Historical Specifics:

This gun was placed on a naval vessel and sold as scrap at the end of World War I. The purchaser kept it in his front yard near the Cook’s River. Sold following his death.

Three 1.5 inch Nordenfelt guns were installed in the Casemate battery at Fort Scratchley in 1898 to replace the three 80 pounder rifled muzzle loading guns which had been installed in 1882. One Nordenfelt was removed from No 1 Casemate in 1911 and the Casemate converted to a magazine. The remaining two Nordenfelts were withdrawn from service in 1918 and sent to Sydney. These two guns were placed at the School of Artillery until 1985 when they were transferred to the National Artillery Museum.

The 1.5 inch Nordenfelt gun was used for flank defence of fortifications and also on board naval vessels for close in defence. They are also described as anti torpedo defence guns which indicates they had a high rate of fire and used for close in defence. They were positioned in a number of forts in NSW including, Middle Head, South Head, Fort Scratchley (Newcastle) and Smiths Hill (Wollongong). A number were also used by the Navy.