Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun

Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun
A Hotchkiss Mark I on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Type	Light machine gun
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	See Users
Wars	Border War, World War I World War II
Production history
Designer	Lawrence Benét and Henri Mercié
Designed	1901
Manufacturer	Hotchkiss et Cie
Produced	~1909
Number built	~700 by Springfield Armory
Variants	Hotchkiss M1909 (French Army, 8×50mm Lebel) Hotchkiss Mark I (Britain, .303) Benét–Mercié Machine Rifle M1909 (United States, .30-06)
Specifications
Weight	12 kg (26.5 lb)
Length	1.23 m (48 in)^[1]
Barrel length	64 cm (25 in)^[1]

Cartridge	.303 British (Britain) 8mm Lebel (France) .30-06 Springfield (U.S.)
Caliber	.303 British 8mm Lebel 7.62×63mm (.30-06 Springfield) 7mm Mauser
Action	Gas-operated
Rate of fire	400-600 rounds per minute^[1]
Maximum firing range	3800 m
Feed system	30-round strip magazine, or belt-fed

The Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun was a French designed light machine gun of the early 20th century, developed and built by Hotchkiss et Cie. It was also known as the Hotchkiss Mark I and M1909 Benét–Mercié.

It was adopted by the French army as the Hotchkiss M1909 (or Mle 1909) in 1909, firing the 8 mm Lebel.

A variant to use the .303 round was produced in Britain as the "Hotchkiss Mark I" and manufactured by Enfield. The British army employed three different types of machine gun: the Vickers medium machine gun, the Hotchkiss (for cavalry and tank use), and the Lewis Gun with the infantry.

It was adopted by the US in 1909 as the "Benét–Mercié Machine Rifle, Caliber .30 U. S. Model of 1909" firing the .30-06 cartridge. The name comes from three sources: Hotchkiss, the name of the American Benjamin B. Hotchkiss who started the company in France; the two main designers, Lawrence Benét and Henri Mercié; and the US designation system at time which label arms with "Model of Year". Lawrence Benét was related to the former head of US Army Ordnance at the time of adoption.

It is also known as the Hotchkiss M1909 and M1909 Benét–Mercié, but should not be confused with the heavier Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun.

It was also used by other countries, including Belgium, Spain, Brazil and Australia.

Design

It was gas-operated and air-cooled, had a maximum range of 3,800 m (4,200 yd) and weighed 12 kg (27 lb). Initial models were fed by a 30-round strip-magazine but later models could be either strip- or belt-fed. The US types had a bipod, while some others used a small tripod. This tripod, fitted under the firearm, could be moved with the weapon, and was very different from larger tripods of the period.

The U.S. M1909 machine guns were made by Springfield Armory and by Colt's Manufacturing Company. Total production for the United States was 670.^[1] This may seem small compared to the huge production runs of firearms later in the 20th century, but this was a significant number for the size of the contemporary US Army. The M1909's adoption coincided with the withdrawal of the .30-06 manually operated Gatling guns from the US Army's arsenals.

Service

France and Britain used the Hotchkiss M1909 through World War I and on into World War II. The Australian Light Horse, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps used the Hotchkiss in the Desert Campaign in Sinai and Palestine (1915–17).^[2] US forces used the Benét–Mercié at the Battle of Columbus (Pancho Villa Raid) in 1916 (4 guns fired 20,000 rounds total in the engagement) and in the subsequent Pancho Villa Expedition in Mexico of 1916–17 and initially in France. Firing pins and extractors broke frequently on the American guns. Some members of the US press derisively called the M1909 the "daylight gun" because of the difficulty in replacing broken parts at night and jams caused when loading strips were accidentally inserted upside down in darkness.^[1] However, after Maj. Julian Hatcher was assigned to look into the issue after Columbus and found almost all the issues were due to inadequate training. US troops during the Villa Expedition received additional training and the M1909 was considered an effective weapon.^[3] It could have seen extensive use with the US in WWI but production had already ceased and only a small number were available. The US Navy still used them, however in that period.

Users

Gallery

2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry gunners in Flanders, winter of 1914–1915
Old Glory postcard with U.S. soldiers firing an M1909 machine gun
Hotchkiss Mark I on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
A Hotchkiss M1922 machine gun

References

1 2 3 4 5 Bruce N. Canfield "The Daylight Gun": U.S. Model of 1909 Benét–Mercié Machine Gun" American Rifleman September 2010 pp.84–87
↑ Ion Idress: The Desert Column, Angus & Robertson 1944, p. 225
↑ Hatcher, Julian S. (1962), Hatcher's Notebook (3rd ed.), Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, pp. 93–101, LCCN 62-12654

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hotchkiss Mle 1909.

Images from the Museum of the Soldier, Portland, Indiana
More images: 1, 2
Complete Guide to the Hotchkiss Machine Gun origyear=1917
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/light-machine-guns/hotchkiss-portative-lmg/
- Handbook of the Automatic Machine Rifle Caliber .30, Model of 1909. Ordnance Department. 31 July 1916. (many good plates)
- "New Machine Guns Ordered: Vickers Recoil Type Will Replace Those That Jammed". New York Times. 24 March 1916.
Collection of photos that appear to be either US Army photos or published before 1922

US infantry weapons of World War I

Side arms	M1911 pistol M1917 revolver M1909 revolver Colt Army M1901 revolver

Rifles	M1903 Springfield Pedersen Device M1917 Enfield Berthier rifle

Automatic rifles	Chauchat M1918 BAR

Shotguns	Winchester Model 1897 Winchester Model 1912 Browning Auto-5 Remington Model 10

Machine guns and larger	M1895 Colt-Browning M1909 Benet-Mercie Lewis Gun M1914 Hotchkiss M1917 Browning

Grenades	F1 Mills bomb Mk 1 Mk 2

Cartridges	.45 ACP .38 Special .30-06 Springfield

British Empire Small Arms & Ordnance of the First World War

No. 1
No. 2 Hales Pattern
Nos. 3, 20, 24, 35 Hales rifle grenades
Nos. 5, 23, 36 Mills
No. 6
Nos. 8, 9 Jam Tin
No. 13 Battye
No. 14 Pitcher
No. 15 Ball
No. 16 Oval
No. 17 Opera hat
No. 18
No. 19
No. 21 "Spherical"
No. 22 Newton-Pippin
No. 25 Sangster
No. 27
No. 28 Chemical
No. 29 Gas
No. 31 Day Signal
No. 32 Night Signal
No. 32 "Spherical E"
No. 34 Egg
No. 37
No. 39 Steuart Pattern

Artillery

Tank guns	QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder 6 cwt

Infantry guns	1.59-inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II ("Vickers-Crayford rocket gun")

Field Artillery	BL 12 pounder 6 cwt QF 12 pounder 8 cwt QF 12 pounder 18 cwt QF 13 pounder BL 15 pounder BLC 15 pounder QF 15 pounder QF 18 pounder QF 4 inch gun Mk III BL 4 inch gun Mk VII QF 4.5 inch Howitzer

Mountain artillery	RML 2.5 inch Mountain Gun BL 10 pounder Mountain Gun BL 2.75-inch Mountain Gun QF 2.95 inch Mountain Gun QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer

Howitzers, medium, and heavy artillery	QF 4.7 inch Gun BL 5 inch Howitzer BL 5.4 inch Howitzer BL 60 pounder gun BLC 6 inch siege gun BL 6 inch Gun Mk VII BL 6 inch Gun Mk XIX BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk I - V BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk VI - VIII

Siege artillery	BL 7.5 inch Mk III naval gun BL 9.2-inch howitzer BL 9.2 inch Mk X naval gun BL 12 inch Howitzer BL 12 inch Mk X naval gun BL 15 inch Howitzer

Coastal artillery	QF 4 inch naval gun Mk I – III BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX–X RML 9 inch

Mortars

Grenade launchers

Smoke and chemical weapons

Railway guns

Anti-aircraft guns

Foreign weapon designs
in British Empire Armies use

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.