Artillery and Armour in the USA: Texas (6) Fredericksburg, National Museum of the Pacific War

Artillery, Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles in Texas (Part 6), Fredericksburg,

National Museum of the Pacific War

One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery and all armoured fighting vehicles preserved in Texas.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated.  The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to "ground truth" the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author.   It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit.  For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in Texas would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.  The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.

Fredericksburg, National Museum of the Pacific War

The National Museum of the Pacific War is located on the grounds of the boyhood home of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.  Nimitz served as CinCPAC, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet and was soon afterward named Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas during the Second World War.  The Admiral Nimitz Foundation was established in 1964 (as the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Naval Museum, Inc.) to support a museum honoring Fredericksburg’s native son, Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces, Pacific Ocean Area.

In 2000, the complex was renamed Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site - National Museum of the Pacific War and is dedicated exclusively to the Pacific Theater battles of the Second World War.  

The conning tower and foc'sle of USS Pintado (SS-387) is at the main museum entrance.

(Ed Uthman Photo)

 (Author Photos)

M3 Stuart light tank.

US 75-mm M2A2 Artillery Piece (M1897 French 75-mm Gun).

British Ordnance QF 25-pounder Field Gun.

105-mm Howitzer.

Bofors 40-mm twin anti-aircraft guns.

5-inch Mk. 37 Model 6 dual purpose gun.

5-bank Torpedo launch platform.

Vickers .303-inch machine gun Mk. 1.

Japanese 25-mm triple barrel automatic cannon anti-aircraft gun.

Japanese 37-mm light anti-tank gun.

Japanese 3-inch anti-aircraft gun.

Bofors 40-mm Anti-Aircraft gun mounted on a wheeled carriage.

Twin-gun anti-aircraft machine gun.

Aviation

(Author Photo)

(Ed Uthman Photo)

General Motors (Eastern Aircraft) FM-2 Wildcat (BuNo. 74161).  This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

General Motors (Eastern Aircraft) TBM-3E Avenger (BuNo. 53403), C/N 3465.  (Not seen at this museum)

(Author Photo)

Aichi D3A-2 Val (Serial No.), wreckage.

(Author Photo)

(Gillfoto Photo)

Kawanishi N1K-1 Kyofu (Mighty Wind) George floatplane (Serial No. 562).

(Ed Euthman Photo)

(Author Photo)

North American TB-25N Mitchell (Serial No. 44-86880), formerly at Reese AFB.

Fat Man nuclear bomb mock-up.

PT-309 Patrol Torpedo Boat.

Japanese Ko-hyoteki HA-19 (submarine, 1938).

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