4-inch Mk-VII

Bore: 4-inch

Range: 7,000 yards

In service: 1923-1940s

Number in Service: 14

The guns came from the secondary armament of the battlecruiser HMS New Zealand. The ship was scrapped in 1922 to meet requirements of the Washington Naval Treaty. As New Zealand had paid for the ship, the government was able to request a variety of equipment, including the 4-inch guns. The guns were emplaced in two saluting batteries, eight at North Head in Auckland and six at Point Jerningham in Wellington. Just before the Second World War a number of emplacements were built and the guns saw active service at Battery Point in Lyttelton, Fort Dorset and Fort Ballance in Wellington, North Head and Fort Takapuna in Auckland. After the war a few were kept on, but were eventually replaced with 3.7-inch guns. At least two of the guns survive outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum.