History of Patton M47 Tank

General

The M47 is a heavily-armored, full-track-laying, low-silhouette, combat vehicle. Its primary armament is the 90-mm gun T119E1 . Its secondary armaments include a .30 cal. M1919A4 machine gun, .50 cal. M2 HB or .30 cal. machine gun. Lastly, one .50 cal. M2 HB is installed in a pintle stand on the turret roof. It holds a crew of five: vehicle commander, driver, assistant driver, loader, and gunner.

Powertrain & Suspension

The M47 is powered by a Continental model AV-1790-5B, 12 cylinder, V-Type, 4 cycle, air cooled engine. It includes two fans for air circulation and cooling. It uses a CD-850-4 cross-drive transmission that combines transmission, differential, and steering functions. This system includes a split-hydraulic power path for torque drive and variable steering, and is operated via manual controls. It is equipped with torsion-bar suspension and individually sprung wheels.

Hull

The M47’s hull is made from armor plates and cast armor sections welded together and reinforced. The hull is divided into two different compartments: the crew compartment at the front and the engine and transition compartment at the rear, separated by a bulkhead. There are four drain valves in total: one in the crew compartment and three in the rear engine compartment.

Turret

The turret mounts the 90-mm gun in a combinations gun mount M78 and is capable of 360-degree rotation both manually and through a hydraulic-power turret-traversing mechanism. The main turret can elevate 19 degrees and depress 5 degrees, also manually or hydraulically. All of the fire control and sighting instruments are located in the turret, except for the driver’s and assistant driver’s periscopes.

Auxiliary Systems

The M47 is equipped with an auxiliary power system consisting of a two-cylinder, gasoline, air-cooled engine used to power electrical equipment when the main engine is not running. This auxiliary system also recharges the batteries and supports communication equipment. Fuel is draw from the vehicle’s main tanks. Fire extinguishers were included with fixed and portable systems, operated remotely or manually from within or outside the tank. Bilge pumps were included for deep water operations with one pump in the crew and one in the engine compartment. A ventilation blower was included to ventilate the crew compartment. A heater was also included that warmed the crew when needed and used the vehicles fuel.