King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

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Geoff Walden
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King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#1

Post by Geoff Walden » 15 Dec 2010, 02:14

Today, Tiger tank #332 (s.SS-Pz.Abt. 501) left the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA, on the way to storage at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA, waiting on the proposed US Army armor museum to open at Fort Benning. This tank was captured in Belgium in December 1944, shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground in the USA for testing, and on display at APG until it was shipped to Fort Knox in 1992, where it was cosmetically restored by the Patton Museum.

This move is part of the move of the US Army Armor Center from Fort Knox to Fort Benning. Almost all the tanks in the Patton Museum will be shipped to Fort Benning (a large number are already gone). Today's shipment also included the Panther II, the only remaining prototype.

Geoff Walden
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Bill Murray
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#2

Post by Bill Murray » 15 Dec 2010, 02:41

Hi Geoff:

I don't follow the subject as much as I should, but is this perhaps part of the Base Closing and/or relocating and downsizing of certain non critical facilities I read about in the newspapers and on the Internet??

Bill


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Xavier
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#3

Post by Xavier » 15 Dec 2010, 18:18

of interest to me: riggers used the original front "hooks" to fasten the slings, but I see the rear slings were fastened closer to the middle of the tank, instead of the corner hooks..any chance seeing the rear rigging? :D
crane looks like a german ATcrane, Liebherr 250-350 tonner
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Geoff Walden
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#4

Post by Geoff Walden » 15 Dec 2010, 19:52

Hi Bill,

Right, the move of the Armor School (and associated entities such as the Patton Museum armor collection) to Ft. Benning is part of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closing). BRAC is supposed to save money, but I can't see how in this case, since Ft. Knox wasn't closing, and a whole new infrastructure has to be built at Ft. Benning for the Armor School, including office buildings, maintenance areas, tank ranges, museum, etc., not to mention the cost of moving everything down there. All the facilities that are already at Ft. Knox for the Armor School have to be pretty much duplicated at Ft. Benning, but built from scratch. I just can't see any cost savings in that.

Hi Xavier,

I didn't take any pics showing the rigging in the back, but the slings went through rings that had been attached to the lower tow eyes on either side. I don't know why they didn't use the lifting eyes at each rear corner. Maybe something to do with the length of the slings ... wish I could go back to yesterday to ask them that. :)

Geoff

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Tim Smith
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#5

Post by Tim Smith » 15 Dec 2010, 20:12

Maybe it's quite a risk using the original lifting eyes. I mean, that tank is 66 years old, and weighs over 68 tons! Who knows what hidden metal fatigue is in the original eyes, especially if it's spent a lot of it's life outside exposed to the elements. That's putting a lot of faith in a 66 year-old weld - I wouldn't want to stand underneath that Tiger while it's being lifted....

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Xavier
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#6

Post by Xavier » 15 Dec 2010, 20:24

@Geoff....yes, you are right, maybe the lenght of the slings..
on the other hand, I see no reason why the ears would fail... even being 66 years old, unless there was visible damage..and yes, one of the safety rules is never to stand under a moving load, no matter the weight..!
load seems almost level, a little down on the rear, but this is the kind of jobs I love..heavy, low height.. high profile.... the factory guys at Liebherr would have had a field day only if they knew...:)
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Michael Kenny
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#7

Post by Michael Kenny » 15 Dec 2010, 21:19

Any updates on the attempts to recover the Tiger I?

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Xavier
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#8

Post by Xavier » 15 Dec 2010, 22:45

its a lost cause, the "protected area" is still "protected" and as I mentioned before, even if we could get the funds and the tank, there is a long line of official entities ready to claim it, of course, sans expenses...
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Xavier
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#9

Post by Xavier » 15 Dec 2010, 22:51

for sure, we would end just like the bulgarian panzers..recovered and in storage---( go sstraight to the last page..)
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ ... 93&page=12
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Larry W Santora
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#10

Post by Larry W Santora » 09 Oct 2011, 23:03

My father told my brother and I a story of how his unit in WW 2 found a King Tiger tank abandoned because the tracks had been frozen to the ground during the battle of the bulge. He said they poured fuel around the tracks then set it on fire to thaw the ground. It took 2 days to drag the tank 8 miles during the battle. He said it was shipped back to the US for testing and research and that it was on display at Ft. Knox.
Does anybody know if this is true, or have first hand information of the events that brought the tiger to Ft;. Knox. My father told us this story in the 1950's. I would like to believe his story is true.

Larry Santora

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MarioL
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Re: King Tiger Leaves Patton Museum

#11

Post by MarioL » 10 Oct 2011, 18:39

Hi Larry,

yes,that´s true.
It was Tiger "332" of sSSPzAbt 501.

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