Maschinengewehr 08
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| Maschinengewehr 08 | |
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 MG08 with optical sight. |
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| Type | heavy machine gun |
| Place of origin |  German Empire |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1908-1942 |
| Wars | World War I, World War II |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken |
| Variants | MG08/15, lMG08/15, LMG08/15 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 62 kg (136.7 lb) |
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| Cartridge | 7.92x57mm Mauser |
| Rate of fire | 400 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 900 m/s (2953 ft/s) |
| Effective range | 2200 yards |
| Maximum range | 4000 yards |
| Feed system | 250-round fabric belt |
The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an almost direct copy of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim Gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG08 remained in service until the outbreak of the Second World War due to a shortage of its successor, the MG34. It was retired from front-line service by 1942.
The Maschinengewehr 08 (or MG08)—so-named after 1908, its year of adoption—was a development of the license made Maschinengewehr 01. It could reach a firing rate of up to 400 rounds per minute using 250-round fabric belts of 7.92 mm ammunition, although sustained firing would lead to over-heating; it was water-cooled using a jacket around the barrel that held approximately one gallon.
The MG08, like the Maxim Gun, operated on the basis of a toggle lock; once cocked and fired the MG08 would continue firing rounds until the trigger was released. Its practical range was estimated at some 2,200 yards up to an extreme range of 4,000 yards. The MG08 was mounted on a tripod (Schlitten) that was ferried between locations either on carts or else carried above men's shoulders in the manner of a stretcher.
Pre-war production was by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) in Berlin and the government arsenal at Spandau (so that the gun was often referred to as a Spandau MG08). When the war began in August 1914, approximately 12,000 MG08s were available to battlefield units; production, at numerous factories, was however markedly ramped up during wartime. In 1914 some 200 MG08s were produced each month; by 1916 — once the weapon had established itself as the pre-eminent defensive battlefield weapon — the number had increased to 3,000; and a year later to 14,400 per month.
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[edit] MG08/15
A revised version of the MG08 was produced in 1915 — the MG08/15 — which featured a bipod rather than the tripod mount plus a pistol grip. At 18 kg, it was lighter and less cumbersome and was intended to demonstrate better mobility on the battlefield; it nevertheless remained a bulky weapon which was chiefly used for defensive purposes. It was, however, put to some use as an aircraft weapon.
The designation lives on as an idiom in the German language, 08/15 (Null-acht-fünfzehn) being used like an adjective to denote something 'standardized', unremarkable or generic.
[edit] Later versions
A lightened air-cooled version, the lMG08/15, (with a lower case 'L', not an upper case "i"), was developed as a fixed aircraft weapon and was used on the Fokker Eindecker as early as the autumn of 1915. This version eliminated the stock, grip, and bipod and perforated the water jacket to allow the air flowing around the aircraft to provide cooling. Early examples of this gun had a design flaw in that too much of the jacket had been slotted, resulting in firearms that could fall apart while being fired in aerial combat, which resulted in a revised cooling jacket having somewhat less slotting that did not run all the way fore and aft on the jacket. Its fully rectangular receiver, as seen from the side, distinguishes it from the later, and more robust version, the LMG08/15, which had a notably lightened receiver, trimmed down on both upper and lower surfaces, which quickly superseded it. The capital "L" on the later version is variously described as standing for leicht (light), luft (air), or luftgekühlt (air cooled). Also see Maxim Tokarev.
In 1918 an air-cooled and more mobile model — the MG08/18, weighing 15 kg — entered into production. It was intended for forward use by advancing infantrymen, that is to say as an offensive rather than a solely defensive weapon. Despite its debilitating weight, which rendered it unsuitable for offensive operations, these proved of most use in covering the German Army's withdrawal during the latter half of 1918.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Goldsmith, Dolf L. (1989). The Devil's Paintbrush: Sir Hiram Maxim's Gun. Collector Grade Publications. ISBN 0-88935-282-8.
