From Battleship to Breakwater: post‐military adaptive reuse of the Australian warship Protector |
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| Authors: | James W. Hunter III Emily Jateff |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia;2. South Australian Maritime Museum, Port Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
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| Abstract: | The light cruiser Protector, built 1884, served as an Australian naval asset for 40 years. Decommissioned from the Royal Australian Navy in 1924, it was subsequently converted into a lighter. The vessel re‐entered military service during the Second World War, but was involved in a collision, condemned, and ultimately installed as a breakwater on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. While much of Protector's military career is well documented, little is known of its conversion and adaptation to civilian roles. What follows is a discussion of efforts to archaeologically document Protector's surviving hull and identify signatures of adaptive reuse indicative of its post‐military career. |
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| Keywords: | Protector, Australia navy warship maritime archaeology vessel reuse |
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