Current displays of captured enemy weapons?

December 9, 2011 5:45 AM

What are some examples of countries displaying "captured weapons" or war planes, etc, of any enemy country and then turning them into a tourist attraction?

Iran just captured and displayed a US drone.

North Korea still displays the captured USS Pueblo.

And Hezbollah displays all kinds of captured Israeli weapons.

What are other examples of current displays?

posted by Cwell to Society & Culture (25 answers total)

There the U Boat at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Sometimes I think I'm the only person from Chicago who's never been to see it.
posted by hoyland at 5:49 AM on December 9, 2011

At the Citadel in Quebec City they have cannons diplayed that were captured from the British.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:59 AM on December 9, 2011

If they're permitted to be "found" rather than captured, but displayed prominently nonetheless, then you have the Japanese Gun museum in Fort Siloso, Sentosa island, Singapore. Also The Japanese Gun, presented to Lord Louis Mountbatten after the Japanese surrender in 1945 displayed on the grounds of the Istana (palace) where the president lives.

The Indian Air Force Museum (and I'm sure other such displays) which has the following:

A little further in the aircraft pen are two captured T-59 tanks and a few remnants of the Pakistani Sabre aircraft destroyed by Indian pilots during 1965 conflict.

while naturally, the Pakistani Army Museum displays their own valour:

A number of displayed items were captured during the decade-long struggle against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Some of these items were turned on their former owners by the Mujahideen, others such as the parts of Afghan government and Soviet aircraft, were suitable for nothing more than trophies after they met their fate. Though not itself present, a model of the ‘Zamzama Gun’ forever enshrined in literature thanks to Rudyard Kipling, is also displayed inside. More commonly known to Pakistanis as the ‘Rani Top’, the monster cannon and its history, is perhaps indicative of the relationship between present-day India and Pakistan. Unsurprisingly after three wars with India, there are a significant number of captured Indian weapons and related ‘militaria’. This should not cheapen their worth as all the wars were hard fought affairs, especially on the ground.
posted by infini at 5:59 AM on December 9, 2011

US has some war trophies at West Point.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 6:03 AM on December 9, 2011

The Serbian Military Museum in Belgrade has pieces of the downed stealth fighter from 1999, as well as the uniforms of the American soldiers captured on the border of the Republic of Macedonia.
posted by deanc at 6:07 AM on December 9, 2011

The Tishreen War Panorama Museum in Damascus has a collection of “hardware” captured during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1982 war in Lebanon.
posted by gman at 6:09 AM on December 9, 2011

North Korea also has this (from here.)
posted by griphus at 6:13 AM on December 9, 2011

There is wreckage from a B-52 in Hanoi, and yes, I learned that from watching Top Gear.
posted by nathancaswell at 6:21 AM on December 9, 2011

The Russian Sub "K-77/Juliett 484" was on display in Providence, RI until it ironically sank in a heavy storm in 2007. This was not actually captured so much as bought, first by a Finnish company, leased to a Canadian, unsuccessfully auctioned on eBay, used in a film, and later sold to the RI displayer, but, hey, it was a Soviet sub....
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:27 AM on December 9, 2011

Egypt's military museum at the Citadel in Cairo has at least one piece of a downed Israeli plane (scroll down, not my photos) and, IIRC, other Israeli military equipment displayed. It's been a few years, and when I was there, I was pretty appalled by the display, so I didn't take too many photos.
posted by The Michael The at 6:29 AM on December 9, 2011

Oh yeah, forgot about the Vietnam War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh (formerly the Museum of American War Crimes).
posted by gman at 6:31 AM on December 9, 2011

Havana's "CIA Museum" (it has a real name I forget, but everyone calls it that) includes a number of weapons and weaponized items used by the US in failed attempts to assassinate Castro over the decades.

My personal favorites: the poisoned hand lotion and hotel slippers.
posted by rokusan at 6:42 AM on December 9, 2011

The US Army Ordnance Museum, formerly located at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and being transferred to Fort Lee Virginia, has a collection of enemy weapons.
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:53 AM on December 9, 2011

The Neue Berg in Vienna has a room of full of armor, weapons, and banners captured from the Turks.
posted by chrisulonic at 7:28 AM on December 9, 2011

Israel displays many captured tanks at war memorials. Some random examples. They also have an Israeli Air Force Museum that includes some captured planes.
posted by vasi at 7:32 AM on December 9, 2011

The Museum of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba has on display the engine of the Lockheed U-2 which was shot down above Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis
posted by h0p3y at 8:09 AM on December 9, 2011

The Military Museum in Beijing has a lot of captured stuff, including planes and tanks from the Sino-Japanese and Korean Wars.
posted by Tubalcain at 8:31 AM on December 9, 2011

There must be hundreds of war-trophy American aircraft on display in Vietnam. When I first arrived in Saigon in the early ’90’s, I saw a Northrop F-5 at the Ho Chi Minh Campaign Museum on Le Duan street. Since nobody was around, I opened the nose gun hatch and found a fully loaded M38 cannon. The hatch has since been riveted shut. I often wonder if the ammunition was removed.
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 8:50 AM on December 9, 2011

The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City displays old American tanks and planes, as does the tourist area around the Cu Chi Tunnels, also in Vietnam.
posted by Kololo at 9:19 AM on December 9, 2011

The National Museum of the American Indian has quite a few weapons in its collection.
posted by swift at 10:05 AM on December 9, 2011

Imperial War Museums in London & Duxford, Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Great Patriotic War Museum in Moscow, National Museum of the US Air Force, and hordes of others. If there was a war within the last 100 years, there's probably a museum or a section of a museum for it. It really depends on what you are interested in, and where you happen to be. If there is something specific, memail me and I'll see what I can find.
posted by davismbagpiper at 2:18 PM on December 9, 2011

Not quite the same as other posts, but the lions in londons trafalgar square are made from melted enemy cannons.
posted by dstopps at 2:49 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

North Korea has the USS Pueblo, a US Navy Electronic-Intelligence ship (SIGINT/ELINT), which was captured in international waters (DPRK naturally disputes this), and its surviving 82 crewmen were held captive for 11 months in NK. The ship is now a museum in Pyongyang. Pueblo was not a warship as such, and was armed with .50-cal machine guns (Browning M2, no doubt) for defense, but this would be no defense against an armored ship.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2011

Oh, you mentioned that in your OP. durr.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:50 PM on December 9, 2011

The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a Japanese Zero from World War II that didn't fulfill its kamikaze mission.
posted by Strawman at 8:20 PM on December 9, 2011