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M47 (Patton II)

History

The M47 is another member of the main battle tank family derived from the WWII-era M26 Pershing "heavy tank". The Pershing was later relegated to a medium tank and improved upon the upcoming makeshift M46 Patton, the first of its kind to be named the "Patton" - after the legendary WWII American General George S. After Patton. The all-new M47 soon followed, soon to be replaced by the much-improved M48 Patton.

The series culminated in the powerful M60 Patton series of main battle tanks in the 1960s.

M47 Legacy

Having said that, the M47 is an evolution of the M46 Patton, which itself is a wartime evolution of the M26 Pershing (from the outside, the entire tank family shares many similarities in design). Classified as a medium tank, the M47 formed the backbone of the U.S. Army and NATO forces during a critical period in the early Cold War, an escalating arms race and limited conflict. Intended to replace the M4 Sherman and M46 Patton class, the M47 became an extended NATO weapon over the next few decades, with 8,676 eventually produced and used by some 21 countries around the world - mostly Europe, Asia and the United States Middle East. While the M47 was tasked with replacing the M46, even when in US service, the M47 was quickly replaced by the improved M48 from the mid-1950s.

It should be noted, however, that the M47 represents the first truly "entirely new" armor system developed by the United States since World War II.

T42 and the Korean War

During the Korean War in 1950, the main force of the US military after World War II was the M26 Pershing and M46 Patton tanks. The M46 itself was an intermediate solution designed to improve on the shortcomings of the M26 - mainly its weak engine (essentially the same as the lighter M4 Sherman) and limited maneuverability.

Although the M46 had better engines and increased reliability, it was still seen as an interim solution for an entirely new medium tank design, known at the time as the "T42". The T42 features a sleek one-piece turret and five twin, trackside, medium wheels mounted on a wide fuselage.

However, the ongoing war on the Korean peninsula has led to the need for a faster MBT solution without the inherent delays present in the "ground development program" of tanks like the T42.

M47 is born

Thus, the turret developed for the T42 was combined with the existing (and proven) M46 chassis, the M36's primary armament being the 90mm gun of choice. The design was carried out under the pilot designation (prototype) "M46E1", of which only one example was built. The new tank was known at the time under the production designation M47 (although theoretically it was "Patton II", the M47 was never officially called that). Production of the M47 almost began in June 1951 at the Detroit Tank Arsenal and the American Locomotive Company. Despite this expediency, the 50-ton M47 arrived too late to see combat action in the Korean War the war that led to the construction of the tank as an armistice between North and South ended in 1953 Yearly.

US service units began adopting the M47 in the summer of 1952. However, the delay in obtaining the M12 optical rangefinder for the 90mm main gun was one of the reasons the tank missed the war.

In fact, the M47s were not delivered to the area until August 1958 - these replaced the M46s stationed there.

M47 Tour

The turret and hull are fully cast M47 armour, with transverse bulkheads separating the crew from the engine. The crew consisted of five people, including the driver and co-pilot (bow gunner) in the front hull and the tank commander, gunner and loader in the turret. The bow gunner and driver can disembark and disembark through two hatches in the top of the forward hull, while there are two more hatches in the turret for the turret crew. The elongated turret, with a pointed front and a rear overhang, is located at the front of the hull. The 90mm main gun can be rotated 360 degrees, -5 to +19 degrees.

Each side of the track has six two-wheeled wheels and three track return rollers. The suspension is of the torsion bar type.

Armed

The armament is centered on the M36 series 90mm main gun with 71x90mm shells. Secondary armament consists of a Browning M2 50 caliber air-cooled heavy anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on a trunnion mount on top of the turret and operated by the tank commander. This further complements the coaxial mount.

30 caliber M1919A4 machine gun (operated by the gunner) and an additional .30 caliber M1919A4 machine gun mounted on an anti-infantry bow frame (the latter was later removed to make room for an additional 90mm projectile, making the M47 the last American tanks with bow-mounted machine guns and their additional crew positions).

Power and Performance

Power comes from an air-cooled Continental AVDS-1790-5B V-12 gasoline engine with dual carburetors, delivering up to 800 hp. The engine is mated to an Allison/General Motors CD-850-4 transmission that allows two forward modes and one reverse mode.

Performance specs include a top speed of 30 mph and a range of about 81 miles. Gradient crossing is limited to 60% and vertical obstacle crossing is limited to 3 feet. Trench crossings are limited to 8 feet 6 inches, while the onboard fuel capacity is 232 gallons.

M47 continues to exist via exit

In the 1950s, the Cold War-era Military Assistance Program (MAP) ensured that the tank was in good standing with NATO allies. Once in service abroad, the type will survive in the 21st century thanks to special modernization programs implemented locally - some introducing diesel engines and completely new transmission systems, or proposing 105mm main gun armament.

West Germany and Turkey were significant quantitative users, receiving 1,120 and 1,347 reported specimens, respectively. The Turkish examples themselves include former American and West German M47 models that no longer have any value.

The battle finally found the M47

Although missed in American operations in the Korean War, the M47 is still used in anger by other exporters. The Pakistani Army used the M47 against India in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, while Jordan used the type in the 1967 Six-Day War with Israel. Iran used the M47 in its cross-border war with Iraq.

In 1974, about 200 Turkish M47s were used to invade the island of Cyprus. More recently, the Croatian M47 fought against Serbian forces in the Croatian War of Independence, but did not perform well against the more powerful Soviet-produced T-55 main battle tanks.

After all, the M47 is the only tank in U.S. service to bear the Patton name, and it has never seen American direct combat action.

Limited production corresponds to limited variants

Although the M47 was "novel" when it came out, the system had a relatively short service life in the U.S. military due to the excellent new M48 tank design coming online to quickly replace the type. In addition to the M46E1 pilot model, the Patton II was introduced in two main production formats. "M47" is used to denote the base series designation and is essentially a modified M46 with a revised hull and three track return rollers per track side (five in total). The tank was later refined in the 1960s "M47M" model, which incorporated the M60A1 Patton main battle tank's fire control system and engine, and removed the machine gun nose position. The U.S.

Army did not use these newer "M" models at a time when the U.S. Army had transitioned to other more powerful main battle tank offerings. The M6 ??became the M47 with a bulldozer kit for battlefield excavation. The T66 was a proposed flamethrower tank, but was never produced.

USMC and M47

In addition to the U.S. Army's use of tanks, the U.S. Marine Corps also used the M47 for a while before these tanks were quickly replaced by the M48A1 main battle tank and the M103 heavy tank. The U.S. Marine Corps M47 was retired in 1959.