A recent thread got me looking through my images of a trip to Cockatoo Island Shipyard on the Parramatta River in Sydney. Cockatoo Island was one of Australia's biggest shipyards and is a fascinating place to wander about today, being a UNESCO World Heritage site, although that alone is not the only reason to visit. My visit took place because my late uncle used to work there as a shipbuilder and was involved in the refurbishment of the Royal Australian Navy's Oberon Class submarines, I went with my auntie who, although she had visited the island before, to witness the launch of the supply vessel HMAS Success, the largest ship built in Australia, in 1984, hadn't been back since her husband's passing.
There's a good bit of history to the place on the Wiki page here Cockatoo Island (New South Wales) - Wikipedia for those who want some historical context, but to begin with, here's an image of the island taken in 1969, which shows some of the primary features, most of which I have supplied photographs of as they are today.
Cockatoo Island 1969
Note the two aircraft carriers, the one at the top is HMAS Sydney and the one in the Sutherland Dock to the lower right is HMAS Melbourne, which was in dock undergoing repair after colliding with the US destroyer Frank E. Evans, the second of two destroyers the carrier struck in collisions, the other being HMAS Voyager and both times the ship received new bow sections at Cockatoo. To the stern of the Sydney is the frigate HMAS Torrens and to its right is the Daring Class destroyer HMAS Vendetta, sister to the Voyager (their sister, HMAS Vampire is a part of the Australian Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour and is worth a visit, looking very impressive with its big twin gun turrets fore and aft - I'll put a thread up one day).
Access to Cockatoo Island is by ferry only and from the many ferry wharves at various points around Sydney's suburbs, the workforce came every day (Sydneysiders have a brilliant ferry network to get around the city and the ease of doing so is great, it makes for such a fabulous way of getting to work each day rather than suffer the drudgery of sitting in traffic, which, of course still happens). After docking at Parramatta Wharf, located at 1 on the image above, the workers went through this gate, which was attached to the island's administration block.
DSC_3920
Relevant signage, No.2 on the map.
DSC_3849
A useful statistic.
DSC_3922
Looking toward the administration building, we can see the Parramatta Wharf and the building currently in use as the cafe and shop, at No.3; this was adjacent to the metal work shops, which have since been pulled down.
DSC_3913
This image is taken from the lawn of the island's manager's house, which we'll see later and is looking toward what was known as the Cruiser Dock, at No.4; between the waterfront and the hill in the now empty space were the boiler shops and light fabrication sheds at No.5. These were pulled down due to the precarious condition of the buildings, as well as the presence of toxic materials in their construction. Sydney's iconic harbour bridge in the distance.
DSC_3911
These are the canteen in the foreground, tool store and electrical repair and component assembly shops located at No.6, looking toward what was named the Destroyer Dock at No.7.
DSC_3852
The vast open ceiling of one of the main machine workshops, located at No.8.
DSC_3853
More views of the interior of the machine and large component assembly shops.
DSC_3858
DSC_3856
This is inside the enormous turbine room at No.9, which today is used for various indoor events, making a good concert space, apparently, according to my cousins.
DSC_3865
This is Fitzroy Graving Dock, the first major dockyard built in Australia, by convicts between 1847 and 1857, looking toward the naval weapons workshops at No.10. Note the 5-tonne cranes.
DSC_3861
Fitzroy Dock from above at No.11, this is where most of the work was done on the navy's submarines, naval repair work to ships taking place in both Fitzroy Dock and the adjacent Sutherland Dock.
DSC_3902
Running beneath the centre of the island were two transit tunnels that led workers to the other side of the complex without having to go right round, this one with its entrance at No.12 taking a dogleg and emerging at the north face of the island adjacent to the workshops near the Cruiser Dock.
DSC_3867
This is Sutherland Dock from the waterfront at No.13, the primary naval dockyard that housed some of the navy's biggest and most prestigious ships at one time or another.
DSC_3877
This was known as No.1 Dock, or the Main Dock and was built between 1882 and 1890 and housed the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, as well as almost all of the RAN's subsequent big cruisers, not to forget the carrier Melbourne.
DSC_3904
In this view of the Sutherland Dock, the naval stores buildings and paint shop at No.14 can be seen.
DSC_3897
This is the tip of the naval wharf, the Sutherland Wharf at No.15, now occupied by pleasure boats, including this pretty brigantine the Søren Larsen. Built in Denmark in 1947, the ship has found a permanent home in Sydney.
DSC_3883
That's all from Cockatoo Island today, more later.
There's a good bit of history to the place on the Wiki page here Cockatoo Island (New South Wales) - Wikipedia for those who want some historical context, but to begin with, here's an image of the island taken in 1969, which shows some of the primary features, most of which I have supplied photographs of as they are today.
Note the two aircraft carriers, the one at the top is HMAS Sydney and the one in the Sutherland Dock to the lower right is HMAS Melbourne, which was in dock undergoing repair after colliding with the US destroyer Frank E. Evans, the second of two destroyers the carrier struck in collisions, the other being HMAS Voyager and both times the ship received new bow sections at Cockatoo. To the stern of the Sydney is the frigate HMAS Torrens and to its right is the Daring Class destroyer HMAS Vendetta, sister to the Voyager (their sister, HMAS Vampire is a part of the Australian Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour and is worth a visit, looking very impressive with its big twin gun turrets fore and aft - I'll put a thread up one day).
Access to Cockatoo Island is by ferry only and from the many ferry wharves at various points around Sydney's suburbs, the workforce came every day (Sydneysiders have a brilliant ferry network to get around the city and the ease of doing so is great, it makes for such a fabulous way of getting to work each day rather than suffer the drudgery of sitting in traffic, which, of course still happens). After docking at Parramatta Wharf, located at 1 on the image above, the workers went through this gate, which was attached to the island's administration block.
Relevant signage, No.2 on the map.
A useful statistic.
Looking toward the administration building, we can see the Parramatta Wharf and the building currently in use as the cafe and shop, at No.3; this was adjacent to the metal work shops, which have since been pulled down.
This image is taken from the lawn of the island's manager's house, which we'll see later and is looking toward what was known as the Cruiser Dock, at No.4; between the waterfront and the hill in the now empty space were the boiler shops and light fabrication sheds at No.5. These were pulled down due to the precarious condition of the buildings, as well as the presence of toxic materials in their construction. Sydney's iconic harbour bridge in the distance.
These are the canteen in the foreground, tool store and electrical repair and component assembly shops located at No.6, looking toward what was named the Destroyer Dock at No.7.
The vast open ceiling of one of the main machine workshops, located at No.8.
More views of the interior of the machine and large component assembly shops.
This is inside the enormous turbine room at No.9, which today is used for various indoor events, making a good concert space, apparently, according to my cousins.
This is Fitzroy Graving Dock, the first major dockyard built in Australia, by convicts between 1847 and 1857, looking toward the naval weapons workshops at No.10. Note the 5-tonne cranes.
Fitzroy Dock from above at No.11, this is where most of the work was done on the navy's submarines, naval repair work to ships taking place in both Fitzroy Dock and the adjacent Sutherland Dock.
Running beneath the centre of the island were two transit tunnels that led workers to the other side of the complex without having to go right round, this one with its entrance at No.12 taking a dogleg and emerging at the north face of the island adjacent to the workshops near the Cruiser Dock.
This is Sutherland Dock from the waterfront at No.13, the primary naval dockyard that housed some of the navy's biggest and most prestigious ships at one time or another.
This was known as No.1 Dock, or the Main Dock and was built between 1882 and 1890 and housed the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, as well as almost all of the RAN's subsequent big cruisers, not to forget the carrier Melbourne.
In this view of the Sutherland Dock, the naval stores buildings and paint shop at No.14 can be seen.
This is the tip of the naval wharf, the Sutherland Wharf at No.15, now occupied by pleasure boats, including this pretty brigantine the Søren Larsen. Built in Denmark in 1947, the ship has found a permanent home in Sydney.
That's all from Cockatoo Island today, more later.
Last edited:
