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The Sten 9-mm submachine gun became the standard submachine gun in the armed forces of the British Commonwealth during the Second World War. It was also provided in large numbers to underground resistance movements throughout Europe. During the war, more than 4 million Sten guns were eventually produced.
Background
When Britain entered the war, its armed forces did not have an adequate submachine gun. In 1940, after the Dunkirk evacuation, there was an urgent need for equipment. Britain purchased expensive American-made Thompson submachine guns; however, British forces wanted a domestically produced design.
In early 1941, the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield quickly developed a prototype based on captured German MP40 submachine guns. The name “Sten” was created by using the first letter of the last names of its two designers (Shepherd and Turpin) and adding the first two letters of the small arms plant in Enfield where the weapons were initially produced.
The Sten gun was the first submachine gun manufactured in Canada. By the end of 1944, around 100,000 Stens were produced by Small Arms Limited, a crown corporation established in 1940 in the Toronto suburb of Long Branch.
Design and Specifications
The Sten gun was mass-produced in four marks (I, II, III, V), with the main differences being ergonomics, weight and rate of fire. The most common type, the Mark II, was approximately 76.2 cm long, with a barrel length of around 19.7 cm. Unloaded weight was around 2.8 kg. The Sten’s rate of fire was 550 rounds per minute (600 for the Mk V), but its 32-round magazine tended to jam if more than 30 rounds were loaded.
The two officially sanctioned firing positions for the Sten were from the waist or from the shoulder, both while standing. The Sten could fire automatic or single shots and had a fixed aperture sight set to 100 yards (91 m). It had a limited range because of its pistol calibre which was less powerful than rifle rounds.
The Sten was simple and cheap to manufacture. To facilitate mass production, its parts were stamped, rather than machined, except for the bolt and barrel.
The Sten was prone to jamming and firing accidentally, especially if dropped, which made it unpopular among soldiers. Eventually, a safety mechanism, which could hold the bolt closed and locked even when dropped, was added to remedy this issue.
Employment
The Sten was used mainly by infantry platoon sergeants and section commanders, officers, vehicle and weapons crews, dispatch riders and others who needed a short-barrelled weapon.
Canadian soldiers first used the Sten during the ill-fated Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942. Prior to the raid, Canadians discovered that many of the Sten’s stamped parts had to be adjusted and tested before the gun worked properly.
It was not used by Commonwealth forces in Italy, however. There, the American .45-calibre Thompson submachinegun was more prevalent, likely for commonality of ammunition supply. ( See Canada and the Italian Campaign.)
From D-Day onwards, the Sten was issued to all units going into Northwest Europe.
Canadian soldiers also used Sten guns during the Korean War, but they remained as unpopular as before. Whenever possible, soldiers replaced them with American weapons. The Sten remained in service until replaced by the C1 submachine gun in the late 1950s.
