M47

M47

M46

M48A1

M47

M46

M48A1

USA

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.3	7.3	7.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:82 000

Purchase:240 000

This page is about the American medium tank M47. For the version in the Italian tree, see M47 (105/55).

Description

The 90 mm Gun Tank M47 Patton II is a rank V American medium tank with a battle rating of 7.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals" along with the rest of American Ground Forces. It uses a similar hull as its predecessor, the M46 Patton, but features a new turret and a better gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (Front hull, Turret)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Side, Rear, Roof)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	101.6 mm (59°) Front Glacis 76.2 mm (52°) Lower Glacis	63.5 mm	76.2 mm	25.4 mm
Turret	101.6 mm	76.2 mm	50.8 mm	22.2 mm
Cupola	76.2 mm			25.4 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 30 mm thick.

At rank V, the M47 does not have suitable armour against the numerous 88 mm, 100 mm, and 122 mm calibres running around the field. However, it makes up for that with a potent 90 mm cannon with new ammunition able to fight back. Due to the armour thickness of the Rank V tanks, it is recommended to use the M47's speed to flank the enemy, then engage them on their sides to detonate their ammo racks or knock out the crew.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	54	22	46.2	1255	1,545	27.16	33.44
Realistic	49	20		716	810	15.5	17.53

Armaments

Main armament

90 mm M36					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	70	-5°/+19°	±180°	N/A	21.4	29.6	36.0	39.7	42.3	9.75	8.63	7.95	7.50
Realistic					21.4	25.2	30.6	33.8	36.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M318A1 shot	AP	191	189	175	160	147	134
M71A1 shell	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13
M82 shot	APCBC	182	180	168	153	140	128
M304 shot	APCR	264	260	245	226	210	191
M332 shot	APCR	355	347	321	290	262	237
M431 shell	HEATFS	320	320	320	320	320	320

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M318A1 shot	AP	912	10.91	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
M71A1 shell	HE	732	10.55	0.1	0.5	925	79°	80°	81°
M82 shot	APCBC	853	10.94	1.2	20	137.2	48°	63°	71°
M304 shot	APCR	1,021	7.56	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
M332 shot	APCR	1,249	5.64	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
M431 shell	HEATFS	1,216	5.8	0.0	0.1	712.64	65°	72°	75°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M313	821	10.7	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M47

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
71	42 (+29)	12 (+59)	10 (+61)	7 (+64)	1 (+70)	No

Note:

• As they are modeled by sets of 2, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire both shells in the set.
• Shells are modeled by sets of 2 and disappear from the rack after both shells in the set having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 3 to 5 are first stage ammo racks. They total 11 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
• These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 3 - 4 - 5 - 1 - 2.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-6 into racks 8 then 7. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
2,200 (200)				577	N/A	N/A
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,000 (200)				577	-10°/+50°	±120°

Usage in battles

The M47 is very much a glass cannon. With a powerful gun, but weak amour, this vehicle should be played carefully, and out of sight of the enemy. As such, it is often beneficial to use an ambush or flanking-based play-style. Attacking enemies without being seen will maximize this tank's capabilities.

The stock APBC shell is quite weak compared to the shells used by the M47's enemies. While working towards the much better HEAT-FS shell, it is advisable to shoot for enemies' tracks and gun barrels if the main hull is too-well protected for the APBC shell to penetrate. Doing so will help to incapacitate your enemies and support your better-armed teammates. Additionally, the M47 should never have any trouble dealing with soft targets. With two 12.7 mm machine guns in addition to the main cannon, light tanks and armoured cars can be dispatched with ease. (On a side note, these machine guns can be used to spot enemy targets, alerting your team to their presence.)

Once the HEAT-FS shell is unlocked, the M47 may be played more like a classic medium tank. There will be few vehicles that the upgraded shell cannot penetrate. It is recommended to play near friendly vehicles, in case support is needed--even with an upgraded shell, the M47 is not a lone wolf, and will suffer without the backup of its allies.

The M47 has above-average mobility, and achieving flanking positions should not pose too much difficulty. However, the tank does have a high-profile, making it easily spotted. Combined with the vehicle's poor armour, this makes it especially important to stay out of the enemy's sight.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	M82 shot	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	M304 shot	Adjustment of Fire	NVD
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	M332 shot	Elevation Mechanism	Rangefinder
IV	Transmission	Engine		M431 shell	Artillery Support	M313

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good mobility, same handling as the M46
• Great turret traverse speed once upgraded
• Decent front armour, more sloped than the M46
• 320 mm HEATFS ammunition once unlocked

Cons

• Overall bad armour for Rank V matches, especially in the turret
• The gun is not very good with stock ammo, recommended to unlock HEATFS as soon as possible
• Mobility is limited or even rather poor until modifications are purchased.
• Bad gun depression of -5°

History

Development

The M47 Patton came about only a few years after its predecessor, the M46 Patton. The basis of this design was the M26 Pershing, which was deemed insufficiently mobile for its role as a medium tank. The M46 was mainly the M26 Pershing with a new engine, transmission, and a redesigned 90 mm gun. While a good solution for the lacking M26 Pershing design, it was only considered a stopgap solution while the experimental T42 medium tank was being developed. However, the Korean War put a stop in that development due to an urgent need of tanks, so the T42 project, which would produce a completely new tank design, was put on hold.

An interim decision was made to mount the turret from the T42 onto the hull of the M46 Patton, this modified tank was designated the M47 Patton and entered production in 1951. A common nickname for the tank was the Patton II, due to the same name as the M46 Patton, this was changed to Patton 47 a few weeks later. The M47 Patton featured most of the armament seen from the M26 Pershing and M46 Patton, with a 90 mm gun and a coaxial and hull-mounted .30 cal machine gun, and a .50 cal machine gun on top of the turret. The M47 Patton has the distinction of being the last American tank with the hull-mounted machine gun on the bow. The new turret required the hull to be redesigned with a larger turret ring and had a "needle-nose" design with the turret mantlet heavily sloped towards the cannon, the design's heavy sloping nature also helped improve protection. The turret also had a large protrusion at the back to act as storage. An M12 stereoscopic range finder was also mounted on a turret, which was difficult to use, but would appear in every American tank design from here on until the M1 Abrams design.

Though technically a medium tank by the army standards, a new standardization in US Army tank designation on November 9, 1950, had the entire system changed from the weight of the tank to the calibre of the vehicle's gun. Therefore in the 1950s, the "Medium Tank M47 Patton" name was changed to 90 mm Gun Tank M47 Patton. This designation would go on for future American tank designs. The M47 Patton began production in June 1951 before its standardization at the Detroit Tank Arsenal. Delays in the production schedule caused a long period of testing to occur until it was standardized in May 1952. Production ran until November 1953 with a total production number of more than 9,000 M47 Pattons between Detroit and Alco.

Usage

The M47 Patton came out only a year before the improved M48 Patton. Because of this, the M47 was declared a "limited standard" in American service, and those still in American hands were replaced by the M48 Patton tanks. It was declared obsolete by 1957 and were only retained by infantry divisions until replaced by anti-tank missiles in the 1960s. The M47 Patton was given out in large numbers to a number of countries in NATO and SEATO, such as Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Croatia, France, West Germany, and Spain. The M47 Patton would see service in combat in both Indo-Pakistani Wars, the Six Day War, the Iran-Iraq war, the Invasion of Cyprus, and the Croatian War of Independence. Today, they are still being used in Spain as armour recovery vehicles in artillery and infantry units.

The M47 Pattons were promising new designs developed from the M46 Pattons to improve its combat capabilities with a newer turret. However, it did not serve much in America due to the M48 Patton development, which was a completely new design and had nearly no identical parts with its predecessor. It served very well in other countries as their primary armour forces, but those left in the states were used as targets in firing ranges, mainly for training or as tests for future anti-tank developments. In the 1970s, one was tested against the M60 Main Battle Tank, the successor to the M48 Patton, and its 105 mm L7 gun. The HEAT round fired from the gun penetrated the frontal armour of the M47 Patton with relative ease, armour which was considered superb at its time of introduction. The test went on with many M47 tanks and would prove that conventional steel armour in tank warfare was becoming obsolete in the face of new tank ammo.

In-game description

The M47 Patton II medium tank, released in the US beginning in June 1951 by the Detroit Tank Arsenal and the American Locomotive Co., was a modernized version of the M46 Patton.

The M47's frontal hull sheets were more sloped, while infrared viewfinders and a heater were added for the crew. The construction for the cast turret was also updated: it took a step forward from the M46, though the builders reduced its interior space in order to add a cupola and reloader's hatch in its overhangs. As a result, indentations were made that proved excellent at catching shells. That error was rectified for the M48 by making the turret fully domed, similar to the Soviet T-54. The tank's armament was reinforced by modernizing the 90 mm cannon, resulting in an initial velocity of over 900 m/s. The M47 hull also differed from the M46: its front section was more streamlined, while the fan hood between the driver and gunner disappeared. Engine power was added, though the tank's top speed remained the same (although the average terrain it encountered was somewhat higher).

As a result, the M47 did not become standard for American tank construction, and it was quickly replaced in its limited role for the US Army (two divisions in West Germany) by the M48. However, it was actively distributed among NATO countries and other US-dependent allies, resulting in total production of 8,676 units.

The M47 Patton II was part of the West German, Austrian, French, Italian, Belgian, Spanish, Jordanian, Japanese, and Turkish armies.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M47 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Patton Family discusses the M47 at 2:42 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.