Williamstown Dockyards 2014

Painting Oil on Canvas
91 x 61cm

The painting depicts HMAS Adelaide(L01) and HMAS Canberra(L02) during the final stages of fitting out at the Williamstown Dockyards in 2014, as the sun sets behind these ships, symbolising the impending closure of this historic dockyard due to lack of on-going contracts.

In May 2014 I was returning to Docklands on the tall ship Enterprize, after a filming session near Sandringham.  As we crossed Hobson’s Bay there was a brief period where the two Canberra Class Helicopter Landing Dock ships, of the Royal Australian Navy, were silhouetted against the setting sun. The ships were lying next to each other in opposite directions, giving the ‘banana’ boat type appearance.  I took a series of photos hoping to eventually have a go at capturing the dramatic sky and dockyards in oils.