Cairncross Dockyard

The bombing of Darwin in February 1942 during World War II created an urgent need to increase Australia's capacity to service large naval and merchant ships.

[2] The official history of Australia in World War II states that while the dockyard was "constructed at a remarkable rate", by the time it was ready the peak demand for ship repair facilities had passed.

[6] Nevertheless, by 31 May 1946 the graving dock had been used by 128 ships, including the British aircraft carriers HMS Slinger and Unicorn as well as large numbers of other warships and merchant vessels.

[4] The opening of the Cairncross Dockyard led to a decline in use of the smaller South Brisbane Dry Dock, which eventually closed in 1972 and became part of the Queensland Maritime Museum.

However, the dockyard closed again on 4 July 2014, saying there was not enough work as ship owners were deterred from using it due to the high Australian dollar and a reputation for industrial unrest and government over-regulation.

[1] In April 2016, Forgacs announced that the 14-hectare (35-acre) site with 700 metres (2,300 ft) of river frontage would be sold for residential housing, although it would need to rezoned first.