- United States Army Ordnance Museum
The U.S. Army Ordnance Museum is a
museum located atAberdeen Proving Ground , in Aberdeen,Maryland ,USA .History
The mission of the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum is to acquire, preserve, and exhibit historically significant equipment,
armaments andmateriel that relates to the history of theU.S. Army Ordnance Corps and to document and present the evolution and development of U.S. military material dating from the American Colonial Period to present day.Established in 1919 and officially opened to the public in 1924, to exhibit captured enemy equipment and materiel, the Museum was located in Building 314 of the Aberdeen Proving Ground and operated by the
U.S. Army until 1967. Co-location with APG provided convenient access to the equipment being delivered to APG for testing afterWorld War I . In 1965 local citizens formed the tax-free Ordnance Museum Foundation, Inc. to establish and operate amuseum of these military artifacts. The Foundation is not affiliated with theU.S. Army , nor the Department of Defense. The Foundation began operation of the Museum in the early 1970s, upon opening at its current location in Building 2601 on the Aberdeen Proving Ground and operates the Ordnance Museum until this day.The museum consists of two parts: a large outdoor collection of field military equipment and weaponry, covering a 25-
acre park, and an indoor museum displayingfirearms andexplosives from numerous of the world's militaries, along with histories of their development.The museum is open to visitors seven days a week, from 9:00am to 4:45pm, excluding most
federal holidays .;Museum FoundationA Ordnance Museum Foundation has been established with future plans to improve the museum through the construction of a 300,000
square foot indoor exhibition area and maintenance facilities.The Ordnance Museum Foundation, Inc. was formally incorporated in the State of
Maryland as Charity #8849 in December 1991 as anon-profit ,tax exempt corporation . This status as a non-profit tax-exempt corporation was recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as an authorized 501(c)(3) corporation in the Spring of 1992.Exhibits
The outdoor collection features nearly 200 various military vehicles,
Self-propelled gun s,tanks ,munitions , and numerous mortars andartillery pieces fromWorld War I era forward.Sample outdoor exhibit artifacts include (not all-inclusive):
Vehicles:
* anM2 Bradley armored personnel carrier,
* an US M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank,
* aWorld War II -vintagehalftrack ,
*Self-propelled gun s,
* a German WW IIPanther Tank ),
* aPanzer IV tank
* aJapan eseType 95 Ha-Go Tank
* aSoviet T-34 medium tank Munitions:
* "T12 ", the largest conventional bomb ever built [ [http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/careers/bal-md.ordnance02aug02,0,329111.story?coll=bal-careers-headlines Baltimore Sun, 02 August 2005, "Army Museum Drafted for Move"] ] (U.S. convert|44000|lb|abbr=on bomb), standing upright outside the front entrance to the museum buildingArtillery pieces:
* US 280 mm Field Gun M65 "Atomic Cannon"
* GermanKrupp K5 Railway gun "Leopold" (one of the "Anzio Annie" twins)The indoor portion of the Ordnance Museum contains a large collection of firearms, shells,
hand grenade s, cartridges, and educational displays. Numerousantique artillery and mortars are on display, as is a 1942 Jeep.References and Notes
ee also
*
Kubinka Tank Museum - Russian Tank Museum
*Musée des Blindés - French Tank Museum
*Bovington Tank Museum - United Kingdom Tank MuseumExternal links
* [http://ordmusfound.org/index.htm U.S. Army Ordnance Museum official website]
;External photographic catalogs / galleries
* [http://www.peachmountain.com/5star/US_Army_Ordnance_Museum_US_tanks.aspx US APG OM at "peachmountain.com"]
* [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=151 US APG OM German tanks at "axishistory.com"]
* [http://www.fourfold.org/dkenner/2007/unsorted/aberdeen_mar29/ Ordnance Collection at Aberdeen Proving Grounds]
* [http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/AberdeenUSArmyOrdinanceMuseum/index.htm US Army Ordinance Museum] Photos of Tanks, Armored Vehicles, Artillery, and other weapons at the US Army Ordinance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds
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