Type 11 light machine gun

The Type 11 light machine gun (十一年式軽機関銃, Jyūichinen-shiki Kei-kikanjū) is a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and during World War II. Adopted as the Imperial Japanese Army's first light machine gun, the Type 11 was designed by Kijirō Nambu and had certain similarities to the Hotchkiss series of machine guns. It had an unusual feed system which required five round clips to be dropped into a hopper, this held up to a total of six clips (30 rounds) and each round was oiled as it was fed into the chamber. Despite good overall performance, this feed system was prone to collect dirt and grit which would jam the weapon while in use. It was issued to troops in 1922 and saw extensive service as a squad weapon until 1945.

History

Combat experience in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 had convinced the Japanese of the utility of machine guns in providing covering fire for advancing infantry. This was reinforced by first-hand observations of European combat tactics by Japanese military attachés during the First World War, and the Army Technical Bureau was tasked with the development of a lightweight machine gun which could be easily transported by an infantry squad. The resultant "Type 11 light machine gun" (named after the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Taishō, or 1922) was the first light machine gun to be mass-produced in Japan and the oldest Japanese light machine gun design to see service in the Pacific War. It was superseded by the Type 96 light machine gun in 1936.

Design details

The Type 11 light machine gun was a design by famed arms designer Kijirō Nambu, based on a modification of the French Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun. It was an air-cooled, gas-operated design, using the same 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridges as the Type 38 infantry rifle.