Spectacle Island Armament Depot and the Port Jackson Armament Pipeline

This presentation will cover the history of Spectacle Island which is one of the longest continuously operated Australian Defence sites and today functions as the repository for the Royal Australian Naval Heritage Collection.  Naval ammunitioning activities in Sydney ceased prior to the 2,000 Olympic Games.

In addition to the history of Spectacle Island as an armament depot, the Sydney ammunition pipeline through which ships at anchor in Sydney Harbour were either ammunitioned or destored will be addressed.  The presentation will include an excellent video of the movement of ammunition from Kingswood to ship’s side in the early 1990s to provide a taste of what ammunitioning a ship means.

Robert Curran is a former officer-in-charge of the RAN Armament Depot Kingswood.  In 2000 he established a website on the history of Spectacle Island, since expanded to include all past RAN armament depots.  Now retired, he still likes to roam the expanses of the Newington Armoury where he acts as an occasional adviser on armament heritage to the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.