ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The Thompson submachine gun is an American submachine gun invented in 1918 by John Tagliaferro Thompson. This weapon gained its fame during Prohibition in the United States, becoming the most common and favorite weapon not only among police officers, but also members of various American criminal gangs. He became known for a number of nicknames - "Tommy/Tommy-gan" (), "Destroyer" (), "Chicago typewriter" (), "Chicago piano" (), "Chicago style" (), "Chicago charm" (), "Trench Broomstick" (), "Trench Cleaner" (), "Ripper" () and simply "Thompson" ().

The Thompson was prized by the military, police, FBI and OCG for its high-performance .45 ACP cartridge, accuracy and rate of fire. Among collectors of weapons, it has gained popularity due to its historical significance: this weapon became famous in works of popular culture, which are set in the era of Prohibition in the United States or World War II, and also became one of the most popular in the world. Currently, only self-loading versions of the Thompson for civilians are produced by Auto-Ordnance, the modifications of which are in line with the standard.

Development

The developer of this submachine gun is traditionally considered to be General John Tagliaffero Thompson (1860-1940), who worked on a weapon effective for “clearing” trenches and communications – it was supposed to be different from the Italian “light machine gun” Beretta M1918 and the German “automatic carbine” MP-18. Initially, he developed a self-loading rifle, which was to replace several rifles in service with the American army. In the midst of his search for a modification that would allow the rifle to function without excessively recoiling the barrel or removing powder gases, he accidentally learned of a patent for a bolt granted in 1915 to a U.S. Navy officer. With financial support, Thompson founded a company to manufacture and market his new rifle. It was originally produced in Cleveland, Ohio. The development team included engineers Theodore Eickhoff, Oscar Payne and George Goll, who developed a semi-free shutter system.

In the autumn of 1917, after much work, a model called the “Coercive” or “Convincing” () appeared, developed under the cartridge .45 ACP. The power was supplied not from the store, but from the tape; the butt was absent, the fire control handle was shifted forward so that the front part of the trigger bracket was close to the store, and for better handling, an additional handle was located under the barrel. However, by the end of 1917, limited use of the Blish shutter was discovered. He, acting due to the friction force of the bronze liner moving inside his frame, did not ensure full locking of the barrel channel at the time of the shot, but only slowed the shutter retreat to the extremely rear position, slowing it down at the time of the shot. It's