Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Thompson submachine gun
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===World War II=== In 1938, the Thompson submachine gun was adopted by the [[Military of the United States|U.S. military]] and was used during [[World War II]]. There were two military types of Thompson submachine gun: * The '''M1928A1''', which had provisions for both box and drum magazines, utilized the Cutts muzzle brake, had cooling fins on the [[Gun barrel|barrel]], and employed a delayed blowback action with the charging handle on the top of the receiver. * The '''M1''' and '''M1A1''', which had provisions for box magazines only, did not have cooling fins on the barrel, had a simplified rear sight, and employed a straight blowback action with the charging handle on the side of the receiver. Over 1.5 million military Thompson submachine guns were produced during World War II.<ref name="Iannamico 1999"/> ====Magazine developments==== [[File:Thompson Magazine.JPG|thumb|Drum and box magazines]] Military users of the M1928A1 units had complaints of the "L" 50-round drum magazine. The [[British Army during the Second World War|British Army]] criticized "the [magazine's] excessive weight, [and] the rattling sound they made" and shipped thousands back to the U.S. in exchange for 20-round box magazines. The Thompson had to be cocked, bolt retracted, ready to fire, in order to attach the drum magazine. The drum magazine also attached and detached by sliding sideways, which made magazine changes slow and cumbersome. They also created difficulty when clearing a cartridge malfunction ("jam"). Reloading an empty drum with cartridges was a difficult and involved process in which the 50 rounds would be inserted and then the magazine wound up until a minimum of 9 to 11 loud "clicks" were heard before seating the magazine into the weapon. In contrast, the "XX" twenty-round box magazine was light and compact. It tended not to rattle, and could be inserted with the bolt safely closed. The box magazine was quickly attached and detached, and was removed downward, making clearing jams easier. The box magazine tripped the bolt open lock when empty, facilitating magazine changes. An empty box was easy to reload with loose rounds. However, users complained that it was limited in capacity. In the field, some soldiers would tape two "XX" magazines together, in what would be known as [[Jungle style (firearm magazines)|"jungle style"]], to quicken magazine changes.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2011/2/15/thompson-submachine-gun-the-tommy-gun-goes-to-war/|title=Thompson Submachine Gun: The Tommy Gun Goes to War|access-date=2016-02-04|magazine=American Rifleman|first=Bruce|last=Canfield|publisher=National Rifle Association}}</ref> Two alternatives to the "L" 50-round drum and "XX" 20-round box magazines were tested 6 December 1941, at [[Fort Knox|Fort Knox, Kentucky]]. An extended thirty-round box magazine and a forty-round magazine, which were made by welding two 20-round magazines face to face, jungle style, were tested. The testers considered both superior to either the "XX" box or "L" drum. The 30-round box was approved as the new standard in December 1941 to replace the "XX" and "L" magazines.{{sfn|Iannamico|2000|pp=161, 173, 175}} (The concept of welding two box magazines face-to-face was also carried over to the [[United Defense M42|M42]] submachine gun.) ====M1 development==== The staff of [[Savage Arms]] looked for ways to simplify the M1928A1, and produced a prototype in February 1942, which was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in March 1942. Army Ordnance approved adoption (as the M1) in April 1942. M1s were made by [[Savage Arms]] and by [[Auto-Ordnance Company|Auto-Ordnance]]. M1s were issued with the 30-round box magazine and would accept the earlier 20-round box, but would not accept the drum magazine.{{sfn|Iannamico|2000|pp=94–97}} ====Combat use==== [[File:Ww2 158.jpg|thumb|A [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] fires on a Japanese position using an M1 Thompson submachine gun during an [[Battle of Okinawa|advance on Okinawa]] in May 1945.]] The Thompson was used in World War II in the hands of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops as a weapon for scouts, [[non-commissioned officer]]s ([[corporal]], [[sergeant]], and higher), and [[patrol]] leaders, as well as commissioned officers, tank crewmen, and soldiers performing raids on German positions. In the European theater, the gun was widely utilized in [[British Army|British]] and [[Canadian Army|Canadian]] [[British Commandos|commando]] units, as well as in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[paratrooper]] and [[United States Army Rangers|Ranger]] [[battalion]]s, where it was issued more frequently than in [[line infantry]] units because of its high rate of fire and its stopping power, which made it very effective in the kinds of close combat these [[special operations]] troops were expected to undertake. [[Military Police]] were fond of it, as were paratroopers, who "borrowed" Thompsons from members of mortar squads for use on patrols behind enemy lines.<ref>[[David Kenyon Webster|Webster, David K.]] ''Parachute Infantry'' <!--publisher, place, & date?-->{{page needed|date=August 2015}}</ref> The gun was prized by those lucky enough to get one and proved itself in the close street fighting that was encountered frequently during the invasion of France. A Swedish variant of the M1928A1, the {{lang|sv|Kulsprutepistol m/40}} (machine pistol, model 40), served in the [[Swedish Army]] between 1940 and 1951. Through [[Lend-Lease Act|Lend-Lease]], the [[Soviet Union]] also received the Thompson, but due to a shortage of appropriate ammunition, its use was not widespread.<ref>{{Cite book|last= Bishop |first= Chris |title= The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II |place= New York |publisher= Orbis |year= 1998 |isbn= 978-0-7607-1022-7 }}{{page needed|date=December 2011}}</ref> In the [[Malayan Campaign]], the [[Burma Campaign]] and the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater]], Lend-Lease-issue Thompsons were used by the [[British Army]], [[Indian Army during World War II|Indian Army]], [[Australian Army]] [[infantry]] and other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces. They used the Thompson extensively in jungle patrols and ambushes, where it was prized for its firepower, though it was criticized for its hefty weight and poor reliability. In New Guinea, the Thompson was the only submachine gun available to the Australian Army for most of the vital [[Kokoda Track campaign]] in 1942. It became so prized that soldiers routinely picked up Thompson guns dropped by killed or wounded comrades. However, the weight of the ammunition and difficulties in supply eventually led to its replacement in Australian Army units in 1943 by Australian-made submachine guns, the [[Owen Gun|Owen]] and [[Austen MK I|Austen]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Moremon |first=John |year=2022 |title=The Tommy Gun in Jungle Warfare: The Use and Usefulness of the Thompson Submachine Gun for Australian Soldiers on the Kokoda Trail, New Guinea, 1942 |journal=Vulcan: The Journal of the History of Military Technology |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=84–117 |doi=10.1163/22134603-09010005}}</ref> Thompsons were also given to the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] and [[Royal Australian Navy]]. In Burma and India, British forces largely replaced the Thompson with the [[Sten gun]]. New Zealand commando forces in the South Pacific campaign initially used Thompsons but switched them for the more reliable, lighter, and more accurate Owen during the [[Solomon Islands]] and [[Guadalcanal]] campaigns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2IP-Comm-t1-body1-d13.html|title=Chapter XII – Guadalcanal – NZETC|website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz}}</ref> The U.S. Marines also used the Thompson as a limited-issue weapon, especially during their later island assaults. The Thompson was soon found to have limited effect in heavy jungle cover, where the low-[[Muzzle velocity|velocity]] .45 bullet would not penetrate most small-diameter trees or protective armor vests. {{anchor|Remington-Thompson}}(In 1923, the Army had rejected the [[.45 Remington–Thompson]], which had twice the energy of the .45 ACP.){{sfn|Bearse|1994|p=213}} In the U.S. Army, many Pacific War jungle patrols were originally equipped with Thompsons in the early phases of the [[New Guinea]] and [[Guadalcanal]] campaigns, but soon began employing the [[Browning Automatic Rifle]] in its place as a point defense weapon.{{sfn|George|1981|p=400}} The Army introduced the U.S. [[M3 submachine gun|M3]] and M3A1 submachine guns in 1943 with plans to produce the latter in numbers sufficient to cancel future orders for the Thompson, while gradually withdrawing it from first-line service. However, due to unforeseen production delays and requests for modifications, the M3/M3A1 never replaced the Thompson, and purchases continued until February 1944. Though the M3 was considerably cheaper to produce, at the end of World War II, the Thompson, with a total wartime production of over 1.5 million, outnumbered the M3/M3A1 submachine guns in service by nearly three to one.<ref name="Iannamico 1999">{{cite book|last=Iannamico|first=Frank|title=The U.S. M3–M3A1 Submachine Gun|location=Harmony, Maine|publisher= Moose Lake |isbn=978-0-9701954-4-9|year=1999| pages= 14, 55}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)