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65-517: While the Vought VE-7s were serving the Navy well in the early 1920s, they were not originally designed as fighters. The Naval Aircraft Factory came up with a simple design driven by a 200  hp (150  kW ) Lawrance J-1 air-cooled radial engine . Its boxy fuselage was suspended between the upper and lower wings (essentially having both dorsal and ventral sets of cabane struts ), with

130-464: A boat-tailed spitzer 'streamlined' bullet, could be used against targets at a range of approximately 4,500 yd (4,115 m). The bullet jackets were generally made of an alloy of cupro-nickel , and gilding metal . Ammunition for the Vickers used colour-coded annuli. Tracer ammunition was marked with a red annulus; armouring-piercing ammunition with a green annulus, and incendiary ammunition with

195-454: A pan magazine ) were also used among others in Poland, where 777 of them were converted to 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge in 1933–1937. The larger calibre (half-inch) version of the Vickers was used on armoured fighting vehicles and naval vessels. The Gun, Machine, Vickers, .5-inch, Mk. II was used in tanks, the earlier Mark I having been the development model. This entered service in 1933 and

260-720: A base for many other weapons. For example: The Union of South Africa retained a large inventory of surplus Vickers machine guns after World War II. Many of these were donated to the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) during the Angolan Civil War . Angolan militants were usually trained in their use by South African advisers. Small quantities re-chambered for 7.62 mm NATO ammunition remained in active service with

325-501: A blue annulus. Explosive ammunition was marked with an orange annulus before the Second World War and was changed to black. The gun and its tripod were carried separately and both were heavy. The Vickers Mk I was 30 lb (13.6 kg) without the water and tripod, and weighed 40 lb (18.1 kg) with the water. The original design did not anticipate it being carried up jungle-covered mountains on men's backs, but such

390-486: A location might be zeroed in during the day, and then attacked at night, much to the surprise and confusion of the enemy. New Zealand units were especially fond of this use. A white disc would be set up on a pole near the MMG, and the gunner would aim at a mark on it, knowing that this corresponded to aiming at the distant target. There was a special back-sight with a tall extension on it for this purpose. The only similar weapon of

455-403: A meeting on March 15, 1913 to consider the adoption of a new type of machine gun. ... The Board is of the opinion that, with the exception of the Vickers gun, none of the other guns submitted showed sufficiently marked superiority for the military service, in comparison with the service [Benét–Mercié] Automatic Machine Rifle to warrant further consideration of them in the field test. The Board is of

520-478: A red band to differentiate it and restricted it to Home Guard use. The weight of the gun itself varied based on the gear attached, but was generally 25 to 30 pounds (11 to 14 kg) with a 40-to-50-pound (18 to 23 kg) tripod. The ammunition boxes for the 250-round ammunition belts weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg) each. In addition, it required about 7.5 imperial pints (4.3 L) of water in its evaporative cooling system to prevent overheating. The heat of

585-765: A replica Bluebird was completed in early 2007 by volunteers of the Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation. It is now on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola , Florida . Data from Janes Fighting Aircraft of World War I by Michael John Haddrick Taylor (Random House Group Ltd. 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA, 2001, ISBN   1-85170-347-0 ), 320 pp. General characteristics Performance Armament Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun

650-642: A reputation for great solidity and reliability. Ian V. Hogg , in Weapons & War Machines , describes an action that took place in August 1916, during which the British 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps fired their ten Vickers guns to deliver sustained fire for twelve hours. Using 100 barrels, they fired a million rounds without breakdowns. "It was this absolute foolproof reliability which endeared

715-494: A shorter faired cabane , and two Vickers guns. Two were completed. Flight test results were disappointing, the aircraft was overweight, with heavy controls, inadequate stability and sluggish performance. The VE-9 variant, first delivered to the Navy on 24 June 1922, was essentially an improved VE-7, with most of the improvements in the fuel system area. Four of the 21 ordered by the U.S. Navy were unarmed observation float seaplanes for battleship catapult use. The VE-7s equipped

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780-541: A trained team. The Vickers gun could sustain fire for long durations of time exceeding the recommended 10,000 rounds an hour due to the water-cooled barrel and hourly barrel swaps. One account states that a Vickers fired just under 5 million rounds in a week as a test in 1963 at Strensall Barracks and was still operable. The muzzle velocity was 2,440 ft/s (744 m/s) ±40 ft/s (12 m/s) with Mark VII(z ) ammunition and 2,525 ft/s (770 m/s) with Mark VIIIz ammunition. The Mark VIIIz cartridge, which had

845-622: Is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited , originally for the British Army . The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and operate it: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the others helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition, and spare parts. It was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft . The weapon had

910-451: Is fired from a closed bolt . When ready to fire, a round is in the chamber and the breechblock assembly and working parts are forward. It has a recoil operated , floating action with a toggle lock similar to a Luger pistol . However, unlike the Luger, the mechanism is totally contained within the receiver or body of the Vickers. When operated, the floating action, which consists of

975-573: Is the British L7 variant of the FN MAG general purpose machine gun. In 1913, a Vickers machine gun was mounted on the experimental Vickers E.F.B.1 biplane , which was probably the world's first purpose-built combat aeroplane. However, by the time the production version, the Vickers F.B.5 , had entered service the following year, the armament had been changed to a Lewis gun. During World War I,

1040-575: The Ceylon Army in the 1971 JVP insurrection . By the early 1900s, the U.S. military had a mixed collection of automatic machine guns in use that included M1895 "potato diggers" , 287 M1904 Maxims , 670 M1909 Benét–Mercié guns, and 353 Lewis machine guns . In 1913, the U.S. began to search for a superior automatic weapon. One of the weapons considered was the British Vickers machine gun. The Board of Ordnance & Fortifications held

1105-551: The South African Defence Force until the mid-1980s, when they were all relegated to reserve storage. Six were withdrawn from storage and reused by a South African liaison team operating with UNITA during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale , after which the weapons were finally retired. In the mid-1960s, the Vickers machine gun remained in service in countries such as India, Israel and Egypt. It saw action with

1170-408: The firing pin and trigger mechanism. The firing pin, under spring tension, strikes the primer of the cartridge through a hole in the extractor block. It must therefore be retracted before the extractor block moves down as part of the loading cycle. Once retracted, the firing pin is held in a cocked position by a sear , ready for the next firing cycle. As the breechblock assembly fully closes on

1235-542: The "Balloon Buster", and was adopted by the Allies as a standard anti-balloon armament, used by both the British and French in this role until the end of the war. The famous Sopwith Camel and the SPAD XIII types used twin synchronized Vickers, as did most British and French fighters between 1918 and the mid-1930s. In the air, the weighty water-cooling system was rendered redundant by low temperatures at high altitude and

1300-522: The Armistice) but most of the French aircraft Vickers machine guns were British-made. By 1917 it had been determined that standard rifle calibre cartridges were less satisfactory for shooting down observation balloons than larger calibres carrying incendiary or tracer bullets; the Vickers machine gun was chambered in the 11mm Vickers round, known as the Vickers aircraft machine gun and sometimes

1365-467: The Colt–Vickers machine gun, and many aircraft were armed with the weapons as well (2,888 guns were converted). 7,653 guns were issued during the war out of 12,125 produced in total. War damage losses reduced the number of M1915s in the U.S. Army inventory from 9200+ to about 8,000 total. After World War I, the Colt–Vickers machine guns were kept in reserve until World War II. Several hundred were sent to

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1430-720: The Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, and were all eventually lost to enemy action. In 1940 and 1941, a total of 7,071 M1915 guns were purchased by the United Kingdom to re-equip their forces after the Dunkirk evacuation , which depleted the weapon from the U.S. inventory before their entry into the war. Because the M1915 Colt–Vickers was not chambered for the standard British .303, it was painted with

1495-619: The Mark II. Intended for British light tanks , some were used during the war on mounts on trucks by the Long Range Desert Group in the North Africa Campaign . The Vickers machine gun was produced, between the wars, as the vz.09 machine gun . The Vickers was widely sold commercially and saw service with many nations and their own particular ammunition. It was also modified for each country and served as

1560-447: The Mk I 600 rounds of continuous fire to boil the water in the jacket, evaporating at a rate of 1.5 pints (0.852 L) per 1,000 rounds. The steam would reach the top of the jacket and enter a steam tube which led to a port that was situated under the jacket near the muzzle. A hose was connected to this, which released the steam into a metal water can allowing it to be vented away from the rest of

1625-523: The Navy ordered 34 planes from Curtiss, with the first arriving on board the aircraft carrier USS  Langley in December. The NAF built another five themselves, as a test of relative costs, as well as four more used to experiment with water-cooled inline engines . Two all-metal versions of the aircraft, F4C-1s, were developed by Curtiss. This aircraft made its first flight on September 4, 1924. The wings had tubular spars and stamped duraluminum ribs,

1690-453: The Navy's first two fighter squadrons VF-1 and VF-2 . A VE-7 flown by Lieutenant Virgil C. Griffin made history on October 17, 1922, when it took off from the deck of the newly commissioned carrier Langley . The VE-7s were the Navy's frontline fighters for several years, with three still assigned to the Langley in 1927; all were retired the following year. No survivors remain, however

1755-565: The U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, Colt had not manufactured a single M1915. Production began in late 1917 with shipments to the Western Front in mid-1918. The first twelve divisions to reach France were given French Hotchkiss M1914 machine guns , and the next ten had M1915s. The next twelve divisions were to have Browning M1917 machine guns, but there was a shortage of parts. By August 1918, thirteen U.S. divisions were armed with

1820-661: The Vickers gun as part of a widescale change from rimmed to rimless rounds; one of the contenders was the 7.92mm Besa machine gun (British-built Czech ZB-53 design), which eventually became the British Army's standard tank-mounted machine gun. However, the Vickers remained in service with the British Army until 30 March 1968. Its last operational use was in the Radfan during the Aden Emergency . Its successor in UK service

1885-404: The Vickers gun became a standard weapon on British and French military aircraft , especially after 1916, initially in a single gun configuration ( Nieuport 17 , SPAD VII , Sopwith Triplane ), increased to a twin-gun standard in later war fighters ( Nieuport 28 , SPAD XIII , Sopwith Camel ), with exceptions such as the S.E.5 , which had a single synchronized Vickers and a Lewis gun mounted above

1950-439: The Vickers in 1914, and the gun was unanimously approved by the board for the army under the designation "Vickers Machine Gun Model of 1915, Caliber .30, Water-Cooled". One hundred twenty-five guns were ordered from Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1915, with an additional 4,000 ordered the next year, all chambered for .30-06. Design complexities, design modifications, and focus on producing previously ordered weapons meant that when

2015-466: The Vickers to every British soldier who ever fired one. It never broke down; it just kept on firing and came back for more." The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful Maxim gun of the late 19th century. After purchasing the Maxim company outright in 1896, Vickers took the design of the Maxim gun and improved it, inverting the mechanism as well as reducing its weight by lightening and simplifying

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2080-566: The action and using high strength alloys for certain components. A muzzle booster was also added. The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun under the name Gun, Machine, Mark I, Vickers, .303-inch on 26 November 1912. There were shortages when the First World War began, and the British Expeditionary Force was still equipped with Maxims when sent to France in 1914. Vickers

2145-504: The barrel boiled the water in the jacket surrounding it. The resulting steam was taken off by a flexible tube to a condenser container—this had the dual benefits of avoiding giving away the gun's location, and also enabling re-use of the water, which was very important in arid environments. In British service, the Vickers gun fired the standard .303 inch cartridges used in the Lee–Enfield rifle , which generally had to be hand-loaded into

2210-413: The barrel, breechblock assembly and toggle mechanism, reciprocate as a unit within the body of the gun. The mechanism is held together by recoiling plates, that connect the breech end of the barrel to the rear of the toggle mechanism. The breech is locked closed when the toggle is straight. The crank cocking handle is part of the floating action. It acts through the rear pivot of the toggle lock. Pulling

2275-423: The belt during the return cycle of the feed pawls. The breechblock assembly is roughly as high as the receiver of the gun. On its front face is the extractor block. Levers cause this to move up and down as the action is cycled. It has a slot with two grooves which allow the rim of the cartridge to be held from each side, much like a stripper clip does. With the breechblock assembly closed and ready to fire,

2340-421: The belt from right to left, pull the next round out of the belt and into the chamber, fire it, then send the fired brass cartridge down and out of the receiver while the cloth belt would continue out the left side. During sustained fire, the barrel would heat up which heated the water in the jacket until hot enough for the water to evaporate or boil thereby cooling the barrel releasing the heat through steam. It took

2405-404: The breech, the sear disengages but the firing pin is held rearward by the trigger. The end of the trigger protrudes from the top of the breechblock assembly. To fire the loaded gun, the gunner depresses a paddle at the rear of the gun. Through a lever, this pulls on a sliding bar that trips the trigger to release the firing pin. The weapon then cycles to load the next cartridge for firing. If

2470-415: The breech. It accepts the canvas belt loaded with ammunition. With each firing cycle, it advances the belt by one round so that a fresh cartridge is presented ready for loading. The belt is advanced by pawls which move from side to side. The pawls are operated by a linkage that engages with the floating action. A second set of spring-loaded pawls tilt up and down as the belt passes over them. These hold

2535-449: The center area of the lower wing enlarged to accommodate a fuel tank. The NAF provided Curtiss with the plans to build the aircraft, and the result, designated TS-1 , arrived at Anacostia on May 9, 1922. The TS-1 from Curtiss was delivered with wheels , so the NAF also designed wooden floats to enable their use on vessels other than aircraft carriers . Testing went well, and in late 1922

2600-434: The cloth ammunition belts. There was also a 0.5 in calibre version used as an anti-aircraft weapon and various other calibres produced for foreign buyers. The gun was 3 feet 8 inches (112 cm) long and its cyclic rate of fire was between 450 and 600 rounds per minute. In practice, it was expected that 10,000 rounds would be fired per hour, and that the barrel would be changed every hour—a two-minute job for

2665-421: The cocking handle causes the toggle to rise. This unlocks the breech and then draws the breechblock assembly rearward. While firing, the opposite end of the crank handle cams on a round lug fixed to the body. Rearward movement of the floating action tips the cocking handle and unlocks the toggle. The recoil that unlocks the toggle is gas assisted . Propellent gases leaving the muzzle are partly contained within

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2730-457: The constant stream of air passing over the gun (and lack of any need for sustained fire such as employed by ground troops); but because the weapon relied on boosted barrel recoil, the (empty) water-holding barrel jacket or casing was retained. Several sets of louvered slots were cut into the barrel jacket to aid air cooling, a better solution than that which had initially been attempted with the 1915-vintage lMG 08 German aircraft ordnance. In 1918

2795-422: The extractor block grips the base of two cartridges: the lower cartridge in the chamber ready to fire and an upper cartridge held in the canvas belt within the feed block. When the breechblock assembly unlocks after firing, the extractor pulls the spent cartridge from the chamber and, once clear, this falls through an ejection port in the underside of the gun's body. Unlocking the breechblock assembly also withdraws

2860-583: The fuselage was constructed of duraluminum tubing in a Warren truss form. Compared to the TS-1, the lower wing was raised to the base of the fuselage. The F4C-1 was armed with two .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns and was powered by a 200 hp nine-cylinder Wright J-3 radial. In addition to operating from the carrier deck, the TS-1s served for several years in floatplane configuration aboard destroyers , cruisers , and battleships . The aircraft were slung over

2925-410: The gun hiding the steam cloud and the gun's position. This also allowed any condensate to be reclaimed from the steam. Before the can got too full, it would be emptied back into the jacket to replenish the water level which would have fallen as the water evaporated and boiled away. If the water jacket needed to be emptied, a plug under the jacket could be unscrewed to drain the entire jacket. The Vickers

2990-470: The gun. This problem was addressed using an insulating water jacket cover, introduced in 1918 but still in use during the Korean War. Some crews added vehicle antifreeze, others drained the water jacket, or simply fired a few rounds periodically to keep the water from freezing. The loader sat to the gunner's right, and fed in belts of cloth, into which the rounds had been placed. The weapon would draw in

3055-471: The hands of the new Machine Gun Corps (when heavier 0.5 in/12.7 mm calibre machine guns appeared, the tripod-mounted, rifle-calibre machine guns such as the Vickers were further re-classified as "medium machine guns"). After the First World War, the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was disbanded and the Vickers returned to infantry units. Before the Second World War, there were plans to replace

3120-614: The intention of servicing war needs. The company's trainer was patterned after successful European designs; for instance, the engine was a Wright Hispano Suiza of the type used by the French Spads . In practice, the VE-7's performance was much better than usual for a trainer, and the Army ordered 1,000 of an improved design called the VE-8. However, the contract was cancelled due to the end of

3185-481: The left side and synchronized to fire through the propeller. Some planes, designated VE-7SF, had flotation gear consisting of inflatable bags stowed away, available to help keep the plane afloat when ditching at sea. The Bluebird won the 1918 Army competition for advanced training machines. The VE-8 variant completed in July 1919 had a 340hp Wright-Hispano H engine, reduced overall dimensions, increased wing area,

3250-447: The muzzle cap and act on the muzzle cup (attached to the barrel) to assist in propelling the floating action rearward to the point where the toggle mechanism is unlocked. The breechblock assembly then opens fully while opposed by a spring which ultimately returns it to the closed position. The spring under tension acts on a crank mounted on the opposite side of the body to the cocking handle. The feed block assembly sits directly above

3315-617: The side by crane or launched from capital ship catapults. Squadron VO-1 operated this way from 1922, and VF-1 flew its float-equipped TS-1s from battleships in 1925 and 1926. The TS-1 was not universally liked by its crews. Positioning of the lower wing below the fuselage resulted in short wheel struts. This, and the wheels' placement close to each other, caused considerable problems with ground looping . Data from Curtiss Aircraft 1907–1947, United States Navy aircraft since 1911 General characteristics Performance Armament Vought VE-7 The Vought VE-7 "Bluebird"

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3380-454: The slotted modified original barrel jacket was replaced with a slimmer jacket on the Mk. II version, and in 1927 a muzzle flash suppressor was added on the Mk. II*. As the machine gun armament of US and UK fighter aircraft moved from the fuselage to the wings in the years before World War II , the Vickers was generally replaced by the faster-firing and more reliable Browning Model 1919 using metal-linked cartridges. The Gloster Gladiator

3445-483: The time to use indirect fire was the German MG 08 , which had a separate attachment sight with range calculator. A British World War II Vickers medium machine gun platoon typically had one officer in command of four guns, in two sections of two, each with a crew and a small team of riflemen whose job was to protect the gun and keep it supplied with ammunition. The Vickers is a fully automatic belt-fed firearm which

3510-550: The unanimous opinion that the Vickers rifle caliber gun, light model, stood the most satisfactory test. As to the merits of the Vickers gun there is no question—it stood in a class by itself. Not a single part was broken nor replaced. Nor was there a jam worthy of the name during the entire series of tests. A better performance could not be desired. Captain John S. Butler, Office of the Chief of Ordnance Field tests were conducted of

3575-399: The upper round (the next round to be chambered) from the belt. When there is sufficient clearance, the extractor block lowers the new round until it is aligned with the chamber. Forward movement of the breechblock assembly then chambers the round. Near the very end of the forward cycle, the extractor block rises to engage the next round ready to be loaded. The breechblock assembly houses

3640-610: The upper wing. Although heavier than the Lewis, its closed bolt firing cycle made it much easier to synchronise to allow it to fire through aircraft propellers . The belt feed was enclosed right up to the gun's feed-way to inhibit the effect of wind. Steel disintegrating-link ammunition belts were perfected in the UK by William de Courcy Prideaux in mid-war and became standard for aircraft guns thereafter. From 1917 to 1919, French Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault produced under license .303 Vickers machine guns (240 were delivered before

3705-589: The war. However, the Navy was very interested in the VE-7, and received the first machine in May 1920. Production orders soon followed, and in accordance to Navy policy at the time, examples were also built by the Naval Aircraft Factory . In all, 128 VE-7s were built. The fighter version of the VE-7 was designated VE-7S. It was a single-seater, the front cockpit being faired over and a .30 in (7.62 mm) Vickers machine gun mounted over it on

3770-602: Was an early biplane of the United States. First flying in 1917, it was designed as a two-seat trainer for the United States Army , then adopted by the United States Navy as its first fighter aircraft . In 1922, a VE-7 became the first airplane to take off from an American aircraft carrier . The Lewis & Vought Corporation was formed just months after the U.S. entered World War I, with

3835-532: Was good for 1,500 yd (1,400 m) range. Maximum rate of fire for the Mark III was about 700 rpm from a 200-round belt carried in a drum. They were fitted from the 1920s onwards, but in practical terms, proved of little use. During the Second World War, the naval 0.5 in (12.7 mm) version was also mounted on power-operated turrets in smaller watercraft, such as Motor Gun Boats and Motor Torpedo Boats . The Mark IV and V guns were improvements on

3900-498: Was obsolete in 1944. Firing either single shot or automatic it had a pistol type trigger grip rather than the spades of the 0.303 in (7.7 mm) weapon. The Gun, Machine, Vickers, .5-inch, Mk. III was used as an anti-aircraft gun on British ships. This variation was typically four guns mounted on a 360° rotating and (+80° to −10°) elevating housing. The belts were rolled into a spiral and placed in hoppers beside each gun. The heavy plain bullet weighed 1.3 oz (37 g) and

3965-453: Was the last RAF fighter to be armed with the Vickers, later replaced by Brownings. The Fairey Swordfish was fitted with the weapon until production ended in August 1944. Several British bombers and attack aircraft of the Second World War mounted the Vickers K machine gun or VGO, a completely different design, resembling the Lewis gun in external appearance. Vickers machine guns, designated as models E (pilot's) and F (observer's, fed from

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4030-431: Was the weapon's popularity that men were generally content to pack it to all manner of difficult locations. The tripod would be set up to make a firm base, often dug into the ground a little and perhaps with the feet weighted down with sandbags. The water jacket would be filled with about 4 litres (1.1 US gal) of water from a small hole at the rear end, sealed by a cap. The evaporative cooling system, though heavy,

4095-539: Was threatened with prosecution for war profiteering , due to the exorbitant price demanded for each gun. As a result, the price was much reduced. As the war progressed, and numbers increased, it became the British Army's primary machine gun, and was used on all fronts during the conflict. When the Lewis Gun was adopted as a light machine gun and issued to infantry units, the Vickers guns were redefined as heavy machine guns, withdrawn from infantry units, and grouped in

4160-400: Was used for indirect fire against enemy positions at ranges up to 4,500 yards (4,115 m) with Mark VIIIz ammunition. This plunging fire was used to great effect against road junctions, trench systems , forming up points, and other locations that might be observed by a forward observer, or zeroed in at one time for future attacks, or guessed at by men using maps and experience. Sometimes

4225-419: Was very effective and enabled the gun to keep firing far longer than its air-cooled rival weapons. If water was unavailable, soldiers were known to resort to using their urine. It was sometimes claimed that crews would fire off a few rounds simply to heat their gun's cooling water to make tea , despite the resulting brew tasting of machine-oil. In extremely cold weather, the cooling water could freeze and damage

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