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was a Japanese
heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
, related to the
Hotchkiss machine gun The Hotchkiss machine gun was any of a line of products developed and sold by Hotchkiss et Cie, (full name Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie), established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss moved ...
series. It entered service in 1932 and was the standard Japanese heavy machine gun used during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Known for its reliability, it was used after the war by various forces in
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
. Designed by Kijiro Nambu and built by
Hino Motors Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corpo ...
and
Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...
, its total production was about 45,000 guns. The Type 92 refers to the
Japanese Imperial year The , colloquially known as the or "national calendar year" is a unique calendar system in Japan. It is based on the legendary foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC. ''Kōki'' emphasizes the long history of Japan and the Imperial dyn ...
2592 – 1932 in the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
– in which the gun entered service.


Design

The Type 92 was essentially a scaled-up version of the
Type 3 heavy machine gun , also known as the Taishō 14 machine gun, was a Japanese air-cooled heavy machine gun. Design The Type 3 heavy machine gun was based on the design of the Hotchkiss M1914. Although the Hotchkiss used 8mm cartridges, from 1914 Japan produced the ...
, with its calibre increased to 7.7 mm, and like the Type 3 was air cooled, ammo strip-fed, and based on the
Hotchkiss M1914 The Mle 1914 Hotchkiss machine gun chambered for the 8mm Lebel cartridge became the standard machine gun of the French Army during the latter half of World War I. It was manufactured by the French arms company Hotchkiss et Cie, which had been e ...
. It could use both a rimless and semi-rimmed 7.7x58mm Shiki round. A 7.7mm Arisaka round could be used if necessary or if other ammunition supplies dwindled. Rounds fired from the gun traveled at about , and the rate of fire was about 450 rpm. It was sometimes used as a light
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
gun during the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...
. It was nicknamed "the
woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions ...
" by Western Allied soldiers because of the characteristic sound it made when fired due to its relatively low rate of fire, and the "chicken neck" () by Chinese soldiers due to its appearance. The Type 92 had a maximum range of 4,500 meters, but a practical range of 800 meters. The gun was intended to be fired on a tripod with a team of three men. The unusual tripod was designed with removable carry poles, so that the weapon could be transported fully assembled for quicker deployment. An unusual characteristic of this gun was the placement of its iron sights – canted slightly to the right instead of centre. A number of different sights were produced for the weapon, the Type 93 and Type 94 periscopic sights as well as the Type 96
telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a '' reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate ...
. A ring-type anti-aircraft sight was also produced. Major problems with this weapon included the short feed strips, which did not allow for as high a volume of fire as a belt-fed gun, and the oiler, which enabled better extraction in clean conditions but could bring dirt inside the gun in the field. The gun has an internal oil pump which is mechanically activated by the bolt. The oil pump dispenses a small amount of oil onto a brush, which then lubricates each cartridge as it is fed into the gun.


Combat history

The Type 92 was used extensively by the
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...
and collaborationist Chinese forces. Captured weapons were also used by Chinese
National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...
troops against the Japanese during World War II, the
Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...
against the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
forces during the Korean War, the
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...
against the CEFEO forces during the
First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
, and the
Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...
against the Netherlands forces during the
Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcol ...
.


Users

* * * * : Used by the IJA and various collaborationist forces. * * : Used by police *: intended to replace the
Type 3 heavy machine gun , also known as the Taishō 14 machine gun, was a Japanese air-cooled heavy machine gun. Design The Type 3 heavy machine gun was based on the design of the Hotchkiss M1914. Although the Hotchkiss used 8mm cartridges, from 1914 Japan produced the ...
but not provided in sufficient numbers * * *
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...
and
Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...


See also

*
Type 1 heavy machine gun was a heavy machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the later stages of the Second World War. Though seemingly intended to replace the older Type 92 heavy machine gun, the weapon never underwent the same level of mass production a ...


Gallery

Image:Japanese Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun.jpg, Type 92 heavy machine gun at the
Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...
in Tokyo. File:Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun2.jpg, In use during
Battle of Changsha (1941) The Battle of Changsha (6 September – 8 October 1941; ) was Japan's second attempt at taking the city of Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city o ...
. File:2-2 MG coy Joyce Tarakan.jpg, Australian soldiers using a captured Type 92 machine gun. File:Japanese soldier firing a Type 92 heavy machine gun, aiming through telescopic sight.jpg, A Japanese soldier aiming at a target through the telescopic sight of his Type 92 heavy machine gun during the
Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...
in 1942. File:Type 92 heavy machine gun in national memorial Bangkok Thailand.jpg, Type 92 heavy machine gun at the National Memorial in Bangkok. File:16_26_069_WWII_museum.jpg, Type 92 machine gun on display at
The National WWII Museum The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The ...
in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
.


References

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External links


US Army technical manual TM-E 30–480 at hyperwar
* {{Japanese WWII infantry weapons Heavy machine guns Machine guns of Japan World War II infantry weapons of Japan World War II machine guns Military equipment introduced in the 1930s