12-pdr QF

Bore: 3-inch

Range: 8,000 yards

In service: 1898-1940s

Number in Service: 12

Imported in 1898, these were heavier guns intended to deal with the threat of motor torpedo boats. Two were emplaced in Wellington at Fort Ballance, two in Auckland at North Head and two in Dunedin at Taiaroa Head. Plans for installing two at Lyttelton were never followed through with and instead they were used at Westport. During World War One many were removed from their gun emplacements and installed on merchant ships. After the war some returned to their original positions, while others went into storage. During World War Two, four were emplaced in Auckland and four at Wellington. An example of this gun is at the National Army Museum in Waiouru.

Short clip of 12pdr gun firing from Steeple Battery at Fort Dorset.

Click the images to enlarge.

Description: 12pdr at Steeple Battery at Fort Dorset, 1941

Reference: Archives NZ, National Film Unit, "Camps, Guns and Tanks", 1941

Description: One of the 12pdrs at Westport circa 1909, unusually these were mounted on railway wagons, rather than in fixed positions

Reference: Gun for coastal defence for the Westport Artillery Volunteers. Godber, Albert Percy, 1875-1949 :Collection of albums, prints and negatives. Ref: APG-2026-1/2-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23034906

Description: North Head, 12-pounder battery, 1937

Reference: Army Museum