The Harbour Trust Trust Talks is a series of presentations by guest presenters on a variety of topics including Harbour Trust sites, flora and fauna conservation, Sydney’s convict past, art, books, guided tours and much, much more. All events are open to the public and are free, but numbers are limited.
Cockatoo Island Dockyard, 1857–1991
Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour has a remarkable history, starting as a penal establishment and becoming a major shipbuilding and ship repair facility which made a major contribution to Australia’s maritime affairs for 134 years. Shipbuilding began on the island in 1870, and the island became the first naval dockyard of the young Royal Australian Navy in 1913. Dockyard facilities were expanded greatly during the First World War and during World War II the dockyard was again busy with shipbuilding, conversion of ocean liners to troopships and the repair of battle damaged ships. The support of submarines was an important part of the dockyard’s work and the refit and maintenance of Australia’s submarines was the principal role of the dockyard in its last 20 years of operation. This presentation outlines the history of the dockyard and, in particular, the work done there in peace and war.
Date: Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Time: 10:30 – 11:45am
Cost: Free
Venue: Cockatoo Island, Sydney – Success Room, Building 30.
Getting to Cockatoo Island: Transport is via public ferry. The F3 and F8 services depart from Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and Barangaroo as well as from wharves along Parramatta River. Suggest 9:45am F8 service, arriving Cockatoo Island 10:14am. For further information, including timetables, visit the Transport NSW website.
About the presenter: Mr. Jeremy is a graduate in naval architecture from the University of New South Wales. He spent most of his career at Cockatoo Dockyard in Sydney and held a number of positions in the planning and technical area before being appointed Technical Director of the company in 1976. In 1978 he also took responsibility for all production activities. Mr. Jeremy was Managing Director/Chief Executive of Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Limited from 1981 to 1991.
Mr Jeremy is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (Australia), a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) and a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. He is a past President of the Australian Division of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and was a member of the Australian Division Council for 38 years. He was also a member of the London Council of RINA from 2006 to 2012. He is currently editor-in-chief of The Australian Naval Architect.
Mr Jeremy is Senior Vice President of the Navy League of Australia and Vice President of the Naval Historical Society of Australia and has written three books on Cockatoo Dockyard.
