Artillery in Canada (9) McNabs Island, Fort Ives and Fort McNab

Halifax, Fort Ives, McNabs Island

There are nine guns currently on display in Fort Ives, including three 10-inch Guns with two in fixed defensive positions on the ramparts and one on the ground, and six 9-inch guns unmounted in the court yard:

(Author Photos)

10-inch 18-ton Mk. II Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight greater than 17-0-0-0 (38,080 lbs). An English ton is 2,240 lbs, therefore the weight for this gun is greater than (17 X 2,240 lbs = 38,080 lbs) or close to 20 tons in Canadian weight. (RGF II, No. 83, 1870) on the left trunnion, blank on the right trunnion. No. 1, mounted on an iron traversing carriage.

(Author Photos, 11 Sep 2021)

10-inch 18-ton Mk. II Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight greater than 17-0-0-0 (38,080 lbs). No. 2, mounted on an iron traversing carriage, (RGF II, No. 44, 1870) on the left trunnion, blank on the right trunnion.

There are seven guns on the ground behind the ramparts:

9-inch 12-ton Mk. III Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight 12-12-2-0, (12  X 2,240 = 26,880, +12 X 112 = 1,344, +2, for a total of 28,280 lbs), (RGF No. 379, III, 1869) on left trunnion, (+) on right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wood blocks, No. 1.

9-inch 12-ton Mk. III Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight 12-13-0-0, (12=26,880, +13 X 112 = 1,456, for a total of 28,336 lbs), (RGF No. 359, III, 1869) on the left trunnion, (+) on the right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wood blocks, No. 2.

9-inch 12-ton Mk. III Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight corroded, greater than 26,880 lbs, RGF No. corroded on the left trunnion, (+) on the right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wood blocks, No. 3.

9-inch 12-ton Mk. III Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight corroded, greater than 26,880 lbs, RGF No. corroded on the left trunnion, (+) on the right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wood blocks, No. 4.

9-inch 12-ton Mk. III Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight corroded, greater than 26,880 lbs, RGF No. corroded on the left trunnion, (+) on the right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wood blocks, No. 5.

9-inch 12-ton Mk. III Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight corroded, greater than 26,880 lbs, RGF No. corroded on the left trunnion, (+) on the right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wood blocks, No. 6.

10-inch 18-ton Mk. II Muzzleloading Rifle with Millar pattern breaching ring, weight 17-18-3-0 (38,080 lbs), (17 X 2,240 = 38,080, + 18 X 112 = 2,016, + 3 X 28 = 84, for a total of 40,180 lbs),RGF No. corroded on the left trunnion, blank on the right trunnion, Queen Victoria cypher, unmounted, resting on wookd blocks behind the six 9-inch guns.  An English ton is 2,240 lbs, therefore the weight for this gun is greater than (17 X 2,240 lbs = 38,080 lbs) or close to 20 tons in Canadian weight.

 (Halifax Military Heritage Preservation Society Photo)

Fort Ives was built in 1864, updated in the 1890s, and again during the First World War.

Halifax, Fort McNab, McNab’s Island

(Author Photos)

6-inch Mk VII Breechloading Gun (Serial No. l346), mounted on a Central Pivot Mk II, VS&M, 1900, previously in a gun emplacement at Fort Ogilvie in Point Pleasant Park shown here, now in a gun emplacement on McNab's Island as shown below.

(Author Photos, 11 Sep 2021)

6-inch Mk VII Breechloading Gun (Serial No. 1346), VS&M, 1900, in a gun emplacement at Fort McNab, facing out to sea.

(Author Photos)

10-inch 32-ton Mk. I Breechloading Gun (Serial No. 5) shown here on wooden pilings at its storage site in York Redoubt, before being moved to McNab's Island.

Author Photos, 11 Sep 2021)

10-inch 32-ton Mk. I Breechloading Gun (Serial No. 5), Fort McNab.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3332951)

Officers Mess, Royal Engineers camp on McNab Island, 1904.