Under German Ownership
Production of the M47 Patton got underway in 1951; it was successor to its namesake M46 Patton, with the hull carried over from the M46 and combined with an 810hp gasoline engine for a top speed of 48km/h. Its gun was an L/50 rifled piece, paired with a cutting edge stereoscopic rangefinder. In all, more than 8,500 M47 Pattons were produced, and although their time with the U.S. military was relatively short, they were in many cases provided to friendly countries such as France, Austria and Germany. The latter received 1,100 in the course of 1956 and 1957, deploying them in tank battalion and mechanized infantry units. It was often fitted with smoke dischargers and rain guards, as it served in the nascent re-formed West German military. |