In May 1940 in reclaimed land, construction began on the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge....
- The Captain Cook Dry Dock - in Garden Island Dockyard.
Activity peaked in 1943 with more than 4000 men employed on the project, the graving dock was a product of “incredible foresight” and was a strategic asset and remains so to this day!!
(recognised as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia)
The Dry Dock in Cockatoo Island was 680ft and capable of taking cruisers and destroyers only, so on Admiralty advice the new dock was to be 1,139ft 5inches long and 147ft 7half inches wide, minimum depth over the sill at low tide was 45ft.
It was capable of docking -any- warship built or contemplated for the navies of the British Empire, and was officially opened and named by HRH the Duke of Gloucester on 24 March 1945.
It was fortunate for the BPF that the timing of its base expansion coincided with general reduction of American forces in Australia as General MacArthur's SW Pacific Command moved to re-occupy the Philippines.
The Australian base was to provide logistical support, replacement manpower, repair and refit facilities for the BPF.....there were many warship's needing repairs modification, it was a huge task never previously undertaken, and presented a huge challenge!
The -first- ship to use the dock however, before it's "opening" was the aircraft carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS which entered it for emergency repairs on the 11 February 1945, a short while after she arrived in Sydney.
The ship was battered and worn from her years of hard service. And the superficial damage sustained from HMS Euryalus’ guns during Operation Meridian also needed remediation.
(Hit by two shells from HMS Euryalus anti-aircraft fire - regrettably 11 killed and 22 other casualties)
But the immediate problem was severe vibration from the centre propeller shaft, and leakage which the Durban refit had failed to alleviate. The chief cause was believed to be the deteriorating state of the gland where the shaft left the hull, allowing an unacceptable amount of movement and leakage. As time was critical the central propeller was cut away and the shaft locked firmly in place with new watertight packing. The gunfire damage and turbine bearings were also hastily patched up.
(Carrier Squadron) HMS Indomitable, Victorious and Indefatigable left Sydney for operations on February 27. Illustrious was delayed by the work being done on her shafts, she un-docked on 24 February but did not follow until March 6.
Her speed had been reduced and vibration was still present, however it was considered to be enough of an improvement to remain operational.
The two dockyards had worked closely together on the vast assemble of ships, extra 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were fitted to various ships, Cockatoo providing specialised structural repair teams and fabricating steel work. A staff cabin was built and fitted out in INDOMITABLE. And other work was carried out on Euryalus, Undaunted, Grenville,and others and ranged from the renewal of rivets to hull stiffening and replacement of boiler brickwork.
A huge undertaking in a relatively short space of time - the fleet had arrived February 9th and left on the 27/28 February!! (Battle Squadron comprising KGV, Howe, maintenance carrier Unicorn and screening force left the following day)
In recognition Admiral Frazer signalled his appreciation of the work carried out, to the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board & Flag officer in charge Sydney.
In part in reads....
".......I fully appreciate that your organisation was never designed for services to such a large number of ships at -one time- but hard work, keenness and forethought have provided facilities comparable to a much larger organisation"......"I wish particularly to call attention to the dockyard work carried out which has exceeded all expectations"........
A job well done!
Material and photographic sources ...
The British Pacific Fleet, David Hobbs.
armouredcarriers.com
flickr.com
news.defence.gov.au