E-100 Jagdmaus
Designed to deal with the new US, British and Russian heavy tanks that were in design stage in 1944 onwards. It should be the answer to the IS4, T29, T95 and A39 Tortoise tanks and tank-destroyers. Specifications of these heavy vehicles were leaking out to Germany. The Wehrmacht, “knowing” that heavy stuff must be beaten with even more heavy stuff, gave orders to weapon designers to develop a tank-destroyer heavy enough to withstand damage taken from guns with a penetration value of about 200-250mm. The idea of the Jagdmaus was born and orders for an prototype were given to several companies in Germany.
The Jagdmaus was to be more powerful, though not heavier, than the super heavy Maus prototype tank on which it was based. Porsche was by that time (somewhere around late 1944 begin 1945) struggling to get a Maus prototype tank complete and running and could not start another project along with it so it was postponed until the Maus was to be fully operational. So this tank-destroyer did not leave the drawing board in the way the war went. When the war lasted until the end of 1945 this tank-destroyer could have reached prototype status or even the first mass produced units were available for combat.
As with a lot of late war German tank designs it was mostly used for propaganda purposes. Normal citizens where impressed by weight and size of tank and guns. This propaganda madness led to unusual heavy designs which were barely able to move like the Jagdtiger and the Maus itself. Though the Jagdmaus might be as immobile as the Maus itself, it was a design where some think work was included.
Designers used parts from tanks and tank-destroyers which proved their worth in combat. So the shape of the superstructure was directly taken from the Jagdpanther. Since the sloped armor (around 45 degrees from vertical) almost doubled the thickness of the effective armor. The engine was the same as in the Maus but did not use the new electric transmission, it used a normal transmission like the one used on the Tiger and Panther series tanks. The transmission differs in one significant way though. As Germans always liked to use as few materials as possible they finally realized that using bigger parts were not way as breakable as lightweight small ones. So the transmission and gearbox did contain double sprockets as most US tanks have, which were less vulnerable to transmission failures. Also the need of a ball mounted MG was realized since the Ferdinand lacked one and became an easy prey to infantry. A view port for the driver was also added since the Maus only had periscopes the driver to view through.
As with the most tank-destroyers the lack of a turret reduced the overall weight of the vehicle (with the exception of the Jagdtiger) so when the Jagdpanter-like superstructure was fitted the weight was reduced with about 28-38 tonnes which makes the weight of the Jagdmaus around 150 – 160 tonnes. Of course this superstructure was redesigned to mount a gun which was never been planned to be used as a anti-tank gun. Nor was the gun designed to be used on a tank-destroyer. The superstructure was up-armored aswell. But than still it was a major improvement to the Jagdmaus’ weight. This weight reduction also meant that the suspension, which was designed to take the weight of all 188 tons of the original Maus, was less stressed.
The hull got a total makeover, only the shape remains intact. First only the driver was in the front of the tank and behind him was an engine and electric-generator compartment and in the back of the vehicle was the ammunition, fuel storage and the two electric engines which provide power to the drive sprocket and tracks and on top of that was the turret.
Specifications:
Primary weapon: 170mm KwK44 L71 (Which means the gun is as long as the vehicle itself. Around 9 - 10m.)
Secondary armament: 1x 7,92mm MG42 or MG45 in the superstructure.
Engine & chassis: MB 517 diesel engine V12 (1200 HP), same chassis as the Maus tank but redesigned to fit the ‘new’ hull and superstructure.
Shape: angled armor plating on the superstructure and vertical on the other parts of the vehicle since the armor is thick and tough enough to take some punishment.
Radio and optical equipment: The Jagdmaus will use either the FUG12 or 10WSc radio and will have the same optics used on the Maus. However this can be upgraded with experimental night vision equipment.
Further specifications:
Crew: 6, commander, driver, gunner, radio operator/MG gunner/assistant loader, 2 loaders.
Weight: around 150 -160 tons
Length (including gun): around 18m
Width: 3,71m
Height: about 3m
Armor protection: 30mm (engine deck) to 220mm at 35 degrees from vertical in front.
Top speed: 20-22 km/h, little more than the Maus
Fuel capacity: 4200 liters (internal + external gas tanks)
Action radius: 70-200 km
Plate01:Front overhead view showing the general configuration of the Jagdmaus (also known as the Gerät 809) in its storage hanger. It was powered by a maybach HL230P30 engine mounted in the center of the chassis.
Plate02:Close-up shot of the muzzle brake intended for the 170mm gun mount of the Jagdmaus.
Plate03:The enormous size of the 170mm gun meant that the rear fighting compartment of the Jadgmaus was substantial as seen from the members of the Allied intelligence team.