{{Short description|Military museum in Dorset, England}} {{redirects|Tank Museum|other tank museums|: Category: Tank museums}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox museum | name = The Tank Museum | logo = | image = Exterior of The Tank Museum.png | image_size = | caption = The Tank Museum | map_type = Dorset | map_caption = Location of the Tank Museum within Dorset | coordinates = {{coord|50.695194|-2.243611|display=inline,title}} | established = 1947 | dissolved = | location = Bovington, Dorset<br> England | type = Military Museum | visitors = 219,792 (2025)<ref>{{cite web |title=2025 Visitor Numbers |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=ALVA |access-date=22 March 2026}}</ref> | director = | curator = | public_transit = Wool railway station | website = {{URL|https://www.tankmuseum.org}} }}

'''The Tank Museum''' (previously the '''Bovington Tank Museum''') is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about {{convert|1|mi}} north of the village of Wool and {{convert|12|mi}} west of the major port of Poole. The collection traces the history of the tank with almost 300 vehicles on display. It includes Tiger 131, the only working example of a German Tiger I tank, and a British First World War Mark I, the world's oldest surviving combat tank. It is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Armoured Corps and is a registered charity.<ref>{{EW charity|1102661|The Tank Museum Limited}}</ref>

==History== The writer Rudyard Kipling visited Bovington in 1923 and, after viewing the damaged tanks that had been salvaged at the end of the First World War, recommended that a museum be set up.<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=Museum History |url=http://www.tankmuseum.org/about-us/history |website=The Tank Museum |access-date=27 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610054946/http://www.tankmuseum.org/about-us/history |archive-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> A shed was established to house the collection but was not opened to the general public until 1947.<ref name=history/>

George Forty, who was appointed director of the museum in 1982, expanded and modernized the collection. He retired in 1993 after which he was appointed an OBE.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tankmuseum.org/year-news/bovnews53663 |title=Lt. Col. George Forty OBE FMA|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> David Fletcher, who had been a historian at the museum since 1982, retired in 2012 and was also appointed an MBE "for his services to the history of armoured warfare".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART3302&_IXMENU_=top | title=David Fletcher Honoured | publisher=The Tank Museum | access-date=20 August 2014 }}</ref>

The museum established its own YouTube channel in January 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChl-XKVVBAzoEVsnbOfpcqw|title=Tank Museum|website=YouTube|language=en|access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref> Early episodes were largely one-take affairs of museum staff talking about specific tanks in the collection and their role in history, with notable series led by Fletcher called "Tank Chats." The channel has more YouTube subscribers than famous museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Louvre; and has gained over 100 million views across its videos by April 2023, the first museum channel to hit such a milestone.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=Alex |date=12 September 2023 |title=This Museum Has 300 Tanks and Over 100 Million YouTube Views |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/arts/design/tank-museum-youtube.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> In December 2023 the museum hosted a long distance footrace involving multiple laps around the museum.<ref name=Tappenden>{{cite news |last=Tappenden |first=Ros |date=30 November 2024 |title=Tunnel marathon: Is this England's wackiest race? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdj3pm9182xo |work=BBC News |access-date=1 December 2024 }}</ref>

During the Russo-Ukrainian War the tank museum was able to provide blueprints and track samples of Soviet equipment allowing Cook Defence Systems to manufacture track for use by Ukraine.<ref name=BBCtrack>{{cite news |date=6 March 2024 |title=Tank Museum helps defence firm recreate tank tracks for Ukraine |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-68470203 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 March 2024 }}</ref>

==Exhibition halls== thumb|upright=1.3|WW2 Story Hall

=== World War I Hall (Tank Men) === As well as containing the majority of the museum's World War I tanks the hall tells the story of the men who crewed the first tanks between 1916 and 1918.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tankmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/bovexb53421|title=Tank Men|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> *Featured tanks: Mark I tank, IV, V (one of the few World War I tanks still in working order), IX & Mark VIII "Liberty" tanks.

=== Inter War Hall (War Horse to Horsepower) === This hall explores the rise of the tank and the role of the cavalry on the Western Front.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tankmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/bovexb38200|title=War Horse to Horsepower|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> *Featured vehicles: Vickers A1E1 Independent, Peerless armoured car & Vickers Light tank, Mark II.

=== World War II Hall === [[File:Tanks in Popular Culture Exhibition.png|alt=Two tanks|thumb|upright=1.3|Tanks in Popular Culture Exhibition, featuring a Type 59 Chinese tank, known from Tiananmen Square, with a picture of the Tankman behind it]] This hall displays the largest section, with military vehicles from most nations involved in that conflict.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tankmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/bovexb37892|title=Second World War|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> *Featured vehicles: Panzer I, III, IV, Stug III, Tiger II, Jagdpanzer 38(t), Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger, Sd.Kfz. 251, Somua S35, Comet I, Matilda Mk I, A38 Valiant, Ram Cruiser Mk II, M24 Chaffee, M4 Sherman, 17pdr SP Achilles, M48 Patton, M26 Pershing, T17E1 Staghound, Hamilcar glider, DUKW, SU-76, T-26, KV-1, L3/33 LF, M13/40, Tortoise, Black Prince.

=== Battlegroup Afghanistan === thumb|upright=1.3|RAC Memorial Room This hall contains the Battlegroup Afghanistan exhibition. The men of the Royal Armoured Corps were involved in some of the fiercest fighting since the Second World War.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tankmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/bovexb37891|title=Battlegroup Afghanistan|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> *Featured tanks: Conqueror, Chieftain, Challenger 1 and TOG II.

=== Cold War Hall === Collection of vehicles from the Cold and Gulf War.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/dorset/news/dorset-tank-museum-new-kit/|title=Dorset's Tank Museum gets new Centurion Panzer 57/60 for display|publisher=Planet Radio|access-date=17 October 2023}}</ref>

* Featured Tanks: Tog II, Chieftain, Centurion.

=== Tanks For the Memories - Tanks in Popular Culture Exhibition === New for 2023, “Tanks for the Memories: The Tank in Popular Culture”, was created for the 100th anniversary of the Tank Museum. It is an exhibition looking at how the tank has become a cultural icon through the manufacture of multiple toys, games, models, and the production of works of art, books, comics, video games and films.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/23678096.new-activities-offer-tank-museum-dorset/|title=New activities on offer at The Tank Museum in Dorset|date=26 July 2023|newspaper=Dorset Echo|access-date=17 October 2023}}</ref>

* Featured tanks: Mark IV.

=== The Tank Story Hall === This hall holds some of the most important tanks and AFVs in history, with a supporting collection housed in a multimedia exhibition. It follows the story of the tank, from its invention in 1915 through the 20th century and into the future:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tankmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/bovexb37889|title=The Tank Story|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> *Featured tanks: Little Willie (the forerunner of British tanks), Whippet, Renault FT, Char B1, Panzer II, Tiger 131 (a Tiger I captured in Tunisia in April 1943 and fully restored to running condition by the workshops at Bovington, this is the only Tiger I left that is capable of running under its own power; it was used in the film ''Fury''), M3 Grant, T-34, Panther, DD Sherman, Churchill Mk VII, Sherman Firefly, M48 Patton, T-72, T-62 and Challenger 2.

=== Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Room === The Memorial Room was created in partnership with the Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Trust and commemorates the sacrifice of almost 13,000 Royal Armoured Corps soldiers who died in service since the Corps was founded in 1939. The Memorial Room houses the Books of Remembrance, a digitised and searchable version of the Roll of Honour, and videos about those who fought in the RAC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253690|title= Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Room and Roll of Honour|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=17 October 2023}}</ref>

=== The Vehicle Conservation Centre === thumb|upright=1.35|right|The interior of the Vehicle Conservation Centre The Vehicle Conservation Centre provides cover for more of the collection and puts on view vehicles that had previously not been seen by the public:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tankmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/bovexb37895|title=The Vehicle Conservation Centre|publisher=The Tank Museum|access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> *Featured tanks: Charioteer, M41 Bulldog, M103, M60 Patton, T-54, Cold War and Iraqi T-55s, BMP-1, AMX-30, Type 69, Infanterikanonvagn 91, A33 Excelsior, T14 and SU-100.

==Film==

The museum's collection includes Tiger 131, the only surviving Tiger I tank in operable condition and the replica Mark IV tank built for the film ''War Horse''.<ref name=whdis>{{cite news|date=10 January 2012 |title='War Horse' tank to go on display|url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9461824.war-horse-tank-to-go-on-display/|work=Dorset Echo |access-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213120701/https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/9461824.war-horse-tank-to-go-on-display/|archive-date=13 December 2021}}</ref><ref name=moss>{{cite news |last=Moss |first=Richard |date=10 January 2012 |title=Tank Museum acquires replica Mark IV World War I Tank from Steven Spielberg's War Horse |url=https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/first-world-war/art372386 |work=Culture24 |access-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314194200/https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/first-world-war/art372386|archive-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>

==See also== ;Tank museums *Norfolk Tank Museum - United Kingdom *Kubinka Tank Museum – Russia *{{Lang|fr|Musée des Blindés|italic=no}} – France *Military Museum Lešany – Czech Republic *Deutsches Panzermuseum – Germany *Yad La-Shiryon – Latrun, Israel *Parola Tank Museum – Finland *Australian Armour and Artillery Museum – Australia *Nationaal Militair Museum – Soesterberg, The Netherlands *Ontario Regiment Museum - Ontario, Canada *Royal Tank Museum – Amman, Jordan *American Heritage Museum – Massachusetts, United States ;Other *U.S. Army Armor and Cavalry Collection - Fort Moore, GA *United States Army Ordnance Museum - Virginia, US *Polish Army Museum – large collection of Soviet, Western and Polish AFVs *Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles - Nebraska, US *Base Borden Military Museum - Ontario, Canada *National Museum of Military Vehicles - Dubois, WY *Lists of armoured fighting vehicles *Tank classification

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{Official}} *{{YouTube|h=TheTankMuseum}} *[https://tank100.com/ Tank100 blog] commemorating the centenary of the First World War. *[https://www.tiger-tank.com/ Tiger Collection blog]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tank Museum}} Category:1947 establishments in England Category:Museums established in 1947 Category:Army museums in England Category:World War I museums in the United Kingdom Category:Museums in Dorset Category:Tank museums in England Category:World War II museums in the United Kingdom Category:Charities based in England