held up a strong defense however these troops could have been used for the main battle within France ice carrier project habakkuk secret weapon of World War II during the early 1940s German U-boats were sinking Allied ships delivering vital supplies from the United States to Britain in the Atlantic Ocean an inventor called Jeffrey Pike working under the combined operations headquarters came up with the concept of a floating Unsinkable platform to launch aircraft from to defend these convoys his solution was an indestructible aircraft carrier made from Ice while it sounded too far-fetched to become a reality Winston Churchill enthusiastically approved the idea Pike identified ice as the material because of shortages and steel and aluminum it would also take less energy to manufacture he drew up plans for the Berg ship the iceberg would be leveled to provide a Runway and a bridge it would then be hollowed out inside to shelter up to 150 aircraft fuel tanks and living accommodation it would be powered by an electric generator driving 20 propellers the sheer scale of the vehicle and the thickness of its ice Hull at 40 feet or 12 meters thick would make it Unsinkable in 1943 a scale model prototype measuring 60 by 30 feet or 18 meters by 9 meters and weighing 1000 tons was constructed to test the concept at Patricia Lake Alberta Canada where the climate was suitable the Prototype powered by a single horsepower motor worked surviving throughout winter and summer however ice as a building material could be brittle so pikrit named after Jeffrey Pike was developed which was a mixture of 14 wood pulp and 86 ice this made it easy to work with and it melted slower and was a stronger material Winston Churchill excited by the results of the Prototype ordered a full-scale ice ship to be constructed named habakkuk and the Canadians confidently plan to make this happen by 1944. the project was eventually abandoned due to several reasons Rising costs and material demands on the war effort its slow speed of just six knots and the fact that Portugal had also given permission to use airfields in the Azores a group of islands in the Atlantic but overall the idea was perhaps just too far-fetched first world war tech dreadnoughts British Admiral John Fisher First Sea Lord was the driving force behind the Dreadnought a new type of Warship that made all previous ships redundant HMS Dreadnought was a revolutionary design and the first of its kind when it launched completed in 1906 the Dreadnought was heavily armed with 10 powerful 12-inch or 305 millimeter caliber guns capable of firing accurately at long distances previously the Royal Navy had battleships armed with just four 12-inch guns and Germany's equivalents had four 11-inch guns the dreadnoughts were much larger in appearance than their predecessors due to the extra weight of the big guns and its armor plates yet its speed was Superior reaching a top speed of 22 knots it was also the first major warship to be driven solely by steam turbines the appearance of the Dreadnought sparked a naval arms race between Britain and Germany soon they would be competing to build more dreadnoughts and by 1914 the Royal Navy had 29 dreadnoughts while the Imperial German Navy had completed 17. during the first world war Naval engagements were rare which was the opposite of what was predicted based on a recent event in Naval History the Battle of tsushima during the russo-japanese war of 1905. the battle of Jutland in 1916 was the only major example and even then sinking to a few and far between later in the war a new type of dreadnoughts would come about called the super dreadnought the first of these the Queen Elizabeth class demonstrated Superior Firepower protection and speed

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Length: 42min 14sec (2534 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 24 2022