During the First World War, armored vehicles were already actively furrowing the battlefield. And it was during this period that military engineers from a number of European countries came up with the idea of creating a "mobile fortress" - a super-heavy tank of enormous dimensions. Germany was among these dreamers, too, and as a result, it almost finished its project - Kolossal-Wagen. But the war ended, and the history of the "colossal tank" ended with it.
Even in the spring of 1917, Germany did not abandon attempts to lure Fortune back to its side and intercept the initiative in World War I. Therefore, no one was surprised when, in March of the same year, the General Command issued an order to develop a superheavy tank with a boundary weight of 150 tons. So appeared the project "K-Wagen" (Kolossal-Wagen or "Colossal"), approved on June 28, 1917.
The first specifications for the future tank were as follows: the vehicle should be equipped with 30 mm armor, two 200-300 hp engines and overcome a four-meter ditch. In addition, it was assumed that the K-Wagen would conduct a circular defense, for which purpose it would have to be equipped with two to four 50-777 mm cannons, two flamethrowers and four machine guns. The number of crew of one car is 18 people.
The project was quickly believed, and even before the beginning of its development: if at first the first series was to consist of ten tanks, then soon this figure was increased to one hundred. In addition, the command reduced the time needed to build the first prototype from one year to eight months. Each machine would cost Germany at least 500,000 reichs marks.
The engineers had a lot of work to do: some of the components had to be developed anew. However, the overall design of the tank was still "looked at" by the British heavy armored vehicles. The tank had three compartments: combat, control and powertrain. On the roof there was a cabin for the commander and artillery officer. During the development process, the number of crews increased to a record 22.
Adhering to the plans on the possibility of circular tank firing, the guns were installed around the entire perimeter of the machine. Thus, K-Wagen could lead the defense in any direction and with the same fire density.
It was also planned to provide the tank with communication. There was also a space for a radio operator in front of the engine room.
The first difficulties arose in the development of the prototype. Thus, for example, it became clear that the engine capacity initially assumed was insufficient. Then it was decided to install two Daimler engines, 650 hp each. The gasoline reserve was 3 thousand liters. Then came the question of transportation - such a huge tank would not fit on any railroad. The developers decided to assemble the vehicle in such a way that it could be disassembled into one and a half or two dozen parts for transportation.
The first "Colossal" was already under construction, and the range of its combat application remained unclear for both engineers and commanders. According to one of the proposals, the tank could be used to break through the enemy front. However, quite soon this idea was recognized as untenable. Then, the Experimental Department of the Automotive Troops Inspection decided that K-Wagen should be used only for positional warfare. The armament of the tank made it possible to nominally consider it an artillery and machine gun battery based on one "mobile fortress".
For the assembly of the first ten units of the "Colossal" command of Germany were signed contracts with two enterprises: five cars were to be built at the ball bearing plant "Ribe" in Berlin-Weißensee, and five more - at the "Wagonfabrik Wegman" in Kassel. Production started in April 1918. As a result, by the end of the war only one tank was almost finished on the Ribe, the second one was still being assembled. Germany's defeat in World War I and the conclusion of the Versailles Peace Treaty brought an end to the history of the K-Wagen tank, both of which were under construction.
Interestingly, the history of German heavy armored vehicles turned out to be cyclical: almost the same fate befell another supertank project - "Mouse". The projects of both tanks were approved when Germany was rapidly losing its position in the war, but did not recognize it. Both the first and the second tank had an original design, which was partially invented from scratch. Only as a result, the Colossal and, after twenty-five years, the Mouse never entered the battlefield.