While it doesnt havea lot to do with SOG or US Special Forces, The Tank Museum is a collection of armoured vehicles in the United Kingdom. With almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the most wide-ranging collection of tanks and armoured vehicles in the world. It includes the only working example of a German Tiger I tank and a British World War I Mark I; the world's oldest surviving combat tank. Well worth a trip!!!
www.tankmuseum.org
A British officer follows the tanks, note the steering arrangement at the rear of the tank
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A Hornsby tractor with Caterpillar type tracks, used during tank development and for towing artillery
A master of a memorial to Tank crews of the Great War
British Mark V Male (armed with cannon in the sponsons, females had machine guns) tank.
WW2 German Hetzer tank, based on the Czech 38t
WW2 German Jagdpanther tank destoryer based on the Panther tank and armed with the feared 88mm. Here shown in the ambush pattern camouflage used in NW Europe.
The pinnacle if US tank development in WW2 the M26 Pershing, some of these were rushed to Europe right at the end of the war for trials, known as the T26E3 at this time. It was armed with a 90mm gun.
WW2 German Tiger II tank with the so called "Porsche Turret", this turrent was not accepted for production due to the shot-trap below the main mantlet as seen below. The initial design is sometimes misleadingly called the "Porsche" turret due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for their prototype; in fact it was the initial Krupp design for both prototypes. This turret had a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turret's left side to accommodate the commander's cupola. Fifty early turrets were mounted to Henschel's hull and used in action. The tank weighed 70 tons and was armed with a 88mm gun.
US Alligator amphibous cargo carrior, or Landing Vehicle Tracked
A Canadiam Ram armoured personal carrier
US Greyhound armoured car, seen here in snow camouflage
US M10 tank destroyer, this was a Sherman based hull with an open topped turret housing a 90mm gun
German WW2 Jagdtiger tank destroyer, armed with a 128mm main gun.
German WW2 King Tiger with the Henschell turret
US M41 Walker Bulldog tank, used by the ARVN and armed with a 76mm main gun
US M60A3, the mainstay of the armoured forces through the 70s and 80s and armed with a 105mm main gun
TOG 1 a very dated British heavy tank from WW2
The Stridsvagn 103 (Strv 103), or S-Tank, was a Swedish tank (although some consider it to be a tank destroyer). It was known for its unconventional turret-less design, with a fixed gun traversed by engaging the tracks and elevated by adjusting the hull suspension. Also note the bar armour at the front, as used in current theatres of war on US and British armour.
US M103 tank armed with the 120mm main gun, a response to the russian JS3. This example is marked as a USMC example
M24 Chaffee a late WW2 US design that was used by the French and ARVN in Indo-China, most famously these were flown into Dien Bien Phu in pieces and assembed on the airstrip
The rear of a British Comet tank, this just made it into the European theatre of war and was based on teh Cromwell chassis but mounting a 17 pounder main gun.
German WW2 Panzer IV, the mainstay of the German armed forces
Churchill based ARVE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) armed with a 290mm Petard Mortar throwing the 40 lb (18 kg) "Flying dustbin" with its 28 pound high explosive warhead; a weapon designed for the quick levelling of fortifications and beach obstacles.
German Sturmgeschütz (Stug) Ausf G. This was an assumt gun on a Panzer IV chassis, cheaper and quicker to produce during the war. I think this is in Finnish colours
Centurian Mk1 that entered service in 1945 and was armed with 20 pounder main gun witha 20mm Polston co-axial gun, a feature dropped after the first version of the tank.
The experimental Black Prince tank a modification of the Churchill featuring a 17 pounder main gun.
A US M46 Patton tank of the Korean War era, armed with a 90mm main gun
British Warrier Armoured Fighting Vehicle, this in updated rorm is in current use.
Challenger 1 Main Battle Tank in gulf War 1 colours and markings
Chinese Type 69 II Tank in Iraqi colours, captured during the 1st Gulf War. The Type 69 is Chinese development of the Type 59 itself a copy of the Russian T54, both models are also used by Vietnam. Note the crude bar armour on the turret.
Iraqi modified Russian T55 tank, the extra armour is rubber sheets sandwiched ebtwwen steel plates a crude form of composite armour. When tested in teh US is was found to be very effective.
Iraqi T54 tank.
British Charioteer tank in Jordanian markings. The Charioteer tank destroyer officially known as FV4101 Cromwell Heavy AT Gun was a British tank destroyer, designed in the 1950s from the Cromwell tank and used to add firepower to units serving in West Germany. It was armed with a 20 pounder main gun.
French AM13 light tank. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and reliable chassis, it was fitted with an unusual and troublesome tilting GIAT turret with revolver type magazines. In the background can be seen the Panhard EBR (Panhard Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance) is a light armoured car designed by Panhard for the French Army and later used across the globe, notably by the French Army during the Algerian War and the Portuguese Army during the Portuguese Colonial War in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.
British Challenger 1 Prototype.
Russian T72 MBT. The T-72 was the most common tank used by the Soviet Army from the 1970s to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was also exported to other Warsaw Pact countries, as well as Finland, India, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yugoslavia, as well as being copied elsewhere, both with and without licenses.
US M48 Tank in A1 format, with a diesel engine and other updates this became the M48A3 used during the Vietnam War
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and its modified version built to British specifications, with a new turret, was called the "General Grant", named after US General Ulysses S. Grant. The Tank Museum version is a Grant, you can tell by the different turret, teh US Lee has a smaller main turrent with an extra turret for the commander housing a .30 cal machine gun.
German WW2 Panzer II displayed in Afrika Korps markings
The Tiger I was a German heavy tank used in World War II, produced from late 1942 as an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of Operation Barbarossa, particularly the T-34 and the KV-1. The Tiger I design gave the Wehrmacht its first tank mounting the 88 mm gun, which had previously demonstrated its effectiveness against both aircraft and tanks. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts. It was usually deployed in independent tank battalions, which proved to be quite formidable. This is teh worlds only running Tiger 1.
The SdKfz 2, better known as the Kleines Kettenkraftrad HK 101 or Kettenkrad for short (Ketten = tracks, krad = military abbreviation of the German word Kraftrad, the administrative German term for motorcycle), started its life as a light tractor for airborne troops. The vehicle was designed to be delivered by Junkers Ju 52 aircraft, though not by parachute. The vehicle had the advantage of being the only gun tractor small enough to fit inside the hold of the Ju 52.
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II (sometimes referred to as Matilda senior or simply an 'I' tank) was a British Infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12.
It served from the start of the war to its end and became particularly associated with the North Africa Campaign. It was replaced in service by the Infantry Tank Mk III Valentine.
British Cruiser Tank Mk III (A13) used by the British Expeditionary Force at the start of WW2
British Light Tank MkVI, again used by the British Expeditionary Force at the start of WW2
German WW2 Panzer 1. The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German Panzerkampfwagen I (armored fighting vehicle mark I), abbreviated PzKpfw I. The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 (special purpose vehicle 101)
The rear view of the Soviet T34/85
British Cromwell or Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M), named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II. It was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed, and reasonable armour all in one balanced package. Its design formed the basis of the Comet tank shown earlier
British Daimler Mark I Armored Car
The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British and Canadian variation of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap tank until future British tank designs armed with the 17 pounder came into service, the Sherman Firefly became the most common vehicle to be used with the 17 pounder as its main armament during World War II.
British Centurian, this is a later version than that shown earlier
The Crocodile was a Churchill VII which was converted by replacing the hull machine gun with a flamethrower. The fuel was in an armoured wheeled trailer towed behind. It could fire several 1 second bursts over 150 yards. The Crocodile was one of "Hobart's Funnies" - another vehicle used by the 79th Armoured Division.
The Panther was a tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV, and, while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as well as the heavier Tiger tanks until the end of the war. The Panther's excellent combination of firepower, mobility, and protection served as a benchmark for other nations' late war and immediate post-war tank designs, and it is frequently regarded as one of the best tank designs of World War II. Until 1944, it was designated as the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther and had the ordnance inventory designation of Sd.Kfz. 171. On 27 February 1944, Hitler ordered that the Roman numeral V be deleted from the designation.
A Japanese tank, not sure of its correct name...
Crossley M1923 Indian Pattern
Armored Car
The Medium Mark A Whippet was a British tank of the First World War. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks by using its relative mobility and speed in exploiting any break in the enemy lines. Possibly the most successful British tank of World War I, the Whippet was responsible for more German casualties than any other British tank of the war.Whippets later took part in several of the British Army's postwar actions, notably in Ireland and North Russia.
The Renault FT 17 or Automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault FT modèle 1917 was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT 17 was the first tank with an armament in a fully rotating turret, and its configuration with the turret on top, engine in the back and the driver in front became the conventional one, repeated in most tanks until today; at the time it was a revolutionary innovation, causing armour historian Steven Zaloga to describe the type as "the world's first modern tank".
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