>I'm reminded of the German Maus tank that was built during WW2 (and,
>some say, put into limited use right at the end). I've seen a photo of
>one of the prototypes looming over a Panther: the thing was huge.
>Also, unfortunately, underpowered for its weight, and so heavy it
>tended to crush roads and bridges.
>
>There's something slightly boggling, though, about a tank main gun so
>big the coax 88mm would have been just a spotter gun for it...

Ah, you mean this:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz7.htm

The Panzer VIII Maus, which holds the current record as largest battle tank ever built at 188 tons. To give you some idea, a fully-loaded M1A2 Abrams weighs roughly 67 tons.

'course, that's nothing compared to the P1500 "Ratte":

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=9384

The Germans didn't classify it as a tank, they classified it as a "land cruiser." Something to be said about a fighting vehicle whose main armament is 2 280mm naval rifled cannons.