{"id":134380,"date":"2021-01-10T12:45:50","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T17:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=134380"},"modified":"2021-01-10T12:45:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T01:32:01","slug":"ernest-hemingways-tommy-gun-full-auto-shark-repellent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/ernest-hemingways-tommy-gun-full-auto-shark-repellent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernest Hemingway\u2019s Tommy Gun: Full Auto Shark Repellent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Ernest
You likely suspected this already, but I\u2019m not this guy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In case you hadn\u2019t noticed, I\u2019m not much of a journalist. I\u2019m just a gun nerd with a laptop. As a writer, I am more mechanic than artist. I just enjoy telling stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
I\u2019m just a gun guy who likes to type. Real writers, however, frequently have some intriguing eccentricities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have written professionally for more than half of my life. Along the way, it has been my privilege to meet a few real writers. They are indeed typically a fascinating lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Nobody\u2019s really this awesome. If somebody seems perfect, they\u2019re likely a closet pedophile or something. Not saying Superman is a pedophile, just making a point.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have a theory that every normal person is born with about the same amount of raw material. It\u2019s just typically distributed differently. If you know somebody who is handsome, charming, brilliant, and successful then watch out. That guy is likely a serial killer. In the case of truly extraordinary writers, however, they can also be lamentably self-destructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ernest Hemingway\u2014Professional Virile Paragon<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
Ernest Hemingway was a stud from the very outset. Not sure how old he was in this picture, but he\u2019s gripping that air rifle like he means it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second of six children, Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Dad was a physician, and mom was a musician. Young Ernest excelled at sports and, not unsurprisingly, English. Hemingway had bad eyes and couldn\u2019t pass the physical for enlistment into the US Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Rugged and handsome but rocking some seriously crappy eyesight, Ernest Hemingway shipped out for WW1 as an ambulance driver.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star,<\/em> he answered a Red Cross advert to become an ambulance driver during WW1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Just like George Patton, King David, John Wayne, and my dad, Ernest Hemingway was 100% manly man.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hemingway returned home in 1919 having exchanged his youthful idealism for severe shrapnel wounds to his legs. He ultimately married four times and became the poster child for toxic masculinity. His friends called him Papa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Hemingway\u2019s raucous lifestyle eventually took a toll.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a hard-drinking lifetime spent chasing adventure around the globe he took his own life in Ketchum, Idaho. He was 61. From beginning to end, firearms played an outsized role in Hemingway\u2019s amazing trek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sundry Adventures<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
In his youth Hemingway sought war.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His time in WW1 birthed A Farewell to Arms.<\/em> The Spanish Civil War spawned For Whom the Bell Tolls.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Hemingway served as a war correspondent during WW2 and was popular with the troops. He purportedly blurred the lines between neutral member of the press and complicit conspirator with the French Resistance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hemingway served alongside Allied troops as a war correspondent through the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris, eventually earning the Bronze Star for his trouble. Hemingway explored Europe, the American Rocky Mountains, and Africa. What we will occupy ourselves with today, however, is the nexus between Hemingway\u2019s guns and fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Hemingway\u2019s fishing boat Pilar<\/em> was his personal treasure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ernest Hemingway was a compulsive angler. He lived for a time in Cuba and Key West, Florida, and owned a 38-foot fishing boat named Pilar<\/em> after his second wife. He purchased the vessel new in 1934 for $7,495. His adventures on the Pilar<\/em> strongly influenced such classics as The Old Man and the Sea<\/em> and Islands in the Stream.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Here we see Ernest Hemingway prepped for a hard day of U-boat hunting in the Caribbean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During World War 2 Hemingway had the Pilar<\/em> outfitted with HF\/DF direction-finding equipment and famously set out stalking Nazi U-boats in the Caribbean. His armament included a privately-owned Thompson submachinegun and a case of hand grenades he had scored someplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
The WW2-era German U-boat was a formidable warship bristling with weapons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Type VII was the most-produced German U-Boat of the war. It displaced some 769 tons, was 220 feet long, and carried an 88mm deck gun along with sundry 20mm antiaircraft weapons and a couple of MG34\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Mr. Hemingway likely would not have been much of an inconvenience to the Kriegsmarine had he actually caught a German U-boat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How exactly Mr. Hemingway planned to take on one of these monsters with a Tommy gun and a few hand grenades is anybody\u2019s guess. Some allege that Hemingway\u2019s antics were really a scheme to obtain extra fuel rations and immunity from the Cuban police for his several drunk driving charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemingway\u2019s Peculiar Problem<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
It\u2019s not hard to imagine what Hemingway saw in the Bimini Islands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For a time Ernest Hemingway explored the great ocean currents surrounding Bimini, an island chain some fifty miles east of Miami. These islands sport brilliant white sand beaches and were once rumored to host Ponce de Leon\u2019s fountain of youth. Papa Hemingway gravitated toward them for the great leviathan fish that populated the surrounding depths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
It was the great fish like the giant marlin that drew Ernest Hemingway to the azure seas around Bimini.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marlin, tuna, and swordfish were Hemingway\u2019s perennial favorites, but catching these massive fish came with its own risks. The thrashing of these enormous creatures brought predators. Very frequently sharks would strip his catch before he could get the fish to his boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Hemingway initially tried using a .22-caliber Colt Woodsman like this one against hungry sharks. After accidentally shooting himself in the leg with it he decided he needed a different tool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At first Hemingway tried to dissuade the sharks with a Colt Woodsman semiautomatic .22 pistol. He fired on one shark at close range as he attempted to land his catch only to have a round deflect off the boat\u2019s rail and strike him in the shin. This wound just added to all the others. However, this experience convinced Hemingway that he needed a bit more gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Ernest Hemingway found in the M1921 Thompson submachine gun a better counter-shark weapon than his previous .22 pistol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One version of the story has Hemingway buying his M1921A Thompson submachine gun from a local Bimini fisherman. Another posits that Hemingway won the Thompson in a card game with a millionaire named William Leeds. Regardless, there doesn\u2019t appear to have been any paperwork involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Prior to 1934 there were essentially no rules governing ownership of automatic weapons in America. Guns like the Browning Automatic Rifle shown here, however, were just crazy expensive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hemingway seems to have acquired his Thompson in 1935, one year after the passage of the infamous National firearms Act of 1934. Prior to 1934 there were no controls over firearms in America. Automatic weapons like Thompsons and BARs were readily available but extremely expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
A Thompson submachine gun back in the early 1930\u2019s would set you back as much as a decent used car.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back then a Thompson cost $200, while a BAR would set you back $300. That\u2019s the modern-day equivalent of $3,782, and $5,673 respectively. Additionally, coming on the heels of the Great Depression very few Americans actually had any money. Regardless, as Bimini was part of the Bahamas US law obviously didn\u2019t apply anyway. At the time the Bahamas were part of the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Failed Mission<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
After weeks of effort Hemingway and his buddy could tell they had finally hooked a simply legendary fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1935 Hemingway and a friend named Mike Strater had fished the waters around Bimini for 86 days straight without hooking anything of consequence. Then as the Pilar<\/em> rocked peacefully along in the current Strater\u2019s line jumped. A mighty struggle later the two men saw that Strater had hooked a massive fourteen-foot giant marlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Sharks got to the epic fish before they could get it into the boat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Strater fought the fish mightily, causing the animal to breach repeatedly. As the fish tired, however, the sharks began to circle. Before the two men could land the tremendous billfish the first shark zipped in and snatched a 20-pound chunk of flesh out of the creature\u2019s flank. This precipitated a frenzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Papa Hemingway chewed into the massive predators with his Thompson to no avail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
Once the sharks got tooled up they were tough to stop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sharks swarmed the great fish as Hemingway chugged away with his Thompson at 850 rounds per minute. However, as he connected with the soulless grey predators their blood drew yet more sharks. By the time they got the once-majestic fish on board the back half had been stripped clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
This is a photograph of the fish in question. The sharks made off with about half the animal\u2019s body mass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once back at Bimini they hoisted the carcass up, measured it at more than fourteen feet from snout to tail, and weighed what remained at greater than 500 pounds. Had the sharks not had their fill the fish would have tipped the scales at more than half a ton and set a new Bimini record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Hemingway\u2019s books were inspired by his adventures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Papa Hemingway was sufficiently imbittered to write a book about the experience. Most high school students have read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemingway\u2019s Thompson<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
Hemingway\u2019s Tommy lacked the Cutts compensator on the muzzle. The gun shown here sports a 100-round C-drum magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Papa\u2019s Tommy gun was an early Auto Ordnance version that he fed from 20-round stick magazines. His gun lacked the familiar Cutts compensator found on many period weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
The Cutts compensator certainly looks cool, but I\u2019ve fired Thompsons both with and without it and didn\u2019t feel like it made a great deal of difference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Cutts was a $25 add-on to those early Thompsons. As $25 back then was $472 in today\u2019s money many private owners just did without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
The Thompson submachine gun was a collaborative effort, but BG Thompson\u2019s force of personality made the project work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Thompson\u2019s inspiration was one BG John Taliaferro Thompson. That middle name is inexplicably pronounced \u201cToliver.\u201d General Thompson did not technically design the gun that bore his name, but he was indeed the driving force behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
The Lyman rear sight is more complicated than the space shuttle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those earliest M1921A Thompsons included the superfluous bronze Blish lock, fired from the open bolt, and featured a ludicrously overdesigned Lyman adjustable rear sight. They came standard with a vertical foregrip and easily-removable buttstock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
20-round stick magazines cost $3 ($58 today), while 50-round L-drums cost $5 ($97).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
The human engineering of the Thompson was actually fairly atrocious. However, the gun was undeniably effective.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everything about the Thompson\u2019s ergonomics is wrong. The line of recoil is markedly higher than the interface between the buttstock and the firer\u2019s shoulder. This equates out to muzzle climb. However, the gun\u2019s all-up 10.8-pound empty weight combined with its .45ACP pistol cartridge conspired to make the gun controllable anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
The early civilian model Thompson is shown on the right. The later M1A1 military gun is on the left. The location of the actuator is the easiest way to tell the guns apart at a glance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Thompson was produced in two major variants. The early M1921\/M1928 versions sported top-mounted actuators. The later military M1 and M1A1 versions had their actuators on the right side of the receiver. Total production was around 1.75 million copies between 1921 and 1945.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruminations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest
Ernest Hemingway was truly The World\u2019s Most Interesting Man.   <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ernest<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ernest Hemingway survived five car wrecks and two plane crashes. He wrote seven novels, six collections of short stories, and two non-fiction works, winning both the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes. He was a living legend respected the world over. However, throughout it all the man seemed somehow cursed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
This is a piece of lockwork left over from the gun Papa Hemingway used to kill himself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hemingway\u2019s father fell on hard financial times and took his own life when his son was 39. Ernest shot himself to death with his favorite side-by-side 12-bore 22 years later. That gun was subsequently intentionally destroyed at a local machine shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Ernest Hemingway\u2019s granddaughter Margaux had a promising career in Hollywood before she took her own life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alcoholism, depression, and suicide ran rampant throughout the Hemingway clan. Seven members of the immediate family took their own lives, to include Papa\u2019s granddaughter Margaux Hemingway. Margaux was a successful film actress who killed herself in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Ernest Hemingway was a legendary outdoorsman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ernest Hemingway was an extraordinarily gifted writer. Sadly, his personal demons eventually got the better of him. Regardless, whether it was fighting alongside the French Resistance, hunting dangerous game in Africa, or battling hungry sharks with a Tommy gun, Papa Hemingway lived life to the full. He was indeed the archetypal Renaissance Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ernest
Men such as Hemingway do not thrive these days. Our world is insufficiently rugged to suit them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ernest Hemingway was an extraordinarily gifted writer. Sadly, his personal demons eventually got the better of him. Regardless, whether it was fighting alongside the French Resistance, hunting dangerous game in Africa, or battling hungry sharks with a Tommy gun, Papa Hemingway lived life to the full. He was indeed the archetypal Renaissance Man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":134391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,102,752,636],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-134380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-feature-articles","11":"tag-historical-guns","12":"tag-history"},"yoast_head":"\nErnest Hemingway\u2019s Tommy Gun: Full Auto Shark Repellent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ernest Hemingway\u2019s Tommy Gun: Full Auto Shark Repellent - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/ernest-hemingways-tommy-gun-full-auto-shark-repellent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ernest Hemingway\u2019s Tommy Gun: Full Auto Shark Repellent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ernest Hemingway was an extraordinarily gifted writer. 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