OK. Here are my top five SMGs, listed in no particular order, along with the reasons I believe justify their incorporation into this thread.
The Finnish Suomi SMG has been mentioned by some of our members as a good design that inflicted heavy casualties upon enemy forces. It was the Suomi, along with good tactics, that allowed Finland to inflict huge losses upon invading Soviet forces during the Winter War of 1939. This conflict demonstrated the utility of the SMG to all nations, particularly the Soviets. But the true significance of the Winter War was to demonstrate the poor tactics of the Red Army to Adolf Hitler, who believed the Soviets were so incompetent that he approved the decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941. Indeed, the Suomi played a role in enabling the small Finnish military to perform so well.
The Soviet PPSh41, also called the Shpagin, resulted from the poor performance of the Red Army during the Winter War. The Shpagin gave the Soviet military a high rate of fire which proved useful following the German invasion in 1941. So successful was the PPSh that over five million were produced for the Red Army during the "Great Patriotic War". The PPSh fit well into Soviet offensive tactics of closing with the enemy forces. The Shpagin was truly one SMG that played a significant role in ground combat.
The German MP38/40 deserves incorporation because it was not only a reliable design but it also fit well into the German doctrine of blitzkrieg (lightening war). The MP38/40 gave German airborne forces the firepower they need in 1940 against the Allied powers. In addition, the MP40 version was the first SMG that could be massed produced from steel stampings, thereby reducing the cost of the weapon and simplifying production. This set the stage for other SMG productions by other nations.
If cheapness is a characteristic for inclusion into successful submachine gun designs, the Sten SMG designs would be king. The Sten was adopted to provide the beleaguered British Army with a reliable submachine gun after the dark days of Dunkirk. Millions of Stens were produced for British and Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. In fact, the Sten also proved an ideal weapon to equip the French Resistance forces in occupied Europe. Given the wide use of Sten designs, it certainly merits consideration as a successful SMG.
Finally, we come to my personal favorite SMG: the Thompson. The Thompson was not an inexpensive or cheap design to produce. But the Thompson was a reliable weapon that was appreciated by all who used it. It gained famed initially as a weapon of gangsters and G-men during the interwar period. Then it was adopted by the United States Army in 1938 and went on to provide badly needed firepower to troops in the Pacific Theatre of operations. In Europe, it gave airborne forces the firepower they required when deployed behind enemy lines. It also was useful in urban combat after the Allies landed in Europe in 1944. The Thompson continued to soldier on into the Korean War, long after its replacement, the M3, had been adopted. This is a fine testimony for any weapon.
Timthinker
