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 Brownings, one bow machine gun in 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.
| M47 Patton | |
|---|---|
| Type | Main Battle Tank and Medium tank |
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1952 - early 1960's (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) |
| Main 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) |
| Speed | 37 mph (60 km/h) |
With the arrival of the improved M48 Patton in 1953, the M47 was declared limited standard in 1955 and were replaced with the M48 series in tank units 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, all 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 105 mm (4.1 in) 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.
