Ogden 3" 12-Pounder

A 3" 12-pounder was the main armament on Bangor-class minesweepers during WWII. Defensively Equipped Merchant ships were fitted as secondary armament on frigates. These guns had separately handled projectiles and propulsion cartridges and were notoriously noisy. 

This gun is single barrel with a range of approximately 10km, capable of dispensing 15 rounds per minute. 

The name "Ogden Gun" is reserved for those made in Calgary at the Canadian Pacific Railway's Ogden Shops, whose name in turn refers to an early treasurer of the company. In wartime, the Ogden Shops also made 4" guns for corvettes and powered mountings for Oerlikon guns. 

In 1940, David Connolly was sent by the Admiralty to supervise and approve of the finished guns, and his sons went on to work with this museum.

This gun was displayed for many years at Maritime Atlantic Headquarters in Halifax but was severely rusted/decayed. To preserve it, the Royal Canadian Navy authorized its transfer to this museum, and then to its birthplace at the Ogden shops for restoration. The entire breech mechanism was missing and recreated, and a piece of a boxcar axel was the starting point for the breech plug. Most of the brass restoration was completed after the gun arrived at the museum.


Reference Links:
Haze Gray – Canadian Navy Gun Systems
Silver Hawk Author – Artillery in Canada
Valour Canada – Ogden Shops
Calgary Herald – Calgary railway shop becomes a gun factory: Remember This Calgary