Development of Naval Repair Facilities at Auckland, New Zealand

1841-1962

From a Lecture by J.A. Bell, AMRINA

Deputy Constructive Manager, HMNZ Dockyard, Devonport

The following notes form the basis of a lecture I gave to the Whangarei Officers’ Club on 23 October 1962, and they may be of interest to anyone having a similar task in the future.

Much of my information was obtained from early records of the Naval Base compiled by Captain J. O’C. Ross, RNZN, during his period as Commodore Auckland, entitled The Story of the Auckland Naval Base; the records held by the Auckland Harbour Board; and facts appearing in the Naval publication The History and Development of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Further facts were also obtained from Turner’s The New Zealand Naval Story. A large number of most interesting photographs from Captain Ross’s collection were lent to me, and my lecture was based generally on Captain Ross’s history, with the addition of information obtained from the other sources.

The early history of the Naval Base owes much to Governor Hobson and the Australasian Squadron of the Royal Navy. The frequent arrival of officials from Australia and the United Kingdom during the formative years of the Colony necessitated many visits by Royal Navy vessels to the Waitemata Harbour. It became apparent that there was a need in New Zealand for some form of shore facility for these visiting ships, and since the centre of population at the time was in the north, Waitemata Harbour was chosen as a suitable site. The Auckland side of the harbour consisted of extensive mudflats and the naval vessels anchored off Flagstaff, which was the name by which Devonport was then known. Their landing place was known as Sandspit, which is in the area where the Devonport Ferry Wharf now stands, and it was there in 1841 that the beginnings of a Naval Base began to appear.

In 1841 a magazine and small boatshed were erected for the use of visiting ships at Sandspit. Little development occurred in this area for some years, but later a boat slip and a small blacksmith’s shop were constructed on the site. The Waikato Wars caused greater interest to be shown in naval repair facilities, and in 1858 the Auckland Naval Volunteers were founded, having barracks built for them in 1862 near the landing place. These barracks contained accommodation, naval stores and workshops. In this year the Navy was granted use of the land near Sandspit which was then called the Naval Reserve. Between the Waikato Wars and the 1880s very little progress was made, and it was not until the Russian scare in the 80s that any further expansion took place. During the Russian scare a battery of 64 pdrs was set up on North Head, and a separate unit of the Naval Volunteers manned the batteries. In 1884 four Thornycroft torpedo boats were built for the Volunteer Divisions and a special shed was built at Sandspit, to house the Auckland boat.

Once the Russian scare had died down there was a period of little progress and in 1890 the Devonport Borough Council made moves to acquire the land which formed the Naval Reserve. Auckland at the time was vying with Sydney for the right to be the Naval Base for the Australian Squadron and considerable pressure was brought to bear on the Devonport Borough Council to waive their claims to the Devonport Naval Reserve. However, the Mayor of Devonport offered the Admiralty as an alternative, four acres of reclaimed land in the vicinity of the Harbour Board’s new dock at Calliope Point, which the Admiralty accepted in lieu of the Naval Reserve.

It is worthwhile here to go back a little and discuss the development of the Auckland Harbour Board’s graving dock at Calliope Point. The matter of a graving dock for Auckland had been under discussion since the founding of the Colony. However, it was not until 1874 that any active steps were taken towards building this dock. In that year, the Auckland Harbour Board commenced work on a small dock, on the site of the present Tepid Baths. This dock was opened in 1878, and continued in service until 1915. It soon became apparent however, that this dock was too small and in 1884 a further contract was entered into by the Auckland Harbour Board for the building of a larger graving dock at Calliope Point. This dock, which was built entirely by manual labour, took three years and two months to complete, and on completion was the largest graving dock in the Southern Hemisphere. The dock was opened on 16 February 1888, (at which period the Navy still had their facilities at Sandspit), by two ships of the Australasian Squadron, HMS CALLIOPE and HMS DIAMOND. These ships were docked to show the capacity of the dock, and the operation carried out with full pomp and ceremony, and was a great holiday occasion.

It is interesting to note here that the name Calliope given to the graving dock is from an earlier HMS CALLIOPE, which had visited Auckland in 1846, and given her name to Calliope Point. It is a coincidence that the first ship to enter the new Calliope Dock should have been CALLIOPE. Much of the spoil from Calliope Dock was used to reclaim the land which was to form the basis of further expansion of the naval repair facilities.

The barracks on the Admiralty Reserve were burned down in 1897, and the area was then slowly developed into a Borough Reserve which was re-named Windsor Reserve in 1911. From 1890 until 1900 the only building belonging to the Navy on the site of the new Naval Base, was a small lay-apart store on the western side of the dock, but by 1900 the Auckland Harbour Board had erected a large machine shop on the eastern side of the dock. During this period a few naval vessels docked for routine work, but the Admiralty carried out no further development in this new area. It is due to the far-sightedness of the Harbour Board that any further advances were made.

In 1899 the Auckland Harbour Board sent their Secretary to London to negotiate with the Admiralty regarding the use of the facilities available at the time. The Admiralty entered into the 1899 agreement with the Auckland Harbour Board and, on payment of an annual subsidy of £2,950, received priority for the use of the dock and facilities for HM Ships, while the Harbour Board contracted to provide better machinery and facilities to enable HM Ships to carry out some machinery refitting work. This agreement was entered into for a period of 30 years, but in 1903 it was renewed, and the Admiralty increased their subsidy to £5,000 per year.

It can be seen that, by now, the Admiralty was showing considerable interest in the possibility of naval repair facilities being available at Auckland for the Australasian Squadron, and were in the position of a contracting party with the Auckland Harbour Board as regards control of the facilities available. Admiralty support meant more money for the Auckland Harbour Board, so that their associated workshop machinery, and the berthage facilities in the area could be improved. In 1908 a deep water jetty at Calliope East was built and the 80 ton sheer-legs were raised, the Harbour Board also erected another shed on the western side of the dock. Both parties benefited with the agreement, which at the time of the signing, provided adequate facilities for the Navy of the day. There was of course, no New Zealand Navy, and ships of the Australasian Squadron visited Auckland but were never based there, so the only work carried out in the Calliope Dock was routine dock work and minor emergency jobs. All the repair work was carried out under contract by the Harbour Board using their own facilities.

The first naval building on the Calliope area was the Caretaker’s cottage, which had been erected in 1883, on the Naval Reserve at Sandspit, and was transferred in 1893 to the new Naval Reserve. In 1906 a store had been erected in the centre of the Naval Reserve and a small boat slip and shed were erected on the sea wall. In 1909 the Admiralty declared the Naval Reserve to be a Naval Base and this saw the beginning of a period of active planning for the development of the facilities. The Admiralty intended to form a Pacific Squadron and the Auckland Naval Base was to form one of the bases for that Fleet, and in 1911 HMS POWERFUL visited Auckland to inspect the facilities and recommended the setting up of a Naval Store Organisation. In 1912 a comprehensive report was sent to the Admiralty recommending a complete plan of development of the stores, workshops, etc based on the Pacific Squadron’s proposals.

In 1913 the New Zealand Minister of Defence visited London, and plans were made for a New Zealand Naval Organisation, aimed at manning some of the ships stationed in the area, by New Zealanders, and in March of that year, HMS PHILOMEL was sent out by Admiralty for use as a sea-going training ship. However the advent of the First World War saw PHILOMEL withdrawn for war service. A considerable number of alternative sites for the Naval Base had been suggested, but with the war, all plans were shelved, and in fact, Calliope Dock was used only four times by HM Ships during the period 1914-1918. In April 1917 PHILOMEL returned to Wellington, and was laid up for the remainder of the war.

March 1921 saw PHILOMEL berthed alongside the Calliope Dock Training Jetty as a training and depot ship, and on 20 June 1921 the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy was formally established. There was considerable criticism by the naval authorities, of the facilities made available by the Auckland Harbour Board, their machinery being obsolete and there being no storage facilities available except for the small Naval Store and a few huts, and so in 1921 a Naval Engineer Officer was appointed as the Engineer of the Naval Base, and a base repair staff were appointed to PHILOMEL to carry out minor refitting work, using the Harbour Board’s machinery. Also in 1921 lack of gunnery equipment facilities was felt, and a shed was built near the sheer-legs for the storage of guns. This shed was in fact, the first building erected in the new Dockyard area.

On the arrival in 1924-25 of the oil-burning cruisers, DUNEDIN and DIOMEDE, further emphasis was given to the shortcomings of the base since no fuelling facilities were available, and in 1926 an oil fuel installation was commenced in the Naval Base area. In 1925, a second Naval Store was erected near the sheer-legs, and the reclaimed land along the shore in the corner of the Dockyard was chosen as the site for a small boatshed and slip. Despite the increased naval activity, there was very little improvement in the actual repair facilities, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that the dual control of these facilities was unsatisfactory, the Navy being severely restricted as regards future planning. The Harbour Board had shown very little interest in modernising or maintaining their plant and a report was produced recommending a complete replacement of all machinery, and that the Admiralty should withhold their annual subsidy to the Harbour Board until some steps were taken along these lines. The Harbour Board was not prepared to undertake complete renewal and rejected the findings of this report. The years following saw further criticism being levelled at the system and facilities, and up until the 30s, because of the lack of equipment, all the cruisers were compelled to return to the United Kingdom for refitting. In 1931 however, an experimental cruiser refit was carried out in the Naval Base with moderate success. It did however, have the effect of bringing to the notice of the Admiralty the increasing shortcomings of the Naval Base as a repair organisation. In 1932 as a result of the refit and the continuing criticism by reports the Harbour Board agreed to overhaul their equipment, but only a few hundred pounds were spent on absolutely essential overhaul and the position remained much the same.

By the mid-30s the Admiralty were considering replacement of the ‘D’ Class Cruisers with those of the LEANDER Class, and the question of facilities and administration of the Naval Base were becoming a matter of some concern to them, and finally on 22 December 1936, an important new agreement was entered into between the Auckland Harbour Board and the Admiralty. Under this agreement the Harbour Board agreed to sell to the Navy all their property, machinery and buildings, in the vicinity of Calliope Point, with the exception of the dock, to which HM Ships still had the prior right of use. The Harbour Board also transferred to the Navy the shore line and harbour bed of Stanley Bay, and undertook to carry out certain essential work, such as the extension of Calliope Jetty to the westward. Now that the Navy was the owner of both the property and the facilities, an ambitious three-year plan was commenced, which was shortly merged into a war expansion programme. Between 1936 and 1939 the old Harbour Board workshop was dismantled and a new Machine and Joiners’ Shop was erected on the site and adjacent to it the first Boiler Shop was erected. Calliope Dock which had been extended in 1927 for the emergency docking of the Federal Steamer Northumberland, was once again lengthened to accommodate the Leander Cruisers. The old sheer-legs were removed and reclamation of Stanley Bay was commenced.

At the commencement of the war, HM Dockyard, Devonport, New Zealand, a title which had been gained in 1936, on the transfer of property, undertook the conversion of the Union Steamship Company’s liner MONOWAI into an Armed Merchant Cruiser, and the refitting of HMS ACHILLES on her return from the Battle of the River Plate, as well as the fitting out of defensively equipped merchant ships, and the manufacture of considerable quantities of equipment for the Army. The resources of the Base repair staff and the depot ship PHILOMEL were stretched to the limit and the need for further development quickly became obvious. There was no staff available to handle the increase of work in the Dockyard and finally an appear to the Admiralty was made for suitable qualified technical men to form a nucleus of the staff. The entry of Japan into the war and the loss of many of the British Naval Bases in the Pacific emphasised the need to increase the facilities in New Zealand, and the Admiralty appointed key personnel. In 1942 a Royal Commission was set up to investigate further development and this commenced a period of intense activity. A tunnel was bored through the hill to Shoal Bay where a complete Naval Stores Yard was built on reclaimed land, their stores in the Dockyard area thus becoming available as additional workshops. The oil fuel installation was moved to tunnels under the cliffs, as was the main Electrical Sub-station, the spoil from these works being used in the Stanley Bay reclamations. In 1943 the dock was again lengthened to take the American heavy cruisers which were using the Dockyard as a base. Dredging was commenced in the Western Basin to give deep water berthage and the Stanley Bay foreshore was reclaimed and a breastwork constructed. The basin was equipped as a motor launch base and on the reclaimed land the new large Boiler Shop, Electrical Radio Section and large Boat Shed were built. While most of this work was not completed until the end of the war, what had at the beginning of the war been a small repair yard, was now a Dockyard capable of complete refits for ships of cruiser size and below.

The acquisition by the New Zealand Government at the end of the war of Dido Class Cruisers and Loch Class Frigates brought with them a series of problems of maintenance. These became even more acute with the arrival of the modernised cruiser ROYALIST and a large and modern Gunmounting Shop was built to cope with the maintenance of the modern gunnery systems. In 1946 the old PHILOMEL was towed out to sea and sunk, thus ending one of the early chapters in the history of the Naval Base.

Today HMNZS Dockyard, Devonport, a title which replaced HM Dockyard on control of all Naval Units passing to the New Zealand Government in 1941, has facilities unequalled in New Zealand for the repair and maintenance of warships, and has some of the most expensive and specialised equipment in New Zealand which allows the yard to undertake almost any job connected with ships or their machinery. Many of these machines are the only one of their type in New Zealand. It can be seen that in the past 26 years, from the obsolete machinery taken over from the Auckland Harbour Board to the modern fully equipped Dockyard of today, a great amount of foresight, planning and development have taken place.

The development of the yard is still going on, so that it can cope with the increasing complexity of modern warships and it can be said with pride that HMNZ Dockyard is among the best equipped in the world, despite its relatively small size.

The administration of the yard has changed considerably over the years. The original repair facilities were such that the Navy in the early days left most of the management of its refits to the Harbour Board and did not, until fairly recently, see fit to station any Overseer at the Naval Base. However, the Service was represented shortly after the Great War by a Chief Shipwright who lived in the Admiralty cottage. At a later date an Engineer was appointed to look after naval interests in the Naval Base, and these men supervised the expansion and development of the naval repair facilities. In 1921 the Commanding Officer of PHILOMEL was given dual appointment of Naval Officer-In-Command, Auckland, as well as Commanding Officer, PHILOMEL and the Dockyard was supervised by the Base Engineer who was also the Naval Stores Officer. Under the pre-war three year plan, the Dockyard came under the control of the first Captain Superintendent, who also held the post of Naval Officer-In-Charge and Captain, PHILOMEL, and in 1942 a separate post of Captain Superintendent was introduced to the Dockyard. In 1948 the appointment to the Dockyard was changed to that of a Commander Superintendent but in 1954 was again raised to Captain Superintendent.

Once the Dockyard was established, a Constructor Officer from the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors was loaned to the New Zealand Government by the Admiralty, as Constructive Manager and today the post is still held by an Admiralty Officer on loan. The Engineering and Electrical Department have a Naval Officer of Commander’s rank serving as the Manager. The staff of the Dockyard is entirely civil, with the exception of certain appointments in the Electrical, Engineering and Gunnery Sections, which are held by Naval Officers. The production side of the Dockyard has at present a staff exceeding 1,000 tradesmen and labourers and is backed by a comprehensive Naval Stores organisation which is under the control of the Superintending Naval Stores Officer, and also an Armament Depot situated at Kauri Point and Whangaparaoa, under the control of the Superintending Armament Supply Officer. The three production departments, constructive, engineering and electrical engineering, and the two services departments SNSO and SASO, all come under the control of the Captain Superintendent.

The foregoing notes are a brief survey of the Dockyard and while many further facts of interest are available they have not been included as this was intended purely as an aide memoir for a lecture. Use was made during the lecture of the large scale model of the Dockyard which is in the Board Room, a series of photographs which have been mounted and are held by myself, and a series of loose photographs which are the property of Captain J. O’C. Ross, and which were lent to me for the purposes of this lecture.