The M47 was replaced in service after several years by the M48 Patton, which was a direct development of the M47. Though discontinued by the U.S. Army, the M47 Patton became the standard equipment in many other armies
The design proved optimal and further modifications led to the design being christened the M47 Patton II, sharing the same nickname as the preceding M46. Though urgently produced, its service with the US Army is short-lived as the newer M48 Patton III tank came into service.
The M47 was a relatively short-lived MBT (then called "medium tank" created to replace the M46 Patton / M26 Pershing and the M4 Sherman). It was widely produced to fit the needs of the US Army, US Marines, but also NATO nations as a whole as a stopgap measure before new models could be built locally.
M47 production ran from July 1951 until November 1953 and 8,576 were built by American Locomotive Company and the Detroit Tank Arsenal. The Americans had assumed that marrying an existing turret and hull would result in a tank that would have few teething troubles.
The M47 Patton was designed in 1949 by the United States’ military (Detroit Arsenal, US Army, Corps of Engineers, and Corps of Ordnance) to replace the aging US tank fleet of obsolete M4 Shermans, M26 Pershings, and M46 Pattons.
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 M46 Patton tank. The M47 was the U.S. Army and Marine Corps primary tank, intended to replace the M46 Patton and M4 Sherman tanks.