You may have seen news accounts of this tank (a German Army Mark III Sturmgeschutz Assault Gun).

In January 1944 during the battle for St Petersburg, Russia, this tank and its crew were participating in a counterattack against Russian forces when it unknowingly crossed an open bog, broke through the ice, and bottomed out. Unable to recover the vehicle from the bog, the crew took what they could upon leaving (radios, small arms, personal equipment).

After the war, the Russians tried to recover the vehicle but without success until 1994. In the spring of 1994, the tank was recovered with a full ammunition load (later destroyed by the Russians for safety reasons). The tank was ultimately exchanged to the US in 1995 for display in this museum.