The US Army Ordnance Museum

The US Army Ordnance Museum is the former name of what is now known as the US Army Ordnance Training Support Facility. This is here many armored vehicles, anti-tank guns, artillery pieces and related ordnance have been brought together after several US Army bases were consolidated around 2010. The items in this facility are used to teach current US Army personnel about the history, evolution and capabilities of artillery and armor. The facility also functions as a museum that is open to the public the first Saturday of the month a few months each year. I believe they publish the dates at the start of each year. Access to the museum is free. The facility is located right next to Fort Gregg-Adams (formerly Fort Lee) in Virginia, but it is not inside the base. In other words, you do not have to go through a gate and a convoluted security process. You just drive up a service road next to the base, pull up to a parking lot, and walk right in. The facility contains items ranging from the revolutionary war through modern times, but the largest portion of its collection is about World War II, followed by World War I. The WWII materiel includes items from many of the participating countries, not just the US. During the war, whenever a tank or gun was captured in the field it was sent back to the States to be studied. Shells of different calibers would be fired against a tank from different angles and distances to understand how it could be defeated. And if it was a new gun, then they would also test its offensive capabilities. The collection is fairly complete and, as you will see from the pictures below, it includes some rare items that I had never seen before in person at any other museum, which made the visit totally worthwhile for me. I did not take pictures of every item as I mainly focused on WWII, but I did take a few pics of a few notable non-WWII items. One quick note on the nomenclature of some of the US items. Some of them start with the letter T. Any item which made it into production got a designation starting with the letter M. I was much more familiar with the M models than the T models, and because not all items had a sign, it was a git of a challenge identifying some of these guns and vehicles. Having said that, let's check out the collection!

The Museum is hosted by the US Army Ordnance Corps

Civil War 13 inch mortar

Gatling Machine Gun

US M1918 BAR

US M1917 Browning Machine Gun

US M1919 Browning Machine Guns

German Kubelwagen

German Kubelwagen - interior

German Schwimmwagen

German Schwimmwagen - interior

German Schwimmwagen - engine and propeller

German BMW motorcycle

German 10.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40

German Nebelwerfers

From left to right we have the 15cm, 21 cm, and the dual 28/32 cm Nebelwerfers

US Jeep and its relative the Ford GPA amphibious vehicle in the back

US M3 37mm Anti Tank Gun

US M1 57mm Anti Tank Gun

US M5 3 inch Anti Tank Gun

US T8 105mm Anti Tank Gun

US T8 90mm Anti Tank Gun

US T10 105mm Howitzer

US M101 105mm Howitzer

US T88 105mm howitzer motor carriage

German Krupp K5 Leopold Gun

This is one of the most unique items in the collection. For sure the largest WWII gun I had ever seen! They were manufactured by Krupp and 25 of them were made.

German Krupp K5 Leopold Gun

This gun defended the Anzio beach against the Allied landings. It would slide in and out of a railway tunnel so it was hard to find and attack. It was captured once the Germans retreated.

German Krupp K5 Leopold Gun

It could fire a 243 kg shell at a rate of 15 rounds per hour at a range of up to 40 miles.

German Krupp K5 Leopold Gun

It measures almost 90 feet in length.

German Krupp K5 Leopold Gun

Apparently these guns were part of the German railway system and this one was based out of a railway station in Berlin.

US M1897AS 75mm Gun

British 6 pounder Anti Tank Gun

Italian Howitzer 65-17 Mod 13

Soviet M1927 76.2 mm Regimental Gun

Japanese Type 1 47mm Anti Tank Gun

German 7.5cm IG 18 light infantry howitzer

35-German 7.5cm IG 18 light infantry howitzer

German PAK 43 88mm Anti Tank Gun

German PAK 40 75mm Anti Tank Gun

German 105mm Light Field Howitzer

German 1 Ton Half Track Sd Kfz 10

US M16A1 Half Track

German 88mm FLAK Gun

German 88mm FLAK Gun side view

US M3A1 Stuart Tank

US M3 Stuart Tank

French R35 Light Tank

German Panzer I

Japanese Type 97 Medium Tank

German Panzer IV

US M2A1 Medium Tank

US M3 Lee Tank

US M10 Tank Destroyer

German Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Sd Kfz 184 aka Elefant

This was another big highlight for me. The curator of the museum explained to me that only two Elefants remain operational in the world - not many were manufactured to begin with. One of those Elefants is in a museum in Moscow. The other one is this one!

German Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Sd Kfz 184 aka Elefant

Note the shell impact marks. The front armor is so thick that they appear more like minor like dents. I don't know what caliber was used to fire at it, but they certainly needed something bigger and more powerful!