Odd WW2 factoids.

@CWO:

@KurtGodel7:

Germany had been developing the Landkreuzer P.1500 Monster tank. As the name indicates, this tank weighed 1500 tons. That’s 50 times the weight of a Sherman! The P.1500 Monster fired 800mm shells; with each shell weighing about 25% as much as a Sherman. It would have also featured two 150mm secondary guns. These secondary guns were larger than the primary guns of almost any other WWII era tank.

The P.1500 was intended to be powered with four diesel engines–the same kind of diesels used to power U-boats. Because this tank would have been too heavy to cross bridges, it would have driven along the riverbed bottom; while using a snorkel to provide air to its engine. The Monster would have had a crew of over 100.

The P.1500 concept essentially involved arming a tank with an 800mm gun similar to the Schwerer Gustav and Dora 800mm railway guns, which I believe were the largest-caliber artillery pieces ever used in combat.  Hitler also once proposed building battleships armed with 800mm guns.  He allowed himself to be dissuaded from that project when his admirals pointed out that a ship large enough to carry such monstrous guns would be too big to fit in any existing German harbour.

It should also be noted that an 800mm gun would be completely useless for salvo firing at sea by a moving ship against a moving target.  In order to hit an enemy ship, a gun-armed vessel has to be able to shoot, observe where the shells land relative to the target, quickly correct its aim, and shoot again before the movement of the two ships invalidates the computed firing solution.  The 16-inch guns of the Iowa class battleships could, with a well-drilled turret crew, be fired every 30 seconds, and the 18.1-inch guns of the Yamato class battleships could be fired every 45 seconds, which is adequate for naval combat.  The Gustav/Dora 800mm (31-inch) guns – which had a rate of fire of 1 round every 30 to 45 minutes – were sixty times slower, and thus at best would only have had practical use (if 14 rounds per day can be called “practical”) as shore-bombardment vessels.

Had it been built, the P.1500 Monster would probably have been used in relatively static combat situations, such as the siege of Leningrad. Of the two, the P.1000 Ratte would have been the more flexible. Its projected top speed was a somewhat respectable 40 km/hr (25 mph)–over twice the speed of the Monster. The P.1000’s main armament consisted of two 280 mm guns (11 inches). This armament would have been a modified version of the turrets used on German ships.

It also featured a 128 mm secondary gun; and eight 20mm anti-air guns. It was to be powered with two u-boat engines. “The tank was to be provided with a vehicle bay sufficient to hold two BMW R12 motorcycles for scouting, as well as several smaller storage rooms, a compact infirmary area, and a self-contained lavatory system.”

When I was very young (8-10 years old or so) I ‘designed’ tanks that I would eventually present to the US Army. These tanks would be so awesome that I’d be a national hero and I’d have a national holiday in my honor.  :roll:

Looking at the articles linked, I’m seeing a lot of striking similarities between my vague sketches created at a young age and the plans actually seriously thought out by grown adults with extensive military experience and backgrounds. I abandoned my design aspirations of these super tanks as impractical for various reasons well before I hit my teens. Kind of crazy how many pipe dreams Hitler approved and/or actively encouraged/ordered.

I also have some pretty sweet ideas about a super battleship & carrier hybrid that’d be maybe 2-3 times the size of a present day oil supertanker if anyone’s interested.  :-P

Another factoid: the V2 was also known as the A4. The A stands for Aggregate Series. Toward the end of the war, Werner von Braun drew up plans for the A12: a rocket which could boost a 10 ton cargo into Low Earth Orbit.

At the end of the war, von Braun and his team of rocket scientists surrendered to the Americans. At first they were regarded with suspicion due to their connection to Nazi Germany. Responsibility for the American space program was placed in other hands.

Then the Soviet Union put Sputnik into orbit. At that point, the American government decided it could no longer afford the luxury of shuffling off the greatest rocket scientist who ever lived. Von Braun and his team of German rocket scientists were put to work designing the Saturn series of rockets. The Saturn V rocket which put men on the Moon had its origins in the Aggregate Series rockets developed in Germany during WWII.

@axisandalliesplayer:

When I was very young (8-10 years old or so) I ‘designed’ tanks that I would eventually present to the US Army. These tanks would be so awesome that I’d be a national hero and I’d have a national holiday in my honor.  :roll:

Looking at the articles linked, I’m seeing a lot of striking similarities between my vague sketches created at a young age and the plans actually seriously thought out by grown adults with extensive military experience and backgrounds. I abandoned my design aspirations of these super tanks as impractical for various reasons well before I hit my teens. Kind of crazy how many pipe dreams Hitler approved and/or actively encouraged/ordered.

I also have some pretty sweet ideas about a super battleship & carrier hybrid that’d be maybe 2-3 times the size of a present day oil supertanker if anyone’s interested.  :-P

You’ll probably enjoy reading about the fictitious vessels described on this page:

http://www.combinedfleet.com/furashita/furamain.htm

Click the individual links for details, for example:

http://www.combinedfleet.com/furashita/fuhrer_f.htm

For a guy who (by his own admission) was out of his element at sea, Hitler was surprisingly fond of sketching battleships on the backs of envelopes.  Perhaps this was an extension of his interest in architecture.

From 1944 to 1945, the United States and New Zealand collaborated on a secret research program called Project Seal whose purpose was to develop a “tsunami bomb” intended to cause massive damage to Japan’s coastal regions.  Nearly 4,000 small-scale underwater test explosions were conducted, but the project was abandoned when these tests showed that about four-and-a-half million pounds of explosives would have to be detonated to produce a wave of adequate destructive power.

@CWO:

From 1944 to 1945, the United States and New Zealand collaborated on a secret research program called Project Seal whose purpose was to develop a “tsunami bomb” intended to cause massive damage to Japan’s coastal regions.  Nearly 4,000 small-scale underwater test explosions were conducted, but the project was abandoned when these tests showed that about four-and-a-half million pounds of explosives would have to be detonated to produce a wave of adequate destructive power.

That’s an interesting datum.

It reminds me of something I’d learned a bit ago. Hundreds of years ago, the Mongol Horde swept across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It conquered Russia, China, Eastern Europe, Persia, and other land areas. It was seen as unstoppable.

Then the Mongols boarded their boats to conquer Japan. There was no reason to believe the Japanese would have been any better at defeating the Mongols on land than anyone else had been. Their hope was to defeat them at sea.

A storm smashed the Mongol fleet. The Japanese fleet finished the work nature began; and prevented the Mongols from landing. The Japanese referred to this storm as a “divine wind.” The Japanese word for divine is “kami;” and the Japanese word for wind is “kaze.” The “divine wind”–the wind which saved Japan from foreign invasion–was known as kamikaze.

I have no idea if this is a joke or not, but according to this web page (which claims to be quoting a book called “Psychological Operations American Style”), during WWII the U.S. considered and even tested (in Central Park, of all places) the idea of painting large numbers of foxes with luminescent paint and unleashing them against the civilian population of Japan, in a bid to create mass superstitious terror among them.

http://theglyptodon.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/glow-in-the-dark-foxes-and-wwii-project-fantasia/

@CWO:

I have no idea if this is a joke or not, but according to this web page (which claims to be quoting a book called “Psychological Operations American Style”), during WWII the U.S. considered and even tested (in Central Park, of all places) the idea of painting large numbers of foxes with luminescent paint and unleashing them against the civilian population of Japan, in a bid to create mass superstitious terror among them.

http://theglyptodon.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/glow-in-the-dark-foxes-and-wwii-project-fantasia/

Good article. And funny. :)

Project Pigeon was another American attempt to use animals for war.

The idea was to create a large, gliding bomb. One - three lenses would be mounted on the outside of this bomb. They would be used to project an image onto a screen placed inside the gliding bomb. Pigeons–specially trained to recognize the bomb’s intended target–would peck at the screen. The screen was attached to a steering mechanism. Pecks at the center of the screen would cause the bomb to continue its current course. Off-center pecks would steer the bomb in a different direction. The project was canceled in late '44; perhaps because humans didn’t trust birds to steer large, expensive weapons.

America’s bat bomb project solved that trust problem. Instead of allowing birds or bats to steer one big bomb–as in Project Pigeon–each individual bat was attached to a small quantity of explosive. The plan was to release large numbers of bats at night over Japanese cities. The bats would fly around for a while. Then at dawn they would hide in man-made structures. The bats’ bombs were timed to go off shortly after dawn. Japanese buildings tended to be made of wood, bamboo, or other flammable materials. A homeowner would not initially realize his home had been penetrated by a bomb-laden bat; or that the bat’s bomb had started a small fire. Only after the fire had really taken hold would the homeowner become aware of the problem.

It was a promising project–at least if the goal was to burn Japan to the ground. But it was eventually abandoned, after the atomic bomb had made it redundant.