Posted on 02/26/2012 4:27:11 PM PST by DogByte6RER
7 Most Incredible Tank Graveyards on Earth
In certain corners of the globe you'll find the strangest of military cemeteries – places filled not with the bodies of fallen troops but littered with the carcasses of abandoned tanks. These once-formidable weapons of war no longer strike fear into the hearts of opposing forces; their days of rolling inexorably onwards on the teeth of steel tracks are over. Now, the armor of these behemoths is rusting and corroded, their hatches all but sealed from lack of use, and their controls never again to be manned by commanders in battle.
WWII tank graveyard in overgrowth near an abandoned Russian military base
If looking down the barrel of a gun is an unpleasant experience, then staring into the gigantic cylinder of a tank’s cannon must surely magnify the sense of menace tenfold – especially if there is any uncertainty as to whether the weapon is still able to fire its deadly projectile. Braving heat, cacti and other hazards, the urban explorers whose images we have collected have taken some amazing shots of tank graveyards from around the world.
The ‘60s slogan of ‘make love not war’ instantly springs to mind when looking at this cross-section of vehicular cemeteries, located everywhere from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Laos, to Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. Once a war is over, decommissioned and defunct tanks are often simply left to rust and rot. Wrecked or simply forsaken, they stand as sinister reminders of more turbulent times.
(Excerpt) Read more at environmentalgraffiti.com ...
Enjoy!
ping ... ggg potential
A little Bondo and WD-40 and they’ll be good as new. Most of those scratches will buff right out.
Be sure to visit the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum if you’re ever between LA & Phoenix. The Museum was established to honor the late General George S. Patton and the thousands of men who served with him at the Desert Training Center and overseas. The museum is located off Interstate 10, about 30 miles east of Indio at Chiriaco Summit, which was the entrance to Camp Young, command post for the Desert Training Center during World War II. There’s a yard full of old tanks, slowly rusting away like the ones shown here.
Seems like a lot of scrap steel waiting to be smelted. Are they too far out in the boonies for cost-effective shipping?
Maybe, turn the Chinese or Japanese loose and they’d have the place cleaned out in no time.
Old story I read years ago: The British still keep the HMS Prince of Wales in commission (Sunk off Malaya in ‘41 with a great loss of life). (Maybe the same with the Repulse.) I think it is once a year they send a diver down to replace the Union Jack “flying” from it’s mast. Before they started this ritual, back when the Japanese were going EVERYWHERE, cleaning up the leftover scrap, the Japanese went after the POW and when the Brits got their back up, the Japanese, in effect, said, “Wha? Wha?” as if they couldn’t make the connection between a memorial and scrap.
I had NO idea that there was a museum dedicated to General Patton. This place may be about an hour or so away from me here in Temecula, CA
I found the link for it too:
http://www.generalpattonmuseum.com/default.asp
Thanks!
You will love it!
Pretty cool; thanks for the link!
“I had NO idea that there was a museum dedicated to General Patton. This place may be about an hour or so away from me here in Temecula, CA”
I have been there many times. My name is on one of the bricks for making a donation to the General Patton museum. I have spent many days exploring all the camps in the Desert Training Center. Going to Camp visit Camp Bouse in Arizona in a couple of months. One of the few I have not been to.
I thought for a moment that the one in the top photo was a Panther, but it’s just a T-34.
There is the “Official” George S Patton Museum at Fort Knox, Kentucky. It is loaded with a bunch of his well known belongings such as his pistols, his cavalry uniform, his command car which he had his accident and a ton of armored vehicles including some early WWI tanks, all free admittance. Cool stuff!It’s a great museum.
http://www.knox.army.mil/PattonMuseum/
T-34, BTR60PB, T62
Ooops - the middle one is a BMD
And to the left of that looks like a JS-II!
They sure got the T-62s out of service fast! Nobody kept them! T-55s still running, but T-62s - nope!
There is also a Patton Museum at Ft. Knox in Kentucky.
Some wonderful examples of armor from WW1 thru present day.
I spent some time drooling over the mauser anti tank rifle in the WW1 room.
Also, the long barrel indicates a T-34/85.
Well, you’re 2/3s right - y’all forgot the duct tape!
We had a T62 in my unit - we repaired a HEAT hole in the turret with bondo...
Actually I think most of the armor has been moved to a museum at Fort Benning, and all that is left at Fort Knox is the Patton memorabilia.
http://www.armorcavalrymuseum.org/News-Update.html
http://www.military.com/military-report/new-armor-and-cavalry-museum
Looks like the armor has been moved to Benning, but the new museum is still under construction?
Speaking of Patton, his official museum is at Ft. Knox in Kentucky. It’s a real blast, forgive the pun. Only Royal King Tiger I’ve ever seen BTW
Hell yes. Convert them to safe pads for the homeless.
Good post. Reminds me of when I drove by TACOM, in Warren, MI. every day on my way to work at Chrysler. BTW, the Sherman tank was built by Chrysler, and the modern day tanks are built by General Dynamics, in and around Sterling Heights, MI. They didn’t call Detroit the arsenal of democracy for nothing. I guess it’s a pride thing, as in “you want to mess with us? Bring it on ‘cause we build all of the best bad-ass toys to take you out”.
I hope you repaired it with the help of duct tape! That works for everything. After you buff it out and repaint it looks like new!
How was the workmanship in the vehicle? The Czechs had some pretty unkind words to say about those things and were glad to get some T-72s to replace ‘em.
>> This really does look like a cemetery, with the half-interred remains all too visible.
The pictures are cool.
The verbiage accompanying them is idiotic crap.
e.g. “This really does look like a cemetery, with the half-interred remains all too visible.”
Really? When were YOU last in a cemetary with the half-interred remains visible?
What are the old rusting carcasses of Russian tanks doing in Laos? Well, where there’s a tank, there was a war. Laos got dragged into the Vietnam War (1955- 1975) and paid dearly for it. A significant portion of the war was fought on Laotian territory, and Laos is actually reckoned to be most bombed nation on Earth. A fact that’s hard to fathom, reported by The Guardian, is that “Laos was hit by an average of one B-52 bombload every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, between 1964 and 1973.” Truly a statistic that quantifies the utter madness of the conflict.
This is the tagline from one of the photos referencing the tank graveyard in Laos. If my math is correct, this would total 11,340 B-52 sorties. Since, there were only 2,500 B-52 sorties flown in support of the siege at Khe Sahn I am absolutely astounded at this assertion. Any of you Vietnam vets want to vouch or question the statement above?
According to the American War Library only 84,000 B-52 missions were flown between 1965-1971.
What do you think Zot?
Thanks,
TS
The workmanship was ... bad.
Years later, I asked a russian, How could you stand the Soviet Union?
“When your breakfast ration includes 450ml of Vodka, you can stand anything.”
I was attending school in Aberdeen Proving Grounds Md where the avenue leading to the main gate is a divided highway and at the time in the median there was the “Mile of Tanks” of U.S. armored vehicles from several wars and then on main post there was a huge yard of mostly WWII German vehicles and 88mm guns and tanks.
The APG post museum had a small arms collection to die for. Then the curator informed me that what was displayed represented about one fifth of the total on hand. Geez!
The Patton Museum is impressive now but in 1977 I got to handle a bunch of machine guns in the arms room. It’s eerie to look at the sedan in which Patton was mortally injured. Look closely underneath and the frame is still bent.
Seeing Patton’s revolvers (the Colt SAA and the S&W .357) is almost a religious experience.
A ludicrous statistic, even for the Guardian.
For just a wide spot in the road, Bouse has one hell of a firing range open to the public for shooting.
For just a wide spot in the road, Bouse has one hell of a firing range open to the public for shooting.
That statement from the Guardian pegged my bullshit meter.
You have to wonder why the Chinese are buying all of our scrap metal when they have so much so close to them.
Yep. Thanks for doing the arithmetic that shows my bullshit meter is well-calibrated.
The Guardian is a British marxist publication, like its late US counterpart. It is know for its’ anti-Americanism, and when it comes to Vietnam/Laos, you can’t trust anything that they wrote.
This statement is not only ridiculous, it is physically impossible, but the truth and reality never stopped the Guardian from its pro-Hanoi propaganda.
“Laos is actually reckoned to be most bombed nation on Earth”
Laos? I could see Vietnam or Cambodia, but Laos???
You bet! Tracks? Don’t worry we got tracks ‘n’ ammo too! Bring your old T-55 or BMP on down and you can trade it in for a slightly used T-72. No credit? No problem! We have zero % financing too!
A result of the route of the Ho Chi Minh trail, and our efforts to interdict that supply route and support Royal Laotian forces against the PAVN and Pathet Lao.
Suffice to say, the net result of operations "Barrel Roll" and "Steel Tiger" was that upon Laos was bestowed the dubious distinction of being the most heavily bombed nation on the planet.
And I realize that the site is not professional, but does no one know how to write anymore?
"[T]heir hatches all but sealed from lack of use"—this means the opposite of what they think it means. They meant, "Their hatch seals are all but gone from lack of use."
"This really does look like a cemetery, with the half-interred remains all too visible." Yes, I remember at the last funeral I attended, how impressed I was that they left the casket half-buried.
Been to Lima, OH. at the Ford engine plant down there. Didn’t know they built tanks there. Seen a lot of tanks up around Sterling Heights though. Doesn’t matter where they’re built, it’s all heavy metal and all of us have a hand in it.
Been to Lima, OH. at the Ford engine plant down there. Didn’t know they built tanks there. Seen a lot of tanks up around Sterling Heights though. Doesn’t matter where they’re built, it’s all heavy metal and all of us have a hand in it.
The Afghanis still use 'em. No automatic loader to eat the loader's arm, as in the T-72
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.