M59 armored personnel carrier

The M59 was an American tracked armored personnel carrier that entered United States Army service in the spring of 1954, replacing the M75. The Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation, later FMC, built the prototypes, and its T59 design was type classified as the M59 in May 1953, after which FMC received the production contract. The vehicle was amphibious, sat lower than the M75 and cost far less to build, partly because it used two civilian truck engines, one in each side sponson, instead of one large powerplant. That arrangement proved unreliable, and the armor was thinner than the M75 had. About 6,300 were built before production ended in 1960. The M113 family replaced it, and the M84 mortar carrier was derived from it.