Jump to content

M48 Patton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 222.254.82.92 (talk) at 06:35, 16 June 2008 (→Operators). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

M48 Patton
TypeMain battle tank
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1950s - 1990s (USA)
WarsVietnam War, Six Day War, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Iran-Iraq War
Production history
ManufacturerM48: Chrysler, Fisher Tank Arsenal, Ford
ProducedM48: 1952 - 1959
No. builtM48: ~12,000
VariantsMany, see the variants section
Specifications
MassM48: 45 tonnes (44.2 tons) combat ready
Length9.3 m (30.22')
Width3.65 m (11.86')
Height3.1 m (10.07')
Crew4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armor120 mm (4.89")
Main
armament
90 mm gun T54; M48A5 and later variants: 105 mm M68 gun
Secondary
armament
.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Machine gun
.3 in (7.62 mm) M73 Machine gun
EngineContinental AVDS-1790-5B V12 aircooled, twin turbocharged gas engine (early M48s) 810 hp (604 kW)
Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12 air cooled, twin turbocharged diesel
750 hp
Power/weight16.6 hp/tonne
TransmissionGeneral Motors CD-850-4A or -4B, 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse
Suspensiontorsion bar
Fuel capacity757 litres (200 gals)
Operational
range
463 km (287 miles)
Maximum speed 48 km/h (29.8 mph)

The M48 Patton was one of the U.S army's principal main battle tanks of the Cold War, with models in service from the early 1950s to the 1990s. The M48 was the U.S. Army and Marine Corps primary tank during the Vietnam War. It was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, especially other NATO countries. The tank belongs to the Patton family of tanks, named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle. It was a further development of the M47 Patton tank.

The M48 Patton tank was designed to replace the previous M47 Pattons and M4 Shermans. Although largely resembling the M47, the M48 Patton was a completely new tank design despite a rough similarity from a distance. Some M48A5 models served well into the 80s. Internationally, many various M48 Patton models remain in service. The M48 was the last American tank to mount the 90mm tank gun, and in fact later models were upgraded to carry the new standard weapon of 105mm.

History

Marines of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, riding on an M48A3 tank, Vietnam, 1966.

A year after the M47 entered service, the US Army decided to replace it by yet another product of the evolution of the Pershing/Patton line, the M48, still dubbed Patton. A deeper modernization than the M46 and the M47, the M48 featured a new turret, new redesigned hull and an improved suspension. The hull machine gunner position was removed, reducing the crew to 4. Essentially, it was a new tank altogether.

Nearly 12,000 M48s were built from 1952 to 1959. The early designs were powered by gasoline engines which gave the tank a short operating range and were prone to catching fire when hit. This version was considered unreliable but numerous examples saw combat use in various Arab-Israeli conflicts. They also were prone to fire when the turret was penetrated and the hydraulic lines ruptured spewing "cherry juice" (the nickname for the red fluid) at high pressure into the crew compartment resulting in a fireball. The flashpoint was too low at less than 300 F, causing many burn injuries and deaths to crew members. In 1959, American M48s were upgraded to the M48A3 model which featured a diesel power plant. However, in 1975, M48's with gas engines were still in use by many West German Army units including the 124th Panzer Battalion.

M48A5

In the mid-1970s, the M48A5 upgrade was developed to allow the vehicle to carry the heavier 105mm gun. This was designed to bring the M48s up to speed with the M60 tanks then in regular use. Most of the M48s were placed into service with reserve units by this time.

By the mid-1990s, the M48s were phased out of U.S. service. However, many foreign countries continued to use the M48 models.

Combat service

Vietnam

U.S. Marines riding atop an M48 tank, Vietnam, April 1968.

The M48s saw action during the Vietnam War. Some were assigned to U.S. Marine Corps units, arriving in Vietnam in 1965. Others were in three U.S. Army battalions, the 1/77th Armor near the DMZ, the 1/69th Armor in the Central Highlands, and the 2/34th Armor near the Mekong Delta. Each battalion consisted of approximately fifty seven tanks. M48s were also used by armored cavalry squadrons in Vietnam, until replaced by M551 Sheridan tanks. The M67A1 flamethrower tank (nicknamed the Zippo) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam.

The M48s performed admirably[citation needed] in Vietnam in the infantry-support role. There were few actual tank versus tank battles. One was between the 1/69th Armor and NVA PT-76 tanks near Ben Het in 1969. The M48s provided adequate protection for its crew from small arms, mines, and RPGs.

M48s were the only vehicles in Vietnam that could reasonably protect their crews from land mines. They were often used for minesweeping operations along Highway 19 in the Central Highlands, a two lane paved road between An Khe and Pleiku. Daily convoys moved both ways along Highway 19. These convoys were held up each morning while the road was swept for mines. At that time, minesweeping was done by soldiers walking slowly over the dirt shoulders of the highway with hand-held mine detectors. During this slow process, convoys would build up to a dangerously inviting target for the enemy. As a result a faster method was improvised. One M48 lined up on each side of the road, with one track on the dirt shoulder and the other track on the asphalt; then they raced to a designated position miles away. If M48s made it without striking a mine, the road was clear and the convoys could proceed. In most cases, an M48 that struck a land mine in these operations only lost a road wheel or two in the explosion; seldom was there any hull damage which would be considered "totaling" the tank.[citation needed]

Indo-Pakistani Wars

M47s and M48s were again used in tank warfare by the Pakistan Army against Indian Army's Centurion and M4 Sherman tanks in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 with some good results. In the Rann of Kutch the tanks proved surprisingly nimble in marshy terrain, and Pakistani forces drove back Indian incursions. In Kashmir and Punjab, the tank had its first real test. During Operation Grandslam, Pakistani tank forces broke through the Indian lines very quickly, and defeated armored counterattacks. The Pakistanis used approximately a division worth of tanks though not all were Pattons. The Patton failed to live up to expectations in the Battle of Asal Uttar, where elements of the Pakistani 1st Armoured Division attacked an entrenched Indian position, and many Pattons were destroyed and captured. The Pattons had a better outing in the Battle of Chawinda where they destroyed many Indian tanks. They were used with success by 25th Cavalry during its famous stand on the first day of that battle.[1]

The Patton was later used by Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, with mixed results. In a repetition of 1965, Pattons spearheaded the Pakistani advance through Chamb, and the Patton was the main Pakistani tank at Shakarghar. In the latter battle, a brigade of tanks (the Changez Force) successfully resisted the Indian advance, in a repeat of Chawinda. However, in what became known as Pakistan's Charge of the Light Brigade, a counterattack led by 13th Lancers and 31st Cavalry was mauled by the Indian 54th Division around [[Battle of Barapind].However, the objectives set were achieved.[2] India set up a war memorial named "Patton Nagar" ("Patton Town") in Khemkaran District, where the captured Pakistani Patton tanks are displayed.

Analyzing their performance, the Pakistani Army held that the Patton was held in unreasonably high esteem by both sides and that tactics were to blame for the debacle at Asal Uttar and Basantar. [3]. However, a U.S. study of the battles in South Asia concluded that the Patton's armor could in fact be penetrated by the 84mm 20 pounder gun of the Centurion and the 75mm gun of the AMX-13.

Middle East

M48s were also used with mixed results during the 1967 Six-Day War. On the Sinai front, Israeli M48s were used with stunning success against Egyptian T-54s and T-34s supplied by the Soviet Union. However, on the West Bank front, Jordanian M48s were regularly defeated by Israeli WWII-era M4 Shermans (upgunned with 105mm guns), the result of superior Israeli tactics and crews. In pure technical terms the Jordanian Pattons were far superior to the Israeli Shermans, with Israeli shots at more than 1,000 meters simply glancing off the M48s' armor. Other reasons for the Jordanian Pattons' failure on the West Bank were Israeli air superiority and a distinct lack of aggressive handling by the Jordanian crews. The Israeli Army captured about 100 Jordanian M48 and M48A1 tanks and pressed them into service in their own units after the war.

M48s were used by the Lebanese Army and the Christian Lebanese Forces militia in the Lebanese Civil War. The Lebanese Army still operates about 100 M48s. In 2007, during the 2007 North Lebanon conflict Lebanese Army M48s shelled militant outposts in a refugee camp. [1]

M48s were used, along with M47s, in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July and August 1974.

Variants

U.S. variants

M48 Patton
  • M48 - Differed from the M47 in having yet another new turret design and a redesigned hull, doing away with the bow machine gun position, featuring the M41 90 mm gun. These turrets give the M48 its distinctive non-M26 style look. Originally the gun featured a Y-shape muzzle brake, but this was changed to the more characteristic T-shape.
    • M48C - Over a hundred original production hulls were found to be lacking correct ballistic protection and were relegated to training as the M48C.
  • M48A1 - New driver hatch and M1 commander's cupola, allowing the M2HB .50 caliber machine gun to be operated and reloaded from within the vehicle.
  • M48A2 - improved powerpack and transmission, redesigned rear plate, an improved turret control.
    • M48A2C - M48A2s with an improved rangefinder, M17, new ballistic drive and bore evacuator for the main gun, and the auxiliary tensioning wheels were deleted.
  • M48A3 - Refit of M48A1s with diesel engines and a new fire control system.
    • M48A3 Mod. B - Additional armor on the exhausts and tail lights, and a raised commanders cupola.
  • M48A4 - Proposed refit of M48A3s with M60 turrets, scrapped with the need of these previous "surplus" turrets with the failure of the M60A2
  • M48A5 - Upgunned with the 105 mm M68 gun.
    • M48A5PI - M1 cupola replaced by the Israeli Urdan model.
An M67 "Zippo" tank of the U.S.M.C. during the Vietnam war.
  • M67 "Zippo" - M48 armed with a flamethrower inside a dummy model of the main gun with fake muzzle brake.
    • M67A1 - M67 variant, M48A2 hulls used.
    • M67A2 - M67 variant, M48A3 hulls used.

Specialized variants

Additional equipment:

  • M8 - Bulldozer and earthmoving equipment for the M48.
    • M8A1 - Improved bulldozer and earthmoving equipment for the M48

British variant

  • M48 Marksman - a SPAAG version, equipped with a Marksman turret.

Israeli variants

Israel created an extensive number of variants of the series from tanks acquired initially from a number of sources, including capturing them in battle, or from other countries such as Germany and the United States. Many of the Israeli M48's have been upgraded with additional reactive or passive armor, drastically improving their armor protection. These uparmored versions are called Magach.

  • E-48
    • E-48 AVLB - a M48 AVLB but with an Israeli bridge.
    • E-48 (M48A2) - basically unmodified M48A2 from Germany
    • E-48 (M48A2C) - basically unmodified M48A2C from Germany
    • E-48 (M48A3) - basically unmodified M48A3 from USA
  • Magach - a series of improved Israeli versions of the M48 and the M60.

Jordanian variants

  • AB1 - Jordanian armoured recovery vehicle.
  • AB9B1 - Jordanian upgrade with 120 mm smoothbore gun.

Taiwanese variants

  • M48H/CM-11 "Brave Tiger" - Taiwanese version consisting of an up-gunned M48A2 turret and a M60A3 hull and fitted with ERA. Also has significant upgrades to the gun tracking equipment and fire control.
  • CM-12 - M48A3 MBT receiving the same weapons and fire control upgrades as those of CM-11.

Hellenic variants

  • M48A5 MOLF - The Hellenic Army has added the EMES-18 FCS to their M48A5, denumerating them as “MOLF” for Modular Laser Fire Control System.

Spanish variants

  • M48A5E - M48A5 variant, 105 mm gun with laser rangefinder.
  • Alacran CZ-10/25E - Spanish army combat engineer variant. (M-60.A1)
    • Alacran CZ-10/30E - Upgraded CZ-10/25E. (M-60.A1)

South Korean variants

  • M48A5K - Fitted with M68 105mm gun, additional Side skirt, and significant fire control upgrades. FCS was Called LTFCS system.
  • M48A3K - M48A3K shifts the gasoline engine previously with the diesel engine, the muzzle brake was fitted 'T' form brake, added 3 support wheel and the fitted tank commander periscope on Turret, and M48A3K in M48A3 additionally to improve a smoke grenade launcher affix and a fire control system from Republic of Korea

Turkish variants

  • M48A5T1 - Turkish-upgraded M48 variant along similar lines to the M48A5, with M68 105 mm main armament, passive night vision and MTU diesel engines.
  • M48A5T2 - Turkish-upgraded M48 variant, improved version of the M48A5T1 with thermal sight and laser rangefinder.
  • M48T5 "Tamay" ARV - Turkish-designed armored recovery vehicle based on the M48 body.

German variants

File:Wik.Los 003.jpg
M 48 of the German Home Defense Forces in 1985
  • Minenraeumpanzer Keiler - armored mine clearing vehicle based on a widely modified M48 A2C cast hull. (Still in service)
  • Kampfpanzer M48 A2C - replaced the Kampfpanzer M47 since the end of the fifties and saw service with the Home Defense Forces in reserve units until the early nineties
  • Kampfpanzer M48A2GA2 - upgraded version with the 105mm L7 cannon and a different MG3 installation from the Leopard 1. Out of service in the early nineties
  • Super M48 - upgraded version M48.[4]

Operators

Former Operators

Tank Trivia

  • The M47 and M48 were the only tanks to be the primary MBT of both the United States and West Germany.
  • The M48 was the last U.S. tank to have a dedicated flame thrower version.
  • There is a town named Patton Nagar in India where the Pakistani M48 Patton tanks captured during the Indo-Pakistani wars are displayed.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ Pakistan Military Consortium :: www.PakDef.info
  2. ^ Cloughy, Brian. History of the Pakistan Army. ISBN 970-0-19-547334-6. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid prefix (help)
  3. ^ Pakistan Military Consortium :: www.PakDef.info
  4. ^ Super M48
  5. ^ Israel - Army Equipment
  6. ^ Republic of Korea - Army Equipment
  7. ^ Turkey: A Country Study, p.350. Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1419191268
  8. ^ Taiwan - Army Equipment
  • Steven J Zaloga, Tony Bryan, Jim Laurier - "M26–M46 Pershing Tank 1943–1953", 2000 Osprey Publishing (New Vanguard 35), ISBN 1-84176-202-4.
  • Keith W. Nolan "Into Lao's, Operation Lam Son 719 and Dewey Canyon II" 1986. Presidio Press. Account of the US Army's final offensive of the Vietnam War.
  • Abraham Rabinovich - "The Battle for Jerusalem June 5-7, 1967", 2004 Sefer Ve Sefer Publlishing, Jerusalem, ISBN 965-7287-07-3
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patton tank.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M48_Patton&oldid=219648210"