Hotchkiss machine gun
The Hotchkiss machine gun was any of a line of products developed and sold by Hotchkiss et Cie, (full name Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie), established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss.[1] Hotchkiss moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near Paris in 1875 manufacturing arms used by the French in the Franco-Prussian War, and later the U.S. government, who deployed them in the 1879 Mill River Campaign against Sitting Bull.
Variants
At the turn-of-the-twentieth-century, the company introduced the gas-actuated Hotchkiss machine gun, a sturdy and reliable weapon which was widely used during World War I and thereafter by the French Army. Weapons manufactured in the Hotchkiss machine gun line include:
- Hotchkiss M1909, light machine gun also known as the "Hotchkiss Mark I" in British service and the "Benét–Mercié" in American service.
- Hotchkiss M1914, medium machine gun
- Hotchkiss M1922, light machine gun
- Hotchkiss M1929, heavy machine gun
- 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun, autocannon but sometimes referred to as a machine gun
- The Modified Hotchkiss machine gun, a Greek modification used in World War II
- Hotchkiss Type Universal submachine gun
References
- ^ An Instructor (29 March 2012). Complete Guide to the Hotchkiss Machine Gun. Andrews UK Limited. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-1-78151-265-4.