Description of series:

These are mainly plans of vessels "as fitted". Some are in the form of transparencies; others are prints. Many are described as docking plans, and most of the others would appear to have been secured for the same purpose. Hull plans predominate. Included are plans of naval vessels from other countries (eg. United States' submarines) or non-naval vessels belonging to such Australian Government agencies as the New Guinea Administration, the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service, or the Departments of Civil Aviation, and Trade and Customs. The plans are diverse in origin, some originated by the Navy, but most by private contractors. Some specifications for non-naval vessels (eg. 8/1) show that the contractor's work was to be done under the supervision of the Navy Office.

History Prior/Subsequent to Transfer:

Prior to transfer: These records have been under the control of the Department of Defence or the Department of the Navy. Navy Office operated within the Dept. of Defence until 1915 and again from 1921 till 1939. During the years 1915-1921, and again from 1939 till the present, there has been a separate Dept. of the Navy. These plans were held within the Ship Construction Branch (many bearing the signature of J. Leask, Ship Constructor for many years). The Branch has experienced several changes of title. In 1956, it changed from Engineering & Construction Branch to the Engineering, Electrical and Construction Branch; and from February 1960, it has been the Naval Technical Services Branch. This comprises three agencies: the Principal Naval Architect, the Principal Electrical Engineering, and the Principal Mechanical Engineering. It is the first of these which has transferred the plans in this series. They have been maintained separately from the records of the other two sections. Mr. E. Jackson has been the section's curator of plans for several years, arriving about 1946. He introduced his own control system and later destroyed (c 1954) the card index which was part of the previous control system. The latter apparently employed three numbers (eg. 9-14/1) and traces of this system can still be seen.

Administrative information:

In 2023 two boxes of records that had been on loan to the Department of Defence since 1998 were returned. These contained Bundle 134 with the control symbol range 114C/132-114D/41/2 and Bundle 151 with the control symbol range 120/111-120/133H-3. The box containing Bundle 151 also contained the records 132/1, 132/2 and 120/12A. These three records were dispersed and sorted back into the series according to their control symbol.

The following data was keyed from the paper documentation:

Form number: CA 17

Creating department: Navy Office, Naval Technical Services, Principal Naval Architect; Date of transfer: 12/01/1962

Archives file number: RWM31/16/12