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Armed with this new knowledge, Thompson came up with a new idea: a "one-man, hand-held machine gun" in .45 ACP that soldiers could utilize as a "trench broom" for use in the ongoing stalemate of trench warfare. Oscar V. Payne, one of the primary designers at Auto-Ordinance, was responsible for designing the new gun, as well as magazines to go with it. This new submachine gun project would be designated as the 'Annihilator', and by 1918 most of the design issues had been ironed out. However, the weapon would never see use in the war for which it was designed, as World War 1 ended just two days before the first batch of prototypes was set to be shipped to Europe. With the war now over, the weapon was officially renamed the "Thompson Submachine Gun". While other weapons had been developed shortly prior with similar objectives in mind, the Thompson was the first weapon to be labeled and marketed as a "submachine gun". | Armed with this new knowledge, Thompson came up with a new idea: a "one-man, hand-held machine gun" in .45 ACP that soldiers could utilize as a "trench broom" for use in the ongoing stalemate of trench warfare. Oscar V. Payne, one of the primary designers at Auto-Ordinance, was responsible for designing the new gun, as well as magazines to go with it. This new submachine gun project would be designated as the 'Annihilator', and by 1918 most of the design issues had been ironed out. However, the weapon would never see use in the war for which it was designed, as World War 1 ended just two days before the first batch of prototypes was set to be shipped to Europe. With the war now over, the weapon was officially renamed the "Thompson Submachine Gun". While other weapons had been developed shortly prior with similar objectives in mind, the Thompson was the first weapon to be labeled and marketed as a "submachine gun". | ||
− | The first model of the Thompson offered to civilians was the M1921. It featured an adjustable rear sight, a finned barrel, the iconic vertical foregrip, and utilized the Blish locking principle. | + | The first model of the Thompson offered to civilians was the M1921. It featured an adjustable rear sight, a finned barrel, the iconic vertical foregrip, and utilized the Blish locking principle. When it was first launched, sales were rather low, as the gun was incredibly expensive: a Thompson gun with one Type XX 20 round box magazine was priced at $200 in 1921 (equivalent to $2,867 in 2019). M1921 Thompsons were sold in small quantities to the United States Postal Inspection Service to protect the mail from a spate of robberies. Sales would also be made to the US Marine Corps, as well as several police agencies. Despite the Thompson being marketed as an 'anti-bandit gun', the Thompson achieved most of its early notoriety in the hands of Prohibition and Great Depression-era gangsters, and in Hollywood films about their exploits. In 1928, a modified version of the M1921 was produced as part of a special request by the US Navy. The major modification made was to lower the fire rate down to around 600 rounds per minute. |
− | With the threat of a new global war looming in 1938, Auto-Ordnance made further modifications on the Thompson. They dropped the Thompson's complex Blish lock for a much more simple blowback action, removed the iconic slanted foregrip, moved the charging handle to the side of the receiver, and swapped out the rear ladder sight for a much easier to produce aperture sight. The changes to the bolt made the new model incompatible with the Thompson's drum magazines, which were noted as being cumbersome and noisy. With this modified Thompson, 20 & 30 round stick mags would be used instead. These models came to be known as the M1 and M1A1 Thompson, and it was this version of the Thompson that American troops would carry with them into the Second World War. | + | With the threat of a new global war looming in 1938, Auto-Ordnance made further modifications on the Thompson. They dropped the Thompson's complex Blish lock for a much more simple blowback action, removed the iconic slanted foregrip, moved the charging handle to the side of the receiver, and swapped out the rear ladder sight for a much easier to produce aperture sight. The changes to the bolt made the new model incompatible with the Thompson's drum magazines, which were noted as being cumbersome and noisy. With this modified Thompson, 20 & 30 round stick mags would be used instead. These models came to be known as the M1 and M1A1 Thompson, and it was this version of the Thompson that American troops would carry with them into the Second World War. The U.S. Marines used the Thompson as a limited-issue weapon during combat in the Pacific theater, especially during their later island assaults. The Thompson was soon found to have limited effect in heavy jungle cover, where the low-velocity .45 bullet would not penetrate most small-diameter trees or protective armor vests. Many patrols soon began employing the Browning Automatic Rifle in its place as a point defense weapon. |
The US Army introduced the much simpler to produce 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 the first-line service. However, due to unforeseen production delays and requests for modifications, the M3 'Grease Gun' 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 a margin of nearly three to one. | The US Army introduced the much simpler to produce 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 the first-line service. However, due to unforeseen production delays and requests for modifications, the M3 'Grease Gun' 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 a margin of nearly three to one. |