Until recently, I thought that The Brain (of 'Pinky and the' notoriety) was the
only megalomaniacal rodent, but I have recently become aware of some mechanical
versions which, frankly, put this little mouse to shame. Please elucidate on the
various mechanical megalomaniacal rodents of which you are aware, for the sake
of the reading audience.

This is in honor of your efforts on behalf of Buttonboy on question 328576.

Dear sublime1,

You are absolutely correct: There are certain megalomaniacal rodents
of the mechanical species that would not only put Brain to shame, but
also frighten any cat.

More specifically, I'm talking about the "Maus" - which is German and
means, no prizes for guessing, "mouse". The full, but less pictorial,
name of the Maus was "Panzerkampfwagen VIII, Porsche Typ 205", a
German superheavy tank of which only two units were built in late 1943
and early 1944. And she was indeed superheavy - she weighed 188 metric
tons! Just for comparison, the current main battle tank of the US
Army, the M1 Abrams, weighs 69 tons, making it look like a petite
flyweight. The Maus had a 128mm main gun and, for lesser targets, a
75mm support gun. Later versions were planned to get a 150mm main gun.
Unfortunately, even the 1200 HP Mercedes-Benz diesel engine was too
weak for this monster; the Maus could not even reach a speed of 20
km/h. Some other drawbacks: Due to her weight and enormous dimensions,
she could not be transported on the standard Panzer transport railroad
cars; she was too heavy for most bridges; she destroyed all streets by
her weight; and she was absolutely inefficient in production, in fuel
consumption and in any imaginable real battle situation, where a dozen
normal tanks were far more useful than one almost immobile one.
Of the two Maus Panzers built, one survived the war. It is on display
in the Russian military museum in Kubinka now.

Read more about the Maus here:
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz7.htm
(Source: Achtung Panzer - Panzerkampfwagen VIII)

Here are two images giving an impression of the Maus' dimensions: 

Rear view of the surviving Maus, in the Kubinka museum
http://members.aol.com/kubinka/kubin4.jpg
(Source: Museum of Armored Forces - http://members.aol.com/kubinka/kubinmus.htm)

The Maus with a soldier's silhouette for comparison of dimensions
http://www.angelfire.com/tx4/bustersbattery/militrivia/MT6pic1.JPG
(Source: Militrivia -
http://www.angelfire.com/tx4/bustersbattery/militrivia/MILITRIVIA6.html)

However, as everybody knows a rat is bigger than a mouse. "Rat" is in
German "Ratte" ... and there actually were serious plans for building
a "Ratte" tank that would have made the Maus look like a toy from a
cornflakes box. That was the Landkreuzer (Land Cruiser) "P1000" called
Ratte. Her weight and dimensions were truely megalomanical: A weight
of 1000 metric tons; length 35 meters; width 14 meters; height 11
meters. Propelled by 2 naval engines of 8500 HP each. And as main
armament ... two 280mm naval guns, in a cruiser turret (along with one
128mm support gun for small targets). It never left the drawing
boards, but you never know ... just imagine that Überpanzer in a
what-if scenario...

Read more about the P1000 "Ratte" here:

Achtung Panzer: P1000 / P1500
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/p1000.htm

Panzerschreck: Landkreuzer P-1000 "Ratte"
http://www.panzerschreck.de/panzer/pzkpfw/p1000.html


That should do to satisfy your interest in megalomaniacal mechanical
rodents, doesn't it?
Very best regards,
Scriptor

Precise and exactly to the point of the question. 'Tanks' a lot!