So the Thompsons that were on the dock on armistice day, what did they actually look like?

I always assumed they looked like the M1921 until I found pictures of the prototype guns and the annihilator

My current understanding is the guns that were to be shipped looked like these:

Nice.

BARs were also in inventory and they were afraid of them falling into German hands.

Interesting!  Can't wait to see if anyone knows anything.

Advntrjnky

Two of the guns pictured are from the 1919 series.....(the one that looks like a '21 sans stock, and the one with the aluminum grips ) One was a 1919 prototyple designed to be manufactured with a bare minimum of internal parts.....

The "annihilator " guns....with shrouded bbls, may have been late 1918 production, but aside from a small mention in "American Thunder", I've never seen or heard anywhere else that any were on their way "over there"

Bill Douglas in Dunedin,FL has a pretty large collection of prototype guns......including many 1919 variants......you shoul find his TSMG video.....it's quite good

I'd ask over at machinegunboards Thompson board......you'll get a definitive answer....

As far as I know that story about crates of 1918 Annihilators ready to go to WWI on Armistice Day is apocryphal.  There are no records or any examples of other than less than 50 prototype level 1918 Annihilators. I'm inclined to believe that the people who told it were mis-remembering the actual story of six hundred of 1921 Thompsons that were being sent to the IRA in 1921, and were confiscated at the docks in New Jersey.

MHO, YMMV, etc.