In 1882, John T. Thompson entered the United States Army. During the Spanish–American War he made a reputation for himself making sure ammunition got to the front lines. This was at a time of almost complete chaos in the army supply system. He later played a part in developing two important American military weapons. These were the M1903 Springfield rifle and the M1911 pistol. In 1916 Auto-Ordnance was started with Thompson holding the majority of shares. Designed for use in World War I, the gun was first called "The Annihilator I" (Thompson nicknamed it a trench broom) could fire 20 rounds per second. The first cases of the new submachine gun arrived on the docks for shipment on November 11, 1918; the same day the war ended. Thompson and Auto-Ordnance began developing the gun for civilian markets. In 1921 the first model, called the M1921, was produced.