20th century ship building facility in Carrington, New South Wales, Australia
State Dockyard
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/HMAS_Strahan_IWM_FL_19390.jpg/220px-HMAS_Strahan_IWM_FL_19390.jpg) |
Industry
| Ship building
|
---|
Predecessor
| Government Dockyard
|
---|
Founded
| 1942
|
---|
Founder
| Government of New South Wales
|
---|
Defunct
| 1987
|
---|
Fate
| Closed
|
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Headquarters
| ,
Australia
|
---|
Owner
| Government of New South Wales
|
---|
The
State Dockyard
was a ship building and maintenance facility operated by the
Government of New South Wales
in
Carrington
,
Newcastle
,
New South Wales
, Australia between 1942 and 1987.
History
[
edit
]
In 1942, the State Dockyard opened on the site of the Government Dockyard at Dyke Point in
Newcastle
that had closed in 1933. Officially the New South Wales Government Engineering & Shipbuilding Undertaking, it was universally referred to as the State Dockyard. The dockyard facility was located at
Carrington
on
Newcastle Harbour
, on 11 ha (27 acres) of land in addition to the ship repairs site on 3 ha (7 acres).
[1]
[2]
The dockyard launched its first vessel in July 1943. By the end of
World War II
, it had launched two ships for the
Royal Australian Navy
and 22 vessels for the United States and had repaired six hundred ships.
[1]
With the cessation of large scale shipbuilding, in the 1970s it diversified into other engineering disciplines. In November 1986 a team of apprentices from the Hunter Valley Training Company completed a three-year overhaul of steam locomotive
3801
at the dockyard.
[3]
The dockyard closed on 3 March 1987.
[1]
A 15,000 ton floating dock was located at Carrington in 1943 to repair damaged ships during World War II. The floating dock was scrapped in 1977 and replaced with a new one built in Japan called Muloobinba, which was eventually sold overseas in 2012.
Ships built
[
edit
]
MS
Princess of Tasmania
under construction in 1958
- HMAS
Strahan
(1943)
[4]
- HMAS
Condamine
(1944)
[5]
- SS
Dorrigo
(1946)
- SS
Dubbo
(1947)
- SS
Delungra
(1947)
- SS
Denman
(1949)
- MV
Dongarra/Kabbarli
(1950)
- SS
Townsville
(1952)
- MV
Woomera
(1952)
- MV
Wangarra
(1953)
- MV
Warringa/Windarra
(1953)
- MV
Kooleen
(1956)
[6]
- MV
Koojarra
(1956)
- MV
Iranda
(1957)
- MS
Princess of Tasmania
(1959)
[7]
- MV
Bass Trader
(1961)
- MV
Cape Don
(1962) Lighthouse supply vessel
- Dredge
John Main
(1962) For NSW Public Works.
- MV
Cape Moreton
(1963) Lighthouse supply vessel
- MV
Moresby
(1963) For Burns Philp to and from New Guinea
- HMAS
Moresby
(1963)
[8]
- MV
Cape Pillar
(1964) Lighthouse supply vessel
- MV
Kooringa
(1964)
- MT
BP Endeavour
(1967)
- MT
BP Enterprise
(1968)
- MV
Australian Trader
(1969)
[9]
- MV
Darwin Trader
(1970)
- Dredge
Geopodes
(1971) For a Dutch Dredging company.
- Dredge
WD Resolution
(1971) For Westminster Dredging company.
- MV
Lysaght Endeavour
(1973)
- MV
Lysaght Enterprise
(1973)
- MT
Express
(1974) For Howard Smith
- MT
John Hunter
(1975) For Caltex
- MV
Bass Trader 11
(1976)
- MV
Flinders Range
(1976)
- MV
Selwyn Range
(1977)
- MV
Freshwater
(1982 Yard no. 105)
- MV
Queenscliff
(1983)
(1983 Yard no. 106 and the final vessel built)
- Lady-class ferries
After closure
[
edit
]
Sydney Ferries
'
MV
Freshwater
at
Balmain
depot in July 2013
In 2007 the outline of the painted "STATE DOCKYARD" sign on southern roof of the former dockyard building could still be viewed from above.
Surviving ships
[
edit
]
As of December 2023, the surviving State Dockyard built ships still in service are the Manly ferries
MV
Freshwater
and
MV
Queenscliff
(1983)
, which are operated by the
Sydney Ferries
franchisee
Transdev Sydney Ferries
. Former Sydney Harbour ferries
Lady Cutler
and
Lady McKell
operate as cruise boats on
Port Phillip
.
[13]
[14]
Surviving non-operating or stored ships built by State Dockyard, are
Cape Don
, a
lighthouse tender
built in 1962 for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service which is now a museum ship at
Balls Head Bay
,
Waverton
and the ex-Sydney Inner-harbour ferry Lady Herron, which is currently laid up in Newcastle.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
32°55′21.4″S
151°46′30.4″E
/
32.922611°S 151.775111°E
/
-32.922611; 151.775111
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