Queensland’s gunboats were fitted with a range of armament during various periods in their service lives.
Gayundah was originally fitted with an 8-inch breech loading gun (for’d), a 6-inch breech loading gun (aft), two 1.5-inch quick-firing guns, and two machine guns.
Paluma, primarily used as a survey vessel for the first ten years of her service was disarmed for that period. Her main 8-inch gun was never fitted in the first instance, being shipped separately aboard a commercial vessel rather than fitted for her delivery journey.
The guns fitted were of the following types:
Details of the various guns fitted to Queensland's gunboats during their service lives.| Designation | Manufacturer | Bore (Calibre) | Weight | Projectile Weight | Muzzle velocity | Range | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8" BL | 8" | 100 tons | 8 miles | ||||
| 6" BL Mk.V | 6" | ? | 100 pounds | 1,920 feet per second | |||
| 5" BL | 5" | ||||||
| 4.7" BL | 4.7" | ||||||
| 1.5” QF | Nordenfeldt | 1.5 “ | Gun & mounting 2,000 pounds | 2.8 pounds | 2,000 feet per second (600 m/sec) | ||
| 1" QF 4-barrel | Nordenfeldt | 1" | http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Nordenfelt/nordenfelt1inch4.html |
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| 12 pounder QF | |||||||
| 6 pounder QF | Nordenfeldt | 2.2" | 6 pounds | 4,000 yards | http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Nordenfelt/nordenfelt6pdrqf.html | ||
| MG | Nordenfelt type | larger bored gun (starboard gayundah 1885) | |||||
| MG | Nordenfelt type | a bore very similar to that of a Martini-Henry rifle (port side gayundah 1885) | |||||