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The Hotchkiss 13.2 mm machine gun (french: Mitrailleuse Hotchkiss de 13,2 mm, ''Mle 1929'', ''Mle 1930'', etc), also known as the Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun, and the like, was a
heavy machine gun
A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
, primarily intended for
anti-aircraft use, designed and manufactured by
French arms manufacturer
The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and ser ...
Hotchkiss et Cie
Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Compagnie was a French arms and, in the 20th century, automobile manufacturer first established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. He moved to France and set up a factory, ...
from the late 1920s until
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, which saw service with various nations' forces, including Italy and Japan where the gun was built under license.
Development
In the late 1920s, Hotchkiss proposed a range of anti-aircraft automatic weapons in the 13.2, 25 and 37 mm calibers. They were all based on the same type of
gas-operated action, similar to the one used in the 8 mm
Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine gun
The Mle 1914 Hotchkiss machine gun chambered for the 8mm Lebel cartridge became the standard machine gun of the French Army during the latter half of World War I. It was manufactured by the French arms company Hotchkiss et Cie, which had been es ...
, which had proven extremely reliable during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and was still in service. This led to the production of the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun model 1929, often called the Hotchkiss M1929.
Performance
The Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun had a
cyclic
Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to:
Anthropology and social sciences
* Cyclic history, a theory of history
* Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr.
* Social cycle, various cycles in s ...
rate of fire of 450 rounds per minute, but their practical sustained rate of fire was just 200-250 rounds per minute due to limited magazine capacity. The majority of Hotchkiss M1929 machine guns were fed by overhead, 30 round, curved
box magazines. These magazines would run empty in 4 seconds, requiring frequent magazine changes which limited their rate of fire.
Cartridges
The Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun was initially chambered for the cartridge ''
13.2 × 99 mm Hotchkiss "Long"'', which essentially was a
12.7 × 99 mm Browning (
.50 BMG) cartridge necked up to 13.2 mm
caliber.
This cartridge however proved to wear out gun barrels too quickly and to alleviate this inconvenience Hotchkiss introduced a new cartridge for the M1929 machine gun in 1935, featuring a slightly shorter cartridge case and reworked projectile shape, becoming the cartridge ''13.2 x 96 mm Hotchkiss "Short"''. The new cartridge was practically identical to the original 13.2 x 99 mm cartridge except for the length of the neck, reducing the full case length to 96 mm. This minimal change was done so that existing weapons and the production line did not require any modification to fire the new cartridge, but was sufficient to fix the barrel wear issue.
Configurations
The Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun came in a number of different configurations depending on their intended role. There were single, double and quadruple barreled
anti-aircraft weapons on a high-angle pedestal and tripod mounts, as well as low-angle bipod mounts for
anti-tank and
heavy machine gun
A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
roles.
French infantry commanders, who had expressed interest in acquiring light anti-aircraft guns, refused to accept the 13.2 mm. They argued that the heavy bullets falling down could be dangerous to friendly troops, and preferred larger calibers for which self-destructing shells were available. But the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss saw extensive use as a naval gun and was also chosen by the French cavalry for some of its armored vehicles.
File:Machine gun (AM 775502).jpg, A Japanese 30 round box magazine.
File:Three different 13.2 mm cartridges (rotated 90).JPG, 13.2 mm cartridges left to right:
13.2×99mm Hotchkiss Long
13.2×96mm Hotchkiss Short
13.2×92mmSR Mauser TuF
File:Machinegun carriage Le Prieur patent.jpg, A quadruple naval mounting, as illustrated in US Patent 1700902 filed by Yves Le Prieur.
Service
As a ground-based anti-aircraft weapon
The
French Air Force used the M1929, designated as mitrailleuse de 13.2 mm CA mle 1930, for close-range defense of its airfields and other strategic places.
It came in two versions:
* A single gun with a stock and pistol grip that came in a dual-purpose anti-aircraft/anti-armor mounting. It had a two-wheeled split-trailed carriage that weighed empty and with the machine-gun mounted. When the swing-arm the gun was affixed to was locked upwards, it could be used in an anti-aircraft mode. When the arm was collapsed and a bipod extended it could fire straight ahead in an anti-tank role. When the gun was packed up and the trails closed, it was towed behind its caisson, which was pulled by a horse or by the gunner.
* A fixed tripod mount with a seat and anti-aircraft sight for the gunner. This came in single or twin mounts. The single mount weighted empty, mounted. The double mount weighed empty, mounted.
As a naval weapon
Early in World War II, the French, Italian and Japanese navies were using twin (CAD Mle 1929 - ''Contre Avions Double'') and quadruple (CAQ mle 1929 - ''Contre Avions Quadruple'') mountings on many of their warships. French warships that were refitted in the United States in 1943, such as the battleship
''Richelieu'' or the destroyer , had their 13.2 mm machine guns replaced by more powerful
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models em ...
s.
In Italy, the
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda (), more usually referred to simply as Breda, was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886.
History
The firm was founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It original ...
produced the gun under license as the
Breda Mod.31 from 1931 onwards. It was used as an anti-aircraft gun aboard ships, submarines, and
armored trains of the
Royal Italian Navy. After World War II it was used on the patrol boats of the
Guardia di Finanza
The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...
.
The Spanish Navy bought the weapon in December 1935 and used it during the Civil War (where it was mounted on several Republican Navy destroyers and cruisers). The "Pirotecnia Militar" Army Ammunition plant (Sevilla) produced its cartridges after 1939.
As a ground weapon
Several self-propelled anti-aircraft combinations were tested in the 1930s, with
Citroën-
Kegresse or
Berliet
Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and military vehicles among other vehicles based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France. Founded in 1899, and apart from a five-year period from 1944 to 1949 when it was put into 'a ...
chassis, but none was mass-produced. The 13.2 mm Hotchkiss was used on the
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
T15 and the French
AMR 35
The Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance Renault Modèle 35 Type ZT (AMR 35 or Renault ZT) was a French light tank developed during the Interbellum and used in the Second World War. It was not intended to reconnoitre and report as its name suggest ...
light tanks
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...
as well as on the
White-Laffly AMD 80 armoured car and on fortifications. The
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
used field-modified self-propelled mountings, with guns recovered from French ships, in North-East Africa in 1942. The Breda Mod.31 was used as an anti-aircraft and heavy machine gun on command tanks of the
Royal Italian Army as well as on
L3/33
The Carro Veloce 33 (CV 33) or L3/33 was a tankette originally built in 1933 and used by the Italian Army before and during World War II. It was based on the imported British Carden Loyd tankette (license-built by Italy as the CV 29). ...
light tanks sold to Brazil. The Japanese mounted license-produced version of the gun on a number of
Type 92 Heavy armored Cars which had initially been armed with only a pair of
6.5mm machine guns.
Users
*
*
*
* - Captured French guns were designated MG 271(f).
* - Some modified for larger magazine capacities and closed-bolt operation
*
* - Built under license as the
Breda Model 1931 machine gun.
* - Built under license as the
Type 93 heavy machine gun.
* - Designated the wz.30.
*
* - 200 delivered before the
Fall of France and delivered by Germans from captured material
*
* - License built
Breda Model 1931 machine guns bought from Italy. Designated
13,2 mm kulspruta M/It (13,2 mm ksp M/It)
*
Gallery
File:Hotchkiss wz. 30 Zbik Gdynia 2.jpg, A wz.30 dual gun pedestal mount used on the Polish submarine ORP ''Żbik''.
File:Machine gun (AM 775497).jpg, The related Japanese Type 93 single mount.
File:Japanese_13.2mm_AA_Machine_Gun.jpg, The related Japanese Type 93 double mount.
See also
*
Anti-aircraft gun
*
25 mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun
The Hotchkiss 25 mm anti-aircraft gun was an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the French firm of Hotchkiss. It served in World War II with French, Japanese and other nations' forces. Other than the designer company and the calibre, th ...
- A closely related French anti-aircraft gun.
*
Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun - A closely related Japanese anti-aircraft gun.
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* Ferrard, Stéphane. ''France 1940 l'armement terrestre'', ETAI, 1998,
* "Las armas de la guerra civil española", José MAría MANRIQUE, , pages 394 -398
{{WWIIFrenchNavalWeapons
World War II anti-aircraft guns
World War II weapons of France
Machine guns of France
Heavy machine guns
World War II machine guns
M1929
Articles containing video clips
World War II weapons of Greece
Military equipment introduced in the 1920s