Williamstown Dockyard was one of Australia's principal ship building yards at

Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay Local government areas of Victoria, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The

Colony of Victoria The Colony of Victoria was a historical administrative division in Australia that existed from 1851 until 1901, when it federated with other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the southeastern corner of the Australian ...

decided to construct a large slipway at Williamstown to provide ship repair facilities in 1856 and the Government Patent Slip was opened in 1858. Slip Pier was built in 1858 and was used in conjunction with the Government Patent Slip. The Slip Pier was later known as the Lady Loch Jetty after the similarly named Government steamer. The pier and Government Patent Slipway were demolished in 1919. In 1858, the Colony of Victoria decided to build a

graving dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

and dockyard. Construction commenced in 1868, and was completed in February 1874. The Alfred Graving Dock, named after

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 22 August 1893 until his death in 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duk ...

, was built at a cost of £300,000. The graving dock was in length, wide, deep. The dock was designed by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a noted architect who practiced in the second half of the 19th century, and is best known for a series of landmark buildings in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney. Following a successful career in ...

for the

Public Works Department (Victoria) The Public Works Department was a government agency which operated in Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victor ...

, and it was the largest structure of its type in the southern hemisphere.Victorian Heritage Register
(VHR) Number H0697National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Register
File B65993 The Dockyard Pier, originally known as Dock Pier was constructed in 1874 for use with vessels engaged in pre/post docking in the Alfred Graving Dock. In the 1870s, the railway department contracted for the construction of a new pier to meet increased demand imposed by wool and later grain handling. When completed in 1878, it was initially referred to as the Western Pier, but was later renamed New Railway Pier. It was rebuilt in 1915 and 1927 and was renamed Nelson Pier in 1923. The pier and surrounding land was purchased by the Commonwealth in 1967, and use of the facility declined. Demolition work began in 1979 due to its poor condition. Nelsons Pier West was constructed in 1978 to replace the nearby Nelson Pier. It provided two cranes and two berths for the refitting and outfitting of warships. Reid St Pier was constructed for the Melbourne Harbour Trust for exclusive use with its own floating plant in September 1891. It was later used to house the tug fleet, and was rebuilt in 1949. In 1913, the dockyard was known as the State Shipbuilding Yard and was requisitioned in 1918 by the Commonwealth. Ownership passed to the Melbourne Harbor Trust in 1924 and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was requisitioned by the Commonwealth in 1942 and was known as HM Naval Dockyard Williamstown, or Williamstown Naval Dockyard. In 1987 it passed into private control of

Tenix Defence Tenix Defence was Australia's largest defence contractor with core capabilities in Aerospace, Land, Marine and Electronic Systems applications. BAE Systems announced its intention to acquire the company from Tenix in January 2008 and the acquis ...

and which was subsequently acquired by

BAE Systems Australia BAE Systems Australia, a subsidiary of BAE Systems, is one of the largest defence contractors in Australia. It was formed by the merger of British Aerospace Australia and GEC-Marconi Systems and expanded by the acquisitions of Armor Holdings ...

Vessels constructed at Williamstown Dockyard

References

Victorian Heritage Register
Accessed on 9 Nov 2010
National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Register
Accessed on 9 Nov 2010

External links

{{Coord, 37, 51, 50, S, 144, 54, 41, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title Shipyards of Australia Shipbuilding companies of Australia Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Transport buildings and structures in Victoria (state) Williamstown, Victoria 1874 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1874 Buildings and structures in the City of Hobsons Bay