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CAPE WANBROW
OAMARU
141 Heavy Battery NZA OAMARU
.JPG)
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Colchester type gun shelter, 141 Hvy Bty NZA |
The Cape Wanbrow Battery
Observation Post |
The Cape Wanbrow Magazine |
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Coast Guard Cutters
Chelan (Lake) Class |
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USCGC
Shoshone
Transfered 1941
as HMS Languard, Y-56 |
USCGC CAYUGA WPG163
Transfered 1941
as HMS Totland |
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Ten Lake Class cutters, all of which were transferred to Great
Britain under Lend-Lease in 1941.
It was from the ships of this
class that the New Zealand 5" Guns came |
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Fort Record Book
141 Heavy Battery NZA OAMARU
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Gun:
US Navy 5" gun 51 calibre MkVII 1912
No. 1506 (USN Gun Factory)
Ex USCG
Chelan (Lake) Class Cutters
Mounting:
Mk IX (1919) Fitted with tangent sights
Max Range:
16500 yds
Effective Range:
12000 yds
Gun crew:
13
Shell:
50 lbs MV 2300fps
Time of flight:
38 seconds (Max range 12000 yds)
(From 5-inch Range Tables, Ordinance Pam No. 183 July 1922, Dept of the
Navy)
Small Arms
LMG BREN MkI x2
(1 x tripod)
Pistol Revolver Webley No I Mk VI x 1
Rifle .303 No I MIII* w/bayonets x 29
SAA Ammo
6800 rds .303 ball
18 rds .45 pistol
Infantry/Local Defence
1 Officer 19 0r's
Home guard
(never implemented)
19th Independent Infantry Company ?
AA Defence
No AA defences
(BREN AA defence role)
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ROLE
Anti invasion &
denial of the Port of Oamaru to the enemy
Secondary role:
mine disposal
HISTORY
Approved:
21 May 1942
Construction
Commenced: 3 July
1942
Gun mounted:
30 July 1942
Manned:
27 July 1942 ( 1 Offr, 22
OR's)
Operational:
30 July 1942
Magazine, BOP & gun position completed and handed over by PW&D : 6 Nov 1942
Ammunition
received: (5") 23
Dec 1942
Received Range
finder: 3 Feb 1943
Reverted to care
and Maintenance:13
Oct 1943
Source
NZ
Archives CAWQ Ch540 3.14
Fort Record Book 85 Heavy Battery NZA Oamaru
Note:
The 5 5" Mark VII guns of this type were issued to the
following Coast Defence Batteries at:
Greymouth
Westport
Oamaru
Wanganui
Gisborne
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OAMARU COASTAL DEFENCE COMPLEX
(Reproduced from the NZ Antique Arms Gazette June 1996)
by Rod Tempro
The history of Oamaru's Cape Wanbrow Coastal Defence Complex begins on
December 7th, 1941 and the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbour.
First I will mention the connection with the gun and the ill-fated USS
Arizona and second, the sudden threat of a Japanese attack on New Zealand
which started a defence construction frenzy not seen since the Russian
scare III the 1800s.
In June of1942, the Army authorised the construction of an emplacement
with an I overhead cover for an American 5" naval gun. This was together
with a magazine, a battery observation post and a military camp able to house
the members of the gun crew and auxiliary troops.
The emplacement was of the familiar Gloucester type, with a rectangular block
for the gun instead of the round block needed for the British 6".
Costs were as follows:
Widening and metalling the road access £702 (completed in July 1942)
Plumbing, water supply and drainage work £1,802
Accommodation for 32 personal £8,328 (including mess, latrines, QM
store, etc.) Total area:3,220sq.ft.
Emplacement completed: 28th July 1942. Overhead cover completed: 17th October.
TOTAL COST: £17,568
The Army took over and moved into the camp in early November.
THE GUN
The gun was a US Naval 5", or 51 calibre No. 1506,
made by the USN Gun factory Mark VIII 1919 and was fitted with a
MKIX mount for shore installation.
Maximum range: 16,500 yards. Arc of fire: 90°. Sights: Mark XXl tangent sights.
The gun itself came via Pearl Harbour after being salvaged from one of
the three
Utah Class battleships which sank after the Japanese attack. The ships were the
USS Arizona (sank upright and left as a war grave), the USS Oklahoma
(turned upside down and sold for scrap in 1946), the USS Nevada
(damaged and beached and returned to service in December 1942). All had
twelve 5" guns as secondary armament. .!
This information came from Vice Admiral H. N. Wallin (Ret.) USN
who, as a Captain in 1942 was in charge of salvage operations at Pearl Harbour.
"They were recovered by divers from the battleships after submergence in
sea water ~ from December 7th to late May, 1942. The 14" guns from
the main turrets were turned over to the army for ??? defence, the other
guns were to be used in land lease agreements for friendly powers."
The gun was installed at Cape Wanbrow on the 30th July 1942. Its appearance,
according to one of the men assigned to clean the gun, Mr Eric Fraser (formerly
of Towey St, Oamaru) , was as follows:
"It had the appearance of having been immersed in sea water. By the time it went
up to the Cape, it looked like a new gun."
The gun was in a good position at an elevation of approximately 200m above
sea level, facing east, with a field of vision of over 180 degrees.
The gun fired three times. The first was on the 25th July 1943. Thus formed 141
Heavy Battery RNZA. Personnel were transferred from 80 Heavy Battery Godley Head
and 81 Battery Eastern Point, under the command of 2/ Lieutenant L. A Watson.
They were supplemented by men from 19th Independent Infantry Company, a local TF
unit.
In August 1944, as a result of further reductions in coastal artillery, this
Battery was handed over to Area 11.
On the 25th September 1944, the ammunition was removed and on 17th January 1945,
the armament was shipped to Burnham.
The restoration of the above area is now into its fourth year. The
Observation Post is now secured by a security fence, shutters have been made and
installed, as have all interior doors. Restoration of the interior is now well
under way now that it is vandal proof. The magazine, one of the earliest
projects is now used as storage for all items we need to continue work. All the
concrete foundations of various buildings have been cleared of undergrowth and a
roadway bulldozed down to the old lighthouse area.
Acknowledgement: The Antique Arms Gazette, June 1996
&
The Oamaru Coastal Defence Restoration Trust
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Note: Peter Cook in his "Defending New Zealand, Part 1" states: -
"A popular perception had developed that the 5-inch guns had come from US
Navy ships sunk at Pearl Harbour. The gun mounted at Oamaru, for example,
was said to have been fitted to the Utah-class USS Arizona sunk by
Japanese planes in December 1941. They were all received in a sorry state
but not because they had been at the bottom of Pearl Harbour. In fact these
guns came from the Royal Navy, which had received them on 10 ex-US
Coastguard High Endurance Cutters of the Lake class. These had been
transferred in 1940 under Lend Lease but soon disarmed and the guns put into
storage. After five had been received in NZ, the barrels were scraped and
painted. Mountings, however, took a bit more effort -that at Gisborne was
unusable until it received a considerable overhaul. |
NOTE 2:
Not forgoing what has been written above, the only information I can find
relating to 5" guns and battleships and the Pearl harbour raids is a
document in the Battery Log. It is the Gun Preparation, Firing and
Maintenance Instructions for 5"/51 caliber guns and is from the Battleship,
USSMaryland BB46.
The USS Maryland survived the raids, she was inboard of the USS Oklahoma
which was sunk. Damaged by two bomb hits she was repaired and re-entered
service in 1942. It would appear that all her 5" guns were removed in this
refit. Not all 5" guns on the USS Maryland were of 51 calibre, she also had
5"23 calibre anti aircraft guns. It is highly unlikely that these guns could
made there way to New Zealand buy June 1942. |
NOTE 3:
To put the matter to rest. A quote from Wikipedia.
"British service, Lend Lease
US Navy 5/51 calibre gun
In World War II a small number of these guns
entered British service on board ships transferred under the Lend-lease
arrangement. Some of these guns were then transferred to New Zealand and
deployed ashore for coast defense."
http://wapedia.mobi/en/5"/51_caliber_gun
Inserted: July
2010 |
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Status & Access:
Cape Wanbrow Gun Position is open to the public and maintained by the
The Oamaru Coastal Defence Restoration Trust
References:
NZ
Archives CAWQ Ch540 3.14
Fort Record Book 85 Heavy Battery NZA Oamaru
The Antique Arms Gazette, June 1996
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Coastal Defence Links
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** Cape Wanbrow (Oamaru) **
