The Garden Island (1990) By T. R. Frame
 
Garden Island has been the focus of all naval activity in Australia's quarter of the globe for over two centuries and has been the historic home of the Royal Australian Navy since its establishment in 1911. Yet it has never been the subject of detailed historical work.
 
This book describes the use of the island for naval purposes by the First Fleet in 1788, its seizure by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1811, the protracted negotiations that led to the Navy's return and its subsequent development as one of Australia's most important and strategically valuable naval facilities. Set within the context of the waning fortunes of British naval power, the growth of the city of Sydney and the creation of a New South Wales government, this comprehensive and in places controversial account analyses the forces that led to the formation of an Australian navy, the difficulties it encountered in operating as an independent naval unit and the problems faced by the Navy with its Fleet based in a city with enormous urban pressures.
 
Garden Island has had a wonderfully varied and colourful history. In addition to being one of the oldest continually settled sites in Australia, at different times it has been used for the confinement of convicts, an Aboriginal burial ground, the site of Australia's first zoo, the location of the nation's oldest tennis courts and the base for naval' operations during the Maori Wars, the Boxer Rebellion in China, the two World Wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Today it is one of the most important historic sites in Australia and the most strategically important naval base in the Southern Hemisphere.
 
This book will be of interest to anyone with an interest in the Navy, 'hips, dockyards and the City of Sydney. 
 
Soft Cover
240 Pages 
Good Condition