Editing Vickers machine gun (section)

==History==
[[File:Vickers IWW.jpg|thumb|left|A Vickers machine gun crew in action at the [[Battle of the Menin Road Ridge]], September 1917]]
The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful [[Maxim gun]] of the late 19th century. After purchasing the Maxim company outright in 1896, Vickers took the design of the Maxim gun and improved it, inverting the mechanism as well as reducing its weight by lightening and simplifying the action and using high strength alloys for certain components. A [[muzzle booster]] was also added.

The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun under the name ''Gun, Machine, Mark I, Vickers, .303-inch'' on 26 November 1912.{{sfn|Pegler|2013|p=28}} There were shortages when the [[First World War]] began, and the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] was still equipped with Maxims when sent to France in 1914.{{sfn|Pegler|2013|p=29}} Vickers was threatened with prosecution for [[war profiteering]], due to the exorbitant price demanded for each gun.<ref name="armoryvickers" /> As a result, the price was much reduced. As the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Army's primary machine gun, and was used on all fronts during the conflict.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Vickers machine gun production during WWI<ref>{{cite book |title=Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War : 1914–1920 |date=1922 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=479 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/r7ynvjg7/items?canvas=495 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
!1914 (Aug.–Dec.) !! 1915 !! 1916 !! 1917 !! 1918 !! Total
|-
| 266 || 2,405 || 7,429 || 21,782 || 39,473 || 71,355
|}
When the [[Lewis Gun]] was adopted as a [[light machine gun]] and issued to infantry units, the Vickers guns were redefined as heavy machine guns, withdrawn from infantry units, and grouped in the hands of the new [[Machine Gun Corps]]. When heavier {{cvt|0.5|in|mm|1|adj=on}} calibre machine guns appeared, the tripod-mounted, rifle-calibre machine guns such as the Vickers were further re-classified as "medium machine guns". After the First World War, the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was disbanded and the Vickers returned to infantry units.

Before the Second World War, there were plans to replace the Vickers gun as part of a widescale change from rimmed to rimless rounds; one of the contenders was the [[7.92×57mm Mauser|7.92mm]] [[Besa machine gun]] (British-built Czech [[ZB-53]] design), which eventually became the British Army's standard tank-mounted machine gun. However, the Vickers remained in service with the British Army until 30 March 1968. Its last operational use was in the [[Radfan]] during the [[Aden Emergency]].<ref name="armoryvickers" /> Its successor in UK service is the British L7 variant of the [[FN MAG]] general purpose machine gun.

===Use in aircraft===
[[File:Vickers Challenger synchroniser (Bristol Scout).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The cockpit of a [[Bristol Scout]] biplane in 1916, showing a Vickers machine gun synchronised to fire through the propeller by an early Vickers-Challenger [[synchronization gear|interrupter gear]].]]
In 1913, a Vickers machine gun was mounted on the experimental [[Vickers E.F.B.1]] [[biplane]], which was probably the world's first purpose-built combat aeroplane. However, by the time the production version, the [[Vickers F.B.5]], had entered service the following year, the armament had been changed to a Lewis gun.<ref>{{cite book |last=Driver |first=Hugh |title=The Birth of Military Aviation: Britain, 1903–1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbrA5NJp2JMC&pg=PA128 |date=1997 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-0-86193-234-4 |pages=126 |access-date=27 November 2014}}</ref>

During World War I, the Vickers gun became a standard weapon on British and French [[military aircraft]], especially after 1916, initially in a single gun configuration ([[Nieuport 17]], [[SPAD VII]], [[Sopwith Triplane]]), increased to a twin-gun standard in later war fighters ([[Nieuport 28]], [[SPAD XIII]], [[Sopwith Camel]]), with exceptions such as the [[S.E.5]], which had a single synchronized Vickers and a Lewis gun mounted above the upper wing. Although heavier than the Lewis, its [[closed bolt]] firing cycle made it much easier to [[synchronization gear|synchronise]] to allow it to fire through aircraft [[Propeller (aircraft)|propellers]]. The belt feed was enclosed right up to the gun's feed-way to inhibit the effect of wind. Steel disintegrating-link ammunition belts were perfected in the UK by [[William de Courcy Prideaux]] in mid-war and became standard for aircraft guns thereafter. From 1917 to 1919, French [[Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault]] produced under license .303 Vickers machine guns (240 were delivered before the Armistice) but most of the French aircraft Vickers machine guns were British-made.<ref name="GBM145" />

By 1917 it had been determined that standard rifle calibre cartridges were less satisfactory for shooting down [[observation balloon]]s than larger calibres carrying [[Incendiary ammunition|incendiary]] or [[Tracer ammunition|tracer]] bullets; the Vickers machine gun was chambered in the [[11mm Vickers]] round, known as the ''Vickers aircraft machine gun'' and sometimes the "Balloon Buster", and was adopted by the Allies as a standard anti-balloon armament, used by both the British and French in this role until the end of the war.<ref name=Barnes>Frank C. Barnes, ''Cartridges of the World'', 15th ed, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1-4402-4642-5}}.</ref><ref name=IWM>[https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30027115 Imperial War Museums, "11x59R: 11&nbsp;mm Gras Machine Gun & 11&nbsp;mm Vickers", ''iwm.org.uk''], retrieved 4 June 2018.</ref>

The famous [[Sopwith Camel]] and the [[SPAD XIII]] types used twin synchronized Vickers, as did most British and French fighters between 1918 and the mid-1930s. In the air, the weighty water-cooling system was rendered redundant by low temperatures at high altitude and the constant stream of air passing over the gun (and lack of any need for sustained fire such as employed by ground troops); but because the weapon relied on boosted barrel recoil, the (empty) water-holding barrel jacket or casing was retained. Several sets of louvered slots were cut into the barrel jacket to aid air cooling, a better solution than that which had initially been attempted with the 1915-vintage [[MG 08#Aircraft versions|lMG 08]] German aircraft ordnance.
[[File:From a B To Officer. a B Jack Rupert Boulton, One of Thousands Promoted From the Lower Deck To Meet the War-time Demand of Britain's Great and Expanding Navy. Boulton, a Dorsetman, Redheaded and 6 Ft Tall, Was A16402.jpg|thumb|left|Vickers Mk. II* or III in naval anti-aircraft service during WWII in the Mediterranean]]
In 1918 the slotted modified original barrel jacket was replaced with a slimmer jacket on the Mk. II version,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vickersmg.blog/the-guns/303-inch-mk-ii |title=.303-inch Mk II – the Vickers Machine Gun |date=23 November 2017 }}</ref> and in 1927 a [[muzzle flash suppressor]] was added on the Mk. II*.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vickersmg.blog/the-guns/303-inch-mk-ii-2 |title=.303-inch Mk II* - the Vickers Machine Gun |date=23 November 2017}}</ref>

As the machine gun armament of US and UK fighter aircraft moved from the fuselage to the wings in the years before  [[World War II]], the Vickers was generally replaced by the faster-firing and more reliable<ref>Chorlton, Martyn (2012). ''Hawker Hurricane Mk I-V''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2012, Air Vanguard No. 6. {{ISBN|978-1-78096-603-8}}.</ref> [[M1919 Browning machine gun|Browning Model 1919]] using metal-linked cartridges. The [[Gloster Gladiator]] was the last RAF fighter to be armed with the Vickers, later replaced by Brownings.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_gloster_gladiator.html |title=Gloster Gladiator |first=J. |last=Rickard |encyclopedia=Military History Encyclopedia on the Web |date=21 March 2007 |access-date=20 February 2015}}</ref> The [[Fairey Swordfish]] was fitted with the weapon until production ended in August 1944.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bishop |first=Chris |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuGsf0psjvcC&q=Fairey+Swordfish+production+ended&pg=PA403 |title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II |publisher=Metrobooks |isbn=978-1-58663-762-0 |page=403}}</ref>

Several British bombers and attack aircraft of the Second World War mounted the [[Vickers K machine gun]] or VGO, a completely different design, resembling the Lewis gun in external appearance.

Vickers machine guns, designated as models E (pilot's) and F (observer's, fed from a [[pan magazine]]) were also used among others in Poland, where 777 of them were converted to [[7.92×57mm Mauser]] cartridge in 1933–1937.<ref>Konstankiewicz, Andrzej (1986), ''Broń strzelecka Wojska Polskiego 1918–39'', Warsaw {{ISBN|83-11-07266-3}}, p. 141 {{in lang|pl}}</ref>

===Use in armored vehicles===
The water-cooled Vickers Mark VI, Mark VI* and Mark VII were versions of the Mark I for use in tanks. They were introduced in 1936 and declared obsolete in 1944 (though they and the vehicles they were installed in were still in reserve use until the 1960s). They could be installed with either a left-hand or right-hand feed block. The Mark VI and VI* Tank Patterns were conversions of old stock Mark Is while the Mark VII Tank Pattern was new production.    

===Variants===
{{Main|Vickers .50 machine gun}}
[[File:HMS London gun.jpg|thumb|right|A .5-inch Mk. III, four-gun anti-aircraft mount and its crew on the cruiser {{HMS|London|69|6}} in 1941]]
The larger calibre (half-inch) version of the Vickers was used on armoured fighting vehicles and naval vessels. The ''Gun, Machine, Vickers, .5-inch, Mk. II'' was used in tanks, the earlier Mark I having been the development model. This entered service in 1933 and was obsolete in 1944. Firing either single shot or automatic it had a pistol type trigger grip rather than the spades of the {{convert|0.303|in|mm|adj=on}} weapon.

The ''Gun, Machine, Vickers, .5-inch, Mk. III'' was used as an anti-aircraft gun on British ships.<ref name="vmg.org.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.vickersmachinegun.org.uk/ |title=The Vickers Machine Gun |first=Richard E. |last=Fisher |website=Vickers Machine Gun Collection & Research Association |access-date=27 November 2014}}</ref> This variation was typically four guns mounted on a 360° rotating and (+80° to −10°) elevating housing. The belts were rolled into a spiral and placed in hoppers beside each gun. The heavy plain bullet weighed {{convert|1.3|oz|abbr=on}} and was good for {{convert|1500|yd|abbr=on}} range. Maximum rate of fire for the Mark III was about 700&nbsp;rpm from a 200-round belt carried in a drum.
They were fitted from the 1920s onwards, but in practical terms, proved of little use.
During the Second World War, the naval {{convert|0.5|in|mm|1|adj=on}} version was also mounted on power-operated turrets in smaller watercraft, such as [[Motor Gun Boat]]s and [[Motor Torpedo Boat]]s.

The Mark IV and V guns were improvements on the Mark II. Intended for [[Light tanks of the United Kingdom|British light tanks]], some were used during the war on mounts on trucks by the [[Long Range Desert Group]] in the [[North Africa Campaign]].<ref name="vmg.org.uk" />

The Vickers machine gun was produced, between the wars, as the '''vz.09 machine gun'''.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

===Foreign service===
[[File:Indian Army Vickers machine gun section, North West Frontier, India, 1940 (c).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|A [[British Indian Army]] Vickers machine gun crew in the [[North-West Frontier Province|North West Frontier]], [[British India]], 1940.]]
The Vickers was widely sold commercially and saw service with many nations and their own particular ammunition. It was also modified for each country and served as a base for many other weapons.{{which|date=June 2022}} For example:
* [[6.5×52mm Mannlicher–Carcano]]<ref name="Italy" />
* [[6.5×50mmSR Arisaka]]<ref name=goldsmith />
* [[6.5×53mmR]]<ref name="KNIL" />
* [[7×57mm Mauser]]<ref>In very small numbers with [https://vickersmg.blog/world-service/chile Chile] and [https://vickersmg.blog/world-service/el-salvador El Salvador]</ref>
* [[.280 British]]{{sfn|Pegler|2013|p=49}}
* [[7.5×55mm Swiss]]<ref name=goldsmith>{{cite book|last=Goldsmith|first= Dolf L.|year=1994|title= Grand Old Lady of No Man's Land, The: Vickers Machine Gun|publisher= Collector Grade Publications|isbn=0-88935-147-3}}</ref>
* [[7.62×51mm NATO]]<ref name="Borderstrike1" />
* [[.30-06 Springfield]]{{sfn|Pegler|2013|p=33}}
* [[7.62×54mmR]]<ref name="m1915" />
* [[7.65×53mm Argentine]]<ref>In very small numbers with [https://vickersmg.blog/world-service/argentina Argentina] and [https://vickersmg.blog/world-service/belgium Belgium]</ref>
* [[7.7×58mm Arisaka]] (licensed as the "fixed type" [[Type 89 machine gun]])<ref name=jae>{{cite book|last=Mikesh|first=Robert C.|title=Japanese Aircraft Equipment 1940–1945|date=2004|publisher=Shiffer Publishing|isbn=0-7643-2097-1|pages=115–116}}</ref>
* [[8mm Lebel]] (2,000 ordered by France in 1914<ref name="vickersmg-france">{{cite web |url=https://vickersmg.blog/world-service/france |title=France – the Vickers Machine Gun |date=13 December 2017}}</ref> but only 52 delivered)<ref name="GBM145">{{cite magazine|language=fr|title=Mitrailleuses et canons des avions français|magazine=Histoire de Guerre, Blindés et Matériel|pages=27–38|date=April 2023|issue=145|first=Guy|last=François}}</ref>

====Service after World War II====
[[File:Vickers RAR Chipyong-ni.jpg|thumb|right|Australian soldiers of the [[3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment]] operate a Vickers gun during fighting near [[Battle of Chipyong-ni|Chipyong-ni]] during the [[Korean War]], February 1951<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01479.007 |title=CHIPYONG-NI, KOREA. 1951-02. VICKERS .303 MACHINE GUN ENGAGED IN COMBAT WITH THE CHINESE ON ONE ... |website=www.awm.gov.au |language=en |access-date=2019-10-09}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01479.007 |title=CHIPYONG-NI, KOREA. 1951-02. VICKERS .303 MACHINE GUN ENGAGED IN COMBAT WITH THE CHINESE ON ONE ... |website=www.awm.gov.au |language=en |access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref>]]

The [[Union of South Africa]] retained a large inventory of surplus Vickers machine guns after World War II. Many of these were donated to the [[National Liberation Front of Angola]] (FNLA) and [[National Union for the Total Independence of Angola]] (UNITA) during the [[Angolan Civil War]].<ref name="Borderstrike1">{{cite book|title=Borderstrike! South Africa Into Angola 1975–1980|last=Steenkamp|first=Willem|location=Durban|publisher=Just Done Productions Publishing|edition=Third|year=2006|orig-year=1985|isbn=978-1-920169-00-8|pages=52, 93}}</ref> Angolan militants were usually trained in their use by South African advisers.<ref name="Borderstrike1" /> Small quantities re-chambered for 7.62&nbsp;mm NATO ammunition remained in active service with the [[South African Defence Force]] until the mid-1980s, when they were all relegated to reserve storage.<ref name="Borderstrike1" /> Six were withdrawn from storage and reused by a South African liaison team operating with UNITA during the [[Battle of Cuito Cuanavale]], after which the weapons were finally retired.<ref name=Mobility>{{cite book |last1=Steenkamp |first1=Willem |last2=Helmoed-Römer |first2=Heitman |title=Mobility Conquers: The Story Of 61 Mechanised Battalion Group 1978–2005 |date=September 2016 |page=731 |publisher=Helion & Company |location=Solihull |isbn=978-1-911096-52-8}}</ref>

In the mid-1960s, the Vickers machine gun remained in service in countries such as India,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Control of local conflict : a design study on arms control and limited war in the developing areas|volume=3|last1=Bloomfield|first1= Lincoln P.|last2=Leiss|first2=Amelia Catherine<!--|last3=Legere|first3= Laurence J.|last4= Barringer|first4= Richard E.|last5=Fisher|first5= R. Lucas|last6= Hoagland|first6= John H.|last7=Fraser|first7= Janet|last8=Ramers|first8=Robert K-->|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for International Studies|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA324492.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804022404/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA324492.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=4 August 2020|date=30 June 1967|hdl=2027/uiug.30112064404368|page=325}}</ref> Israel{{sfn|Bloomfield|Leiss|1967|p=706}} and Egypt.{{sfn|Bloomfield|Leiss|1967|p=711}} It saw action with the [[Ceylon Army]] in the [[1971 JVP insurrection]].

====Colt–Vickers M1915====
[[File:111-SC-24659 - NARA - 55208929.jpg|thumb]]
By the early 1900s, the U.S. military had a mixed collection of automatic machine guns in use that included [[M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun|M1895 "potato diggers"]], 287 [[Maxim machine gun#American use|M1904 Maxims]], 670 [[Hotchkiss M1909 Benet–Mercie machine gun|M1909 Benét–Mercié]] guns, and 353 [[Lewis machine gun]]s. In 1913, the U.S. began to search for a superior automatic weapon.  One of the weapons considered was the British Vickers machine gun.

{{quote box|align=right|width=30%|The Board of Ordnance & Fortifications held a meeting on March 15, 1913 to consider the adoption of a new type of machine gun. ... The Board is of the opinion that, with the exception of the Vickers gun, none of the other guns submitted showed sufficiently marked superiority for the military service, in comparison with the service [Benét–Mercié] Automatic Machine Rifle to warrant further consideration of them in the field test. The Board is of the unanimous opinion that the Vickers rifle caliber gun, light model, stood the most satisfactory test. As to the merits of the Vickers gun there is no question—it stood in a class by itself. Not a single part was broken nor replaced. Nor was there a jam worthy of the name during the entire series of tests. A better performance could not be desired.
|Captain John S. Butler, Office of the Chief of Ordnance<ref name="m1915">{{cite web |url=http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/?p=756 |title=U.S. Colt Vickers Model of 1915 |work=Small Arms Defense Journal |date=6 January 2012|first=Robert G. |last=Segel |access-date=20 February 2015}}</ref>}}

Field tests were conducted of the Vickers in 1914, and the gun was unanimously approved by the board for the army under the designation "Vickers Machine Gun Model of 1915, Caliber .30, Water-Cooled". One hundred twenty-five guns were ordered from [[Colt's Manufacturing Company]] in 1915, with an additional 4,000 ordered the next year, all chambered for .30-06. Design complexities, design modifications, and focus on producing previously ordered weapons meant that when the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, Colt had not manufactured a single M1915.<ref name="m1915" />

Production began in late 1917 with shipments to the Western Front in mid-1918. The first twelve divisions to reach France were given French [[Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun]]s, and the next ten had M1915s. The next twelve divisions were to have [[Browning M1917]] machine guns, but there was a shortage of parts. By August 1918, thirteen U.S. divisions were armed with the Colt–Vickers machine gun, and many aircraft were armed with the weapons as well (2,888 guns were converted). 7,653 guns were issued during the war out of 12,125 produced in total. War damage losses reduced the number of M1915s in the U.S. Army inventory from 9200+ to about 8,000 total.<ref name="m1915" />
[[File:Water-cooled machine guns just arrived from the USA under lend-lease are checked at an ordnance depot in England. - NARA - 196325.jpg|thumb|M1915 guns from the USA inspected in England]]
[[File:The Second World War 1939 - 1945- the Home Front H5842.jpg|thumb|In service with the Home Guard]]
After World War I, the Colt–Vickers machine guns were kept in reserve until World War II. Several hundred were sent to the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, and were all eventually lost to enemy action.<ref name=colt1915>{{cite web|publisher=Small Arms Review|url=https://smallarmsreview.com/the-u-s-colt-vickers-model-of-1915-water-cooled-machine-gun/|title=The U.S. Colt Vickers Model of 1915 Water-Cooled Machine Gun|date=September 2, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401011923/https://smallarmsreview.com/the-u-s-colt-vickers-model-of-1915-water-cooled-machine-gun/|archive-date=April 1, 2023}}</ref> In 1940 and 1941, a total of 7,071 M1915 guns were purchased by the United Kingdom<ref>Goldsmith 1994, p. 229</ref> to re-equip their forces after the [[Dunkirk evacuation]], which depleted the weapon from the U.S. inventory before their entry into the war. Because the M1915 Colt–Vickers was not chambered for the standard British .303, it was painted with a red band to differentiate it and restricted it to [[British Home Guard|Home Guard]] use.<ref name="m1915" />