In the late 1920s, Hotchkiss proposed a range of anti-aircraftautomatic weapons in the 13.2, 25 and 37 mm calibers. They were all based on the same type of gas-operated action. The 8 mm mle 1914 machine gun had proven extremely reliable during World War I and was still in service. The gun started with a 13.2 x 99 cartridge but in 1935 changed over to a 13.2 x 96 cartridge. The majority of guns were fed from overhead 30 round curved box magazines. The guns had a cyclicrate of fire of 450 rounds per minute but their sustained rate of fire was 200-250 rounds per minute due to the need to change magazines which limited their rate of fire. The guns came in a number of different configurations depending on their intended role. There were single, double and quadruple barreled anti-aircraft weapons on a high-angle pedestal and tripod mounts as well as low-angle bi-pod mounts for anti-tank and heavy machine gun roles. French infantry commanders that had expressed interest in acquiring light anti-aircraft guns refused to accept the 13.2 mm. They argued that those heavy bullets falling down could be dangerous to friendly troops, and went to larger calibers where self-destructing shells were available. But the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss saw extensive use as a naval gun and was also chosen by the French cavalry for some of its armored vehicles.
Service
As a ground-based anti-aircraft weapon
The French Air Force used designated as mitrailleuse de 13.2 mm CA mle 1930, for close-range defense of its airfields and other strategic places. It came in two versions:
The first was a single gun with a stock and pistol grip that came in a dual-purpose anti-aircraft/anti-armor mounting. It had a two-wheeled split-trailed carriage that weighed empty and with the machine-gun mounted. When the swing-arm the gun was affixed to was locked upwards, it could be used in an anti-aircraft mode. When the arm was collapsed and a bipod extended it could fire straight ahead in an anti-tank role. When the gun was packed up and the trails closed, it was towed behind its caisson, which was pulled by a horse or by the gunner.
Second was a fixed tripod mount with a seat and anti-aircraft sight for the gunner. It came in a single mount empty, mounted. Or a double mount empty, mounted.
Early in World War II, the French, Italian and Japanese navies were using twin and quadruple mountings on many of their warships. French warships that were refitted in the United States in 1943, such as the battleship Richelieu or the destroyer, had their 13.2 mm machine guns replaced by more powerful Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. In Italy, the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda produced the gun under license as the Breda Mod.31 from 1931 onwards. It was used as an anti-aircraft gun aboard ships, submarines, and armored trainsRoyal Italian Navy. After World War II it was used on the patrol boats of the Guardia di Finanza naval service. The Spanish Navy bought this weapon in December 1935 and used it during the Civil War. The "Pirotecnia Militar" Army Ammunition plant produced its cartridges after 1939.
As a ground weapon
Several self-propelled anti-aircraft combinations were tested in the 1930s, with Citroën-Kegresse or Berliet chassis, but none was mass-manufactured. The 13.2 mm Hotchkiss was used on the BelgianT15 and the French AMR 35, light tanks as well as the White-Laffly AMD 80 armoured car and on fortifications. The Free French used field-modified self-propelled mountings, with guns recovered from French ships, in North-East Africa in 1942. The Breda Mod.31 was used as an anti-aircraft and heavy machine gun on command tanks of the Royal Italian Army as well as on L3/33 light tanks sold to Brazil. The Japanese mounted license-produced version of the gun on a number of Type 92 Heavy armored Cars which had initially been armed with only a pair of 6.5mm machine guns.
