Wednesday, May 16, 1945. The Haguro sunk, U-boats surrender.

Okinawa.

The Royal Navy sank the Haguro ending the Battle of Malacca Strait.  Admiral Kaju Saguira, age 49, was one of the casualties.

Fourteen U-boats surrendered to convoys in the Arctic.

The British liberated Alderney.

Heavy fighting occurred on Okinawa with the Japanese succeeding in knocking out some U.S. tanks.

Physicist Leo Szilard wrote a letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer trying to convince him that  atomic bombs shouldn't be used against Japan.

Last edition:

Tuesday, May 15, 1945. Germans fully surrendered, Chinese Army in retreat.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Austria, Axis Powers, Battle of Poljana, Battle of the Malacca Strait, Burma, German Wehrmacht, Japan, Okinawa, Philippines, World War Two, Yugoslavia

Another US light tank bites the dust.

For some reason, the US just can't seem to develop a light tank that it likes.

US Defense Dept shuts down Booker tank program

Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Last edition:

M38 A1s, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 4x4, Artillery, Automobiles, Korean War, Military, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Radio, Trucks, Wyoming (Dubois)

M32 Tank Retriever, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

This is a M32 tank retriever, which is obviously based on the M4 Sherman chassis. These were used by the U.S. Army starting in World War Two, although a tank retriever based on the Lee/Grant chassis was also used.

These remained in use during the Korean War and into the 1960s when it was replaced by the M88.

Last edition:

M24 Chaffee, National Museum of Military Vehicles.Labels: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Armor, Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Vietnam War, Weapons, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

M24 Chaffee, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Like the M26 Pershing, the M24 Chaffee shows the speed of armor evolution during World War Two.  A much more modern light tank than the M3, it remained in service until 1953 with the U.S. Army, and various other armies long after that.  The tank was heavily, if not terribly successfully, used by the ARVN during the Vietnam War.

M4 Sherman. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 Last edition:

M577 and M113. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2020s, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Wyoming (Dubois)

M113A1 Fire Support Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

This is an armored M113 personnel carrier of a type modified for the Vietnam War, in this case by Australia, where the M113 first saw combat service.   In Vietnam, they were often up armored to take into account their vulnerability.  The addition of the turret and cannon provides such an example with a Saladin armored car turret and 75mm gun.

Last edition:

M88 Recovery Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: Armor, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Wyoming (Dubois)

M88 Recovery Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Still in use, the M88 Recovery Vehicle is a tank retriever based on the M48 chassis.

 Very heavily armored, it's outlasted the phasing out of the M48 and M60, and continues on in service.

Last edition:

M60. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1950s, 1959, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2020s, Armor, National Museum of Military Vehicles, The Cold War, Wyoming (Dubois)

M60. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The M60 was the great U.S. tank of the Cold War, and continues to be a great tank to this day.

Effectively an improved variant of the M48, so much so that in some armies it would be regarded as a variant of the prior tank, the M60 took all of the improvements to the M26 line of tanks over the decades and more or less perfected them.  Indeed, some of the improvements, such as the 105mm gun, were retrofitted to the prior M48.

M60s remain in use around the world in upgraded versions.

M48 Patton. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The fourth tank to descend from the M26 Pershing, including the Pershing, the M48 was a long serving and very successful U.S. tank. It entered service in the mid 1952 in the U.S. Army, and it is still in service with various nations, including South Korea and Taiwan.

The M48 was the second of the US Cold War tanks to actually see action in a Cold War war, the M46 being the first in Korea, with the M48 seeing extensive use by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in Vietnam.  The tank was already a second class tank in the US military by that time, the M60 having come on, but it was a perfectly modern tank and more than able to take on anything in theater.  The tank was later upgraded to near M60 capabilities with the change from a 90mm gun to a 105.

The M48 entered US service in 1952, and was last used in the National Guard in 1987.

Related Threads:

The M26 and its children

Last edition:

M47 Tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1949, 1950s, 1953, 1955, Armor, Army, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, The Cold War, Tracked vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

M47 Tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The tank in the photograph above is a M47 "Patton" tank, the successor to the M26 Pershing.  The tank had a limited production run, entering service in 1951 during the Korean War, and being declared a limited standard in 1955.  Production ceased in 1953, and the tank was deployed to Korea in small numbers for testing.

The tank was the third tank to be based on the M26, including the M26. The second was the M46 "Patton", which was an upgraded M26 which was used during the Korean War.

A M5 Stuart light tank is in the background.

Related threads:

The M26 and its children

Last edition:

Japanese Type 7 305mm gun, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1930s, 1940s, Artillery, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan, National Museum of Military Vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

M8 Buford. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 

The M8 was a light tank that was adopted to replace the M551 Sheridan, but which never went into production and was phased out before it was even introduced.

Last edition:

National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War One Display.

Labels: 1910s, Armor, Army, Artillery, Automobiles, British Army, French Army, German Army, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Swiss Army, World War One, World War One Automobiles

National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War One Display.

 

Inside of Renault tank.

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Last edition:

Punitive Expedition Display, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Dubois Wyoming

Labels: 1910s, 1916, 1917, Army, Clothing, Dubois Wyoming, George S. Patton, Mexican Border War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Pancho Villa, The Punitive Expedition, Weapons, Wyoming (Dubois)

March 1, 1945. Iran declares war on Japan.

 

9th Armored Division, 1 March 1945, Germany

Signal Corps Photo.  This appears to be a M26 with its turret pointing to the rear for travel.  The M26 was just coming into service at this time.

Iran declared war on Japan.

Franklin Roosevelt reported on the Yalta Conference.  He was unable to stand.

The Wehrmacht launched an offensive around Lauban.

The Ninth Army took Mönchengladbach.

"Infantrymen of the U.S. Third Army move through war-torn city of Prum, Germany, of which little is left but blasted buildings and debris-littered streets. 1 March, 1945. 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division."

"After the town of Disternich, Germany, fell to units of the 9th Armored Division, civilians are gathered to be interrogated by military authorities. 1 March, 1945. Company A, 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division."  This is an interesting photograph for a variety of reasons, one of which simply is to note what's occurring, the interrogation of  civilians in the Westphalian town of Disternich.    Note the peasant like appearance of the German civilians.  Peasantry is probably exactly what they are. Note also the medic.  This was for an interrogation, but there must have been a concern that the civilians would be sick or injured. The soldier on the right with the M1 Garand provides us with a really good example of Maine Hunting Shoes in use by the U.S. Army.  Note also his armored division shoulder patch.

 

"Children of parents left destitute in wake of German retreat from Manheim, Germany, receive milk after civilians were able to round up food for themselves. Scene in sector held by 3rd Armored Division of 1st U.S. Army. 1 March, 1945. Photographer: W. B. Allen, 165th Signal Photo Co."  Note that the boy in the foreground is wearing a classic German mutze with some sort of cap device.

Michael Strank, one of the Marines photographed raising the flag on Iwo Jima, lost his life in the battle.

He was born in Czechoslovakia to a Rusyn family, and had immigrated to the US as a child with his family.

Last edition:

Wednesday, February 28, 1945. Saudi Arabia declares war.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Axis Powers, Heroes, Iwo Jima, Philippines, Prisoners of War, Red Army, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Navy, United States Marine Corps, World War Two