[1] The South Brisbane Dry Dock was designed by William David Nisbet, chief engineer for Harbours & Rivers, in 1875.

Nevertheless the South Brisbane Dry Dock was extremely busy during the war, necessitating additional wharfage and facilities.

[1] On 29 February 1980 HMAS Diamantina, the last World War II-era frigate to serve Australia, was decommissioned from the Royal Australian Navy.

Diamantina was handed over to the Queensland Maritime Museum to be permanently berthed in the South Brisbane Dry Dock.

[3] In March 2006, Diamantina left her berth for the first time in 25 years when she was towed out into the river to allow repairs to the dock,[4] which had been flooded since the seals failed in 1998.

Other historically significant places in the immediate vicinity are Cumbooquepa at Somerville House, Ship Inn, and South Brisbane Memorial Park.

[1] The rocky bottom is lined with 3 feet (0.91 m) of Portland cement overlaid by bricks and covered by Melbourne granite which is crossed by hardwood keel blocks.

One Enoggera granite block was used in the coping to the west of the caisson (dock gate), next to a cast-iron plate bearing the contractor's name.

To form the inverted arch or U-shape and prevent water permeating, the sides were constructed of puddled clay lined with concrete mixed with rubble then altars (steps in the dry dock wall) of Lockyer Creek freestone.

The Cornish boilers and their coal chutes, the pump, the electric engine with its sub-station and rope drives are extant but inoperative.

[1] Attached to the blockhouse were the coal store and blacksmith shed, which was a low set timber building with arched corrugated iron roof.

[1] South Brisbane Dry Dock was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

It is a rare Australian example of an intact dry dock dating from the 19th century, illustrating contemporary engineering and technology.