On July 1, 1952, the Chrysler Corporation unveiled its new M48 Patton battle tank, nicknamed the “Phantom 48”. This film, “Land Battleship”, shows the demonstration by the first Pattons at the Delaware Tank Plant in Newark, Delaware. The M-3, a WWII battle tank of the type that would be replaced by the ’48, is also shown at the 6:45 mark. This was the first tank ever built by Chrysler.
The M48 Patton is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed in the United States. It was the third tank to be officially 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 was in U.S. service until replaced by the M60 and served as the U.S. Army and Marine Corps’s primary battle tank in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, especially other NATO countries.
The M48 Patton tank was designed to replace the previous M47 Pattons and M4 Shermans. Although largely resembling the M47, the M48 was a completely new design. It was the last U.S. tank to mount the 90 mm tank gun, with the last model, the M48A5, being upgraded to carry the new standard weapon of the M60, the 105mm gun. Some M48A5 models served well into the 1980s with American forces, and many M48s remain in service in other countries. The Turkish Army has the largest number of modernized M48 MBTs, with more than 1,400 in its inventory. Of these, around 1,000 have been phased out or are in storage, or have been modified to ARVs.
On 27 February 1951, OTCM (Ordnance Technical Committee Minutes) #33791 initiated the design of the new tank, designated the 90mm Gun Tank T-48 (the prefix letter “T” would be replaced by the prefix “X” beginning with the M60 series tank). A deeper modernization than the M46 and the M47, the M48 featured a new hemispherical turret, a redesigned hull, and an improved suspension. The hull machine gunner position was removed, reducing the crew to 4. On 2 April 1953, OTCM order #34765 standardized the last of the Patton series tanks as the 90mm Gun Tank M48 Patton.
Nearly 12,000 M48s were built from 1952 to 1959. The early designs, up to the M48A2C’s, were powered by a gasoline 12-cylinder engine and a 1-cylinder auxiliary generator (called the “Little Joe”). The gasoline engine versions gave the tank a shorter operating range and were more prone to catching fire when hit. Although considered less reliable than diesel powered versions, numerous examples saw combat use in various Arab-Israeli conflicts. The low flashpoint of MIL-PRF-6083 hydraulic fluid used in the recoil mechanisms and hydraulic systems for rotating weapons or aiming devices is less than 212 °F (100 °C) and could result in a fireball in the crew compartment when the lines were ruptured by incoming fire.[8] MIL-PRF-6083 fluid was not peculiar to the M-48 and is no longer used in combat armored vehicles, having been replaced by fire resistant hydraulic fluid. Beginning in 1959, most American M48s were upgraded to the M48A3 model which featured a more reliable and longer range diesel power plant. M48s with gasoline engines, however, were still in use in the US Army through 1968, and through 1975 by many West German Army units, including the 124th Panzer Battalion.
The Newark Assembly Plant opened in 1951 as a tank plant and was converted for the production of Plymouth and Dodge automobiles in 1957. A variety of Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth models were produced at this facility over the years, totaling nearly 7 million cars. On February 14, 2007, DaimlerChrysler announced that the plant would lose one working shift in 2007, and that it would be scheduled to be shut down completely in 2009. The University of Delaware now owns the campus.
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