The NSW Public Works Department declared Cockatoo Island the state dockyard.

In 1933, the dockyard was leased from the Australian Government by Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Co Ltd and the island played a very significant role during World War II.

[1] Fitzroy Dock was constructed to enable the servicing of Royal Navy ships in eastern Australian waters.

NSW Governor Gipps put the proposal in 1846, the New South Wales Legislative Council approved the project, and construction commenced in 1851.

The dock was named after NSW Governor Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy who laid the inverted keystone in 1853.

Construction of the dock required the blasting of a large section of cliff, supervised by Mann, which saw the first use of electrical firing of gunpowder in Australia.

[1] Work done on ships in the dock (by convicts initially) included shoring up, scraping, cleaning and painting of vessels.

Until Sutherland Dock opened on Cockatoo in 1890, all servicing of Royal Navy vessels was conducted at Fitzroy.

[1] Fitzroy Dock is located on the south-eastern corner of Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson).

It is a dry dock now c.145 metres in length and its sides are stepped with sandstone blocks to facilitate the propping of ships for stabilisation.

The present floating caisson (the gate to the dry dock) dates possibly from the early twentieth century, is constructed of rivetted and welded plate steel and has a rubber seal over its original timber one.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Fitzroy Dock, entry number 105261 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 16 September 2018.