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ChrisC · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 26, 2006 Posts: 147

M-47 sn 8687, located in Muskegon MI. Awaiting disposition from US government. Looks like it was a repower test bed. We were hoping to get this tank for our museum, but it does not look like that will happen. I hope it goes to a good home.

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

Is that at the Getty St. Plant? The thing next to it looks like the light forces vehicle prototype Teledyne Continental made back in the 80's/90's. I believe they have removed the vehicles from the factory grounds. How old is this photo?

Costas_TT · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 15, 2012 Posts: 387

To the right of the M47, the Expeditionary Light Tank is partially visible.

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

I was in the plant this summer, I'm pretty sure all these vehicles are gone. The plant has changed ownership twice since the days of the the fast attack vehicle and the expeditionary tank. Quite a bit of interesting stuff has been removed from the plant. I remember years ago they had the teledyne HMMWV prototype with a snow plow mounted on it for clearing the parking lot in the winter.

ChrisC · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 26, 2006 Posts: 147

This pic was taken last year, the tank is still there, but not for long.

Rick_Eshleman

Chris,
What are the requirements to get a monument tank? These two are rare, and should be preserved! Rick

ChrisC · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 26, 2006 Posts: 147

If I knew, it would be in front of our museum, I assume some form of sorcery is needed. As it is, I filled out 100000000 forms and spent untold hours gathering data, with no result.

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

- ChrisC

This pic was taken last year, the tank is still there, but not for long.

It's still there as of today. I was in Muskegon so I drove past the Getty St. plant. I was able to get a picture from the side of the road but I could not get very close as there is a security fence. For some reason, the turret has been traversed a bit compared to the picture that you posted.

ChrisC · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 26, 2006 Posts: 147

I wonder what the future holds for the Expeditionary Light Tank hull. The M-47 belongs to the US Army and is wrapped in politics, but the ELT should be Teledyne/L3 owned. Not sure if it would make an interesting monument though...
Do you have any contacts inside? We would love to have more on the Getty St plant in our museum. Lots of cool stuff came from there.

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

My dad used to work there. I visited him yesterday. He said that as far as he could remember, that M47 came from Italy and that the papers concerning its ownership have been lost, leading to confusion as to who it belongs to. But, he could be wrong, that project was not part of his job. There is also a very weird Centurion hull sitting out by that M-47. I think it may be a version of a Centurion hull that they had put the low profile gun of the expeditionary vehicle on, but I am not sure of it. It looked like this in its original form. The hull sitting out there now has no turret at all, but it appears to have the boxy side skirts of the version in the picture.

Doug_Kibbey

- Walter_Sobchak

My dad used to work there. I visited him yesterday. He said that as far as he could remember, that M47 came from Italy and that the papers concerning its ownership have been lost, leading to confusion as to who it belongs to.

Those turret side "drip rails" typically scream "Italian service" and are a fairly reliable identifying feature (designed primarily to keep rainwater from draining into the engine covers and on the driver). There is often a plate, on the hull rear IIRC, noting refit by an Italian company. I'm sure someone here has an image of one of those plates. Lots of M-47's on display in the U.S. saw service with the Italian armed forces at some point in their lives.

You can see some typical examples (including the plate noted above) here at the excellent "Ferreamole" website:

www.ferreamole.it/imag..._01pic.htm

Massimo_Foti

- Doug_Kibbey

Those turret side "drip rails" typically scream "Italian service" and are a fairly reliable identifying feature (designed primarily to keep rainwater from draining into the engine covers and on the driver). There is often a plate, on the hull rear IIRC, noting refit by an Italian company. I'm sure someone here has an image of one of those plates. Lots of M-47's on display in the U.S. saw service with the Italian armed forces at some point in their lives.

Be careful with those "drip rails", I've seen them on German M47s and I am pretty positive they can be found on Belgian tanks too.
The plate on the rear hull instead is an unique feature, since it reports the company's name.

Massimo

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

So it may not be Government property after all?

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

Here is a picture of the other vehicles at the Getty St. plant. The one on the left is a modified Centurion hull. I believe that this Centurion hull may have been the "low profile turret" prototype. The vehicle on the right is an M-60 AVLB in really rough shape.

Walter_Sobchak · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 122

Here is a closer picture of the rear of the M47. The picture is grainy because I have a crappy camera and had to use the "digital zoom" to get the shot from beyond the security fence. There is a little square visible on the back of the hull, perhaps that is where the Italian plate would go? Obviously, this tank has had substantial alterations to the engine bay. Visible are the two exhaust ports for the diesel engine.

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