Weapon #1: The Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster
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| Hitler liked to super size his stuff more than an American at McDonalds. Link |
Country of Design/Origin: Nazi Germany
The Landkreuzer P. 1500 was just one of many designed super-heavy tanks. During the war, Hitler was obsessed with making bigger tanks with larger cannons. Two of his biggest weapons, the rail mounted guns Schwerer Gustav and Dora. These massive guns could be moved (semi) quickly via Germany's railways systems, and could deliver a powerful punch.
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| "It needs more guns! And swastikas! A lot more swastikas" Link |
Hitler was not satisfied with this limited capability, however, and demanded some super-heavy tanks to be made that could pack as much punch as his railway guns, but with the maneuvering capabilities of land vehicles. The Landkreuzer P 1500 Monster and the Landkreuzer P 1000 Ratte (Yes, Hitler liked his ironic names) were two designs for massive mobile artillary units that were large enough to house not only the artillery, but also a squad of troops as well as it's own anti-aircraft weapons mounted on the hull. These machines were meant to strike fear into the enemy and destroy anything in their way.
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| The "Ratte". Link |
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| The shell in the foreground is what was fired by the Nazi railway guns, and what would have been used by the Landkreuzer class weapons. In the back is a T-34 tank, which was a medium armor vehicle used by the Russians. Link |
The Problem: Besides the fact that these vehicles barely got through the prototype stage (building one entirely would have cost massive amounts of money) two other major issues stopped the Landkreuzer from being a feasible combat vehicle. Firstly, the freaking thing is HUGE. It would destroy any roads it went over, including the Autobahn, which the Germans used to move quickly through Germany, as well as any bridges it came across. It could have possibly forded some rivers, but that risked flooding the engines. The other major issue is the fact that from the sky, you cold not miss the Landkreuzer. You could attempt to camouflage it with a giant, grass colored bedsheet, or build a house around it or something crazy, but aside from that, allied bombers would have had an easy time wiping the Landkreuzer off the map wit ha well placed payload. In the end, the Landkreuzer proved to not be feasible enough to do what Hitler wanted, and the plan was scrapped.
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| "At least I have mein watermelon!" Link |
Weapon #2:Project Habakkuk (AKA The Aircraft Carrier Made of Ice)
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| The Habakkuk was the one in the middle. Now picture it made out of mostly ice and sawdust. Yeah, this plan didn't get very far. Link |
Country of Design/ Origin: Great Britain
Project Habakkuk was the brainchild of Geoffrey Pyke, an inventor who worked for the allies during World War II. His idea came from the constant loss of British ships due to German U-boat operations, as well as the deteriorating amount of steel that Britain had for the war effort. Pykes idea was to make a huge aircraft carrier, capable of carrying hundreds of planes, employing over 3,000 personnel, and able to repair itself from attacks while still at sea (unlike regular ships, which had to go to land, get berthed, and then get repairs done, which took months, if not more). The ship would be made mostly of Pykrete,a substance that was mostly water, with some wood pulp mixed in. The idea excited many at first, as they saw it as a possibly cheap alternative to regular ship building and could possibly be repaired while at sea.
The Problem: However, after a 60 foot replica was built to test the theory, it became clear that many issues, such as the need for some sort of steel infrastructure, as well as a temperature duct system and other such problems made sure the Habakkuk would not be ready to go by the planned date in 1944. As it became clearer that the war was turning tides against the Nazis, the British discarded the project, deciding to focus on more ideal endeavors instead.
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| It was a lot better on the drawing board... Link |
Weapon #3: The Yokosuka MCY7 Ohka (AKA The Suicide Plane)
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| Known as the "Cherry Blossom", I would suggest something more fitting, like The Flying Tampon. Link |
Country of Origin/Design: The Empire of Japan
It is well known that during the final years of WW2, Japan was doing whatever it could to slow the U.S. naval forces pushing their way into Japanese territorial waters. They even resorted to Kamikaze tactics, which involved the pilot flying their plane into an enemy ship in an attempt to cause as much damage as possible. The Ohka is the final evolution of this idea. The design was rather simple. The Ohka would be mounted to the bottom of an attack plane, such as a Mitsubishi G4M, and when the plane got close to a target, it would release the Okha, which would glide towards its target, until the pilot inside would set off one (or all) of three rocket fuel motors. This would cause a huge boost of speed, making it impossible to shoot down. The Okha would hit tis target, exploding in massive fireball and dealing tons of damage. Basically, a bomb with wings.
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| This, but, you know, with wings and flowers on it. Link |
The Problem: While Ohkas were used in a successful manner by the Japanese, the major issue that occurred is that, towards the end of the war, there were fewer and fewer Japanese who were alive who were able to fly the planes with such precision, and they basically were killing themselves off, limiting their effectiveness. Another issue was that when the American forces learned of what the Japanese were doing, they started intercepting the bombers far from their intended targets, which caused the bombers to panic and they would be forced to jettison the Ohka bombers (and their sacrificial pilot) up to seventy miles away from any targets. This led to many Ohka pilots dying for basically no reason at all. Many of these craft were saved for what was seen for the incoming invasion of Japan, but once the nuclear bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered, the remaining ones were never used. One can only wonder what they built with the spare scrap...
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| Oh...Crap Link |
Weapon #4: Incendiary Bat Bombs
While they may not be as cool as this...
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| This is actually just Adam West on a normal Friday night. Link |
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| This would definitely be used by the villains in an episode of Captain Planet. Link |
Country of Origin/Design: The United States of America
The idea of using bats as living weapons came from, oddly enough, a dentist named Lytle S. Adams, who had seen the flocking and roosting activity of bats and thought of a way to use it against the Japanese. The Japanese had many buildings made out of flammable ingredients such as paper, bamboo, and other material. The plan was to put a number of bats into a bomb shaped cannister (these bats would be knocked out before and during the flight). They would have small incendiary devices attached to their legs, which had timers on them. A bomber would then drop the cannister over the designated area, the cannister would open at a specific altitude, the bats would emerge and begin to roost in the nearby buildings. Minutes to hours after they roosted, the bats would explode in bursts of fire, which in turn would set the adjacent building on fire. Basically, suicide fire bat exploding extravaganza was the name of the plan.
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| A photo of the buildings where they held the experiments with the bats. It became very clear the devastating effect they could have. Link |
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| "The Americans have EXPLODING BATS.. Game OVER, man!" Link |
The Problem: There was no problem. The only reason the United States quit working with the bats was because it had come to groundbreaking research on the Atomic bomb, and therefor made the use of bats not necessary. Lucky for the bats, not so lucky for Japan.
Weapon #5: Anti-Tank Dogs
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| PETA isn't going to like this...but then again, Stalin didn't care about any of that, now did he? Link |
Country of Origin/Design: The Soviet Union
Bomb dogs were used by the U.S.S.R during World War II to take out enemy tanks. The dogs were trained to search for food under tanks and other vehicles, and then starved for days, strapped with explosives and sent out onto the battlefield. Though the explosion killed the dog in the process, the Soviet military states that it immobilized up to 300 German tanks, thereby making the animal sacrifice worth the cost. The dogs were effective because they were usually so small and quick, that they could get underneath a tank before the crew knew what had happened.
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| They have their own freakin' board game action figures. Link |
The Russian military continued using exploding dogs in their military arsenal up until 1996. I'm pretty sure after that, Michael Vick got wind of it and adopted all the dogs he could.
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| Pretty appropriate for Hump Day, I think. Link |
The Problem: There was really no downside to this use of dogs as a weapon, aside from possible outrage by certain people. In the end, it was a successful tactic that worked well in combat, sadly, at the cost of the life of animals.
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| Here's a cute puppy licking a lime to make you feel better. Link |
So there we have it. 5 of the oddest weapons you may or may not have heard of! I will return next week with more historical shenanigans! If you have any topic in particular you would like me to write about, leave a comment! I can always use ideas! Until next time!
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