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Department.
Figure 15: HMS Galatea in the Fitzroy Dock (1870)
The Galatea was visiting Australia as part of an around the world tour undertaken by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. The elegant stone building to the right of the dock is the Engineers' and Blacksmiths' Shop (Building 138), which was built by convict labour in various stages. This photograph shows the first two stages including the bell tower. The building was subsequently altered in the early 20th century by the addition of a second floor to accommodate the brass finishing shop and is now obscured by new buildings that have been erected in front of it.
Shipbuilding, mostly small scale, began in 1870 and by the beginning of WW I over 150 dredges, barges and tugs had been built. Most of this early shipbuilding activity took place on the slipways located to the east of the Engineers' and Blacksmiths' Shop (Building 138) on the eastern apron.
As early as 1870 the increase in dockyard activity and in the size of the ships created a need for a second, larger dock at Cockatoo. The engineer Louis Samuel won the contract to build a new dock, the Sutherland Dock, which was constructed by free labour between 1882 and 1890. By world standards, the design and construction of the new dock were outstanding.
The construction of the new dock required the excavation of a massive amount of rock and soil and this was used to reclaim land south of the dock, expanding the southern apron and allowing the expansion of dockyard facilities. The northern cut saw the demolition of the isolation cell block next to the Guardhouse. The first structure to be built as part of the dockyard's expansion into the former prison area on the crown of the island was the Mould Loft (Building 6), which was completed in 1911. The new dock also generated building activity on the eastern apron, where the General Store (Building 123) was built between 1901 and 1908. This is one of the most architecturally elaborate workshops and is also associated with the final phase of New South Wales Government control over the island.

Commonwealth Naval Dockyard 1913-1933
Following Federation ownership of the island was transferred from the NSW Public Works Department to the Commonwealth Government and it became the dockyard of the Royal Australian Navy.
New machine tools were purchased from Britain and the island developed as a naval dockyard with a much greater capacity for building and repairing warships. The building program affected most parts of the island. No. 1 Slipway was upgraded and extended and new dockyard buildings were built on the plateau at the site of the former convict work yard. These included