M47 Patton

M47 Patton
M47 Patton on display
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	USA
Service history
In service	1952–early 1960s (USA)
Production history
Manufacturer	Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant American Locomotive Co.
Produced	1951–1953
Number built	8,576
Specifications
Weight	48.6 short tons (44.1 t) combat ready
Length	27 ft 11 in (8.51 m)
Width	11 ft 6.25 in (3.51 m)
Height	11 ft (3.35 m)
Crew	5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, assistant driver)
Armor	4 in (100 mm)
Primary armament	90 mm gun M36 71 rounds
Secondary armament	2 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun (one roof-mounted, one coaxial with the 90mm cannon) .30 cal (7.62 mm) M1919A4 machine gun (in flexible mount at right front of hull)
Engine	Continental AVDS-1790-5B V12, air-cooled, Twin-turbo gasoline engine 810 hp (600 kW)
Power/weight	17.6 hp/tonne
Transmission	General Motors CD-850-4, 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse
Suspension	Torsion bar suspension
Fuel capacity	233 USgal (880 l/194 imp gal)
Operational range	100 mi (160 km)(In average conditions)
Speed	37 mph (60 km/h)

Line drawing of the M47.

The M47 Patton is an American medium tank, the second tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates of tanks in battle. It was a further development of the M46 Patton tank.

History

The M47 was the U.S. Army's and Marine Corps' primary tank, intended to replace the M46 Patton and M4 Sherman medium tanks. The M47 was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, both SEATO and NATO countries, and was the only Patton series tank that never saw combat while in US service.

Although roughly similar to the later M48s and M60s, these were completely new tank designs. Many different M47 Patton models remain in service internationally. The M47 was the last US tank to have a bow-mounted machine gun in the hull.

Design

Although a new power plant corrected the mobility and reliability problems of the M26 Pershing, the subsequently renamed M46 was considered a stopgap solution that would be replaced later by the T42 medium tank. However, after fighting erupted in Korea, the Army decided it needed the new tank earlier than planned. It was deemed that there was not enough time to finish the development of the T42 and fix various problems that were likely to emerge in a new design. The final decision was to produce another interim solution, with the turret of the T42 mounted on the familiar hull of the M46. The composite tank, developed by the Detroit Arsenal, was named M47 Patton and entered production in 1951. Its main gun was the M36 90 mm gun with an M12 optical rangefinder fitted. The secondary armament consisted of two .30cal Browning machine guns, one in the bow of the hull and one coaxial machine gun in the turret, and a .50cal Browning M2 on a pintle mount on the turret roof. The M47 was the last American designed tank to include a bow machine gun. The T42 turret had a larger turret ring than the M26/M46 turret, and featured a needle-nose design which improved armor protection of the turret front (similar to the M60A1 tank of 1962), an elongated turret bustle and storage bin which protruded halfway across the engine deck, and the turret sides were sloped to further improve ballistic protection; this gave the turret a decidedly lozenge-shaped profile. It also featured the M12 stereoscopic rangefinder, which was designed to improve first-round hit probability but proved difficult to use; the rangefinder protruded from both sides of the upper turret front, which would be a feature of American tanks until the advent of the M1 Abrams in 1980.

Production began at the Detroit Tank Arsenal in June 1951 before the M47 was standardized for production. Delays in shipment of the M12 rangefinder and other problems due to the rushed production schedule caused a protracted testing period, and the first M47s were not fielded to the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions until summer 1952. Standardized in May 1952, the M47 Patton's production ran until November 1953; Detroit built 5,481 tanks, and American Locomotive Company (Alco) produced 3,095, for a total production run of 8,576 M47 Pattons.

Deployment

With the arrival of the improved M48 Patton in 1953, the M47 was declared limited standard in 1955, and examples in tank units were replaced with the M48 series soon after. After being declared obsolete in 1957, M46s and M47s were retained in active duty infantry division battlegroup assault gun platoons (four tanks each, one platoon per battlegroup, for a total of 20 tanks per division) until replaced with the light truck mounted SS-10 anti-tank guided missile in the early 1960s. M47s were used by the Reserves for a relatively short time, soon being replaced by early production M48 Patton series tanks; thus, most of the M47s were exported in the late 1950s.

The US Marine Corps also fielded M47s starting in late 1952; after the Korean War, all seven Marine tank battalions, three divisional, two reserve training, and two force level, each fielded M47s. But these were soon replaced with M48A1 Pattons and M103 heavy tanks, with the last M47s being retired in 1959.

The M47 was widely used by NATO and SEATO allies as well as other countries, including Austria (147), Belgium (784), Ethiopia (30), France (856), Greece (300 plus over 30 from West Germany), Iran (around 400), Italy (2,480), Japan (1 for evaluation only), Jordan (49), Pakistan (230), Portugal (161), Saudi Arabia (23 from the US, 108 on the international market), Somalia (25 from Saudi Arabia), South Korea (531), Sudan (17 from Saudi Arabia), Spain (389), Switzerland (2 for evaluation), Turkey (1,347 from the US and West Germany), West Germany (1,120), and Yugoslavia (319). Like the US Army of the time, the West German Bundeswehr also used some of their M47s as interim tank destroyers/assault guns until replaced by the Raketenjagdpanzer 1 tank destroyers armed with SS-11 anti-tank guided missiles in the early 1960s.

US Army M47s remaining in storage were expended as targets; in the 1970s, they were used for the M60A1's 105mm gun with devastating effect. The 105 mm HEAT round would penetrate the frontal armor with ease. Many M47s in like-new condition met their fate in this manner, showing the M60 crews first hand the effects of modern tank weapons on conventional steel armor.

Combat service

• Pakistan used M47s against India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
• Jordan used M47s against Israel in the Six Day War in 1967.
• The M47 was used by the Turkish Army, in the Cyprus Peace Operation in July and August 1974, with an estimated 200 Pattons involved in the action. At least one operational M47, number 092273, was captured by the Cyprus National Guard and remained in service until 1993. The example is currently stored at the camp of the 25 EMA in Paphos as a training and memorial exhibit.
• Iran used M47s against Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war.
• In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Turkish army used M47 tanks against PKK guerrillas in Turkey and Iraq. Turkish M48A5 variants replaced all remaining M47 in the late 1990s.
• Croatia used M47s against the Serbs in the Croatian War of Independence but their performance was inferior to that of the Soviet-designed T-55s. The M47's were retired from service immediately after the war, and are now used as gunnery/missile targets during military exercises.

Variants

• M46E1 - pilot model, M46 hull with T42 turret, fitted with the M36 90 mm Gun, and was longer to incorporate a radio, ventilator, and featured a stereoscopic rangefinder; only one built
• M47 - main production version, M46 hull modified with redesigned glacis, reduction from five to three track return rollers per side, longer mufflers on rear fenders; 8,576 built
• M47M - The product of an improvement program started in the late 1960s, the M47M featured the engine and fire control elements from the M60A1. The assistant driver's position was eliminated in favor of additional 90 mm ammunition. Not used by the US; over 800 vehicles were produced for Iran and Pakistan
• M47E - Spanish M47M austere version(kept original FCS).
• M47E1 - Second Spanish upgrade batch with rearranged main gun ammunition storage and crew heater. Both new and upgraded M47Es. 330 converted.
• M47E2 - 45 built. M47E1 with Rh-105 105mm gun and improved FCS (still electromechanical). Passive night vision for driver and commander. All M47 series MBT in Spanish service retired 1993.
• M47ER3 - Spanish armored recovery vehicle. 22 built.

Additional equipment

• M6 - Earth Moving Tank Mounting Bulldozer. Bulldozer kit for the M47 series.

Operators

Former users of the M47 in dark cyan, current users in dark blue

• Jordan
• Spain- M47ER3 ARV based on modernized M47 hulls. 22 converted 1994-96. Two versions, M47ER3M (16) to operate with M48/M60 series vehicles and M47ER3L to operate with Leopard 2 series (6).
• Somaliland

Former operators

M47 Patton II in museum in Dresden, Germany

A captured Pakistani M-47 Tank from the battle of Assal Uttar at Bhikiwind Village in the Khem Karam Sector in 10 Sep 1965. Now displayed in Bangalore city.

• Austria
• Belgium - One of the surviving examples is visible in the Brussels Military Museum
• Croatia - Over 20 during the Croatian War of Independence, 16 units remained in service by 1996 but were soon retired.
• Cyprus - One captured vehicle.
• France
• Greece
• Iraq - All destroyed or scrapped.
• Iran - 168 (includes M48)
• Italy
• Japan - Evaluation only.
• Republic of Korea - Retired in 2006 ~ 2007
• Pakistan
• Philippines - An M47 is on static display inside Camp Aguinaldo
• Portugal
• Saudi Arabia
• Somalia
• Spain
• United States
• West Germany
• Turkey - All M47s were recycled and the steel used for civil purposes, except one tank that was delivered to the Harbiye museum in Istanbul and one tank as war memorial in location 35°19′39″N 33°8′28″E (Cyprus).
• Yugoslavia - Total of 319 delivered during 1950s when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower feared that the USSR could attack Yugoslavia via the Hungarian-Yugoslav border.

In popular culture

The tank was used in many films, including some WWII films. Perhaps its notable WWII appearance was in the film Battle of the Bulge, where it portrayed Tiger II tanks. In the films Patton and Tobruk it portrayed German tanks once more. In Patton, the M48 Patton was also used to portray them. It portrayed American tanks in the film Anzio.

See also

• T-54 -Soviet tank
• M26 Pershing
• M46 Patton
• M48 Patton
• Type 61
• M60 Patton
• List of armoured fighting vehicles
• M103 heavy tank
• G-numbers SNL G262

References

Bibliography

• Hunnicutt, R. P. "Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank." (Vol 1), 1984, Presidio Press; ISBN 0-89141-230-1.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

M47 tanks

• AFV Database: M47 Patton
• GlobalSecurity.org: M47 Patton
• Patton-Mania
• M47 Photos and Walk Arounds on Prime Portal
• "Army's Latest Medium Tank Features Lethal Firepower." Popular Mechanics, June 1952, p. 88. early public relation article for M-47.