Edward Grotte, who was in charge of the German steel and weapons company Krupp during WWII, came up with the plan for this crazy juggernaut. Krupp was the one who made the famous Tiger tanks that the Nazis used.
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Krupp did a strategic study of Soviet heavy tanks in 1941, which led to the development of both the Ratte and the Panzer VIII Maus- two very heavy tanks. The study prompted Krupp’s director Grote, who was in charge of building submarines, to put forward his suggestion about building a 1,000-ton tank that he called a “Landkreuzer” to Hitler on June 23, 1942. It was to be armed with naval artillery and armored with 9 inches (23 cm) of hardened steel, which was so thick that only similar weapons could hope to damage it.
Since it was thought that its height and 2 m (6.6 ft) of ground clearance would have made it easy for it to cross most rivers. Hitler liked Grote’s idea so much that he told Krupp to start working on it in 1942. On December 29, 1942, a few preliminary drawings were done, and the idea was given the name Ratte (Rat).
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The Ratte was one of the “Wunderwaffen” that the Nazis thought of making. Wunderwaffe, which means “Miracle Weapon” in English, was the name the Nazis gave to a number of superweapons they tried to make during the war. There were many bizarre creations like the “ball tank” (Kugelpanzer), the “800mm caliber railway gun” (Schwerer Gustav), and the “huge Messerschmitt Me 323 transport plane.”
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Like many of these “Miracle Weapons,” the Ratte was ultimately not very useful in the end. Due to its weight, it couldn’t go over bridges or roads because it would quickly destroy them, and it was too big to go through tunnels or on a train. Also, because it was so big and heavy, it couldn’t go faster than 25 miles per hour, which made it an easy target for enemy planes and guns.
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