The US M47 Patton Medium Tank Background
The M46 had been a temporary upgrade to better the Pershing whilst the US Army completed the merging of departments and developed a new line of tanks which would later known as the Patton series after the late US Army General George S. Patton (born November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945).
A working prototype for the light tank, medium and heavy tank were built. The turret of the medium tank which was known as the T42, was fitted to the hull of an existing M46 and proved to be a successful combination.
Production
Existing M46 were upgraded with this new turret to form the M47 Patton and entered service in 1952, whilst some faults were ironed out and production using new hulls began at the Detroit Tank Arsenal.
Some 8500+ were built but were replaced in front line service by the M48, however they were passed on by that point to alley nations (as well as the National Guard) under the mutual defence aid program, which included West Germany, Japan, France and even Iran to name a few. They carried out various modifications and were passed on to other nations in later years as more capable indigenous tanks were introduced.
The US M47 Patton Medium Tank Specifications
Weight 48.6 tons
Length 8.51m
Width 3.51m
Height 3.35m
Crew 5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, assistant driver)
Armour 100mm
Primary armament 90mm M36 (71 rounds stored)
Secondary armament x2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun (x1 roof-mounted & x1 coaxial)
Engine 810hp Continental AVDS-1790-5B V12, air-cooled, Twin-turbo
Power/weight 17.6 hp/tonne
Transmission General Motors CD-850-4, 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse
Suspension Torsion bar
Operational range 160km
Top Road Speed 60 km/h