Author: Michael E. Smith
Smith, Michael E., 2025 Convict Shipbuilding in Tasmania: A Historical Approach to Determining the Construction Quality of Wooden Ships in Colonial Australia, Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Van Diemen’s Land (modern day Tasmania) was home to a major shipbuilding industry during the early 1800s. Tasmania’s dense forests and isolated locations provided an ideal place to send convicts and use their Labour to exploit natural resources. The need for marine transportation quickly developed, and dockyards were built by free citizens in the north of Tasmania and in Hobart. The colonial government also built dockyards at convict settlements in Macquarie Harbour at Sarah Island and later at Port Arthur. Convict Labour was used at these settlements to build boats, as well as three free citizen master shipwrights. A few vessels built by citizens have been archaeologically excavated, but so far, no convict-built vessels have been located.
Convict-built vessels made up a significant portion of the fleet of ships operating in Tasmania before 1850, with a number of years accounting for over half the total tonnage of ships built. Little is known about their construction other than a select number preliminary studies from historical documentation. Previous historical methods argued that Australian-built ships were poorly constructed due to short working lives. This generalization fails to account for sailing and operating in previously uncharted waters.
By comparing working life of the ships to the historical record, a much better understanding of the vessel’s build quality can be determined and compared to those of other Australian-built ships and foreign-built ships operating in Australian waters. This study uses this method to show that convict-built ships in Tasmania were in general better constructed than their contemporaries due to timber used in their construction, record of voyages showing utilization, shipwright skill and experience, and working lives of the vessels. This study provides much needed context to the ship building industry in Tasmania before 1850, as well as a method to gain a better understanding of ship construction through history.
Keywords: Shipbuilding, convicts, Tasmania, wooden ships
Subject: Archaeology thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2025
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Wendy Van Duivenvoorde