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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.
Short clip of 4-inch Mk-VII guns firing from the Gap Battery at Fort Dorset.
Click the images to enlarge.
Description: 4inch guns at Fort Takapuna under temporary covers, circa 1938
Reference: DOC, Auckland
Copyright status: No known copyright
Description: 4inch guns with shields and overhead covers at Fort Takapuna, circa 1942
Reference: None, from personal collection
Copyright status: No known copyright
Description: One of the four inch gun emplacements at Fort Dorset, 1939
Reference: Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19390912.2.49.8
Copyright status: No known copyright
Description: Four inch battery, circa 1939
Reference: Alexander Turnbull Library, War History Collection, PA 4161-40C
Copyright status: No known copyright
Description: Four inch battery, circa 1939
Reference: Alexander Turnbull Library
Copyright status: No known copyright
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