E-100 Super Heavy Tank |
| Written by Marcia Malory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the middle of 1943, the Germans began developing a new series of tanks called the E-series. The E-100 Super Heavy Tank was the most advanced tank in this series. The Germans used everything they had learned about tank warfare when they began designing the E-series, which included the E-10, the E-25, the E-50 and the E-100. By the end of World War II, only E-series vehicle, an experimental version of an E-100, had been built.
Although a turret was never fitted onto this E-100, it was supposed to have the same Krupp turret as the Maus, as well as the same weapons. While a Tiger B H1 230 P30 engine was fitted to the E-100 for testing, the tank was designed to use a Maybach 12-cylinder "V" engine when in action. The E-100 had a suspension that was made up of overlapping steel road wheels, with MAN disc springs, that were arranged in a series. The tank had a ground pressure of almost 20psi (1.4 kg/cm2).
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This prototype was discovered by Allied forces in 1945, at the Henschel tank development center. It looked like the Tiger Model B tank, but its armor plates were heavier, it was longer and wider, it had wider tracks and it had a new suspension system.