Stay on the Tank!

Random armor (tank) related posts of a retired US Army Armor officer. Active USABOT (US Army Brotherhood of Tankers) member. All photos are my own unless otherwise attributed.

[eltee1]

Schneider CA 1 (Char d'assaut Schneider). The first tank developed by the French in WW1. This incredible example is at the French tank museum, Musee des Blindes, in Saumur, France.

Photos by Bryan Whalen in June 2018

[eltee1]

British FV721 Fox CVR (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance). A 4x4 Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle.

This one is a runner at the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage, NY. Photos by USABOT brother Bryan Whalen. (June 2019)

[eltee1]

A Soviet BA64 Armored Car from the 1940's and 50's awaiting restoration at the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage, NY

[eltee1]

MBD (Muzzle Boresight Device) in the 120mm main gun of an M1A2SEPv2 of 1-1CAV 2nd Bde 1AD at Fort Bliss, TX (Apr 2019). Photo by SFC Sexton.

The MBD is used to periodically realign the sights of the tank with the exact alignment of the barrel. The MRS (Muzzle Reference Sensor) on top of the barrel is frequently used throughout the day to verify the alignment, as certain conditions can cause shifts in the alignment and require the gun to be boresighted again.

[eltee1]

M4 Sherman and M8 Armored Car pass the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1944.

[eltee1]

US Army T95 Medium Tank (modified) Test Rigs. Several modified T95 test rigs were built in the late 1950's and early 1960's and had various prototype turrets and suspensions tested on them. Both of the ones shown here have prototype M60A2 turrets installed. The green one with a prototype hydropneumatic suspension is now at the US Armor and Cavalry Collection at Ft. Benning, GA (it was previously at Aberdeen, MD). That is the same one from the US Army publications shown in the black and white photo). The rusty brown one is at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.

I took the pics of the green one at Ft.Benning in May 2018 and Jon Bernstein took the pics of the rusty one at Anniston in July 2017.

[eltee1]

Scaled Tactical Target Vehicle (STTV). A radio-controlled target for vehicles equipped with laser gun simulators. Based on a heavily modified M114 recon vehicle chassis. I took the first 3 pics in the scrap area of the New Jersey National Guard Militia Museum in Sea Girt, NJ in Oct 2016. I found the other two pics of this unique vehicle in the NJ Archives from the late 1990's when it was delivered to the museum. Apparently it wasn't taken care of after that and fell into the rusted condition it is now and moved to the scrap area by a staff that didn't care about it along with some other rare armored vehicles.

[eltee1]

M4A3 (75) at the New Jersey National Guard Militia Museum in Sea Girt, NJ, USA. (Oct 2016)

[eltee1]

Russian T-55 ARV captured in Iraq in 1991 and on display at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum at Fort Hood, Texas.

Please comment if you know the correct designation for this exact model (BST2, BTS4 ?)

[eltee1]

Tank Museums

I've been visiting tank museums and hundreds of static displays of armored vehicles for many years. Here is a list of major collections (more than a few tanks at each) that I've visited and ones I hope to visit before my ride on this planet is over. Please comment on decent collections of tanks that I don't have on here already. Please check my lists before commenting.

I have visited:

Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, KY, USA.

US Armor and Cavalry Collection at Ft. Benning, GA, USA

1st Cavalry Division Museum at Ft. Hood, TX, USA

3rd Cavalry Museum at Ft. Hood, TX, USA

US Cavalry Museum at Ft. Riley, KS, USA

Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage, NY, USA

Military Museum of Southern New England in Danbury, CT, USA (now permanently closed)

Collings Foundation / American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA, USA

NJ National Guard and Militia Museum in Sea Girt, NJ, USA

Pennsylvania National Guard Museum at Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA, USA

Wright Museum of WW2 in Wolfeboro, NH, USA

Musee des Blindes in Saumur, France

Overlord Museum in Colleville-sur-Mer, France

Belgian Tank Museum in Brussels, Belgium

Curragh Military Museum in Curragh, Ireland

Musee du Fort Saint-Jean in  Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Canada

Want to Visit:

United States Army Heritage and Education Center, at Carlisle Barracks, PA, USA

Ft. Bliss and Old Ironside Museum at Ft. Bliss, TX, USA

Army Reserve Mobilization Museum at Ft. Dix, NJ, USA

American Armor Foundation Tank Museum in Danville, VA, USA

Vermont National Guard Museum in Essex Junction, VT, USA

Yad La-Shiryon in Latrun, Israel

Deutsches Panzermuseum in Munster, Germany

The Tank Museum in Bovington, UK

Overloon War Museum in Overloon, Netherlands

Kubinka Tank Museum in Kubinka, Moscow, Russia

Great Patriotic War Museum in Kiev, Ukraine

Military History Park in Pivka, Slovenia

Museum of Polish Military Technology in Warsaw, Poland

Yūshūkan in Tokyo, Japan

PLA Tank Museum in Beijing, China

Cavalry Tank Museum in Ahmednagar, India

South African Armour Museum in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Army Tank Museum in Puckapunyal, Australia

Irish Military War Museum in Starinagh, Ireland

El Goloso Armour Museum in El Goloso, Spain

Museo Storico della Motorizzazione Militare in Rome, Italy

Ontario Regiment Museum in Oshawa, Canada

Base Borden Military Museum on Borden, Canada

Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada

[eltee1]

US Army M728 Combat Engineering Vehicle (CEV)

The tan one is at the 1st Cav Div Museum at Ft. Hood, TX (Oct 2016)

The OD green one is at the NewJersey National Guard Militia Museum in Sea Girt, NJ (Oct 2016)

The semi-tarped camo one is in the restoration yard of the US Armor and Cavalry Collection at Ft. Benning, GA (May 2018)

Based on an M60, M60A1, and M60A2 chassis and M60A1 turret, it sports a 165mm demolition gun and a boom crane for assisting construction and demolition missions as well as a plow for mine clearing. Only 312 were built between 1965 to 1987 and they remained in service in the US military until 2000.

[eltee1]

An Iraqi T-55 captured during Desert Storm in 1991 by US 1st Cavalry Division. Now on display at the 1st Cav Div Museum in Fort Hood, Texas. (Oct 2016)

[eltee1]

An Iraqi Type 69 captured during Desert Storm in 1991 by US 1st Cavalry Division. Now on display at the 1st Cav Div Museum in Fort Hood, Texas. (Oct 2016)

The Type 69 is a Chinese copy of the Russian / Soviet T-55 with a few upgrades such as the Laser Range Finder, IR search light, and FCS.

[eltee1]

M3 Stuart Light Tanks at the 1st CAV Division Museum at Fort Hood, Texas (Oct 2016). The one with the Japanese markings represents one of the captured Stuarts in the Philippines in April 1942 used by Japanese Army 3rd Company 7th Tank Regiment.

The Stuart with the US markings is an M3A1.

[eltee1]

An M1E1 (M1A1 prototype) on display at Fort Hood, TX, USA. It was essentially an M1IP fitted with a 120mm main gun. (Oct 2016)

[eltee1]

Iraqi T72M1 in the restoration yard of the US Armor and Cavalry Museum Collection at Fort Benning, GA USA. (May 2018)

[eltee1]

All of these pics are of the same IS-2 M1943. The first set of pics are in its new home at the American Heritage Museum near Stowe, MA, USA (Apr 2019). The middle set of pics are from during restoration in 2018. The last two pics are from 2016 when she was received by the Collings Foundation from the Overloon Museum in the Netherlands in terrible shape. She has now been restored to running condition....the only one in North America.