Garden Island Dockyard
The Captain Cook graving dock at Garden Island navy base, completed and opened in 1945, was Australia's greatest engineering feat, surpassing even that of the Sydney Harbour bridge at the time. At 345 metres long, 45 metres wide and 14 metres deep, the dock was formed by reclaiming 30 acres of land between Garden Island (named for the kitchen garden for the First Fleet in 1788) and the mainland at Potts Point.
The dockyard facilities are used to service both naval and civilian vessels. From 2004 until 2013 I worked on Garden Island and each time there was an interesting or significant docking I approached the dockmaster for permission to take photographs to document the working dockyard. Sadly, the hammerhead crane that features in some photographs, itself an engineering marvel, was decommissioned and then finally removed in 2014.
The dockyard facilities are used to service both naval and civilian vessels. From 2004 until 2013 I worked on Garden Island and each time there was an interesting or significant docking I approached the dockmaster for permission to take photographs to document the working dockyard. Sadly, the hammerhead crane that features in some photographs, itself an engineering marvel, was decommissioned and then finally removed in 2014.
