Goliath tracked mine
The Goliath tracked mine (German: Leichter Ladungsträger Goliath, "Goliath Light Charge Carrier") was a series of two unmanned ground vehicles used by the German Army as disposable demolition vehicles during World War II. These were the electrically powered Sd.Kfz. 302 and the petrol-engine powered Sd.Kfz. 303a and 303b. They were known as "beetle tanks" by the Allies.[1]
Goliath Sd.kfz 302
1942–1945
1942
3,000 ℛℳ (1942) (€12,577 in 2021)
1942–1944
7,564
370 kg (820 lb)
1.5 m (4.9 ft)
0.85 m (2.8 ft)
0.56 m (1.8 ft)
One remote operator
5 mm (0.20 in)
60 kg (130 lb) explosive charge
Two Electric Motors
2 x 2.5 hp (1.9 kW)
11.4 cm (4.5 in)
1.5 km (0.93 mi) on-road;
0.75 km (0.47 mi) off-road.
6 km/h (3.7 mph)
They carried 60 or 100 kg (130 or 220 lb) of high explosives, depending on the model, and were intended to be used for multiple purposes, such as destroying tanks, disrupting dense infantry formations, and the demolition of buildings or bridges. Goliaths were single-use vehicles that were destroyed by the detonation of their warhead.
Development[edit]
During and after World War I, a number of inventors devised small, remote-controlled, tracked vehicles intended to carry an explosive charge. During the war, the French developed two vehicles. The Crocodile Schneider Torpille Terrestre[2] (transl. 'Land Torpedo Crocodile Schneider') carried a 40 kg (88 lb) explosive charge and saw limited combat use in June 1916. However, it performed poorly and was eclipsed by the first tanks, then being introduced.[3] The Aubriot-Gabet Torpille Électrique (transl. 'Aubriot-Gabet Electric Torpedo') was driven by a single electric motor powered by a trailing cable. This vehicle may have been steered by clutch control on its tracks, although early versions may have lacked steering.[3] This may not have mattered as its task was simply to cross no man's land to attack the long trenches of the enemy.[4] The Wickersham Land Torpedo was patented by American inventor Elmer Wickersham in 1918[5] and in the 1930s, a similar vehicle was developed by the French vehicle designer Adolphe Kégresse.
In late 1940, Kégresse's prototype was recovered by the Germans near the Seine; the Wehrmacht's ordnance office directed the Carl F.W. Borgward automotive company of Bremen, Germany to develop a similar vehicle for the purpose of carrying a minimum of 50 kg (110 lb) of explosives. The result was the SdKfz. 302 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug, transl. 'special-purpose vehicle'), called the Leichter Ladungsträger (transl. 'light charge carrier'), or Goliath, which carried 60 kg (130 lb) of explosives. The vehicle was steered remotely via a joystick control box. The control box was connected to the Goliath by a 650-metre (2,130 ft), triple-strand cable. The cable was stored on a cable drum in the rear compartment of the Goliath. The cable was used for steering the vehicle left/right, forwards and reverse (reverse on the electric driven 302 version only) and to ignite the explosive charge. Each Goliath was disposable, being intended to be blown up with its target. Early model Goliaths used two electric motors but, as these were costly to make (3,000 Reichsmarks) and difficult to maintain and recharge in a combat environment, later models (known as the SdKfz. 303) used a cheaper two-stroke petrol engine.[6]
Goliath Sd.kfz 303
1943–1945
1942
Zündapp and Zachertz
1943–1945
4,929, both the model a and model b
430 kg (950 lb)
1.69 m (5.5 ft)
0.91 m (3.0 ft)
0.62 m (2.0 ft)
One controller with remote.
10 mm (0.39 in)
100 kg (220 lb) explosive charge
Zündapp SZ7 / 2-cylinder
12.5 hp (9.3 kW)
12 km (7.5 mi) on-road;
7 km (4.3 mi) off-road.
Surviving Goliaths are preserved at:
