M46 Patton tank

The M46 with fielded by the US Army in the 1950s. The M46, or “Patton,” was an upgrade of the M26 Pershing, and was named after General George S. Patton Jr., commander of the US Third Army during World War II. M46 tanks were urgently dispatched to Korea on August 9, 1950, to counter the T34 tanks used by the North Koreans. Upwards of 200 M46 tanks were dispatched to Korea during the war, and these were invaluable to the war effort, destroying numerous North Korean T34 tanks in the operations to recover Seoul and capture Pyeongyang. Of the American tanks deployed in Korea, it had the best powertoweight ratio and was supremely maneuverable over hills and rough terrain. In particular, M46 tanks were at the vanguard of operations to break through the Chinese siege at the Battle of Jipyeongri (Chipyongni). After the armistice, the M46 became the main battle tank of the US forces in Korea. Units were also donated to member states of NATO. However, the betterperforming M47 tank was soon introduced, and the US Army decided in 1957 to retire or discard all M46 tanks by the early 1960s.