Cockatoo Island Dockyard
A Guide to the Records
The National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia ensures that full and accurate records documenting Commonwealth Government activities are created and kept. From this massive body of information, the Archives selects, cares for and makes available to all those records of continuing value. This collection constitutes the archives of the Commonwealth Government – a vast and rich resource for the study of Australian history, Australian society and the Australian people.
The collection spans almost 200 years of Australian history. The main focus of the collection is material which documents Federal Government activities since Federation in 1901. There are also significant holdings of nineteenth-century records which relate to functions transferred by the colonies to the Commonwealth Government at the time of Federation and subsequently. The records described in this guide are a small but significant part of the collection.
Access to the National Archives collection is provided free of charge in public reading rooms located in each capital city. Researchers are assisted by specialist reference staff and are provided with reference tools to help them identify and use the records in the collection. These reference tools include the RecordSearch and PhotoSearch databases, guides, publications and fact sheets. Researchers unable to visit a reading room may seek information and help by telephone, mail, facsimile or email.
RecordSearch and PhotoSearch provide information about agencies, persons and series as well as descriptions of over two million individual records. They are available for online searching in reading rooms located in all offices of the National Archives, at the Australian War Memorial and on the National Archives website.
The National Archives website provides more information about the Archives, its collection and the services it offers. A visit to the site will help you determine whether the Archives holds records relevant to your research. Fact sheets on various topics are also available on the Archives website.
About this guide
This guide lists records held by the National Archives – principally by the Sydney Office – and created by Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd, previously known as: Government Dockyard-Biloela, Commonwealth Naval Dockyard, Cockatoo Island, Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Co. Pty Ltd and Vickers Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd. This agency has been registered by the National Archives as CA 7228.
Records relating to Cockatoo Island Dockyard which were created by other Commonwealth agencies (eg the Australian Shipbuilding Board or the Navy Office) are also held by the National Archives. Some other archival institutions which hold relevant records are indicated below.
Records in this guide which were less than 30 years old at the time of the guide’s preparation are included at series level for the sake of completeness and will usually be available for public access only when they reach 30 years of age.
Using this guide
Series and items are listed within particular categories in chronological order. Where several series have the same date range, they are listed in the following hierarchy: drawings (as fitted, working, guidance, other); photographs; registers; indexes; lists; issue books; followed by any other records. Some series, for example registers and indexes, consist of single items while others consist of hundreds, or even thousands, of items. A brief description is provided for most series. More detailed information may be available in the National Archives database.
Please note that the items listed are examples only, and other relevant items may also exist. Item lists are available for the contents of most individual series, and may be requested from the Sydney Office of the National Archives.
The guide is arranged in the following chapters:
The History of Cockatoo Island Dockyard
Facilities and Docks
Ships
Aircraft and Fast Boats: Wing Commander Wackett’s Unit
Equipment and Technical Records
Docking and Launching Records
Electrical Records
Calculating – Design – Planning Office Records
Administrative Records
Photographic Records
Publications
In the largest chapter – Ships – major activities at the dockyard have been grouped together and listed in ship/job number order. The ship or job numbers were allocated by the dockyard, generally in chronological sequence. The chapter also presents a list of series relating to other individual ships for which ship or job numbers were not allocated. It also presents a list of series relating to ships in general.
Some series have been included in several chapters. For example, where a series of photographs relates to a specific vessel, the series will be cited in the section for that vessel as well as in the section listing series of photographs.
Description of the records
Largely through the initiative of the Chief Executive of Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd, Mr John Jeremy, a large body of historical records located at the dockyard in 1991 has been transferred to the National Archives. The Commonwealth was the major client of the dockyard for shipbuilding and maintenance and the majority of the dockyard records related to Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessels. The project of organising the records was undertaken jointly by the Department of Defence and the National Archives. This guide complements a book by Mr John Jeremy, Cockatoo Island: Sydney’s Historic Dockyard (published by University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 1998), and we would like to thank him for his assistance in preparing this guide.
Records created during the Commonwealth’s administration of the dockyard, from 1913 to the end of February 1933, are the property of the Commonwealth and designated as Commonwealth records under the Archives Act 1983. Because of the close relationship that existed between Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd and the Commonwealth, it was decided that many of the company’s records (created after 1 March 1933) are of national significance.
Many company records were therefore transferred into the custody of the National Archives in conjunction with Commonwealth records. By the agreement, signed by Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd and the Archives on 17 January 1992, the records, with the exception of those identified as ‘company corporate’, were donated to the Archives as the archival authority of the Commonwealth.
Those records created before 1 March 1933 were documented as Commonwealth records, indicated by ‘C’ prefixes to their series numbers. Those created after that date were described as corporate records, indicated by ‘M’ prefixes. Those record series which span the changeover date of 1 March 1933 contain both Commonwealth and corporate records, and have been allocated ‘C’ prefixes.
In fact, records listed in this guide are now Commonwealth records, as the result of the 1992 agreement.
Most of the records transferred to the National Archives were generated in the Technical Division of the dockyard, and resulted from the shipbuilding, repair and maintenance functions. Many records relating to the dockyard’s establishment (buildings, facilities, plant, and the island itself) and held by the Production Office, were also transferred.
Few records from the nineteenth-century have survived. Of those which survive, most are plans of Cockatoo Island and its facilities, particularly of buildings and docks. Of interest also is a collection of drawings of bridges from various areas within New South Wales, some of which were apparently designed by Louis Samuel, the engineer who designed and supervised the construction of Sutherland Dock.
Employee and administrative records in the collection have been listed in Chapter 9. Unfortunately, few personnel records have survived and the personnel records which were current and semi-current at the close of the dockyard were not transferred.
Drawing categories/functions
Drawings represent the majority of records listed in this guide. The following information explains the most common drawing types generated during the construction of vessels.
Guidance drawings
These were provided by the client at the time of placing an order or later, for information and guidance in building, refit or repair work. They refer to similar or identical vessels built elsewhere and were provided for reference; they were not amended at Cockatoo Island Dockyard. For example, HMAS Success was based on a French design, and guidance plans from the French designers were provided to the dockyard by the Royal Australian Navy.
Although the drawings may have historical interest, they have no particular significance to the operations of Cockatoo Island Dockyard, and would be available from the originating company, or from the Navy in the case of naval vessels.
Only guidance drawings from the Commonwealth period (before 1 March 1933) have been included in the transfer to the National Archives.
Working drawings
These were drawings prepared by the dockyard or copies (tracings) of drawings provided by the client (the Navy in most cases) and amended at Cockatoo Island Dockyard as necessary. They have some administrative value for current vessels or projects, but duplicates are probably held by the client. Generally there are at least three sets of working drawings, produced by the Hull and Ship Drawing Office, the Mechanical Drawing Office, and the Electrical Drawing Office.
They are of historic value as a record of work undertaken by the dockyard, and some (eg those of hull and arrangements) are likely to be of public interest, for example to model makers.
Included in the transfer to the National Archives for permanent retention are all drawings from the Commonwealth period, as well as those relating to general arrangements, cross-sections and exterior fittings, and all those of Tribal and Battle class destroyers. All other working drawings are to be retained for eighty years from the completion of the particular vessel.
Standard drawings
These were provided by Vickers, the Admiralty, Garden Island Dockyard or Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd (and its predecessors) for the manufacture of components at Cockatoo Island Dockyard or by subcontractors.
Those produced by the dockyard are to be retained permanently, as they are likely to be the masters and of historical value as examples of the work of the dockyard. Those from Vickers UK are also to be retained permanently as they are probably the only copies in Australia. Those produced by Garden Island Dockyard or the Admiralty were not transferred to the National Archives, as the originals would be held at Garden Island Dockyard or by the Navy Office.
As fitted, as made, selected record drawings
A set of as fitted or as made drawings (selected record drawings (SRDs) in the case of HMAS Success) was provided to a vessel after construction, refit or other work to reflect the true state of the ship at that point so that an up-to-date record was held on board. Drawings were a subset of important working drawings (eg general arrangement, machinery arrangements, system diagrammatics etc). A copy would have been supplied to the client, and a third copy was held by the dockyard. All drawings in this category have been transferred to the National Archives for permanent retention.
Estimating drawings
These were copies (generally prints only) used by the Estimating Section to estimate costs of projects. These were not transferred to the National Archives; they have no unique historical value as they would have been held elsewhere at the dockyard and many relate to unsuccessful tenders.
Establishment drawings
These relate to the topography of the island, buildings and plant. Many are hand-coloured originals of considerable historical value. All are to be retained permanently by the National Archives.
Special project drawings
These relate to outside projects such as mine winders, a starch buck machine for Lifesaver Sweets Co., and part of the construction of Centrepoint Tower in Sydney. These have been retained to reflect the diversity of the dockyard’s operations.
Tooling drawings
These include drawings of tools designed and manufactured at or for Cockatoo Island Dockyard, eg for the manufacture of turbine blades. They are retained as having value in the history of engineering in Australia.
Aircraft drawings
Included in the collection at Cockatoo Island Dockyard were drawings dating from the operations on the island of Commander (later Sir Lawrence) Wackett’s unit which transferred from the RAAF Experimental Station at Randwick in 1929. No written records have survived, but the drawings of aircraft and high-speed boats are of major historical interest and have been transferred to the National Archives for permanent retention.
Records held elsewhere
Apart from the extensive records relating to Cockatoo Island Dockyard that are held in the National Archives Sydney Office, other offices of the National Archives as well as other institutions hold some relevant material. It is not within the scope of this guide to provide a complete list of these records, but some indication of the location of other records is given below. Inquiries should be directed to the relevant institution.
A preliminary search of the National Archives item level database yields a wide variety of items relating to Cockatoo Island Dockyard. Items listed on this database represent only a portion of the holdings, but they are useful in indicating agencies which have created records of possible interest. From items identified in this way it is possible to investigate particular record series which may contain other relevant items.
National Archives in Canberra
A large quantity of records relating to the administration of Cockatoo Island Dockyard, transferred by agencies based in Canberra, is held in the Canberra Office of the National Archives.
Series cover such functions as general administration, employment, welfare and industrial disputes: from the Prime Minister’s Department, the Departments of Home and Territories, Home Affairs, Defence, Social Services, Health, Repatriation, from the Federal Capital Territory Administrative Offices, and from the Office of the Governor-General.
Records relating to legal and financial matters are held from the following agencies: Attorney-General, Deputy Crown Solicitor’s Office, the Prime Minister’s Department, and the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Supply and Development, and among Cabinet papers.
Property and works records are held from the following agencies: Public Works Branch, Department of Works and Railways, and Property and Survey Branch.
There are a few items relating to security and customs, from the Department of Trade and Customs and successor agencies as well as from the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). In addition, a few files relating to the construction of aircraft on the island are included in series from Air Services Branch and the Department of Defence.
National Archives in Sydney
In addition to the records which are described in this guide created by Cockatoo Dockyard Pty Ltd and its predecessors, many items created by other agencies are held in the Sydney Office of the National Archives. These relate to employment and industrial matters, from the Departments of Immigration, and Labour and National Service, and the Directorate of Manpower; to property and specifications, from the New South Wales Public Works Branch, and successor agencies, and the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Lands and Survey and successor agencies; and to other general administrative matters, from the Captain-in-Charge, HM Australian Naval Establishments and successor agencies.
National Archives in Melbourne
Records held in the Melbourne Office are mostly concerned with administrative matters. Most are from the Department of Navy and the Department of Defence in Melbourne, although the Department of Labour and National Service is also represented in the 1940s and 1950s in relation to employment and apprenticeship issues.
Australian War Memorial
Some records relating to Cockatoo Island Dockyard have been identified in the collection at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. These include photographs, reports and files.
State Records Authority of New South Wales
Since the island was the responsibility of the New South Wales Government until 1913, records from the early period relating to the administration of dockyard operations, the convict penal establishment and the reformatory school are held by the Archives Authority of New South Wales. Records include those of the Civil Engineer, Dry Dock, Cockatoo Island; the Government Architect, the Colonial Architect and the Colonial Engineer; Public Works; the Colonial Secretary; the Principal Superintendent of Convicts and the Convict Classification Board; Corrective Services (Biloela Gaol); and the Government Medical Adviser.
Australian National Maritime Museum
In addition to records and library material which may be of interest, the Museum has custody of two vessels constructed at Cockatoo Island Dockyard: the lightship Carpentaria 2 and the Daring class destroyer HMAS Vampire.
State Library of New South Wales
Holdings of possible interest include newspapers, photographs, reports, books and manuscripts.
Record descriptions
Each entry in the guide describes a group of records which have been maintained together as a series. A series is made up of items, which are often individual files (sometimes volumes, sets of cards, photographs, etc) that were received into custody by the National Archives from the creating agency or person. Series usually consist of many items, but occasionally consist of just a few or even a single item.
The description for each series outlines its content and function. The entry concludes with a listing of selected items from the series. In some instances, particular series have been found to contain relevant material on multiple aspects of the dockyard’s activities, and have been referred to several times. The full description of each series is given only on its first appearance. As a general rule, this guide identifies rather than analyses the records. Researchers should make their own assessment of the information content and value of any item.
More detailed information about the series, agencies and items described is available on the Archives database, which is available for online searching in each of the Archives reading rooms, at the Australian War Memorial and on the Archives website.
To fully understand a record it is helpful to know certain things about it in addition to its contents. It helps to know who created the record, when it was created and what other related records exist. This information provides the context of the record, which helps researchers interpret what the record is really about, determine its relevance, and decide how accurate or complete it might be. The National Archives documents this contextual information for each record in the collection using the Commonwealth Record Series (CRS) System.
Key
How the records are described | |||||||||||||||||||||
Access to the records
Not all items are available immediately for public access. Some may first require examination to ensure they do not contain information which remains sensitive (eg personal details). If individual items within a series have not been examined, researchers apply for access to them and there may be a delay while the material is examined. If items are withheld from public access following this examination, reference staff will explain the nature of the information, why it has been withheld, and how to appeal against the decision.
Citing the records
The correct citation of archival records is important both when requesting them and when referring to them in written or published works. Using proper citations will not only help staff to more readily locate records, but will help other researchers to find that material.
The correct form of citation for records held by the National Archives of Australia is expressed as follows: the name National Archives of Australia followed by a colon; the series number followed by a comma; and then the item number. An example is
National Archives of Australia: C3290, 14
The name National Archives of Australia may be abbreviated to ‘NAA’ provided the full name has been used in the first citation.