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In September 1845 there arrived in New Zealand a sample of Australia's first production of military hardware, four mortars said to be made of brass (but probably bronze), designed by Captain GK Mann, late of the Bombay Horse Artillery.
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5.5-inch Mann Mortar
Weight (piece): 54 lbs (25kg)
Weight (bed): 70 lbs (32 kg).
The bed, of cast iron, was later replaced by one of wood. |
Figure 7 |
Unlike other mortars the Mann was fitted with an elevating gear and fired a fixed charge.
What happened to the originals is not known; like many other items of New Zealand's military heritage they were probably sold for scrap. However, a replica, wrongly labelled 'Coehorn' may be seen in the Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru. The error was probably perpetrated by Colonel Despard who first used them during the Northland campaign of 1845-47, and who referred to them as 'coehorns'.
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