47th Guards Tank Division

The 47th Guards Tank Division (47-я гвардейская танковая дивизия) was a tank division of the Soviet Army during the Cold War that became part of the Russian Ground Forces after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

It was formed in October 1942 during World War II from the first formation of the 154th Rifle Division as the 47th Guards Rifle Division. It served with the 8th Guards Army from late 1943. In late 1945, the division was converted into the 19th Guards Mechanized Division as part of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany. It was ultimately relocated to Hillersleben as part of the 3rd Shock Army (later the 3rd Army) and served there with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany for the rest of the Cold War, being converted to the 26th Guards Tank Division in 1957 and renumbered to restore its original number in 1965.

Postwar
In late May 1945, the division with the 8th Guards Army became part of the newly created Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (renamed the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) in 1954). In late 1945, the 47th Guards Rifle Division was converted into the 19th Guards Mechanized Division. The latter included three mechanized regiments and two tank regiments: the 62nd, 63rd, and 64th Guards Mechanized Regiments, formed from the 137th, 140th, and 142nd Guards Rifle Regiments, and the 26th and 153rd Tank Regiments, the former 244th Separate Tank Regiment and 153rd Tank Brigade, respectively. It was subsequently transferred to the 3rd Shock Army (the 3rd Army from 1954) in 1947, joining the 79th Rifle Corps. The corps was renumbered as the 23rd in 1955 and disbanded a year later, leaving the division directly subordinated to the army headquarters. On 17 May 1957 the division was converted into the 26th Guards Tank Division. The 63rd and 64th Guards Mechanized Regiments were accordingly disbanded, while the 62nd Guards became the 245th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment. To replace the disbanded units, the 49th Guards Tank Regiment was transferred to the 26th Guards from the 12th Guards Tank Division.

The division was renumbered as the 47th Guards to restore its World War II designation on 11 January 1965. The 49th Guards was subsequently renumbered as the 197th Guards in addition. As the Cold War ended, the GSFG was reduced in size and renamed the Western Group of Forces. Following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the division became part of the Russian Ground Forces. In April 1993 the division began its withdrawal to Mulino in the Moscow Military District.

The division was disbanded by merging it with the 31st Tank Division of the Moscow Military District into the 3rd Motor Rifle Division at Nizhny Novgorod in 1997.