M47 Patton

M47 Patton
M47 Patton on display
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1952–early 1960s (USA)
Wars	Suez Crisis, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Six Day War, 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Ogaden War, Iran–Iraq War, Somali Civil War, Yugoslav Wars
Production history
Manufacturer	Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant American Locomotive Co.
Produced	1951–1953
No. built	>9,000
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	Upper Glacis: 4 in (100 mm) at 60° = 8 in (200 mm) LoS Turret Front: 4 in (100 mm) at 40° = 5.22 in (133 mm) LoS
Main armament	90 mm gun M36 71 rounds
Secondary armament	1 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun (roof-mounted) 2 x .30 cal (7.62 mm) M1919A4 machine gun (one flexible mount at right front of hull, one coaxial with the 90mm cannon)
Engine	Continental AV-1790-5B V12, air-cooled, Twin-turbo gasoline engine 810 hp (600 kW)
Power/weight	17.6 hp (13.6 kW) / tonne
Transmission	General Motors CD-850-4, 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse
Suspension	Torsion bar suspension
Fuel capacity	233 US gal (880 l; 194 imp gal)
Operational range	100 mi (160 km)(In average conditions)
Speed	37 mph (60 km/h)

The M47 Patton was a development of the M46 Patton tank mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American 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.

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 similar in appearance 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.

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 that 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 the new design. The final decision was to produce another interim solution, with the turret of the T42 mounted on the existing M46 hull. The composite tank, developed by the Detroit Arsenal, was named the 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 .30 cal Browning machine guns, one in the bow and one coaxial with the 90mm main 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, an elongated turret bustle and storage bin which protruded halfway across the engine deck, and sloped sides 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.