Captain Point, Jervis Bay

The year was 1913, Jervis Bay was about to see the most dramatic change since the arrival of Europeans.  After years of heated debate the decision of the location for the new Australian Naval College was finally made by the Government.

1913 - Work on the Naval College began, the bush was cleared, men were being employed in all the trades required for building.  A tent city for the workers had sprung up in the bush at Captains Point. The conditions were hard and wearing on the workers.   The project was having trouble attracting the highly skilled engineers they needed for the project because the wage the government was willing to pay for their service was well below what they could earn in the private sector.

January 15 – Steamers were the vital link between Captains Point and the outside world. The steamer Hillsmead was loaded at Port Kembla with 16000 bricks ready to be shipped to the Naval College.

June 1913 - After a long search, a new engineer from Tasmania accepted the position at 450 pounds per annum, quite a considerable difference to the 1200 pounds he could make for a few months work in the private sector.

The new college required the shipment of large amounts of building material. When the building work commenced there was no direct and passable road link, most goods arriving by steamer.

June 1913 -  two steamers were in the bay, the S.S. Seagull and the S.S. Hillsmeads, the latter was built by the Dents at Huskisson in 1907. The local agent Captain Bavestock was kept busy supervising the delivery of goods at both Captains Point and Huskisson wharf. The vessels carried a large and mixed cargo, Bricks, timber and cement being the main load, the cement would be contained in casks numbering up to 300.

By June the site was undergoing a complete transformation. The once quiet untouched bush was giving away to buildings.  The ring from anvils, clangs from hammers, the shriek from saws and machinery rang out all over the point and across the bay.

The Government store on site stocked everything needed for the building, locks, ironmongery, timber.

April 1913 - With the completion of the road survey work would soon start on the much-needed road link from Jervis Bay to Captains Point  The building of the college attracted the attention of speculators, sites for business were designed and measured. At the time a trial survey of the proposed rail line between Jervis Bay and the site for the Federal Capital was being considered.

September 1913 - As work continued the isolation for the men was broken from time to time with visits from the Nowra contingent of the Salvation Army who would entertain the men with song and music, a welcome distraction from the isolation and hard work.

While construction was being carried out, many of the men working on the project had their wives and children staying at the site. A temporary teacher was appointed to the Captain's Point site, with a permanent teacher and building to be allocated when the Naval College was complete.


1914 - Another year had passed and work was well underway with many of the building nearing completion,  Despite the well-used road link to Jervis Bay and Nowra, steamers were still the most economical and easiest way to ship large quantities of goods to Captains Point.

December 1914 - six or seven shiploads of machinery arrived on site. By years end there were 400 men working at the site.


Work continued.