Dockyard Slipway - Port Arthur

Dockyard slipway and Master Shipwright's House at Port Arthur Historic Site. The dockyards is a short walk from the main Port Arthur settlement. The original Master Shipwright’s residence still stands, as does one of the original slipways.

Ship building was introduced on a large scale to Port Arthur in 1834 as a way of providing selected convicts with a useful skill they could take with them once freed. Only those convicts deemed well-behaved and receptive to training were allowed to work at the dockyard.