Vickers GO No.5 (7.7 mm)
Contents
Description
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Vehicles equipped with this weapon
- Fairmile C (312)
- Fairmile C (332)
- Fairmile D (601)
- Fairmile D (617)
- Fairmile D (697)
- Fairmile D (5001)
- ML 1383
- MTB-96
General info
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Available ammunition
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Comparison with analogues
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Usage in battles
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Pros and cons
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Pros:
Cons:
History
The Vickers GO No. 5 was first created as a flexible aircraft machine gun for the Royal Air Force. A replacement for the World War I-era Lewis guns, the Vickers GO also known as the Vickers K was the main turret armament for the RAF during the early parts of World War II. Being a gas-operated gun, instead of using the Maxim-based recoil-operated action of the original Vickers, the gun was designated the Vickers GO. The origins of this weapon began just after World War I in France where the Armée de Terre was looking for a new light machine gun to replace their Chautchats. A contender by Andre Berthier failed to win the competition in France so he sold the rights to Vickers. The company would attempt to market the gun to the British Army, but it again failed to win the competition. However, the adoption of the Bren gun in 1933 did not replace the Lewis guns serving on Royal Air Force aircraft so Vickers reconfigured the design to serve as an aircraft gun which was adopted in 1935 and would remain in production until 1944[1].
The No.5 was a quad-mount variant of the Vickers GO No. 1 that saw use on the ground and in naval vehicles. The Vickers GO is best remembered today for its use by the Special Air Service (SAS) in North Africa[2]. The high rate of fire of guns and the ability to recover them from scrapped aircraft made them desirable weapons to mount on the Jeeps of the Long Range Desert Group. The decision to mount these guns on Jeeps in North Africa was also responsible for influencing the decision to mount them on Jeeps of the 1st Airborne Division during Operation Market Garden in 1944. By 1943, the Browning .303 had replaced the Vickers K as the flexible aircraft gun[2]. This left more Vickers GO guns to be used in a quad-mount configuration which often found their use with SAS through the 1950s on their Land Rovers[1]. The Vickers GO No. 5 was mostly used by the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy on MTB Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Launches, and other light craft starting in 1942 until the end of the war.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
- Vickers K (7.7 mm) - Aircraft variant.
External links
References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Forgotten Weapons. 2021. "Vickers "K" - For Aircraft and the SAS/Long Range Desert Group". YouTube video. 12:17. October 15. 2021. Video
- Vickers MG Collection & Research Association. 2020. "Vickers Gas-Operated Machine Gun (the Vickers 'K'): An Overview". YouTube video. 9:05. January 14. 20120. Video
| Naval machine guns | |
|---|---|
| USA | |
| 7.62 mm | M73 |
| 12.7 mm | AN-M2 |
| Germany | |
| 7.62 mm | MG-3 |
| 7.92 mm | MG08 pattern 1908 · MG15 · MG34 |
| 13.2 mm | Hotchkiss |
| 15 mm | MG M38(t) |
| USSR | |
| 7.62 mm | Maxim |
| 12.7 mm | DShK |
| 14.5 mm | KPV |
| Britain | |
| 7.62 mm | FN MAG |
| 7.7 mm | Lewis 1916 · Vickers GO No.5 |
| 12.7 mm | Vickers Mk.V |
| Japan | |
| 6.5 mm | Maxim · Type 38 pattern 1907 |
| 7.7 mm | Type 89 · Type 92 |
| 13.2 mm | Type 93 |
| Italy | |
| 6.5 mm | Breda Mod.30 · Fiat Model 26 |
| 12.7 mm | Breda-SAFAT |
| 13.2 mm | Breda Model 31 |
| France | |
| 7.7 mm | Darne M1922 |
| 7.92 mm | Hotchkiss pattern 1914 |
| 13.2 mm | Browning · Model 1929 Hotchkiss |
