Maus details: the next five Krupp factory production ones, and more

There are quite a few pictures showing the findings of the Allies in the Krupp factory and its surroundings after the war. Several Maus parts are visible like turrets, hulls and gun mantlets.
Studying the pictures I have, questions were solved, while others were created

NOTE : this information puts a little restraint on Panzer 1946 builders if they want to stay true to history. They will need to keep several details correct !

First the written evidence about the number of Maus components made and/or prepared by the Krupp factory :
As quoted by Panzertracts: per 18 March 1944 there were 7 hulls put together and worked on. For another 8 hulls, armor plating was available. For another 15 hulls there was armor plate cut/worked on and for another 15 hulls armor plate was rolled. That makes for 45 hulls in progress !!!
At the same date there was armor plate being cut for 9 turrets and for another 21 turrets armor plate was rolled, so that means 30 turrets were in progress !!!

On 1 April 1944 Krupp wrote that Maus SERIES production would start with Maus # 8 at a rate of 1 or 2 per month (which would be compensated by lowering the production rate of the 17 cm Kanone by one unit). The delivery of Maus # 8 could begin in about 7 months as material had to be requisitioned. (This makes clear that since March 1944 Maus armor parts had been re-used for other production !!)
Krupp also stated that hull # 3-7 and turret # 2-7 could be completed as material was available. It is clear now that Maus hulls # 1 and 2 and turret # 1 were already delivered for prototype testing in Kummersdorf and that for another 5 complete Maus material was available. This complies with the pictures !!

On 25-27 July 1944 Krupp asked what to do with their Maus hulls # 3-6 (i.e. 4 Maus hulls) after contract cancellation and they got the answer from Waprüf to scrap them.
It is clear from pictorial evidence after the war that they did NOT scrap (all) the hulls and instead of the 4 hulls mentioned they had at least 5 hulls AND 5 turrets in various states on their grounds !!!

This pictorial evidence will be discussed further now.
It is important to realize that the Krupp factory grounds were HUGE in size. It is also clear that not all pictures were taken at the same time and it is impossible to ascertain which ones were taken first or in what order. Furthermore, it is evident that parts were moved about to facilitate research and for the taking of pictures, adding to the parts count mystery.

My conclusion to this date is this : after the war 5 DIFFERENT MAUS HULLS, 5 DIFFERENT MAUS TURRETS and 2 DIFFERENT GUN MANTLETS are positively accounted for on the Krupp factory grounds !!

Written reports show different counts and are not always accompanied by the correct pictures so they are hard to interpret. They do, of course, help to support photographic evidence !

To part 1.

Article Last Updated: 12 January 2013